So it's Eurosport for highlights of the season ending Continental Cup from Marrakech, seems the BBC can't find room for it with its blanket 'It's a Royal Knockout' coverage this weekend.
Poor isn't it? There are some good head to heads there, e.g. Bondarenko and Barahim. James Dasaolu could be in with a shout at winning the 100m as well. Richard Thompson isn't in the form he was in earlier on and Mike Rodgers is up and down. The captains for the European team are Jo Pavey and Renaud Lavillenie. Good choices!
In spite of the Continental Cup not being the marquee event it once was, it still delivers the occasional gem - not least in the women's 100mH, where Dawn Harper-Nelson ran a Championship Record of 12.47, and Tiffany Porter ran a National Record of 12.51!
Finally caught up with the Zurich and Brussels meets :)
Two great nights of athletics, especially Brussels. As already has been said, I'm sure, only Gatlin spoiled it. Kind of glad Bolt didn't run, because if Gatlin had beaten him the floor around my telly would have been covered in vomit....
Very well done to Tiffany Porter. As good as Jess is, it's not right that a multi-eventer should hold the record over a specialist. Now it's time for the British high-jump ladies to step up as well....
The outdoor high jump NR (1.96m) already belongs to a specialist - Isobel Pooley. ;-) Between her and our esteemed heptathletes (except JEH, ironically), opportunities for jumping higher in future look tasty.
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Regarding the 100mH NR, it's funny to think that until 2011, no Brit ran below 12.80; now we have two in the 12.5 range. As for Porter, there are three races that come to mind:
2011 WC final - by then, she had already broken the NR three times that season; it stood at 12.56 (+0.7m/s). She was on for a fourth in the high 12.4 range until she lost her rhythm over the eighth hurdle, clocking 12.63 (+1.1m/s). Had she kept form, she'd have claimed either a medal or a 4th place world best (currently 12.49 (-0.5m/s) by Donkova in the 1987 WC final).
-
JEH lowering the NR to 12.54 (+1.3m/s) in the 2012 OG heptathlon was a shock. Her PB was slashed by a quarter!
-
2013 WC semi-final - an excellent run up to the eighth hurdle (again), which she clipped with her trail leg. Momentum was lost, though not nearly as dramatically as two years ago, and she clocked 12.63 (-0.6m/s). Colin Jackson reckons she was on for a NR until then.
2013 WC final - she ran a PB of 12.55 (-0.6m/s) for a bronze medal. Wouldn't have needed a tailwind for the NR, just calm conditions or a negligible headwind; accounting for weather conditions, she was perhaps marginally quicker than she was in 2011.
For completeness, the wind reading for her newly regained NR was +0.7m/s.
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Regarding specialists vs. multi-eventers, here's another scenario:
Brittney Reese has accumulated a handful of global long jump titles, but not the NR - that still belongs to heptathlon legend JJK (7.49m - an AR, in fact. Also just 3cm below the WR!)
The outdoor high jump NR (1.96m) already belongs to a specialist - Isobel Pooley. ;-) Between her and our esteemed heptathletes (except JEH, ironically), opportunities for jumping higher in future look tasty.
I suppose it depends on whether you differentiate between indoor and outdoor performances as KJT as also jumped that height but indoors.
Next up is the Berlin Marathon, a week on Sunday. The Eurosport schedules are not out yet, but I'm sure they'll be covering it - there are WR attempts planned.
New York Marathon is 2 November. Always live on Eurosport.
European Cross Country Champs will be in Samokov, Bulgaria on 14 Dec - usually live on the BBC. Premier Sports and Sky also cover some of the British domestic cross country races.
I suppose it depends on whether you differentiate between indoor and outdoor performances as KJT as also jumped that height but indoors.
Clearly Edward did but I don't. I reckon a specialist should always hold the national record outright. And the fact no British lady has yet made it over 2m is poor going.
As for JJK and her long jump, she was clearly a specialist phenom in that event just like Carl lewis was and still holds the heptathlon world record. There was a time Daley thompson held the decathlon world record and was the best ranked british long jumper - but he never held the national record. Not even close.
did anyone catch wallace spearmon's cryptic tweet last week? i am still wondering what he is going to announce. he has had surgery recently and days before he tweeted the cryptic tweet, he tweeted:
@PrinceSpearmon
For those of you all that know me, you'll know better. For those that don't have faith. I should have never got sick
and then the cryptic tweet in question:
@PrinceSpearmon
In about a week I'll make a statement that will disappoint quite a few people. I apologize in advance. Irresponsible moments
I automatically thought a failed drug test, he also tweeted about training extra hard over the coming year, so maybe not competing?
But, assuming it was not a typo, he said "Irresponsible moments" not moment so I wonder if it is something else, domestic violence seems to be in the spotlight in the US at the moment.
I automatically thought a failed drug test, he also tweeted about training extra hard over the coming year, so maybe not competing?
But, assuming it was not a typo, he said "Irresponsible moments" not moment so I wonder if it is something else, domestic violence seems to be in the spotlight in the US at the moment.
Yeah it's so ambiguous. Anyway, it seems today is the day for whatever news:
wallace spearmon jr (@PrinceSpearmon)
Morning world time to man up. I imagine today will be tough but it will pass. Let's get it
It's been nearly 4 hours since that tweet though. Why is he doing this?
Most seem to be giving him the benefit of the doubt, me included. I really don't believe he intended to cheat but why didn't he apply for a TUE? Irresponsible moments indeed.
The way he was going on, I thought it was going to be something bigger. I feel his pain though because to many, he's now a 'drugs cheat' for this stupid offence. This shouldn't be swept under the rug though, or else more athletes will have 'irresponsible moments'. At least he's been able to provide documentation...
3 months is barely a ban at all. Would he even have raced in that period?
I think the article said he had to forefeit appearance fees/prize money since whenever the positive was recorded too, so there's that.
I can't be bothered to look back at the dates but IF his positive was before the world relays and IF the USA had finished the 4x200m relay without the DQ for the faulty handover between Mitchell and.. Mitchell (Curtis to Maurice I think it was), he would have had the team DQd from their third place finish for this. The only other race I remember seeing him in is the race in Rio on the beach with Bolt where I believe he finished a distant last.
His ban dates back to August 27th so he did miss a few competitive meets like Zurich, Brussels, did they have a 200m in Rieti? But yeah, bans during the off season are quite..
The World Relays were in May and he tested positive in July. Most of July was blank internationally because of the CG's and then the EC's. I think he may have competed at the event in Oregon at the end of July (the weekend after the WJ's).
That 'race' in Rio was more of a Puma promotional event than a proper meet from what I gather.
And apparently the op he had was due to a muscle and tendon separation from his pubic bone, sounds serious and painful. Wonder if his irresponsibility was not having that diagnosed promptly and causing a more serious injury.
The World Relays were in May and he tested positive in July. Most of July was blank internationally because of the CG's and then the EC's. I think he may have competed at the event in Oregon at the end of July (the weekend after the WJ's).
That 'race' in Rio was more of a Puma promotional event than a proper meet from what I gather.
And apparently the op he had was due to a muscle and tendon separation from his pubic bone, sounds serious and painful. Wonder if his irresponsibility was not having that diagnosed promptly and causing a more serious injury.
Thanks for the clarification! Other races he's participated in include the Glasgow diamond league which I genuinely don't remember him at and the USATF national trials where he placed 2nd.
Yeah I did read about the operation and it sounds hideous!
New World Record in the men's Marathon! Dennis Kimmetto of Kenya, 2:02:57!!! Took 26 seconds off Wilson Kipsang's time from last year. Shame this wasn't on Eurosport, it was an absolute dead cert WR attempt.
Comments
Poor isn't it? There are some good head to heads there, e.g. Bondarenko and Barahim. James Dasaolu could be in with a shout at winning the 100m as well. Richard Thompson isn't in the form he was in earlier on and Mike Rodgers is up and down. The captains for the European team are Jo Pavey and Renaud Lavillenie. Good choices!
Great consistent form there at the end of the season.
Meanwhile, Soumaré is back to her pre-Brussels form (finishing 3rd in 22.58).
Two great nights of athletics, especially Brussels. As already has been said, I'm sure, only Gatlin spoiled it. Kind of glad Bolt didn't run, because if Gatlin had beaten him the floor around my telly would have been covered in vomit....
Very well done to Tiffany Porter. As good as Jess is, it's not right that a multi-eventer should hold the record over a specialist. Now it's time for the British high-jump ladies to step up as well....
---
Regarding the 100mH NR, it's funny to think that until 2011, no Brit ran below 12.80; now we have two in the 12.5 range. As for Porter, there are three races that come to mind:
2011 WC final - by then, she had already broken the NR three times that season; it stood at 12.56 (+0.7m/s). She was on for a fourth in the high 12.4 range until she lost her rhythm over the eighth hurdle, clocking 12.63 (+1.1m/s). Had she kept form, she'd have claimed either a medal or a 4th place world best (currently 12.49 (-0.5m/s) by Donkova in the 1987 WC final).
-
JEH lowering the NR to 12.54 (+1.3m/s) in the 2012 OG heptathlon was a shock. Her PB was slashed by a quarter!
-
2013 WC semi-final - an excellent run up to the eighth hurdle (again), which she clipped with her trail leg. Momentum was lost, though not nearly as dramatically as two years ago, and she clocked 12.63 (-0.6m/s). Colin Jackson reckons she was on for a NR until then.
2013 WC final - she ran a PB of 12.55 (-0.6m/s) for a bronze medal. Wouldn't have needed a tailwind for the NR, just calm conditions or a negligible headwind; accounting for weather conditions, she was perhaps marginally quicker than she was in 2011.
For completeness, the wind reading for her newly regained NR was +0.7m/s.
---
Regarding specialists vs. multi-eventers, here's another scenario:
Brittney Reese has accumulated a handful of global long jump titles, but not the NR - that still belongs to heptathlon legend JJK (7.49m - an AR, in fact. Also just 3cm below the WR!)
I suppose it depends on whether you differentiate between indoor and outdoor performances as KJT as also jumped that height but indoors.
Next up is the Berlin Marathon, a week on Sunday. The Eurosport schedules are not out yet, but I'm sure they'll be covering it - there are WR attempts planned.
New York Marathon is 2 November. Always live on Eurosport.
European Cross Country Champs will be in Samokov, Bulgaria on 14 Dec - usually live on the BBC. Premier Sports and Sky also cover some of the British domestic cross country races.
Clearly Edward did but I don't. I reckon a specialist should always hold the national record outright. And the fact no British lady has yet made it over 2m is poor going.
As for JJK and her long jump, she was clearly a specialist phenom in that event just like Carl lewis was and still holds the heptathlon world record. There was a time Daley thompson held the decathlon world record and was the best ranked british long jumper - but he never held the national record. Not even close.
@PrinceSpearmon
For those of you all that know me, you'll know better. For those that don't have faith. I should have never got sick
and then the cryptic tweet in question:
@PrinceSpearmon
In about a week I'll make a statement that will disappoint quite a few people. I apologize in advance. Irresponsible moments
But, assuming it was not a typo, he said "Irresponsible moments" not moment so I wonder if it is something else, domestic violence seems to be in the spotlight in the US at the moment.
Yeah it's so ambiguous. Anyway, it seems today is the day for whatever news:
wallace spearmon jr (@PrinceSpearmon)
Morning world time to man up. I imagine today will be tough but it will pass. Let's get it
It's been nearly 4 hours since that tweet though. Why is he doing this?
http://trackandfieldnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2082
The way he was going on, I thought it was going to be something bigger. I feel his pain though because to many, he's now a 'drugs cheat' for this stupid offence. This shouldn't be swept under the rug though, or else more athletes will have 'irresponsible moments'. At least he's been able to provide documentation...
I think the article said he had to forefeit appearance fees/prize money since whenever the positive was recorded too, so there's that.
I can't be bothered to look back at the dates but IF his positive was before the world relays and IF the USA had finished the 4x200m relay without the DQ for the faulty handover between Mitchell and.. Mitchell (Curtis to Maurice I think it was), he would have had the team DQd from their third place finish for this. The only other race I remember seeing him in is the race in Rio on the beach with Bolt where I believe he finished a distant last.
His ban dates back to August 27th so he did miss a few competitive meets like Zurich, Brussels, did they have a 200m in Rieti? But yeah, bans during the off season are quite..
That 'race' in Rio was more of a Puma promotional event than a proper meet from what I gather.
And apparently the op he had was due to a muscle and tendon separation from his pubic bone, sounds serious and painful. Wonder if his irresponsibility was not having that diagnosed promptly and causing a more serious injury.
Thanks for the clarification! Other races he's participated in include the Glasgow diamond league which I genuinely don't remember him at and the USATF national trials where he placed 2nd.
Yeah I did read about the operation and it sounds hideous!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/wales/29352085
I think odds on he will be off to Loughborough under Nick Daykin, his partner is from the Midlands so that may influence his decision.
Malcolm Arnold's squad is now rather depleted withJack Green moving to Florida, wonder if Elidh Child will stick around?