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Track and Field // Posts categorised as Track and Field
Pacing physiology and the limit to performance: A #fourminute mull
The latest four minute mull explores pacing strategies, physiology and fatigue. In so doing, I offer a theory for the limits to human performance existing at the point where the "reserve" that physiology maintains is no more, the endspurt disappears, and humans are at the limits of what is physiologically possible.
An Open Letter to Athletics South Africa: Address the non-selection controversies for the sake of athletes
Athletics South Africa, the governing federation for Track and Field in South Africa, recently announced the SA squad for the upcoming World Athletics championships in London. An ambiguous mix of selection criteria and omissions has created controversy. I write an open letter to ASA calling for clarity, and a reversal of certain non-selections for the squad.
Testosterone, performance & intersex athletes: Will the IAAF evidence be enough?
In 2015, the Court of Arbitration set aside an IAAF policy that required female athletes to have a Testosterone level below a cut-off threshold. Now, 2 years later, with the IAAF appeal imminent, new evidence has emerged, with possible implications for athletes like Caster Semenya. But will the IAAF's new evidence be enough. Here's a look at some issues.
On the recalibration of world records: Brief thoughts
A proposal to recalibrate the track and field world records by removing all records set prior to 2005 has caused considerable controversy. I offer some views on the proposal, and explain why the step is probably necessary, but should not be 'abused' as a sign of a new generation.
On the Jamaican clenbuterol positives: A procedural failure and credibility black hole
An explosive new investigative report has revealed that numerous athletes have tested positive when their samples from Beijing 2008 were retested. They include Jamaican male sprinters, so dominant in those Games. The IOC and WADA however did not act, suggesting the cases are all contamination, not worthy of pursuing. How viable is this, and what does it mean for already bottomed-out anti-doping credibility?
IAAF to-do list: Invite in, step aside & break the orbit
The IAAF response to the doping scandal has hardly been reassuring. Nor was its position when the allegations first emerged. What is the solution, though? Maximum transparency, and a leading role in creating unparalleled transparency might finally break this orbit. Here's a few thoughts on how
Denial plus shock, divided by the tip of the iceberg. A recipe for mistrust
The WADA report into the IAAF’s alleged doping cover-ups came out yesterday, and Twitter was rocking. So many journalists and commenters wrote excellent summaries and opinion pieces (there’s a list of some of them at the end of this post), but I thought I’d share with you two brief articles I wrote on the issue. […]
Paula Radcliffe, off-scores and transparency
Another week, another doping story, and this one is a big one. You surely haven’t missed it, and by now you know that in response to a British parliamentary hearing, Paula Radcliffe issued a statement which acknowledged what pretty much everyone following the sport knew – hers were among the samples deemed suspicious in the […]
Bolt vs Gatlin: Two stories, two trajectories. Beijing prediction
The media have hyped the Bolt vs Gatlin 100m clash as "good vs evil". Hype aside, it should be a fascinating race, a clash of performance trajectories, with Gatlin trying to hold off an improving Bolt. Analysis and prediction of the race (doping set aside for now)