Greetings, all Roger Kingdom's 13.79 Wednesday night in the 110 highs was sensational. But it could be leveraged into something much bigger -- to USATF and track's advantage.
Send him a ticket to the Trials. To compete if a lane is available. Almost 42, he's probably the oldest sprinter/hurdler type in memory to make a provisional "B" standard mark for the OT. I don't agree that he deserves special dispensation (a waiver) to gain entry into the Field of 32. But here's a way to treat him fairly, and provide the Media Maw in Sacto a feel-good story in this Age of Balco. Let the top 40 hurdlers on the Status of Entry list come to Sacramento. And if a lane is free, let them occupy it in the order of best time. At the moment (6:30 p.m. Pacific time 6/24/04), Roger's 13.79 is No. 36 on the list. Some 25 have made the 13.55 "A" standard. So unless others dip under 13.55, the field can include seven from the sub-14.00, or "provisonal," ranks. So if just four hurdlers ahead of him are DNS, Roger can jump in a lane and make American track history. And if he can rehab his hammie and groin by mid-July, maybe he'll make the semis. And after that, all bets are off. He might sneak into the finals! Roger has done what no other M40 American athlete in a nonfield event appears to have done -- made a comeback to the national open/elite top class. (M40 Troy Douglas in Holland may be on the Dutch Olympic team, and Merlene Ottey hopes to make it with Slovenia in her late 40s. Al Oerter threw 220-plus before the 1980 Trials while in his 40s.) Edwin Moses couldn't do it (despite his big Paris announcement last August). Mike Powell is falling short. Al Joyner put his name in, but has yet to submit a verifiable mark. In 2001, after his old-man appearance at the Sacto Trials in the 800, Johnny Gray wrote me: "My goal as a masters runner (is) first to bring more attention to (the)sport for masters. I also plan on breaking records in the 200m to the mile." Well, Gray never showed up. Roger did. He deserves credit -- and a little appreciation from USATF for providing a POSITIVE story amid a Trials with tremendous negative pre-meet spin. Ken Stone http://www.masterstrack.com
