After Joshua Cheptegei won the world cross-country title in Aarhus earlier this year he said that his aim was to succeed Mo Farah as the world’s pre-eminent track distance runner.
OK, that meant winning at least a title in Doha (Mo started with one in Daegu, remember), or maybe even...
Kelsey-Lee Barber has made quite the habit in recent times of ‘gazumping’ her opponents in the javelin, coming up with an unanswerable effort in the final rounds of a competition to snatch a medal, usually of the golden variety.
In Doha in 2019, where the air-conditioning kept throwers cool as...
When Jessica Hull ran 8:36.03 to set a new Australian women’s record for 3000 metres last September, it was widely – and correctly – reported that she had broken Benita Willis’s previous mark set over 17 years earlier in 2003.
Willis, in turn, had run 8:38.06 to finally better the...
With most of Australia gripped in a heatwave, how’re you going to cool down. How else than by talking cross-country.
We’re coming up to the ‘one year to go’ date for the twice-postponed World Cross-Country Championships, now set down for 18 February, 2023. I would have said “settled on” but when Olympic Games and world championships have been postponed during these crazy times, all schedules are aspirational.
In the approaching weeks, prior to the World Cross Country Championship in Bathurst, RT will unveil a comprehensive, 10-part series, composed by Len Johnson, that delves into the historical narrative of Australia's participation in World XC.
Australian cross-country aspired to Olympian heights
Part 1 of 10 - Written by Len Johnson
When...
https://youtu.be/ctWRhaUxzzY
Class act rewarded | A Column By Len Johnson
Cathy Freeman unzipped her body suit and sat down on the track. Sally Pearson let out a scream once her narrow victory had been confirmed.
Nathan Deakes dissolved into tears of joy. Rob de Castella, so injury-proof he was nicknamed ‘The Tree’,...
A Column By Len Johnson
In announcing her retirement this week, Alana Boyd got the timing just right.
Timing is everything in Boyd’s event, the pole vault. It is no good having the height before the crossbar, no good having it after. For a clearance, you must have the height at...
A column by Len Johnson - Runner's Tribe
In 1985, aided by nothing other than his own ambition, Steve Jones ran away from a field of the world’s top marathoners to win the Chicago marathon in 2:07:13.
Jones was white, Welsh and 30 years old. He had never done long stints...
A column by Len Johnson
An article this week on Track & Field News’s webpage piqued my interest.
“Tokyo 2020 organisers discuss 6am start for marathon” ran the headline for a Kyodo News story listed under Today’s News Headlines. A second soon appeared, this one from the Asahi Shimbun, the race-long...
The two women standing side by side at Lakeside Stadium had held the national record for 800 metres for a total of 28 years and 155 days.
Catriona Bisset had contributed just 11 days to that aggregate total, Charlene Rendina the other 28 years 144. It was Bisset’s 11 days...
