A new masters superstar is born: Maria Mutola is 35
Happy birthday, Maria de Lurdes Mutola! You turn 35 today, which means you have a chance at setting lots of new middle-distance records. Your specialty is the 800, of course, and your 2007 season best of 1:56.98 is just short of the listed W35 world age-group record of 1:56.53 by Russia’s Lyubov Gurina in 1994. I know you’ve talked about retirement. But you’ve changed your mind before. In fact, you expected to retire after the 2004 Athens Games. Since you’ve lived in Eugene, Oregon, for years, it should be easy for you to drop by our masters nationals next August in Spokane. Of course, you might be busy preparing for your sixth Olympic Games. Whatever. Have a great season, Maria, and stick around!
3 Responses
I admire the likes of Maria Mutola and Merlene Ottey and acknowledge the performances they have achieved at their age in the elite ranks, but is it really fair to Masters Athletics in general to recognize the records (world bests) they set up, especially when they never set foot in any masters competitions ? It it must, can’t there be 2 sets of records, one in masters competitions only and one in open competition ?
An important part of masters athletics is determining how people stack up to the best athletes in an age-group. Some 35 to 45 year athletes still compete successfully in open meets and their performances are the standards for their age. It doesn’t make much sense to have records for the less talented or committed.
If a junior-age athlete runs a junior-record time in an open meet, it would be a junior record. So masters athletes shouldn’t have to make their performances in a masters meet to be considered for a masters record.
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