Douay, Wilcock, Gough turn heads in IAAF Portland masters 800s
Ashton Eaton (in red at right) pauses in hep to watch dramatic finish of masters men’s 800.
Helene Marie Douay of France reacts after winning the masters women’s 800.
Winner Dave, ironically, wasn’t part of the original six-man field. But when Nolan Shaheed withdrew (a leg strain, said WMA’s Winston Thomas), Dave was elevated into the race along with a Frenchman, replacing another scratch.
I got home late — after my website-founding partner Dave Clingan and I went out for beers with Joe’s wife and daughter. So I’ll be adding details later. But here’s a sampling of photos from the masters races.
Here are masters women’s 800 results.
POS BIB ATHLETE COUNTRY MARK
1 902 Helene Marie DOUAY FRA FRA 2:37.30
2 901 Lesley CHAPLIN USA USA 2:37.57
3 900 Karen BROOKS GBR GBR 2:40.14
4 903 Julie HAYDEN USA USA 2:40.70
5 905 Deborah DRENNAN AUS AUS 2:42.69
6 904 Cheryl BELLAIRE USA USA 2:45.05
Here are masters men’s 800 results:
POS BIB ATHLETE COUNTRY MARK
1 505 David Roy WILCOCK GBR GBR 2:15.90
2 501 Joe GOUGH IRL IRL 2:16.01
3 500 Oleksandr LYSENKO UKR UKR 2:17.38
4 502 Pierre FAUCHEUR FRA FRA 2:18.23
5 504 Marcellus Jacobus SCHOLTEN NED NED 2:18.53
6 503 Florio CLOK URU URU 2:18.66
A sequence of my shots — just the tip of the iceberg I’ll eventually share.
Masters men’s 800 entrants pose before their race at IAAF Portland worlds.
Joe Gough waves to crowd during introductions of masters men’s 800.
Ukraine’s Oleksandr Lysenko led the field through a 70-second first 400.
Joe Gough leads Dave Wilcock by a couple strides on the last backstretch.
With decathlon great Ashton Eaton looking on, masters strain for finish.
Dave Wilcock works to stay ahead of a lunging Joe Gough in 800.
Joe Gough begins to fall at finish of masters men’s 800.
Dave Wilcock finishes inches ahead of a falling Joe Gough in masters men’s 800.
Runners avoid a collapsed Joe Gough at finish of masters men’s 800.
Joe Gough lay on the track, exhausted, after giving his all in men’s 800.
David Wilcock signals victory after edging Joe Gough in the masters men’s 800.
A standing ovation greets masters men’s field after stirring race.
British flags greet 800 winner David Wilcock on the backstretch of victory lap.
A nearly packed Oregon Convention Center applauded masters field.
David Wilcock gives his British fans in the Portland stands a thumbs up.
Joe Gough flies the Irish flag given him by his daughter Sarah in the stands.
David Wilcock describes his race to an interviewer in the mixed zone.
Helene Marie Douay takes final stride of women’s 800 ahead of Lesley Chaplin.
France’s Helene Marie Douay is cheered by her rivals after winning masters 800.
IAAF’s Cesar Moreno Bravo kisses Britain’s Karen Brooks after her finish.
Lesley Chaplin, Julie Hayden and Cheryl Bellaire pause for interviews after race.
32 Responses
Great shots, Ken!
Very well done, Ken!
Anyone found video of the two races yet? They were simply ignored by the BBC and Eurosport, who stuck with the heptathon pole vault even while the races could be glimpsed going on in the background.
Best series of photos for one race I’ve ever seen. Great job. The Master’s Men 800 was the greatest show on earth. Tough as nails they were.
Ken, that’s some of the ‘best’ sports photography I’ve ever seen. I once spent a year trying to capture rugby in N.Z., and, I can attest, capturing quality sport on camera, is unbelievably difficult. Well done, old chap!
Ken, those are fantastic shots of the fantastic race put on by the M60’s! They were amazing and the crowd loved it! We are all having the time of our lives and could not be treated better. We will remember this trip forever! I know I speak for all the masters in expressing our gratitude to Winston Thomas and Sandy Pashkin and the World Masters’ Committee. Also, from Cheryl and Lesley and I, to USATF for their help and support and making us part of Team USA. Thank you for being here Ken and giving up your time to take pictures and talk with us. Go Masters & Go USA!
The photo of athletes embracing BEFORE the race is what MASTERS is all about. We shake hands before and after but are ferocious competitors between the gun and the line.
Well done to all the men and women masters of their sport. My home town of Portland is mighty proud of y’all.
KP
Update, of sorts, on video of those races. Nothing in the IAAF web site video library. IAAF doesn’t even list the Masters races as having taken place. What is the point in WMA promoting races like this as “exhibition events” if they don’t get exhibited?
Look after your files, Ken. They might end up being the only lasting record we have.
@Tom Philips the Irish Runner Magazine have a video of the last lap on their Facebook page (possibly on the website too). I will upload a video of it and post the link. It is only taken on a phone from the crowd but has the full race!
Here’s the last lap on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL8UPFL0vCg
https://youtu.be/UIpDQtYFQBQ this is the full race (not a professional video)
Fantastic! Thank you!
A moderate quality video of most of the women’s race is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KgAG29kKIo.
Lost about ten second in the middle due to operator error.
An album with a few photos telling a little of the story of the Women’s race is at: https://goo.gl/photos/76sciDpvm6LGqZUG9
I second Julie’s sentiments. This has been an incredible once in a lifetime experience that I will always remember and appreciate
Thanks to USATF, WMA, IAAF and Atlanta Track Club for all their support.
I think it would have been nice to see Masters Women sprinters in the IAAF Portland, not just W800m.
Masters men are well represented at the Penn Relays from M40 and up. Where are the Masters women? Do we have a representative?
Fantastic racing, fantastic result. On top of the fact that UKA didn’t see fit to even give Dave Wilcock a proper Team GB strip, it is Dave Wilcock not Wilcox! The winner of a World title and and a true sportsman, but the organisers, and and seemingly everyone else, can’t be bothered to even spell his name properly!
Video of whole mens race provided by Dave Wilcox
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpfYzFhB-HY&list=PLDl3BFRCWbDtia3yBzMjtxIo8igqmiUCl
8’01 masters 60 m hh how could a wr be overlooked if time is actually preformed,hytek,,,8’01 ”””masters old record walt b,,,,,
Thanks for the name check, Andy! I’ve made fixes on my blog.
The Dutch participant in the M60 race heard from several officials: the best race to watch up to now of the whole championship.
Ken thank you for such a great coverage of another big step forward for WMA in its relationship with the IAAF. It has taken a long time but now we have made the breakthrough I am sure that the participation of Masters athletes in IAAF World Championships will continue. Our breakthrough was in Beijing and the reception from the crowd and the elite athletes was good, but I am sure this reception was surpassed in Portland. I watched the races online and was overcome with a feeling of great pride in seeing our representatives perform so well and to be given such a massive reception by the spectators. Thanks to Winston Thomas, Sandy Pashkin and Cesar Moreno for their support work.
Well done Peter Kennedy! The video of the men’s race is superb, and clearly by the IAAF cameramen in the stadium. Shame on our national tv broadcasters for not showing it. Crowd reaction to the race and the athletes was great. Now all we need is the professional video of the women’s race. It surely must exist.
Women’s race:
http://youtu.be/wKFMzroQf8w
Great photos! Glad you got the one of Lesley Chaplin running down Douey (almost!!) IAAF did post results for both Masters men and Women’s 800m, but no video. I shall go check the Youtube links some folks nicely posted here. Congratulations to all of the Masters runners. Great representation by USA!
Ken Fantastic photos and great to chat to you after such an epic
race, you have done us all proud.
Thanks for getting my name right .
Cheers for that Andy
Will not forget this one for a long time
Excellent video’s, they did not broadcast them in my country… Why do they call them just ‘masters’, W55 and M60 would have been more appropriate. And more informative for the public.
Here is the official IAAF video of masters men’s race, which includes several views of final sprint and slo-mo of Joe’s fall at end:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hpfYzFhB-HY
Winston Thomas of WMA posted report on Portland races to WMA website. Among the details: Alan Bell was the starter. Alan was head starter at 2012 London Olympics:
http://www.world-masters-athletics.org/news/597-masters-results-800m-2016-iaaf-indoor-championships-portland-oregon
Great photos, but the highlight is the look on Ashton Eaton’s face as the 800m runners are lunging for the finish!
As a decathlete, I’d be framing that image if only to prove that the world’s best athlete was watching me!
Well done to those who tracked down the two Portland videos. There are dozens and dozens of Portland videos on the IAAF web site – but not these.
The quality etc is great, and they were clearly part of the official recording of the event. Some would say the quality is improved by the absence of any commentary, but I’m assuming there was no one available who was competent to talk these events.
And as I’ve commented before, what is the point of WMA promoting these “exhibition” events if the major broadcasters basically completely ignore them? It was much the same in Beijing, and after a few (mostly rather limp) apologies from the broadcast networks I think hopes were higher for Portland. The reception in the stadium for the Masters races, as evidenced by the videos, speaks volumes.
Time now for our governing bodies to ensure such races as this become embedded in future IAAF events, AND for them to do their darndest to make sure that the broadcasters afford them the parity they deserve.
Hi to Ken and to all the viewers.
I was very proud to represent Ireland in Portland and to showcase master athletics globally in the 800 m. As a group of 6 athletes I think we did that very well. The feedback from the crowd and officials acknowledged that. It would have been appropriate to have received the same media coverage as the other younger athletes…. perhaps that will happen in the future.
There is no doubt that things can be improved for the future but let me be very clear this was a great world stage to showcase master athletics and we were successful in that. I wish to thank all my fellow athletes, the organisers and supporters for making this such a memorable occasion.
It was fantastic to run my first ever indoor race in Portland in front a crowd that was going wild with excitement. Many thanks to the IAAF ,WMA, Winston Thomas, Sandy Pashkin, AMA, Stanley Perkins, Wilma Perkins, other team members and many others for all their support and passion for athletics.
I now hope we can have an indoor facility here in Australia(at least 1) despite our good weather!
Perhaps we can also showcase the younger athletes at our world masters events in much the same way!
Thank you for putting the W55 800m on your blog. I must have watched it 20 times already. Great quality video to study form.
Leave a Reply