Slam dunk for USATF Athlete of the Week: W80 Irene Obera
With no other major meet to distract USATF attention, the folks in Indy named Irene Obera as its Athlete of the Week “after her outstanding performance at the USATF Masters Indoor Championships Friday, March 20-22 at JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Obera (Fremont, California) set multiple records including two world records and three American records. She became the first woman over 80 to complete an indoor pentathlon, recording 3,817 points for her first world record mark of the weekend. She set the next record in the 60-meter hurdles with her time of 13.76, and Obera’s three American records came in the long jump (2.72m/8-11.25), high jump (1.02m/3-4) and 800 meters (4:49.74).” She’s the third masters trackster so honored this year — after Anselm LeBourne and Mary Norckauer. Mazel tov, Irene!
Irene wins at Sacramento worlds — adding to legend to continue in Lyon.
USATF continued:
“The harder the event is, the more satisfaction [I get],” she said. “I’ve had a number of records and they’re nice, and it means that you’ve got the best time of anyone. I’m better if I don’t tell myself the record and just do the best I can. Then I’m always amazed that I broke a record.”
Obera is no stranger to having her name in the history books. Her performances this weekend culminated in her ninth American record and eighth world record. She is the reigning USATF Masters Athlete of the Year.
Other notable performances this week included:
Ty Brown (Washington, D.C.) set an M70 World record in the 60mH with his time of 9.44 at USATF Masters Indoor Championships to break the existing record of 9.76.
Kenton Brown (Austin, Texas) set an M75 World record in the 60mH at USATF Masters Indoor Championships, where he ran 8.18, which was .02 faster than previous record of 8.20.
Now in its 14th year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on www.usatf.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
2015 Winners: January 15, Chris Derrick; January 21, Demi Payne; January 28, Casimir Loxsom; February 4, Anselm LeBourne; February 11, Jenny Simpson; February 18, Brycen Spratling; February 25, Maksim Korolev; March 4, Shannon Rowbury; March 11, Mary Norckauer; March 18, Daloria Boone; March 25, Irene Obera.
7 Responses
Congratulations to the wonderful Irene; I certainly enjoyed announcing her on all three days. In the sprints she has the form of someone four decades younger, someone with a wonderful, very athletic style, that is.
I was very impressed with Ty Brown and Kenton Brown, both of whom are mentioned above.
Ty Brown absolutely spanked Rolf Geese’s listed mark in the hurdles of 9.76 seconds — any time you crush a record by essentially a third of a second in a short race you are doing something amazing.
Kenton Brown, it should be noted, is in M70, not M75 as in the article, and he ran the 60 dash, not the 60 hurdles. Given all the great sprinters who came before him or who are currently competing in M70 (such as Steve Robbins, Roger Pierce, and Joe Johnson), it is a bit of a shock (to me) for Kenton Brown to become the first man in recorded history to break 8.20 at age 70 or older.
I would love to see an interview with Dr. Brown (a psychiatrist) to learn how he got to this singular place in our sport.
Hey Brian Hankerson ,was the man at the 2015 championships
Hankerson won m55 60meters,the pents,the long jump and
Two relays.
Brian was pretty awesome I would have to agree with you Marcus!
It was a pleasure photographing Irene in Winston-Salem during her extraordinary performances. She has the calm, concentration and graciousness of a true champion. I look forward to photographing her when she takes on the world in Lyon.
Marcus (posts 2 and 3): The sole criterion used by USATF in deciding who would be in its press releases was setting a record (or records) at the meet. I tried to interest USATF in some of our non-record-setting athletes, but they held to their criterion, with just one exception, as far as I recall.
Ben James, who did not set a record, was mentioned in one release because he won a race and is a cancer survivor.
Thanks Peter
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