New World Record Yet to Come

Records are easy to break but it seems a difficult task in Osaka.

The IAAF World Athletic Championships in Osaka have now entered the second half of the nine-day schedule. However, a new world record has yet to come, which is playing on the nerves of the IAAF.

Yesterday Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva wanted to aim for the record she set with the bar at 5.01 meters at last World Championships in Helsinki, 2005. She changes her coach and her training style entirely in order to renew her record. Her concerted efforts, however, ended up with a disappointing result of 4.80 meters, far short of her previous record.

The World Athletic Championships produced as many as four world record holders in one event in Stuttgart, Germany in 1995. C. Jackson (GBR) grabbed gold in the men’s 110m hurdles with 12.91 sec and A. Birykova (RUS) ranked first in the women’s triple jump. By contrast, the 1997 and 2001 Championships produced no new records. Indeed, no new records have been made in more than half (men 11, women 14) of its 47 different disciplines comprising the Championships for more than a decade.

It is, however, too early to give up. The track in Nagai Stadium offers favorable conditions to runners. Hot weather in Osaka can help sprinters to break records. Case in points: the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, where the thermometer registered over 38 degrees Celsius, saw new world records in the men’s 100m and 200m.

Though the wall of the world record of 19.32 sec still looks pretty high, the race between Tyson Gay (2nd place with 19.62 sec.) and Wallace Spearmen (4th place with 19.65sec) can yield unexpected results.

Xiang Liu (CHN), world record holder in the 110-metre hurdles, positioned himself first in heat 2 of the semi-finals with 13.36 seconds. Liu was satisfied with his result, saying “I will save my best for the final.” Liu, gold medalist at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, took the bronze medal in the World Athletic Championships in 2003, and silver in 2005.

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