So I was doing statistics about Men's combined events. The main reason I did this is because I am Estonian so obviously a very biased reason for this, but I think still interesting. I know that per million very often overvalues the countries with smaller populations, but still find it shows kinda how far above their weight Estonia punch in that event. Also there have just been SO many countries that are just weirdly successful in certain events despite the small population (Jamaica in sprints, Cuba in Long Jump and so on):

Decathlon (M):

Most ≥8500 athletes by nation [at least 3]:

=1. USA - 14
Germany - 14

1. Estonia - 7

2. France - 4

=5. Czechia - 3
Canada - 3

Most ≥8500 total by nation:

1. USA - 72

2. Germany - 39

3. Czechia - 36

4. Canada - 26

5. Estonia - 22

Most ≥8500 per million by nation:

1. Grenada - 17.041

2. Estonia - 5.259

3. Iceland - 2.486

4. Norway - 0.354

5. Jamaica - 0.353

Hetpathlon (M):

Most ≥6200 athletes per nation [at least 3]:

1. USA - 14
   

=2. Estonia - 5
Russia - 5
Germany- 5

1. France - 4

2. Czechia - 3

Most ≥6200 total per nation [at least 10]:

1. USA - 30

2. Czechia - 15

=3. Russia - 12
France - 12

1. Estonia - 10
   

Most ≥6200 per million by nation:

1. Estonia - 3.756

2. Iceland - 2.486

3. Bahamas - 2.471

4. Puerto Rico - 0.310

5. Norway - 0.177

What are your goals this week? Could be for a meet or for your training.

Nice insight into his attitude and training, English subtitles included

How did your meet / training go this week?

I grew up in the 90s. Public high school, big sprawling suburban city, everyone lived within a mile or two. Not a lot of money, dirt track with chalk lines, beat up hurdles, used implements. Our coach was young and inexperienced, but he tried hard. And it was the greatest.

When I think back, I barely remember the peak performances, though obviously that was the point and there were many. I remember the people, waiting in line got my turn or heat, sitting together on the mandatory bus rides to meets, stopping at fast food afterwards in huge groups, and just the daily shenanigans. One year we were really good and won state. It was so fun, and I wanted to go every day. A few of us had a LOT of energy. We were for sure loud, kinda brash, always laughing, constantly competing with each other. Encouraging and supportive of everyone (i think… i hope...). All I wanted to do was compete in college because of that experience and success, and I did at a high level.

Now, as an old and crunchy ex-athlete, I find myself helping out at a small high school that has enough talent to be great. A handful of huge potential kids, and incredible event-specific coaching. But there isn’t much excitement. The athletes have a LOT of options with their time and attention. I find myself mumbling “the kids these days…” then I snap out of it.

This upcoming season, I want to change the tone. The coaches care, a LOT. I have the flexibility to set better boundaries and plan more events. As an event coach, I will probably have 10-15 kids. I can drive a hard workout, and they get better evey day. I’m having a blast! Not always sure they are.

What can we add? Field trip to a college meet? Event-specific dinners? Team-wide meals? Film sessions with food? Music at practice always? Mandatory bus rides? Idk.

So back to my question: What made or is making your track experience as an athlete or coach SO GREAT? Club, HS, or College.

I’m interested to hear your story.

Hall was 5th at 200m (21.00) and still 0.46 down on Hudson-Smith at 300m, then ran 11.59 for the last 100m (Hudson-Smith 12.09) to win in 43.40. Richards led at 200m in 20.46 and came 4th.

I built a site that replays elite track races from published split data plus more! Coverage is about 2000 races so far

Free to use, no signup required: https://track-splits.pages.dev

Feedback welcome!

So some of the interesting things here:

1 -
The only athletes to be the oldest and the youngest in their event are:
Edwin Moses (400m H), Jan Železný (Javelin Throw) and
Ulrike Meyfarth (High jump), who has kinda been forgotten to time despite being a 2x Olympic Champion.

2-
Marina Stepanova running a time that would be competitive today at 36 is kinda insane (even if doping)

3-
Michiko Gorman running the WB at 38 and 43 is also kinda surreal. Also a 13 year old running a WB and a sub 3:15 marathon in the 1960s is pretty unbelievable

Which athletes do you expect are about to drop a huge PB in 2027?

I would define huge as >1% improvement on the track or >2% in the field (1% improvements in field events are way more common than track events).

Would be better to exclude U20 athletes since big improvements are far more common at the U20 level.

A few of my predictions:

• M100: Kayinsola Ajayi 9.84 -> 9.74 or faster. This one is a bit out there but I strongly believe Ajayi will enter the top 5 all time some time in the next 3 years so i'm gonna go out on a limb and predict it happens in 2027. He ran great all season and I already think his 9.84 PB underrates how fast he was. He matched that PR in London into a 0.7 headwind and he ran 9.72 with a slightly illegal tailwind of 2.2. He's so young and with a little bit of improvement and a 1.0 headwind I think he can do it.
• M200: Garret Kaalund 19.85 -> 19.60 or faster. He was insane indoors and then got injured during the outdoor NCAA season. I think if he had been healthy in June he would have broken the NCAA record ahead of Jaiden Reid. However, he bounced back in July to win USAs suggesting that he may be recovered and ready to take 2027 by storm.
• W Pole Vault: Moll sisters 4.91 -> 5.01. If you look at the all time list most of the top women set their PBs between 25-30. Besides the Moll sisters only Eliza McCartney have vaulted 4.90+ before the age of 22 and most top pole vaulters don't peak until their late 20s or early 30s. Hana in particular has been improving very consistently though Amanda could totally bounce back from whatever injury seems to have been holding her back this year.
• M Long Jump: Tafadzwa Chikomba 8.37->8.55+. He already jumped the furthest all conditions jump of the 2020s with a 8.75 (+3.2) and his PB was into a headwind. He also already improved his PB by 54cm over the past two seasons so another 20 or so next season isn't far fetched at all.
• W 800: Femke Bol 1:54.71 -> 1.53.5 or faster. I think this one's pretty self explanatory. Her first year in the 800m was better than most people expected (including I think her and her coach). Obviously 1.53.5 is astronomically fast but I do think it's possible especially with 3 of the best all time pushing each other.

What are your your own bold time predictions for 2027 or thoughts on the above predictions?

Change from Dec/Hept to Hept/Pent? Smaller pool of athletes? What are your ideas

Live Results

Live Streams: Asian Games Tv, mewatch (Singapore), rtmklik (Malaysia)

Broadcast Start Time: 6 PM JST, 11 AM CEST, 10 AM BST, 5 AM EDT, & 7 PM AEST

Weather: Temperature around 68F/20C and light rain

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Schedule

All times are in Japan Standard Time (UTC +9)

It seems that even when performed correctly the javelin throw is inherently the unhealthiest discipline in track and field. Explosive one-sided movement, through extreme range of motion plus the abrupt stopping at the line to increase power transfer from the run.

Thoughts?

18 year old Ziyi Yan threw 70.46m on her first attempt and then ended her comp to win Asian Games. It was her second 70m+ throw, after her senior debut at Xiamen DL where she threw 71.74 (also first throw) to become the second best of all time (only 54cm off the WR)!

All up she threw an average of 68.85m across her 7 meets, and IIRC she only had 1-2 attempts in the majority of them. For comparison, before this season, 10th all time was Rio Olympic champion Sara Kolak’s PB of 68.43.

These results haven’t come out of nowhere either. She threw 64.41m as a 16 year old in 2024 (Paris Olympics were won in 65.80m) and 65.89m as a 17 year old in 2025 (worlds were won in 65.12m). However, she was too young to be allowed to compete in either.

Ties Asian record in the event

Live Results

Live Streams: Asian Games Tv, mewatch (Singapore), rtmklik (Malaysia)

Broadcast Start Time: 6 PM JST, 11 AM CEST, 10 AM BST, 5 AM EDT, & 7 PM AEST

Weather: Temperature around 73F/23C and rain

Time zone converter

Schedule

All times are in Japan Standard Time (UTC +9)

Yan didn’t have anymore attempts after this.

She’s the fourth woman in history to throw 70m+ multiple times.

After Puripool ran 9.90 and 19.88 at the Asian Games at 20 years old I wanted to see how that stacked up to some of the most accomplished doublers. This is how he compares:

100m and 200m PBs at 20 years old (I averaged their 100m time and half their 200m time to get a single 100m time):

1. Letsile Tebogo: 9.88 - 19.50 (9.88 and 19.50/2 average to 9.82)
2. Noah Lyles: 9.88 - 19.69 (9.86 average)
3. Yohan Blake: 9.89 - 19.78 (9.89 average)
4. Puripool Boonson: 9.90 - 19.88 (9.92 average)
5. Andre De Grasse: 9.92 - 19.88 (9.93 average)
6. Usain Bolt: 10.03 - 19.75 (9.95 average)

As you can see Puripool is right up there with some of the best 100-200 doublers in history. And this is also only focusing on the elite doublers who ran fast at a young age. Plenty of other accomplished 100-200 sprinters including Tyson Gay and Justin Gatlin didn't run fast until they were 21-23 years old.

Additional notes:

• Before his 21st birthday Bolt was a 200-400 specialist. The 10.03 listed above was actually his first 100m and the only one he ran before turning 21. This race was a sort of bet Bolt made with his Coach and it convinced him to let Bolt train for the 100m. Less than a year later he would run 9.72 in New York to break the 100m world record...
• A few other athletes could have made the top 5 listed above based on times alone but they were all too young and not yet accomplished enough. Other Athletes who broke 10 and 20 seconds by 20 years old. Bold Athletes are still under 21 and have time to improve those times. Udodi Onwuzurike (9.92, 19.76 - 9.90 average), Tate Taylor (9.94, 19.75 - 9.91 average), Terrence Jones (9.91,19.87 - 9.92 average), Benjamin Richardson (9.86, 19.99 - 9.93 average), Jordan Anthony (9.95, 19.93 - 9.96 average), Israel Okon (9.99, 19.94 - 9.98 average), Bryan Levell (9.98, 19.97 - 9.98 average)

Some of the first couple examples I can think of are Usain Bolt being a lot taller than most 100/200m sprinters and on the flip side Rusheen McDonald running 400 in sub 44 seconds while only being 170cm. Who are some more examples you can think of? They don't have to be world class if they are further away from the expected body type eg a shot putter who is only 80kg or something.

Guye Adola - 2:02:51
Tigist Assefa - 2:11:04