Texas Sets World Record at Tyson Invitational

Story written by Eric

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark -- The University of Texas men's distance medley relay set a world record on Saturday at the 2008 Tyson Invitational held at the University of Arkansas, running 9.25,97 to easily qualify for next month's NCAA Indoor Championships.

The Longhorns' quartet of junior Kyle Miller (2.54,11), freshman Danzell Fortson (46,90), junior Jacob Hernandez (1.47) and senior Leo Manzano (3.57,96) also shattered the previous American record held by Stanford University and set a new stadium record in the process.

The Longhorn relay team's entry into the world record books was the fifth world mark set this indoor season in the past eight days with a little more than four weeks left before the season concludes with the IAAF World Indoor Championships and NCAA Championships.

Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele set a new indoor world record in the 2-mile in Birmingham on Saturday, with Russian Yelena Isinbayeva establishing a new world indoor standard later that afternoon at a meet in Donetsk, Ukraine (previous story).

Manzano, who won the mile championship (3.59,21, the third-fastest time in UT school history) at the New Balance Invitational last week and met the NCAA automatic standard, remained calm during the latter part of the event, and focussed on making up for their previous medley relay run last week.

"I heard the fans and my teammates shouting times and saying I was on pace for a world record," Manzano stated following his race.

"I just told myself to run hard and fast, and don’t worry about that. I just needed to stay calm and finish the race for my teammates. Once I crossed the line and saw the time, I knew we had the mark."

Miller has a 3.44,54 best for 1.500m, and opened his weekend pursuit with a personal best 4.00,50 in the Olympic Development mile on Friday night, finishing second to teammate Jake Morse by 0,09 seconds.

Fortson, a true freshman, was a two-time Texas UIL 400-meter champion (Class 4A in 2006, Class 5A in 2007) at Keller Central High School, and boasts a 46,70 400m life-time best.

Hernandez, a two-time All-American, has a 1.47,96 outdoor best at 800m, and had equalled the UT indoor record with a 1.49,25 set last week at the New Balance Invitational, warmed up for the distance medley by winning the Men's Olympic Development 800m on Friday in a lifetime best -- and UT record -- of 1.47,89.

Manzano, the two-time NCAA 1.500m champion (2005, 2006) and seven-time Big 12 champion, holds lifetime bests of 1.49,26/3.58,78 indoors, and a 3.35,29 best over 1.500m outdoors.

The University of Michigan, comprised of a team of Nate Brannen (2.54,5), DarNell Talbert (47,4), Andrew Ellerton (1.48,4) and Nick Willis (3.57,5) held the previous world, NCAA and Randal Tyson Track Center records of 9.27,77 set on 2004-March-12.

The relay team also bettered by 2,86 seconds the previous American record of 9.28,83 set by Stanford University on 2000-March-10. The Cardinal featured a team of Gabe Jennings (2.52,1), Evan Kelty (48,3), Michael Stember (1.48,4) and Jonathon Riley (4.00,0).

Jennings and Stember would go on to make the 2000 U.S. Olympic team in the 1.500m.

Texas also bettered the previous school record of 9:31.27 set on 2007-March-2 at the Wilson Invitational (Notre Dame Last Chance Meet). Hernandez and Manzano ran the final two legs of the previous school best last year, splitting 1.47 and 3.57, respectively.

Texas finished eighth (9.41,81) in the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, a race won by Stanford in a world-leading 9.33,64. Manzano anchored that race in 4.04,73.

Stanford may prove to be a great contender this year as well, despite Texas' record-shattering time, with Garret Heath running a 3.58,71 mile -- the third-fastest indoors in Stanford history, in finishing second at the Husky Classic.

Arkansas, which holds the collegiate outdoor Distance Medley record (9.20,10) set at the 1989 Penn Relays, was considered one of the favourites on Saturday, but appeared to have simply gone 'through the motions,' according to their long-time coach, John McDonnell (story).

Men Distance Medley
================================================================
School                                               Finals
================================================================
1 Texas                                               9:25.97
2 LSU                                                 9:35.31
3 Arkansas                                            9:39.63
4 Oklahoma                                            9:45.64
5 Oktebehha TC                                        9:47.29
6 Texas Tech                                          9:50.32
7 Georgia                                             9:52.73
8 Michigan                                            9:56.11
9 Harding                                            10:00.99
10 Rend Lake CC                                       10:04.36
11 Butler CC                                          10:07.29
12 Clemson                                            10:11.18
13 Western State                                      10:12.12

==================================================================

Event 42  Men 800 Meter Run Olympic Dev

Randal Tyson:   1:45.33  3/10/2001   Patrick Nduwimana, Arizona      
 NCAA Auto: A 1:48.20                                              
 NCAA Prov: P 1:50.50                                              
  Name                    Year School                  Finals

Section  1                                                           
1 Jacob Hernandez              Texas                  1.47,89A     
2 Andrew Heaney                Unattached             1.48,04A     
3 Tim Harris                   Miami                  1.48,59P     
4 Prince Mumba                 Unattached             1.49,24P     
5 Mark Miller                  Penn State             1.49,43P     
6 Reuben Twiluke               LSU                    1.50,46P     
7 Tevan Everett                Texas                  1.50,58      
8 Cory Primm                   UCLA                   1.50,92      
9 James Gilreath               Baylor                 1.53,46       

=================================================================

Event 44  Men 1 Mile Run Olympic Dev

Randal Tyson:   3:49.89  2/11/2005   Bernard Lagat, Nike             
 NCAA Auto: A 3:59.50                                              
 NCAA Prov: P 4:04.00                                              
  Name                    Year School                  Finals

Finals                                                               
1 Jake Morse                   Texas                  4.00,41P     
2 Kyle Miller                  Texas                  4.00,50P     
3 Micky Cobrin                 Arkansas               4.00,87P     
4 Shadrack Songok              TAMU - Corpu           4.01,03P     
5 Scott Overall                Unattached             4.01,18P     
6 Kyle King                    Unattached             4.02,79P     
7 Matt Lincoln                 Unattached             4.03,60P     
8 Laef Barnes                  UCLA                   4.05,43      
9 John Martinez                NC State               4.12,66      
10 Samuel Borchers              Penn State             4.13,98      
11 Michael Chinchar             Arkansas               4.20,51       

================================================================== 

Isinbayeva (4.95m), Bekele (8.04,34) Set WR's

Story written by Eric

In her 2008 debut, Yelena Isinbayeva, 25, raised her own World record indoors to 4.95m today at the Pole Vault Stars meeting in Donetsk, Ukraine, and won a $50.000 bonus for eclipsing the top mark ever achieved indoors.

Isinbayeva, the reigning IAAF World Indoor Champion, added two centimetres to the previous indoor mark she set one year ago at the same venue, and won by 13 centimetres over teammate Yuliya Golubchikova, who finished second with a 4.72m clearance. Poland's Monika Pyrek placed third with a 4.67m vault.

Isinbayeva has now faced Golubchikova 20 times, and has gotten the better of her rival on each of those occasions - the final 13 coming as victories. Pyrek, the 2003 IAAF World Indoor bronze medallist (4.45m), has 11 victories in 63 competitions against Isinbayeva, and has not defeated her since winning the 2006 DN Galan in Stockholm.

This was the third-consecutive year in which Isinbayeva, who has leaped a world record of 5.01m outdoors, broke the indoor mark in Donetsk. Isinbayeva jumped 4.93m in Donetsk last year, and 4.91m in 2006.

Isinbayeva's winning mark today was her 22nd world record in the pole vault and was her first personal-best mark set in 12 months and 17 competitions. She also managed to clear 4.70m or higher for the 53rd time in her career. Isinbayeva had not competed since 2007-October-3 when she vaulted to a firsts-place 4.80m victory in Daegu, Korea.

Isinbayeva, who also is the reigning Olympic, World and European champion, has a 23-finals win-streak and has set world indoor records at least once during the past five seasons. She has been pre-selected to represent Russia at next month's IAAF World Indoor Championships in Valencia, where she will defend the title she won two years ago in Moscow.

Next up for the wealthy Russian is a stop in St. Petersburg on Monday to participate in the 2008 Laureus Awards, where the popular Russian will learn if she has been selected Sportswoman of the Year.

Justine Henin (Belgium, Tennis), Carolina Klüft (Sweden, Athletics), Libby Lenton (Australia, Swimming), Marta (Brazil, Football) and Lorena Ochoa (Mexico, Golf) are the other nominated stars up for the award.

Sergey Bubka, who holds the men's indoor and outdoor pole vault records and put on the meet, was on hand to witness Isinbayeva's record feat. Bubka set the still-standing world indoor mark of 6.15m in Donetsk in 1993. Bubka will also be in attendance Monday at the Laureus award show.

BEKELE BREAKS MENTOR'S 2-MILE RECORD

Birmingham, England -- Kenenisa Bekele, holder of four middle- and long-distance world records, struck again today at the Norwich Union indoor Grand Prix meeting, running two miles in 8 minutes 4.34 seconds, setting his third record at the English indoor venue.

Bekele, who earned a $30.000 bounty for breaking Haile Gebrselassie's indoor mark by a scant 0,34 seconds, was challenged by Paul Koech, the 2007 IAAF World Outdoor steeplechase champion, throughout the final mile until Bekele pulled away on the backstretch of the final lap.

Koech, who has a lifetime best of 7.33,93 outdoors in the 3.000m, ran to a new national Kenyan record of 8.06,48 in finishing second, with Abraham Chebii of Kenya finishing third in a personal-best time of 8.13,28.

Bekele and Koech lined themselves up to make it a 1-2 race following the final rabbit through the 1.600m mark, covered in 4 minutes 0,58 seconds. Bekele then assumed the pacing duties over his stalking challenger at the 2.000m mark, a split which he covered in 5.00,61. Koech appeared to bide his time as he sat back in second when Bekele put in a 59,8-second quarter split to break open the race.

Koech appeared to find a reprieve when Bekele slowed during the next 200m segment and fell off the blistering pace following a 62,9 split leading up to 2.800m, but the Kenyan finally felt the Ethiopian's pace's too much to handle once the pair hit the 3.000m marker in 7.34 -- one second off of Koech's personal best.

Bekele has done particularly well in Birmingham, having run a world record in the 2.000m (4.49,99) last season, and setting the current indoor 5.000m record (12.49,60) there in 2004.

Bekele made a valiant attempt in 2006 to break Gebrselassie's 2-mile world record -- which was also the Ethiopian national record, but fell 0,43 seconds short.

The 2008 indoor season is proving to be a highly competitive one leading up to the Olympic Games, with no less than four world records set within the past six days.

Select results from Birmingham:
Full results

1		Kenenisa BEKELE	ETH	8:04.35				WR
2		Paul KOECH	KEN	8:06.48				NR
3		Abraham CHEBII	KEN	8:13.28				PB
4		Markos GENETI	ETH	8:16.49				SB
5		Bekana DABA	ETH	8:18.92				PB
6		Mo FARAH	GBR	8:20.95				PB
7		Nick MCCORMICK	GBR	8:26.44				PB
8		Erik SJOQVIST	SWE	8:36.74				NR
9		Francisco ESPANA	ESP	8:43.31				PB
10		Adam BOWDEN	GBR	8:47.57				PB
		Javier CARRIQUEO	ARG	DNF
		Bikila DEMMA	ETH	DNF

Split Times

1000m		CARRIQUEO	ARG			2:29.66
2000m		BEKELE	ETH		(2:30.95)	5:00.61
3000m		BEKELE	ETH		(2:33.99)	7:34.60
Finish		BEKELE	ETH		(29.75)	8:04.35

Soboleva Smashes Through in Moscow

Story written by Eric

Yelena Soboleva's string of smashing runs continued today with a stellar world indoor record in the 1.500m during the third and final day of the Russian Indoor Championships in Moscow.

Soboleva, who set the previous world indoor record of 3.58,28 at the Russian Indoor Championships two years ago, knocked 0,23 seconds from her personal best to run her ninth career sub-4 minute 1.500m and win her second event of the week-end -- her third career indoor national title.

Soboleva, who holds lifetime bests outdoors of 3.56,43 in the 1.500m and 4.15,63 in the mile, became only the second athlete in history to record two sub-4.00 clockings indoors. For comparison, the sub-4.00 clocking has been accomplished 226 times outdoors, with 59 of those by a combination of Russian athletes - including seven by Soboleva.

American Regina Jacobs, third on the all-time list, was the first female under four minutes indoors, running 3.59,98 in Boston, USA in 2003. Jacobs was subsequently banned in connection with the 2003 BALCO scandal.

Tatyana Kazankina holds the Russian outdoor national record in 3.52,47 set in 1980.

Soboleva won the women's 800m in a national indoor record time of 1.56,49 on Saturday.

Soboleva, who set a national indoor record in the mile run (4.20,21) on 27-January, is now the fastest Russian ever indoors at the 800m, 1.500m and mile events. Soboleva's 800m is fifth on the all-time world indoor list and is a mere 0,67 seconds from the world indoor record.

Slovenian Jolanda Ceplak, who is currently facing a drug suspension, set the world indoor record of 1.55,82 six years ago in Wien - a race she won by defeating Austria's Stephanie Graf by a scintillating 0,03 seconds.

Soboleva, 25, won the prestigious 800m on Saturday by more than two seconds up on Natalya Ignatova (1.58,84), who set a personal record of her own in running under the two-minute barrier for the first time.

Marya Savinova and Marya Shapaeva both ran 1.59,71 for third and fourth, respectively, with Shapaeva establishing a new Russian Under-23 national indoor record.

Soboleva ran a very controlled opening two laps of her race, splitting 29,7 for the first 200m, and 28,5 to reach the half-way point in 58,2 - a pace spot-on for a 1.56,4.

Soboleva then peeled off a 28,6 third lap split to reach the 600m mark in 1.26,85, and concluded her historic run with a 29,6 final lap.

Soboleva's 600m en-route time has only been bettered by 10 women in a full 600m race, including Ignatova, who ran a 1.26,53 in Moscow the same evening as Soboleva's national record in the mile.

Soboleva's 57,1 middle 400m split was a testament to her fitness being at top-level, and sent a clear message that her international rivals will be hard-pressed to sprint past her in the 1.500m, which is 700m further and averages five seconds slower per lap.

Yulia Fomenko, the 2006 IAAF World Indoor 1.500m champion, broke her previous personal best by 1,05 seconds, clocking 4.00,21 to finish second. Fomenko became the fourth-fastest indoor runner ever with her effort.

Bronze medalist Yekaterina Martynova, 21, was the second middle-distance runner in as many days to break a Russian Under-23 record, but took the feat one step further than Shapaeva was able to manage on Saturday.

Martynova's time of 4.03,56 was not only the fastest-ever in her age classification in Russia's rich athletics history, but is now the fastest-ever indoor time by a European Under-23 athlete.

Martynova broke onto the international scene two years ago, clocking 2.02,83 indoors for 800m as a 19-year-old. Her previous indoor personal best at 1.500m was a 4.06,37 set 19-January.

Russian Indoor Championships, Moscow
2008-02-08 -- 2008-02-10
Select results:

800m
1	Yelena Soboleva	RUS	1.56,49
2	Natalia Ignatova	RUS	1.58,84
3	Maria Savinova	RUS	1.59,46
4	Maria Shapaeva	RUS	1.59,71
5	Tatiana Andrianova	RUS	2.02,68
1500m
1	Yelena Soboleva	RUS	3.58,05
2	Yulia Fomenko	RUS	4.00,21
3	Yekaterina Martynova	RUS	4.03,68

Former 100m World Record-Holder Greene Retires

Story written by EPelle

Former five-time world sprint champion and former world record-holder Maurice Greene announced his retirment from track and field today following a spat of injuries which have derailed him for the past two seasons.

Greene, who twice set the world indoor 60m record (6,39) and holds the American 50m record (5,56) indoors, set the American 100m record (9,79) in Athens nine years ago.

Greene's 100m time still ranks among the top-5 on the world all-time list. Jamaican Asafa Powell (9,74) holds the current world-record.

Greene won a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens along with a gold (100m) and bronze (4x100m) at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, but is best known for his 2001 100m victory at the IAAF World Outdoor Championships in Edmonton, where he ran a 9,82 after injuring himself half-way during the race - one he won over fellow American, Tim Montgomery.

Montgomery would later lower Greene's world record to 9,78 seconds, but would bes stripped of that honour following revelation that he had received and used performance-enhancing drugs from BALCO laboratories.

Greene, who was coached and trained by John Smith's HSI track club at UCLA, ran an incredible 52 races under the 10,00-second flat barrier -- one of the marks a by which world-class sprinters are gauaged to have been successful in their careers. Greene broke 10,00-flat every season between 1997 and 2004.

Greene also held a 19,86 best over 200m.

Tattooed on Greene's shoulder are the letters GOAT, an acronym for Greatest of All-time. Greene considered himself better than Jesse Owens, the American Olympian who won four gold medals at the 1936 Games in Berlin and Carl Lewis, the American who equalled that feat 48 years later at the Los Angeles Olympics.

Powell has since taken the world record from Greene and lowered it 0,05 seconds in becoming the World's Quickest Man. The World's Fastest Man, a title which is awarded the Olympic 100m champion, is Justin Gatlin, an American sprinter who once co-held the world record with Powell, but is now staving off drug allegations as he awaits a hearing with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in New York.

Yet another American, Tyson Gay, is the current man to beat as the Beijing Olympics loom, having defeated Powell at last summer's IAAF World Outoor Championships. Gay has run 9,84 seconds over 100m - a time which equals the fourth best performers in history, and has the second-fastest 200m runner in world history (19,62) behind MIchael Johnson's world-record time of 19,32 set at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Greene, who hails from Kansas City, Kansas, finished his career 1-2 against Asafa Powell and 2-0 over Gay - though Gay won the adidas Classic in Carson, CA last summer in 9,79w - a final to which Greene failed to qualify.

Maurice Greene's seasonal bests throughout his professional career:

• 50 m (Indoor)
  1996 5,71A
  1999 5,56 (American Record)
  60 m (Indoor)
  1997 6,54
  1998 6,39 (World Record)
  1999 6,40
  2000 6,45
  2001 6,39 (World Record)
  2003 6,50
  2004 6,61
  2005 6,54
  2007 27,70
  100 m
  1995 9,88w
  1995 10,19
  1996 10,08
  1997 9,86
  1998 9,79w
  1998 9,90
  1999 9,84w
  1999 9,79 (World Record)
  2000 9,86
  2001 9,82
  2002 9,88w
  2002 9,89
  2003 9,94
  2004 9,78w
  2004 9,87
  2005 10,01
  2006 10,35
  2007 10,84
  200 m
  1994 20,86
  1995 20,84
  1997 19,86
  1998 20,03
  1999 19,90
  2000 19,93w
  2000 20,02
  2003 20,16

Kallur Sets New NR, Chambers Wins in Comeback

Story written by EPelle

Dwain Chambers, the British sprinter on a comeback after a failed NFL career attempt, qualified for the UK National Indoor Championships 60m on Saturday by posting a winning time of 6,60 seconds at the Birmingham Games.

Chambers, 29, who detoured his athletics career in 2007 following a successful - yet controversial - comeback the previous year from a 2003 performance-enhancing drugs bust, has a tougher challenge ahead of him than attempting to win a race featuring a younger, stronger competitor in 21-year-old Craig Pickering, the 2005 European Junior 100m champion.

Chambers may not even make it to the starting blocks now that he's qualified for next weekend's national championships, because UK Athletics, the athletics governing body of Britain, does not want him to compete.

The 60m dash in Sheffield next weekend is the trials run for the IAAF World Indoor Championships, and the winner will be invited to participate next month in Valencia for Great Britain. Chambers, because he has not been on the official drug-testing register for more than a year, runs the risk of being left off the team.

Meanwhile, in Stuttgart yesterday evening, Sweden's Susanna Kallur, the 2006 European Champion and reigning IAAF Indoor 60m hurdles champion, set a new Swedish record in her speciality, running 7,72 seconds - the second-fastest ever run indoors - at the Sparkassan Cup.

It was the second time in less than a week the 26-year-old set a new personal best at this distance.

Russian Lyudmila Narozhilenko, who later became a Swedish national, set the world-record of 7,69 seconds in Chelyabinsk, Russia in 1990.

Kallur set her second-consecutive Swedish record this week, having run 7,75 at the Samsung Galan at Scandinavium in Göteborg, Sweden, on Tuesday evening, and broke Lyudmila Engquist's (formerly Nazorzhilenko) previous national mark of 7,80 seconds.

Kallur opened her season with a 7,81 mark in Glasgow two weekends ago.

Kallur, who has had a winter of injury-free training with her twin sister, Jenny, is reaping the rewards of consistency and a more focussed strength and conditioning schedule as she prepares for this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing. She holds a 12,49 second 100m hurdles best outdoors - a mark she achieved last summer in Berlin.

Kallur was injured for three months leading up to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, and did not make it past the semi-finals. She also hopes to improve on her fourth-place finish from last season's IAAF World Outdoor Championships 100m hurdles final - a race she was winning until American Michelle Perry, the eventual winner, interfered with Kallur over the final hurdle and impeded Kallur's finishing drive.

The Kallur twins are no strangers to handling success. Their father Anders Kallur, the four-time Stanley Cup winner with the New York Islanders, is their manager. Jenny Kallur is skipping the 2008 indoor season.

In the final news of the hour, Russian André Silnov, the 2006 European Outdoor high jump champion, won his event at the Hochsprung Mit Musik high jump challenge in Arnstadt, Germany, yesterday, clearing 2,37m - the world's highest jump of the season. Stefan Holm, the reigning Olympic champion from Sweden, finished second in 2,35m. Silnov had one attempt at 2,39m and fouled twice at 2,41m.

Only nine other athletes in history have surpassed the 2,40m barrier which Silnov attempted to clear in Arnstadt. Holm is the last athlete who has cleared 2,40m indoors or outdoors since winning the 2003 European Indoor Championships in Madrid, Spain over Russian Jaraslov Rybakov, who finished third in Arstsadt yesterday (2,35m).

Cuban Javier Sotamayor holds the indoor and outdoor world records with jumps of 2,43m and 2,45m, respectively.

Reaching Your Potential: Pass or Fail?

Story written by EPelle

Have you as an athlete felt as though you reached your full potential?

This is a subject which has both intrigued me and burned inside of me through the years following an athletics career which had its challenging periods and very successful ones as well.

I was indirectly asked this question on a forum on Wednesday, and can honestly say in retrospect that I always felt I had the potential to achieve greater things than what was eventually recorded as historical fact.

My name is neither Alex Rodgriguez nor Kenenisa Bekele. I didn't have the world at my fingertips once-upon-a-time when I was an athlete, though I had aspirations of being as famous as Patrik Sjöberg and Sergei Bubka -- even Joe Montana. I had Olympic goals and had the potential to really make something big of myself had I stuck with things.

I'd heard about this word "potential" since the first day I was ever forced to run - a Monday, the 27th day of the month of August many years ago.

It all started off when I ran in a compulsory 880 yard run around the high school track -- something we 35 kids, each in grade-9 who had been arbitrarily selected for that first-period class, were made to do to compare notes to other kids from other periods and other years.

The guy holding the watch, who doubled as the basketball trainer, said someting about it being "a fitness test". Two laps around that dirt track at 08.00 seemed like torture to most of us.

That "potential" landed me directly on a cross country team where others, watching me train and compete, made long-winded comments about potential -- even though some of them were more seasoned, more experienced and a lot faster than a 14-year-old guy who ran so "effortlessly" and "like he's not even trying."

I trained for -- and competed in -- two sports during those four years - eight seasons with the same trainer who, as time elapsed and the end drew near, finally told me what my potential was. I'd just not reach it in high school, he said -- it had to do with something about building-block years. Those years were spent running conservatively in practice, and "pace" in the races. We didn't try anything foolish. However, where there was nothing ventured, there was nothing much gained for most of my teammates.

One of my teammates attempted to skirt around caution and patience during his four years in high school. He had a father whose expectations were higher and more outrageous than nearly anyone I'd ever met - save one other father whose son competed against me week-in and week-out in for two of those years in the exact same event all the way to the state 1.600m -final -- a race neither of us won.

This particular teammate had "potential" as well -- and it seemed he had a tonne more of it than the rest of us in the same class. He was already a varsity runner at grade-9, and had broken 15.00 for 3 miles in cross country during grade-10 -- a year our seven-man crew won conference with 15 points, won sub-section with 25, repeated as section champions and finished six lousy points short of winning the Northern CA championships.

He had the "potential" to run 8.36 in the two-mile, he was told, and made every living moment count toward attaining that goal.

He won a very tough conference on a monstrously-challenging course our grade-12 cross country season -- I finished a second behind him in second,. He thought he had a shot at the state title. I had the same goal in mind and beat him to it in the qualifying meet for state, finishing second at the sectional qualification meet; he finished third, four seconds behind. Neither of us collected medals at the state meet the following week, however. He finished in the top-20, and I succumbed to the adverse affects of a very bad cold during the final mile of the 5km race.

My teammate didn't reach his cross country potential, and his father, who was obsessed with winning, had determined that his son would be the star that his older sister, who attended an even more competitive school -- a public one with a national record-holder who still ranks in the all-time lists at her distance -- had failed to become.

He competed in track one final time during high school, and still had hopes of "running under 9 [minutes in the two-mile]" by the time spring came around. He'd tossed aside the outrageous notion of running two 4.18 miles, because he couldn't yet break 4.30 for one over half the distance.

Unfortunately, in this story, that kid -- who looked like a man among boys, fell far short of his potential, whatever it was. He set personal bests at three distances his final season, running 800m in 2.01, 1.600m in 4.22, and running 9.30 for the 3.200m.

Or, perhaps that was his full potential, and he was aiming too high to begin with.

That kid would never run another competitive race as far as I knew. Even worse, he's been AWOL from the face of the earth over the past two decades, with only rumours left behind.

There are many morals to that story -- pick whichever one is applicable to you. Only one was applicable to me, however.

One life application from the story above that I packed with me as I entered university was not to stress over the final clock times as I competed, but rather to listen to my new trainer and do what he said in order to be a good competitor. I entered a great university with an excellent tradition, and my trainer had helped previous recruits reach and exceed their goals and realise their potential. He said he could help me reach my potential as well.

I trained and raced hard my first year at university, and eventually was told what my potential was -- first by my teammates who, again, said something about running effortlessly, and then by my trainer, who knew when and how often to dangle that carrot in front of me.

Three years later, when all was said and done -- at least under the university's colours, unfortunately, I fell far, far short of the time goals -- the ones I was not supposed to dwell on despite the fact that a big 3 followed by 34 was taped onto my running logbook. I'd lost the one for the 12,5-lap race -- I think its four numbers were 1 3 4 and 2.

Somehow "potential" got mingled together with those, though memory has now grown faint as to which was the dream and which was the goal.

I didn't reach my potential in athletics. I didn't break four minutes in the mile, nor did I chase the wind -- and pace-makers -- around European tracks as a realisation of potential would have allowed...demanded...afforded. I had a great gift and used it well, but not to its fullest capability. I squandered some of it, and injured another part of it.

Finally, I grew bored of having potential without the results that I finally traded in my spikes for a remote control and watched athletics on television rather than compete against the very people whose potentials were being realised.

There are million steps I'd take backward in order to have fulfilled my potential, but I can't, so I won't. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to realise that I had potential in the first place, though it has now simply become gossimer mind fiction with no true effect on my present day life.

What "gift" were you given as an athlete, and do you feel you reached down as deep into your "potential" as you could?

Personal Space: Truly Needed and Hardly Granted

Story written by EPelle

Every so often I cross paths with a few specially gifted folks who live in different postal codes than do I - folks who are well-hidden in unlisted locations up in the mountains or outside of the country all together.

You've likely seen them in your neck of the woods, too, as they're the ones with two cars for each day of the week, and have a garage bigger than most of the local houses to store those prized possessions. If you haven't seen them, you've heard them speeding along through the forest at break-neck speeds in their powerful SUV's bearing stickers which state, "Loud Pipes Save Lives".

Whatever works.

Undoubtedly, we've all seen them on television at one time or another and have formed bonds with them... eaten breakfast with them... stayed up late with them... spilled beer over the sofa because of them... bought posters of them when we were kids. And the story goes on one newspaper clipping at a time taped into scrapbooks filled completely past their page limits and stuffed in some dusty box in our parents' atticks and basements.

They are champions - the ones who always seem to win gold, and never seem to lose.

Kids in our small little communities - even those under our own noses and under our own roofs - are doing the same things we did, and, to a certain extent, continue doing today.

Whether you're eight - or 28, you've likely worn your favourite's name across a shirt on your back (or have their names tatooed on your back!) and have had the same heroic figures gracing your bedroom walls - with the exception between you and a kid being the fact that your wives have at some point suggested that you grow up.

These folks whom we hero-worship, I believe, are called athletes - and perhaps one or two of them might reach god-like status along the way.

These superstars walk down a red carpet leading to and from an arena near you, and, deservingly, they are lauded for their efforts and given tremendous respect for putting both feet forward and accomplishing their goals. Most will remain strangers we love, and others will be enemies we bitterly despise and loathe.

Despite our attachments to them, however, we will never really be near enough to them to really know just how far we are from the people behind the achievements - the persons whose mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and old grade school mates know and call them by the names of Justin... David... Kajsa... Zlatan... Carro... Hicham.

You get the picture.

We watch, salivate and attempt to emulate some of the efforts these highly-trained and exceptionally paid athletes put up in their finest moments, but bemoan them and cast them into yesteryear when the intrigue runs thin... the clock runs out of time... the hero falls down and simply becomes a man... a woman... a person just like you and me - a metamorphosis which shows more sign of weakness than it does of heroism.

When heros fall down our knees buckle, our encouragement begins turning into disdain and our attention gradually focuses on the negative rather than the positives.

It is challenging to find positives when the media alerts us to an esteemed athlete's fall from grace, and even more natural to dwell on faults when we base our knowledge on the little bit of "fact" that we know.

We get stuck in a "negativity" rut and, as time passes along, we see the ultimate result once our previously respected athlete crosses the finish line in their race of infamy: Our children take down their posters from the walls and stuff them under their beds.

Or, in my case, an entire collection of trading cards ends up in a fireplace only to be saved by a mother who knew better and a father who counted the money they were worth.

Of athletes and fame, a couple of lessons I've learned over the years is that the folks who live in the estates overlooking my neighbourhood and several others within 60km of their hilltop views have one thing in common with me - as they do with you: they are simply people.

Yes, they have a few extra tax gurus, two or three more gas cards and a higher credit limit on the plastic they keep in their pockets, but they are still human beings who eat breakfast, occasionally skip lunch, and eat dinner with their feet up on the table watching sports highlights just like you and me.

That's about it.

Well, almost.

They also appear on television more often, stay in a few more hotels each week than I do, ride in a few more limousines on their way to work than do I, and have every word, action, statement and admission recorded for immediate and permanent playback whether they like it or not.

I believe that actually does about sum it up.

Most of that holds true for a man whom we call Gatlin, whose mother calls him Justin. Some school girls on his Facebook page call him "cute".

Justin Gatlin was a high school standout in Florida, an NCAA champion at Tennessee and stood on top of a podium in front of the biggest stage known to man to collect a gold medal he had earned following winning the Olympic 100m final in Athens four years ago.

Everything he put his mind to he accomplished, and his status among the elite in the world was as high as one could reach on this or any other planet.

Today, he's a man hanging on by a three-person arbitration vote hoping that another shot at an Olympic title won't elude him as he stands accused of having doped using testosterone - or one of its precursors - after a urine test taken at the 2006 Kansas Relays yielded positive results from the previous 100m co-world record-holder.

There is a very small possibility that Gatlin, a former member of Trevor Graham's Sprint Capitol group training out of Raleigh, North Carolina, is telling the truth - that he has never doped, but public opinion has already cast a cloud of guilt over his house - and on his property in every literal sense of the word.

Gatlin has come under international fire - to a lesser extent than did Marion Jones, and has at times found reprieve and solace spending time with his parents in Pensacola, Florida - a place where children and adults alike still look up to Gatlin for his previous accomplishments.

Though there are those who have looked up to him and supported him through the anti-doping violation he faces, there are others who have taken matters into their own hands, have closed the case and have pronounced him guilty in a manner and fashion which has been both personal and public for the second-fastest 100m sprinter of all time.

Gatlin spoke to Reuters in a recent telephone interview and described what measures some fans have gone to let him know he let them down.

"I woke up one morning at my parents house, and written on the side of my vehicle there was 'Just Say No to Steroids,'" Gatlin said. "That really hurt.

"I wiped it off and went in the house and broke down. It was painful."

Some people have caused me a bit of pain as well for mistakes I've made along the path of life, but I've never had to be humiliated before my neighbours for it. Then again, I've never held Gatlin's job as ambassador of the sport.

Other athletes - and celebrities for that matter - have fallen off the hero wagon and gone on with their lives after a rough period with their groupies and supporters; being in the spotlight for better of worse is part of the unwritten job description, and one which most handle with care.

At what point, however, do we as fans give these human beings space to sort things out, spend time alone with their families and heal from broken promises they made to their sports, themselves and, especially, to us - the hardcore people, who, just like them, have a dying passion and interest for what they do?

I'd venture to say that fans, for the most part, are quite forgiving of people once they bow their heads, pay their respects for letting people down and saddle back up in a continued pursuit of perfection.

Others, obviously, are not. It depends on the infraction and the degree of remorse athletes -- people -- display, and why they are remorseful. Marion Jones is not a person, for example, whose hand I would reach out to shake had I been in a social situation with her.

Kids demonstrate an even greater ability to rebound from the letdown they face when their superstars tumble.

I can't recall how many times I've heard stories and have seen children tape up the corners of posters ripped down when their dreams were shattered and place them back into the holes in the wall where those people once taught those impressionable minds what striving for the harmonious development of mind and body meant - the agon of sport.

In Gatlin's case, he's faced with pressures he brought upon himself in having chosen a coach who was already mixed up in a scandal of great proportions. He was warned and advised not to join that particular group of people by his agent, Renaldo Nehemiah. Gatlin chose to ignore the caution and exercise his free will to choose for himself. He's paying a high price for those actions today as he may - or not - have participated willlingly in a scheme to defraud the sport of track and field by method of deception and fraud.

Whatever happens to Justin Gatlin, a new person will come along behind him and take over the spot of king of the hill.

Jamaican Asafa Powell has already taken back the world record, having lowered the 100m mark to an amazing 9,74 seconds. American Tyson Gay won three sprint medals at last summer's World Championships, winning the 100m, 200m and running the anchor leg on the victorious 4x100m relay. Gay's aim is to win all three events in Beijing in August.

Gatlin is waiting and hoping that his day before the CAS will soon come so that he can pass go. He wants to return to the sport he loves and in which he has thrived. Some of his fans want him to make a comeback to show the world that it judged him prematurely and should have waited until due process ran its course. Others will remain sceptical no matter what Gatlin does in the future, because his name will forever be linked with drugs.

I have a strong opinion of Gatlin the athlete, but reserve the right to hold it to myself and spare you any bias before his CAS hearing is complete.

Next time I see a person like Justin Gatlin pull out of their truck with those pesky exhaust pipes finally smothered when the key shuts off the engine, however, I'll be a bit less critical and more grateful not necessarily for the days they spent entertaining me on television, but much more so for the fact that they truly are regular people like you and me... humbled and down-to-earth on the inside.

Something tells me that I still will likely never know where a person like him has his post delivered, however, unless their kid winds up trading player cards with mine - whenever they are born.