Editor's Letter
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Lightning can strike indoors as well
WITH Usain Bolt significantly faster than any man who has ever lived, I am surprised he is not tempted to make one brief foray on to the boards to claim the world indoor records.
As we see in this week’s issue (News, page 6), he has broken up his winter’s training with some races. But if he just made one journey to an indoor arena, he could potentially etch his name into the indoor record books for many years to come.
Maurice Greene holds the world 60m best with 6.39, while Frank Fredericks holds the 200m mark with 19.92 and the 400m record is 44.57 by Kerron Clement. They are all surely within Bolt’s reach. But for some reason he appears to have no interest whatsoever in claiming them.
GREAT news that the IAAF World Indoor Championships will be streamed online (News, page 6), but it is worrying that this big event has attracted such little interest from television. Media interest in the sport has declined alarmingly during my dozen or more years at AW and if it was not for the imminent 2012 Olympics to hopefully inject interest and enthusiasm in the sport, the outlook would be very bleak indeed.
THERE is much talk about whether Delhi will be safe enough to stage the Commonwealth Games. The London Olympics, meanwhile, continue to generate debate. Not much is ever said, though, about the biggest athletics event in 2010 – the European Championships in Barcelona.
The Spanish city is poised to stage the most important event of the year for British athletes and it is a measure of the Catalans’ competence that very few fears exist relating to security, ticket sales and other such issues.
Yet not taking anything for granted, I am planning to sniff around the city this coming weekend when I trot over to Spain to run the Barcelona Marathon. Look out for a report on the city’s Euro preparations in AW soon.
Jason Henderson, Editor
From this week's Athletics Weekly, - available in WH Smith and all good newsagents, or on subscription.
