Tom Gage, masters hammer great, faces heart surgery
Masters thrower and former USATF Masters T&F chair George Mathews writes: “I would ask all our friends to pray for a successful operation this Thursday for Olympian Tom Gage at The Mayo Clinic.Tom is having open heart surgery to repair an aneurysm in his ascending aorta. Early prognosis is that Tom should be up and running as good as or better than ever in six months.” Tom, who is about 65 now, is a former world masters champion in the hammer and weight pentathlon who still holds several world and American age-group records. Glenn Thompson conducted this great interview with Tom nearly 10 years ago. We wish him a complete and speedy recovery.
Seattle TV station profiles M95 thrower Leon Joslin
Leon Joslin is having a blast at 96, throwing heavy objects and getting heavy coverage from local media. In January, the Seattle Times gave Leon some pop. (Eleven years earlier, it featured him as well.) Now it’s TV’s turn, with Channel 5 (KING) airing a 3-minute feature on Leon this past Thursday. You can see it here. Also starring in the clip is the the West Seattle hammer cage created by former USATF Masters T&F chairmen Ken Weinbel and George Mathews for the Seattle Masters AC. In September, the site will play host to the USATF Masters Weight and Superweight Championships and the Ultra Weight Pentathlon Championships. My money is on Leon to win all the M95 titles.
Wolfgang Ritte raises M55 vault record yet again: 15-1!
Germany’s Wolfgang Ritte this season became the oldest man to vault 14 feet. Stop the presses. Yesterday, he upped his M55 world record to 4.60 meters (15-1). And Wolfie’s wife, Ute, joined the fun — clearing 2.85 (9-4 1/4) for a W55 European record, breaking the best of 2.81 (9-2 1/2) set by U.S.-based Hillen von Maltzahn at Charlotte nationals in 2006. On the Age-Graded Tables, Wolfgang’s latest leap is equivalent to an Open (ages 20-30) jump of 6.27 meters (20-6 3/4). Unbelievable. At the 1999 Gateshead world masters championships, Wolfie won M45 with 4.78 (15-8 1/2).
Hartwig loses his vault AR but lifts his M40 world record
Jeff Hartwig watched fellow American Brad Walker erase his American record in the vault today at the Pre Classic in Eugene. (Brad topped 19-9 3/4). “He came up and gave me a big hug,” Walker said of Hartwig in the Portland Oregonian. “He said it was some of the best jumping he had ever seen me take. That means a lot from a guy who has jumped with Sergey Bubka.” But Jeff still had a good day, upping his own M40 world outdoor record to 5.60 meters (18-4 1/2). M35 Derek Miles was second at 5.80 (19-0 1/2) — short of Jeff’s listed WR of 5.86.
Neni Lewis and M80 Tom Rice featured in weekend papers
You know Neni Lewis, our superstar W45 thrower. Now the readers of the Reading Eagle in Pennsylvania do, too. This story published this weekend profiles her career, which began as a sprinter. Meanwhile over in Philly, the Inquirer tells the story of M80 multi-eventer Tom Rice, who boasts a blue folding chair he takes to meets: “The chair is covered with almost 40 signatures — all written in black marker — of competitors, friends and teachers he’s met at various competitions.” Now that’s a treasure! (And a world-class idea, too!)
‘Sizzle reel’ of ‘T.R.A.C.K. Live!’ pretty much fizzles
Beggars can’t be choosers. So I suppose we should be grateful for the 1½-minute teaser video prepared after the Las Vegas meet of “T.R.A.C.K. Live!” — the masters track reality game show under production. But the so-called “sizzle reel” now posted on the show’s Web site is an embarrassment. Amid kitschy background percussion, a male voice intones: “This summer, 52 aging athletes . . . wearing the insignias of their high school alma mater. . . . compete in a grueling battle to make it to the finals. . . . and save the integrity of the sport.” Oy vey! Can it get any cheesier?
Pair share training logs at National Masters News Web site
Liz Palmer and Randy Sturgeon, tag-team loggers
|
Publisher Randy Sturgeon and fellow Californian Liz Palmer have begun posting their weekly training logs at the National Masters News site — with Randy’s log called “The Road to Spokane” and Liz’s diary labeled “Working Up to Spokane.” Liz writes: “My mantra this year is ‘more rest, less stress.’ I went into the 2006 and 2007 outdoor national championship meets with injuries each year, and I want to be 100% and at the top of my form in Spokane.” This is a welcome addition, but the format is behind the curve.
M35 Dragutin Topic tops 7-5 outdoors, but WR is still 7-1?
Serbian high jumper Dragutin Topic cleared 2.27 meters (7-5 1/4) yesterday at a meet in Greece. He’s 37, but don’t look for him in the world age-group records. As I’ve mentioned previously (and incessantly), the M35 world record is listed as 2.16 (7-1) by Russia’s Viktor Bolshov way back in 1974. Dragutin jumped 2.30 (7-6 1/2) indoors this season, but the 2.27 matches his best outdoor mark as an M35. Olympic champion Charles Austin also jumped 2.30 post-35. So the Bolshov record remains an embarrassment for WMA. Geeze, guys, get some sense!
Newbies seek guidance as debut track meets loom
Nevada sportswriter Joey Crandall has announced his goal: running in July and August all-comers meets. He’s apparently well short of masters age, but he cites us in his column. (He admits that he’s just learned that you’re supposed to run on your toes.) But he’s the tip of the iceberg when it comes to novices seeking masters info. Another is someone calling himself/herself stooperduck — who wrote on our Forum: “I have my first meet in 2 weeks. I never ran track before. I’ve never even been to a meet. I have no idea what I am supposed to do. Where do I go at the times of my events? Where do I go to warm up? What do I wear?” These folks are a big slice of our future — utter newbies to track. How can USATF best welcome them?
Latest Don Quixote of the Trials: M35 Paul Stoneham
Paul Stoneham (no relation) of Fort Worth, Texas, hopes to run the 10,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials at the end of this month. Paul is 37 and has some good credits: He ran 29:11 six years ago. But the Eugene qualifying standard is 28:15 (or be in the top 24 on the U.S. list, which is now sub-28:42). Good luck. But you know me. I’m a sucker for impossible dreams. “I would be something you would call the darkest of dark horses,” Paul told his local paper. “I think if I didn’t have a chance at all, I wouldn’t be doing this. I’m putting my confidence in not so much what I can do, but what God can do through me.”
