Athletics
WORLD RECORD HOLDER, YOUNG RELISHING CURRENT ‘HISTORIC MOMENT’ IN 400M HURDLES
As Kevin Young prepares to watch the men’s 400m hurdles final this Monday night, he does so knowing that his days as the world record holder in the event are numbered. And after carrying that honour for more than 27 years, he’s excited about the prospect.
“Never in the history of the event have there been
three hurdlers at one time who have all run under 47.2,” Young said on the
morning of Zurich’s IAAF Diamond League final last month.
He didn’t know then that less than 12 hours later his point would be underscored by Karsten Warholm and Rai Benjamin after they joined Abderrahman Samba as members of the sub-47 club after one of the season’s most spectacular showdowns.
Warholm defeated Benjamin by 0.06 in 46.92 in a race that doubled to four the number of hurdlers who have smashed through the 47-second barrier. Three will be lining up in Khalifa Stadium in tomorrow night’s final.
“That’s the story,” Young said. “You have three hurdlers who haven’t reached their pinnacle. That’s the beauty of this event right now.”
Indeed, Young points out, the only component that’s missing for the youthful trio — Benjamin is 22, Warholm 23 and Samba just turned 24– is experience.
“They are all young hurdlers. And hurdling is a discipline which you develop over time. You get comfortable with the race. And you get comfortable with how you run the race. It’s discipline and strategy.”
Young said he spent much of his early career experimenting with a variety of approaches, running 13 strides between hurdles, sometimes 12, sometimes even 11. He studied Edwin Moses, whom he refers to as “the master” and a “well-oiled machine”.
“For many years I tried going 13 steps, and floundered. I tried it during the national championships in 1986 and ended up going 11 steps at one of the hurdles. All through my last collegiate season I was going 12 steps and chopping and trying to figure the race out. I just couldn’t get it together. But then I finally did.”
Young was 25 when he sped a seemingly impossible 46.78 to secure the 1992 Olympic gold medal, and his place in athletics’ history. He smashed the previous world record, Moses’ fourth by a massive 0.24 seconds. That could only come, he said, after a long period of studying the discipline, learning how to race the event and gaining experience.
“I was talking with Rai (Benjamin) and Karston (Warholm) and I asked, ‘how old are you guys? And they’re 22, 23 years old. I think, ‘Wow! Man!’ You guys are still developing, you guys will probably break it a few times.”
The world record’s ‘X factor’, as Young calls it, lies in the hurdler’s ability to control their speed.
“When I broke the world record I ran six seconds to the first hurdle. Between 5.8 and six seconds. I think it’s six seconds. Rai told me it was 5.8 seconds. And I asked him, ‘How fast are you getting to the first hurdle?’ He said 5.5. And I said, ‘You guys are running too damned fast.’ ”
“That is the holy grail of the event. It’s called speed maintenance. I know personally, when you get to that 200-metre phase you start opening up and you want to run fast. It’s the natural thing to do coming off that turn. But that’s when you want to be mindful and monitor your speed.”
That’s showing in the latter phases of the current big three’s races.
“They’re going 13 (steps) at least to (hurdle) nine. But they haven’t been able to negotiate that last hurdle. With fatigue and great competitors, that’s going to happen.”
His advice on how to correct that? Take full advantage of this historical moment in time and race each other. Often.
“If I was Samba, and Rai and Warholm, I would constantly want to race with one another. Just so we could see who would be first to break the record. And secondly, then let’s see who can break it a little bit more. Edwin (Moses) held the record from 1976 to 1992. And broke it several times in between. Can you imagine with the three guys now? We have that luxury.
“It’s just a matter of date and time,” he concludes. “You’ve got to get competitors to line up. You never know what’s going to happen once you get guys out there and running.”
Young has remained a hardcore fan of the sport, lean and athletic at 53. At the moment, his focus has shifted towards his Master’s studies in Sports and Ethics, which he began this month at Swansea University in Wales.
But this week, his eyes will be even more closely trained on what many consider the premiere event at this year’s World Championships, and the world record possibilities the race presents. He seems content, happy even, with those possibilities.
“I’ve seen that record get broken a few times in my head – thank god it hasn’t gotten broken yet! And when it is, I’ll look at the time in which I’ve held the world record, and I’m comfortable with the time period.”
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
BY DAPO SOTUMINU
Nigeria’s Francis James and Blessing Shambaz yesterday emerged winners of the 2nd Lotus Bank Abeokuta 10km Race to go home with the winners prize money of $1,000 in a race that was officially flagged off by the First vice president of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, Chief Solomon Ogba, and supported by Mr. Nadin Khan, the president of the World Ultra Running.
James won the men’s race finishing at 30minutes 11seconds to beat all opponents to consolidate on his victory in Abuja when he finished second best in the half marathon held in the Federal Capital Territory middle of the year.
James also emerged the Nigeria’s winner of the World class half marathon.
It will be recalled that James at his last major race in Abuja finished second place in a national half marathon race. He stressed that he used that race to prepare for the Lotus Bank Abeokuta Race and he was very happy winning the race.
He stressed that, the victory at Lotus Bank Abeokuta 10m Race has given him the confidence to do better in others races coming up in Nigeria and its an indication, that he’s very close to making history for Nigeria in subsequent marathon races. He added that, Nigerian runners will pull surprise in the others races not minding the attendance of the East Africans.
In second place for the men’s race is Gyang Raymond at a time of 30 minutes 14 seconds. Gyang got $750 for his effort. While the third place winner is Gyang David Boyi at 30 minutes 54 seconds. Boyi got a cash prize of $500.
In the women 10km race, the runners up that placed second was Daylop Patience at a time of 36minutes 98.28seconds to keep her position in last year’s edition. She got $750.
Third place winner is Agofure Charity at 37minutes 88 seconds.She got $500.
The overall 10km also saw the race by special athletes.
The route of the Lotus Bank Abeokuta Race wore a very active look this morning with the active presence of Febbs table water, a part sponsor of the event.
The volunteers on each points on the route all had Febbs Water on their hands ready to hand them over the runners. The organisers decorated all the runners that crossed the finish line with gold medals, this added to the fanfare and celebrations at the Alake Palace finish line of the race.
The Diamond League will increase its prize money to more than $9 million in 2025, the highest in the history of the series, the organisers have said.
Athletes will make a total of $18 million, with top athletes also receiving promotional fees. Male and female athletes will be paid at the same rate, the Diamond League said in a statement.
“The new total is almost a third higher than the sum paid during the pandemic-affected period of 2021-2024,” the statement said, adding that more will be invested in the athletes’ travel, transport, accommodation, medical and physio services.
Each of the 14 Diamond League meets of the 2025 regular season, scheduled to kick off in April, will award a total prize money of $500,000, with the final in August offering $2.24 million.
“The total prize money per discipline will be between $30,000 and $50,000 at the series meetings and between $60,000 and $100,000 at the final,” the statement added.
The Diamond League’s 2024 season concluded in Brussels last week, with Zurich set to host the 2025 final.
The news comes after World Athletics ended a 128-year tradition by paying Olympic champions at the Paris Games $50,000 each and as rival track events try to muscle in on the circuit long seen as the standard-bearer for professional athletics.
Retired American sprinting great Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track will offer prize money ranging from $100,000 for the winner to $10,000 for the eighth-place finisher at each of four “slams” when the league launches next year.
It will distribute a total of $12.6 million in prize money in 2025.
“In a league of our own,” Grand Slam Track wrote in a post on X, opens new tab on Wednesday, with a breakdown of their prize money.
-Reuters
A record 6,000 runners, local and international from across the African continent and Nigeria have registered for the second edition of the Lotus Bank Abeokuta 10km Run slated for September 28, 2024, as the organisers, Nilayo Sports Management Limited guns for a bronze label status for the race.
The Chief Operating Officer of Nilayo Sports Management Limited, Ebidowie Oweifie, noted that the theme of this year’s edition of the Abeokuta 10km Race titled ‘For Greatness’ out is out to commemorate the birthday anniversary of the Egba paramount ruler, the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo 111, the 10km Run will flag off at Iyana Oloke at 6am and finish at The Alake Palace, Abeokuta.
Kenya’s Peter Nwaniki is the men’s race defending champion at a time of 28 minutes 14 seconds, while Shamila Kipsirir also of Kenya is the women’s defending champion.
Nigeria’s race men’s defending champion is Francis James at 31minutes 08seconds, while the women’s defending champion is Patience Daylop at 36 minutes 31 seconds.
The second edition of Abeokuta10km Race will be sponsored by Lotus Bank, FEBBS Premium Water, Fatgbems Petroleum Limited and Cash Token.
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