Responding to my incessant queries, WMA President Stan Perkins graciously shares what he knows about the Asian Masters Athletics Championships, now completed, in Rugao, China. He says the 100s are over, and India’s W100 celebrity sprinter Man Kaur was a no-show. Stan writes: “I have spoken with the Indian Team management and they have not heard any further from her family and assume she did not come. Today is the last day of competition and this is mainly relays plus some throwing events. I have been trying desperately to get the results so that I could get them onto the WMA website. No luck. Everything is processed in Chinese and then translated into English, but I cannot find anyone to provide me with the results so that I can email them on. I was warned that this area of China had little English, but it has been worse than I anticipated. Certainly they have tried hard to supply interpreters and I have always had one nearby, but when it comes to getting the officialdom co-operation, well that has been another story. There does not seem to be an awareness that the rest of the world would like to know what is happening within this region. Something to work on in the future.” But at least we see China led the medal standings. (And the USA is listed with zero medals. Which Yank(s) competed?)
Until this week, M60 sprinter Joe Ruggless was planning only to step down as leader of the Southern California Striders. But after his unfiltered Facebook post circulated via this blog and email, he’s decided to quit the masters track club all together. “The board [had] asked me to stay on another term to help bring someone else on and help train to be the next president,” he told me Tuesday via email. “With that possibility out the window now, I am asking you to post on your blog that I officially resign as president of the Striders so that we can put this to bed. Please post that ‘My political beliefs and statements in no way reflect the beliefs or opinions of the Southern California Striders, and that I sincerely apologize to anyone my posted comment may have offended.’” He attached his letter of resignation to the general club membership.
Looks like China didn’t want its centenarians overshadowed by India’s centenarian. That’s my take on the latest politics-infects-sports story: “The last four months have seen 101-year-old Chandigarh athlete Man Kaur shift base to Punjabi University, Patiala, along with her 79-year-old son Gurdev Singh, to train for the Asian Masters Athletics Championships to be held in Rubao, China, which begin on Tuesday. However, Kaur, who won the 100m gold medal in the 100+ category at the World Masters Games in New Zealand in April, was the only Indian athlete denied visa by the Chinese Embassy.” Then we hear her own voice: “Mera kam hai daudna aur main eh kam kardi rawange (My task is to run and I will continue running). We had come to Delhi last week and submitted our visa application along with the letter of Indian Masters Athletics Association. On Friday, the Chinese Embassy officials told us that they have denied us the visa for the Asian Masters Championships. But I am physically and mentally ready for the events and such disappointments cannot deter me,” Kaur told The Indian Express.
Striders teammates [from left] Joe Ruggless, Greg Pizza and Damien Leake are rivals and friends.
Joe Ruggless, a national-class M60 sprinter, is president of the Southern California Striders, a diverse club of champion masters athletes. Over the weekend, Joe posted [and apparently deleted] a 685-word defense of Donald Trump’s condemnation of NFL players who “take a knee” during the playing of the national anthem. The president said at an Alabama rally: “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he’s fired. He’s fired.’You know, some owner is going to do that. He’s going to say, ‘That guy that disrespects our flag, he’s fired.’ And that owner, they don’t know it [but] they’ll be the most popular person in this country.” I take high exception with Trump’s beliefs. Many pro athletes (and NFL team owners) have said so as well. But Joe has a right to freely express his own thoughts, grounded in his own lived life. To celebrate the First Amendment — which Colin Kaepernick and Joe Ruggless have equal right to exercise — and to shed light on the mind-set of one Trump supporter, I’m reposting Joe’s note.
Africa, Europe and NCCWMA (us) have held WMA regional meets this year. Now it’s Asia’s turn. For the next five days, “more than 1,900 masters athletes from 20 countries and regions will gather in Rugao [China] to display their skills to the full” at the Asian Masters Athletics Championships, says an LOC press release. “Therein, the oldest and the youngest athletes are respectively 101 and 35 years old. Three centenarians from the host city Rugao will also be present at the competition. … As a well-known ‘Longevity County in the World,’ Rugao is now resided by 385 centenarians as a county (city) enjoying the most population of centenarians in China. This city has successfully hosted the 10th and 16th National Masters Athletics.” China already leads the medal standings (as if I care). But it’s hard to unearth results (which I care about, just in case an M60 sprinter exists in the world slower than moi.) Opening Ceremonies are Sunday at the Rugao Olympic Sports Center, “which enjoys topics of ‘Longevity’ and ‘Always in Happiness’ and embraces nearly 3,000 actors who are going to perform at the ceremony.” A cozy little gathering in the town of 1.5 million.
Site of Asian masters meet in Rugao, city with lots of M100/W100 folks.
Hurricane Maria, destroying power to Puerto Rico for months, is a catastrophe for the island. It brings to mind the fifth and 15th World Masters Athletics Championships — held in San Juan and Carolina in 1983 and 2003. Forty world records were set in the first visit and 27 the second. Al Sheahen’s account of the 1983 disaster remains the most honest and courageous meet report in history. It spares nobody. But it also celebrates the resiliency of visiting officials who righted a sinking ship and the friendliness of the people (even with the reported muggings). Many masters athletes have friends and family in P.R., and who knows the status of stadiums where 400 mainland Americans competed in 1983 and many more 20 years later. We hope the Roberto Clemente Sports Complex in Carolina and Sixto Escobar Stadium in San Juan will someday see age-groupers again excel. For now, life down there is brutal. Hope we hear soon from y’all.
Jerry Wojcik covered 2003 Puerto Rico worlds, far better than the 1983 fiasco.
After claiming six individual medals at Daegu worlds and a handful more at the Auckland World Masters Games, W50 multi-eventer Geraldine Finnegan of Ireland was still hungry for more. How hungry? Try competing in 14 events over two days. Her local paper reports that she won her age group at a Belgian tetradecathlon, and set a world record as well: 10,250 points. (Events are shown in graphic below.) She beat the old listed record by 500 points, we’re told. “Geraldine claimed a clean sweep in all but one of the events. Unfortunately, she was beaten by one-tenth of a second in the 200m sprint,” the paper said. We forgive you, Geraldine. She’s been on our radar before, of course, having served a two-month doping suspension after taking a nasal decongestant with a banned substance at 2010 Kamloops indoor worlds. But her latest outing — August 26-27 in Turnhout, Belgium — is nothing to sneeze at.
The International Association of Ultra Multievents is in charge of records.
World-class W45 sprinter Emma McGowan posed a question on the USATF Masters Facebook page that deserves attention: “Who thinks it would be a great idea to have a podium ceremony at all indoor and outdoor Masters Championships? Great suggestion or not?” My reaction: “Many meets schedule awards ceremonies near the track, but not stopping competition. The problem is herding cats. It’s hard enough to find ways to allow all athletes to enter multiple events. Adding ceremonies — when athletes may already be competing — is a logistical nightmare. Having ceremonies after completion of all events is an option, but has its own downsides.” What’s your take? In any case, entries are now being accepted for 2018 Landover indoor nationals, which is becoming part of a regular rotation for our prime undercover meet. Here’s Emma, no stranger to podiums:
The San Diego Senior Games celebrated its 30th anniversary track meet Sunday at San Diego Mesa College, and Jim Waters graciously shared results, below. (I missed taking pictures, having gone to bed at 2 a.m. helping photojournalist wife prepare photo gallery of the local ritzy music festival.) Was impressed by the sub-30 200 by former KU long jumper Stan Whitley at age 72 and the 13.77 100 and 28.28 200 by W50 former world champ Colleen Barney. And one-time 400 world champ Jim Chinn burned a 12.77 100 at age 59. Linda Cohn, who turns 65 in December, threw the javelin 34.62 (113-7). The listed W65 WR is 32.02 (105-1) by Weia Reinboud. M60 Ralph Fruguglietti (another world champ) threw the discus 53.83 (176-7), with the AR being 59.52 (195-3). And M50 Cameron Bolles heaved the platter 59.96 (196-09). Al Oerter has the M50 AR of 62.74 (205-10).
Wataru Fukuoka re-enacts his starting pistol action the day after Japanese record.
On Sept. 9, Yoshihide Kiryu became the first Japanese sprinter to go sub-10 in the 100-meter dash. He’s 21, but that’s not the story. Yoshi’s 9.98 had an aiding wind of 1.8 mps — just under the legal limit of 2.0. And for that the starter is credited — an M45 masters athlete. The local paper reported: “Before firing the starting gun for Kiryu’s race, starter Wataru Fukuoka, 46, set about checking the wind speed carefully. … Upon looking at the indicator, he noticed that the wind flow seemed to be switching regularly between fast and slow. Picking up on this pattern, he decided to shout out ‘on your marks’ at a point where the wind was blowing quickly. The wind then died down, and Fukuoka started the race. He managed to time it perfectly.” Nice job, Wataru! That’s how to help the kiddies.
Ken has followed track as an athlete, writer and web-master since the late 1960s, and saw most sessions of track and field at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He also attended the 1988, 1992, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Trials, the last three as a blogger and Patch correspondent. [More...]
September 26, 2017
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