A column by Len Johnson - 23/07/21
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games haven’t even started and Australia is dominating.
Some hours before the Opening Ceremony, as this is written, Australia is already up and about. In women’s football, goals to Tameka Yallop and the talismanic Sam Kerr took the Matildas to...
By Len Johnson
They’re not necessarily the sort of figures you’d like associated with your name, but Stewart McSweyn now boasts a pair of impressive performances at 3000 metres.
Seven minutes 30 seconds for 3000 metres represents 60 seconds per lap. Not many men have ever broken 7:30 for the distance. Even...
It’s Monday afternoon, the 28th of June, in the beautiful St. Moritz. I’m relaxed, tired, excited and anxious all in one. I almost feel like I’m experiencing a bit of a come down since the U.S. Olympic Trials have finally ended and my mornings will no longer consist of...
“What’s wrong with this picture?,” asks Van Morrison in the song of the same title. “There’s something I’m not seeing here.”
Repeating the question, Morrison observes that what’s wrong (is) “something that’s not exactly clear.”
As the vision streamed in from Gateshead last Monday morning, it was all too clear what...
There are many ways to train for distance running. Whether you’re an athlete coming from a shorter distance background, or an athlete that was born with a natural aerobic ability, there are many ways to train the body to reach its full potential. I don’t believe there is one...
David McNeill’s athletics career could have been over almost before it began. On Tuesday night in Perth, he may have run his way into a third Olympic team.
It was in 2005 that McNeill, along with Liam Adams and Toby Rayner, was a controversial non-selection for the junior team to...
If you were seeking signs that the sporting world is getting back to pre-Covid normality, best you didn’t go looking for them at the World Athletics Relays.
We are still in the thank-heavens-there’s-something-on phase, it would seem, rather than back in full swing. Maybe the Tokyo Olympics will change that;...
Never in my wildest dreams could someone have convinced me that by 2021 I would have qualified for three Olympic Games! While I have had my eyes set on this goal since the Rio Olympic Games came to an end, I still have moments now and then that make...
Jack Bruce won his first national senior track title. Genevieve Gregson yet again emphasised her competitiveness, and versatility. Jude Thomas broke the national U20 record previously held by Ryan Gregson.
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Such were the main takeaways from the national 3000 metres...
If you had to choose one favourite session that you believe really worked for you and got you fit, what would it be?
Whether training for the steeplechase, 5k, 10k or marathon; running four hard repetitions of a mile with a 2-minute rest between reps (on or off the track – usually off the track but on the same course for benchmarking purposes) got me fit and was a good benchmark. When training for the marathon I’d sometimes do five instead of four reps.
