Malaga worlds

Tina Bowman (photographer not listed) took silver in the W65 long hurdles at Malaga worlds.

General November 4, 2018

Overcoming misery to excel in Malaga: 3 Americans with medical issues

Three recent profiles of Malaga-goers make my favorite point: Everyone in masters track is competing despite issues. In the case of W65 hurdler Tina Bowman, M75 hammer dude George Mathews and M60 discuser Ralph Fruguglietti, the hurdles are medical. From the Redmond News of Washington: “A year ago, Matthews took a break for hernia surgery at the Cascade Hernia & Surgical Solutions at Meridian Surgery Center in Puyallup. He credits his excellent care for getting him back to training in six weeks and competing a few months later.” From the562.org of California: “Bowman recovered from rotator cuff surgery in April…

Damien Leake (in red) and Charles Allie (at right) were truly blurs in the Sierra Gold 100.

General October 31, 2018

Damien Leake, Linda Cohn dominate Huntsman World Senior Games

Damien Leake didn’t run at Malaga, but the M65 sprint star’s marks at the mid-October Huntsman World Senior Games make for interesting comparisons. It isn’t apples to apples since the Utah meet didn’t have heats and semis. And conditions differ. But check out Damien’s times and distances. ( ts are here.) He won the M65 100 in 12.52. Malaga gold went to Britain’s Stephen Peters in 12.56. He won the M65 200 in 26.74. Malaga gold went to Stephen in 24.84 (Damien would have taken bronze.) He won the M65 long jump with 5.09 (16-8 1/4). Malaga gold went to…

Michael Kish (right) leads Malaga heat in the M65 100. He won silver in final but wasn't on the 4x100 relay.

General October 25, 2018

How the fastest American M65 in Malaga fell through the 4×100 relay cracks

At 67, Michael Kish of Nutley, New Jersey, is a relative newbie to masters track. He took up the sport at 59, taking advice to check out the New Jersey Senior Olympics. So when he deciubded to enter Malaga in the 100 and 200, he naturally wondered about running a relay. In late July, Michael wrote USA Team Manager Phil Greenwald, who graciously replied, discussing the difficulty of saying whether he would be on a foursome. Phil concluded his 400-word note: “My advice is always to plan your trip around your individual events; if you are available for the relays…

Rants October 16, 2018

National Masters Chair Rex Harvey: Medals were goal of Malaga relay selections

It goes without saying that the goal of USATF masters is winning as many medals at possible at worlds. But was a decision to move Charlie Allie down from the M70 4×100 to the M65 team in Malaga the most efficient course? I’ll let others debate that. For now, I’ll pass along the first response I’ve gotten from USATF National Masters Chair Rex Harvey since posting the Roger Pierce complaint nearly a week ago. Rex graciously writes: Please make it known to your readers that, while he does more work than any of the rest of us, volunteer Phil Greenwald…

Charlie Allie anchors America's gold-medal M65 4x100 relay team at Malaga.

General October 9, 2018

Special Report: Were rules broken for sake of Yanks’ record shot in Malaga 4×100?

I love records and record attempts. But should a chance at a WR trump rules at worlds? That’s a question being raised after Charles Allie dropped down from M70 to M65 at Malaga, causing a domino effect of anger and disappointment that reached into the M80 age group. On Friday, M70 sprinter Roger Pierce contacted me via Facebook to describe what he considered a debacle involving the 4×100 relays. Later I spoke with him on the phone, as well as Charlie. I also wrote George Haywood, another M65 relay member and teammate of Charlie’s. Phil Greenwald, longtime U.S. masters team…

Malaga's official gallery included shots of a bleeding Vern Christensen after slipping on a barrier.

Rants October 8, 2018

Were steeple barriers at Malaga safe to step on? Canadian M75 racer ended up bloodied

American M75 middle-distancer Ev “Doc” Murdock was eighth in the 2K steeple at Malaga, but he sent me photos of the fifth-placer — Vern Christensen of Canada. Vern is shown at the finish holding his bloody forehead. Ouch! What happened? Doc explains: Has anyone mentioned to you that the steeplechase barriers were not coated with the usual nonslip surface? Instead, they were painted with high-gloss paint. As a result, they were amazingly slippery as soon as they got wet. Those of us who normally step on the barriers as part of our technique for jumping over them slipped. Several of…

The nation's Capitol looms in background of Navy Mile, where Sonja set an age-group record.

Athlete of the Week October 7, 2018

USATF Athlete of the Week Sonja Friend-Uhl tells why she skipped shot at Malaga gold

On the final day of Malaga worlds, Courtney Babcock of Canada won the W45 1500 in 4:47.88. That’s the No. 3 time in the world this season, according to mastersrankings.com. No. 1 is the 4:39.15 by American Sonja Friend-Uhl last March. So where was Sonja? At home in Florida, getting ready two weeks later for the Navy Mile on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington. Her road mile mark of 5:06.33 beat the old course record by more than 10 seconds, and Friday she was named USATF Athlete of the Week. “She finished 11th in the elite women’s race as she added…

Rants September 30, 2018

Florida M65 thrower rips Malaga facilities in letter to WMA President Margit Jungmann

Guy Dirkin of Florida had a good Malaga. As an M65 thrower, competing for Britain, he won silver in the hammer and was 23 points away from bronze in the throws pentathlon. But he wasn’t happy with the facilities and let the new WMA president know in a letter I obtained. “Dear Margit,” he wrote Germany’s Margit Jungmann, the newly elected leader. “Please find attached a letter to you regarding the WMA’s managerial performance at the recent Malaga World Championships and past Championships. This correspondence has been provoked by multiple participant complaints, primarily around facilities. The scope of this letter restricts coverage to…

International September 29, 2018

Banned Nazi version of German national anthem played 2 days at Malaga medal ceremonies

In Germany, singing “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles” (Germany, Germany above everything) is a Bozo No-No. Although the lyric was written in 1841 by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben — and had nothing to do with the Nazis — it was adopted by Hitler and sung at the opening of the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Since 1952, the German national anthem has dropped the “Deutschland über alles” stanza. But WTF. Guess what was played for two days at Malaga medal ceremonies? Yup — the “banned” version. According to the German masters website Lampis.net, the nonkosher version (with the correct 1797 melody by…

International September 26, 2018

WMA posts results of pre-Malaga survey: Y’all like sprints most. Biggest group? 50-54

In mid-May, I surveyed y’all about surveys — specifically: “Should WMA regularly post them?” About 91 percent said sure. Now we’re seeing the survey (May 15 to August 5) that prompted the question. WMA has posted results of a 25-query athlete poll. It’s in the form of a slide show, so look for the little arrows at lower left, just underneath the survey. Click them to change pages. The sample size isn’t great — about 560. (Perhaps this should have waited until Malaga, with 8,200 entries. But I guess that isn’t representative of average masters.) The gender breakdown was 68…