Left field

from Photographers Blog:

The Cuban gazelle

By Desmond Boylan

A mixture of gazelle and human is the impression Dayron gave me when he took off from where I was standing on the training grounds and jumped the first hurdle. He became tiny in the lens very fast, and when he was running towards me there wasn't much time to shoot until he filled the frame.

Dayron Robles is the main sporting figure of the moment in Cuba. In his specialty event of the men's 110m hurdles, he won gold at the Beijing Olympics and is the current world record-holder.

You would not think this when you speak to him. He is humble, reserved, down-to-earth, gentle, agreeable and easygoing, but at the same time there is a distant look in his eyes.

Gatlin’s return throws up 100 metres quandary

If Justin Gatlin, back in action this week after a four-year doping ban, were to line up alongside Jamaican Usain Bolt in the 2012 Olympic 100 metres final in London, who would American fans want to win?

Having served his time, is former world and Olympic champion Gatlin worthy of his place or, as some have suggested, should all convicted dopers be forced to pin a massive asterisk on their vest to remind the world of how they made it to the top?

British athletics went through the same process with the return of Dwain Chambers and though British Olympic Association rules prevent him or any other convicted doper representing Britain in the Olympics, he has raced in European and World Championships.

As Chambers lined up in the European Championship final last week, former team mate and now TV analyst Steve Backley said that despite wanting to see a British medal he did not really know whether he wanted Chambers to do well.

Chambers was hardly alone in Barcelona as several other convicted dopers were in action, some of them winning medals.

As with Chambers, the organisers of Europe’s premier athletics meetings are keeping Gatlin at arm’s length but the promoters of a low-key Estonian meet were happy to have him back.

from Reuters Soccer Blog:

What’s behind Spain’s run of sporting success?

Spanish sports fans have never had it so good.

The Iberian nation is celebrating its latest triumphs after a month of success that local media have called a golden age.

On Sunday, Alberto Contador sealed his third Tour de France title, Fernando Alonso won the German Formula One Grand Prix, and Jorge Lorenzo roared to MotoGP victory in the U.S.

Pictures of Contador clad in the Tour winner's yellow jersey and Alonso in the red driving suit of Ferrari dominated the newspaper's front pages, chiming perfectly with the colours of the Spanish flag.

All that just two weeks after Spain secured its first World Cup soccer crown and three weeks after Rafa Nadal won Wimbledon for the second time.

It was enough to leave the daily Marca proclaiming Spain "the world's great sporting superpower".

Inside Track: This league has not reached the diamond level yet

Might the Diamond League be snake-bitten in its initial season? Injuries and other setbacks have taken away a chunk of glitter from the initiative, which was to bring new fans and interest to the sport.

Out for the season apparently are two of the circuit’s biggest names, Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva and Ethiopian distance king Kenenisa Bekele.

World record holder Isinbayeva decided to take a break from the sport after failing to medal at the world indoor championships.

Then came word on Thursday that Olympic and world champion Bekele had ruptured a calf muscle, sidelining the world record holder until at least August if not for the season.

Both were Track & Field News magazine’s athletes of the decade.

IAAF female athlete of the year Sanya Richards, who was expected to be part of an awesome 400 metres duel with fellow America Allyson Felix, also has been injured.

All three were designated top promotional athletes for the global circuit of one-day meetings.

Inside Track: Waiting for the first sprint showdown

When will the Diamond League have its first sprint showdown?

That’s a frequent question from athletics followers whose appetites have been whetted by the fast early times of Asafa Powell, Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt.

We know, according to a Diamond League announcement, all three are scheduled to run a 100 metres in the August 27 Brussels meeting, but you can bet your ever-shrinking euro that Bolt and Gay will race in the same stadium before then.

After all, more head-to-head clashes is one of the promises of the new 14-meeting circuit.

Also, Gay has told us he is scheduled to meet Bolt three times at 100 metres this season.

With Brussels already decided, that leaves New York’s June 12 grand prix as likely candidate Number Two..

Bolt, who set his first 100 metres world record there, previously has been confirmed for the meeting with Gay sure to follow.

Inside Track: Who gets the Diamond League dollars?

Times and distances won’t be the only figures athletes and their managers will be checking on the new Diamond League circuit which began on Friday in Doha.

The amount of money athletes earn from the 14-meeting global series, and how it compares to last season, also will be scrutinized.

While Diamond League officials are saying $6.6 million in prize money and millions more in promotional fees will be available, not all managers are convinced athletes will see pay increases.

“That is to be determined,” Daniel Wessfeldt, manager for women’s pole vault world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva and other athletes, told Reuters.

“Those who are absolutely the most well-known promotional athletes, let’s say Usain Bolt, Tyson Gay, Yelena Isinbayeva, yes, they could make as much money as before,” Wessfeldt said.

“(But) there are some people who would probably lose out a little bit that are in very competitive, normally very well-paid events like the mile and 1,500 metres men, some sprints and distances,” he said.

For races like the 200 and 400 metres, “the amount of the prizes are less substantially,” said U.S. manager Emanuel Hudson, whose clients have included Maurice Greene and other Olympic gold medallists.

Inside Track: Solinsky’s record-breaking debut

Except for a training run, new American distance find Chris Solinsky might not have become the first North American runner to break 27 minutes in the 10,000 metres.

“We were planning to run a steeple (3,000 metres steeplechase) actually … until after one of my tempo-runs when Jerry (Coach Jerry Schumacher) decided that we’d switch it to the 10,000,” Solinsky told a conference call.

The result?

The 25-year-old had the internet buzzing about his run of 26 minutes, 59.60 seconds in his debut at the distance during Saturday’s Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational in California.

The performance wiped out Meb Keflezighi’s 2001 American record of 27:13.98, was the fourth-fastest 10,000 metres debut ever and the year’s fastest.

Although a ways from Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele’s 2005 world record of 26:17.53, it showed much promise from the primarily 5,000 metres runner who also competes at 1,500 metres.

“I’ve actually been trying to get Jerry (his coach) to let me run a 10k in the spring for quite awhile,” said Solinsky, who by two spots missed making the 2008 U.S Olympic at 5,000 metres and was 12th in the 2009 world championships.

Does athletics still rule the Olympics?

Dash or splash? Which is the number one Olympic sport?

Athletics has massive crowds and Usain “Lightning” Bolt torching world records while swimming boasts Michael Phelps ripping off another bundle of world and Olympic records.

Conversations over the past week indicate the argument is heating up.

First, respected U.S. sports analyst Bob Dorfman suggested: “Because of the drug issues, because it (athletics) is not terribly compelling, I think swimming has taken over a little bit in terms of Olympic sports popularity.”

Athletics leaders including USA Track & Field chief executive Doug Logan strongly disagreed. But the splash-dash talk continued with International Swimming Federation (FINA) boss Julio Maglione at the forefront.

During a meeting of sports chiefs in Dubai to discuss the way broadcast revenue from the Olympic Games is distributed, Maglione called for a realignment that would take money from athletics and provide more for sports like his.

Gay dips under 45 seconds for sprinting milestone

World silver medallist Tyson Gay’s name should be popping up on more Diamond League announcements after a milestone weekend.

The American became the first sprinter with personal bests under 10 seconds in the 100, 20 seconds in the 200 and 45 seconds in the 400 when he clocked a lifetime best 44.89 seconds for the longer distance at a meeting in Gainesville, Florida, on Saturday.

The race was Gay’s first individual competition since successful groin surgery in October and erased any doubts about his fitness level. 

The time took more than half a second off his previous best of 45.57 seconds. He has run 9.69 seconds at 100 metres and 19.58 for the 200.

Olympic and world sprint champion Usain Bolt, by comparison, has bests of 9.58, 19.19 and 45.28. The Jamaican’s 100 and 200 metres times are world records. Gay ranks second to Bolt in the 100 and third in the 200 on the all-time list.

Michael Johnson holds the 400 metres world record of 43.18 seconds. 

from The Great Debate UK:

What can London 2012 learn from Vancouver? Seb Coe answers your questions

The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver were hit at the very start by the tragic death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili and for a while the Games struggled to recover, as organisers were faced with problem after problem, from the unseasonably warm weather to transport snarl-ups to scoring problems.

Some even wondered if Vancouver would go on to be called the Worst Games Ever but no one is saying that now, with the action picking up to provide a series of electrifying and heart warming moments while the organisation has settled down.

In fact, Vancouver looks like it will set the bar pretty high for the next Summer Olympics in London in 2012. On Friday, Sebastian Coe, chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee, will be talking to Reuters from the Main Press Centre in Vancouver and will address questions including what London can learn from these Games.

Coe, of course, is himself a double gold medal winner, having triumphed in the 1500m in Moscow in 1980 and again in the same event in Los Angeles four years later.

He will be answering questions in a live chat we’ll be hosting here on Friday at 1600 GMT, talking about London’s preparations for the 2012 Olympics and his own Games experience in Vancouver, where he ran with the torch on the day of the opening ceremony (see the photo above).

If you have questions for Coe, please send them in to the Live Blog within this post, or in the comments below, and join us for the chat on Friday -- either at this page or at this link -- for a first-hand look at how things are going before the Five Ring Circus heads to London.

Kevin Fylan, Vancouver