My main television viewing this last week was the NCAA Track and Field Championships. It was exciting to see the Bobcat athletes in action on a few occasions. The level of performance of these athletes was outstanding. They all had to meet qualifying standards, so only the top collegiate athletes were at the National Meet. And when you have a group of top athletes competing against each other, only the very top performers rise to be the best.
The one point that caught my attention in the distance races was the strategy of runners to be in first place at the finish. This involved when and how fast they had a “finishing kick.” I see various forms of finishing kicks at our local 5K races. There are a few finishing kicks from a couple of runners picking up the pace, so they don’t finish in last place. Kicks are not always reserved for the front runners.
Probably the most famous finishing kick was by Billy Mills, the USA 10K entrant in the Olympics. As they were coming around the last turn, the announcers were focused and commenting on the two top runners that were favored to win. Then, from about six places back, Mills started his kick. The announcers were screaming into the microphones, “Here comes Mills” as he joined the lead runners. Since he was running at a top speed coming from so far back, he was already going fast, and the other lead runners were still trying to pick up the pace in order to catch him. It was too late, and Billy Mills was the 10K Olympic Champion.
