A Column By Len Johnson TABLE OF CONTENTS TOM KELLY................................................................................................5 A RELAY BIG SHOW ..................................................................................8 IS THIS THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES FINEST MOMENT? .................11 HALF A GLASS TO FILL ..........................................................................14 TOMMY A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS ........................................................17 NO LIGHTNING BOLT, JUST A WARM SURPRISE ................................. 20 A BEAUTIFUL SET OF NUMBERS ...........................................................23 CLASSIC DISTANCE CONTESTS FOR GLASGOW ...................................26 RISELEY FINALLY GETS HIS RECORD ...................................................29 TRIALS AND VERDICTS ..........................................................................32 KIRANI JAMES FIRST FOR GRENADA ....................................................35 DEEK STILL WEARS AN INDELIBLE STAMP ..........................................38 MICHAEL, ELOISE DO IT THEIR WAY .................................................... 40 20 SECONDS OF BOLT BEATS 20 MINUTES SUNSHINE ........................43 ROWE EQUAL TO DOUBELL, NOT DOUBELL’S EQUAL ..........................46 MOROCCO BOUND ..................................................................................49 ASBEL KIPROP ........................................................................................52 JENNY SIMPSON .....................................................................................55 ONE THING I’D LIKE TO SEE (BUT PROBABLY WON’T) ........................58 NOW IS THE WINTER OF OUR CONTENT RUINED ................................61 DENNIS KIMETTO — HOW FAR CAN HE GO? .........................................64 SURPRISES THE GO IN CHICAGO ..........................................................66 2 A Column By Len Johnson HERE COMES BILLY MILLS ....................................................................69 WINNING BY HELPING OTHERS ............................................................72 NEW YORK AND CHICAGO ......................................................................75 VIEWS AND REVIEWS .............................................................................78 THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING IS IN THE EATING ................................81 WHAT WERE ONCE HABITS ARE NOW VICES ........................................84 SOME GOOD THINGS IN HISTORY .........................................................87 LESS BOLT, LESS MO ............................................................................. 90 ENDING THE YEAR ON THE UP ..............................................................93 IT WAS 20 YEARS AGO TODAY ...............................................................96 RANKS REMAIN THIN .............................................................................99 YOU CALL THAT A KNIFE? ....................................................................103 YOUNG MEN IN A HURRY .....................................................................106 WOMEN BETTER MARATHONERS? ......................................................109 ON THE ROAD AGAIN ...........................................................................112 RUDISHA FOR CANBERRA ....................................................................115 ALL DRESSED UP ..................................................................................118 THAT REMINDS ME OF SOMETHING ...................................................121 REVIEWING THE REVIEWS ..................................................................124 ON THE CUSP OF HISTORY ..................................................................127 WHEN SPORT AND POLITICS INTERSECT ......................................... 130 AND I WASN’T EVEN RUNNING............................................................134 PRINCIPLES OF NOT RUNNING IN CHINA ..........................................137 LIU XIANG SIGNS OFF ........................................................................ 140 3 A Column By Len Johnson PEAK MARATHON .................................................................................144 PEAK MARATHON .................................................................................147 THAT’S RELAY GREAT ......................................................................... 150 PRAISE FOR PAULA ..............................................................................153 WHILE YOU SEE A CHANCE ..................................................................157 LOOK OVER THERE .............................................................................. 160 THE MAN WHO WORE HIS CLUB SINGLET ..........................................163 QUESTIONS ON NOTICE ......................................................................166 REQUIEM FOR A RACE ..........................................................................169 THE MAN WHO CHANGED THE WORLD ...............................................173 HE DID THE BOOKS, TOO .....................................................................176 ALWAYS MORE QUESTIONS TO ANSWER ............................................179 GLORIOUS CERTAINTY OF UNCERTAINTY ..........................................182 JUMPING OUT OF THEIR SKIN ............................................................185 CLARKE NUMBERS STILL ASTOUND ...................................................188 THE WOMAN WHO BROKE THE WORLD RECORD AT MONTE CARLO .................................................................................191 REVIS(IT)ING HISTORY ........................................................................194 THE FIRST WORLD CHAMPS IN ASIA ..................................................197 IT’S YOUR DAY ..................................................................................... 200 ... IF HE WAS THINKING AT ALL ...........................................................203 MARATHON MUSINGS ..........................................................................206 TRIUMPH IN A CRUMPLED HEAP ........................................................209 ME BOOTS HAVE EXPLODED! ..............................................................212 4 A Column By Len Johnson TOM KELLY Anywhere an athletics competition was on – from a local schools meeting to the Olympic Games — Tom Kelly was liable to bob up. Two years ago, the world cross-country was held in Punta Umbria, a Spanish resort on the Andalusian coast. The main township was a charming ishing village; the world cross-country competitors and extended family were housed in the otherwise — empty summer resort hotels. I’m walking along the deserted beachfront road when who else should come from the other direction than Tommy. With a much-younger Irish relative in tow (who, if he was bemused at the pace his 80-year-old companion was setting, had the good grace not to show it), Tommy was looking for the Australian team hotel irst, accommodation for the weekend second. Tommy had an athlete in the team, you see. Tommy pretty well always had an athlete in the team. This time it was David McNeill. And if a Tom Kelly athlete was competing some- where even vaguely within Tommy’s reach, he would most likely be there. Whether it was Olympic Boulevard in Sydney, or the coast road at the back of Punta Umbria, you would see him. Tom Kelly 5 A Column By Len Johnson Last Saturday night, someone apparently didn’t see Tom Kelly. Crossing a road in Mt Evelyn, in Melbourne’s outer eastern suburbs, Kelly was struck and killed by a car. His body was found at 7:30am on a Sunday morning, a time many of the countless athletes he coached over the years, would have been heading out for a long run. It is still unclear exactly what happened. What remains sadly all too clear is that, just a few weeks after the sudden death of one prominent athletics coach in Pam Turney, Victorian and Australian athletics has lost another in Tom Kelly. A strong and determined athlete, the Irish-born Kelly was one of the top Victorian distance runners of his day. He gravitated to the longer distances and was one of the irst Australians to win an international marathon when he came home irst in the Seoul-In- chon race in 1961. It wasn’t a fast run — two hours 40 minutes 25 seconds — but Kelly de- feated a strong ield in hot, gruelling conditions. The temperature peaked at 85 °F (30 °C). In a nice piece of symmetry, one of Kelly’s proudest coaching achievements (of many) would be to coach Brad Camp to a place in the Seoul 1988 Olympic team in the marathon. It was as a coach that Kelly made his mark. Always with a solid club base, irst at Box Hill, for whom he ran, then at Doncaster, Kelly produced a long line of athletes in a wide vari - ety of events. Camp was one of many senior athletes he coached to great success, but he was unmatched in developing junior talent. Nick Wall wrote in a tribute on the Athletics Victoria web-site (http://www.athsvic.org.au/ news/detail/vale-tom-kelly) that Kelly had an “incredible feel for coaching”. While not ne - glecting the technical aspects, Kelly’s passion and enthusiasm sparked an instant commu- nication with many of his athletes. It would be a dificult task to catalogue all the athletes Tom Kelly coached at Doncast- er. Camp was a stand-out, as were other Olympians in Paul Cleary and Natalie Harvey. Melbourne Commonwealth Games 800 metres representative Libby Allen, world champi- onships sprinter David

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