In the 2003 WC Paris he finished QF2 6th 10.27(+0.7). Given that the world championships was won in 10.07, 10.08, 10.08 ( Collins, Brown, Campbell), if PJ held his form he would of been challenging for a medal.
In retrospect maybe PJ over raced that season and was on the way down at WC. On 11 occasions he run inside 10.20. Add up the preliminary rounds that probably equates to 20 races before worlds.
Was his CNS well and truly overloaded by the time worlds came along??
Well, its shown that Assafa takes 18 races to hit WR level… But everybody is different.
i wont go into it, but check out the size and definition of the guy back in 03 around his fast times, and by WC times, he no longer looked the part (from what i remember).
and by WC times, he no longer looked the part (from what i remember).
He did look rather thin at WC, but maybe he had just trained off after a heavy season of numerous pbs. Joshua Ross looked much thinner at WC last year after running impressively domestically. This there a pattern here?
He ran a whole lot more than 18 races. Sharmer has only listed a handful. PJ started racing in November an was very consistent in the 10.2 range until December and then started running 10.1xs then dropped the bomb in perth with a 9.9 and a 9.8. Ran a few more 10.1s and 20.5s with a 20.2 windy. Headed to Japan where he ran the 9.9 and a 10.0.
He seemed to have put on a little weight in the mid section in Paris. But I think what really got him was he didnt have his lucky ripped body suit hed worn all season.
This year he has raced twice so far in attempt to be in peak form at the OG. AA hit him back saying that him/individual sprinters literally have no chance of making the team. I just think its odd considering how fast he has run before. He did run 6.58 e in Canberra & 10.3 at nationals. These times suggest the possibility of 10.1 soon is likely. If he does run 10.1 or better in May it may not be fast enough to warrant selection. Either way having this lack of support from AA can’t be beneficial leading into the OG.
Yes I only listed his fastest 100m results, he probably raced well over 30 times before WC. I can’t get my head around it, he has consistently run faster than anyone in Oz in mens 100m yet I don’t think gets his due respect.
Ran a few more 10.1s and 20.5s with a 20.2 windy
I was there that day when PJ ran 20.2 against Alvin Harrison at Campbelltown. The wind registered +2.5 but conditions weren’t that good, overcast and I thought it there was more of cross wind. The look on Harrison face as PJ came off the bend at least 3m up on the field will be ever lasting.
Maybe PJ needed to put it together at a major comp to get his due respect. Or maybe thats T &F. Even if he does break 10 again, I am sure the eyebrows will be raised for all the wrong reasons.
Well - there might be something here, just like talked about in the Assafa thread - re the 18 races it seems to take for assafa to get into WR shape.
ie
PJ runs 30races in his best ever season, but by WC time he is burned out - would be interesting to see what race his National record was run??
Now we see him running 2 x races and running according to AA Slow…
PJ needs to find that balance - just as Assafa needs to.
2x races is not enough
30x + races is too much
He has races enough years now for somebody to be able to Graph his races in a year by year like what was done with Assafa to find his Sweet spot to race in.
One would think his coach would have done this??? Seems not.
Thats 2 races leading into nationals. And if some real irregularities didn’t happen in the start he would of won decisively. I am guessing if he made the OG he would had completed 15 races.
It’s coming up to half a decade since PJ did his NR. People tend to be assessed on their championship results. PJ made the 2005 world 200 final, which was his best competitive achievement by far. In Paris 2003 he got tangled up in Jon Drummond’s fiasco of a quarter-final heat which put the final nail in his season. But even then, with Drummond DQ’d and someone called Asafa Powell also (probably incorrectly) DQ’d from the same heat which from memory also had another empty lane due to a no show, PJ still couldn’t muster enough to get through to the semi. Maybe it was because Drummond’s antics and the subsequent jeering of the crowd forced the postponement of their quarterfinal by 50 minutes.
He hasn’t came up with the times he posted in 03. In 2005 that 10.01 signaled a return to form before getting hurt. Last he ran 10.17 legit & 20.48 for 200, if he posted these times he’s in the team. Its catch 22, if he runs domestically hes in the team, yet he will most probably follow the same pattern as previous years and flop at the major champ. But if he races minimally domestically and aims for the major comp, he won’t be in the team. Damned if you do , damned if you don’t.
Nice find.
Runs good early in the season, then drops off with the more races he does!
So, it doesnt seem like a timing issue, as one needs to run more than 1 x race to make a oly final…
Therefore the solution must lay with a training periodisation issue?? Peaks too early due to whatever or varied reasons???
Or
a therapy, or lack of therapy issue?? - as one gets faster n faster, more therapy would be needed - if he is not getting the therapy, tightness results and form/speed decreases.
Some athletes run their best times and places when: they know they’ve got a weak field covered; or when they know they’re not expected to win and it doesn’t matter if they lose (eg: a one-off grand prix race is fine, but a second-round qualifying race brings a level of pressure some athletes simply cannot handle. Not saying this is necessarily PJ’s case history but if it walks like a duck…
