Usain Bolt's Three Gifts Kept on Giving

By Eric.

Christmas eve has drawn nigh, and one wonders what has been left under Usain Bolt's tree.

He has captured nearly every imaginable and conceivable award and adulation for his accomplishments in 2008, and has been handsomely rewarded with name and brand recognition which stretches around the globe.

What gift will Bolt unwrap this year which can top those he received at this time some 52 weeks ago? Is there any solitary imaginable one which could rival the six-fold one he received with his Olympic ticket, namely three gold medals and three world records to match?

If he needs a ticket to fame, he needn't look any further than a click of the mouse: Usain Bolt's name is splashed on every news feed of note, even to this day, as 2008 winds down and the fairytale season is remembered on top-10 lists in a newspaper near you.

Bolt drew the ire of International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge for showboating during the men's 100-meter dash on the biggest stage of world sport, but drew the adoration of hundreds of millions of fans for his childlike demonstration of sheer excitement for winning a race against competitors far more experienced than he.

What about just giving the man a car and some alone time following an off-season which appeared to be more hectic than his in-season travel and commitments? On second thought, hold off on that one. BMW and Puma have already teamed up and done just that. Mr. Bolt took custody of a black BMW M3 which Puma had shipped to him just before Christmas.

Perhaps a suitable gift for Bolt would be Sports Illustrated unveiling their Sportsman of the Year award, a single-copy edition which could serve as motivation for 2009—a world championship year which will be filled with higher expectations than Bolt could possibly have dreamed of when he took up the challenge of dropping down in distance this year, and tackling a man who had won his island nation's heart, captured the citizens' imaginations, but had not won any global title of note.

Sports Illustrated missed a beat when it had Michael Phelps lean ahead of Bolt to win Sportsman of the Year Award. The IAAF, Track & Field News and L'Equipe, didn't, however, each awarding the lanky Jamaican sensation its top honours, respectively.

We as fans received an extra gift this year, as the Olympic Games were held during a leap year and were kicked off on a very sacred and superstitious day for the Chinese, namely the eighth day of the eighth month of the eighth year of this century.

Eights may have been wild for the 21 percent of the world population located in the host country, but there is only a single integer which will remain in the history annals for all-time, whether or not the times, themselves, are lowered by Usain Bolt—and that is the number "one".

Try these on for size:

• Usain Bolt ended the 2008 season as the number one sprinter in the 100m.
• Usain Bolt ended the 2008 season as the number one sprinter in the 200m.
• Usain Bolt ended the 2008 season as the world record-holder in the 100m.
• Usain Bolt ended the 2008 season as the world record-holder in the 200m.
• Usain Bolt ended the 2008 season as history's quickest from 0-100m.
• Usain Bolt ended the 2008 season as history's quickest from 0-10 under 10,00.
• Usain Bolt ended the 2008 season with the greatest cumulative average for his top-10.
• Usain Bolt also ended the 2008 season with one loss, bringing full-circle the true value of that number.

Taking a closer look, Bolt ended the 2008 season with the best average time for his top-10 races in a season, though Asafa Powell ran the season of his life as well:

• 1. Usain Bolt, JAM, 2008 -- 9.820 (9.69, 9.72, 9.76, 9.77, 9.83, 9.85, 9.85, 9.89, 9.92, 9.92)
• 2. Asafa Powell, JAM, 2008 -- 9.837 (9.72, 9.77, 9.82, 9.82, 9.83, 9.87, 9.87, 9.88, 9.89, 9.90)
• 3. Asafa Powell, JAM, 2006 -- 9.867 (9.77, 9.77, 9.85, 9.85, 9.86, 9.86, 9.89, 9.91, 9.95, 9.96)

Powell needed to run 9.81 and 9.80 in his final two races in order to drop 9.90 and 9.91 from his top-10 and finishes, .01 ahead of Bolt's top-10 season average—no easy feat, despite one's willpower; the season had already been long enough, the Olympics had come and gone, and the chances at redemption were slimming down.

Powell failed in those attempts at the World Athletics Final (9.87) and at Pedro's Cup (9.89), however, he did conclude his season by running exceptionally well, stopping the clock under 9.90 in seven consecutive races. Moreover, Powell was able to legally stop the clock under 10.00 on 15 occasions in 2008—seven more than he did in 2007, and three more than in 2006 when he twice ran world-record times of 9.77 seconds.

In keeping with the integer "one", here's one more: Only one other man in history has been able to run faster without stopping than the sum (19.41) of Bolt's top-two 100m times, a man whom Bolt removed from atop the totem pole in the men's 200m dash and carved his name with the immortal ones who have defied belief.

358 days ago, the New Year's bells were clanging, many fans were set out for their festivities and the favourite to win the Olympic 100m and 200m titles—as well as the 4x100m title, was prepping for his spring campaign, one which would see him run excellent 4x100m relay legs in order to race into shape without laying down the hammer ahead of the strenuous rounds he'd have to endure at the USA Olympic Trials, and again in Beijing if everything went well.

It didn't matter that his name was Tyson Gay, and he was fresh off of winning three gold medals at the IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan—two individual ones and a team gold in the short relay—he still had to put in the work, perfect his timings and hope that he'd have it all on the days which mattered.

Another man was attempting to find a magic formula to enable his own successes, despite the fact that he was entering the season as the 100m world-record holder (9.74, Rieti). Asafa Powell put on excellent displays of speed at stadiums around the globe, but he'd never managed to win the big one when it counted. He was hoping 2008 would provide that break-through, rather than relegating him to just a great Grand Prix racer.

Then there was Bolt, a young man who was entering the new year 138 days past his 21st birthday, setting his sights on a 400m workout to start his season, then working his way down to the 100m, a distance his coach promised he could attempt in a season which turned out to be the finest in the history of athletics for male sprinting.

Usain Bolt upped the ante early, running a 46.94 400m on an ugly day in the Jamaican capital on Jan. 26. Bolt won the 10th heat with the fastest time of the day—running 1.66 off his lifetime best set on the exact same day a year earlier. He also defeated Powell (48.76) as he had the year before.

Powell's finish behind Bolt wasn't yet an omen of things to come, as he had managed to outclass his younger competitor in the overall rankings at the end of the 2007 season, but it was the start of something Powell would become quite accustomed to seeing the rest of the 2008 season, namely Bolt's back.

Powell didn't see Bolt's back at the Melbourne Grand Prix in February, winning his signature event, the 100m, in a modest 10.04 seconds. He'd shaken off the dust from the previous year and competed very well despite a nagging injury he carried during training down in Australia. Powell would wait an additional four months to the date before he'd next step on the track for a 100m race, though he would team up with two of the eventual three teammates he'd share 4x100m glory with in Beijing for an early 39.22 clocking in Kingston on March 22.

Expectations for Bolt, meanwhile, were beginning to rise as the world junior 200m record-holder had accepted an invitation to compete in his first-ever senior 100m dash, with Spanish Town serving as host to what would be Bolt's launch into immortality—er, the record books. American Michael Johnson's half-lap record was once thought untouchable. Bolt finished first in the 100m dash that day—March 8—speeding to a very respectable 10.03 seconds.

Gay, the hands-down favourite to win the coveted title of "world's fastest man," meanwhile, played anchor to three four-by-one relay teams, helping the United States win the Texas Relays in 38.63 seconds, an adidas all-star team capture the Mt. Sac Relays (38.51), and bringing home another national team to a fourth-place finish at the Penn Relays (39.38).

Seven weeks of training and focus—coupled with an apetite to push his tall frame under the 10-second barrier in front of his home crowd—led Bolt to the starting line at the Jamaica Invitational on May 3. Many of the world's major players were at the meet, with Wallace Spearmon—Bolt's 200m nemesis—as well as Darvis Patton, Kim Collins, and Mike Rodgers in Bolt's heat, and Gay opting for the 200m dash.

That Bolt would win the premiere event of the day against the Americans was fathomable—he entered with the fastest time of the year in the field. That Bolt would scream through the 10.00 barrier, under 9.90, and well under 9.80 in his second professional race is another "first" for the history books. Bolt stopped the finish-line clock at 9.76 seconds—only 0.02 seconds off of Powell's world record, and the second-fastest clocking in history. No man had ever chopped so much time off his personal best whilst crossing the magical 10-flat barrier, and no man's margin of victory—0.32 seconds—had been larger.

Bolt was suddenly thrust into contention for the heavyweight title of track and field, the coveted 100m title. Gay took exactly 20 seconds to go from 0-200m without stopping, but the attention had clearly shifted to Bolt, who would agree to a man-to-man 100m sprint to be contested against Gay and others in New York exactly four weeks later.

Bolt had another appearance to make ahead of that scheduled stop, however, and he didn't fail to deliver, winning the Hampton Games in Trinidad on May 14 in a blistering 9.92—his second-consecutive race under 10.00 and a time which was still faster than any man had run up to that point in the season. Gay would respond with a 10.05-20.08 double victory at the adidas classic in Carson, Calif., the following day, with the 200m run into a negative 1.7 wind.

Road to Beijing: Christmas Present Number One

Countdown: T-minus 13 days to the clash of the world champion against the man who had a faster personal best, but who lost to that deserving champion over double the distance the previous year.

Bolt smashed Gay's pride, stole his thunder and erased Powell from the record books in one fell swoop on the 31st day (+1) of May in New York, crossing the line first at 9.72 seconds—a 0.04 improvement over his previous best; his third consecutive race under 10.00; more than 1/10th of a second ahead of Gay's best (9.84); and the fastest ever legally run on American soil.

Gay, who won the 2007 edition in a windy 9.76 (+2.2 m/s), finished with a superb 9.85 clocking, but was left to concern himself with the upcoming USA Olympic Trials. The night in New York belonged to Bolt, the man who was attempting to become the world's fastest.

You know the rest of the drill for Gay: he reigned supreme in the USA Olympic Trials, the timing system in Eugene, Ore., came under heavy suspicion from pundits, Gay was carted off the track during his 200m qualifying, and he disappeared until such time that the Oympics were to commence—where eights were straight, ones were wild and Usain Bolt wasn't playing by conventional rules.

OK, Gay did a bit more than run wild at his national championships, he broke through with monstrous performances in the quarters, semi-final and final, where he ran a personal best 9.77 (qf), followed up with a 9.85w in his semi, and recorded history's fastest under all conditions, a 9.68 (+4,1 m/s)—removing Marion Jones' husband, Obadele Thompson, as the title holder.

Bolt opened his Olympic experience with a 10.20 and 9.95 during his first two races, and followed those up with a 9.85 semi-final run—his third race in 24 hours with the final coming a few hours later. That he would not only blow logic out of the window during the final with his 9.69 after easing during the latter half of the race, but would run nearly as fast as had Gay had with a hurricane wind behind him and equal the second-fastest under any conditions, was unreal, unbelievable, and ultimately un-human.

Somewhere in the middle of it all was Asafa Powell, who, again, failed to win the big one despite the incredible in-season CV (9.88 victory over Bolt here in Stockholm and a 9.82 final tune-up in Monaco) he brought to the final.

Christmas Present Number Two For Bolt

Bolt, who has a penchant for speed and a need to demonstrate it—he was able to test his new M3 at the BMW Vehicle Test Facility in Aschheim, near Münich following the Olympics—didn't disappoint in the 200m, either, despite the media frenzy and circus which followed his coronation as world's fastest man.

One day before his 22nd birthday, Bolt, contesting his fifth 200m final of the season—the previous four were all victories, and each under 20.00 (three under 19.90, two under 19.80 and one under 19.70), flew off the curve on a mission to the finish line, driving, pumping and leaning with all of his might as the clock read 19.30, a new world record.

Michael Johnson, once accused of having his braids twirled too tightly during some trash-talking with Maurice Greene back during their heated rivalry, meet Usain Bolt, who had been accused of show-boating and not respecting his competitors. Mr. Bolt has just taken over your record, one which many a fan stated would last their lifetimes.

Christmas Present Number Three

Finally, as the season of giving is upon us, and was so at this time last year, let's think about the third and final gift Usain Bolt left the sport in Beijing, namely the best demonstration of speed, willpower, teamwork and hand-offs to ever circle once around a track. Ever.

Puma threw Bolt a great birthday bash during the heart of the Olympic Games. Their man delivered on the grandest stage of them all, and the company was not at all reluctant to reward their superstar with a grand bash which included Asafa Powell and others. Following Bolt's birthday, however, it was back to business for one final event on the track: the 4x100m relay.

Jamaica, which made it through the semi-final unscathed as they watched the Americans fail to finish due to botched hand-offs, fielded a team of Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Usain Bolt, and Asafa Powell. As previously mentioned, Powell, Carter, and Frater had contested this event on two previous occasions, with Bolt, the Olympic champion, being the replacement guy on the team.

The initial stages of the race are a blur—something which Youtube has enabled me to recollect for later use. That's of least consequence here, however, as the third leg—which Usain Bolt ran to hand off to Asafa Powell—must have been the fastest curve ever run by anyone under any conditions, stick or sans. Bolt, passing off the baton to Powell, came up on his countryman and friend with a fury, full of run, up to his neck in foot speed and with a mouth full of encouragement for his teammate unrated for general viewing here. He appeared to be running with Powell for several metres as Powell began the descent home, and may have held off the remaining competition had he taken the stick and run a full 200m, instead of handing it to Powell.

Powell dug deeper than I have ever seen him do before, struggled to keep his form as he neared the finish line, with the collective crowd at the Bird's Nest roaring in delight as he leaned and stopped the clock 37.10 seconds after it began ticking on command from the firing pistol.

Bolt was part of his third world record in as many races, and his name and fame have not died down since, nor did his speed as he ended his season on high notes of 9.83-19.63-9.77 in the subsequent three meets following the Olympic Games.

I last wrote to you that I've finally taken the foot off the gas and have had an opportunity to reflect on the greatest sprint season which ever was—only to discover that 2009 is fast approaching with all of its suprises—both good and bad.

As Usain Bolt sits by an open fire and celebrates Christmas with his relatives and friends, I can only imagine what Bolt has wished for himself for the 2009 season. All of his wishes last season came true, and his gifts keep giving even as we speak and write. Scientists hope that Bolt can run completely through the finish line once at full speed, because they have predicted he can run 100m in 9.5 seconds.

Only Bolt knows what it feels like to drive that M3, loaded with 414 horse power, at full speed. Here's to hoping he will demonstrate the equivalent on the track as well.

Usain Bolt's 2008 season over 100m:

• 10.03 (+1.8) Classics Spanish Town 8 Mar
• 9.76 (+1.8) Jamaica Inv Kingston 3 May
• 9.92 (+0.6) HamptonG Port-of-Spain 17 May
• 9.72 WR (+1.7) Reebok New York NY 31 May
• 10.19 (+1.0) National Champs Kingston 27 Jun
• 9.85 (-0.1) National Champs Kingston 28 Jun
• 10.40 (-2,0) National Champs Kingston 28 Jun
• 9.89 (+0.4) DNG Stockholm 22 Jul
• 10.20 (-0.2) Olympics Beijing 15 Aug
• 9.92 (+0.1) Olympics Beijing 15 Aug
• 9.85 (-0.1) Olympics G Beijing 16 Aug
• 9.69 WR (+/- 0.0) Olympics Beijing 16 Aug
• 9.83 (-0.5) Weltklasse Zürich 29 Aug
• 9.77 (-1.3) Van Damme Bruxelles 5 Sep

Tadese Feels Good, Ready to Tackle Bekele Again

Story written by Eric.

Don't blame Zersenay Tadese if he prefers the taste of gold over silver or bronze. He's risen up in the athletics world and can afford to be picky over which one he appreciates over another.

Tadese, the returning IAAF World Cross Country gold medalist from Eritrea, earned his stripes under oppressive and life-threatening conditions in Mombassa, Kenya last March.

Tadese, now 26, took the Kenyan heat and humidity by the neck and fired up his own storm on the course, breaking Kenenisa Bekele's stride and spirit along the way to win his first world championship and ending Bekele's stronghold at the top at five-consecutive wins.

The two powerful men who both possess an amazing supply of strength, will-power and determination, will be back at it again on Sunday, facing off together over the long course race in Edinburgh's Holyrood Park in the 36th edition of this early-season fitness test during the Olympic year.

Bekele, who is attempting to win a sixth title and break a tie he holds with two legends - John Ngugi and Paul Tergat, both of Kenya, is focussing on a one-off race this time around after winning 10 gold medals in the past 12 men's events contested over both the long- and short-course events.

Bekele was on target last season to make a serious late-race bid to break away from the field - which was collectively suffering from exhaustion and severe heat loss, but was unable to shake off Tadese, who crept up to Bekele and would not be intimidated by the 24-year-old Ethiopian multiple world record-holder.

Bekele made a hard move to shake his rival, who had never before defeated him on the fields, but paid a heavy price in the race and was forced to abandon his plans to repeat as champion and to continue on with regular training for two months following that endeavour.

Tadese, on the other hand, had an opportunity to shake off the field at his calling and dictate a race pace from up front which punished any pursuers not already within an armshot of him.

The reward? A golden opportunity he would never forget.

Tadese was no slouch on the cross country course prior to winning last year's world championships, nor was he a lightweight on the track.

Having won the 2006 World 20km championships, Tadese also brought 12.59,27 and 26.37,25 personal bests also set in 2006 to keep his focus up with Bekele and to block out the heat - something he had been working on at his training base in Spain.

Both men are looking forward to tomorrow for different reasons.

Bekele, who has raced sparingly this season - recording a world-record in the 2-mile indoors in Birmingham (8.04,35) and a 12km cross country victory on this very Edinburgh course in January, is attempting to regain the crown which eluded him last year and set himself as the overwhelming favourite to win the Olympic 10.000m crown in August in Beijing.

A victory over his rivals would mean that Bekele's forced withdrawal last year was due solely to the elements, and not to being outdone by his rivals.

A loss, on the other hand, would keep Bekele on his competitors' radars and make him even more vulnerable to defeat than he was when he had to dig down deep in Osaka's 10.000m final at last summer's IAAF World Track & Field Championships.

Tadese, whose season has been derailed by two losses in three cross country competitions - including a tick in the ledger against Bekele in Edinburgh, is out to run his own race and compete his best against the entire field, not just Bekele.

"It’s not a matter of fearing anyone," he told the IAAF on Saturday. "I just run my own race."

A race is what the fans lining up the course in rainy conditions will get from two fresh athletes who both know the feeling of victory and the pursuit of near perfection as they tread over water holes, through the mud and push their bodies to their limits for about 34 minutes of time.

Tadese lost a close one to Bekele on 12-January, with the steely Ethiopian stating afterward that it was a very important victory for him. The race was contested over a 9,3km layout on this very site.

Bekele, the world record-holder at 5.000m and 10.000m, looks to be a favourite in a race up to 12km, or the distance contested at the World Championships.

Tadese, on the other hand, has virtually snuck up on the world, having run 58.59 over the half-marathon distance to win last year's IAAF Half Marathon World Championships in October and set a national record in the process. His 10.000m ability may now be faster than the listed 26.37,25 he was able to set in finishing second to Kenyan Micah Kogo in Bruxelles.

The combination of improved track times and excellent road times may hold a slight advantage for Tadese over a longer distance, but Bekele, who has continually demonstrated excellent sprint speed at the end of long track races, may yet pull one out against anyone in the field who is near with only a surge and a kick the only thing separating the victor from the finish line.

At any rate, the vibes are hot, the athletes are cool, and the fans hope the weather warms as the senior men and women as well as the junior division athletes embark on a mission which should last each participant a lifetime.

This is a first-of-a-kind for many of the junior athletes, who are 19-years-old and younger, and is meant as a stepping stone for them to make their way to the senior ranks.

Bekele was 9th in the 1999 junior division in Belfast, and came back to win the 2001 junior title in Ooestende.

The Kenyan men's senior team will have five athletes who are making their senior debut.


IAAF World Cross Country Championships
Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, Scotland
Race Times:

13.00: Women's Junior Race. Start List.
13.30: Men's Junior Race. Start List.
14.05: Women's Senior Race. Start List.
14.45: Men's Senior Race. Start List.

Zersenay Tadese's Cross Country and Road Racing Merits:

20 Kilometres

• 1st IAAF World Road Running Championships 1 f 56:01 Debrecen 08/10/2006

Half Marathon

• 2nd IAAF World Road Running Championships 1 f 58:59 Udine 14/10/2007
• 12th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships 7 f 1:01:26 Vilamoura 04/10/2003
• 11th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships 21 f 1:03:05 Bruxelles 05/05/2002

Senior Race

• 35th IAAF World Cross Country Championships 1 f 35:50 Mombasa 24/03/2007

Long Race

• 34th IAAF World Cross Country Championships 4 f 35:47 Fukuoka 02/04/2006
• 33rd IAAF World Cross Country Championships 2 f 35:20 St Etienne - St Galmier 20/03/2005
• 32nd IAAF World Cross Country Championships 6 f 36:37 Bruxelles 21/03/2004
• 31st IAAF World Cross Country Championships 9 f 37:10 Lausanne 30/03/2003
• 30th IAAF/Sport Ireland World Cross Country Championships 30 f 36:37 Dublin 24/03/2002

Kenenisa Bekele's Cross Country Merits:

Junior Race

• IAAF World Cross Country Championships 1 f 25:04 Oostende 25/03/2001
• 27th IAAF World Cross Country Championships 9 f 26:27 Belfast 28/03/1999

Short Race

• 34th IAAF World Cross Country Championships 1 f 10:54 Fukuoka 01/04/2006
• 33rd IAAF World Cross Country Championships 1 f 11:33 St Etienne - St Galmier 19/03/2005
• 32nd IAAF World Cross Country Championships 1 f 11:31 Bruxelles 20/03/2004
• 31st IAAF World Cross Country Championships 1 f 11:01 Lausanne 29/03/2003
• 30th IAAF/Sport Ireland World Cross Country Championships 1 f 12:11 Dublin 23/03/2002
• IAAF World Cross Country Championships 2 f 12:42 Oostende 24/03/2001

Long Race

• 34th IAAF World Cross Country Championships 1 f 35:40 Fukuoka 02/04/2006
• 33rd IAAF World Cross Country Championships 1 f 35:06 St Etienne - St Galmier 20/03/2005
• 32nd IAAF World Cross Country Championships 1 f 35:52 Bruxelles 21/03/2004
• 31st IAAF World Cross Country Championships 1 f 35:56 Lausanne 30/03/2003
• 30th IAAF/Sport Ireland World Cross Country Championships 1 f 34:52 Dublin 24/03/2002

Stats courtesy of IAAF

Itching For An Athletics Career? Try London 2012

Story Written by Eric.

Do you finally have that spring itch tapping against the better of your senses right now as the depths of the winter have finally succumbed to longer daylight hours?

The signs aren't difficult to recognise because that unsettling feeling usually crops up around Christmas and makes you more and more restless after the Superbowl and March Madness pass on by.

That itchy feeling crawls up the walls of your personal satisfaction, and it typically appears at times when your peak interest in a particular sporting event has just expired.

When you're high on life and sports you're happier at work. When you're not "in season" you may find yourself simply going through the motions until something else rekindles that fire or provides you with that kick.

I think we all do it at some point during the year, with some of us having more noticeable "sessions" than others, depending on what part of the year our sport crowns its champions.

My particular ebb-and-flow line is perhaps more even than are others, as I have three peak seasons in the sport of athletics per calendar year, but I have a great career that gives me flexibility to wander into things imagined by some, but not really real.

The Athletics in the News subscriber base around the globe is growing per day, and folks' interests and opportunities to participate in the sport are as varied as are their locations.

Are you as a reader of this site an aspiring athlete who has a burning desire to make it big as a professional in your desired sport, but don't know yet if your dreams will materialise?

Perhaps you have been a great armchair fan who has thought about what "the life" would be like, but gave up the gossamer mind fiction for the 8-5 reality - or, worse, 11pm-7am.

Maybe there's a remote possibility that you've considered a career in athletics, but you've either not known where to look for such open positions or lacked the right connections and never gave it much thought.

Or, even better, perhaps some of you here are aspiring sports writers looking for that one break to make it into a consultative setting covering a live event for a professional team.

Do any of the above describe you with relation to your interest or passion for sport?

I am an HR Analyst who has worked for 14 years in the United States, the United Kingdom, and here in my home country, Sweden on various large-scale projects and made a volume's worth of hiring decisions over the years.

I've always had the desire to translate my work experience into the sport of athletics, but have never really had that opportunity until now. More on that later.

I've volunteered as an anti-doping officer in my sport of passion, track & field, but have never earned a salary in the industry in any way, shape, or form.

Anti-doping work is very challenging to find if you're unable to move to the governing body's headquarters—Monaco in my case. Those volunteer stages take place at either the World-, European-, or national-level championships.

I bumped into a particular sports recruiting site three years ago and decided to peruse the open jobs they had available. I wasn't looking to change careers, but rather stumbled upon a particular job board whilst doing HR recon for a client.

Nothing at that exact moment piqued my interest, but I did submit my e-mail address for NHL and NBA job alerts.

I'm pleased to state that I've not been bombarded back to yonder with irrelevant positions, but have actually gotten wind of quite a few entry level to executive positions which could have turned into great careers had I been willing and ready to make such a move.

You may be remarkably surprised if you've not previously taken a close look at career sites marketing sports-related positions.

If you've not previously given much thought to putting your time and energy where you can actually make money enjoying yourself, take time to look at a site like Monster or Teamwork Online and discover what actually does await you in the professional world of sports.

Would you like to be an sports analyst for an NHL team? A web developer for a professional basketball organisation? A Marketing Coordinator for an NFL team? Careers like these and others are out there for the taking, so to speak.

If you're reading this site with any regularity, you've passed the sniff test and have gained a great appreciation of this sport inside and out.

If you're feeling the need for change or are simply interested in knowing what else is out there besides the job you may currently be undertaking, do visit a sports-related recruiting site today. There are more than 800 positions advertised on one site at this very minute. The list continues growing (and shrinking) every day.

If you fancy the need for change and are up to the task of putting your skills where your passion is, try venturing down a path in a sports-related field. The rewards and benefits of doing exactly what you feel is your calling should far outweigh the trouble it may take to submit a CV.

You may not be playing golf with Tiger Woods, but you may find yourself rubbing elbows with him instead.

And, if that's not what fancies you - this is a sports site about track and field after all, here's a grand opportunity which you certainly must consider if you are looking to work on a large project, have an excellent reference on your CV and/or add an incredibly large client base to your business in the future.

Are you ready for the big secret?

London 2012 is its name.

Lord Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, is quoted in today's Yorkshire Post (link) as stating:

"With over £6bn of contracts available, businesses need to act now to make the most of the opportunities available between now and 2012.

"Delivering the Games is a massive logistical operation, requiring goods and services from a large number of firms.

"Businesses the length and breadth of the country will win contracts and gain a huge amount of experience of what it takes to stage and host big sporting events."

If you're not likely located in England or planning on moving to the country in the next quarter or so, do consider making a unique business proposition to London 2012 to take advantage of the stream of opportunity available to businesses and their supporting Olympic ventures.

And, if you're simply interested in working on a London 2012 project, click here to learn more about the excellent positions they will have available throughout the phases of development up through the closing ceremonies.

A key example of the types of opportunities they have available is:

• Head of NOC and NPC Relations and Services: Opportunity for an individual to lead the team responsible for establishing the plans and managing NOC and NPC relations on key activities such as Pre-Games Training Camps, Olympic Village and Paralympic Village requirements, the Chef de Mission Programme and visits.

If you're a leader and love this sport, this could be a fit for you.

Athletics in the News is taking advantage of the open door by presenting a business opportunity to London 2012 which will keep fans entertained in the Olympics long after the closing hours.

I love this time of the year, because it's the upswing following traditionally long winter months, the sun begins to set later in the day, and athletes and fans begin making their ways to tracks and stadiums all around the globe in search for the right harmony between performance and entertainment.

This is an especially impressive time of the year, because the Olympic hand-off has now gotten underway between Athens and the new host city, Beijing. An Olympic spirit is in the air, semi-retired folks will make one last attempt to (re)gain glory once demonstrated but never really captured and others will dream of things which seem too good to be true.

That's why I encourage you to make a difference to yourself and search around for a fit which may suit your interests, passions and skill sets. Strange things happen in Olympic years, so why shouldn't a bit of magic happen for you?

Conservative Overdose: How A High School Trainer Can Hold Back Too Much

Story written by Eric.

I had a high school trainer whose approach to athletic development was an eight-year one: The first four years of high school were meant to tease you into learning what your strengths were, and the following four years of university running were meant to have you develop a bonafide strategy to utilise those to their fullest potential.

This likely sounds like nearly every one of your own experiences, with the only difference between yours and mine being the location of your school and name of your trainer.

Perhaps.

I competed in a very difficult league my final two years of high school, one which ultimately produced a world junior record-holder the year after his graduation (my grade-12 season).

It was also a league which placed three of five cross country state meet qualifiers and had two state 1.600m finalists to showcase to patrons who had both payed (Cerritos College) and had lined up the Woodward Park course to cheer on their favourite Division I athletes and teams my grade-12 season.

Making it out of league was tough enough. Having to race the same guys in a dual meet, league meet and, ultimately, at the section championships just to get to state was a tall order, and one at which I only succeeded twice my last year before going on to bigger and better things at university - or at least that was the plan, anyway.

I'm sure you've got great war stories to share of your own - and, by all means, please do so at the bottom of this blog, as it would be great to read about your own personal experiences as well.

My trainer made several correct moves in the four years and eight seasons I was under his care. He must have, otherwise our team would never have nearly won the Northern California Cross Country Championships my grade-10 season, and we'd never have put up four-consecutive individual varsity men's league champions in my years there.

He helped two kids ahead of me - and one in my own class - break 15.00 for 3-miles, running 14.30, 14.32 and 14.48, respectively in the same race my grade-10 cross country season.

Moreover, I don't believe I'd have progressed as nicely as I did, from running a 11.18/5.18 double in my first-ever races (grade-9) to finishing my grade-11 season with 1.57,0/4.21,0 personal bests.

He even managed to help me dip under 2.00 my grade-10 season and establish a record (1.59,7) for that grade which has not yet been broken in the 22 years since I borrowed a teammate's spikes and placed second at the league finals.

He was a very wise man, was the trainer, but I wondered then - as I have done on occasion following that chapter two decades removed - if he held back too much in his attempt to ease us through high school, and, yet, had pushed too hard on another end - and here's why.

Magically, I got by the first three seasons on less than 35 miles a week. I never ran on Sundays, and I was never asked to, either. Everything I accomplished in track was done by running "pace", and never anything faster. He discouraged picking up the "pace" in practice sessions, and I only recall a single workout where the 400m splits in a repeat session ever dipped below 64-65 seconds.

Having run a 4.21,0 my grade-11 season was done off of pace workouts like 8x400m with 2.00 rest at 65 pace, or 4x800m at 2.20 pace with the same recovery.

For strength work we did do some hill repeats (our high school was located next to a steep incline approximately 400m long which led to an entire canyon of mountains which appeared to take one to the end of the world if one dared to run that far - which I never did) like 6x600m inclines at 1.40 pace with a jog back down for strength, but I never hit the weightroom like other kids in the league were doing.

I changed plans on my own the summer leading up to my last fall season with the team.

The previous two summers were spent running summer track here, there and out yonder, keeping the same base as I'd had through the spring and contesting a distance 100m less than I had to during the school year.

My final summer before graduation was spent running longer distances, and running every day - something unique to me, and something which I'd not discussed with the trainer. I found myself covering greater distances in my fartlek sessions, and entered the fall campaign in excellent shape.

Then injury struck me. It was untimely and, it seemed unnecessary.

I had pushed one particular workout a bit harder than I had in the past, because my new strength level seemed to afford it, but developed tendonitis in my right knee a few days later after dropping my easy runs from 7.20 pace to 6.45 pace - something which felt natural and which the body seemed to crave.

I was out for three weeks, and, when I returned was put on a slowman's workout plan to ensure the injury didn't re-occur.

In short, I didn't find myself recovered until the 2-Mile Postal Championships - an event run on the track. I ran a 17-second personal best that day in Los Gatos, CA, and finally saw light at the end of a long, three-and-a-half year struggle to be a good cross country runner.

Two weeks later, I dropped my personal best on our home course - a 3,1 mile hilly one which sucks the life out of any runner exercising bad pace judgement during the first 1km - from 17.24 to 16.33 - a time which isn't fully appreciated if one hasn't run the course. The time bode well for high hopes to place at the sectional finals two weeks later, and it was the third-fastest ever run by anyone in my school's history.

Four weeks following my Postal race, I had managed to place second in league and second at the section championships, but I was out of medal contention at the state meet, running 45 seconds slower than I anticipated I would.

I was at the top of the lead pack and in great command of my own race during the first mile, running alongside David Scudamore and ahead of Louie Quintana and eventual winner Bryan Dameworth until something happened to me which would eventually become the story of my high school career and hold me back the first year of university as well: well-meaning pace work would always fall short in the end when competitiveness was meant to take over and push me over the top.

I died a terrible death the final half mile - not so much due to a lack of training, but because my body's efforts to stave off a cold were insufficient -- a sign that I pushed myself beyond recovery the week leading up to the first-ever cross country state meet.

Has this ever happened to you?

For some odd reason after running a 16.33 5km three weeks prior and a 15.09 to get to state, I fooled myself into believing that I was on target to run 15.15 on Woodward Park's storied course, and, with that, likely earn a top-three placing on the podium. I truly wanted to compete with Dameworth and Goshu Tadese, but my sense of pace was slower than was theirs.

I mentioned that this lack of adaptability hampered me in track as well, and it surely did at all the wrong times.

I was invited to compete in the Arcadia Invitational 1.600m in April after having run a solo 4.20 at a meet in Northern California; I'd won by 12 seconds after running "pace" the entire way around (66-64-66-64). In fact, the fastest workout we'd done up to that point was 8x400m in 66!

A kid from Southern California kicked me long into the shadows of the evening when he stopped the clock just under four minutes 10 seconds after the gun sounded. I got boxed in, pushed and then pulled to 63-2.07 splits - 13 seconds faster than my pace workouts, and three seconds too fast for the open 400m workouts we had been doing before the meet. I finished with a new personal best - another 4.20, but had not fared well against the best in the state of California.

Two weeks later I set another personal best at 3.200m, running 73-69-69-73-73-73-69-69 for a 9.24,0 at UC Davis. The "pace" workout was just at the clip we'd been practicing on the track, 4x2.21 for 800m, but I was a miler, not a 2-miler. The personal best was good for the journal books, but wasn't going to do me a whole lot if I couldn't translate that into a faster mile.

My trainer wasn't into the long, hard workout schedule, nor was he a fan of much speedwork, either. His idea of getting turnover into my legs was to triple in most dual meets (1.600m/800m/4x400m), with the latter two races either run un-evenly or at a fast chase pace.

By the time the state final rolled around at the beginning of June, I had run 50 races that final season, and none of them faster than "pace". My qualifying round was run in 64-63-64-63, which was equal to the two 2.07 800m times I ran with 10 minutes rest in a workout the prior week.

The state final, as was Arcadia, was a gun-to-tape barn-burner which hurt my tired and untrained legs, as they attempted to run at 2.06 "pace" and negative split with the 2.01 effort the winner was able to negotiate the second half of the race.

Like the state cross country meet, I fell off the fast finishing pace and failed to medal in the state 1.600m final.

My trainer fulfilled one duty in keeping me hungrier for better things as I entered university, but I believe he fell short in providing me the tools necessary to actually compete at my best on a championship level - one which the university athletes were competing on in "B" races.

I believe the best of trainers have a focus on making an athlete competitive, keeping them focused on the fun which running and racing bring and taking them up to a moderated level on par workout-wise with the collegiate choices available to them.

My trainer had the best of intentions and was a fairly knowledgeable student of the sport. Unfortunately, he applied too much pressure on the break pedal and not enough on the gas.

The result was a career which saw me take 1.03 off my first mile time, but one in which I did not win one, single, solitary gold medal from league through the state meet my final three years - or six seasons.

High school was about having fun as well as developing mind and body, but the tendency is to feel as though one fell short of their goals if the point was simply just to make it to a state meet or two.

Photo Credit: Mike Sadler (Image on BBC)

Soboleva Earns My 2008 Female Indoor AOY Vote

Story written by Eric.

Last week-end's NCAA Championships officially closed the lid on the 2008 indoor season, and there were no shortage of great performances and record-setting marks accomplished around the globe by athletes on the elite level down to United States prep athletes who have yet to get much press or experience on the international stage.

Three women produced world records this season, and scores of other ones sprinted, jumped and leaned their ways to superlative marks which would have made headlines and captured votes on their own merits had the super elite failed to strike gold when it counted.

Yelena Soboleva, Susanna Kallur and Yelena Isinbayeva - names which reverberated from stadium to stadium this winter as they competed at their absolute bests this indoor campaign - each etched their names in the record annuals, and were each picked for gold in Valencia two week-ends ago when the entrants were declared.

Soboleva and Isinbayeva found favour and fortune on their side during the two-day event by coming up with victories.

Kallur, who led the world at 60m hurdles, had the untimely displeasure of becoming injured following her first-round heat and was never able to make it to the semi-finals, unfortunately, knocking her from the top of my personal AOY list despite her previously undefeated season and capturing three of the top-5 times ever recorded indoors in the event.

So that left the two Valencia teammates who share the same name, Yelena, up to take the honours.

Soboleva and Kallur started off the 2008 world-record chase by breaking all-time standards on 10-February, with Kallur, competing in Karlsruhe, knocking off a dubious hurdles record set 18 years and six days earlier by Ludmila Engquist - from whose dubious shadow she was attempting to run under.

Soboleva, on the other hand, knocked a few ticks off her own 1.500m world indoor record the same evening in Moscow.

The last of the record trio, Isinbayeva, competed six days later in Donetsk, Ukraine - a meeting site where she has earlier found vaulting nirvana, and set her third-consecutive world-record at the meet which vaulting legend Sergey Bubka had arranged.

The two athletes - tied at one world-record apiece - were even on paper, but one understands clearly that Isinbayeva, the superstar, having set her fourth world indoor record in as many years, was clearly ahead of her rival.

That was until Isinbayeva's next competition brought her back down to earth and behind Russian Svetlana Feofanova at Pedro's Cup in Bydgoszcz, Poland four days later, leaving Soboleva and Kallur undefeated prior to the world championships.

Soboleva, who finished the winter campaign with three personal bests, three national records and a world record to her credit, finished undefeated in five finals and contested one more meet than had Isinbayeva.

Soboleva earns my vote for Female Indoor Athlete of the Year for 2008 for twice bettering the previous 1.500m world indoor record (3.58,05 and 3.57,71); for netting the fourth-fastest mile ever recorded (4.20,21); and for demonstrating an incredible amount of resolve in taking two seconds from her previous 800m best at her national championships, running the fifth-fastest indoor time in history (1.56,49) - all without having run a step indoors last season.

Soboleva, a 25-year-old who competes for the Trade Unions club in Moscow, opened her 2008 compaign with a low-level 2.01,61 victory at the Moscow Challenge on 20-January.

Soboleva defeated Yekaterina Martynova, a 2.00,85 800m runner, by nearly two seconds in her first race since finishing four seconds down to Bahrain's Maryam Jamal in last September's World Athletics 1.500m final in Stuttgart.

The 800m time indicated Soboleva had decent fitness following an excellent outdoor campaign, and that she was on her way to perhaps a successful indoor campaign following a one-year hiatus from the winter season.

How much Soboleva would improve could never have been wildly guessed of one's life depended on it.

Soboleva, competing in her second indoor race in two years, contested the mile at the Russian Winter Games seven days later and demonstrated for both herself and her competitors that the world indoor 1.500m record-holder was at the top of the queue and may have genuinely had something incredible in store once the season picked up, clocking a national record time of 4.20,21.

Soboleva's achievement was history's fourth-fastest ever run, and the fastest since Romania's Doine Melinte set the current world indoor standard of 4.17,14 in February 1990.

Soboleva's outdoor best, 4.15,63, was set in Moscow in 2007.

Soboleva rested after her tiring mile and prepared to contest her national championships to again be held in Moscow 11 days later. She'd been entered in both the 800m and the 1.500m, and faced considerable competion in each event as single competitions, let alone coming in a double.

The 800m race was first.

Soboleva qualified first in her heat, running 1.59,56 - a time which wasn't completely taxing, but one which would take its toll on her by the time her 1.500m final was contested the following day. Waiting in the wings for an opportunity to strike at Soboleva's strength was Natalya Ignatova, who would run only 11/100 slower than Soboleva in the heats and qualify for the final.

Soboleva returned the following day to win the four-lap final with a very hard third 200m split, breaking apart from the field and powering home to a new personal best. Ignatova (1.58,84), Mariya Savinova (1.59,46) and Mariya Shapayeva (1.59,71) all set personal bests behind Soboleva, with the top-three each ending the season with the top marks in the world this year.

Being a world record-holder does not afford one an automatic gold medal - especially if one is contesting in the fiercely competitive Russian National Championships.

Soboleva would learn that lesson a few hours following her 800m victory, as 2006 World Indoor Champion and teammate Yuliya Fomenko attempted to run the legs off of Soboleva during the middle of the race.

Soboleva, who had considered dropping out of the 1.500m due to exhaustion, hung on in the race and drew from the well one final time to rush home and stop the clock in 3.58,05 - 0,23 faster than the world record she had set two years earlier.

Five of the nine women in the field set personal bests.

Soboleva travelled to Valencia rested and barely trained following a short, yet very intense, period of racing in February which had tired her.

The 12th IAAF World Indoor Championships 1.500m final generated the top-level excitement and energy fans had come to expect and anticipate, with Fomenko and Soboleva taking care of business up front and pushing each other up the 1.400m mark where Soboleva ultimately pulled away and ran away from her nearest three rivals in fast pursuit.

Soboleva's world record-setting performance (3.57,71) dragged Fomenko (3.59,41), Ethiopia's Gelete Burika (3.59,75) and Jamal (3.59,79) under the four-minute barrier, with all four women setting personal bests, and three of them new national bests in the process.

No woman in 2008 had the impact on the sport, the record books, their nation and their fellow competitors like Yelena Soboleva did. She inspired her comeptitors to run at their fullest capabilities, and she came out on the victorious end in the three races which counted most to her: her national championships and the world championships.

Yelena Soboleva just may take off 2009 as she did 2007 following a long season, but 2008 will leave memories far and deep to last several seasons over.

Croatia's Blanka Vlasic would have gotten a strong nudge at Soboleva's level had she been able to tie or break Kajsa Bergqvist's 2.08m world-record. She will receive an honourable mention, instead.

Yelena Soboleva's Personal Records:

• 800m indoors: 1.56,49 NR
  
• 800m outdoors: 1.57,28
• 1.500m indoors: 3.57,71 WR
  
• 1.500m outdoors: 3.56,43
• Mile indoors: 4.20,21 NR
  
• Mile outdoors: 4.15,63

Yelena Soboleva's 2008 Season:

• 2.01,61 Moscow Open Championships
• 4.20,21 Russian Winter
• 1.59,56 (Q) Russian National Championships
• 1.56,49 Russian National Championships
• 3.58,05 Russian National Championships
• 4.07,85 (Q) IAAF World Championships
• 3.57,71 IAAF World Championships
  

Carolina Klüft Gives Stamp of Disapproval

Story written by Eric.

Carolina Klüft has electrified souls with her positive energy and incredibly deep well of enthusiasm, and she has penetrated interest in a two-day event which few people around the globe really ever paid attention to prior to her reign at the top in all honesty.

She has taken laps of honour with a sorority of women who've crawled across the finish line one final time following the seven events which make up the heptathlon, and she has felt a oneness with them both in spirit and in exhaustion.

That electricity and buzz which the world has come to expect of "Carro" as we call her here in Sweden began to die down to infrequent pulses of energy following her third-consecutive IAAF World Outdoor last season, and Klüft, who is a staunch supporter of one taking the opportunity to follow their dreams, began to dream of how far she could leap through the air and land in a sand pit rather than how far she could fling a javelin or how fast she could run 800m.

She'd considered throwing in the towel after setting her personal best and establishing a new European record (7032 points) in Osaka, but to say that a woman who hasn't lost a heptathlon competition since 2001 is "throwing in the towel" is to speak falsely.

Carolina Klüft has simply lost motivation for contesting the heptathlon after winning everything there is to gain in this sport.

Olympic medal? She has one. Two would be great, and she'd be a near certainty to keep her unbeaten streak alive in Beijing had she decided to keep at it for one final hurrah.

But, she's opting for other events, and will watch from the side-lines and read results on the internet as her competitors stake claim to medal opportunities they may have once wished to get, but now smell as the months draw closer.

World outdoor titles? Carro won her first one in 2003, and followed up her senior barrage of honours collected with titles in 2005 and 2007.

World indoor championships? She has a global pentathlon title earned in 2003. As a matter of fact, Klüft has won two European indoor championships, two European outdoor ones and has taken home a European Cup title as well.

Carolina Klüft has flown around the world to contest events in front of crowds which grew exponentially as her fame and stature did, and she'd always had a sense of positive learning experiences to go with the utter exhaustion it takes to command victory against the best in the world time and time again.

She felt happy to be on the field and to line up on the track; she was having the time of her life, it looked like, and the 25-year-old seemed destined to spend several more years at the top if she simply wanted to.

Desire and motivation are two key words which had been associated with Klüft through the years following her 2001 European Junior title and her two World Junior records set in 2002 - one indoors, one outdoors.

Where there was an event to contest and a good time to have, Carro would show up and strike gold - not simply with the type of medal she would take home, but with her competitors whom she inspired, the fans whom she entertained and the journalists like me whom she always seemed to provide the most simple and basic words to sum up her characteristics for success, namely that she was out to "have fun".

Fun and games were great for a girl from Växjö who had the world at her fingertips, Reebok on her feet and a competitive schedule which only called for two to three major events per year.

Carolina Klüft is a married woman now and has moved home to a location outside of Karlskrona on the southern tip of Sweden with a beautiful archipelago. Part of her idea of fun has, naturally, become shopping for items which fit the decor in her home, and to be a good wife to a husband whose pole vaulting career was cut far short due to a persistant injury.

Klüft still supports kids in Africa through UNICEF, and she still finds time to be an ambassador to fighting hunger and poverty through a number of personal initiatives which she feels are very important in life.

In short, the reigning Olympic heptathlon champion has grown up in the four years since she travelled to Athens to tackle on fiercely competitive rivals in a four-year cycle where victory spells out large bonuses and lucrative contracts. She took on the world then, and can take them on now - though in a different set of events which she really enjoys "having fun": the long jump and the triple jump.

However sad this state of events could appear to fans who'd hoped Carro would give it one more go in the heptathlon, Klüft may find herself waiting at home this summer instead of mixing it up with rivals in different events.

The Swedish Olympic Committee stated today that Klüft must qualify for the Olympic Games and show top form within the next three months - a tall order for Klüft, but not an impossible one for a woman who has jumped 6,97m in the long jump and stated she's breached the 15.00m barrier in the triple jump in practice.

Klüft's official best at the hop-skip-and jump event is 14.02m, but it's best not to be fooled into thinking that a woman on a mission to show the world that changing events has not changed her desire to have fun and compete well will not succeed where she puts her mind, her focus and her willpower.

First things first, however.

"We're not taking back her pre-selection, but we need to see if we get the opportunity to confirm that in the end of June," says Peter Reinebo, Swedish Olympic Committee's sports boss.

"Just like everyone else, she must show that she is following her plan. In her case, it means that she needs to show results in a new event. That is our position, but we are counting on and hoping that she will make it."

Klüft stated during a press conference held in Växjö today that she is planning on getting a berth to Beijing, and would never have made a decision to give up the heptathlon had she not believed in her ability to fight among the leaders in the long jump pint.

"I would never have made this decision if I did't hope and believe that I would take myself to the Olympics," she stated.

"That is what I am pointing toward very hard."

"Now I am looking forward to something else and have rediscovered my motivation. It's risky, I know, but it just seems so right," she told Svenska Dagbladet.

Kelly Sotherton looks to be the beneficiary to this risky Klüft decision, as the oft bridesmade can finally step up and let the Olympics be hers and teammate Jessica Ennis' to shine. Tanya Lebedeva will inherit Klüft as a serious competitor of hers in the long jump - though not as a fierce rival, as Carro has never never been a top-3 placer on the world list in her career.

Carolina Klüft set a new personal, Swedish and European record in the heptathlon last summer, scoring higher (7032 points) in history than everyone except the legendary Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who has the standing world record of 7291 and has five marks better than Klüft's best.

Klüft hadn't set a personal record in the overall combined events for three-consecutive seasons dating back to her break-through performance in Paris St. Denis, when, in 2003, she scored 7001 points and won her first world championship title five months shy of her 20th birthday.

Some folks wondered during the three seasons leading up to Osaka if Klüft was tiring of winning an event devoid of any real contenders to dethrown her from any of her global crowns.

Klüft was still out there having fun, holding her competitors' hands and pulling them along for a collective victory lap after thrashing both mind and body against the same people - her friends, but she appeared to have hit a stalemate along her path to supremacy.

Her scores began to demonstrate that even untimely, freak injuries may prevent her from ever reaching the pinnacle of her career as a new world record-holder. She could still defeat all comers, even at less than her best, and questions arose about her motivation even before she revealed that she was left in want in that department.

Klüft put all of that to bed last summer when she took Japan by storm, setting a new personal best in the high jump during the heptathlon -- 1.95m -- and reversing a trend in which her season's best worsened each year from 2004-2006. She put her best foot forward and put up a number on the scoreboard which was better than anyone in the world not named Jackie Joyner-Kersee had ever been able to achieve.

Then came the bombshell, and finally the explosion.

Klüft, coming down from the high which surrounded this particular effort, never fully gained an appreciation for this victory. She felt like chasing and catching the record was "finally over", but didn't feel the inner gladness she usually did when hoisting her hands high, standing on the highest podium spot and listening to Du Gamla, Du Fria play across a stadium reverent in silence as the golden girl listened to words about wanting to live and die in the North.

Carolina Klüft's dreams have lived on in a fairy-tale world where no borders could keep her from reaching the potential she demonstrated as a junior. Her continued efforts in the sport may be spared a shot of athletics death as she puts her mind to her tasks and climbs up another ladder.

She was bullied as a child and called a geek. She won't be bullied by a selection process in place to separate Olympic hopefuls from their Olympic dreams.

Carolina Evelyn Klüft has stamped her approval on a new venture this season, and will reach as far as her willpower, drive and determination take her. Her enthusiasm and energy will continue to compliment her, and it wouldn't surprise me in the least to see her on the medal stand next to Irina Simagina and Naide Gomez in the long jump.

The Swedish Olympic Committe is counting on it, because last year at this time, they were counting on Carro to win an almost guaranteed one in Beijing. Carro's fans are expecting it. Swedish track and field is dependent on it, as the loss of Kajsa Bergqvist to retirement in December and Stefan Holm likely following in her footsteps at season's end being two very big holes to fill despite Emma Green and Linus Thörnblad taking their own turns at future stardom.

Most importantly, however, Carro is counting on making a positive impact in the summer months, and inspiring herself and her rivals to achieve great marks as they play in the sandbox.

Foto: Magnus Wennman

Jones Reports Early to Prison

Story by Eric.

Marion Jones began her six-month sentence in federal prison Friday, punishment for lying to investigators about her use of performance-enhancing drugs and her role in a check-fraud scam.

Jones turned herself in before noon at Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, the Associated Press reported.

FMC Carswell is located in the northeast corner of the Naval Air Station, Joint Reserve Base, in Fort Worth, approximately two hours from Jones' home in Austin.

Jones was sentenced in January to six months of confinement, and it was widely believed she would spend her time at Federal Prison Camp Bryan - a facility closer in proximity to her home than FMC Carswell.

FPC Bryan is adjacent to a mental-health prison, but Jones was not expected to spend her sentence in one - though the centre also has a lower-security unit and a women's prison camp.

Although FMC Carswell specializes in medical and mental health services, it also has inmates who do not require such care.

FMC Carswell is the only prison in the United States for the chronically ill and dying patients, and has had a mountain of allegations pour up against it for malpractice, misconduct and neglect by staff members - including doctors.

According to the prison's Mortality Review Document, 108 women died at the facility between 1995 - 2005, though autopsy reports have been difficult to obtain by family members.

Accusations of gross medical neglect, rape by prison guards, and toxic exposure for prison workers continue to pile up for the prison, which will not be a walk-in-the-park for Jones, despite her celebrity status.

Marion Jones was an age-group and high school track star, setting the U.S. prep records in the 100m and 200m before graduating from Thousand Oaks High School in Southern California, and attending the University of North Carolina on a basketball and track scholarship.

Jones never materialised as a pure track athlete, but did excel on the hardwood courts, helping lead the Tar Heels to an NCAA title her first year with the team.

Following three years of ups and downs - all exacerbated by injuries, Jones put her foot down 11 years ago - in the spring of 1997 - and dedicated herself to running track and making good of talent which was fleeting.

Jones began training with Trevor Graham shortly after her return to the sport, and, 13 weeks after their partnership began, Jones won two United States titles and qualified for the 1997 IAAF World Outdoor Championships, where she would win gold medals in the 100m and 200m dashes two months later in Athens, Greece.

Jones' rise to stardom was not without its consequence, however, as she was ultimately suspected of taking performance-enhancing drugs during her career.

Jones confessed in 2007-October to having lied to federal authorities investigating her connections to Victor Conte's BALCO laboratory as well as her association and involvement in her ex-boyfriend Tim Montgomery's check-fraud case, and received her sentencing two months ago by Federal judge Kenneth Karas.

Jones, who was not restrained to handcuffs when she checked into prison yesterday, was taken from the base's entry to the prison to be processed, have her photo identification, speak with a prison case worker about the rules, and was then likely passed off to a medical case worker who reviewed Jones' medical history and ascertained if she needed any current subscription medication.

Jones' next step would have been receiving sufficient prison-issued clothing and bedding for the duration of her stay and then being taken to the dormitory where approximately 250 women are housed.

Had Jones self-surrendered this week-end, she may have faced considerable more disadvantage and discomfort, as she would likely not have had access to the commissary, and may have had to spend up to 48 hours in a cordoned-off section of the facility meant for trouble-makers due to not having an assigned bed.

Prisoners in her unit will be awoken today at 06.00 by a mandatory prisoner count, and it will likely be then that Jones, Federal Inmate Number 84868-054, realises that all of the sites, sounds, feelings of emptiness and remorse are not simply part of a bad dream, but will become part of her routine until she is released from prison on or around 2008-September-7.

Jones may already have her approved visitor's register updated, which will enable her the opportunity to have her husband, former Olympian Obadele Thompson, and her children spend time with her today and tomorrow, though that may make enduring her first week alone there even more difficult after she separates from them on Sunday afternoon.

Until such time that Jones is released, however, she will be required to attend an orientation in the next few days, be assigned to a prison job at a rate of $0,13/hour, and will have to hope that her telephone cards are soon activated and her mail pours in.


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Contact Marion Jones:

Marion Jones, 84868-054, FMC-Carswell, P.O. Box 27137, Ft. Worth, TX 76127.

Friends, family and fans who would like to keep Jones up-to-date with track and field-related news and events - or other news in general, can send up to three magasines per envelope to her. Newspapers may only be sent from the publisher, and hardback books can only be received and distributed if they are from an approved company.

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2008 World Indoor Champs Preview: Men's 800m

Story written by Eric.

The 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships take place in Valencia, Spain at the week-end, and there are a number of excellent matchups track fans around the globe are eagerly awaiting.

The women's fields are loaded with superstars which make these championships worthy of their name, and the men have no lack of stars to fill the seats, either.

Two particular match-ups I am looking forward to are the men's 800m and the high jump, with the 800m the first up to be profiled before the week-end's action gets underway.

The first will offer an excellent matchup between experienced veterans against a new player in the game, with the latter a very good possibility of producing a break-through performance between two very fiercely competitive and driven European rivals.

Though the fields are strong across the boards - including the shot put, the 3.000m and the 60m hurdles, Athletics in the News will focus specifically on four athletes among the hundreds competing whom fans should keep their eyes on as the championships unfold.

Sit back, enjoy the upcoming coverage provided by a number of excellent media outlets and take advantage of the excellent information provided in this report.


MEN'S 800M - ABUBAKER KAKI:
Final: Sunday, 9-March at 18.40 CET

Yuriy Borzakovskiy came out to play this season, though not the usual game of sit-and-kick that had been most ineffective for the Russian star the past three years following his 2004 Olympic victory.

Borzakovskiy continued to wait until the final 200m - or last lap - to run down opponents, but the difference this season is the 26-year-old has made a concerted effort to stay in the lead pack through 400m instead of attempting to dash from last-to-first. His quick decision-making steps towed plenty of fields to quick times.

Borzakovskiy, the world 800m leader, is not making the trip to Valencia, however, despite only suffering one loss in the indoor season from events ranging from 400m to 1.000m.

Wilfred Bungei, who defeated Borzakovskiy in Stockholm two weeks ago, will also not make the trip to Valencia due to injury.

The absence of both Borzakovskiy and Bungei -- though a blow to a stellar field -- will be quickly forgotten if a young protégé from Africa is able to live up to the exceptional promise he has demonstrated in an abbreviated indoor campaign.

That young man's name is Abubaker Kaki - one which will echo in stadiums near you as the Olympics approach later this summer.

Kaki, 18, is an inexperienced - yet excellent quick-study Sudanese who has a grand total of three indoor races under his belt in his career, but an athlete who has made the transition to indoor running a smashing success.

Kaki, a former goalee who was discovered by an athletics coach in Sudan only three years ago, has earned terrific international respect after having run-away victories at 800m in Leipzig, Germany (1.46,06), setting an IAAF World Junior record in the 1.000m run here in Sweden (2.15,77) two weeks ago, and following that effort up with a 2.16,15 on 24-February.

Kaki became the fifth-fastest athlete at the 1.000m distance after his victory in Stockholm, and trails world record -holder Wilson Kipketer's leading standard by a mere 0,81 seconds.

The potential match-up with the finalists I expect to round out the field will produce an excellent fight to the finish between a hungry and un-afraid new-comer and athletes who are experienced, and have multiple international championship medals to their credit - including world indoor, world outdoor, European and Olympic Games.

South African Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, the 2004 world indoor champion and Olympic silver medallist behind Borzakovskiy in Athens, has the most experience and the highest credentials of the contestants attempting to make the final.

Mulaudzi, the top returner from the 2006 IAAF World Championships held in Moscow (silver medal), has raced very sparingly this season, recording a 1.45,25 at altitude, and a 1.46,13 four days ago at Oudtshoorn, South Africa - a race he nearly won by two seconds in a tune-up for Valencia.

Mulaudzi gained world-class status seven years ago when he ran a 1.44,01 at the Zürich Weltklasse meeting. His best time ever recorded indoors is a 1.45,43, with his outdoor best an outstanding 1.42,89 set five years ago in Bruxelles.

As with Kaki, Mulaudzi set his 1.000m personal best and national record, 2.15,86, in Stockholm - though outdoors at last season's DN Galan.

Kaki sped the final 200m of his world junior-record race indoors in Stockholm in 26 seconds, and was the 1.500m bronze medallist at the 2005 World Youth Championships.

Having that type of enduring speed under his belt, Kaki may not be caught by pursuing company if he is left out front with one lap remaining, despite the difference in personal bests between the top-ranked athletes like Mulaudzi and their freshman star.

Another contestant with a very impressive athletics CV is Latvia's Dmitrijs Milkevics, third on the world indoor list this season - 0,03 behind Kaki.

Milkevics, the Latvian 800m record-holder, was a star with the University of Nebraska, winning the 2005 NCAA Championships held in Sacramento in 1.44,74.

Milkevics holds a 1.43,67 outdoor personal best set two years ago in Athens.

The IAAF World Indoor Championships have not been viewed by all of the world's top athletes to be a priority to contest - especially in an Olympic year as this one.

That has not stopped great stories from developing in the 12 previous editions, however, nor has it put the breaks on fast running - evidenced by Wilson Kipketer's 1.42,67 world record set 11 years ago in Paris.

The IAAF, who are the sport's world governing body, recently released a statistics booklet for the World Championships which is rich in historical information including trend analysis. Contained in that booklet are winning times and marks as well as other pertinent information any fan would like to have in their collection.

The 2008 field, led by Kaki's 1.46,06 personal best, would not be sufficient to win in most years the event has been contested; six of the 12 finals races have been won with times under 1.46,00.

Kaki, who has stated that he doesn't underestimate his competitors, is likely to challenge the leaders through the 400m mark in about 52 seconds, then make an extended surge for position at the bell. His superlative mixture of strength and speed will make it very challenging for anyone to match strides with him - especially true following his two excellent 1.000m runs over the past two weeks.

If Kaki is able to stay out of trouble and not make mistakes during his race, expect the teenager to run in the neighbourhood of 1.44,7 in the final - a winning time which has only been bettered twice in the World Championships.

First, however, he'll need to make it through the first-round heat on Friday and a tougher semi-final on Saturday, where, historically, athletes this decade who have run in the neighbourhood of 1.47,60 have been unsuccessful in advancing to the final.

Kaki is a precocious star with very high ambitions for himself this season and well into the future. An athlete who enjoys running on the indoor surfaces, Kaki may surpass the record for most championships contested at this distance - a mark which Argentina's Luis Migueles holds at five.

The world indoor championships are contested every other season. The first edition was contested in Paris in 1985.

Trivia: The oldest 800m medallist to-date is Brazil's Osmar dos Santos, who, at 35 years 139 days, won bronze at the 2004 meet in Budapest, Hungary.

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2006 World Indoor Champion: Wilfred Bungei, KEN, 1.47,15
WR 1.42,67 Wilson Kipketer (DEN) - Paris, 1997-03-09

World Indoor Leaders in the 800m 2008:

1.45,58, Yuriy Borzakovskiy, RUS.
1.46,06 Abubaker Kaki, SUD.
1.46,09 Dmitrijs Milkevics, LAT.
1.46,24 Dmitry Bogdanov, RUS.
1.46,33 Richard Kiplagat, KEN.

2006 IAAF Indoor World Championships:

Gold: Wilson Bungei, KEN, 1.47,15
Silver: Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, RSA, 1.47,16
Bronze: Yuriy Borzakovskiy, 1.47,38

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