Maybe Rebecca Wilson would prefer to see a hundred-year woman wheelchair bound or bed ridden with a catheter to prevent her from wetting her bed. This is the realistic scenario for many of the elderly. The human body starts to degenerate after the age of 30. Masters level sport is a great stimulus in maintaining and limiting degeneration.
By the sound of the vile written by Ms Wilson, I say she has degeneration of her own. First being in the frontal lobe!!
aGE GROUPS SHOULD HAVE at least qulifying times , so that the best of the crop gies there.Looking at some masters here in italy, I agree on the crap part.
It is good to have old people playing sports, but the problem underlined by the journalist is that maybe there should be more coverege for “absolute” sports, and partecipation to those games should be earned, not paid.
A lot of the masters athletes are in fantastic shape. I’m sure in better shape than the girl writing the article! I know cause I’ve worked with some of them. In fact, people are interested in why some people make it to 100 whether they do anything or not.
If she doesn’t like it, that’s fine, but the masters athletes themselves really don’t give a shit whether she does or not.
The masters are self funded so they take nothing away from the young guys and often help.
One of the guys I work with helped lots of people in track, providing scholarship funding for WR holder Mike Powell when he was at his first college and opening his house in California for training camps - including for Daley Thompson I might add.
There is an element of truth to what she says. Some of the athletes were crap when they were young and some still are, but does it really matter? 
They are enjoying themselves and while there are some who are in poor physical shape those who compete at a decent level will be regularly competing and in much better condition than their peers. I’m all for anything that gets people physically active. The results aren’t that bad either one quick example
Men 100 Meter Dash 45-49 Finals
(w: 0.8) 1, Ballard, Robert, Australia, 11.29.
2, Provo Jnr, D. Lee, Canada, 11.33.
3, Francois, Andre, Canada, 11.33.
4, Jones, steve, Australia, 11.73.
5, Isackson, Dave, Australia, 11.77.
6, Merriweather, Eric, United State, 11.78.
7, Blakemore, Damon, United State, 11.97.
8, Kountze, Michael, United State, 12.07.
9, Campbell, Marty, Australia, 12.12.
I had a look at the list of sports and they were actually not bad, at least they involved physical activity, better than some of the crap on offer at the NZ ones that include things like
Wine offerings? , Scrabble, Poker, Line Dancing, Fishing, Euchre, Darts, Cue Sports & Bridge.
Worded differently, I think this would be a decent article.
For example, I suck yet I could fairly easily make 60m or 100m finals at USATF Masters Nationals. That is sad. Well maybe I’ll take a shot then walk around calling myself the 8th fastest 30-35 yr old in the USA 
It’s like at the carnival…play till you win (aka run until all the competition leaves).
Sorry but i must disagree here - you say that you suck but would make certain Masters finals!
Well then OBVIOUSLY you don’t suck do you???
The mere fact that probably about 98% of people above 30 couldn’t even make it to the finish of a 100m race says it all really.
Whether there is more exposure for this event than others has probably more to do with money (i don’t reallly care).
Older people keeping active and healthy must be applauded at ALL times.
I just don’t see the point of Rebecca Wilson’s stupid article (haven’t seen much of anything come from her that has any merit).
It’s just that there is an incredible dropoff in competition performance and participation numbers. You can be the real national champ at 30 and run 9.69 or the masters national champ at 30 and run 10.69. It’s just not competitive.
It’s like being softball team champ at your company picnic. Show up and beat one or two competitors now you’re the champ. It’s totally opposite to “open” track where it’s you against the entire world. Masters track is you against .00001% of the world.
Track is great because it’s so incredibly difficult. To me, masters competition is the equivalent of going to Australia and beating Asafa off a 15m handicap and claiming you’re the best.
Run 11.10 at 29 and you’re ranked #20,000 in the world. Run 11.10 at 30 and you’re ranked #20? Come on now.
Instead of Monday Night football this week they will be televising my 25 and over flag football game.
I agree about the sudden dropoff - Masters once was for over 40’s which i personally think would be better. My main beef was about the bagging of much older people i guess. I like seeing an 80 or 90yo actually running. I also hate looking at fat people of any age who look like they can hardly move!!
The lack of exposure in the media for “open” age athletics is really nothing to do with a Masters tournament.
Is this the same Robert Ballard who helped the Aussies to a 6th place in the Seoul Olympics with his lead-off leg in the 4x4?
This is not about elite sport.
Masters sports whilst competitive and I am sure many athletes take the sport seriously. Is really about maintaining function and health.
Go down to your local food court or fast food outlet and see the morbidly obese, I am sure sport would only be beneficial for the majority of population >30yo.
Yes, Ballard ran 4x4 at the Seoul Olympics. He ran to his best. He was better known as a competitor on the handicaps prizemoney circuit in Australia. He was extremely successful over many years.
I think Wilosn’s beef is she thinks Olympians or sports champions at the peak of their lifetime ability weren’t getting a fraction of the coverage that some of the masters games competitors were receiving in the media.
I could care less, but my enduring memory of a conversation with one world masters champion over 400m (some years ago) was that he genuinely couldn’t understand why he was not being funded by the government as an elite athlete because “afterall, I am the world record-holder”. I was confused, I said, because all along here I was mired in my ignorance thinking that Michael Johnson was the world recordholder. More fool, me for even entertaining discussion.
that person is a dick then.
Stormbikes, I agree 40 is more appropriate and I see IAAF recently changed the rule for Masters non stadium events to that but for some reason left T&F at 35
Mortac, you can only race against who shows up.
i dont know how many races i go in, or used to go in, where its never a full blown field here.
Under 19’s at state level is normally a run as a straight final
Even opens was like just semi’s then final, bar a few events being straight final.
2 yrs ago, at the age of 31, i could even do a Pan Pacific Masters game! I went just for the fun of it. I wouldn’t say there was less competition, nor more. Some events there were heats, others straight final. Naturally, they are slower than Opens at a state level (a lot less training involved also) but the volume of competitors was the same.
I think i ran with just a couple of months of half assed training under my belt - something i wouldn’t even consider doing in a Opens race.
In the USA sub-masters track starts @ 30 and masters @ 40 years of age, I have been running both for 30 years now. I have been to both outdoor and indoor nationals and have made finals (my goal), I have run against not only the best master’s sprinters in the US but former Olympians, it has been a pleasure. Some masters athletes as posted take the sport very seriously, perhaps some take PED, why I don’t know, however, personally I enjoy being extremely healthy @ 63 years of age, am proud to run the 400 in sub 63, and love during summer meets when I beat some of the younger guys, hopefully we masters can be an inspiration for young adults to keep fit, it’s not about winning anymore, it’s about being healthy, running against yourself and the clock, that’s one thing that makes track so great. I love to train, perhaps more than the competition itself, knowing that I just completed 2x 320m in 20 degree conditions and no one else is out there, crazy?, probably, until I went to my 45th class reunion and thought I entered a nursing home by mistake. Sorry for the long post but masters track has probably saved my life and I’ll never forget, Indoor Nationals @ Boston a few years back when a 100 year old man ran the 60m and brought the house down with his performance, now that is my goal, 
I can understand why the woman who wrote the article did so. I doubt she really has anything against Masters athletics, but she did a wise journalistic thing by taking an oppositional stance to all the fawning coverage of old geezers that is apparently going on right now in Australia. It’s a good way to differentiate yourself as a journalist.
That being said, I’m sure this journalist would take a job writing the society page or covering celebrity goings-on, which add zero value to society and suck up valuable space in newspapers. Is it really that bad of a thing to have some positive coverage of an event in the media?
I am very open about my textbook Masters hack athlete status. I am 35 and ran 12.49 and 25.15 this year. Nothing special!
I started running at 33 because I didn’t know anything about masters athletics and didn’t know that I could find a good coach that would take me on. Needless to say, I was a shambles when I turned up for my first practice. No strength, no co-ordination, a complete disaster.
Since that time, I have improved enough that I can whip all my friends asses who used to be faster than me bad enough that they won’t be challenging me to races anytime soon.
Beyond the obvious health benefits that running track offers, my overall mood has improved, and I am able to give back a little bit as I teach and can now run a pretty good elementary school track program, so lots of other people benefit as well.
I think people should be very careful about dismissing the performances of masters athletes. The Scotiabank Marathon exploded in popularity after Ed Whitlock ran his 2:54 at age 74- he generated an enormous amount of publicity for his incredible feat, and he was not running 2:06. Just check the number of entrants in that race since then. There is an incredible power to inspire people when you are an older fit athlete- and on a smaller scale, even when you’re not all that spectacular!
I went to visit a couple of friends in Texas, and I naturally wanted to squeeze in a meet while there. I ran in the Rice University all-comers meets on a Friday night. It was packed with tons of really friendly high school kids, many of whom had to travel for two or more hours on Houston’s sub-par public transit system. My two friends were watching, and I got waxed in the 100m, as I was stuck in a heat with guys running 10.8x!
My overweight and unhealthy friend who was watching ended up taking up running and weightlifting after seeing me get my ass kicked and still enjoying it just for the process of improving against my own previous performances, and not focusing on the plethora of 10.8x runners who handed me my ass. I have improved 4/10ths since then, and more importantly, he might not die of a heart attack at 50 like his father did.
I played lots of sports growing up, but in all honesty, there is nothing like being able to walk up to your childhood hero (Ben, of course) and ask for advice on your start. (“Move your blocks up four inches.” Thanks Ben, a major improvement!)
Now of course there are masters athletes who overly identify with their masters athletic rank, but so what? For most, including most of the elite masters athletes I’ve met it’s mostly about staying fit, having a good time, and then competing.
One guy’s a dick but most happily pay their way. It only becomes an issue when a sub group starts getting the exact same money for less competitive pursuits. A card for top 8 in world in Canada is a little easier when there are 6 people in your event. You know where this conversation will go next so I’l bail now!!
haha, a home town hero where i grew up - became so when he scored a Bronze at the Commonwealth games in Boxing. The thing is, he only beat ONE guy at the games!
Masters, or when I was a junior athlete, was called veterans and it was 45 for men and 40 for women. In Australia now it is 30!!! I retired from open athletics at 33.
Have to think the 40+ is masters. Even now you have some open athletes competing until late 30’s so I think there is argument to make it 45.
I would probably be considered a crap athlete, but I don’t care.
My brother, i think he just turned 39, 38 at youngest, just completed the Coolangatta Gold iron man race. Its a 4-5HR life saving race. (like a triathlon, but with paddle boards and ski’s also) He competed in the opens race. Mind you, had he been in the 30 - 39yrs age group, he would have been competitive.
Then again, the guy who came 2nd overall, he too was 39!