2017 THE Retirement Year?

Goodbye, Farewell, Until We Meet Again!

In the sport of Track and Field, retirement is a constant theme, as the turnover in the elite portion of our sport is enormous--and mostly hidden and silent!

Usain Bolt notwithstanding, I can't remember the last time a retirement---or even an announcement of an upcoming retirement--made headlines in World & National media---except for Track and Field News and related magazines and websites!

But today's release of personal statements from Ashton and Brianne Thiesen-Eaton that both are---nay, HAVE retired from T&F competition came as a shock to all--and produced chatter on Social Media of a massive decibel count!

I will look at this retirement factor in greater depth in a moment--but first, here is the Records & Marks legacy they leave us with!

OUTdoors--Decathlon & Heptathlon
Ashton is the World Record holder with 9045 points!
He also is the American Record holder (9045).
He holds the Soph (8095) & Junior (8240) Collegiate Class Records.
Age Records he holds are Age 24 (9039) & Age 27 (9045).
Meet Records held are the NCAA (8457), Olympic Trials (9039), World Championships (9045), and he is co-holder of the Olympic Games record with 8893 points, along with his initial idol, Roman Sebrle!!
He ranks 3rd A-T Collegiate!

For Brianne, she holds the National Record of Canada with 6808 points!
She is the PAC-12 Meet Record holder with 6353 points!
She ranks 2nd A-T Collegiate, with 6440 points!
And she is 17th A-T World with her 6808 PR!

INdoors--Heptathlon & Pentathlon
Ashton holds the World Record with his 6645 total!
That's also the American Record!
He holds the Collegiate Record with 6499 points!
Also the Senior Class record--same points total!
Age Records held are Age 22 (6499), Age 23 (6568), Age 24 (6645), Age 26 (6632), and Age 28 (6470)!!
Meet Records held include the NCAA (6499) and World Championships (6645)!!

For his wife, Brianne is the National Record holder of Canada with her 4881 points total!
This gives her the Age 27 Record also!!
She ranks 5th A-T Collegiate, points total of 4555!
And she's 8th A-T World, with her PR!

What they did NOT accomplish as individuals, they did so as THE Power Couple of the Multi's!!
Surely, there's never been a greater partnership, in life or in sport!

We will miss you on the tracks and fields of battle!
But a voice whispers that we WILL see both of you again!

THANK YOU, Brianne Thiesen- and Ashton Eaton!!

So what does this mean for our sport?
What happens when Usain retires?
Or Mo, or the Dibabas, or anyone of a stature where just one name is necessary?

And why NOW??
Where does the striving to reach one's potential end?
Should it ever??

"Experts" said that Ashton had potential to score close to 9500 points!
Surely, BTE had more in her!
And what about Jessica Ennis-Hill and Morgan Uceny, or even the forcibly-retired Yelena Isinbayeva??
Why retire?

Distance runners many-times continue to old age, as Joan Samuelson has done--although 59 is surely NOT "old"!!!

Part of it's personal.
They want to start (or raise) a family!
They want to do "something else".
They're injury-prone, and are tired of the pain & added effort to return!!
They have some kind of eating disorder, and don't want their image projected publicly!
They have another career they want to get into!

But where does that leave them in their reach for perfection?
Could they PR again, if they continue a few more years?
Do Records & Marks even count on their priority list?
After all, Records are fallible creatures, made for breaking!
Here today, gone tomorrow!

I think one reason is the drug problem--more pervasive than ever!
They just are tired of finding out---years later--that those who finished ahead of them are now banned!
The banning of whole nations for drug reasons is unheard of!
Who is truly clean anymore?

In the Eaton's case, it's intriguing that they BOTH retired on the same day!
(Or at least announced it!!)
One person tweeted that "Roman Eaton" would win Gold in the 2044 Olympics!!
This gives added weight to the "start a family" factor!
They're both 28 years old, although Brianne was born December 18th of 1988, while Ashton will turn 29 on January 21st!!

While we honor their life (and career) choices, do NOT be shocked to see them return for Tokyo's 2020 Games!!

In several posts, I've asked the whereabouts of some (mostly female) athletes!
Wesley Frazier, Cayla Hatton, Natosha Rogers!
Some have returned, but Cayla, for one, has not!
Do we need a formal announcement of their status in the sport--to satisfy our curiosity?
The spots they leave empty are instantly filled by new (and better) athletes!
Who needs THEM??
But that's a cruel rude way of approaching the question!
After all, these are human beings we speak of, not athlete entities with just numbers to humanize them!

No, it's not the loss of the numbers they produced, but of the potential lost!!
To see a human REACH their potential (or at least strive to do so!) inspires US to reach ours!!
To see someone give up--to see them just disappear without a word--scares us!
Could the same happen to us--to our friends and life partners?

Death is inevitable--but hopefully it arrives at its natural time, NOT prematurely!
Same with retirement (or any form of departure from our sport)!!
We want it to happen when all of our potential has been met--not when we just surrender to the expected & desired quest!!

The Eatons gave us everything!
How can we complain about that?

Well, folks, this blog wouldn't be this blog if I didn't tell you of a new Class Record--or other marks of note!

Remember Brian Herron?
At the onset of the 2016 INdoor season, he broke the INdoor Frosh Class record for the 400 with 47.97!
This mark was soon tied by Tyrese Cooper, giving us (then) the greatest pair of High School Freshmen in the sprints in awhile!
In the OUTdoor season, Cooper went on to break numerous records, while Herron (I believe) was injured!

Well, Herron again has begun his INdoor season with a Class Record--this time as a Soph, and in the 200!!
His 21.22 destroyed the old record, held by none other than Noah Lyles (!!), by 0.28 seconds!!
It also TIES the Frosh Class record--held by Ty Cooper!!
So BOTH Class Records are now 21.22!!
BTW, this ranks 14th A-T HS, tied with 4 others!!
Herron also ran the 400 in 48.08!

Katie Nageotte PV'ed 14-11 at a recent Clinic competition!!
It was mistakenly listed as 15-5 at first, then corrected!
But she DID make 3 attempts at 15-5!
Her INdoor PR is 15-1.50 from 2016!

Many big names have been announced for the Millrose meet!
More on that in a later post!

Also, Susanna Kallur, Cindy Roleder, and Sally Pearson will race the 60H in the Karlsruhe meet!

Laura Muir is apparently set to race the 5000 meters INdoors for the first time--TODAY!!

Galen Rupp is going to shoot for Ryan Hall's American Record (59:43) in the Half-Marathon in the Houston race!!

Sammy Watson and Kate Murphy will shoot for the 1000 HSR at the Virginia meet upcoming!
The entire meet seems like a good one!
Full details, of course, right here!!

Also, the Camel City meet is shaping up to be another goodie!!

This INdoor season is a bit slower in getting to full speed than the past 2 or 3 years!!
Hopefully, ITS potential will soon begin to emerge!!

A brief note about a book--
I just read a novel by Paul Duffau called "Finishing Kick".
It's about an eastern Washington HS girls XC team, which is good, but not the best!
A girl named Callie is chosen as Captain of the team for her Senior year!
Can she inspire the team to beat the state's greatest--Fairchild Academy?
Will her "relationship" with boy runner Mark interfere?
And how will she handle the mercurial Mattie, coming over from another sport?
Or Callie's younger sister Jen?
Or the twin studs, Hanna and Anna?

Read this nice sweet book to find out!
I give it a B-minus, as it's written a bit too simply, and is filled with cliches!
The descriptions of the training and racing are good!
Worth a read!
Available on Amazon!

See you all soon!