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A World Record in the Women's Triple Jump

Shared Gold Medals in the Men's High Jump

And a Surprise Victor in the Men's 100m Final!

 8 1 21 DeGrasse Jacobs Kerley

_DSC9081.jpgAndre De Grasse (bronze, 9.89 PB), Marcel Jacobs (9.80 NR PB, gold), Fred Kerley (9.84 PB, silver), photo : Randy Miyazaki@TaFphoto>

OG/Day Three: 

August 1st, 2021

Sunday evening's session of Day Three of Athletics in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games is instantly being hailed as "one of the greatest sessions in-stadium track & field history." And rightly so: a world record in the women's triple jump; shared gold medals in one of the most intriguing high jump competitions of all time; and a surprise victor in the men's 100-meter final - the first Olympic sprint final in the post-Bolt era.

Packed Armory Crowd Savors Spirited, In-Person, World Class Performances

 1 29 22 Centro and Lyles

 

Nearly everyone was there, 2016 Olympic champ Matt Centrowitz, Jr. and 2021 Olympic bronze medalist Noah Lyles, 2022 Millrose Games,

photo by Jeff Benjamin

1 29 22 Armory rsz 1 29 22 armory img 5850 thumb 550x413 70077

The view from TV, 2022 Millrose Games, photo by Kathy Camara via Peacock TV

The Armory

Washington Heights

New York, New York

29 January 2022

Two years ago, an undeniable highlight of 113th Millrose Games was the women's Wanamaker Mile where USA's Elle Purrier [now Elle Purrier St. Pierre] crossed the line 1st in 4:16.85 to demolish Mary Slaney's 38-year-old American record. The next three finishers all set national marks in one of the most electrifying indoor miles in recent memory. The exuberant fans, anticipating even greater performances to come in the 2020 Olympic year, could not imagine that a global pandemic would soon change everything.

After an unexpected, COVID-driven roller coaster ride that forced vast changes in how the sport, the athletes, and the fans would cope, this 114th Millrose edition presented a special moment that Armory top brass embraced. After a 24 month stretch during which track & field dealt with cancelations; an absence of consistent motivation; improvisation of training and competing; a restructuring of the sport's calendar; and a fan-less Olympic Games held in a country in which a large number of its citizens wanted no part, the 2022 Millrose Games proved to be the day in which track & field athletes could once again compete at the highest level exhorted on by the roar of a packed arena.

 

 

6 20 21 Qunera Hayes

Hayes_Quanera-1-OlyTrials21w.jpgQuanera Hayes surprises some with her 400m win! photo by Kevmofoto

 

Trials / Day Three: 

 June 20, 2021 / Father's Day

There may have been a Day Three spectator or two who might claim they saw every exciting moment on the track and in the field. But that is rather unlikely. Your head would have had to be on a swivel. At one point in this jam-packed session the three Tokyo-bound men in the javelin were taking their victory lap; the women were competing in the high jump and the triple jump, the decathletes were heaving the javelin, and the women steeplechasers were toeing the line on the backstretch. What a glorious day!

Here are the highlights of the three-ring circus that was Day Three:

I suspect many of you have wondered what had happened to the regular flow of my track & field articles.  While I never stopped covering the sport we love, technical difficulties that caused the interuption have now been resolved and I am  back in the saddle. 

I am rolling out a bundle of articles never before posted on my site from the exciting summer of 2021 featuring tremendous performances on the track and in the field. 

I call it Olympic Flashback.

Relive exciting track & field moments from last year’s USA Olympic Trials and the Tokyo Games –

from Ryan Crouser’s world record shot put at the Trials

6 18 21 crouser ryan

Crouser_Ryan-W1b-OlyTrials21w.jpgRyan Crouser, new World record holder, 23.37m/ 76'8.25", photo by Kevmofoto

 

to Eliud Kipchoge’s dominating marathon victory near the conclusion of the Games.

8 8 21 Eliud Kipchoge

Eliud Kipchoge .jpgEliud Kipchoge defends his Rio 2016 gold with Tokyo 2021 gold! photo by Orangepictures.NL

 

All you have to do is visit my website: https://www.trackandfieldhunter.com  Articles on the Trials are being posted on Tuesdays while pieces on the Olympics are being posted on Fridays.

A resumption of regular posting of current track & field events will also commence after next weekend with my onsite coverage of the Millrose Games.

Thanks for your continued support.  It is great to be back.  Sincerely, Dave

 

 

 

 

Thompson-Herah Successfully Defends

 

 7 31 21 Jackson and Herah

July 31st, 2021

The beauty of track & field is its simplicity and its clarity. There is no "judging". There are no "style points." Our sport is not "subjective." It's all about who jumps the highest, throws the farthest, and runs the fastest. Period. And today - the day of the women's 100m final - we witnessed one of the most stunning global 100m championship races ever as Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herah set a new Olympic Record of 10.61 to earn the title of "World's Fastest Woman."

 

 

 6 19 21 allman valarie


Allman_Valarie-Q1-OlyTrials21w.jpgValarie Allman sends a message out to the discus world! June 19, 2021, photo by Kevin Morris / Kevmofoto

 

6 19 21 richardson shecarri

Richardson_She'Carri-R-OlyTrials21w.jpgSha'Carrie Richardson: 10.84, 10.64wa, 10.87, she's an Olympian! June 21, 2021, photo by Kevin Morris /Kevmofoto

 

Trials / Day Two: 

June 19th / Juneteenth, 2021

It is obvious to all that success in track & field requires talent, dedication, and consistent hard work. But rising to the highest levels of achievement in the sport also demands attention to the details - the little things that if left unattended can in a moment lead to disaster. Valarie Allman and Sha'Carri Richardson - winners in the discus and the 100m dash respectively - faced such critical moments in Day Two, addressed them properly, and now are Tokyo-bound.

 

 7 31 21 Barega 10K

IMG_7629.jpgSelemon Barega catching Steven Kissa, Men's 10,000m, photo via TV by Kathy Camara

July 30th, 2021

The wait for the start of the Olympic track & field ended today as "Athletics" was more than ready to take center stage at the 32nd Olympiad. While Tokyo's 68,000-seat stadium would only accommodate approximately one thousand people due to the surging pandemic, excitement could still be assured for those seasoned fans who could remember way back to 1964: the last time an Olympic 10,000 meter championship race was held on Japanese soil. In that stirring 25 lap battle, a late-race bolt by Mohamed Gammoudi led to a backstretch jostle involving the Tunisian, the heavily-favored Australian Ron Clarke, and lightly-touted American Billy Mills. The bumping staggered Mills, momentarily sending him out into the firmer footing of Lanes 2 and 3 of the cinder track. The collision awakened, and perhaps angered, the adrenaline-charged Native American who dashed on for the victory, the first - and only - time an American has been victorious in an Olympic 10,000-meter final. Could today's 10K final produce yet another electrifying Tokyo 10,000 meter moment?

Under sweltering, steam-bath conditions, 25 international athletes launched off on a 25 lap odyssey. Unexpectedly, Ugandan athlete Steven Kissa bolted into the lead and began building his advantage. Was Kissa unfurling a carefully crafted Ugandan team race plan to aid his compatriots, Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo? After 800 meters covered in 2:10, Kissa had constructed a 45+ meter lead with none of his competitors interested in giving chase. Settled in the bunched chase pack were the pre-race favorites Kenya's Rhonex Kipruto, Ethiopia's Selemon Barega, Uganda's Kiplimo, and Kenya's Yomif Keljelcha. Americans Grant Fisher and Woody Kincaid were also near the front of the tightly-grouped finalists. Over the ensuing laps, the trailing mob chipped away at Kissa's lead. With less than 4000m remaining and shortly after the pack had rejoined Kissa, the early leader stepped off the track, his unofficial pacing chores apparently completed.

June 18, 2021

Trials / Day One

 6 18 21 crouser ryan


Crouser_Ryan-W1b-OlyTrials21w.jpgRyan Crouser, new World record holder, 23.37m/ 76'8.25", photo by Kevmofoto

June 18, 2021

Trials / Day One

After the men's shot put final in the 2019 World Championship in Doha - where Joe Kovacs 6th round heave clinched the title and the top three athletes were separated by only .01 meter - many proclaimed that thrilling and highly-contested competition to be "the greatest shot put competition of all time." Those who witnessed the men's shot put final during Day One of the 2021 USA Olympic Trials may wish to differ.

Pre-event expectations were high for a spirited and impressive competition in the men's shot put. Ryan Crouser, Joe Kovacs, and Darrell Hill came in as the top three shot-put performers respectively on the world list. And in Friday morning's qualifying round Crouser's opening throw of 75' 2 1⁄2 [then #5 on the all-time world list] not only showed the reigning Olympic champion was ready. It suggested that something special may be brewing.

 

.7 21 21 Paul Doyle

Paul Doyle .jpgPaul Doyle, photo by USATF.tv

"Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life."
-Mark Twain-

July 21st, 2021

Over the past 20+ years, Paul Doyle, fueled by his love for track & field, has built a successful sports management enterprise focusing on track & field athletes. Yet his early involvement with track & field was rather ordinary, providing no hint that he would go on to become both a highly successful track & field agent and a visionary driven to revitalize the sport. "I was a decathlete. I started off as a hurdler and then I started messing around with the pole vault," explains Doyle in recalling his high school days. "And then, when I went to college the first day we had practice, I signed up on the sprinters and hurdlers list. And my coach came over and said, 'No, no. You put your name on the wrong list. You're a decathlete so you sign up on the multis and field events list.'" Doyle's collegiate experience turned out to be nothing special. "I could have been really, really good," explains Paul with care. "But, I suffered from a severe lack of talent."

After earning his bachelor's and master's degrees in exercise physiology from UMass, Doyle, seeking a coaching position, began his climb up the ladder. "I was hired by Emory University to serve as head strength and conditioning coach for the whole university and as an assistant track coach. Emory was paying me $13,000 a year to do all that. Yet it just fueled my passion even more for the sport."

 

 

 Get Away, Let The Big Cat Eat!

6 11 21 Harrison HJ

Day 3 / NCAA Div I Outdoor Track & Field Championships

June 11th, 2021

The Tigers of Louisiana State University, relying on their plentiful, incredible talent and drawing on their culture of accountability and support, are the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Men's Team Champions. But as is often the case in the NCAA championship meet, the team title journey to the top step of the podium had its roller coaster moments.

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Demo Reel Video

Please take a moment to view Dave's 3-minute demo-reel for samples of his announcing and interviewing work.

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TAFWA Award

Dunaway AwardAt the 2019 annual meeting of the Track and Field Writers of America, Dave was presented with the James Dunaway Memorial Award “for track & field journalism excellence.”

Dave Hunter

Dave HunterDave Hunter is a track & field journalist, announcer, and broadcaster.  Dave reports on the premier track & field gatherings around the globe, frequently serves as an arena or stadium announcer for championship events, and has undertaken foreign and domestic broadcast assignments in the sport.

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