January to march of every year, is the time of year track and field’s fan base turn their attention to the indoor circuit. A format of the sport that started in the 1800s in England by the upper class, indoor running is of course a different challenge to  outdoors and managed to create its own set of legends.

Today we will be focusing on a few of those, specifically as we look on the progression of the men’s indoor 200 meter world record.

IAAF, now known as world Athletics, started ratifying world records in 1987, meaning under their standards, the first world record was set in 1987, however, the first known world record was set in 1901 by Maxie Long who ran 22.6 seconds while competing in New York city. Long at 22 year s old coming of a 400m gold at the Paris Olympics a year prior. This record stood on the book for 18 years.

 Athletics had no centralized record ratification at the time, especially with the manual timing system being used around those era it became difficult. That said, during the manual timing era, the record was broken 10 times over the span of 83 years.

In 1972, the electronic timing era began, but it was not until February 1, 1984 that the world record was lowered, and it was done so by  German sprinter Ralph Lubke, who in Stuttgart dashed to 20.67 seconds. Interesting enough, this location became a place where fast 200m times were run indoors, tying with new York for having three indoor world records.A year later Lubke would make it 4, as he once again showed up in Stuttgart to lower the world record once again to 20.57 seconds.

Lubke’s record breaking form indoors unlike his previous counter parts who had record breaking performances came off the back off a strong 200m ability outdoors, as at the time he broke the world record, he was already the 5^th fastest German ever in the 200m.

His reign as the fastest ever indoors came to an end only two years later though, as Stefan Tili, the guy who was seemingly the replacement for Pietro Mennea, dropped it to 20.52 seconds. Stefan was an absolute beast in Italian sprinting at this point, winning multiple national championships, along with a world championship silver in the 4 by 1 relay, and 60m European title. As good as he was, the record was not to be lowered by him again, but it would remain in Europe, when Bruno Marie Rose stormed to 20.36 seconds  to win the 1987 European indoor championships, defending his home turf. His indoor 200m skill was well renowned because despite his sub-par outdoor 200m skills, he was able to grab a silver medal at the world indoors, that same year.

Such a time proved difficult to take down, with quite a number of high profile sprinters failing to surpass the mark. None greater than Michael Johnson who could only drop a time of  20.55 in 1991.

It was not until 1995 that British sprint legend, Linford Christie took down the mark on the same track, winning a french indoor meet in a time 20.25 seconds. This was another major step, because the record once again remained in Europe, which pointed to something, either the more advanced indoor tracks, or the amount of indoor work done by these sprinters due to the winter conditions in these countries. This question had to be asked, because we are looking at was a 19 year hold on the record by European territories, even with the growing popularity of indoor running inside the united states that began with the NCAA indoor championships that started in 1965.

That said, just a year later Frankie Fredericks would put on what still is the greatest display of indoor 200m sprinting, as he stormed to 19.92 seconds in France, bringing the record outside of Europe for the first time since 1974, and gave Africa it’s own sprinting record. He was a high profile athlete outdoors, gathering multiple Olympic medals, world championship medals, and also going indoors to win a world title.

That record is still standing, 27 years strong, and he still remains the only man to go under 20 seconds in the event, and with the increase in high profile athletes competing indoors you would think there would be a challenge by now, but that race was a once in a lifetime, he was on the fastest indoor track in the world with strong competition at the absolute peak of his career.

Trayvon Bromell now Hot favorite for Gold in Tokyo ?

                             Trayvon Bromell now Hot favorite for Gold in Tokyo ?

   

It's almost crazy to think that 5 months ago we were all so certain that the Tokyo Games will be a 2 man show in the sprints, with Coleman and Lyles battling over supremacy over both the 100m and 200m. Now we are facing a Whole new dilemma less than a year prior to the opening ceremony of the postponed Tokyo Games, as it seems Trayvon Bromell is hot favorite for gold in the 100m.

The last time we saw Bromell prior to 2020, was at the Sprint series in 2019 where he finished 5th in the preliminaries, then failed to even finish the Final. So when he showed up in 2020 in spanking form it is something that still has the athletics community amazed. Just when we thought 2020 might go down as a year we want to forget, there goes Bromell with his 3 consecutive sub 10 clockings in less than 3 weeks, and if that was not enough he defeated the current 200m world champion Noah Lyles in a time 9.90 seconds.

Keep in mind, that 9.90 is still the fastest time by a 100m athlete for the Calendar year, and the second fastest overall, only behind Michael Norman's freakish 9.86 seconds. So it seems Bromell is currently favorite for Tokyo, that is unless Norman decides to run the 100m at the Olympics. 

Coronavirus affects Tokyo Marathon, Will it affect the Tokyo Games ?

The Corona Virus has been a hotly debated topic since the disease's major outbreak in January. And for fans of The Olympic Games, their biggest question is, will it affect the Tokyo Games? 

The short answer is a certain yes, but not in the way we think. The corona virus since the Outbreak arose in China, is still not fully understood by scientists, many of whom just hoping that it behaves like a normal flu.  Some even quite uncertain, as to whether or not it will be under control by august.

Despite all the trouble with the Virus Outbreak in Various countries, mostly China, the Japanese prime Minister at one point stated that they have no intention of postponing the Olympic Games. This might be due to the fact that Japan had to cancel the 1940 Olympic Games because of the world War. The games that was originally set to be hosted in Tokyo, was then given to Finland.

Things have taken a turn though, as one person has passed due to the virus and approximately 70 others are infected inside the Tokyo regions. So meanwhile the International Olympic committee and the Japanese government try their best to remain unphased by the fact that this will eventually affect the number of fans that make the trip the games, it is a reality they must accept. 

Most if not all other countries that are yet to face a case will be in serious threat, if citizens of their country get infected unknowingly, and as such many will start to rethink taking a trip, or be dissuaded by family, friends and even the government.

It is a real issue that may affect the games, but if the count of the number of persons infected continues to rise in Japan, the Olympic committee must then start to think about the wellbeing of the entire of world, because if the Virus is going to be a Major global pandemic, what better way to become one than having at least one person from every country in the world in one city?

Eliud Kipchoge vs Kenenisa Bekele| Predicting the greatest Marathon showdown

In April 2020 the world is set to witness the greatest marathon Showdown of modern times. The world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, will go up against the Second fastest marathoner ever in history, Kenenisa Bekele. 

This showdown is set to light up the streets of London, as both men will look to rekindle a well-known rivalry.

There is no doubt that it will be an exciting tussle with fast times, but the only uncertain thing, is who will be victorious at the end of this grueling 42 kilometers. This is why today we will be taking a look at all the relevant factors to decide who is more likely to come out on top.

Eliud and Bekele have met before in competition from the track to the marathon , and over their past meetings both men has had significant wins against each other. Kipchoge first struck Bekele in 2003 when he defeated him in the 5000m at the world championships, at just the age of 18. However it took just a year for Bekele to get his revenge in the same event, when he finished ahead of kipchoge at the Athens Olympics.

Since then, it was all Bekele on the track, and kipchoge who had great endurance and decent amount of speed failed to live up to expectations ever since his wonderful run in 2003. 

Fast forward to 2013, he found the Marathon, the event you might say he was made for. Kipchoge in his first ever marathon won setting a new course record in Hamburg. The time of 2 hours, 5 minutes and 30 seconds still remains the course record for that Marathon.

Bekele in his first Marathon in Chicago, was 4th with a time of 2 hours, 5 minutes and 50 seconds. Interestingly, that race was won by Eliud Kipchoge.

Both men have come a long way since then, now having only 2 seconds between them. 

There are some interesting things to note from their best races. Bekele was faster for majority of the race, however not maintaining the momentum for the second 10km might have cost him the world record. In fact he came back strong enough to be ahead of the world record pace up to 40 kilometers and if he had not dropped the pace between the 15km and 20km we would have even higher stakes in London.

The general belief is that Bekele is a much speedy runner given his performances over the 5000 and 10,000 meters events. The fact however, when we take a look at the performances over the mile Kipchoge has way better leg speed. (Kenenise 4:01.57| Eliud kipchoge 3:50.40)

The strength of Bekele, lies in his ability run a fast last quarter of his race, in his 5000m world record he went out quickly but unlike his opponents he did not fade dramatically as they did. His tendency to gradually increase the pace of the race has given much problem in the past. Mixed with a great amount of leg speed Bekele is one of the last guys you would want to face in the last stage of a race.  

Having said that, Kipchoge is highly unlikely to be unphased by Bekele's strong finish having run a world's best of 1:59:40. If Bekele wants to trouble kipchoge he would need to go at a pace faster than Kipchoge is used to. In other words he has to aim for a new world record to perturb the dominant Kenyan. That may be likely, for someone like Bekele. we've seen where Bekele has gone in races and just try to go out and maintain some unbelievable paces, so Kipchoge has to be weary of that possibility.

So what can you expect?

You can expect a very fast race, with Eliud kipchoge and Kenenisa going at it from the beginning. The race will be pretty close and meanwhile we might not be able to pick a winner, because of the strong form of both these men, it is quite likely we will witness a new World record.

     

South Africa the next Sprint Factory

whenever we hear about the sprint factory, Jamaica usually comes to mind and rightly so, given the number of elite sprinters that have emerged from the country since the likes of George Rhoden in 1948. South Africa,  despite not being as successful as the caribbean nation also has a rich history as well as a bright future in sprinting.

The first many would have really noted south Africa on the sprint circuit may have been through wayde van niekerk in his telling 2015 season. However, south Africa was there way before then. In fact,  wayde is not the first south African to win a 400m olympic gold medal, that accolade actually belongs to Bevil Rudd who upset the world at the 1920 olympic games.

South Africa's first olympic Gold in the sprints came in the fourth (4th) edition of the games when Reggie Walker won the 100 meters defeating pre event favorite Robert Kerr of canada. The first female medal winner from south Africa came in 1952 , when Daphne Hasenjager won silver behind Marjorie Jackson who ran atopld record to win gold, this just six editions after females were allowed to compete at the games.

The sprint culture continued to grow in popularity with south African Natives, however due to racial segregation for most parts of the country's history,  participation were not as much as they could be. However as time went on everyone was eligible to compete for the country.

Since the inception of the World youth and world Junior championships South Africa has maintained a strong presence rivalling the likes of the United states, Jamaica, and Great Britain mostly in the 200 meter event. South Africa has had and still has some of the most promising junior Sprinters in the world. The likes of Tloliso Leotlela who is the third fastest junior over the 100 meters with a time of 10.20 seconds, Heide Seyerling former female world junior champion in the 200 meters, clarence Munyai who currently holds the national record in the 200 meters and the Junior's world best in the 300m in a time of 31.61. they also have the reigning world youth champion in the boys 100 and 200m with Tshenolo Lemao and Retshiditswe Mlenga respectively.  The list could go on and on.

Sure, the country might not hold a glamarous postion in the world in of sprinting as the USA or Jamaica but with the likes of Akani SImbine, Wayde Van Niekerk, and Caster Semenya as the country's most valued athletes, it's almost certain that with the talent of the younger generation that they will be ready to step up as soon as these athletes step away from the sport.

This can also be credited massively to the availability of some of the world's best coaches most notably Hennie Kriel and Ans Botha who continues to foster the best of the nation. some of the more prominent juniors usually works with top overseas coaches as well, mostly in the united states.

The system of junior competitions is quite different from jamaica, because meanwhile Jamaica opens up the championships to all competitors who make the set standard to compete for their institution, south Africa has a slighlty more complicated system. They usually has a provincial championships before they get to the main championships. It is usually through these Provincial championships that these athletes qualify to the national championships. This system has a regulatory effect which has helped larger nations like great Britain and the united states,  and so far it is working well for the South Africans.

So with the 2020 season on the way be sure to look out for new and exciting prospects from the country, and not only 2020, but anytime in the future, because from what we have seen in the past and the ongoing systematic improvements South Africa could one day be on top of the sprinting world.

Remember this is an interactive blog so please comment below let me know what you think.

Abebe Bikila the man who changed the marathon Forever.

The yugoslavian legend of the Marathon Franjho Mihalic was sure he was going to upgrade his silver medal from the 1956 olympics to a gold in Rome four years later. Little did he know that the 28 year old barefooted Ethiopian would disturb the flow of the olympic marathon.

 Since the olympic Games started in 1896 the marathon medals were  going mostly to North America and Europe.  By 1956, 39 of the 45 possible medals were all won by the USA and european Nations.
In 1960, at the olympic games Abebe Bikila a 28 year old young man who had spent most of his teen life as a shepherd, decided to enter the Marathon event. He had began running just four years prior as a simple hobby. Therefore when he showed up at the starting line ,maybe even he was not so optimistic about his chances. What happened afterwards shocked the world, he not only won the olympic race,but he also managed to break the world record.

It's unbelievable that he ran through the ancient Roman ruins without shoes especially in a marathon race that was ran in the night in an effort to avoid the excess heat. The damage to his feet had to be extensive.  Bikila along with the runner who finished in second, Rhadi Ben Abdesselam from Morroco ignited the flame in african runners that seem unstoppable at the moment.

His legacy and reach went further after he became the first to win a back to back Olympic marathon title and set a new world record of 2 hours and 12 minutes. This time in shoes and not in as bad surface as he ran on in Rome. He would have wanted to win a third consecutive marathon at mexico in 1968 but there his career had a most unfortunate ending, he broke one of his legs and had to be pulled from the race.
It took a few years afterwards for africans to start taking control of the event not only at the olympics, but at every Major marathon, like the Boston Marathon, New york marathon and so on.

Tales of how Abebe Bikila inspired runners were told by the elites including the likes Haile Gelabrasse. He not only inspired the future of African distance running , but all inspiring runners. The call of the marathon was once thought of as a call only for the best and most brave of athletes, but he along with Emil Zatopek changed the approach to the Marathon.   This is partly why we see millions of runners around the world participating in marathons worldwide, despite not being the most gifted of athletes or Hobby runners.

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Abebe Bikile Who finally cemented his legacy at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 with a back to back olympic win, still inspire many looking forward to competing in tokyo 56 years.

Bob Hayes the fastest Human Being to ever run on Cinder and maybe of all time.

Bob Hayes the fastest man to ever run on a cinder Track. 

Bob Hayes of USA
100m Olympic Gold medallist

When we think about think of legends and fastest men of all time, we think about Usain Bolt, Carl Lewis, Yohan Blake,Jesse Owens etc.  It's Seldom you'll hear people in the track and field circles talking about this sprinting legend.

Bob Hayes was an american sprinter who competed for the united states in the 1960s. He was record holder in the 100 meters in a time of 10.06 seconds. This time he ran on a cinder track. Now before we go any further it is important to point out what a cinder track is. A cinder track is a track used from the mid 1800's, it is made from cinder rocks, which are igneous in nature. they are bi-products  of volcanic eruptions, cinder rocks are formed when the lava cool and depressurize. These were rocks were then crushed and used for the surfacing of the running track.

  

courtesy: www.picclick.com

Bob Hayes ran 10.06 seconds at the 1964 Olympic games held in Tokyo, on a red cinder Track, and still remains the fastest man ever on that surface.Standing at 5 foot 11, Hayes became the first man ever to clock a sub 10 in the history of the 100 meters, but due to to lack of understanding the time was converted from 9.9 seconds to 10.00 then eventually 10.06 seconds. In that run he hit what is still the fastest human sprint speeds ever, going as fast as 27.8 MPH, which was eventually equaled by Usain bolt in 2009 in Berlin. This run was on a track that was in bad condition after being used for a 20 km race earlier. He has proven himself to be the fastest man ever on cinder despite his world record being broken four years later by Jim Hines. however that was on a synthetic track therefore Hines never actually proved he was better than Bob "bullet" Hayes, as every one that has some sort of knowledge of tracks, know there is a big difference between a grass track, a cinder track and and all weather synthetic track.

Hayes was next to an insurmountable challenge in his short track career, winning every race from 1963 upon his retirement to start his football career. This decision was made due to the lack of financial compensation in track and field at the time. He hit some unreal times and that is why as someone who has been studying the sport since childhood, have to highlight this man's level of talent. He still is the second fastest man ever over the 60 yard dash with a time of 5.90 behind Herb Washington's 5.80, in just one race. There are rumors mostly in the football and baseball circles that he clocked 5.28 seconds in the 60 yard dash, however that was just a rumor. If that was true, he was born in the wrong era.
      It is not certain whether or not there are any other cinder tracks anywhere in the world for education purposes, but if there is, it would be interesting to see a top class sub 10 sprinter try to break this man's world record.