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Women's Decathlon All-time Marks (new IAAF rules)
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Warning Signs!
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Blog Archive:
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"A Disturbing Trend"
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Devin Yakoushkin's Performance Log
August 2007
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February 2006
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Dimitry's Full Recap of
the 2005 Double Dec. |
August 27, 2007
Big Multi Weekend...
I'm much
closer to getting Santa Rosa JC for both a women's
decathlon (and men's) and the
2008 Icosathlon. The schedule is looking like
Olympics weekend (Mid-Late August) for the dec and on or
around labor day for the Icos. Everything is till
up in the air - as renting a facility from a university
is difficult, but they are the only places with
steeplechase. There will be a women's dec in
addition to
Keith and Dave's Santa Barbara Festivities to make
at least two in the United States for 2008. As I
said, it may occur over the Olympic weekend, giving the
female vaulters and heps that did not make it a chance
to set a national or world record. If they won't
put it in the Olympics, we'll just have to have it here.
The masters phenom
Joy Upshaw-Margerum is the first unofficial entry.
Kluft scored a PB,
#2 all-time and European Record
7032 in the heptathlon in Osaka -- every event was
technically beautiful, highlighted by a ridiculous 1.95 high
jump. (1.95!!) No other track event will you see all
of the competitors holding hands and jogging a "victory lap"
after the competition. The multis are very special and
everything should be done to insure they flourish.
(Speaking of having the multis flourish - the bonding moment I
mentioned was nice for more than one reason. Hot, fit,
sweaty, scantily-clad bikini-bottomed women holding hands and
hugging? Gotta love the multis! I'm seriously
considering starting a fan club for Nataliya Dobrynska.
Why my mom defected me out of the Soviet Union I'll never
understand, or forgive.)
Video highlights of
the world champs are available at
IAAF's
multimedia page, but I highly recommend dishing out the
$4.99 at WCSN.com,
where they have almost every attempt for every event. (For
example - if you're interested in watching it - they have video
of the marathon... the ENTIRE marathon.) Every high jump
attempt for Kluft and others are there - including all three
misses at 1.98. As I type this Wariner's 400 qualifying
heat plays in the background, and a very cute Ukranian hammer
thrower just let out a nice battle cry.
The
2007 Icosathlon World
Championships concluded this weekend as well.
In the
men's open, it seems the two distance guys, Marnix Engels
and Rob Ingham, beat up on the "true" decathlete, and
type I
muscle fibers ruled the day. (Not sure if a 1.85
high jump or 13m triple jump classify you as a "distance"
person, but running a 39 minute closing 10k probably does.
Rob Ingham's 4:22 1500 - for the 18th event - definitely does.)
For the women, the tetradecathlon was a down-to-the-wire
competition, with
Icosathlon WR holder Kelly Rodmell trailing considerably
after 9 events, but coming back hard in four of the last five to
win - improving over her competitor by 5.5m in the jav, 4.5s in
the 800, 6m in the disc and
26 seconds in the 3k, pulling out a 66 point margin of victory over Maarit Salovirta. The meet looked like a lot of fun.
Glad to see someone
was having fun, if not at least ingesting more ibuprofen, than
me this weekend, as I am hobbled by a perpetual lower back nerve
issue that causes tremendous pain after standing for more than
10 minutes (but no pain sitting - how about a big sarcastic "YAY!"?)
It's not fun being so hurt so often. The x-ray
revealed some nice arthritis in the L4
facet joint, causing
wonderful pain in flexion. (Notice who they use
in the picture there - why always with the old guys? Why
not a decathlete going over a hurdle? And arthritis?
Seriously? Arthritis in the spine at 30? HAPPY 30th
BIRTHDAY! Now my face, body and spine can be mistaken for
a 40, 20, and 80 year old, respectively.) And more good
news - it requires
an injection.
Lovely. I now
understand why Kluft would want to retire from the multis at 24
- well, maybe I can't empathize with the small aspect of being
undefeated and relatively unchallenged for 4+ years. But
the pain aspect, yes.
|
.External
Links:
iaaf.org - International
Association of Athletics Federations
IAUM - the governing
body for the Icosathlon
Decathlon2000.ee
Multi-Event Points Calculator
Sportnet.com-
free online TV coverage for elite level meets
All-Time
Icosathlon World Lists, Master's, Women's & Open. (individual & event performances)
USATF - United States Track & Field
DecathlonUSA -
results, newsletters, history, records
Stabhochsprung - the
most comprehensive video history of vaulting
VS Athletics -
track and field supplies
Kip Janvrin's Post-WR Icosathlon Interview
Masters Track.com:
Masters Track & Field
Have a link you want posted here or that should be posted here?
email Dimitry |