my understanding is that PJ was a 400m specialist for his first few years of competitive athletics.
can anyone confirm this??
i dont think so, as he ran at the national uni champs in a pair of borrowed spikes. won it, was spotted by esa there, and began training from there. ran at open nationals that season and got a place in the 200 (not sure about the 100 though). That would have been in 96-97 from memory
zhanna block’s legs are bigger than chambers…lol
I’m familiar with that story, but I’m pretty sure that the first time I read about him he was described as a 400m runner. I also seem to remember being interested that he had made the switch to 100m.
I’ll go and sift through my old mags and see if I can find something…
i think you will find he went from touch footy to the nationals won the 100m as esa was looking on and got him to stay in track as the canberra raiders were coming strong with a contract to play league.
Sanya Richards US Champs 2006 wins 400m
Marion wins 2006 US 100m title
Justin Gatlin wins 2006 US 100m title
Marion Jones wins the 2006 US 100 title
GATLIN in prelimary 100m action 2006 US title
US men’s 100m Final 2006
AIR GATLIN
A great set of shots from the USATF Champs. Have a look at the relaxation and especially the height off the track shown in the photo of Justin 3 from the bottom.
In the pictures especially of top-sprinters like Jones Gat and Powell I see hardly any dorsiflexion, so it really must not be neccessary?
The question is not is it necessary but where in the stride cycle (if at all) is it? Note all have the big toe pointing upwards on ground contact.
So instead of dorsiflexing the whole foot, I should only have my big toe dorsiflexed?
Also how do I know when to run with open hands or with closed because all sprinters seem to alternate from race to race? I play football so should I run with them closed or open?
I think you are overanalysing things. You don’t necessarily need to dorsiflex the foot all the way through the gait cycle (running cyclic action) but it makes sense to have the foot dorsiflexed on ground contact (big toes pulled up as Charlie discribes it). As for the hands, well its a matter of personal preference. As far as i’m concerned so long as you can stay relaxed and the thumbs are facing upwards you should be fine.
More info on this is availible in the Charlie Francis Training System Ebook and the Van’02 DVD from the store or just search through the forum for the term “dorsiflex” and looking for posts by Charlie etc.
Lol Ok im confused, That was what I meant , I didnt mean through the whole cycle.
When you say you have to have the big toe pulled up for ground contact I thought you actually meant the big toe up instead flexing the ankle up. I looked it up but I’m still confused , so in preparation for ground contact should I have my big toe pulled up or the whole ankle?
Because in the images of the sprinters their ankles look like their in neutral and not dorsiflexed up before they hit the ground.