By Len Johnson
The drama continued at Budapest’s national athletics centre on day five of the world championships as Australia’s Nina Kennedy went clearance for clearance with world and Olympic champion Katie Moon in the pole vault, sharing the gold medal, and in an even bigger sensation Josh Kerr eclipsed...
A column by Len Johnson – Runner’s Tribe
Last weekend, 5-7 May, was one of those times when, to dip our lids to Roy Slaven and H.G.Nelson, “too much sport was barely enough.”
To recap, we had off-field shenanigans with the John Coates v Danni Roche election for the Australian Olympic...
If you’ve been paying the slightest attention to this column over the years, you have probably worked out that I’m a big fan of the annual Track & Field News rankings.
There’s lots of rankings lists going round now – imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, and all that...
Len Johnson Reporting from the World Champs, London – Runner’s Tribe
Eight years ago the world seemed to be at Dani Stevens (then Dani Samuels) feet. On a rainy night in Berlin, she handled the difficult conditions far better than her more experienced rivals to become, at 21, the youngest winner...
Kenenisa Bekele leaves us wondering as the marathon humbles one of its most prestigious challengers.
A Column By Len Johnson - Runner's Tribe
Say what you like about Kenenisa Bekele, but the man sometimes known as ‘King Kenny’ is never boring.
Bekele’s latest interesting decision saw him jump into the Dubai marathon,...
If you were seeking signs that the sporting world is getting back to pre-Covid normality, best you didn’t go looking for them at the World Athletics Relays.
We are still in the thank-heavens-there’s-something-on phase, it would seem, rather than back in full swing. Maybe the Tokyo Olympics will change that;...
It’s getting to the end of the year, that time when you start to reflect on your favourite things of the previous 12 months.
Of course, we’ve only had just short of 11 months of 2019, which is one of the perils of end-of-the-year reflection. One of my perennially favourite...
By Len Johnson - Runner's Tribe
A few days into the world championships in London a friend commented: “Four days, full stadium every session, great competition. So how come all I’m hearing about athletics is negative.”
He was right to wonder. Those few days had brought some wonderful competition, all of...
There is a Chinese curse which goes, “May you live in interesting times.”
What seems to be a blessing, in fact, drips irony, the underlying implication being that un-interesting times denote peace and tranquillity. Interesting times, by contrast, are marked by disorder and conflict.
In a similar sense, Harry Summers is...
It’s early in an Olympic year. An unknown young man breaks through at 800, running 1:45.77. A scarcely better-known young woman breaks the national record in the 100 metres, speeding down the straightaway in 11.10 seconds.
