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| Wednesday, March 14 |
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| IAAF considering a change to false start rule By Jeff Hollobaugh Special to ESPN.com | |||
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Have you ever been to a world-class track meet and been aggravated by the
number of false starts? Or have you wondered why when you're watching a live
telecast of a track meet they never get around to showing you the races you
want to see but instead offer false starts mixed with personality profiles?
Finally, the IAAF is getting around to clearing up the problem, which has
helped to make track and field a deadly TV offering. Its rules committee has
recommended adopting a no false-start rule similar to that used in the NCAA
and U.S. high schools. The rule will cover races shorter than 400 meters.
Will it be controversial? Sure. Any sprinter who has ever false-started might
have an objection. It will affect the results of future Olympics and World
Championships, and you can imagine the stir when our favorite sprinters
occasionally slip up and get booted from the track. But if you've noticed how
well the rule works for the younger set, you will grasp the wisdom of using
it. False starting has declined by leaps and bounds in the NCAA. It's about
time the IAAF follows suit.
Other possible rule changes might not seem so clear. Instead of "three
strikes you're out" in the pole vault and high jump, how about two? It will
speed up meets, true. Yet it is such a departure from the tradition of the
event that it will be hard for many to accept.
One definite change will be that the decathlon will finally be recognized as
an official event for women. However, conservative minds on the IAAF Council
insisted that the heptathlon remain the championship multi-event for women.
Great meets, tough choices The good thing about being mortal is that whatever problems you face, you know they're only temporary. The bad thing about being mortal is that when faced with several fantastic track meets all on the same weekend, you have to make some hard choices if you want to see one in person. This last weekend took the proverbial cake. We had World Championships, NCAA Championships and two national high school meets, for starters. And it's hard to be in Lisbon, Fayetteville, Ark., New York, and Landover, Md., at the same time. I know of some hardy souls who attempted doubles, that is, flying from Fayetteville to Landover, or doing both New York and Landover. What stood out amidst this flurry of championship action? Plenty. At the World Indoors in Lisbon, U.S. shotputters captured gold and silver. John Godina (68-3.75) topped Adam Nelson (67-11.75). Another 1-2 came in the pole vault for Lawrence Johnson (19-6.25) and Tye Harvey (19-4.25). The dashmen also came through with Tim Harden (6.44) and Tim Montgomery (6.46) blazing to gold and silver in the 60. Terrance Trammell surprised few by winning gold in the hurdles (7.51). Anjanette Kirkland took the women's race in 7.85. Shawn Crawford won the 200 in 20.63. Dawn Burrell came through with a big long jump win at 23-0.75. Pavla Hamackova of the Czech Republic upset Stacy Dragila in the pole vault, clearing 14-11.5. Dragila cleared 14-9.5, the same height as the other medalists, but ended up fourth on misses. An even bigger upset went to Russia's Olga Yegorova, who won the 3,000 in 8:37.48 ahead of the heretofore invincible Gabriela Szabo of Romania (8:39.65). The men's 1,500 was one of the most exciting sprint races of the meet, as the early jogging turned into a desperate charge for the finish. Rui Silva of Portugal sprinted best, winning in 3:51.06. The usual winning miler guy, Hicham El Guerrouj, moved to the 3,000 and won in 7:37.74. Russia's Yuriy Borzakovskiy won by nearly two seconds in the 800 with his 1:44.49. Tigers squash Frogs At the NCAAs, Texas Christian seemed in perfect position to win the team title for men. All the Horned Frogs had to do was finish better than seventh in the 4 x 400, and they had it wrapped up. About the only thing that could go wrong, said the pundits, would be if they dropped the relay baton while LSU won the race. You've probably guessed how this one turned out. The Frogs dropped at the first exchange, the Tigers flew, and LSU had yet another title, with the top four teams separated by a mere three points. Pre-meet favorite Stanford ended up fifth. The women's team race lacked that kind of drama, which suited UCLA fine. The Bruins scored 53.5 to lead South Carolina's 40. Depth made the difference for UCLA, which only won one event, Christina Tolson taking the shot with a throw of 55-9.75. Thorey Elisdottir, an Icelander competing for Georgia (probably drawn there by glaciers that reminded her of home), captured the pole vault with a collegiate record 14-9.5. GiGi Miller of Arkansas, better known as a heptathlete, produced a 44-4 triple jump to upset the formchart in that event. She added nearly a foot to her pre-meet best. Svetlana Badrankova of UTEP (and Russia) overcame bell-lap gridlock in the 800 to win in 2:06.58. Local favorite Tracy Robertson of Arkansas captured the mile in 4:39.10. The other distances were won by Boston College's Shannon Smith (3,000 -- 9:11.25) and Jodie Hughes of Colorado (5,000 -- 16:08.61). South Carolina's Demetria Washington captured a sizzling 400 in 52.37 over Lesley Owusu of Nebraska (52.49) and Mikele Barber (52.87), also of South Carolina. The men's action thrilled just as many. LSU's Walter Davis took a page from the Book of Arkansas and won the triple jump with a come-from-behind 55-5 in the last round. Florida's Rickey Harris -- a freshman and only 11th on the list of qualifiers -- came from behind in the 400 to nip new collegiate record holder Andrew Pierce of Ohio State. Both clocked 45.78. David Kimani of Alabama won yet another distance double, capturing the two longest runs in 8:03.29 and 13:42.32. Colorado State's Bryan Berryhill finally took the win in the mile with a studly 3:56.84. SMU's South African star, Jannus Robberts, tossed the 16-pound ball 70-1 to set a meet record in the shot. He won by more than four feet. Other events were closer. Jacob Pauli of Northern Iowa joined Adam Keul of Stephen F. Austin in vaulting 18-7.5. However, to break the tie they had to go to a seemingly interminable jump-off that finally ended when Keul slipped up at 17-1.5. In the sprints, Kim Collins of TCU upset Ja'Warren Hooker of Washington, 20.55 to 20.56. Collins also won the 60 in 6.58. At four laps, Patrick Nduwimana of Arizona sizzled 1:45.33 to beat the 1:45.95 of Arkansas's Dirk Heinze. Prep records fall The high school scene rocked, as well. In New York, the New Balance National Scholastic Championships produced a number of major records. Angel Perkins, a junior from Gahr High in Cerritos, Calif., broke national marks in the 200 (23.59) and 400 (53.25). In the boys 200, two zipped under the old national record, Brendan Christian of Texas topping Connecticut's Glenn McFadden, 21.02 to 21.05. In the girls pole vault, Samantha Shepard and Stacy Manuel tied with a high school record 13-1.75, and Shepard cleared another record, 13-3.5, to win the jump-off. Finally, Long Beach Wilson covered the sprint medley in 3:53.17, making it a total of seven national records for the weekend. While the National Scholastic won the race for records, the Nike Indoor Classic, set in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Landover, featured deeper fields and some very noteworthy competition. Alan Webb ran away with the two mile, his 8:45.19 ranking as the number three best time ever. Another stunning performance came in the 800, where Marc Sylvester's 1:52.75 doesn't read anywhere near as impressively as it looked. He went out slow and exploded on the last lap with a move that left fans blinking. The mile saw Bobby Lockhart experience déjà vu when he got caught at the line. Bobby Curtis of Kentucky outleaned the Virginia star, 4:12.00 to 4:12.11. Another upset saw shot star Kevin Bookout of Oklahoma upended when Jonathan Reeves of Texas threw 66-11.25 to his 65-2.75. In the vault, Sage Thames of Texas cleared 17-0 and flirted with a national record 17-7. Florida speedster Erica Whipple won a sprint double in 7.36/23.78. The dash victory came over Colorado's formidable Alexis Joyce (7.40). Ashlee Williams of Virginia blasted the hurdles in 8.47. In the relays, the girls from Rockford, Mich., again ruled as they took the 4 x mile (20:48.10) and the distance medley (11:58.05). Now the sport moves outdoors. Spring is here, no matter what it says on your calendar. Jeff Hollobaugh, former managing editor of Track and Field News, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached by e-mail at michtrack@aol.com.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories | |
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