International

International July 15, 2019

Germany’s Guido Müller, 80, retires as greatest long hurdler in masters history

Bittersweet news from Germany arrived Monday. The most fantabulous long hurdler in masters history has retired. Dieter Massin writes: “Yesterday, Sunday 14 July, Guido Müller (Mueller) run his last 200m and finished his career in athletics. A wonderful career of a fantastic sportsman ended at the German Masters Championships in Leinefelde.” (See results here.) I had heard that Guido has been suffering from dementia, so I asked if that was the reason. Dieter replied that he wasn’t sure, but “he was ill for a long time, so that his sports-retirement is the consequence. I respect his decision. Guido was /…

International April 11, 2019

World champ British hurdler calls Toruń worlds ‘without doubt the best ever,’ posts long review

Great Britain’s Donald Brown won the M55 hurdles at Toruń worlds, so he took away some good feelings about the 8th WMA indoor world meet. But he went the extra mile by doing a careful critique off the late-March event. Don posted initial comments on Facebook (below) and then composed a formal review called The Masters’ Voice. (He also came up with a nifty acronym — masters standing for “Making A Statement That Ensures Residual Success.”) Unlike 2018 Malaga worlds, where athletes complained about steeple barriers and relay selection, Poland produced little griping (as far as I know.) In any…

International February 8, 2019

Charles Allie, Carol Lafayette-Boyd named World Masters Athletes of Year for 2018

Perhaps Karla del Grande should do jumps. That’s my theory on why the Canadian world-record holder and Malaga sprints champ was left in the dust by countrywoman Carol Lafayette-Boyd for World Masters Athlete of the Year (female divison). W75 Carol had jumps on her resume as WMA considered its annual picks (along with 100 WR of 15.03 and 200 WR of 31.56). W65 Karla didn’t. On the male side, M70 Charles Allie was a safe and obvious choice for Athlete of the Year, announced Thursday. His records for 200 (25.75) and 400 (57.26) this year could stand for decades —…

Stanislaw Kowalski returns to a favorite venue — 4 1/2 hours from his home of Swidnica near the Czech border.

International January 30, 2019

History’s oldest trackster entered at Toruń worlds: Stanislaw Kowalski is almost 109

Entry deadline for Toruń indoor worlds closed this week, and I’m excited to see Poland’s Stanislaw Kowalski, born in April 1910, down for the 60, shot and discus. At almost 109, he’s likely the oldest competitive athlete in history — even older than Japan’s Hidekichi Miyazaki, aka “Golden Bolt,” who often was credited as being the fastest M105 sprinter. Sadly, Hidekichi died last week at age 108. (I wrote about Miyazaki Mania in 2015.) WMA now lists outdoor world records for M105 (by Stan and Hidekichi), so anything Stan does at Torun will qualify as an indoor M105 world record….

Lesley Hinz (left) hugs her friend Sue McDonald after Sue lowered her own W50 American record for the 800.

International January 16, 2019

7 Americans, led by M70 sprint sensation Charles Allie, among nominees for WMA annual awards

As expected, Charles Allie is being considered for World Masters Athletics Athlete of the Year — both in the overall and sprint-group categories, WMA has announced. His M70 records at Malaga and elsewhere should make him a shoo-in for the top male prize. No American women are up for the overall Athlete of Year honors, but three Yanks have good shots at event awards — W60 middle-distancer Lesley Hinz, W65 distance great Sabra Harvey and W60 throws legend Carol Finsrud. Besides Charlie, American men in the finals for event awards are M50 middle-distancer Charles Novak, M75 thrower George Mathews and…

Peter Crombie has won more world medals than anyone in masters history, according to one account.

International January 7, 2019

Peter Crombie, World Masters Athlete of the Millennium? Champion of champions is 74

Sprinter Peter Crombie, born Christmas Day 1944, is Australia’s gift to masters track. I’ve seen him run for decades (especially at USA masters nationals), and yet didn’t really appreciate his massive dominance. And now The Guardian shares a stat new to me: He’s won a medal in every sprint event in which he’s competed since 1987. “He holds an unparalleled 19 indoor and outdoor track records, and has taken home 20 medals from outdoor world titles,” says the profile. “He has won a remarkable 65 medals in world events – more than anyone in masters history. It’s gotten to the…

Based on this chart, about 115 answered the age-group question. So we can assume that's the overall figure.

International December 26, 2018

Few respond to WMA survey on Malaga worlds, but feedback is still eye-opening

In its latest survey, WMA asked Malaga athletes, officials and coaches what they thought. And I’ve obtained a copy of results. No exact data on how many answered. But of 8,000 entrants, roughly 115 took part — based on the “What is your age group?” question. That translates to a participation rate of 1.4 percent. Atrocious. But even if the sample is almost worthless, the 23-page “Masters Athlete Survey Post Malaga” has its moments. At the end, key comments are listed. Some are doozies. The feedback purportedly represents “most discussed topics.” (I suspect it’s almost every comment.) The last one…

Sadao Tabira left Malaga with three silvers medals at M85 distances, but also DNS 14 times in the final results.

International December 17, 2018

M85 Japanese medalist at Malaga: DNS, DNS, DNS, DNS, DNS, DNS, DNS, DNS, DNS, DNS, DNS, DNS, DNS, DNS

A few days before Malaga worlds, I went bonkers over Japanese entrant Sadao Tabira. I learned he was entered in 17 (seventeen, diecisiete, hiragana) events, including the decathlon. And he’s 85! So how did he do? Uhm. The question is how did he not do. He took silver in the 5000 (34:53.87), 10K road run (1:35:21) and 6K cross country (46:00). The rest? DNS. Did not start. Sigh. As noted originally, Sadao is a survivor of the Nagasaki atomic bomb “Fat Man.” So I can’t stay mad. He’s paid his life dues. But he probably paid hundreds of dollars more…

International December 15, 2018

Sierra Leone offers first masters meet for ‘the aged’ — helping unify nation after tense election

An African newspaper reveals another reason to embrace masters track: It helps unify a nation after a contentious election. At least in Sierra Leone. Says Awoko: “The aim of this year’s masters sports is to provide recreation for the aged and also bring the community together after all the political tension of the recent election.” According to Awoko: The President of Sports for Health, Unisa D. Kargbo, said they are going to organize the first edition of a Masters Athletics Sport meet in Masiaka on the 14-15 of this month. He said Sports for Health is a community-based organization whose…

Mark Muttai, with a history of elite marks, could threaten M40 WR at 400 in Poland.

International December 13, 2018

Tale of 2 Kenyans: One claims bogus mark, another could be WR-setter at Torun indoor worlds

In 2012, Anselm LeBourne again broke the 2-minute barrier when he ran a still-listed M50 indoor world record for 800 meters at the Boston Terrier Classic. The listed M50 outdoor WR is 1:58.65 by Nolan Shaheed in 2000. So when my California friend Matt B saw the entry list at Torun 2019 indoor worlds, he was incredulous. Kenya’s Robert Langat claims a time of 1:56.80 in the M50 800. Robert is listed in IAAF — as a 30-year-old distance runner (with a 2014 marathon PR of 2:13:49). But he doesn’t show up in mastersrankings.com. The M50 Langat also gave a…