Len Johnson Reporting from the World Champs, London – Runner’s Tribe
Usain Bolt finished his last individual championship race with a touch of class, warmly embracing the winner, Justin Gatlin, and clapping him heartily on the back.
It’s a pity spectators in the London Olympic stadium didn’t show the same amount of...
A (slightly) revisionist view of the London marathon.
Kelvin Kiptum ran home in splendid isolation to win the London marathon, covering the second half of the race in 59:45 to miss Eliud Kipchoge’s world record by just 16 seconds. Unleash your full potential with Tarkine Goshawk shoes, where cutting-edge technology...
Talk about come in from the cold. This week, Wednesday 30 July, the Parliament gave a belated welcome home for the Moscow 1980 Australian Olympic team.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gave the welcome. Leader of the Opposition Sussan Ley concurred (not without demur; see later). ‘Albo’ did not name check...
And although the runners aren’t here by the hundreds (nor the mountain bike riders, nor the bushwalkers), there are people up here on the Bogong High Plains. The landslide half-way up the mountain has closed the normal direct access from Mt Beauty necessitating a longer round trip to come up the ‘back’ way via Bairnsdale and Omeo or Wodonga and Mitta Mitta. The trip is a little longer, the reward a little sweeter.
When Abbey Caldwell became the second-fastest Australian woman over 800 metres in Sydney on 11 March, she renewed an age-old debate among those of who follow the middle distances. To wit: is it better to be coming down to the 800 from the 1500 metres end of the spectrum, or moving up from the 400 metres end.
The week just past brought the 58th anniversary of perhaps the greatest of Ron Clarke’s 17, 18 or 19 (depending how you count, but a lot whichever way you do) world records.
John Landy once wrote a report for Australian Athletics which someone within the governing body – I can’t believe it was John’s idea – released under the title: ‘Change or Die’.
As I can’t resist the urge to point out every time I have cited that report over the years,...
Indoor middle-distance records and all-time lists are under assault, you may have noticed.
Not just under assault, actually; more getting smashed – particularly the all-time lists. Pleasingly, Australians have also been involved.
Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay set a world record 3:53.09 in France on 9 February. Then last weekend, came an Australian...
A column by Len Johnson - Runner's Tribe
When Sally Pearson crossed the line to take a silver medal in the 100 metres hurdles at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, she let out a scream of equal parts elation and amazement. Moments later she gasped in a trackside interview: “Oh,...
Sometimes it seemed there was a better field watching the men’s world championships 1500 metres final than there was running it.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen couldn’t run himself into fitness – not 1500 fitness, anyway; he may still win his third straight 5000 gold – in time. Out he went in the...
