THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012
QUOTE OF THE DAY
PAGE 7
"Race walking is like having a competition to see who can whisper the loudest."
Bob Costas
Having never competed in race walking, John Nunn accepted a scholarship from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside to compete as a race walker.
usatf.org
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: Who holds the Men's world record in the 50K race walk?
A: Denis Nizhegorodov from Russia with a time of 3.34:14.
iaaf.org
THE MORNING BREW The interesting sport of race walking
As I was thinking about what I wanted to share with you guys this week, I recalled an interview I heard with NBC sportcaster Bob Costas during the Olympics. He was asked what the most ridiculous sport was that he had to cover.
His response?
Race walking.
You're probably asking the same questions I asked myself when I heard this: Did he really just say "race walking?" What is that?
It didn't take long before I found myself on YouTube looking for footage of this so called "race walking" and let me tell you, I made it maybe five seconds before I burst out into laughter. Honestly it looks like someone really, really has to go to the bathroom, and is using every muscle in their body to hold it in. If you're going to put that much effort into walking, why don't you... I don't know, run? I've seen people walking and people running, but never have I seen someone attempt to run and walk at the same time. It's like an awkward human trot.
But wait, it gets better.
It turns out this is an Olympic sport, and has been since 1904. The rules are pretty simple. According to USA Track & Field, the walker must always have a foot in contact with the ground and must straighten their front knee when their foot makes contact with the ground. Judges are placed around the track to report any violations by
eye, which I find pretty funny because how can you really tell if the knee is straight?
Recently, America's most popular race walker (slight sarcasm there), John Nunn, earned his ticket to London for the summer Olympics later this year. The 33-year-old, who averages 100 race-walking miles a week, won the US 50K Race Walk Trials in 4:04:38, averaging about 7:50 seconds per mile. That's pretty amazing when you consider some people can't run a mile in that time.
Personally I think this sport should be getting a lot more coverage when this year's Olympics rolls around. I have yet to figure out why this sport, which as been around for as long as it has, rarely receives any recognition. So to Bob Costas, thank you for bringing race walking into my life. Now I know I have a good go-to when I'm having a bad day and need a good laugh.
Now for you avid race walkers out
there, let me just say I know I seem to be making fun of this sport, and you're right, I am. However I'm well aware that this is a legitimate sport that involves a lot of training, technique and skill. But as a spectator, I challenge you to go watch some race walking and try to take it seriously. Trust me, it's not easy.
And for those of you who are thinking, "Boy oh boy, I want to enter in one of these races, but I don't know where to sign up." Well, you're in luck because every year the International Association of Athletics Federations hosts a World Race Walking Cup. This year the competition will be held in Russia with a first place prize of $30,000.
Edited by Amanda Gage
This week in athletics
Friday
Saturday
Track
Jayhawk Invitational
All Day
Lawrence
Sunday
Woman's basketball
vs. Baylor
7 p.m.
Waco, Texas
There are no athletic events today.
Men's Basketball
vs. Iowa State
1 p.m.
Ames, Iowa
Monday
There are no athletic events today.
Tuesday
Women's basketball
vs. Oklahoma
7 p.m.
Lawrence
Wednesday
Men's basketball
vs. Oklahoma
8 p.m.
Lawrence
Thursday
There are no athletic events today.
INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Security costs continue to rise for summer Olympics' host.
Immaculate in a navy suit and pink shirt, Cross painstakingly filled out forms
LONDON — The pay isn't great, the job is temporary and you could be a target for terrorists. But when Mabel Cross heard that she might be able to work at the 2012 Summer Olympics, she rushed to get to a London recruitment center early.
Thursday in hopes she could be part of a vast new Olympic workforce. The recruitment effort at a school just outside the Olympic stadium in East London is the most visible signal yet that organizers are ready to stop building arenas and start delivering sports events.
"I wish I could be successful," the 52-year-old said in a voice just above a whisper. "I would be so interested to
work for the Olympics."
Some 10,000 security guards are needed and organizers have already received three times that number in applications from around the country. The guards will work alongside British police and the military to deliver a robust — and expensive — security operation involving about 23,700 people.
Planners are also moving to finalize security, ticketing
and transport plans despite a series of setbacks that have pushed costs higher.
"We're switching from planning stuff to really doing it," said organizing committee chief executive Paul Deighton.
While Britain's total cost for the event remains at 9.3 billion pounds ($14.6 billion), auditors say there's little wiggle room for the unexpected. The budget for the
games is "finely balanced," with less than 0.4 percent of the total left to cover unforeseen expenses, the National Audit Office has said.
If anything unexpected and expensive happens, Olympic officials will have to ask British taxpayers, already struggling in tough economic times, for more money. Paying more for the games would not enhance their popularity among a public
already angered by a complex, computerized ticketing system that was riddled with glitches and left many people unable to attend.
Part of the reason for the budget worries is that security costs have continued to rise. British officials last month doubled the funding for security operations at venues, raising overall security costs to more than 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion).
London Olympic organizing committee chief Sebastian Coe assured The Associated Press in an interview that the games were on track and will stay in the black.
"Occasionally some things are slightly more than you expect," he said, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
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