Nationals: A Column By Len Johnson

As I write this, the US national championships are being held. The venue is Drake Stadium at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, also the venue for the eponymous Drake Relays.

In the international calendar, this weekend and this period of the year are set aside for national championships. Jamaica, Kenya and the UK are among other notable ones  on at the same time.

What’s surprising, particularly in the case of the US and Jamaica, is the number of star athletes who are not running their national titles. Tyson Gay, who is “not injured but not totally healthy” either, and Chris Solinsky, the first non-African to run sub-27 minutes for 10,000 metres and the first to run both sub-27 and sub-13 for 5000, are among the major no-shows at the US champs. Other big names are not doing their favoured events.

Usain Bolt, nursing a sore achilles tendon, heads a list of major names not competing in Jamaica (Asafa Powell, the only one of the big three of men’s sprinting currently going round, is running).

Of course, 2010 is not a major championships year. There is no world or Olympic title for the Americans to chase, and only the second-tier European championships, African championships and Commonwealth Games for the British, African and Caribbean nations. Not surprisingly, some of the missing big names are citing the “no major championships” excuse.

No doubt many of the excuses offered by and for the missing athletes are genuine, but it is a sad thing that fewer athletes these days see a national title as something to be cherished for its intrinsic worth.

Asafa Powell apparently does. Another whose attitude to her national championships is exemplary is US hurdler Lolo Jones.

"To win a national title, to be a U.S. champion, that means a lot," Jones told USA Today for a championships preview.

It means even more this year to Jones, who grew up in Des Moines and will have a lot of friends and family at Drake Stadium. "I would have never imagined the U.S. nationals would be here," Jones said. "It's a dream come true for me."

More than a dream, a title _ school, state, national, world or Olympic _ is also a tangible achievement. Winning one demands an ability to perform against all-comers on a nominated day.

When Galen Rupp was looking for a chance to break the US national record for 10,000 metres _ the record which ultimately went to Solinsky with his historic 26:59.60 _ he virtually went race shopping to get the best conditions. When he won his national title in Des Moines on Thursday night, he had to take the conditions and the competition as he found them. It’s not unknown for record-chasers to keep dangerous opponents out of the field on the international circuit; at a championship, you compete against whoever’s there.

I remember an Australian championships back in the 1990s when Alison Inverarity, one of Australia’s most consistent performers at the time, happened to express some reluctance at being there after she won the high jump with what was, for her, a sub-par performance. Unfortunately for Alison, it was also a slow news day, and Nic Bideau _ then in his journalist days _ and I jumped all over the story, taking her to task.

Inverarity’s remarks might have been manna for a couple of journos looking for a story, but the implications behind them resonated back then and still do now. Championships are what mark an athlete and they become the benchmarks of their career. It is a truism that records are made to be broken, but medals are forever.

It is relatively easy to find the winner of a championship _ be it Olympic, world, European, Commonwealth or national. Any number of sources carry the full lists. Finding record progressions is a much more difficult thing. I went looking for Australian records progressions a little while back _ I never found a full set, I had to construct one.

Rod Mackinney was the first Australian to break two hours 20 minutes for the marathon. He did it at Fukuoka in 1966. That feat, though significant, is not recorded anywhere on Athletics Australia’s website; the fact that Rod ran second and third in two Australian marathon championships is.

The ability to win at a lower championship level is also a far more reliable predictor of performance at a higher level than anything else. It indicates ambition, as well as talent.

I’m by no means suggesting that any of the big names missing various national championships around the world for various reasons are not outstanding athletes. Just that those missing stars, and those of us who follow the sport, would be wise not to ignore those who are taking part _ and win.