2009 Salute to Women in Sports

Other WomenTalkSports posts of “Best of ‘09″:

• From Because I Played Sports, Best of ‘09: Forming a community, WomenTalkSports.com

• From One Sport Voice, The “Best” of 2009 and the State of Girls & Women in Sports

• From WakeGirls.com, Best of ‘09 – A Year for Women in Wake

USA Track & Field rings the NASDAQ Closing Bell

What do the stock market and athletics have to do with one another?

Usually not too much but today, Olympians from the USA Track & Field team including Allyson Felix (Olympic gold medalist and 3 time World Champion sprinter), Chelsea Johnson (2009 silver medalist in the pole vault) and Trey Hardee (Olympian and 2009 World Champion decathlete) presided over the NASDAQ closing bell.

With the New York Marathon taking place this weekend, it’s fitting that these track & field athletes were asked to participate in the closing ceremony. Allyson, as an ambassador for the sport of track & field, thanked the business community for supporting Olympic athletes and helping to make their dreams possible.

So, how did the market fare? Closed this afternoon in the red – down about 2 points. Maybe the markets should get some advice from today’s guests about winning.

UPDATE: An athlete who refuses to act her age

Just because you grow up doesn’t mean you have to give up sports.  Next weekend the 2009 World Masters Games kick off in Sydney (for those that don’t know, that’s a comp  for athletes 40 years of age and older.)

One  athlete preparing for the Games is truly in a class by herself.  Aussie Ruth Frith trains with weights three days a week and will compete in the hammer, shotput, javelin, discus and weights events.  It’s a pretty sure bet  she will win gold because she is the only one in her age bracket. She is 100 years old!

Frith is a great grandmother of 11 who remains young at heart because she refuses to let go of her dream. This wonderful article about the Super Granny explains how she came to compete:

Most sports lovers talk of ending their playing days and moving into administration.

For Ruth, it was the other way around.

“I was always involved as an athletics official or referee but I became tired of hearing, ‘leave the bags with Ruth’,” she related.

“I decided I’d get out on the field, not sit in the grandstand.”

She was already 74 when she contested her first World Masters Athletics Championships in Puerto Rico in 1983 and has not looked back.

Prepping for the upcoming Masters, Frith plans to compete in five events. Holder of five athletics world records in the 95-99 years category (let’s be honest, she was the only competitor in her age group), the great-grandmother has participated in the Games for 25 years, exemplifying the age-is-no-barrier ethos that makes the Masters so special.

Frith says she feels like she is in her 60s and inspires anyone who might think they have picked up a bat, a football or a tennis racquet for the last time to reconsider.

This year, the 100-104 age group may be the toughest division for competitive athletes so we’re looking for Ruthie to kick some serious butt. You go, girl.

Be sure to check out this video interview:

UPDATE: All eyes were on Ruth Frith as she arrived for day two of the World Masters Games, hoping to win gold in the shot put and feeling pretty confident as she was the only competitor in the over-100s category.

But her 4.07 metre (13 ft 4.2 in) throw on Sunday didn’t just win her gold, it also broke a world record! You go, girl!

Richards and Isinbayeva share jackpot winnings

American sprinter Sanya Richards, Russian pole vaulter Jelena Isinbayeva and Ethiopian long distance runner Kenenanisa Bekele shared the one million dollar jackpot on offer at the Golden League series after winning their respective events in the final round of six meetings held this weekend in Brussels Belgium.

The jackpot is shared by athletes who manage to win the same events at all six Golden League meets in one season.

World record holder Jelena Isinbayeva failed at breaking her own world record of 5.07 metres, but as she cleared 4.70 with her first jump, she won the competition and her share of the purse.

Sanya Richards dominated the one lap distance by recording a time of 48.83 seconds to win the women’s 400m race – as she has in all five previous Golden League meets this season – and became the first athlete to be assured at least a share of the jackpot.

Coming into the season Richards hadn’t won a world championship or Olympic title so her challenge was immense. Not only did she win a share of the golden jackpot but she also won gold at the world championships last month in Berlin.

Neither Richards or Isinbayeva, who are $333,333 richer, are newcomers to the Jackpot chase. For Richards it was her third six-for-six Jackpot season after sharing the prize pie in 2006 and 2007, and for Isinbayeva her second, after she split the pot with Richards two years ago.

Season Recap

Stop #1 – Berlin’s ISTAF

Isinbayeva got her Golden League season off to a solid start, making her season’s debut with a 4.83m clearance, a world lead and an easy victory. Richards was more impressive, with an overwhelming 49.57 win, more than a second-and-a-half ahead of the runner-up.

Stop #2 Oslo’s ExxonMobil Bislett Games

After winning the notoriously difficult U.S. title in Eugene, Richards didn’t skip a beat when the series resumed in Oslo on 3 July. Facing the strongest field yet assembled this season, and despite a long rain delay, the American produced a 49.23 run, the fourth fastest of her career and her quickest since setting the US record at the 2006 IAAF World Cup in Athens.

Isinbayeva meanwhile suffered a minor scare. In a competition heavily affected by the massive rainstorm that romped through the Norwegian capital, the Russian did just enough to take the victory, winning on the countback from Monica Pyrek at 4.71m.

Stop #3 – Rome’s Golden Gala

Isinbayeva’s victory was a straightforward one, as her opening height of 4.75m would have sufficed. She went on to raise her own world lead to 4.85m before bowing out at 4.95m. Richards meanwhile continued to impress, winning by a massive 0.85 seconds in 49.46.

Stop #4 – Paris and the Stade de France

Isinbayeva’s event was most severely hampered by the weather, with her first and only jump of 4.65m securing the victory. As in Oslo, the rain did little to affect Richards who sped to the finish in 49.34 win, this time more than a second clear of the runner-up. Among the fans at the Stade de France was her fiancé and NFL star Aaron Ross, who watched her compete outside the USA for the first time.

After Paris, the athletes  took a break for the World championships and again made headlines.

For Isinbayeva, it wasn’t quite the sort of news she was hoping to make. In one of the more dramatic moments of the championships, Isinbayeva failed to clear a height – she later admitted to complacency getting the better of her – resulting in one of the biggest implosions in nine thrilling days of competition at the Olympic Stadium

Stop #5 -  Zurich

Eleven days later, Isinbayeva matched her Berlin low with yet another unprecedented high when the series resumed with the Weltklasse in Zurich. With a vault as confident as it was elegant, the Russian scaled 5.06m on her first try to notch the 27th World record of her career.

Although she didn’t enter the record books,  Richards produced 2009 world leads in her Berlin follow-up.  She  dipped under the 49-second barrier for the third time in her career, reaching the finish line in 48.94 and winning  by nearly a second.

Stop #6 Brussels and the Memorial Van Damme

Neither woman faced much opposition before collecting their over-sized paychecks in a ceremony that drew the final curtain on the Golden League’s 12 year run. Typically, Isinbayeva started just where her competitors had ended and Richards ran her second fastest performance ever and won by more than a second-and-a-half.

With their gold bars in hand, each is planning something special with at least a part of their winnings. Isinbayeva will again provide gifts for an orphanage in her native Vologograd, Bekele will give some to a development fund in Addis Ababa. Richards, who is getting married this winter, is going to splurge and use some of her winnings to create a dream wedding.

Video: Tribute to IAAF World Champion Women

The athletes have left Berlin – some with medals and some with heartache – but all with the sense of pride that comes from representing their countries. World records were broken,  personal bests were recorded and fans got to see elite competition between the very best track and field athletes in the world.

Some of the many highlights include:

Allyson Felix scored a hat trick by winning her 3rd World Championship in the 200m.

Brittney Reese became the third American woman in the history of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics to win the Long Jump title.

After a string of misses, Sanya Richards won her first 400m global title.

Jamaican Shelley-Ann Fraser confirmed her Olympic title winning form by adding the world 100m gold in a faster time than Beijing.

Blanka Vlasic of Croatia became the IAAF World Champion in women’s High Jump for the second time.

Oh, and in a nod to the guys, let’s not forget Usain Bolt’s two smoking hot world records.

Check out his video tribute to the Wonderful Women of the 12th IAAF World Championships:

The Greatest American 1500m Race Ever

For those of you who tuned in to the Prefontaine Classic on Sunday on NBC, you may have witnessed the best American 1500m race of all time if you caught the women’s race towards the beginning of the coverage.  For those of you who missed it, lucky for you the video of the race is below.  

Colorado senior Jenny Barringer ran a 62-second last lap and nearly caught the leader, Gelete Burka, while dipping under the 4-minute barrier for a jaw-dropping finish time of 3:59.90.  This marked the first time since 2002 that an American woman broke the 4-minute barrier.

And that’s not all.  Just behind her, fellow American Olympian steeplechaser Anna Willard finished 4th in 4:01.44, 1500m Olympian Christin Wurth-Thomas 5th in 4:01.72, and 1500m Olympian Shannon Rowbury 6th in 4:03.92.  All times except for Rowbury’s were huge PR’s, and all times put these women at the top of the 2009 world leaders list.  There has never been such a strong contingent of 1500m runners from the US as there appears to be this season.  Any one of these women could medal at the World Champs in Berlin in August, and maybe more than one.

No Teammates, No Problem

This story has been reported quite a bit the last couple days – and for good reason. It demonstrates the power of one.

Bonnie Richardson, from Rochelle, Texas (population 600), has accomplished what no other Texas high school track and field athlete has ever achieved: back-to-back team state championships – by herself.

The story of how tiny Rochelle High School — enrollment: 59 — won the Texas Class A girls team track championship last weekend sounds too good to be true.

For one thing, it was the Rochelle Hornets’ second straight title. For another, the only member of the team both years was Bonnie Richardson.

She successfully defended the school’s state title by outscoring 56 other schools.Her coach was interviewed for an AP article:

“I coached eight years, was blessed to have her for half of those and I doubt I’ll ever see anyone like her again,” said Jym Dennis, who also teaches history at Rochelle.

“But I’ve got to be honest,” he added a moment later. “You don’t start the year with one girl on the team and think, ‘Sure, we can defend our title.’”

Richardson is a tall, freckle-faced 19-year-old who is also the Class A, Division II high school basketball player of the year, valedictorian, National Honor Society member, and the McCulloch County Chamber of Commerce’s “Citizen of the Year.”

At this year’s championship, Richardson captured first in the long jump (17-04.50), second in the discus (126-09) and first in the high jump (5-8) on Friday for a total of 28 points. Returning to Myers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas on Saturday, Richardson placed third in the 200 (25.78) and fourth in the 100 (12.51) .

Richardson personally won the team championship, compiling 38 points in her five events.

In winning an outright team track title by herself, Richardson joins James Segrest who won the 2A title for Bangs in 1954 and Frank Pollard who won the Class B title for Meridian in 1976 as the only Texans to win a team title by themselves.

That Richardson won the team title was a testament to her physical talent and internal drive. Her mother, Madelynn, who teaches science at Rochelle, said Bonnie has the most self-discipline she has ever seen.

The youngest of three girls, Bonnie grew up like her sisters, a tomboy in Texas Hill Country, riding horses, climbing rocks and building forts. From the family ranch, it’s 2 1/2 hours to the big city — San Angelo or Abilene — and a 45-minute drive just to see a movie.

Since Rochelle High School has no track, Richardson practices at nearby Brady High School. There she gets to experience the “big” city where there are gas stations and a Wal-Mart.

When Richardson ramped up her performance this season, the college recruiters followed. The call Bonnie wanted most finally came from coach Pat Henry at Texas A&M, where her father, sister and several other family members went to school. She’ll be heading to A&M on full scholarship in the fall planning to major in nutrition.

After two state titles, Richardson does have one regret.

“I wish I hadn’t stuck with the same five events, that I had branched out more,” she said. “I would’ve [liked to] have vaulted, but we don’t have the money or interest in Rochelle to have a pit. I’ve never done hurdles, and I want to.”

What? No relays?

(with info from ESPN, Rivals, & Rise)

Live Blogging from the Reebok Grand Prix Saturday, May 30 4:30pm ET

Women Talk Sports contributing editor Lesley Higgins will be live-blogging from the Reebok Grand Prix in NY.

I will be live-blogging (below) from the Reebok Grand Prix at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island, NY, on Saturday, May 30, starting at 4:30pm Eastern!

Here are just a handful of highlights from the meet, which has attracted the world’s top Track & Field athletes:

Discus: Beijing Olympic Champion Stephanie Brown-Trafton will take on American record holder Suzy Powell-Roos and 3-time Olympian Aretha Thurmond.

Pole Vault: Former World Record holder, 2000 Olympic Gold Medallist and Pole Vault Pioneer Stacy Dragila will challenge 2008 Olympic Silver Medallist and current American Record Holder Jenn Stuczynski.

100m: This loaded field includes:

• 2004 and 2008 200m Olympic champ Veronica Campbell-Brown (JAM)
• 2008 US Olympian Marshevet Hooker (200m)
• 2005 World Champ Lauryn Williams (USA)
• 2008 US Olympic Trials Champ Muna Lee
• 2003 World Champ and 2008 Olympian Torri Edwards (USA)
• 2007 World Bronze Medallist Carmelita Jeter (USA)

1500m: 3-time US Champ Treniere Clement (@supachica) will run her first 1500m of the 2009 season. Other top talent includes Lindsey Gallo (@runlinz), who is having a great season under a new coach, Beijing Olympian Christin Wurth-Thomas, nine-time NCAA Champ Sally Kipyego, and Ethiopia’s Mestawot Tadesse.

400m: Allyson Felix (@allysonfelix) headlines the field but may have her hands full with Jamaica’s Novlene Williams-Mills, who beat Sanya Richards in the 400m at Kingston in April. Also in the field is Natasha Hastings (@natashahastings), who dominated the field at the Adidas Track Classic a couple weeks ago.

5000m: Olympic Champ and World Record Holder Tirunesh Dibaba will be hard to beat. Kim Smith of New Zealand ran a PR of 14:39 indoors this season (although Dibaba has run 14:11) and Kenya’s Linet Masai was 2nd in the 2009 World Cross-Country Championships.

Tune in and watch my live updates below starting at 4:30pm ET! I will be letting you know all about the action on the track and in the stands as the meet goes on. You can also catch the live TV coverage of the meet from 4:30pm-6pm ET on NBC. You can find the meet schedule HERE.

Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva wins second Laureus award

Following her sensational gold medal winning performance in the Beijing Olympics, Russian pole vaulter and Olympic gold medallist Yelena Isinbayeva won her second Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year award Wednesday.

Isinbayeva received the award from Laureus academy members Sir Bobby Charlton, the former Manchester United player, former France international Marcel Desailly and Italian skiing champion Alberto Tomba at a ceremony in Rome.

She was selected by the 46-member jury of the academy, which unites the world’s greatest sportsmen and women.

Not only is it Isinbayeva’s second Laureus Award – she also won in 2007 – but it is the fifth straight year that the Russian pole vault super star has been nominated.

Isinbayeva has dominated women’s pole vaulting for the last five years, and is the defending Olympic and world champion. She set a world record of 5.05 meters at the Beijing Olympics, and has improved the world record 24 times.  She has nine major championship career victories,  included Olympic, World outdoor and indoor and European outdoor and indoor titles.

“It is a great honour for me,” said the 26-year-old athlete, who won also won in 2007. “This is what I train for.”

The winners of this year’s Laureus Awards – often called the “Oscars” of the sports world – are receiving their prizes individually at a series of presentations in May and June after the usual televised ceremony was scrapped because of the global economic crisis.

Other nominees for Sportswomen of the Year this year included Tirunesh Dibaba, Stephanie Rice, Lorena Ochoa , Venus Williams , Lindsey Vonn .

The Laureus Foundation addresses social challenges through a worldwide program of sports related community development initiatives. Since its inception Laureus has raised €20 million for projects which have helped improve the lives of more than one million young people.

Live Blogging from the adidas Track Classic Saturday, May 16 4pm-7pm PT

(Ed. Note: WomenTalkSports.com co-founder and steeplechaser Ann Gaffigan will be at the Home Depot Center today using some cool new technology to live blog from the adidas Track Classic.  Followers can comment, interact, and get lots of behind-the-scenes commentary so if you’re a T&F fan, don’t miss this coverage).

I will be live-blogging (below) from the adidas Track Classic at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA, TODAY (Saturday, May 16) from 4pm-7pm Pacific!

This meet is stuffed full with great competition.

There are three women’s American Records that have a good chance of getting broken:

1) Beijing Silver Medalist Jenn Stucynski’s 4.92m (16′ 1 3/4″) AR in the Pole Vault, which she may break herself.

2) Beijing Bronze Medalist (10,000m) Shalane Flanagan’s 14:44.80 AR in the 5000m, which she could break herself, provided it is not too hot in Carson at race time (6:32 PM).

3) Colorado Senior Jenny Barringer’s 9:22.26 AR in the 3000m Steeplechase, which Anna Willard could threaten if she is pushed by Lindsey Anderson.

No less exciting than the possibility of records being broken is the head-to-head competition between star athletes:

1) Allyson Felix vs. Sanya Richards in the 200m: Watch Olympian Dee Dee Trotter preview this “hot event” and talk about the competitive rivalry between these two world-class athletes: http://vimeo.com/4654474

2) The 100m: This race is stocked with Olympians. Beijing 4th, 5th and 8th-placers Lauryn Williams, Muna Lee and Torri Edwards, respectively will be joined by Carmelita Jeter, who has run 10.96 this year, ranking her #2 in the world this year behind only Kerron Stewart of Jamaica. Look for Williams to avenge her disappointment at the Olympics and challenge Jeter, with possible surprises from Lee, Edwards and Marshevet Hooker.

3) The Steeplechase: Anna Willard has been dominating 1-mile races so far this season, defeating Shalane Flanagan in the B.A.A. Mile last month. Unlike Anderson, who has steepled twice this season (her best time so far being 9:35.30 at Mt. SAC in April), Willard will be debuting today. Both athletes have been looking very strong, so this will be one of the most exciting races to watch and the winner may threaten the American Record (see #3 above).

Tune in and watch my live updates below starting at 4pm PT! I will be posting polls and letting you all about the action on the track and in the stands as the meet goes on. You can also catch two hours of live coverage of the meet from 5pm-7pm PST on ESPN2. See the meet schedule below the live blog window below.

Meet Schedule: (all times PST)

Gender	Event	Time
Men’s	Discus	3:45pm
Women’s	100m (B Race)	4:20pm
Men’s	100m (B Race)	4:30pm
Women’s	800m	4:45pm
Men’s	400m Hurdles	5:02pm
Men’s	Long Jump	5:05pm
Women’s	400m	5:10pm
Women’s	1500m	5:15pm
Women’s	100m Hurdles	5:25pm
Men’s	110m Hurdles	5:38pm
Women’s	Pole Vault	5:45pm
Women’s	100m	5:50pm
	Fastest 5-yr-olds	5:55pm
Women’s	Triple Jump	6:00pm
Men’s	100m	6:00pm
Men’s	1500m	6:10pm
Men’s	200m	6:20pm
Women’s	200m	6:25pm
Women’s	5000m	6:32pm
Men’s	400m	6:53pm
Women’s	3000m Steeplechase	7:10pm
Men’s	5000m	7:25pm

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