Time to comb IAAF Top Lists for masters records
Track season is well behind us, and the IAAF Top Lists beckon. A treasure trove of marks, these seasonal rankings should be mined for masters records. Now that M35 is an official age group in World Masters Athletics, it behooves the powers that be to peruse said lists. In just one 10-second sweep of the men’s high jump list, I found a potential M35 world record: Colombia’s Gilmar Mayo, born Sept. 9, 1969, is credited with a jump of 2.26 (7-5) on August 20, 2005. That far exceeds the listed WMA record of 2.16 (7-1) by Russia’s Viktor Bolshov in June 1974.
Closer to home, American Jeff Hartwig (born 9/25/67) has a vault of 5.65 (18-6 1/2) this past season. The listed M35 record in WMA? Greek Christos Papanikolaou’s 5.30 (17-4 1/2) dating to 1977.
And what about the 3:33.83 for 1500 by Kenya’s Laban Rotich? He was 36 when he ran that time in September 2005. The WMA lists the M35 record as 3:33.91 by Kenya’s Mike Boit in 1985.
Given that many of these M35 records are long in the tooth, it’s possible that better jumps and 1500s have been recorded by guys over 35.
Who’s minding the store?
