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The marathon revolution – how the track redefined the distance 2007-08-04 04:50:00 There was a time, not long ago, where the marathon was an event that was dominated by runners who would often be described as “strong, having great endurance and staying power”, which was basically a euphemism (in many cases) for saying they lacked the basic speed necessary to be a great track runner. At least, that’s where it often came up in conversation – don’t seem to have the speed to compete in the 10km event? That’s fine, just run marathons instead! And that’s not to take anything away from the marathon specialists, because they were great runners who deserved every accolade they got, but the reality was that many were specialists by default – decent times over 10km, but weren’t quite fast enough to cut it and so stepped up a level and raced over the marathon. Scan through any textbook of physiology at the same time, and you’ll see much the same kind of message – a marathon runner does not have to have great speed, they tend to be slow-twitch fibre Read more:revolution
, distance
Get set for athletics 2007-08-03 20:00:00 The Tour de France has come and gone, and the world's collective 'endurance-attention' now turns to athletics, whose showpiece, the World Championships, kick off on August 25th in Osaka, Japan. And here on the Science of Sport, that will be our focus for the best part of the next month. We're sure there'll be the usual diversion caused by doping in sport, be it remnants of the Tour or a new announcements in athletics, but we'll be sure to bring you the on-track science and off-track action of the IAAF World Champs.To kick off, this weekend sees arguably the strongest half-marathon field in history gathered in New York for the NYC Half Marathon. Haile Gebrselassie, serial world-record breaker at track and on the road (apart from the marathon, where he's been inconsistent, but still incredibly fast) takes on Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya, Abdi Abdirahman of the USA, and SA's Hendrik Ramaala over 21 km. It's a fascinating race because it brings together athletes from the two extr
South Africa's long distance failure - what should be done? 2007-08-09 04:52:00 In two previous posts, we have looked at how the marathon distance
has been redefined by the cross-over of a group of speed merchants from the track, and then be the increased emphasis on the speed that is fundamental to success, even over the marathon distance.And I was bemoaning the fact that SouthAfrica
n men, with the exception of Hendrik Ramala, appear to be slipping gradually off the face of the world road-running map. So this is a somewhat "patriotic" post, dealing with a South Africa
n problem, but I'm very sure it's not exclusive to SA, and that where ever in the world you are reading this, you will be able to relate in some form.So here's the problem - in the last three or four years, South Africa's best male marathon runners are slower than the best women in the world. And I do not mean this in a chauvanistic manner at all, but I use this fact to illustrate that a once proud marathon nation (Olympic Champion in Josia Thugwane, three or four marathon runners in the top 1 Read more:failure
The story of Alistair Cragg - an indictment on SA running 2007-08-08 17:28:00 In the post directly above this one, I used the example of a runner called Sipho Ngomane to show how SA is losing out on potentially talented runners because of a desire to push runners into marathons and ultras well before their time. So in Sipho Ngomane, we have a 23 year old who was running
2 marathons, 2 Ultras and a half marathon in the space of 6 months. He ended up injured and is likely to never realise his full potential - he should be running 28 min 10km, 61 min half marathons and could have been our next world class marathon runner.On the other end of the extreme is Alistair
Cragg, pictured right. Who, you might ask? Well, if you are South African, you may be interested to know that Alistair Cragg is the fastest South African runner ever at 5000m! Yes, faster than the SA record holder, but unfortunately, he was running for Ireland at the time when he ran 13:11 (the SA record is 13:14!). He has since run 13:07, making him the fastest SA runner by 7 seconds, but he was we Read more:story
, indictment
Bonds breaks the record, but for how long? 2007-08-07 22:50:00 After all the hype, all the pressure, and all the steroids, Barry Bonds
finally surpassed Hank Aaron as the all-time home run leader in Major League Baseball. On Wednesday night, as the Giants squared off against the Washington Nationals, Bonds stepped up to the plate in the fifth inning. With the count loaded at 3-2 he hit the payoff pitch and swung his way into history, if not infamy at the same time, sending a shot deep into right center field at AT&T Park in San Francisco. He was met at the plate by his godfather Willie Mays while a pile up ensued in the stands over the ball. The game was stopped for 10 min of fireworks and ceremony before the Giants went on to lose the game. So Bonds will likely hit a few more home runs this season, finishing perhaps with 760-765 for the new bench mark. But how long will Bonds be able to remain the home run king? Many fans, including commissioner Bud Selig and Hank Aaron himself, are already looking forward to the day when Bonds is dethr Read more:breaks
Marathon speed Chapter II: Why Paula runs 2:15, and South African men don't 2007-08-07 01:23:00 So last Saturday, we did a post looking at how the track events, and in particular, the 'golden era' for track running of the mid-1990's because the catalyst that has reshaped your typical marathon runner-profile. In that period between 1993 and 1998, the world record over 10000m was broken 9 times, bringing the best time down by 45 seconds! It was inevitable that when this generation (the likes of Tergat and Gebrselassie) stepped off the track and onto the roads, there'd be fireworks!And sure enough, it's not unusual to see four or five guys racing like track runners over the final kilometer of the marathon, at a pace of sub 2:08. And our point from our previous post was that the physiology of the elite marathon runner has evolved - no longer are they the steady "tortoises" with all the slow twitch muscle, they are as comfortable in a 5k race as a 21 km race as a marathon. The example of Paula
Radcliffe is even more emphatic - here is a runner who, in years gone by, has been Read more:South
, Marathon
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, African
Beijing 2008 - One year countdown begins - will the AIR be ready? 2007-08-11 02:51:00 In a little under a year, the world of sport will descend on Beijing
for the 2008 Olympic Games. The Chinese have promised the greatest Games ever, pouring billions of dollars preparing for the Beijing Olympic Games – they’ve built the stadiums, the roads, the venues (often at the expense of the local residents – see this story), well in advance of the Games. But it appears they’re losing the battle on one front – the air. Last week saw a celebration to mark the start of the one-year countdown to the 2008 Olympic Games and IOC President Jacques Rogge put a dampener on things when he suggested that air pollution could lead to some events at the 2008 Beijing Games being postponed. That’s right, postponed. You can read about this here, here and here: So having spent all their money on the ground, turns out it’s the air that might undo the plans for the best Olympics ever. Apparently billions have been spent so far (the total budget for cleaning the air is report Read more:ready
SA athletics on trial: The verdict is... 2007-08-10 04:10:00 In response to our last two athletics posts on Sipho Ngomane and Alistair Cragg, we’ve received some quite good questions and comments from people who, like us, share the frustration at the state of the sport in South Africa. So this post is a response and comment, which we thought would be good as a stand-alone article. Are the Ultras to Blame? The first comment that we received is that the Ultra-marathon culture in SA (focus heavily on Two Oceans 56km and Comrades 90km) is to blame. And that politics and bad admin are also culprits. Agreed on all three, but one must be cautious to criticize the ultra-culture, because ultimately, it’s still a running culture, and that will bring young athletes into the sport. The key is managing those athletes and the ultra-situation better. I think that Comrades and Oceans are the unfortunate "vehicle" for the greedy agents and coaches to exploit athletes. They are not directly to blame – in fact, as mentioned above, I’m
The IAAF World Championships - a top 4 Preview 2007-08-14 02:19:00 The IAAF WorldChampionships
take place in Osaka, Japan, starting on August 25th, and that week long event will be a feature of many of our posts over the next few weeks, where we look at the physiology and news coming out of Japan to explain what happens BEHIND the on-track performances.To begin with, a preview and top 4 list of the four events that are likely to be most interesting, both from a scientific and athletics-enthusiast point of view. So these are the FOUR events we're most looking forward to:1. Men's 800m - September 2ndThis may well be the most unpredictable track event of the entire Championships. The 800m race is difficult to call at the best of times, but in the last 4 or 5 years, no single athlete has grabbed the event and dominated it in the manner of Kipketer in the late 1990's.Any one of about 6 men could win this race. Some have unrecognizable names, having been bought by Qatar or Bahrain, having been Kenyans in a former life. South Africans have a special Read more:Preview
IAAF World Champs - Day 2 analysis 2007-08-25 20:35:00 Day 2 of the IAAF WorldChamps
bought the much anticipated clash between Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay, and this is the race that dominates our analysis of Day 2's action, since it was also the only track final of the day.Men's 100m - Tyson Gay triumphs over PowellThe much awaited race was ultimately something of a disappointment. Such was the hype that everyone was expecting a world record, which didn't materialize, but then neither did the close head to head race everyone expected. In fact, Derrick Atkins separated them on the line, the final result being1. Tyson Gay 9.85 s2. Derrick Atkins 9.91 s (PB)3. Asafa Powell 9.96 sSo of the top 3, only Atkins really extended himself (though that is a discredit to Gay, who really did dominate the race). As for how it unfolded, it was Powell who got off to the faster start, but only marginally, as Gay, running on his immediate right, held on and then began to move clear after about 50m. Powell had looked good up to that point, much in the way
IAAF World Champs - Day 1 insights and analysis 2007-08-24 22:31:00 The IAAF World
Championships in Osaka began with a bang, and the temperatures matched some of the action. At this stage, the action is dominated by qualifying heats (a pun, in this particular case) but even that has been quite explosive, with a number of surprises on the first day. Two major running finals to report on, the Men's Marathon and the Women's 10 000m final, which was a stunner. And of course, we move ever closer to the potential world record in the 100m and the show-down between Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell (see our Picture above). But let's begin with the Men's Marathon...Men's Marathon - New World Champion Luke KibetThe story of the men's marathon was always going to be the heat. I have to somewhat sheepishly admit that I yesterday wrote about the women's marathon, a faux pas I will blame on the fact that I am on a travelling holiday around Europe, combined with the Swiss Mountain air at the time of writing...! So apologies for that, it was in fact the men's maratho Read more:Champs
The Marathon preview: The weather factor 2007-08-23 19:08:00 The World Athletics Championships kicks off tomorrow, and the first event, as has become tradition, is the marathon, this time for men.The Osaka WeatherAnother tradition, for it seems to be topical every time there is a Championship marathon, is the weather
. The Five-day forecast for Osaka will no doubt have been giving some of the athletes sleepless nights - peak temperatures hitting 35 degrees Celsius (that is 95 Fahrenheit!). This is even hotter than in Athens, where the temperature was a real factor
in the outcome of the women's race in particular. As has become customary, the race will be run in the early morning (7am) start in Osaka (which makes it difficult for anyone on a European timezone!), giving the athletes some reprieve. But not that much - the night-time temperatures in Osaka over the next five days averages 26 degrees celsius (79 Fahrenheit), which is still substantially warmer than most of the big-city marathons will ever be run at. The temperature during this year's Read more:Marathon
Heart attacks in sport - a tragic death and call to action 2007-08-30 03:08:00 For the last week or so, we've focused exclusively on the IAAF World Champs in Osaka. But over the past few days, two very sad events in soccer have also made headlines. First, the tragicdeath
of a Spanish International footballer, Antonio Puerta, aged just 22 (see news article here). This was followed only days later by a heart attack to Clive Clarke, suffered during half-time of a Carling Cup match in England. Clarke is reported to be in a stable condition (click for article).The case of Puerta, in particular, sent shock-waves through the football community, when it was announced that he had died in hospital. He collapsed on the field after 35 minutes of the opening La Liga match. Team-mates and doctors rushed to his aid, prevented him from swallowing his tongue, and then escorted him off the field, as he recovered enough to walk to the change rooms. However, once there, he collapsed again, was given cardiac resuscitation and rushed to hospital. Sadly, his condition deteri Read more:Heart
, attacks
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IAAF World Champs report - Men's 1500m 2007-08-29 03:48:00 OK, so having said that I would be off-line until Friday, I managed (fortuitously) to catch one lone race out of today's action from Osaka. While standing at a bus station waiting for an eternally non-arriving bus, Ladbrokes, which happened to be directly behind the stop, was broadcasting the racing. And in my 10 minutes of downtime, it just happened to be the men's 1500m final, so I managed to watch it and thought I'd put a few thoughts down on the race.First, the result. The Champion - Bernard Lagat, formerly of Kenya, but running for the USA in his first international competition. Second went to Rashid Ramzi, the defending champ and the bronze was won by Shedrack Korir of Kenya. The official result:1. Bernard Lagat (USA) 3:34.772. Rashid Ramzi (BAH) 3:35.003. Shedrack Korir (KEN) 3:35.04So Bernard Lagat, Olympic Silver medallist and second fastest 1500m runner in history (a time that is 6 years old now) wins his first World
title in his first international race for the US Read more:Champs
, report
IAAF World Champs - a brief break from the action 2007-08-28 04:06:00 Just a quick post to let you know that I'll be travelling for the next 3 days, so unfortunately (for me, that is), I probably won't be watching any of the racing from Osaka. At least not live, anyway...So until Friday, we unfortunately won't be bringing any analysis of the races, which is a shame.However, I'm back on Friday, and hopefully can catch up on the action then!Until then, enjoy the athletics!RossThe Science of Sport
Dr. Ross Tucker
Dr. Jonathan Dugas Read more:World
, Champs
IAAF World Champs - Day 3 insights and analysis 2007-08-27 02:29:00 In another post, we looked extensively at the Men's 10000m final, because it was such a good race, from a spectator point of view, but also because it was so intruiging for physiological reasons.here, we look at the rest of Day 3's action:Women's 3000m Steeplechase - the expected Russian DominanceAs predicted, the Russians dominated the 3000m Steeplechase, winning gold and silver. It was Yeketerina Volkova who won, in an impressive time of 9:06, given the conditions in Osaka. Her compatriot, Tatyana Petrova was 3 seconds back. The biggest surprise was that the world record holder, Gulnara Samitova-Galkina, failed to win a medal, finishing some 24 seconds behind. She took the race out hard, running the first 1km in world record tempo, but then fell away badly, perhaps a victim of heat and over-enthusiasm.The third medal was taken by a Kenyan, Eunice Jepkorir. The race was quite uneventful, more of a mass 'time-trial' than anything else. It is clearly a new event, because the relati Read more:World
, Champs
IAAF World Champs - The Men's 10000m Final 2007-08-27 01:35:00 We admit bias on this one, because our focus on The Science of Sport does tend to drift towards the endurance activities, but this one couldn't have escaped our attention - today, the 3rd day of the IAAF WorldChamps
, brought a great 10 000m race, a race that was so good, and interesting, that we decided to do a post on it, and a separate post looking at the rest of the day's action. But this is dedicated to the 10 000m final, and a great race - from a physiological and a tactical point of view, it was one of the great races that I've ever seen.The result - Bekele defends and becomes a 3-time 10km championMuch as expected, and if you logged onto the internet, you'd see the following result:1. Kenenisa Bekele 27:05.902. Sileshi Sihine 27:09.033. Martin Mathathi 27:12.17So, you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd missed pretty much a repeat of Bekele's last few world and Olympic titles, because the time gaps at the finish would be consistent with a blazing final lap, during whi Read more:Final
The men's 800m - analysis of the event and preview of IAAF Final 2007-09-02 04:33:00 Tonight in Osaka, the IAAF World Champs concludes with some potentially great races. One of them, the 800m Men’s Final
, which is one of our most anticipated races, could be won by any one of the eight finalists. There are few event
s that are more open and competitive than this race, with some of the pre-race favourites being eliminated in the semi-finals, such is the unpredictability of the event. The 800m distance is a fascinating one, and well worth discussing further, because it straddles the divide between what people usually refer to as “sprinting” and “middle distance” running. To some, it is the first of the middle distance events, whereas to others, it’s the last of the sprints. Of course, using such jargon can pose challenges, but generally, when people refer to a sprint, they refer to an event where the athlete goes ‘flat out’. This is of course never true, because even in a 200m race, there is some pacing, as evidenced by people who go out a little to
IAAF World Champs - Day 7 analysis and insights 2007-09-02 02:39:00 Day 7 of the IAAF WorldChamps
saw three finals on the track - the Women's 200m, the Men's 400m and the 110m Hurdles final. Some great individual performances by athletes who should dominate headlines at next year's Olympic Games were the feature of these finals, analysed briefly below, before a preview of the final day's action, which promises to be a great evening's athletics.Women's 200m - the Contest that never was, and the maturation of a starThe women's 200m final was billed as a showdown between Allyson Felix and Sanya Richards of the USA. Richards, in particular, was out to prove a point, having failed to even qualify for the 400m event, which she has dominated, she turned instead to the 200m, and had some impressive races leading up to these Finals. Many (myself included) were expecting her to give Felix a real race, having focused for a few months on her shorter distance speed.Then, enter stage left Veronica Campbell of Jamaica, who took the 100m title away from the
IAAF World Champs - whirlwind recap of Days 4 to 6 2007-08-31 01:48:00 The IAAF WorldChamps
in Osaka are approaching their final weekend. Sadly, I missed much of the action over the last few days, but I did manage to catch highlight of some races, which I thought I'd summarize very (very) briefly in a quick post. More detailed analysis of Day 7 onward will begin again tomorrow...Women's 400m - a "Triumph or a Travesty?", as Christine Ohuruogo of Great Britian wins on her comebackThis was the headline in one of the papers in England. I happened to be in London the day of and after the race, and the papers had a field day. The first thing one has to realise about English athletics is that everyone, almost without fail, recalls the glory days of Coe, Ovett, Cram, Thompson, and more recently, Christie and Jackson. The last few years have been, to put it mildly, very barren, and so the hosts of the 2012 Olympic Games are understandably terribly excited about the fact that they won not one, but two medals in this race. Nicola Sanders run out of her ski
Massive Steroid Operation Uncovered 2007-09-26 20:43:00 We interrupt this regularly scheduled series of posts on running technique for this breaking news...Last week the Drug Enforcement Administration of the USA wrapped up a series of raids on drug labs in a number of states. The numbers? Over 800,000 doses of steroids were confiscated from one home in New York. There were other seizures in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and in the midwest. WADA currently is seeking information from the agents so that they can cross check any names in the investigation against the names of current athletes, and it appears that the federal agents are more than willing to cooperate with the anti-doping agency on this.After the four days of raids, the operation, called "Raw Deal," shut down 26 labs and arrested over 50 individuals. The raids were the final push in a larger probe that in total made 124 arrests, closed 56 labs in 27 states, and seized $6.5 million and 240 kg of raw steroid powder.Anyone out there still think that the drug problem in sports is u Read more:Steroid
, Operation
Running technique Part III: The Scientific evidence for running technique 2007-09-26 17:21:00 Today is Part III of our series on Running Technique. The two key questions we are looking at addressing are :Is there an "optimal" running technique? I think we are probably all in agreement that there is, the tricky part is defining optimal...Is this "optimal" technique the same for everyone? In other words, should we all be running the same way? Can running technique be taught, or is it learned? This is perhaps THE key question, because if technique is learned,then it stands to reason that everyone might learn their own technique and run differently. On the other hand, if technique is to be taught as a complete "entity" (as suggested by running techniques like Pose and Chi), then it suggests that what we do naturally might be incorrect, and we need a technique makeover.When running technique is taught, how should it be done? There are two schools of thought on this one. The first is to teach it wholly, effectively relearning HOW to run. This is the mass market approach, and Read more:Scientific
Running technique Part II: Biomechanics of running and Pose 2007-09-25 19:24:00 Today is Part 2 of our series looking at running technique. So far, it's been an extremely interesting and challenging series to write, and we've received some really interesting stories and comments from readers. That's something we're very grateful for, and many of those comments are incorporated into the posts you'll read over the next few days.What is probably a bit confusing is that because this series is being done one post, one day at a time, I've not yet really put out there my own explicit position on this, and so many times, we receive comments which I agree 100% with, but which haven't been expressed openly in the posts (yet!). So I thought that perhaps I should come out and give my position on running technique, rather than sitting on the fence until all the evidence is discussed, and then in the next three posts, we'll look at some of that evidence (and opinions - this is a blog after all, not a scientific journal!) which has led me to this position. Is "natural"
Running technique Part I: The philosophy of how we run 2007-09-24 19:42:00 Yesterday, we began a series of posts looking at running technique. We’ve received questions, comments and some of your insights on the post already. All this serves to confirm is that we’re approaching a relevant and easily discussed topic. It could well border on controversial, and I’ve no doubt that some of what I write will be arguable, and probably criticized. That’s fine, we’ve never been averse to some controversy, shying away from it is not our game. So we move ahead and hope that the series will provide for good, objective discussion, which is after all our goal from this site. All we ask is that people weigh things up and acknowledge that we can’t cover EVERYTHING. So looking ahead, this is a vast topic, and we can never do it justice. We can’t, for example, explain exactly what Pose and Chi are about, all we can do is make reference to their sites and touch on the broader concepts. So what we’ll do is break this topic into perhaps four parts, to make
Running technique - is there a 'right' way to run? 2007-09-24 03:33:00 Running is a basic activity, right? If you want technical, you go to dance classes, or you join a karate studio, where an instructor will teach you HOW to perform that activity. Even swimming is a sport where the coach will stand along side you and demonstrate correct arm movement, position of the body, use of the legs, and so on. But running, that's inherent, we JUST DO IT (sorry, Phil and the Nike gang). Right?Wrong...Well, wrong, according to what seems to be a growing trend among runners and running experts, who are coming up with "running techniques" designed to make you:FasterLess injury proneMore efficient when you runThese running techniques, the Pose method of running and the Chi Running technique, both make these claims. You can read all about these claims here and here.Runners - a natural audience for these claims? Or a victim of marketing hype?At first glance, and through your first few reads, it's quite an appealing concept. Why? Because runners seem to be eterna
South African cricket woes - Twenty20 meltdown 2007-09-21 17:22:00 The World Twenty20 Championships is flying by. As I write this, the first semi-final is about to begin, followed almost immediately by the second and then the final tomorrow. It seems like just two weeks ago that this tournament began. Oh, hang on, it did! I recall the 50-Over World Cup earlier this year, lasting all of 55 days! This two week tournament has been a breath of fresh air.Not quite a breath of fresh air was South
Africa's performance the other night. The afore-mentioned first semi-final, about to begin features Pakistan against NEW ZEALAND. Not South Africa, and we had all taken for granted that we were there. In fact, many South African
s had probably not even considered the possibility that we would not win the trophy, let alone make the semi-finals. But, in the words of Graeme Smith, "I guess we do find ways to get out of these tournaments... It's very disappointing knowing you've lost only one game in the tournament and you're out... That does seem a little
A quiet period for sports analysis... 2007-09-20 01:32:00 It’s been a while since we attacked a post with the “usual” vigour, so to all our regular visitors and readers, apologies for the lull. After the IAAF World Champs, things went through a bit of a quiet patch, and that co-incided with a particularly busy period for both us in our “normal” jobs (the ones that pay the bills and take time away from the more enjoyable stuff!). The other thing that has been particularly time-consuming, and exciting for us, is that we recently teamed up with a South African website called Health24, who have agreed to host a lot of our content. It gives us another avenue to talk sports science, so we’ve been putting a lot of content over there in the last week or two. But for a change, for a post, and for the sake of poking a bit of fun at ourselves, I thought I’d put in a post about procrastinating, since that’s what tends to happen when we get so busy! Actually, I wanted to put this post up since I read it over on Vanilla’s blog, Hal
Arena Football - Lessons for Twenty20? 2007-09-16 22:44:00 Southern-hemisphere nations and other rugby lovers are probably familiar with American, sometimes called "Gridiron," football. The National Football
League (NFL) is a dominant entity in professional sports in the USA, and the league is a money-making behemoth for the cartel of team owners, the players, and even for a number of peripheral merchants and entrepreneurs who benefit from the league activities.The NFL was formed in 1920 by eleven teams, and currently has 32 teams on its log. Most will agree that the modern era of the league began in 1966 when the rival American Football League merged with the NFL. This year also saw the inaugural Super Bowl, which subsequently has become to represent the pinnacle of sports marketing. Ratings are so high for this one match, that reportedly during the 2006 match a 30 second ad spot cost $2.5 million!Particularly from the birth of the Super Bowl, the game has continued to grow and rake in more and more revenue. In spite of this, a former le Read more:Lessons
Athletics news and reports - Brussels preview 2007-09-14 00:15:00 Well, it's been a quite period for athletics, since our almost daily analysis of the IAAF World Champs in Osaka. Last week saw the Zurich Weltklasse, which is usually one of THE great single night athletic meetings. But this year it was afflicted by its close proximity to the World Champs, and a lot of the big names chose to stay away, rather recovering from their exertions in the heat of Osaka. Of those that did compete, there were some very tired performances. Tonight sees the Memorial van Damme, in Brussels
, and it promises to be a little more invigorated than the Zurich meeting.Highlights of the meet include World Record breaker Powell in the 100m (but, sadly, not Tyson Gay), Yelena Isinbayeva and Sanya Richards compete as the final contenders for the Golden League jackpot - Isinbayeva will be especially keen to avoid a repeat of last week's heart stopper. And then the possible highlight is the world record attempt of Kenenisa Bekele in the 10000m. But rather than spend ti Read more:Athletics
Twenty20 Cricket - the debate continues 2007-09-14 00:00:00 Yesterday's article looking at the evolution of Twenty20 cricket provoked some interesting comments from readers. Some feel that the Twenty20 game is the only one worth watching, while others see no problem at all. So clearly, this issue is one that polarizes opinion.Some of those comments have been quite thought provoking and in this follow up article, I thought I'd address some of those issues very briefly. Different strokes for different folks The first, and one of the most interesting comments comes from David, who is the author of the Harrow Drive cricket website. He's pointed out that in the UK, first class (4 day) crowds are totally different from Test match crowds. These are of course completely different from Twenty20 crowds and 50-over crowds. So the 3 versions of the game cater to very different markets. In that case, there'd be no problem. The analogy from marketing is that a potential buyer of luxury cars (Audi, BMW, Mercedes) is a very different market to the buyer o Read more:Cricket
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