Track and field

The artist at 60: Sergei Bubka, the original at sport but make it art, thriving, as ever his authentic self

The artist at 60: Sergei Bubka, the original at sport but make it art, thriving, as ever his authentic self

PARIS – So that everyone understands how high Mondo Duplantis went Monday night at Stade de France in winning the Olympic men’s pole vault, a big – and we are talking now a very tall –  giraffe, at the tippy top of its ears, is way, way up there. Like, it’s 20 feet down to the ground.

Born and raised in Louisiana to an American dad and Swedish mom, Duplantis competes for Sweden. On the third of his three tries, having raised the bar a full 15 centimeters from what he had previously cleared easily, the crowd howling, truly one of the best bits of Olympic theater in recent memory, Duplantis went 6.25 meters to win gold and set a new world record – 20 feet, 6 inches.

 The new record was exactly one centimeter over the prior Duplantis mark, 6.24. The man is a showman. Like someone before him.

“I knew he would do it,” said Sergei Bubka, who is now 60 and knows a thing or two about pole vaulting and, at a newish chapter in his professional world, is, now more than ever, thriving, as ever his authentic self.

Noah Lyles wins men's 100, and as he falls into her embrace, his mom says, 'I'm so proud'

Noah Lyles wins men's 100, and as he falls into her embrace, his mom says, 'I'm so proud'

Other races, other events, surely command attention. But it is the men’s 100 that produced track and field’s biggest name, Usain Bolt. It is the men’s 100 for which the stadium went dark Sunday night. The crowd went ooh and ahh for a light show.

Then the bright lights came back up.

All eight guys settled into the blocks.

And on this Sunday night, Noah Lyles would silence – after one of the great hype campaigns in American history – every critic.

By five-thousandths of a second.

The Games as a short play - on the track, the women's 100 prelims, four rounds: 'I'm doing my best'

The Games as a short play - on the track, the women's 100 prelims, four rounds: 'I'm doing my best'

PARIS – There are places that are out there in the Pacific Ocean, and then there is Tuvalu, which is halfway between Hawaii and Australia, a collection of three reef islands and six atolls. All in, maybe 11,000 or so people call Tuvalu home. That makes it the second-least populous country on Planet Earth, behind Vatican City, and the least populous country where English is an official language.

If you put the reefs and the atolls together, you have a land mass of 10 square miles. For comparison, San Francisco is, rounding off here, 47 square miles.

Tuvalu sent two athletes to these Paris Games, both in track and field, and when one of them, 20-year-old Temalini Manatoa, settled into the blocks Friday morning in her heat of the women’s 100 meters, she was shaking from adrenaline and excitement and, if we are being honest, fear. She was scared. She said so. It’s big out there on that track for a young woman from a very small place.

“I’m doing my best,” she said afterward, finishing in 14.04 seconds, a personal best.

The hip-gyrating, staying alive beautiful world of racewalk: 'It's a talent,' says Kenyan, finishing 22nd

The hip-gyrating, staying alive beautiful world of racewalk: 'It's a talent,' says Kenyan, finishing 22nd

PARIS — When one thinks of Kenya, does one’s mind skip to – racewalk?

“I believe,” said 36-year-old Samuel Gathimba of Kenya, “I was born a walker.”

He also said, and he has a flair for any number of aptitudes, including expressing himself, “It’s a talent.”

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome anew to the amazing and, if you allow yourself to see it the way it can be, beautiful world of racewalk.

Don't laugh: no American in Olympic race walk for first time since 1904. This is a … problem

Don't laugh: no American in Olympic race walk for first time since 1904. This is a … problem

EUGENE, Oregon – As part of the official schedule of the 2024 Trials, USATF, the United States track and field federation, dutifully staged 20-kilometer race walks for both men and women Saturday morning, and three men and three women finished 1-2-3 in each race and none stands much of a chance to go to Paris for the Olympics, and what are we doing here?

The third-place finisher on the women’s side Saturday is 58 years old, Michelle Rohl, mother of five, grandmother of one. She competed in the Olympics in 1992, 1996 and 2000. Allen James, who competed in the Games in 1992 and 1996, finished 14th Saturday in the men’s race. He is 60.

The Trials are brutal, the ultimate American exemplar of meritocracy. Keep it that way

The Trials are brutal, the ultimate American exemplar of meritocracy. Keep it that way

EUGENE, Oregon – Track and field is not football, the American kind. But it happens on the track that falls happen. That is, in racing, people fall down. Sometimes at critical moments. Sucks.

The thing is, just as in football, as the timeworn saying goes, it’s not that you fall – it’s how you get back up.

Football coaches will tell you, endlessly, it’s a matter of character.

Which brings us, amid the U.S. Trials for the 2024 Paris Games, to Athing Mu, who fell earlier this week in the women’s 800 meters, and is not going to get the chance to defend the gold medal she won in the event in Tokyo three years ago.

Like pilgrims, they make their way to Pre's Rock, seeking -- what? And why?

Like pilgrims, they make their way to Pre's Rock, seeking -- what? And why?

EUGENE, Oregon – To get to the shrine that is Pre’s Rock, about a mile east of Hayward Field, you must go – drive, sure, but on foot is best, really – up.

The spot where Steve Prefontaine died, 50 years ago next year, is up a steep and winding hill. Do you believe in certain theologies? Up?

On the occasion of a major track meet, like this week’s U.S. Trials, pilgrims wind their way up to the Rock. As they did Thursday. Scott Davis, 53, of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, a pastor, referring to Prefontaine: “He’s an inspirational figure. Never quitting.” Michelle Bright, 51, of Bryan, Texas, and Katherine Denena, also 51, of College Station, Texas, Bright saying of Pre, “I’ve always known the name.”

What is it about Steve Prefontaine, dead since late May 1975?

Her friends say, oh, ‘Legally Blonde’ passed the Bar! It’s British steeplechaser Lizzie Bird

Her friends say, oh, ‘Legally Blonde’ passed the Bar! It’s British steeplechaser Lizzie Bird

ROME – Which is better, running in the Olympics for the British team, or passing the Colorado Bar Exam?

Running in the Olympics for the first time – or the second?

Running in the Olympics with no fans – or having your family there to cheer for you?

All in all, it’s very interesting being 29-year-old Lizzie Bird, who late Sunday night here at the European track and field championships all but assured herself of a second Games when, by a margin of roughly four-plus seconds after 3000 meters – about 1.86 miles – she finished third in the steeplechase, in 9 minutes, 18.39 seconds.

Damn straight this Israeli team raced for the hostages: 'we are here, we are strong'

Damn straight this Israeli team raced for the hostages: 'we are here, we are strong'

ROME – All of the useful idiots who maintain Israelis are colonial oppressors would do well to take a look at the happy impromptu team pictures after the men’s half-marathon here Sunday at the European track and field championships.

The Israelis sent six runners. All six are Ethiopian Jews. Translation: they are black. Complete translation: they are fully, completely, thoroughly Israeli. Three finished in the top 10, led by Budapest 2023 world championship marathon silver medalist Maru Teferi, who on Sunday finished fourth.

That earned Israel the team silver medal in the men’s half. And to the obvious question: yes, the four hostages freed Saturday in Gaza were on their minds and, yes, damn straight they were racing for them.

When it comes to track and field, he's the - one and only - rock of Gibraltar

When it comes to track and field, he's the - one and only - rock of Gibraltar

ROME – The gun went off in the third of three heats here Friday night in the men’s 100 at the European track and field championships and, as expected, Craig Gill fell behind early and finished last.

 It’s not just that Gill finished last in his heat. Twenty-four guys lined up in the three heats. One was DQ’d. That means 23 finished. Gill’s time ended up being 23rd of 23, 11.17 seconds. The guy who was 22nd, Francesco Sansovini, of San Marino, was a full 62-hundredths better, in 10.55. There’s a phrase in track for guys like Craig Gill, observed with affection: DFL.

 All good. For real.