A few days ago, a sprinter friend pointed out that two American silver medalists in the 400 at Riccione didn’t compete for Team USA in the 4×4 relays the final day at worlds. He noted that M40 Robert Thomas (the American indoor record holder) and M50 Thomas Jones weren’t on the U.S. quartets that fell short of gold in the relays. Here’s the M40 relay result, and here’s the M50 relay result. Today, USA team manager Phil Greenwald replied to my query, saying: “Robert Thomas was, if I recall correctly, on the declaration for the 4×400 (I know he was on the 4×100). That morning, he told me that due to an injury in his foot, he would not be able to run.”

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In late June, I wrote about the cancellation of the track meet portion of the 2007 San Diego Senior Olympics. Not only was this an outrage, but it also threatened qualifiers for the 2008 California Senior Olympics — which feeds the 2009 National Senior Olympics (set for the S.F. Bay Area). So I wrote a honcho at the California Senior Olympics, and this week she got back to me with a definitive ruling. Cynthia Rosedale, coordinator of the California Senior Games Championships, wrote me: “We will not deny participation in any sport in the 2008 State Championships. All events will be held in the Pasadena area between June 7-22.”

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Gary Hunter is over 16 again. Again jumping at the Paul Babits pole vault facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Gary went 16-1 (4.91 metrically, I assume) on Saturday to raise his own M50 world record from 16-0 of a couple weeks ago, according to the results Web site. Paul, an M45 vaulter, also went 16-1 — perhaps the first time that two masters vaulters have cleared 16 in the same competition. This makes at least four world records for Gary this year, including one set at the Orono masters nationals in August. Take a break, Gary! Save something for the Olympic season.

Rome Olympian Carmelo Rado has owned his event in Italy since the 1960s.

Our hero Al Oerter is gone, but his event — and contemporaries — go on. Word arrived yesterday that at an Italian masters meet Sunday, a 1960 Olympic rival of Oerter’s named Carmelo Rado threw the 1-kilogram discus 55.27 meters (181-4) for a mammoth M70 world record. Carmelo is 74. According to Rosa Marchi and this report, Carmelo called it the “launch of his life.” He demolished the listed M70 record of 49.92 (163-9) by Finland’s Veikko Ryyti two years ago. Carmelo has been a masters thrower for decades. At the 1985 world masters championships in Rome, he won M50 bronze with a 2-kilo toss of 49.90 (163-8). Carmelo took seventh in the 1960 Rome Olympics and in 1961 was Italian national champion the year after Adolfo Consolini.

Al Oerter once said: “These are the Olympics. You die for them.”

Al Oerter died today. I learned this, thankfully, from a T&FN link to his alma mater’s Web site. It’s like a family member’s passing. You’d rather hear it from a loved one than a stranger. Al, of course, is legendary for lots of reasons — winning four straight Olympic golds despite being an underdog every time, with injuries that would cripple a mere mortal. Garry Hill, editor of Track & Field News, is among many posting their appreciations. His most incredible performances came at age 43, however — as he trained for the 1980 Olympic Trials. The New York Times obituary says he competed as recently as age 61.

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Philadelphia’s Kevin Forde, 43, was the top over-40 miler Saturday at the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York City. He outkicked Tom Nohilly, 4:25 to 4:30 in 73-degree weather. But perhaps the top masters male was Anselm LeBourne of Maplewood, New Jersey, 48, who won his age group with a 4:29 — worth a 3:59, or 93% on the Age-Graded Tables. The top W40 miler was Deborah Gaebler of Irvington, New York, who edged Laura DiMarino of New York City, 5:26 to 5:27. Eve Pell, 70 — who came all the way from Greenbrae, California– had the top women’s age-graded time of 7:04, worth an open 4:26 or 94.5% on the AGT. But the athlete we most want to emulate was Abe Weintraub, who at age 97 was the oldest entrant. He clocked 18:49.

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Today was to be the day Jeff Hartwig ended Larry Jessee’s reign of error by erasing the Texan’s listed M40 world record in the pole vault. Instead, the weather erased the event. The IAAF reports from rain-plagued Yokohama: “The event most affected by the weather, of course, was the pole vault. In the women’s event, the reigning World Youth champion Vicky Parnov of Australia won with a relatively low height of just 4.00; of the five vaulters entered the competition, Parnov was the lone vaulter to clear the opening height. The men fared even worse; all vaulters contesting the event, including American Jeff Hartwig and Japan’s Daichi Sawano failed to clear a height.” Oh well. Back to the States and a chance at exceeding 5.50 (18-0 1/2). Hey, I know! Go to El Paso and challenge Larry!

My wife recently got her gold medal in the mail. Chris was a member of the national champion 4×1 relay in the W50 age group at the Orono masters nationals. But that Sunday in August she was dismayed to learn meet management had run out of golds by the time relays came around. This was deja vu all over again. Five years earlier, they told Chris they didn’t have ribbons either. (Chris had won sixth place in the W45 200-meter dash under a brutal sun.) In 2002, meet organizers neglected to order ribbons, meet director Rolland Ranson told me. So the good news is this: If you have a gold medal coming, write to Rolland and give him your snail address.

Briton Fran Scott and American Robert Thomas are brothers. Maybe not biologically, but in spirit. Both are in their 40s and run the 400. Fast. Fran won a 4×4 gold in Riccione. Robert won silvers in the 2 and 4. But what really unites them is their dedication to the sport and how they’ve overcome obstacles to pursue their solitary passions. In Fran’s case, it’s liver cancer. In Robert’s, it’s living without a full-time income. Check out Fran’s story in the South Manchester Reporter and Robert’s story in the Indianapolis Star.

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The Riccione results site is still alive and kicking. But just in case the local organizers decide to pull the plug, I’ve downloaded all results and created a single, 10-megabyte file containing 2,258 pages — all results (heats, semis and finals) for all events and age groups. Whew! Just click here to see it. But be aware that this file also contains “revised” results pages. Thankfully, you can search this PDF and figure out what is kosher or not. Please let me know if I’ve boogered up this file. I did it on the fly. In any case, I think everything is here — every race, throw and jump. You also can download your age group singly from the site. Ciao!