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Overrated
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The Golden League
The best athletes in the world competing in a series of elite meets on Friday nights throughout the summer? Seemed like a good idea at the time. Instead, the series has become predictable and boring, with the same people winning the same events in the same fashion, week after week, often in front of modest crowds. It all plays more like a concert tour than a competition, and it desperately needs a makeover.
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Underrated
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High school track
While major-league track and field struggles to find a place in the mass media landscape, teenagers continue to compete at record levels. Go to a meet and feel the vibe.
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Annoying
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The lack of genuine competition for Marion Jones
Sure, Zhanna Pintusevich-Block beat Marion at the 2001 Worlds in Edmonton, in part because the U.S. sprint queen was so unaccustomed to company. Zhanna hasn't beaten Marion since. Week in and week out, Ms. Jones runs alone to win by daylight. Would some country/college/town please develop a sprinter to push Marion so we can all see if she can go faster or not?
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Breakthrough Performance of 2002
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Tim Montgomery
Going all the way back to the mid-'90s, TiMo was just one of those guys always chasing the best, running in the shadows. Then in late 2000, he hooked up with coach Trevor Graham and Montgomery's been getting better ever since, culminating with his 9.78 world record in the 100 meters set in Paris in September. Plus, he's dating Marion Jones. Now, that's a breakthrough.
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Uplifting
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The resurrection of the long jump
Thanks for this goes to U.S. jumpers Miguel Pate, Savante (all-name team) Stringfellow and Dwight Phillips. There was a time when Americans owned this event, before falling off the earth following the retirement of Carl Lewis and Mike Powell in the late '90s. It was so bad that Powell came out of retirement. Now the U.S. is back on top.
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MVP
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Paula Radcliffe
The blond Brit ran a phenomenal 2:17.18 at the Chicago Marathon to obliterate the world best by 1.29. It was the culmination of an incredible year in which she also ran the second-fastest 10,000 meters in history, 30:01.09. From perennial bridesmaid, she elevated herself to a place among the best distance runners in history -- of any gender.
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Storyline to Follow in 2003
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Alan Webb and Maurice Green
Have to pick two here: 1) Former high school mile phenom Webb's attempt to fulfill his promise while training independently under his former high school coach. 2) Greene's attempt to rediscover his Mo-tivation and return to the top of the 100-meter heap, where he lived for five years before Montgomery -- and Britain's Dwain Chambers -- took him down convincingly last summer.
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