International

Barrie Kernaghan (left) and Norm Richards are longtime rivals and teammates.

International May 17, 2018

4 decades as friends and rivals: Aussie sprinters Kernaghan and Richards

I tell newcomers to our niche that a major joy is joining a traveling tribe. The High Jump Tribe. The Throwers Tribe. The Hurdles Tribe. We hold reunions at nationals and worlds. Now comes a story Down Under by Laura Pond of Stirling Times — a tale of the Sprint Tribe. “Masters athletes Norm Richards (80) and Barrie Kernaghan (78) have enjoyed a friendly rivalry for nearly 40 years,” Laura writes. “Mr. Richards, of Woodlands, and Karrinyup resident Mr. Kernaghan competed at the recent Australian Masters Athletics Championships at the WA Athletics Stadium, achieving 12 medals between them.” Barrie says:…

WMA President Stan Perkins (left)

International May 11, 2018

Masters nationals in India are all over the map — and calendar

Last month, the 38th National Masters Athletics Championships of India were held at Mangala Stadium in Mangaluru. On Wednesday, it was reported that the 40th National Masters Athletics Championships 2019 will be held in Manipur “per a statement issued by Masters Athletics Federation of India (MAFI).” Say what? How did a year get skipped? Don’t ask. And don’t tell WMA that the 39th National Masters Athletics Championships were held at Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru, in late February. The mess of competing national governing bodies continues unabated in 1.3 Billion Land. Even though a year ago I reported how India’s version…

International May 2, 2018

M85 David Carr’s radical range at Aussie nationals: 200 to 2K steeple

When you get to Malaga for 2018 outdoor worlds, buy a brew for your Aussie rivals. They’ve endured a long season. How long? They held their outdoor nationals last weekend in Perth. Now they have to peak again in five months. I suspect they’ll do fine up over in Spain. They have WMA superstars, of course. Perhaps the top performer in the four-day meet at Venues West in Perth was M85 steepler/sprinter David Carr. Yup, he ran the 200 in 38.84, 400 in 1:21.93 (which age-grades to 45.46), 800, 1500 and the 2K steeple in 11:10.86 (age-graded as a 3K…