athletics inside
ISSUE 10 sept 09 www.insideathletics.com.au
WORLD CHAMPS THE
ISSUE
USAIN BOLT:
CAN HE SAVE OUR SPORT?
IN A SPIN:
DANI SAMUELS TAKES THE WORLD BY STORM!
HOOKED ON SUCCESS: STEVE DEFIES THE ODDS
PLUS:
the long & short of stretching
IS CROSS COUNTRY DEAD? ALL THE INTERESTING STORIES FROM BERLIN VISIT WWW.INSIDEATHLETICS.COM.AU FOR THE LATEST NEWS
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athletics inside
ISSUE 10 sept 09
inside this issue
4 editorial
6 AROUND THE TRACKS
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7 GEAR TO GO 8 ICH BIN EIN BERLINER! 14 hooked on success 16 DANI SAMUELS: IN A SPIN
18 USAIN BOLT: MR ATHLETICS
25 NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY 26 THE LONG & SHORT OF STRETCHING 30 TAKING ATHLETICS TO THE STREETS 32 CALENDAR 33 THE LAST LAP
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MAKING TRACKS
Katelyn simpson 15-year-old Katelyn Simpson overcame the challenge provided by her older rivals to take a three second victory in the U18 girls 4km over a hilly course at the Australian cross country championships in Nowra. Eligible to run the U16 event, Simpson decided to compete in the older age group in order to be eligible to gain selection in next year’s World schools cross country championships in the Slovak Republic. With her victory she booked her tickets to the April event.
A EUROPEAN SUMMER OF SURPRISES As another European season comes to a close, a season that is certainly worth celebrating given the success of Australia’s athletes throughout it, it is time to reflect on how our sport is positioned globally. One cannot help but marvel at the grace and spectacle that Usain Bolt is. A theme that runs through a number of articles in this edition is not just the influence that Bolt is having on the sport, unforeseen such a short time ago and now seemingly unsurpassable, but where the sport is positioned in the years after his dominance has been felt. It’s a question that nobody seems all that game to ask now but which eventually will need to be answered; while it is great to live in the now, it is the future of the sport which all involved in it have the responsibility of securing. If Bolt is to be the sports saviour, what will or could follow after him? Fortunately, from a domestic perspective our nations top athletes continue to achieve exceptional results. The high at which our nations athletics stocks are at is demonstrated by the calibre of athlete not present in Berlin. Despite the absence of a two-time world champion and a world record holder, the Australian team were able to get a record medal tally, lead by the inspirational performance from the team captain, Steve Hooker. Whilst Hooker had the experience and insatiable thirst to taste again the dizzying heights of Olympic glory by retaining his mantle as the world’s top vaulter with victory at the world championships, it was the youthful determination of discus thrower Dani Samuels which earned Australia what going into the championships was a less expected medal, let alone a golden one. We feature articles on both heroes in this edition and hope that you will enjoy reliving their glory just as much as we did in recording it through our interviews.
Willkommen
See you around the tracks!
Tim McGrath
Inside Athletics is an independently owned and operated online magazine which is editorial in nature. Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed in the magazine are those of Inside Athletics and do not represent the official views of Athletics Australia.
www.insideathletics.com.au editorial enquiries: tim@insideathletics.com.au advertising enquiries: david@insideathletics.com.au
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AROUND THE TRACKS World Junior qualifiers commence Sydney’s Jake Hammond slashed his 200m personal best to 21.15 seconds (+1.3 m/s) at the recent NSW combined high schools championships, becoming the first athlete to secure a qualifier for next year’s world junior championships in Moncton, Canada. The Australian team will be selected following the Australian underage championships, which will feature events in the U14, U15, U16, U17, U18 and U20 age groups, in Sydney from 11-14 March, 2009.
Image courtesy Federation Fracaise d’Athletisme
Kipketer defeated in Berlin A comeback to racing for 800m world record holder Wilson Kipketer? Well, not quite. But the Kenyan born Dane did make an appearance in the 800m race for the media at the world championships. The race was taken out by the French Athletics Association’s website journalist Florian Gaudin-Winer in 1:55.19, with Athletics Tasmania’s Development Officer Richard Welsh, writing for the Hobart Mercury, finishing fourth in 1:59.00. What for the world record holder? He took an easy two lap jog in 2:21.11 – exactly forty seconds outside what he achieved in his prime.
Shelley wins world’s largest fun run Queensland’s Michael Shelley lead a mass of 62, 752 finishers in the 14km trek from Sydney’s CBD to the iconic Bondi Beach to win the 39th edition of the City to Surf. Running a time of 41:02, Shelley finished 10 seconds ahead of Ben St Lawrence, whilst deaf athlete Melinda Vernon won the women’s race in 47:46.
Fairfax Photos
Bolt vs Bekele? Who would win in a race between the world’s greatest sprinter and the world’s greatest distance runner? This isn’t just a question you might see on a forum like LetsRun, but may become a reality. Prior to the Van Damme Memorial meeting in Brussels, a journalist from the Associated Press put the question to Kenenisa Bekele, who appears open to taking on Usain Bolt over an intermediate distance. “If Usain agrees, if someone wants to organize this, I am ready,” Bekele said. What would the distance be? “600m is a good chance for him,” said Bekele, considering he would lose too much over the first lap. “I need some 800 meters, maybe 700 meters.”
Ge a r T o G o
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hot off the press! Commonwealth Games criteria released Athletics Australia has released the selection criteria for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Unlike global championships, where the qualifying standards are set by the IAAF, for the Commonwealth Games each nation participating can set their own qualifying standards. This means that for the Commonwealth Games, any combination of athletes, up to three per event, can be chosen if they meet the A or B-standards set by Athletics Australia. : pertinent areas of the selection criteria include - Athletes finishing in the top eight at the world championships being pre-selected; - The need for athletes to contest at least two domestic meets outside of the Selection Trial, Melbourne World Athletics Tour and Sydney Track Classic; - The qualifying period commencing on 1 January, 2009; - That the winner of the Selection Trial, if they have the A-standard, is an automatic selection, as is the seconds placegetter if they are in the same situation and there are enough places remaining following pre-selection; and - That all other selections, to be completed in the week starting 16 August, 2010, are at the discretion of the selectors. The full criteria is available on www.athletics.com.au
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! r e n i l r e B n i e n i b ich r edition. three world have come and gone for anothe over the nine The world championships national records were set 48 and ds or rec p shi ion much more to records, six champ mpicstadion, but there was Oly ed fam ’s lin Ber in n days of competitio king performances. Berlin than just record brea
All images by Randy Miyazaki, unless otherwise stated
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The Triumphant Kenenisa Bekele Bekele did what no man had been able to do in the eleven previous editions of the championships: win the 5000m and 10000m double. In the 10000m he was his characteristically dominant self, with Eritrea’s Zersenay Tadeses unable to break the Ethiopian over the first 24 laps, leading to an inevitable result. The 5000m wasn’t as clear cut, with Bekele needing to produce one of his finest tactical performances to defeat Bernard Lagat. Leading at every kilometre point but at a relatively tame pace, Bekele turned the screws over the final stages but still had not shaken the field as they entered the home straight for the final time. Yet Bekele’s positioning and closing speed was enough to hold Lagat at bay for a two tenths of a second victory and his fifth career world championships gold medal on the track. The other world record breaker To set a personal best in a world championship final is a significant achievement; to also break a world record is something else, having only occurred 22 times over the previous eleven championships. Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk joined that illustrious club with her second round throw in the women’s hammer thrower, sending it flying to 77.96m to improve the world record by 16 centimetres. Germany’s Betty Heidler went close with her last round throw of 77.12m to move to fifth on the all-time list, but it was Wlodarczyk who celebrated her first global title with the most emphatic of performances.
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The Persistant Three-time runner up at world championships level, Ezekiel Kemboi, finally added the world championships gold to the Olympic one he won in Athens, and with a championship record of 8:00.43 to boot. Kemboi led home compatriot Richard Mateelong, with Frenchman Bouabdellah Tahri setting a new European record of 8:01.18 in third. In the women’s event world championship 5000m silver medalist from Edmonton (2001) and Paris (2003), 33-year-old Spainard Marta Dominguez set a world leading time of 9:07.32 on her way to victory. In a sprint finish to the line Dominguez had time to pull her trademark headband off her head in celebration as she claimed her first world title.
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The Controversial South Africa’s Caster Semenya produced the most dominant performance ever in a women’s 800m at world championships level, but the focus was not so much on her performance, but whether she is a woman. With a masculine build and a deep voice, the 18 year old South African, who improved in one season from 2:08.00 and being an also ran in the heats of the world junior championships, to a 1:55.45 athlete, had raised suspicions with the IAAF and Athletics South Africa prior to the championships. One cannot help but feel sorry for Semenya, with the story of the investigation of her gender being leaked to the media by an IAAF official. Whilst empathy has been directed towards Semenya, scorn has rightfully been directed towards the IAAF and Athletics South Africa, not so much for their bungled handling of the matter at the championships, but for the fact that there was not a procedure – as complicated as determining gender in borderline cases happens to be – that was followed and completed prior to the championships. It is rare that a governing body for a sport brings their own sport into disrepute, but this is certainly the case with the IAAF; had the issue been related to doping or eligibility to represent a particular nation, a swift determination would certainly have been made prior to the championship, rather than a cloud of doubt prevailing. For the IAAF’s General Secretary Pierre Weiss to be in a position to say in his opening remarks to a media conference ‘there is doubt about whether this person is a lady’ represents the sheer negligence of the IAAF in the matter.
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The Humourous Berlino the Bear The antics of the mascot of the championships, Berlino the Bear, is possibly the most successful initiative the IAAF have implemented in an attempt to break free of the conservative shackles of tradition which have thwarted the development of the sport as an entertainment property. From posing with Usain Bolt, to bear hugs and piggy back rides of champion athletes, to being hoisted over the shoulders of men’s discus champion Robert Harting as part of one of the most dazzling victory celebrations in recent memory, Berlino epitomised the spirit of the championships.
Image courtesy James Roff
The Incompetent
The Defeated
It’s been eight years since the IAAF dropped the term ‘amateur’ from their name, but the start of the women’s 10000m was certainly amateur hour. Exactly how the large group of world class officials could forget to set up cones marking the outside channel at the split start of a race – something so fundamental that its omission would not be tolerated at the most lowly of interclub meets – defies belief. The result – the field cut in early – meaning that the distance that the outside runners actually covered was up to 15.32m short of 10000m. With the error in distance being three times as large in percentage terms as the margin of victory, the sport which prides itself on split second accuracy was severely let down.
Yelena Isinbayeva The queen of the pole vault, Yelena Isinbayeva, was dethroned after her royal air of superiority for once wasn’t matched by her abilities. The Russian entered the competition at a lofty 4.75m and after an unsuccessful jump moved up to 4.80m in an attempt to match Poland’s Anna Rogowska’s first attempt clearance. Unfortunately she wasn’t able to reproduce the magic of her previous successes and exited the competition with a no height recorded next to her name. The Lucky Dutch 800m runner Bram Som, who was knocked to the ground in the semi-finals, didn’t finish the race and, despite IAAF Rules
suggesting in usual circumstance that be a necessity to compete in the next round, Som was allowed to progress through to the crowded, 10 man final. The Unfortunate Ethiopia’s Gelete Burka was cruelly sent sprawling to the track while in the lead with just 200m remaining in the women’s 1500m thanks to the reckless overtaking by Spain’s Natalia Rodriguez, who attempted to pass on the inside. Rodriguez, who would go on to cross the line first, was disqualified for her move, promoting Bahrain’s Maryam Yusuf Yamal into the gold, but nought could be done for Burka, who picked herself up off the track and finished tenth, eight seconds behind the winner.
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Image courtesy James Roff
The Future
The Aussies
The next world championships will be hosted by athletics minnow South Korea in the manufacturing city of Daegu. The IAAF have already suggested a long needed review of the length of the championships will take place, realising the need for the world championships format to be differentiated from that of the Olympics in order for the sport to have penetration beyond hard core fans at times when the global media and marketing machine of the IOC is not in full swing.
The Flame, as they are now known, took a while to heat up, but recorded their best ever medal tally at the championships (2 gold, 2 bronze) and their second best finish on the IAAF points tally based on top eight finishes thanks to the nine athletes who achieved that distinction. Pleasingly, 59% percent of the team finished in a higher position than they were ranked on season’s bests and 46% of them in the top 16 status which the selection criteria is designed around promoting.
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HOOKED ON SUCCESS Looking down the runway, knowing that glory awaits with a successful clearance of the pole vault bar is something that Steve Hooker is not unfamiliar with. However, the situation the Olympic champion faced in Berlin was far different from that of Beijing, where a series of clutch jumps secured him the gold medal. In Beijing his mind was willing and his body able. In Berlin there were doubts as to both, following a torn abductor just ten days out from the qualifying round. Unable to jump in the lead up and not knowing how his body would hold up played on the 27-year-old’s mind, who at first only rated himself a 50:50 chance of participating. Intense medical treatment and a high risk strategy of attempting just one jump in the qualifying round, at the height of 5.65m, saw him progress through to the final. Yet the effort took its toll, physically and mentally. An increased amount of pain followed, whilst Hooker’s body language, let alone his comments, made it appear unlikely that a similar strategy would be fruitful in the final. “If I do jump (in the final) it will be
a similar strategy. Just enter the competition with my first jump and then see how we go,” he said at the time. “I’ll start at a height that I think is possible to win a medal. If I can do that then I will be happy.” As it turned out the pain Hooker suffered was from an associated neural problem, which received treatment from team physio Shane Kelly and a local anaesthetic from team doctor Adam Castricum during the final. Hooker entered the competition at 5.85m and had a close miss. A first up clearance would have automatically seen him in the lead, as all other competitors had missed an effort at a previous height. Hooker went close, but shaved the bar on the way down. With Frenchman Romain Mesnil clearing the height on his first attempt and Hooker knowing he could perhaps only summon his body to produce one more quality attempt, he made the bold move to raise the bar to 5.90m and go for the win, rather than securing a minor medal by clearing 5.85m. What his body may have been lacking, his mental focus and strength compensated for. Hooker attacked the bar and flew over
it, taking him into the lead. With subsequent attempts from Mesnil and compatriot Renaud Lavillenie proving unsuccessful, Hooker had defied the odds to retain his position as the world’s best vaulter. “It’s a mental battle you have to fight with yourself and you have to convince yourself that you’re ready; you’re ready to pick up the massive competition pole that’s going to throw you nearly six metres in the air,” he said. “You’ve got to convince yourself that you’re ready to do an impressive jump with the stands very close in and you’ve got to be prepared to take that risk and lucky for me I knew prior to this injury I’d done such fantastic training and what great shape I was in. “There was one specific training session, the one before I got hurt, where on the pole I jumped on today I jumped a 5.90m-high bar and I knew I had it in me so I could go out there with confidence that that was the right pole, I had the right run-up and if I could just get down the runway it would be enough.”
athletics thletics 15 CLICK IMAGE TO WATCH THE VIDEO INTERVIEW!
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DANI SAMUELS - IN A SPIN All last year Dani Samuels knew she had it within her. A 64 metre throw was there in the waiting. But it wouldn’t come. When it mattered the big throws went to the right. Out of the sector. A foul. Counting for nothing. A year later Samuels is the world champion and the youngest ever in the discus. At just 21 years of age she produced her best when it mattered. But the process to get her into that position was lengthy. “Last year I could throw 64m but they were very hit and miss – they were going out of the sector in the Olympics – this year I became a lot more consistent because I worked on those changes in my technique for two years now rather than just half a year or one year,” said Samuels. “We mainly concentrated on working my right leg at the back. My left leg was getting in a good position but getting more use out of my right leg, not just sort of having it attached to my body. Definitely getting use out of it and using it to propel me through the circle and creating more force out of it. By doing that I was better balanced at the front and have a shorter stance,” she explained of the work that she and her coach, Denis Knowles, have focused on. “Back when I was 15 or so I used to foul out the front because by stance was a metre wide but now it is about 40 to 50 centimetres. Perfecting the back, perfects the middle, which therefore makes the front very good.” And the front was very good in Berlin. Her third round throw of 62.71m moved her into third place, which she improved on to a new personal best of 64.76m in the next round to move into second place. “I gained some confidence from my 62; I was in third place and I think that excited me a little bit because I knew I had a lot more in
me. I relaxed a lot, I was smiling and having fun and unleashed a 64 and it just made me even happier and I just giggled to myself, ‘oh, I’m a 64 metre thrower!’” From there the opportunity to move one place further up, into the lead, was certainly there. Romania’s Nicoleta Grasu had the lead with her second round throw of 65.20 metres. Yet as Samuels walked into the circle for her fifth round throw, it was still the excitement of having finally sent the discus into new territory that was on her mind. “I had been waiting so long to see those numbers come up. It just made me relax even more and I was able to add another metre on to it. I was thinking technique mainly, just to relax my arms because if I tense up too much it shortens my levers, which is not very good at all for discus. Relaxing and just doing what I was doing in training that entire week, I was throwing really well relaxed because it was just me and Denis, so I was just trying to keep smooth and rhythmic,” she said. Smooth and rhythmic, yet powerful, the discus flew to 65.44m and Samuels into the lead. With the field reordered after the fifth round it became a waiting game: if her competitors could not better their previous marks, Samuels would take the title, adding it to the world youth, world junior and world university games gold medals that already sit on her mantle piece. Cuba’s Yarelis Barrios, until that point third, sent out a large throw, but it was 13 centimetres less than
Samuels’ best. Only Grasu, the 37-year-old, 3-time minor medallist at the world championships had the opportunity to no longer be the bridesmaid, but couldn’t muster it, sending her throw into the net for a foul and cementing Samuels’ victory. “I’ve accepted the fact that I’ve thrown 65 which I am thrilled about; I always knew that I could throw that far either this year or last year. I’ve got my gold medal now, so it is clear to me that I won, but the whole world champion bit is still a bit hazy. I haven’t come to grasp with that concept yet,” said Samuels. While the victory is still settling in, Samuels’ rapid ascendancy in almost textbook fashion, securing every title available to her so far except for Commonwealth and Olympic Games glory, hasn’t changed her focus, aspirations or drive. “It felt like the perfect throw at the time but there is definitely room for improvement and I’m sure I’ll be working on that next year and in the years to come leading up to London,” she said of her winning throw. “Leading up to London I hope to be throwing 70m or 69 even. I think 65 will be competitive throughout any major champs. It’s taken over 65m to win any world champs and if you look back it has taken more, sometimes 68 has won. “I’m just going to keep improving, keep working on my technique in particular and be fast and powerful and explosive and just enjoy what I do. I’m very, very looking forward to London.”
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Mr Athletics Within the space of a year Usain Bolt has completely revolutionised the sport of athletics. His exploits at the Beijing Olympic Games, smashing three world records, was at the time thought to be one of the greatest collection of moments of sporting history. It’s hard to imagine that his actions at the world championships in Berlin surpassed all of that. With resplendent runs of 9.58 seconds in the 100m and 19.19 seconds in the 200m, Bolt defined much more than himself - he defined his sport. Usain Bolt is athletics. It’s a huge statement to make, particularly considering the thoughts that Sebastian Coe once penned to paper, that athletes within a sport are not its owners, but merely its custodians. The idea that one man is bigger than the sport through the actions he achieves within it is not a particularly appealing one, but one that athletics finds itself with nonetheless. For Bolt’s effulgance has illuminated two undeniable truths: that athletics is in peril globally and that a 1.96m tall Jamaican is its only foreseeable saviour. It took a star as bright as Bolt to shine through a fog of complacency for many in the sport to realise exactly how much athletics had declined. The last athlete to have – and retain - anything close to the global pull as Bolt was Carl Lewis, whose four gold medals at the Los Angeles Olympics and four consecutive Olympic long jump titles sustained a name which was known within the sporting landscape outside of the limelight of the Olympics. There was of course Marion Jones, whose time in the spotlight was usurpingly fraudulent, tarnishing it with rampant, blatant cheating of the form which can be least tolerated in such a fundamental sport: drugs. Getty Images
thletics 19 athletics A farcical series of improvements of the men’s 100m world record by athletes, who like Jones were doped to the gills – Tim Montgomery and Justin Gatlin – left the jewel in the sport’s crown tainted. Until Bolt. The stigma still remains but Bolt is determined to wash it from the tracks of the world. Yet reputations, once besmeared, take a long time to mend. Get into a conversation with any sports lover, particularly one who does not closely follow athletics, and the question of whether Bolt is clean inevitably comes up. More so than any athlete in the history of the sport, that Bolt’s performances are as a results of his talent and dedication rather than with the assistance of chemical means, is not just important, but critical. It is not that athletics could ill afford its greatest star to be besmirched by doping, it is that it would lose its last ounce of credibility. Thankfully, there is no serious suggestion that Bolt is anything but a freak of nature. Yet the race he will contest to bring the sport back to a prominent place on the global stage is far longer than a simple dash down a straight. In reality, he is only just out of the blocks. But he’s out of the blocks very well.
In Berlin he completely outclassed the now second fastest man in history, Tyson Gay. Such dominance in an event has been seen before on the world stage, but not against such company. Just a year ago 9.71 seconds would have been thought of as amazing. Now the benchmark is 9.58. In the 200m real competition was absent despite five men breaking 20 seconds. Over the half lap Bolt was in a world of his own, clocking 19.19 seconds. “I’m getting to be a legend. I don’t consider myself a legend yet,” Bolt said recently. “I think after the next Olympics and other world championships, if I do extremely well in those I’ll consider myself a legend.” Such is his talent that he might tackle the 400m in the future, or even the long jump. In fact, within hours of Bolt mentioning he wouldn’t mind trying his hand at the latter, world record holder Mike Powell suggested that he could be the first man over 9 metres; English bookmakers instilled him at 6-1 odds to win gold in the event at the London Olympics. All without him ever landing in the sand.
Harnessing such hype is the objective. The new Diamond League structure being put into place for next season is the logical vehicle, but Bolt is yet to sign on. With an appearance fee between $250,000 and $500,000 per race the theory of the IAAF centrally contracting him, along with other star athletes, to run in the meets is sensible in theory. In practice, whether one body can afford to outlay the money needed for him to contest even half of the 14 meets in the series while other meets outside the Diamond League structure still bid for his services at astronomical amounts, is yet to be seen. However, one thing is certain: the Diamond League, if it does not heavily feature Bolt, will suffer from the same lack of penetration as the Golden League has. To the world, Usain Bolt is athletics.
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BOLT MANIA!
The most difficult seats to secure in Berlin were not in the city’s famed Olympicstadion, but in Usain Bolt’s pre meet media conference. The Jamaican’s warm demeanour, playful antics and sense of humour made the media conference a marketing opportunity that the rivals of Bolt’s footware sponsor, Puma, would crave for. Entering the stage wearing a pair of styrofoam cut outs in his signature Lightning Bolt pose, Bolt entertained and captivated the audience of journalists and photographers to the same degree as he manages to on the track. Getty Images
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“It’s much better than everyone coming up to me and asking me the same question: Do the Bolt.”
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When the championships were over, Bolt’s public duties were not quite complete, with the Mayor or Berlin giving him not the keys to the city, but a more sacred honour for the once divided city: a piece of the Berlin Wall, with his mural painted on it! What Bolt has achieved in the last two years is enough to secure his place in the annals of athletics history. But Bolt still has big ambitions. “My main aim is to just continue winning and continue to remain on top,” he said, with his eyes firmly fixed on the next Olympics. “2012 should be great because it’s in London and there are a tonne load of Jamaicans in London, so it’s going to be like running in Jamaica! “I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be fun so I’m just going to go out there and enjoy myself, as always.” Getty Images
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national xc champs
Although the status of the national cross country, like cross country running generally, is declining, it still holds great importance to many athletes, especially those who yearn to add their name to the illustrious list of winners. Take for example this year’s victors, Clare Geraghty and Clint Perrett. “It’s pretty important to me,” said the diminutive Geraghty, who took
out the women’s 8km race by four seconds from NSWs Angela Leadbeater. “I’ve worked hard this year, I didn’t expect to win, but was hoping for top five. Anything above that was a bonus today.” For Perrett, the win was a culmination of a long but ultimately successful winter season. “I’m happy to have gone second
at Launceston, third at City to Surf and now to have got the big one that I wanted at nationals,” said the 26-year-old school teacher. “I couldn’t believe I was going to win until I was around the second last corner and I had a cheeky look and saw that Jeff wasn’t close enough and finally I could relax after 12 kilometres!” he said of his 14 second win over former champion Jeff Hunt.
jeff hunt leads liam adams and clint perrett in the open men’s 12km event
open womens winner clare geraghty
U/20 Men’s winner, harry summers
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STRETCHING THE LONG & SHORT OF IT In recent times there has been conflicting reports on the effectiveness of stretching for athletic performance. Physiotherapist and middle distance athlete Ben Liddy outlines the different forms of stretching available to track and field athletes and offers suggestions as to when and what type of stretches athletes should use pre and post training and competition. It was once widely recognised that stretching was essential for injury prevention. Athletes would perform static stretching for 15-60 minutes prior to training and competition believing that performance would be improved and the risk of injury reduced. However, many are now questioning the benefit of stretching. Research studies have suggested that the risk of injury during training or competition is actually increased following the completion of static
stretching and that the maximum power output of the muscle is temporarily reduced. Static Stretching This is the most commonly used of all the stretching techniques. It involves a sustained stretch of the muscle usually held between 10-30 seconds. Static stretching works on specific tension receptors in the body. By sustaining the stretch the sensitivity of the receptors is slightly reduced, allowing the muscle to relax and be stretched to a greater extent. This form of stretching has come under review in recent years. Certain studies have demonstrated a reduction in the maximum power output generated by the muscles following static stretching leading to impaired performance. Several studies have also demonstrated that static stretching does not reduce the risk of injury when used before
exercise. However, conflicting studies have demonstrated increases in peak power output of the muscles following static stretching and a reduction in muscular and tendon related injuries. It is up to the athlete and coach to decide whether to include static stretching as part of the warm up routine. Experimenting with and without the use of static stretching during training can be a good way for athletes to become comfortable with what works for them. Most importantly the athlete should be familiar with their warm up routine by race day and know what works best. Conflicting evidence aside, static stretching can be used effectively post training and competition as a way of improving the flexibility of the muscle. There is little risk of injury as the muscles are adequately warmed up. As a result the muscles are able to be stretched to a greater extent leading to greater gains in flexibility.
some examples of Active Isolated Stretches
1
Single Leg Pelvis Tilt
Muscles stretched: low back and gluteus maximus Lie on back with legs straight. Flex the exercising knee and pull it toward chest by contraction of hip flexor and abdominal muscles. Place hands behind thigh to prevent pressure on knee and provide assistance.
Straight leg hamstring
Muscles stretched: hamstrings Lie on back with legs straight. Slowly lift one leg using quadriceps (front of thigh). Assist with rope at end of movement. Note: if you have a history of back injury, bend the non-exercising leg to stabilise the spine.
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Gluteals
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Muscles stretched: gluteus medius and minimus, lateral hip, piriformis Lie on back with legs straight. Flex left knee at 90 degree and le and place rope around midfoot, clasping rope with opposite hand. Use left hand to stabilise thigh by clasping at knee. Contract abdominals and hip aductors to lif knee towards opposite shouldeer. Assist with rope and outer hand.
thletics 27 athletics Active Isolated Stretching Active Isolated Stretching (AIS) has become increasingly popular in recent times. In this form of stretching the muscle is stretched for only a short period (1.5-2 seconds) before being released and then repeated a further 8-10 times. It is argued that when a stretch is held for a prolonged period like in static stretching it activates a protective stretch reflex in the muscle where the muscle being stretched actually begins to contract to protect itself from being overstretched. Arguably, prolonged static stretching actually decreases blood flow within the tissue creating localized ischaemia and lactic acid buildup. By stretching for only 1.5-2 seconds this method of stretching claims to bypasses this mechanism. The AIS uses the neuromuscular system via the principles of ‘reciprocal innervation’ and ‘reciprocal inhibition’ to maximize the stretch on the muscle. An example of this is the hamstring stretch outlined in diagram 2. The quadriceps muscle is used to raise the leg up (reciprocal
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Getty Images innervation) thus causing the opposing hamstring muscle to relax (reciprocal inhibition). As muscles stretch best when they are relaxed maximal gains in flexibility can be achieved. Microstretching Micorstretching is another form of stretching that is becoming increasingly popular. In contrast to Active Isolated Stretching this form of
stretching emphasizes long stretch times of 1 min for each muscle group and requires each stretch be repeated 3 times. The intensity of the stretch desired is only 30-40% of maximum stretch so it is a very gentle technique where the risk of injury is minimal. Microstretching works on the principle of gentle sustained holds to prevent overactivation of the body’s nervous system thus preventing the muscles going into a protective
Piriformis
Muscles stretched: external rotators of hip including piriformis, tensor fascia latae, and iliotibial band Lie on back wiht left leg moved inward across centre line, foot pointed inward. Wrap rope around arch of right foot. With knee straight, contract quadricep, upper hip, and abdominals to (1) lift leg toward chest (see pic) and (2) bring leg across hips.
Quadriceps
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Muscles stretched: rectus femoris Lie on left side and bring both knees to chest. With the left hand grasp foot fromoutside. With right hand, grasp right ankle and extend right thigh back by contracting buttocks and hamstrings and, assisting with hand, heel should press into buttocks.
Hip Flexor
Muscles stretched: rectus femoris Kneel down on left knee (place pillow or cushion under same knee). Moving forward onto flexed front leg (right) keep pelvis and back stable by contracting abdominals. As you move forward, contract buttocks and hamstrings to flex left heel to left buttock. Assist stretch with one or both hands, bringing heel to buttock as flexibility allows.
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contraction. This allows the muscle to lengthen maximally over the 1 min duration of the stretch. This form of stretching may be very effective for those athletes who are very inflexible and lack confidence with stronger stretching techniques for fear of injury. The principles behind this form of stretching sound very good but with little research to support its claims it is impossible to definitively say that this is the most effective form of stretching for improving flexibility or performance. As with the other forms of stretching time should be spent trialing microstretching to test individual responses. PNF stretching PNF is a stretching technique that combines passive stretching and isometric contractions. While there are a variety of PNF stretches, the most common and most applicable to
track and field is the ‘contract relax’ technique. This form of stretching is best undertaken with a partner. Firstly, the person is taken into a passive stretch by their partner until resistance is felt. The partner will then apply resistance against the body part being stretched before asking the person to push against this resistance. This is the isometric contraction component of the stretching technique. This resistance is held for approximately 20 seconds before the resistance is removed and the partner moves the stretched body part further into range until resistance is felt again. This process is repeated a further 2-3 times until there are no longer significant gains in the stretch achieved. This technique works on structures inside the body called golgi tendon organs which relax a muscle after a sustained contraction has been held for a period of time. This form
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of stretching can be very effective in improving flexibility and often works very well for those individuals who have not had success with other forms of stretching. It is a much more aggressive form of stretching than the other forms outlined so care must be taken to ensure correct technique. Care should also be taken with regards to the amount of force exerted by both the athlete and the partner. Too much force from either can potentially result in a muscle tear. All the above stretching techniques have a place in track and field for both improving flexibility and performance, and decreasing injury risk. Individuals will differ in their responses to these techniques and may find one method more effective than the other. Time spent trialling the different methods and monitoring your progress over several weeks will give you a good indication of what methods work best for you.
Adductors (long)
Muscles stretched:long adductors, longus, magnus, gracilis Lie on back with legs extended and wrap rope around arch of left foot. Point left foot inward and lift leg to side by contracting outer thigh and hip muscles. Assist with rope, pulling outward.
Adductors (short)
Muscles stretched: short adductors, pectinius, adductor brevis, proximal and long adductors Sit with soles of feet placed together. Contract outside of hips, spreading thighs as far as possible. Use arms between knees to assist stretch at end of movement.
Achilles tendon/soleus Muscles stretched: lower and deep calf including achilles tendon Sit with right leg fully straight and left knee bent at 90 degrees. Wrap hands around balls of foot. Lift toes toward body, contracting shin muscles and assisting with pull from hands.
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Upper Calf
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Muscles stretched: gastrocnemius Sit with legs fully extended and about six inches apart. Loop rope around the ball of left foot. Straighten left knee and pull toes towars you by contracting shin muscles. Assist with rope. For deeper stretch, lean forward at trunk and allow foot to leave floor when pulled.
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TAKING ATHLETICS TO THE STREETS
There are but few athletics meets which rate at all in terms of spectators in the global sporting market; today even some of the best meets in Europe attract only 15,000 to 20,000 spectators, generally congregated in close proximity to the track, some so close that they can almost touch the athletes in the outside lanes. In a rapidly changing world where the divide between sport and entertainment continues to merge, it is clear that smaller proportions of the population are willing to attend traditional athletics meets. So if people won’t go to the athletics, why not take athletics to the people? That is the idea behind an increasing number of exhibition meets, staged not within the geometrical confines of a traditional athletics track, but on specially constructed arenas located in prime locations. Whilst exhibition field events have frequently been conducted in shopping malls, town squares and the like, always without official recognition – a stubbornly held interpretation of the IAAF Rules, until recently, was that the validity of performances was contingent on them being held within a stadium –
the potential to make the sport an entertainment property available to a wider segment of consumers has dawned on a greater number of promoters. One such example is the inaugural Australia vs England ‘Ashes’ style match to be held shortly in Newcastle upon Tyne. The Great North ‘City Games’, featuring a 150m straight track situated at the NewcastleGateshead Quayside, will pit the two historic sporting rivals together in a series of events ranging from
60m through to 150m, along with field events and road based middle distance races. The event is a prelude to the Great North Run, a long established half marathon event which is expected to gather over 50,000 competitors this year. Earlier this year, on a similar custom-built circuit, crowds flocked to line the 150m, four lane athletics track set out down in Manchester to see Usain Bolt run 14.35 seconds. It received glowing praise from athletics commentators such as
thletics 31 athletics former middle distance world record holder Steve Cram. Not only do such events bring athletics to people who may not otherwise view the sport live, albeit still in relatively small numbers, but it opens up the opportunity to broadcast the sport in attractive settings with custom camera angles not always available within the usual confines of an athletics track. The potential for such events seems almost without limit. Think of the potential in Australia: Steve Hooker pole vaulting in Sydney on the Opera House forecourt with either the sails of that iconic building or the Harbour Bridge in the background. Globally: events adjacent to the Eiffel Tower, Time Square, Big Ben, the Great Pyramids, or in Tiananmen Square. The only limit is the imagination. And it is imagination which athletics is in dire need of. While there will always be a place for athletics in its traditional form, like almost all other sports a more continuous, entertaining and action packed format suitable for intimate interaction with spectators and widespread dispersal to global media networks, will be an integral part of the sport’s survival in years to come.
Image courtesy of Aviva
One of the events most often held outside of its traditional CLICK the IMAGE to confines is the pole vault. Who is there better than Olympic and world champion, Steve Hooker, to comment on the WATCH THE VIDEO!!! appeal of allowing spectators to get up close and personal with the most death-defying event on the athletics program? “As a pole vaulter, you get the opportunity to compete in competitions that few other athletes would experience and these are the ‘town square’ competition,” he wrote in his blog on FloTrack during 2008. “They are usually held in smaller towns as a part of their annual town festival and they are a lot of fun. I competed in one of these competitions in a town called Jockgrim in the south of Germany. “The local soccer competition has been running the competition in Jockgrim for the past 14 years and to give you an idea of the atmosphere of the competition I will give Video courtesy of FloTrack you a quote from the meet director, Gunther: ‘when we started running the competition we didn’t know a lot about pole vault but we knew how to drink beer’. “The competition was like a big party and it’s actually sponsored by a beer company. About 3000 people stand just metres either side of the run up and when they scream the noise is deafening.” Not only is such a competition entertaining for the spectators, but it’s exciting for the competitors, which tends to work as a feedback loop for the spectators. And if there is anything that athletics is in need of, it is an energy charged environment.
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CALENDAR
SEPTEMBER
12-13 World Athletics Final (Thessaloniki, GRE) 19
Tan Relays (Melbourne)
19
Great North ‘City Games’ (Newc. Upon Tyne, GBR)
19-20 Decastar (Talence, FRA) Getty Images
20
Sydney Running Fesitval (Sydney)
20
City to Bay (Adelaide)
20
Great North Run (Newcastle Upon Tyne, GBR)
20
Berlin Marathon (Berlin, GER)
25
Colourful Deagu Pre-Championship (Deagu, KOR)
29-1 Australian University Games (Gold Coast)
OCTOBER 10
AV Shield Round 1 (Melbourne – various)
11
World Half Marathon Champs (Birmingham, GBR)
11
Melbourne Marathon (Melbourne)
Getty Images 11-18 World Masters Games (Sydney)
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17
AV Shield Round 2 (Melbourne – various)
24
AV Shield Round 3 (Melbourne – various)
Club Premiership Round 1 (Sydney - various)
31
AV Shield Round 4 (Melbourne – various)
Club Premiership Round 2 (Sydney - various)
www.insideathletics.com.au
thletics 33 athletics
The last lap!
With DAVE BYRNE
THE DEATH OF CROSS COUNTRY Track and field athletics was once World Cross Country Championships Commonwealth Games, World Track and Field Championships, World one of the biggest sports in the world. on a yearly basis, to every second Road Running Champs, World Cup, Names like Jesse Owens, Roger year. World Indoors and the biggest event Bannister, Sebastian Coe, Carl There are several reasons why the of all – The Olympics, there’s more or Lewis and Michael Johnson regularly slow death of cross country may less one or two major events every featured in headlines around the have occurred. One contributing year. Couple these with national globe. But the days of athletics stars cause could be the dominance of titles, European Champs and the gracing the front pages of newspapers African’s. In the last edition of the has become an ever-decreasing World Cross Country Championships Golden League series, and where does another major event fit in? phenomenon – with the exception of the highest placed white male was After all, athletes do need some time the ‘it man’ Usain Bolt. Though it has Cales Castillejo from Spain in 26th to train and the occasional break yet to have been seen whether this place, and in the women’s event from the stresses of training and latest athletics phenomenon has the Kimberley Smith from New Zealand competition. ability to lead a long-term resurgence in the sports It seems as though many athletes would rather An argument could be forward that glory, popularity. compete in fun runs than championship cross put representing your country Coupled with the demise country races. And why wouldn’t you? and the riches that come of track and field athletics with possible success has been the gradual should be ample motivation to throw decline in the popularity of the World placed 13th. When you look at your hat in the ring and have a shot Cross Country Championships. the statistics, it’s understandable Not only has the distance running at the title. But glory exists for but that many of the elite non-African fraternity turned its back on the a few, and as mentioned earlier it’s runners would prefer to focus their event, but so too has public interest hard to see a non-African wining the attention on attainable goals, such waned, therefore leading the way for World Cross Country Championships. as the European Cross Country an exodus in event sponsorship and National pride still remains, but larger Championships, or simply focus publicity for the sport. events like the Olympics, and those on training through the winter and with more media coverage have far The World Cross Country competing in local events. greater prestige. A good example of Championships was at its peak in Another reason could be that maybe there are too many major events on this in Australia is how the winner of the 1980’s, but then leading into the international calendar. With the a fun run like the City to Surf, gets the late 90’s there was a distinct lack of support for the event from non-African nations. In a move to attract middle distance runners and hopefully make the event more appealing to European countries, the IAAF introduced a shorter, four kilometre option, in addition to the existing eight kilometre women’s race and 12 kilometre men’s event. This proved to be a failure, with African’s still dominating the lead pack and most of the non-African nations generally fielding what could only be termed “B-Grade” teams. Thus, the short course event was dropped from the program after 2006. The most recent development is that the IAAF the last non-african women to win the world has decided to go from running the cross was our own benita johnson (Willis).
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The last lap! more notoriety and promotion, than the winner of the Australian Cross Country Championships. This brings me to another argument as to why Cross Country is suffering. It seems as though many athletes would rather compete in fun runs than championship cross country races. And why wouldn’t you? When you can not only get financial support to attend many of these events and there’s often a decent prize purse on offer, a struggling distance runner would be mad to tie up their spikes and flog themselves for 12km on a muddy and tough cross country course – for little or no reward - when you could don the racing flats and bang out a fast 10km and get some money for your efforts. On the domestic front, over the past few years the Australian Cross Country Championships has had
little support from most of the countries elite distance runners. This is largely due to the timing of the event coinciding with the European summer, a time when most of our best distance runners are chasing fast times and money on foreign soil. But another reason for the Australian championships suffering could be due to there being no reward for success. And I don’t mean just financial gains, I mean selection in the World Cross Country team. At last years world cross, out of a team of eight senior athletes, only four actually competed in the Australian titles, suggesting that really you need to run fast on track and then compete in the trial race in order to be selected. So where’s the value in the national cross country championships? Glory? There’s not much glory in winning a title when the
no one has dominated the world cross country championships more than ethiopia’s kenenisa bekele
best athletes are absent…..and once again, there’s no media coverage to help raise an athletes profile or give their ego a boost either. What will it take to restore cross country running to its former glory? It’s hard to say. On the international front it could be said that for at least the medium term, things are said and done, and the World Cross Country Championships will play second fiddle to the more prestigious events like the World Athletics Champs, and will have little attention from the IAAF while it attempts to salvage dwindling interest in its flagship – Track and Field. On the domestic side, possibly a change in World Cross team selection policy, some event promotion and maybe prize money could be what the sport needs to get both the public and most importantly the athletes, interested.
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