Mike Powell's WR queried

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TOKYO 1991 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS, MIKE POWELL V CARL LEWIS - PROBABLY THE GREATEST COMPETITION IN ANY EVENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE SPORT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybEs3j_MmrA

David Powell, Athletics Correspondent in Osaka, Japan
Jeremy Wariner was thrilled, Sally McLellan ecstatic and the Japan women’s 4 x 400 metres relay team could barely contain themselves, but the most satisfied soul in the Nagai Stadium on Saturday was a short, elderly man in a dark suit. The World Championships come to this city in August and Kiyoshi Moriishi has prepared a special contribution.

Moriishi is head of research and development for the Japanese company that claims to have designed the fastest track the world has seen, one to light up the sprints in the manner of the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo and the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Out of the laboratory and tested for the first time in competition, the evidence was compelling.

In the only IAAF grand prix meeting here between the laying of the track and the World Championships, Wariner, the Olympic and world 400 metres champion from the United States, ran 44.02sec, the quickest he has run this early in a season. “I love the track,” Wariner said. “It was real fast. I cannot wait to come back for the World Championships and try to get the world record.”

McLellan broke the Australian 100 metres hurdles record, recording 12.71, a run that was the equivalent of two metres quicker than her previous best and achieved with no wind assistance. “I am in shock, I don’t know how I did it,” she said. She should have asked Moriishi.

From the stadium offices overlooking the nine-lane track, Moriishi explained that by using an unprecedented double layer – soft underneath, unyielding on top – the Oku En-Tout-Cas Ltd design would assist sprinters to go faster while sparing distance runners the injuries of which they complain when forced on to hard circuits.

Furthermore, the track comes complete with a so-called “Feel Cool” coating to reduce surface temperature. “For example, our tests show that it reduces 60 degrees surface temperature to 46,” Moriishi said. “So the track is not only fast, it prevents injury and heat exhaustion.”

Equally importantly, the track has been certified by the IAAF as being within its regulations.

[b]In 1991, when the World Championships were previously held in Japan, it was revealed after a men’s 100 metres final in which the first two home beat the world record – and four more went under ten seconds – that the track did not conform to IAAF specifications. On a hard track especially helpful to sprinters, Carl Lewis ran 9.86 and Leroy Burrell, his United States teammate, 9.88, spearheading the greatest 100 metres seen to that day. Great race, flattering times. The IAAF knew before the championships that Tokyo had flouted the specifications, but the truth was not leaked until 17 months later.

Now, after Lewis, and Mike Powell’s long jump world record on a speed-aided runway in 1991, and the 100 and 200 metres world records set by Donovan Bailey and Michael Johnson in Atlanta, all eyes will be on Asafa Powell, Liu Xiang and Wariner.[/b]

Offering further evidence of the track’s behaviour, Liu, the Olympic champion and world record-holder for the 110 metres hurdles, recorded his fastest opening time of the season here, 13.14. Powell did not compete, but as the joint 100 metres world record-holder, he will relish the coming opportunity.

Wariner drew attention to how the grain of the track runs from side to side, rather than in the direction of running, benefiting grip. “It is a minor thing, but, psychologically, it looks like you are running on a scrub board,” Clyde Hart, Wariner’s coach, said. “But the big thing that makes the track fast, other than the surface, is the radius.

“You have only got about 85 metres on the straight, so the curves are not tight, which is easier to run. The surface is excellent and they have textured it to the advantage of the runner.”

Such is the excellence of its design, Oku says, it is patenting it, having spent about £1 million on laying the new track. Maurice Greene, the former 100 metres world record-holder, used to say that there was no such thing as fast tracks, only fast athletes. Try telling that to the short, elderly man in the dark suit.

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Wow…speed aided? Come on, what a kick in the nuts for all athletes mentioned. I wonder if the sand met IAAF specs. Next they’ll blame the track spikes… “The 100m WR was done in highly advanced footwear which provided many advantages”…

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I have been saying that the tracks are now much faster than they were (faster in favour of sprints and jumps but possibly the same or tougher on distance due to a faster rebound) This shows up over the first 30m of the 100, where Ben’s 3.80, which shocked the world at the time and placed him far ahead of the field, would be routine today, along with an explosion of sub 10 performances, often by the same athletes who couldn’t approach it before, as in Tokyo - Seoul 7th placer Dennis Mitchell, 3.79.
I was ridiculed for saying it on other sites but here’s the proof.
There is, to my knowledge, no rule against it, just a hardness specification that runs from 28 to 80 (80 good for dist but terrible for sprints) Tokyo was 13 and Atlanta 11. There are plenty of other tracks around under the 28 number as well.
I suggest that if the distance runners, sans pacers at championship races, didn’t jog around for 90% of the race and kick in the last 400 or so, there would be more interest in making the tracks better for them. The meets play to what the fans want to see.

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What are 60m strips on indoor tracks? Wouln’t they want to be as hard as possible?

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Not sure what you’re referring to but the fastest indoor tracks are thick plywood with mondo on top. Mondo straight down on the concrete (as in Indianapolis) tends to slide/stretch back slightly under pressure and is therefore a bit slower.

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It suited the IAAF to have a hard track (for Tokyo 91), after seoul to try to erase the memory of Ben’s WR. We have often discussed this point here in the UK. The recent world records look comparatively soft VISUALLY when you watch Seoul and see the intensity of that race. I watch Asafa’s WR and it does n’t look like a WR.

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i am sure pakewi can shed more light on this in swimming terms but they have been helping their athletes get faster and faster for years.

drag resisted suits, improved lane ropes and gutters for a smoother surface it goes on and on…

so why cant we do the same for our sport.

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they can and do. Just as long as everyone agrees that’s what is happening.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybEs3j_MmrA

for those who looked past it, this is pretty good footage of that Tokyo LJ comp, about three jumps from Carl and also from Mike. I was blessed to be at the meet and I can tell you it was unbelievably thrilling to witness this contest - illegal track or otherwise.

And by the by, what would Ben have clocked on Tokyo’s “magic carpet” as we called in back in 91.

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Hi KitKat,

maybe the carpet wasn’t so magical.
Carl’s easing up 9.92 from ‘88 was predicted as a 9.87, and Leroy ran 9.90 on a normal New York track a few months earlier…so 9.86 and 9.88 might not be that flattering (unless Carl was in better shape in Olympic year). Also Dennis’ 9.91 was a false start so would’ve been slower.
Could it just be that the top 6 were all coincidentally at their best, which doesn’t always happen?

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off topic, but nick, what stadium is that in your picture?? i think the track had something to do with those performances. ray stewart, 9.96!!! also johnson, 20.01 into a 3 metre per second wind.

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Hi Maris,

The stadium is the great one that witnessed 9.79 and 10.54.

As for Tokyo I don’t think 9.96 was such a tough ask for Ray Stewart. He was on 9.97 form 2 years prior to Tokyo and I think MJ could have gone 19.7 in '91 too.

Tell me what you think.

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I dunno. The other thing to consider with Lewis is that he got a poor start for that 9.86. Linford ran a pb too, only the second time he broke 10 I believe. I’m not sure, but I do remember hearing things about that track years ago. The performances were outstanding no doubt, because things such as track surfaces, supplements etc I believe only contribute minimally to success, but I guess in this sport you are only after performance gains of a fraction of a percent. Not toally sure what my point is ha! Guess though we’ll never know what those performances would look like in exactly the same conditions on a different surface.