Russia’s Mariya Konovalova, who until 2010 was primarily a track star, set a W40 world record in the marathon in March. But oops! She’s no longer the record-holder.Runner’s World reports that Mariya, who took fifth in the 2008 Olympic 10K and 11th at 2009 IAAF worlds, “has received a two-year ban because of irregularities in her biological passport…. In addition, Konovalova’s competitive record dating to 2009 will be erased. Konovalova received the ban from the Russian athletics federation, which has been under intense scrutiny for allegedly facilitating and/or ignoring systematic use of performance-enhancing drugs by Russian athletes. The World Anti-Doping Agency is scheduled to release a report on doping in Russia on Monday.” Yeah, throw masters under the bus first. She even appears in mastersrankings.com. Read the rest of this post »
Masters official Carroll DeWeese, a recent David Pain Award winner, licked cancer. Now he’s hoping to cure what ails Birmingham. Michigan. On Tuesday he took fourth out of 13 candidates for the City Commission, a four-year gig. (See a ton of coverage.) But the commission had four openings. He got 1,492 votes and beat the fifth-place finisher by 82 votes. “This is amazing,” DeWeese was quoted as saying. “I want to thank everyone who supported my efforts to become a Birmingham city commissioner — I’m grateful for the trust and support they’ve placed in me. My wife, Pam, and I love Birmingham … it is our home.” DeWeese was known as a member of the city’s planning board. He and the three other winners were endorsed by the Birmingham Eccentric newspaper. The town of 20,000 is a northwest suburb of Detroit. “A 26-year resident, DeWeese, 71, is a retired strategic consultant at General Motors with a Ph.D. in sociology,” said another story. “If elected, DeWeese’s top priorities include better communication with residents, senior citizens and the city’s budget. ‘I want Birmingham to be the model of respect and developing consensus together to build a stronger community,’ he said.” Good for you, Carroll! Hope the city will let you have time for masters track!
Ontario masters track maven Doug “Shaggy” Smith announced Tuesday on Facebook that Toronto [update: may] seek to host the 2020 World Masters Athletics Championships. He’s already set up a FB page to promote the bid. Doug tells me he’s unlikely to be the LOC chairman. But he got the ball rolling. He hasn’t heard of any other bids. The winningsite will be chosen by the 2016 General Assembly in Perth. Toronto worlds would be a back-to-the-future event, since the first WAVA world meet was held there in 1975. Canada also hosted an indoor worlds in Kamloops in 2010. And here’s a generic tourist video Doug posted:
A smaller and gentler worlds is coming next year, according to a Western Australia report (get used to seeeing “WA” everywhere). “More than 4,000 athletes are expected to descend on WA for the World Masters Athletics Championships to be held in Perth next year,” said a local outlet. That’s half the 8,000 at Lyon this past summer. “Last Monday marked exactly one year before the tournament kicks off, which is set to be held in the Ern Clark Athletic Centre in Cannington, as well as the WA Athletics Stadium in Mt. Claremont. The WA athletics stadium will be the main stadium and will feature track events up to 3000m steeplechase, as well as jumps and throws. Ern Clark will be used for the 10,000m and 5000m run and walk events, as well as some throws.”
From left are marathoner John Gilmour, walker Lyn Ventris and middle-distance runner David Carr. Photo by Stewart Scott from Clip Media
Bob Arello, the world-class M55 thrower, responded Wednesday to my queries in the wake of his USADA warning. But his email went into my spam folder, and I didn’t see it until Sunday. Sorry. Bob writes that he’s been taking Exforge (three meds in one tablet, not HCT by itself) since around 2000 and says it was prescribed by his doctor in Massachusetts. “Since I moved to Florida full time around nine years ago,” he says, “my new doctor prescribed the same medicine since it’s been doing the trick in keeping the blood pressure low.” He also notes that he never picked up his medals from the Seattle throws nationals — so no medals to give up. “The only other med I take is B-12. I am not looking for short term results that may lead into long term health risks. I train because it’s in my DNA and it’s a stress relief (therapy) from business. I just simply like to keep fit and be goal oriented.”
M35 multi-eventer Darrin Norwood is Queensland Masters Athlete of the Year, and he has the scars to prove it. As we learn from his local paper, Darrin, an experienced personal trainer, “reflected on his major scare” at the recent Oceania Masters Athletics Championships in the Cook Islands, where he won five gold medals and a silver. “Norwood set an Oceania record of 14.33m in the shotput, just missed a new international standard in attempting 1.75m in the high jump and achieved a personal best 43.59m throw in the discus.” we learn. “His silver came in the javelin where he broke the Oceania record on his first throw. However, his campaign came to a sudden halt when Norwood pulled up in agony with one event left in the outdoor pentathlon while also contesting the long jump. ‘As I took off (in the long jump) I felt something pop high in my femur and I hit the ground,’ Norwood said. ‘I thought I dislocated my hip straight away.’ Being in excruciating pain and after seeking attention at the first-aid tent, Norwood went to hospital for X-rays. He was cleared of any bone damage or dislocation, being told he had a few torn muscles. However, on his flight home the next night, Norwood felt even more pain.”
M65 role modelRex Harvey updated Facebook with a status report Thursday on hisappendix cancer fight. It’s technical but hopeful. “Been getting calls lately about status, so I hope this will let many of you know at once,” Rex begins. “I really appreciate everyone’s thoughts and wishes, but please don’t feel obligated to respond. I know you are there for me and I’m thankful more than you can know. Went to MD Anderson Main Cancer Hospital in Houston for additional consultation and it was very enlightening and mostly good news. They see a couple thousand cancer patients a day. We met with an specialty oncology surgeon there that deals with my kind of cancer every day. He spent a lot of time with us and clarified many things. First he corrected the diagnosis which originally was that I had diffuse version.”
Aussie star Albert Gay, no relation to Tyson, won Lyon silver in the vault and bronze in the dec. Not bad for being 74 — at the top of his age group. So he’s really looking forward to 2016 Perth worlds when he’s the kid at 75. His local Aussie paper profiled him(with the lame lede: “Most people at 74 would be content with good health and a cup of tea”), but at least they do justice to his story. “I’ve got to be pleased with the results; they are the best athletes in the world,” he said. “But I have a mixed sense of satisfaction. I threw it away — you still learn, I’m still learning even at my age. It was surprising how the edge went away.” That’s what elites do — focus on flaws. You look pretty good to us, Albert!
Albert is usually too busy to sit down for a shoot. Nice pit there, though.
Twenty days ago, Jen Freemas of San Francisco set a W35 American record in the little-contested women’s decathlon. I noted that the marks weren’t exceptional. But shutmymouth! She had some good reasons. Graciously responding to my queries, she wrote: “Yes, three weeks prior to my meet I had pulled my adductor/hip flexor. So I took it light up until the meet. … I definitely needed more [rest] because I caused even more damage after just the first few events. My hip joint kept popping out of alignment causing more pain to my prior injuries. It was a painful two days!” So she has more in the tank. Never married, Jen is from the Philadelphia area and works for EXOS as a performance manager. She’s lived in the Bay area for almost three years. Her all-time 400 hurdles best is 61.31 at UMASS Amherst. At age 31 — after an eight-year track sabbatical — she ran the 400 flat in 58 seconds.
Budapest world champ Bob Arello won the throws pentathlon and super weight at masters throws nationals. (And got second in the ultrweight pent.) But he’s lost his medals, thanks to not having a TUE. USADA announced Tuesday that “Robert Arello of Sarasota, Fla., tested positive for a prohibited substance, after using a prescribed medication, and accepted a public warning for his rule violation. Arello, 56, tested positive for hydrochlorothiazide and chlorothiazide as the result of an in-competition urine sample collected August 29, 2015, at the [USATF] Masters Throws Championships in Seattle, Wash. Hydrochlorothiazide and chlorothiazide are diuretics prohibited under the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing and IAAF Anti‐Doping Rules, both of which have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List. Hydrochlorothiazide and chlorothiazide are classified as Specified Substances, and therefore their presence in an athlete’s sample can result in a reduced sanction.”
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...]
