By Len Johnson - Runner's Tribe
A few days into the world championships in London a friend commented: “Four days, full stadium every session, great competition. So how come all I’m hearing about athletics is negative.”
He was right to wonder. Those few days had brought some wonderful competition, all of...
By Len Johnson - Runner's Tribe
Watching one of the post-world championship Diamond Leagues, something jarred in the commentary.
Specifically, it was the introduction to the sprint fields. At one meeting – the Birmingham IDL, I think it was – the announcer kept referring to the competitors as “gold medallists”. Seeing...
By Len Johnson - Runner's Tribe
I read an interesting blog this week which suggested the narrative around women’s sports was in need of urgent change.
Sally Bergesen, founder of the Seattle, USA-based apparel company Oiselle, wrote: “when you look at the dominant narratives for female athletes, it becomes clear that...
Len Johnson – Runner’s Tribe
Mo Farah won the final track race of his career in the same manner as many of his famous championships victories – looking utterly dominant while winning by centimetres.
This was not just any old race. It was the 5000 metres at Zurich’s Weltklasse meeting, auspicious enough...
Len Johnson Reporting from the World Champs, London – Runner’s Tribe
Eight years ago the world seemed to be at Dani Stevens (then Dani Samuels) feet. On a rainy night in Berlin, she handled the difficult conditions far better than her more experienced rivals to become, at 21, the youngest winner...
Len Johnson Reporting from the World Champs, London – Runner’s Tribe
For the world championships, the penultimate day was Super Saturday, the departure of Usain Bolt from all competition and of Mo Farah from track racing.
In the end, each of these great champions was upstaged. Mo was beaten, as Bolt had...
Len Johnson Reporting from the World Champs, London – Runner’s Tribe
Courtney Frerichs crossed the line in second place in the women’s 3000 steeplechase with a look of absolute shock and incredulity on her face.
But shock at what. Incredulous about what. That she had improved by over 15 seconds in a...
Len Johnson Reporting from the World Champs, London – Runner’s Tribe
Luke Mathews could scarcely have had a worse Rio Olympic experience last year than if he had decided to go out partying with the US swimmers.
Selected for the 800 metres after he had run David Rudisha close in Melbourne and...
Len Johnson Reporting from the World Champs, London – Runner’s Tribe
Day six at the world championships and it was one of those this way, thataway, haven’t we been here before scenarios so beloved of film directors. Sliding doors, chances taken, chances missed – that sort of thing.
One place we definitely...
Len Johnson Reporting from the World Champs, London – Runner’s Tribe
Another night in the London Olympic Stadium thin on finals turned out to be thick on drama as Conselsus Kiruto maintained Kenyan honour in one of the events where traditional hegemony was under challenge only to lose another in which...
