On the whole, I’d rather run 2:17:57 | A column by Len Johnson
Angela Tanui and I share one thing in common: we both set out to run the Boston Marathon but neither of us got there. On the whole, though, I’d rather share her 2:17:57 marathon personal best.
Seeing Angela’s got the better PB, let’s begin with...
When too many marathons are . . . too many marathons?
A column by Len Johnson
This columnist has always been a big fan of the Rampaging Roy Slaven and H.G. Nelson observation that “too much sport is barely enough”.
But, I wonder, what about when five of the world’s biggest marathons – Berlin, London, Chicago, Boston...
Marjorie Jackson – flash, flier, tornado but always a superstar | A column by Len Johnson
Marjorie Jackson, who celebrated her 90th birthday on 13 September, was Australia’s first athletics superstar.
Our first women’s Olympic gold medallist, our first women’s world record holder, Jackson surged to international recognition with a double in the 100 and 200 metres at the Helsinki 1952...
A Tale Of Zwei Weltklassen | A Column By Len Johnson
Zurich’s fabled Weltklasse meeting has often been dubbed “the Olympics in one day.”
It’s a fair call. Usually staged within a week of the conclusion of the year’s major championships – Olympic, world or European – Zurich re-packages the just concluded championship as three hours’...
Faster than Flo-Jo? | A column by Len Johnson
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson-Herah share many similarities. Both Jamaican. Both quick-silver fast. Both double-double Olympics champions.
And both women may be wind-legal faster than the current world record holder in the 100 metres, though it appears the chance of either of them being thus...
Coming along just nicely, thank you very much | A column by Len Johnson
A couple of years back this writer commented on a couple of precocious performers by name of Armand – then, as now, more commonly known as ‘Mondo’ – Duplantis and Jakob Ingebrigsten.
Around the same time another supremely gifted youngster, Selemon Barega, came out of...
Somewhere Wilson may have been smiling | A column by Len Johnson
As the Olympic women’s high jump drew to an absorbing conclusion in Tokyo, somewhere Wilson Kipketer may have been smiling.
Australian watchers maybe not so much. Of course, we were passionately barracking for Nicola McDermott as she took the lead at two metres, set a...
Australia dominates and we ain’t seen nothin’ yet
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...
McSweyn’s Impressive Numbers
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...
‘Views From 1800m’ By Genevieve Gregson
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...
