WMA weather a crapshoot for sprinters
Poor Irene Betancourt of Puerto Rico. She was fourth in her W55 100 prelims heat yesterday at WMA worlds but failed to advance to the next round. Yet in the previous heat, the No. 8 finisher advanced. Since advancement was based on time, what’s the problem? Well, Irene ran into a 5.7 meters per second headwind, while the previous heat was run into a 0.3 headwind. What’s the dif? About 12 mph! Are some sprinters getting the shaft in Carolina? Seems so. Wind readings ranged from 5.7 headwind (12.7 mph) to a 4.3 tailwind (9.6 mph).
If yesterday’s wind readings are an indication, your sprint heat may have more to do with your advancing than your sprint speed. I’ll bet some sprinters are howling over the unfairness of having their headwind qualifying times compared with tailwind marks in adjacent heats.
From yesterday’s prelims we see:
W55 100 Meter Dash:
Heat 1: (w: -0.3)
Heat 2: (w: -0.3)
Heat 3: (w: -5.7)
M40 100 Meter Dash:
Heat 1: (w: 3.7)
Heat 2: (w: 2.6)
Heat 3: (w: 3.2)
Heat 4: (w: 0.1)
M45 100 Meter Dash:
Heat 1: (w: -0.8)
Heat 2: (w: 4.3)
Heat 3: (w: 0.1)
Heat 4: (w: 0.1)
M50 100 Meter Dash:
Heat 1: (w: 0.6)
Heat 2: (w: -1.1)
Heat 3: (w: 1.7)
Heat 4: (w: -1.0)
Heat 5: (w: -1.0)
M55 100 Meter Dash:
Heat 1: (w: -0.9)
Heat 2: (w: -2.7)
Heat 3: (w: -3.3)
Heat 4: (w: -1.0)
Heat 5: (w: 0.6)
M65 100 Meter Dash:
Heat 1: (w: 1.3)
Heat 2: (w: 2.9)
Heat 3: (w: -1.1)
Heat 4: (w: 1.0)
Heat 5: (w: -1.2)
Yesterday’s 100 semis show the difference between a fair flight and an unfair one:
M40 100 Meter Dash Semi-Finals:
Heat 1: (w: 1.4)
Heat 2: (w: 1.4)
(All’s fair in this age group.)
But check out M45 100 Meter Dash:
Heat 1: (w: 2.4)
4. Konopka, Matthias, Germany, 11.89q;
5. Smart, Eric, Great Britain, 11.92;
Heat 2: (w: 0.1)
4. Evans, Hubert, United States, 12.11q;
5. Taylor, Macdonald, U.S. Virgin Isla, 12.39;
6. Westerband, Sergio, Puerto Rico, 12.41;
(Thus: Eric Smart didn’t advance to the M45 finals with his 11.92, but Hubert Evans did advance with his 12.11.)
Luck will be more a factor in the semifinals, where top four in each heat advance — instead of by time.
Meanwhile, here’s the forecast for today (Saturday) in Carolina, Puerto Rico: Partly cloudy. Isolated showers. Highs around 88. East winds 15 to 20 mph. Sunday: Breezy. Mostly cloudy early in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. Numerous showers and isolated thunderstorms in the morning then scattered showers in the afternoon. Highs around 88. Chance of rain 60 percent.
Haven’t heard any eyewitness reports on the weather, but I’m confident it ain’t anywhere as nice as 1999 Gateshead or 2001 Brisbane. Rain, wind and high humidity at least prevent a repetition of the 1983 WAVA world meet in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where distance runners especially were falling to heat-related illnesses.
