Anemic fields likely at 2009 Sydney World Masters Games
On August 2, 2009, the Web site of Octoberâs Sydney World Masters Games reported: âMinister for Tourism Jodi McKay tonight announced that Sydney is on track to stage the largest ever World Masters Games this October with more than 28,000 people having registered for the event. . . âAt last count we had 28,091 people registered for the Games with a large portion of these registrations coming from overseas. This is a fantastic vote of confidence for Sydney and the World Masters Games,â Ms McKay said.â Buried was this telling note: âSome sports will still accept late entries to enable as many people as possible to be part of the event.â In other words, theyâre hurting for bodies. Athletics has closed, but some of my masters moles are wondering about the quality of the competition. Despite the presence of Steve Peters, Bill Collins and Phil Raschker, the numbers donât look great.Â
In reply to my queries, I got a note yesterday from Gill Elphinston, Sport & Venues Officer for the Sydney 2009 World Masters Games Organising Committee.
Gill wrote: âThe Athletics schedule was released on 31 August. The final competitor list will be released 7 September. Registration has closed for Athletics. There are currently 2,876 competitors in the Athletics competition.â
But 2,876 doesnât mean entrants in the track meet. In WMG parlance, âathleticsâ includes race walking, cross country and road racing.
According to the final report of the 2005 Edmonton World Masters Games, 3,087 took part in Athletics. But that included 835 in the 10K road race and 1,377 in the half-marathon. Only 1,476 took part in âtrack & field.âÂ
So itâs possible that the track meet portion in Sydney will be 1,200 or fewer. A pittance compared with the 5,000 at Lahti worlds.
Folks traveling Down Under should have a great time as tourists, but may not have the best experience in track terms. The medals will be big and shiny, no doubt. But will the fields be worthy of the World Masters name?
27 Responses
I think you should look at the online entries for the WMG i am in the W45 age group and have just as many competitors in Sydney if not more as there were in some of my events in lahti… none of which i might add are not middle distance events. There will be the need for heats.
I do not know where you get the notion of “anemic” for the track and field portion of the meet Ken. In my age group there are about as many as in Lahti for most events. And given how they have manipulated the final schedule – moving events from the original days to other days – hard to say that they have loads of track space to fill. I now have a conflict between two events that were originally scheduled on different days. Registration for track and field was closed early because of the numbers.
In the sprints there look to be many competitors indeed. Perhaps it is the lack of North American competitors that causes you to write that!- just kidding.
I am looking forward to a good meet and competition against many from down under who cannot afford to travel to Europe to the eurocentered WMA meet.
I do applaud the Sydney WMG with respect to anti-doping rules. It’s the only masters event subject to doping tests that allows retroactive TUEs (therapeutic-use exemptions).
See this page:
http://www.2009worldmasters.com/Antidoping/default.aspx
This means you can test positive for a prohibited substance at Sydney (and being tested is as likely as being hit by lightning) and you get a chance to prove you need the medication in question.
Very enlightened!
Ken, why is it that you so often see the cup half empty instead of half full? I refer to this blog for masters news on a regular basis, and I certainly appreciate the effort that you put forth. However I continue to be amazed at the regularity of your blog entries that contain mean personal attacks and/or are plain negative and condescending in substance and tone. Recent examples include blogs on the upcoming “anemic” WMG, the “anatomy of a debacle” at the NSG in Palo Alto and the USATF President “flunks outreach to masters tracksters”. As athletes (and human beings) do we forget that our ability and opportunity to run, jump and throw is all a gift in the first place? Should we not treat each day and each other as a gift? A little more kindness, courtesy and respect in this world would not hurt, anytime or anywhere. Just a thought for the day.
Based on entries alone, I believe that the athletics portion of WMG will definately exceed the previous one in 2005 in Edmonton. Some of the track events got pushed out to Sunday that in the past ended on Friday, due to extra heats, etc. So where do we find information that entries are down? 28,091 is a pretty big number.
Any suggestions on best way to get to Venue from Airport? Noticed a lot of tolls in Sydney and no free transportation until after you get package. Aiport train has its own fee of $18 to nearest public transportation.
Look forward to seeing this nice venue. 400IH and 200 has been moved to the final day. I guess I will not be competing in those events.
Don,
If you go to the Games main web page and use links – ‘Transport’ / ‘Arriving in Sydney’, you will find some info regarding your question. Hope to see ya there. The Houston Elite group will be at the Sydney Marriott downtown.
From what I can tell by my entry field, except for Wolfgang Ritte, the medals in Sydney for the M55 PV will match up almost identically to Lahti – whoever wins, then 3.80m then 3.35m+. Bubba
lots of changes from the original schedule and many conflicts as well – too bad – but … given the number of competitors I guess it was bound to happen- despite Ken’s claim of low numbers.
Good luck to all the US Competitors.
and check the transport page – I think there is a discount on the train from the airport into the city – and if I recall correctly – if you take along your registration sheet – free transport to the main stadium to get credentials – or something like that.
Hi Don,
Larry and I checked out the venue last year when we were back visiting family. I’d recommend the train to get to and from the airport. It’s easy and fast. Buy a round trip ticket, it’s cheaper plus you need to get back there to fly out. Check out our travel guide at WomenRunningTogether. I know the Aussies will put on a great event, but of course I biased being one myself. Looking forward to seeing you Down Under.
I watch every day and haven’t seen the final schedule. Anybody know where it is? I know the day I compete but we all got emails saying the timetable would be posted on 8/31. Bubba
That’s crazy that they change the schedule like that at late notice. Same with Palo Alto Senior Games. Really makes it hard to plan ahead well. Makes me not want to spend a lot of money to travel far if I can’t do what I planned.
Final schedule for track and field is posted on the “athletics” page – but they do not make it easy to find it – It was posted the end of Aug or maybe first of Sept. I emailed the games about it – and got a response with a link. Also a note saying the final list of competitors will be posted on
Sept 7th -I just looked today(9/5) they have posted the list as of the end of August. Maybe this is the final list – I have not looked at it yet.
Log in- go to mygames and then to athletics – scroll down the page and you will find the pdf file for the revised schedule.
Thanks Mary. I’m there right now and I don’t see that link. Can you send it to me or post it for all of us? Thanks! Bubba
To Don Drummond:
Like you, I am entered in the 400 hurdles and cannot compete on Sunday, the day they scheduled the finals due to planning my trip based on the previous Masters Games schedule. So today I wrote to the Masters committee and asked if they would change the schedule back to it’s original dates. Possibly, if several of us wrote and told them that we had to plan our airline tickets and had no way of knowing that they would put our races on the last day, maybe they could figure some way to fit it in on Friday instead of Sunday. It is worth a try, even if it doesn’t work out.
Hey Ken, Anemic? Aren’t you being a little hypocritical about medals being worthy? At National Senior Games, 37 out of 44 M55s ran faster than your time at Lahti. You did not even break 14 seconds yet you could run on the relay and medal because of an anemic field. That is not your fault. But your 4×1 time of 50.96 would have been 6th at Riccione or even 3rd in M60. So don’t throw sticks or batons at Sydney just yet.
http://tinyurl.com/lbfxea
see if that works – you have to scroll down the page to see the pdf file it is below the events stuff to where is says schedule. and there should be a pdf file to click on
http://www.2009worldmasters.com/Athletics/default.aspx
or that one –
let me know if it does not turn up for you-
The Vixen and the Lioness – Aesop’s Fables
A mother Fox who was taking her babies out for an airing one balmy morning, came across a Lioness, with her cub in arms. “Why such airs, haughty dame, over one solitary cub?” sneered the Vixen. “Look at my healthy and numerous litter here, and imagine, if you are able, how a proud mother should feel.” The Lioness gave her a squelching look, and lifting up her nose, walked away, saying calmly, “Yes, just look at that beautiful collection. What are they? Foxes! I’ve only one, but remember, that one is a Lion.”
“Quality is better than quantity.”
As well as a final schedule, there is also a list of entrants by age group and event posted. The entrants’ list is posted on the mygames page that you can get to from the page that appears by logging in with your user name and password.
There appears to be very many Australians entered, looks like a quarter to a third of all entrants in track and field are from Australia or New Zealand. Guess we’ll find out how deep they are. My suspicion is that they (the Aussies) will have many good competitors, as theirs is a very sporting culture.
Another thing that will probably happen is lots of no-shows or scratches. Mainly because of the low cost (about $5Aus) of adding extra events when you register, that makes it easy to sign up for frivolous or optional events.
See y’all in Sydney -Grant Lamothe
As well as a final schedule, there is also a list of entrants by age group and event posted. The entrants’ list is posted on the mygames page that you can get to from the page that appears by logging in with your user name and password.
There appears to be very many Australians entered, looks like a quarter to a third of all entrants in track and field are from Australia or New Zealand. Guess we’ll find out how deep they are. My suspicion is that they (the Aussies) will have many good competitors, as theirs is a very sporting culture.
Another thing that will probably happen is lots of no-shows or scratches. Mainly because of the low cost (about $5Aus) of adding extra events when you register, that makes it easy to sign up for frivolous or optional events.
See y’all in Sydney -Grant Lamothe
As well as a final schedule, there is also a list of entrants by age group and event posted. The entrants’ list is posted on the mygames page that you can get to from the page that appears by logging in with your user name and password.
There appears to be very many Australians entered, looks like a quarter to a third of all entrants in track and field are from Australia or New Zealand. Guess we’ll find out how deep they are. My suspicion is that they (the Aussies) will have many good competitors, as theirs is a very sporting culture.
Another thing that will probably happen is lots of no-shows or scratches. Mainly because of the low cost (about $5Aus) of adding extra events when you register, that makes it easy to sign up for frivolous or optional events.
See y’all in Sydney -Grant Lamothe
Hi Grant,
After looking at the final schedule for the first time, it appears that the events I entered have some scheduling conflicts. The 800m final for example, is right in the middle of my pentathlon. What? Never tried sprinting an 800 in a pentathlon before? lol And how about the final for the 100m hurdles at 10am in the stadium but ten minutes later, my first event of the pentathlon is in a different stadium! Wow, I have never tried that before either! So I have some choices to make now. I entered these events blind, because I used the schedule from the previous games as a guide. When we signed up in the first place, we had no idea when we would be competing…..which is pretty ridiculous.
Hi Steve (the Bay Area/Vancouver Island’s finest multi-eventer):
Thanks for pointing out the scheduling and event location discepancies. I didn’t pay attention to the stadium location of the events when I was scanning the schedule, maybe I better start doing that now. I know I have some individual events going on during the same days as the pentathlons I’ve entered, as well as many individual events that could conceivably be re-scheduled for conflicting times. I better figure out which ones it would be feasible for me to attempt.
I think this scheduling conundrum will cause many no-shows/scratches. Between the low fee for extra events and the scheduling changes, there will be lots of scratches.
ps: Steve, I’ll buy you a Foster’s in Sydney (after the competition, of course)
Thanks Rick!
I will make sure to catch up with you guys while I am there. I am not too far from you guys and will use the suggested transportation.
I cannot wait as I am finally healthy. Looking forward to the competition. We will be small, but mighty USA group!!!!! Good way to end the season.
I have forwarded an email as well. Worth a try!!!!
the 2 tracks in Sydney are next to each other – it’s a 5 minute walk (max 10 minutes if you go slow)
Rick!
Please email me at highspeedfitness@hotmail.com
Thanks!
Don
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