Masters sprinter Kim Collins to challenge Bolt at Deugu worlds!
The sun just rose in the west. A masters-age sprinter will be in the 100-meter final at IAAF worlds. M35 Kim Collins (shown below in a heat) will challenge M25 freak-of-nature Usain Bolt later today. According to this Twitter feed, “At 35yrs and 144days @kimcollins100m becomes the oldest ever World 100m finalist, beating @christielinford’s 35yrs and 126 days.” Twitter also tells us about the semifinal: “2003 World Champion Kim Collins wins in 10.08, Nesta Carter was second in 10.16.” The listed M35 world record is 9.97 by Linford Christie, as a matter of fact. Hope the headwind lets up. Go Kim!
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Bronze medal, after dq of Bolt…
Will the dq of Bolt make the IAAF rethink the one and out rule? Probably not – but hopefully WMA and USATF will not talk about imposing it on masters track.
Has track and field really sunk this low? So low that it has practically disappeared from the sports page? Is the 13-hour time difference from South Korea really enough to keep results from the World Track and Field Championships off the sports page?
Sunday’s (August 28) Seattle Times Sports Section carried two sentences on 400m runner Oscar Pistorius in their A.M. Briefing section, but NO meet results from Daegu. They did however, have space to inform us of Saturday’s:
* Canadian Football League results
* Little League World Series
* The Eighth Stage of the cycling Vuelta a Espana (Spain)
* USA Pro Cycling Challenge
* The USTA National Senior Indoor Championships
* The Women’s Professional Soccer Championship
* The European Tour, Johnnie Walker Championship (Scotland)
How about your local Sunday paper? Any better coverage of our sport? Perspiring minds want to know.
See: http://www.ortmanmarchand.com/fsc.html
for a review of the dismal press coverage of the 2000 U.S. Olympic trials.
David;
Your thoughts are “spot on.” It says alot about the USATF; or it’s lack of promotion. No wonder our World’s in Sacramento were ignored. Heck; POKER gets time on ESPN……..freakin’ POKER !!!!
Collins?
Collins!
David–(You probably already known this, but just in case, and for others who might not know)–If you can get the Universal Sports channel (an NBC outlet), there’s lots of daily coverage of Daegu (plus the Diamond League meets all summer). They show not just finals, but also prelims and semis. In my area, it’s part of the basic cable package (Channel 187 here). From the website (http://www.universalsports.com), you can click on “TV Channel Finder” to see if it’s available on cable in your area.
David, I very much doubt that more than 1% of Americans can name three track and field meets that take place on an annual basis in the United States.
I believe (am not sure) that track and field ranks above horseshoes and quoits in the U.S. Where I live (Fairfax, Virginia), many people no doubt talk about the Washington Redskins (a pro football team) 365 days a year. It was not always this way. Go to a track meet? What?
We can all help by promoting our sport to those who are unaware of how great it is. I now have my family and students texting and calling about meets and athletes from April thru August.
i have contacted the asbury park (nj ) press many times about their lack of coverage for track and field… ( in a constructive way )heck..our local kid robbie andrews wins the outdoors 800m national collegiate championship in spectacular fashion…and nothing..not a picture..not an article..nothing..and they wonder why papers aren’t selling…but , if you have anything with a betting line on it…the sports pages stock full…
David,
The Boston Globe (which I mainly read for their excellent sports section) had no results except for a two line mention of Bolt’s progress in the heats. Even their sports on TV/Radio listing didn’t mention the NBC broadcast. And this was the Sunday edition.
NBC did show “highlights” for an hour or so but I chose to pay to watch it online from Universal Sports. Their coverage was actually great, live, with knowledgeable commentaters… and it cost me 3.99 to watch the whole day.
I usually have to read Canadian or European papers to see much track news.
Master (age) athletes in Daegu are very successful!
Kim Collins – bronze in 100m.
Koji Murofushi (Japan, born October 1974) – GOLD in Hammer throw!
More to come!
In the USA we tend to be an egotistical and self centered society when it involves sports and just about everything else we do. Our Football teams call themselves “World Champions” when they win the Superbowl, when we and Canada are the only ones that play it professionally at that level. The Superbowl could be comparible to you making up your own sporting event, then hold your own championships for it, be the only one competing in it, then claim worldwide superiority in it…in any other setting in life, people would laugh at you as most around the world do at us. The End of “Wide World of Sports” on American television played a huge part to the publicity of non-mainstream sports being watched and viewers educated on them while being entertained. Track and field organizations and its administrators like the USATF and others around the world seem to only care about themselves and the money they get paid. Televising of T&F meets tend to be of only of the running events as it’s advertisors like Nike, Rebok , etc, are only interested in getting their shoes and equipment sold to the mainstream public, who jog and exercise for fitness. I understand showcasing the 100m , 200m, 400m, etc. to the viewing public because even as a thrower, I find it very exciting and short in time, but even though you may not be a thrower, vaulter or jumper, do your really get that hyped up to watch the 10,000m, marathon or racewalking that are shown more when televised than the short 15 second clips of the other field events in it’s intirety I’ve mentioned? It’s understandable to those that do those running events, but what money is there to be made for shoe sponsors from the general public in buying a pair of throwing shoes, vaulting or jumping shoes…basically zilch. Like all sports but more so in T&F, the athletes are prostituted on TV to wear big money footwear and appearal they wear while competing in the hopes of earning big money for the sponsors while the athletes earn almost nothing back from it. The sponsors are the T&F athletes main avenue to earn any money at all, not the Governing bodies. Wallstreet guides athletes decisions over competing and training not the organization that oversees them. Then we all wonder why some take steriods and other illegal drugs to compete. Some do it soley for the winning and vanity aspect, but others, especially from smaller, or third world countries may be just doing it to be up in the rankings or standing so they can earn a small buck while doing something they love and still subsist in this world. It’s all really a shame if you ask me, but it will never change as money and greed by so few world-wide rule over all other things as we know them. It will only get worse as we’ve become complaisent to being the sheep we’ve evolved into.
Reply to David Ortman: Same here in Portland. Worlds is just a blip in The Oregonian. More info in the local blogs and the Eugene News-Register. Yahoo featured the Bolt false start but otherwise zero mainstream media exposure.
To me, T&F is the basis for most of the mainstream sports. Running, throwing, jumping, etc… The sport deserves better.
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