When you can win by losing | A Column By Len Johnson
The descriptors applied to selection trials overwhelmingly emphasise the drama. Cut-throat, sudden-death, fourth is the worst possible place – insert your cliché of choice.
Seldom is it mentioned that trials, along with heats and qualifying rounds, are one of...
Canberra delivers fast footwork | A Column By Len Johnson
A little bit of fancy footwork is always handy in Canberra, the nation’s political capital, where agility and nimbleness were highly prized long before the current incumbent moved into the prime ministerial office.
If the politicians weren’t admiring of the performances...
Bring back the mile – has it ever gone away? A Column By Len Johnson
In outlining his vision to make athletics more appealing to a younger audience, Sebastian Coe recently observed: “The average age of those watching track and field is 55 years old. This is not sustainable.”
How does...
Thanks Coach | A Column By Len Johnson
There’s probably almost as many different athlete-coach relationships in athletics as there are athletes and coaches.
Some athletes have a coach from the time they start out in the sport as a junior. Usually, that’s a club coach. Others never have one, though...
Ryan Hall: best actor in a supporting role | A Column By Len Johnson
Ryan Hall never quite achieved the stardom for which he seemed destined, but if the best actor Oscar somehow eluded him, the American marathoner certainly has a sound claim to a gong as best actor in...
WADA gets what it wants | A Column By Len Johnson
“Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets” went a song from the 1950s musical Damn Yankees and, judging by the outcome this week at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, WADA is the new Lola.
A CAS panel upheld an appeal by the...
A Federation of Her Own | A Column By Len Johnson
The 1992 film, A League of Their Own, tells a fictionalised account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, formed during World War II when the men’s major leagues were facing temporary closure.
A League of Their Own? Decima...
Pearson string snapped. Tallent and Samuels roll on | By Len Johnson
The fall that wrecked Sally Pearson’s 2015 world championships campaign also snapped an eight-year string in the annual top-10 rankings of Track & Field News magazine.
Flattered by many imitators, T&FN’s annual rankings remain the most authoritative measurement of...
Ticking over into olympic year | A Column By Len Johnson
New Year’s Eve signals the end of one year and, if you’ve got the stamina, the arrival of the next. For athletics fans, though, there’s something special about New Year’s Eve in a pre-Olympic year.
The year 2016 will not...
Rio 2016, have you met Melbourne 1956?
A Column By Len Johnson
“Your projects have been changed several times. Your sites, even including the main stadium, have been changed several times . . . you are contemplating changing the rowing to a site I have never heard of.
“There seems to...