Run to Win

Photo by Jim HarrisMaurice Green, who has won the 100 meter race in both world championship and Olympic races, has decided to hang up his spikes in order to pursue coaching and business opportunities.

“Today I’m officially announcing my retirement from the sport. I don’t think I can have that mental battle with myself coming back from injury anymore … I want other people in the sport to shine.

“It’s a little sad for me but it’s happy at the same time because I’ve had a great career. I’ve done a lot of great things,” Greene said.

Maurice Green is one of only 3 men to receive 3 gold medals at a world championship, the 100 meter, 200 meter and 400 meter relay in 1999.

I remember watching him race when I was in high school, and I wish him luck in his post competitive-running pursuits.

(Sources: ESPN – IAAF – USATF)

Photo by Jonas WittDespite a bout of tendonitis earlier this year, Asafa Powell has set a new 100 meter world record this weekend in Rieti, Italy.

He won his heat in 9.74 seconds with a 1.7 m/s tailwind, which falls inside of the guidelines set by the IAAF, Track & Field’s international governing body.

“I was nervous in Osaka because I did not compete much this season (before the champs). I forgot how I should have run in the last 40m of a race.

“I will not say today was a revenge after Osaka. There the expectations were too high. I thought too much about the World record, but I have have done a lot of work in the last two weeks. I learnt again to run from the start and to be more relaxed.”

I am happy to see that my prediction on May 30^th this year came true and that he did set a new record this season.

(Sources: IAAF – BBC – ESPN)

Tyson Gay followed up his gold medal in the 100 meters with another gold in the 200 meter race yesterday in Osaka. Usain Bolt of Jamaica came on hard after a bad start, but Tyson Gay was able to keep a lead of about 2-hundredths of a second to win the goal.

Jeremy Wariner took in the gold in the 400 meter race as he led an American sweep despite being the last person off of the line. He ran a personal best 43.46 seconds, which is the fastest on a track so far this year. LaShawn Merritt and Angelo Taylor took the silver and bronze medals.

World record holder Asafa Powell won the 100 meters Tuesday with the fastest sprint in the world this year. Powell led from start to finish to clock 9.97 seconds in his season-opening return from a bout with knee tendinitis at the Artur Takac Memorial meet.

It is good to see that he is back on his feet and has managed to avoid gaining any rust. Having had tendonitis in my knee before, I can sympathize with what he had to go through. Hopefully the tendonitis was not very bad, because he has bounced back quickly and is pretty close to top form. We may even see a new record out of him later in the season.

(Source: ESPN)

I had tendonitis in my knee 7 years ago. I also had a stress fracture. It was no fun, and I hope to avoid that ever happening again.

Unfortunately, it is not the most uncommon injury. Asafa Powell, who is currently the world record holder at 100 meters (pending Justin Gatlin’s appeal regarding steroid use), is out for the early season races this year. He has run 9.77 seconds a few times now, but he may not be able to race for another month or two. He is training at a low intensity, though.

“To put a time frame on it, it’s very difficult,” Asafa’s manager Paul Doyle said on Wednesday. “It could be in a matter of a week, or it could take five weeks.”

(Source: Asafa Powell News)

Having been banned from track and field for illegal doping, Justin Gatlin has started working out for different NFL teams over the past month. He has not played football since he was in high school. He has an appeal coming up early next year, but if he loses the appeal it would certainly help him to pay the bills and stay in shape for the next few years until he can return to the track circuit.

Justin Gatlin made news earlier this year when he broke the world record in 100 meters. Due to a timing error, his world record time was rolled back to equal the existing record set by Asafa Powell. It all became a moot point, however, when it was determined that Justin Gatlin was using some type of steroid and his records were dropped.

He specifically has worked out with the Houston Texans, but they apparently do not have any intention of offering him a contract right now. He did all right catching the ball as a receiver, and they were very impressed with his speed. They are not sure that he would be able to make that step up to a contact sport, no matter how fast he is.

Asafa Powell has run 100 meters in 9.77 seconds for the third time, this time in Zurich at the Weltklasse Golden League meet earlier today.

“It felt good out there,” said Powell, who led from start to finish, with American Tyson Gay finishing second in a personal best of 9.84. [...] His latest record run came despite an arduous trip from Jamaica, which took three days because of disruptions caused by the alleged terror plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights from London.

He is coming close to setting a new world record. He is consistently matching his current record, which only one other person has managed to run so far. Justin Gatlin broke the record on May 12 in 9.76, but his time was raised by a second after it was discovered that there had been a rounding error. Now, Gatlin stands to lose his record due to doping charges, in which case Asafa Powell will sit alone at the top again.

I expect that we will see a new record by the end of this year. Asafa Powell is absolutely dominating the distance right now. Hopefully he will set a new record and can own it by himself, so that people can mention his feat (which he has owned for over a year now) without bringing Gatlin into the conversation.

(Source: BBC News)

Justin Gatlin and Asafa Powell have dominated the 100 meter sprint for the past few years. Asafa Powell set the bar at 9.77 seconds in June of 2005. Justin Gatlin broke that record in 9.76 on May 12, 2006, only to later be corrected and to have his time adjusted to a record-tying 9.77 seconds. The two were supposed to race each other on June 11^th, but Justin Gatlin has been held up by a knee injury for the last few months. Asafa Powell equaled his 9.77 second performance from 2005 during the meet.

I have been looking forward to seeing a race between the two. I think that if both were at the top of their form, we would see them both go under 9.77 (weather permitting). However, this may not happen now.
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