Archive for October, 2013

Perkins re-elected WMA president in landslide over Rex Harvey

Stan Perkins of Australia was re-elected president of World Masters Athletics today in Porto Alegre, with delegates to the General Assembly favoring him over American challenger Rex Harvey 92-38, according to information provided by a source. Here are the other votes: “Vice President 
 Margit Jungmann, Germany (67), Vesa Lappalainen (63) (in?) runoff. Vice President […]

October 23, 2013   Posted in: Uncategorized  4 Comments

Waiting for results of WMA election; candidate forum worthless

WMA elections for president and others were today in Porto Alegre, and I’m still waiting on results. In the meantime, see how WMA handled its candidates forum. The following is from Masters Mole 2355c: “Monday evening’s WMA Candidate Forum began at 18:00 pm in a building with lots of background noise that made it extremely […]

October 23, 2013   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Latest Kay vs. Upshaw showdown goes to the wire in rare 200 tie

Step aside, Bannister vs. Landy. Australia’s Marie Kay and American Joy Upshaw are the current Queens of Track Rivalry. So closely matched in the long jump and sprints, they require a high-speed camera to separate them. So it was in Tuesday’s W50 final in the 200, where both clocked 26.41 (with an illegal wind). And […]

October 22, 2013   Posted in: Uncategorized  6 Comments

World record falls in M85 800 (but not in the W70 200 hurdles)

Porto Alegre results are a royal pain! Apparently they’ve been updating a single file with each day’s results — leading to confusion over what’s new and old. On top of this, the Hy-Tek software they’re using has outdated records. Witness the W70 200-meter hurdles. The listed WMA record is 39.26 by Japan’s Noriko Nakamura at […]

October 21, 2013   Posted in: Uncategorized  4 Comments

Christa Happ dies at 83; German legend set WRs in vault, HJ, LJ

German superstar Christa Happ, known to her friends as Christel, died Oct. 11 at age 83, only a few years after setting W80 world indoor and outdoor records in the high jump and pole vault (and also long jump outdoors). She competed as recently as January 2013. Cause of death is still unknown to me. […]

October 21, 2013   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments

Hundreds of Porto Alegre images being posted on Flickr account

Flickr is fantastic for displaying images, and someone with the Porto Alegre LOC is posting great storytelling shots of the world meet. See the main gallery. I don’t see photo credits off the bat, but I’d like to thank the shooter for exploring the whole spectacle. The one below is among my favorites, showing 95-year-old […]

October 20, 2013   Posted in: Uncategorized  15 Comments

Brazilian claims M85 world record in 100 as Americans take 9 golds

Saturday was Speed Day at Porto Alegre worlds with finals held in the 100-meter dashes. See results here. Completing his comeback from a 2009 doping suspension, Val Barnwell won M55 in 11.90 as fellow Americans Tom Jones and Ken Thomas took third and fourth. Other Yanks taking gold were W35 Brandi Bernert (12.23), W50 Joy […]

October 19, 2013   Posted in: Uncategorized  13 Comments

World records set in heptathlon, shot, sprint heats at Porto Alegre

Oct. 18 results from Porto Alegre show world records in the 100, shot put and heptathlon — all by women. Most amazing is the 13.30 for Canada’s Karla Del Grande in the W60 100 — crushing the listed WR of 13.75 by Germany’s Ingrid Meier in 2008. Karla won her semifinal race. In the prelims, […]

October 18, 2013   Posted in: Uncategorized  4 Comments

Gripes galore at Porto Alegre meet, especially from the vaulters

Vaulting is dangerous enough. But organizers at Porto Alegre worlds are upping the risk, according to Facebook postings. One from American Doug “Bubba” Sparks says: “Our poles are not here yet and may not be, the box is 6 (inches) deep rather than 9 (inches) and the pit is a straight back and short. They […]

October 18, 2013   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Lahtigate: Perkins accused of packing presidential vote with pals

Four years after the fact, a document has emerged that says the 2009 election of Stan Perkins as WMA president was fraudulent. An American athlete sent me the memo Thursday morning from Porto Alegre, where Stan is standing for re-election next week. The athlete won’t tell me where he got it, but it clearly aims […]

October 17, 2013   Posted in: Uncategorized  5 Comments