World Masters Athletics posted a link to a report on Africans winning medals at Lyon. One is mystifying. The African masters site shows W75 Sylvie Ah Kang of Mauritius standing alone, displaying a silver medal. But for what event? Lyon results show she was DQ’d in the 80-meter hurdles, didn’t qualify for the finals in the 100 and was seventh in the 8K cross country race. No relays either for Mauritius (an island nation in the Indian Ocean). So what gives? I’m looking into this. (German masters blogger Alfred Hermes also notes a legit M55 bronze in pole vault for a Tunisian gent.)

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Hope everyone had a great Christmas, especially Steve Spence, who ran his annual sub-5 mile a couple weeks ago — his 40th in a row. But as we learned over the summer, when another sub-5 streak was noted, Nolan Shaheed has a 50-year streak going. In Runner’s World, we hear from Scott Douglas that Steve’s 4:55 mile “looks a lot more impressive when you realize the person running it set his marathon personal best in 1990, is 53 years old, and has now run a sub-5:00 mile every year since 1976. … That is the singular claim of Steve Spence. Last Friday, he ran a mile time trial on the outdoor track of Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, where he is the head cross country and assistant track coach. Paced by three of his athletes, Spence cruised through the first three laps right at 5:00 mile pace, then closed quickly to finish in 4:55.4. For the 40th consecutive year, he had run at least one sub-5:00 mile. Spence’s appears to be the longest such streak.” Well, guys, maybe not.

The American Journal of Physiology—Cell Physiology is out with a study that should make us feel good. It says our geezer muscles are better than kiddie muscles of nonathletes. The article is based on a Canadian study titled: “Reduction in single muscle fiber rate of force development with aging is not attenuated in world class older masters athletes.” Researchers took samples from male track and field athletes ranked in the top 3 of their respective events at the world masters championships. “The [masters athletes] combined held world records for the marathon (80-84y), 100m (75-79y), 100m hurdles (75-79y) and were ranked second and third for the 1500m (75-79y) and pentathlon (85-89y), respectively.” I presume the guinea pigs included Bob Lida and Ed Whitlock, but a mistake was made in referring to M75 100-meter hurdles, since those cats run the 80-meter sticks. The study [read the original] didn’t specify which world masters meet. Update: The tests were done at 2012 Finland indoor worlds, not Lyon.

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John Altendorf has been a pole vault hero of mine for years — he provides so much record fodder. He’s the listed M65 outdoor WR man at 3.89 (12-9) and indoor WR holder at 3.86 meters (12-8). And he does it all in a fire-engine-red crash helmet. Gotta love it. At long last, he’s been recognized by the USATF Masters T&F Hall of Fame Committee. He joins such legendary vaulters as Nadine O’Connor, Jim Vernon, Leonore McDaniels and Boo Morcom. Now 69, John responded to my queries Dec. 11.

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Every year, track stars dominate the results of the USATF National Club Cross Country Championships. So again this year, Dec. 12, our top trackfolk were winners at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Nothing tells their story better than the images by Dave Albo. “My photography mission … afforded me a front row view of what went down, especially the masters races, particularly the overall winners of each race,” Dave writes on his blog. Like all great sports photographers, Dave doesn’t quit when someone crosses the finish line. He keeps shooting. Check out his galleries.

I confess I’ve been a pain in George Mathews’ butt in the past, especially when he was national chairman of the USATF Masters T&F Committee before our current czar Gary Snyder. But I’ve always admired his dedication to putting on top-flight events and competing at a world-class level. He’s a hammer specialist. So I was delighted to see him gain Hall of Fame recognition. He responded to my queries and shared a photo from Lyon worlds, where he was M70 bronze winner in the weight throw.

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I wrote USADA last week, asking if the doping cops had a count of how many masters tracksters have applied for TUEs — therapeutic use exemptions. Friday, a spokesman named Ryan Madden responded. He couldn’t give me a breakdown by sport or age group. But the report he references was revealing. It said that in 2014, only 275 people in all sports and age groups had been granted TUEs. I suspect masters track might account for no more than a few dozen. When you see the chart, note that “IF” stands for International Federation. “Those are cases in which an application for a TUE was received by USADA, but USADA did not have jurisdiction, so the application was then sent to the appropriate International Federation for processing, after which the IF reported their decision to USADA,” Ryan writes. Meanwhile, a friend wrote me about a key website for checking ingredients: supplement411.org.

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USATF doesn’t do justice to its Masters Hall of Famers — especially in recognizing new classes. Indy just releases the names. So last week I sent queries to the new HofFamers, and I’ll post their responses here. First up: Oscar Peyton, of Accokeek, Maryland, the hero of skinny sprinters everywhere. He replied Dec. 9.

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Two-time Olympian Gabre Gabric, a star of Jan Tenhaven’s masters track documentary “Autumn Gold,” died Wednesday in her hometown of Brescia, Italy, Jan reports on his website. Gabre was 101. “She passed away very peacefully late this morning,” he writes. “She had suffered a stroke but did not even realize. She had been at the hospital a few days without regaining conscience,” granddaughter told me. “In my theatrical documentary AUTUMN GOLD, Gabre was one of the five main characters. Her high age was rather marginal to her. Whenever she went off to train the senior citizens at the local gym, she referred to them as “the older people” – although she could have well been their mother. I am very sad that she is gone, but at the same time very grateful that I had the privilege to meet her. With her Italian charm, sharp mind and great sense of humor, she put smiles on festival and cinema goers as well as TV viewers all around the world. Thank you, Gabre! Your ‘German grandson’ (as you used to say).” She was mother-in-law of short hurdler Eddy Ottoz and grandmother of Olympic hurdler Laurent Ottoz.

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Another mcom exclusive! Kay Glynn, W60 vaulter and hurdler, shares her 8th annual Christmas Card from Iowa. She writes: “This is not an optical illusion or fancy Photoshopping.  It’s just a coordination of body parts; although at 62, some body parts are getting to be less cooperative!” After a long recovery from hip surgery, she’s headed for another: “I will be getting my other hip resurfaced down in South Carolina in January — same arthritis issue. This time I didn’t have to do the research. I know what works. I’ve had two birthdays since my last hip resurfacing, and my right hip is working great!” Here, Kay performs holiday routines with Something to Tap About at the Oak View Mall in Omaha on Dec. 13, 2015. Average age of the ladies is 53.

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