Field and Combined events at the European Championships 2022

In my post on field events at the World Championships I was commenting on Tentoglou's defeat by saying that

"...given Tentoglou's talent, he should be able to land consistently at 8.50 m or beyond so as not to be vulnerable to 'oi polloi'."

My writing was somehow prophetic since he did just that at the Europeans. He started with a foul (in the 8.50 m region). It is a well-known joke among the members of the Greek team that when Miltos starts with a foul he is usually winning the event. This time he did not disappoint. He had a series of 8.23, 8.35 and 8.52 m any of which would have sufficed for victory. And with 8.52 m he improved Reif's championship's record. 

Montler and Pommery were second and third with 8.06 m. Men's long jump final played out as a drama since Fincham-Dukes had also a jump at 8.06 securing silver thanks to his second best jump. However after the end of the event and when Fincham-Dukes was celebrating his success he was disqualified. I am giving below the photo of his jump that was considered a foul.

The current rules state that

An athlete fails if, while taking off (prior to the instant at which they cease contact with the take-off board or ground), they break the vertical plane of the take-off line with any part of their take-off foot/shoe, whether running up without jumping or in the act of jumping.

Previously the jump was considered a foul if the athlete left a mark on the plasticine board. However since November 2021 the rule stated above is applied and the rationale for its introduction was that "this would be more understandable and simpler to judge". In an article I published when I read about the new rule I did not mince my words. I criticised the WA decision saying that they are trying to kill the horizontal jumps. Once again WA, in their lack of clarity, replaced an objective criterion (a mark on the plasticine) by a subjective one (the judges' appreciation). And to add insult to injury in the case of Fincham-Dukes, the disqualification reversed the judges' decision (who had validated the jump) most probably after the consultation of a video of the event. Is that "more understandable"? You tell me. And just in case you have time to spare, I invite you to read my article on how the application of the above rule, who had always been in effect in the US collegiate athletics, had deprived King Carl of a 9+ m world record.

In my World Championships article I was rather laconic about my preferred female long-jumper, I. Spanovic-Vuleta (but I did sneak her photo in). I must say that I was somewhat apprehensive at the start of the women's long jump, all the more so since Vuleta had not shown anything extraordinary in the qualifiers. But then in the final she had a perfect first jump at 7.06 m (and she backed it up with 6.98 m in the second before fouling the remaining ones) practically killing the event. Only M. Mihambo could surpass her and while she did try she could do no better than 7.03 m settling for second. J. Sawyers, an athlete I always keep an eye on, grabbed bronze with her last jump at 6.80 m pushing M. Bekh-Romanchuk, 6.76 m,  out of the medals. The latter reacted at her last attempt (she was jumping after Sawyers) but her 7+ jump was a foul and the podium did not change. Iapichino was 5th with 6.62 m. M. Gardasevic who had jumped 6.83 m in the qualifiers could do no better than 6.52 m in the final and had to settle for 7th. 

Bekh-Romanchuk took her vengeance in the triple jump. Any of her valid jumps would have sufficed for the gold medal, and at her penultimate attempt she joined the 15+ club with a jump of 15.02 m. Reigning European champion P. Mamona was 5th with 14.41 m, missing bronze for just 4 cm. (She was the first european in Eugene). One jump was enough for Pichardo: he could have won the gold medal with his first jump at 17.05 m. He improved it to 17.50 m and that was more than enough. Out of the 12 competitors the only other 17+ jump was the 17.04 m of Dellavalle for silver, a rather sad situation for the men's triple jump in Europe.

G. Tamberi, with his usual "brio", won the high jump with a 2.30 m clearance. Out of the 13 jumpers qualified for the final 5 could not get past the initial height of 2.18 m! Women's event was a rather disappointing one. Y. Mahuchikh won the event with 1.95 m, a ridiculously low height for her (just two weeks later she jumped 2.05 m in a meeting and went on to make attempts at the world record). M. Vukovic (who lives and trains in Greece) obtained her first major success winning silver with 1.95 m. A. Topic (the name should ring a bell) was third with 1.93 m at 17 years of age. It goes without saying that I will be following her progress. After having jumped 2 m in the World's, I. Gerashchenko could do no better than 1.93 m and a fifth place. Still she did better than world bronze medallist E. Valortigara who ended up at 9th place with just 1.86 m. The latter shared the same height with Y. Levchenko, whom I found impressive a few years back when she had jumped 2.01 m when she was just 19. (Unfortunately she hasn't jumped over 2 m since 2020).  

Stefanidi showed once more her mastery of pole-vault. In a season which is admittedly not one of her best, she jumped a 4.75 m season's best in Munich, which would suffice for gold were it not for an impressive W. Murto who secured gold with 4.80 m and went on to equal the championships' record with 4.85 m. It is funny to remark that the vaulters of the european podium Murto-Stefanidi-Sutej were classified 4th, 5th and 6th at the World's but in the reverse order. The one new athlete I noticed in Munich was M.-J. Bonnin who jumped a personal best of 4.55 m finishing 6th. She is just 20 years old and I think that I'll have the occasion to write about her in the future. 

Duplantis won the men's event making it look as a pure formality. He had already won at 5.95 but he went on and jumped 6.06 m for a championships record. Lita Baehre was second with 5.85 m and Lillefosse third with 5.75 m beating on count-back three other jumpers who had cleared the same height. R. Lavillenie went directly from 5.65 to 5.85 m but without success, ending at the 7th place. Still that was better than his brother's performance who no-heighted at 5.50 m in the qualifiers. E. Karalis could not reproduce his success of the Olympics and with 5.50 m in the qualifiers did not make the final. 

J. Schilder won the women's shot put with 20.24 m. While 20+ m performances are becoming customary we are still very, very far from the 22+ m of the 80s and 90s. Dongmo was second with 19.82 m one of the rare gliders in women's shot put. It took a few more years, but women shot putters are becoming spinners just like men. It is not astonishing that the 3rd of the event is a discus thrower, Van Klinken who obtained bronze with 18.94 m (but failed to grab a medal in the discus). Mihalevic won the men's shot put in 21.88 in a final where all the throwers were spinners. I am now wondering when we are going to see the combined events athletes adopt the rotational style for the shot put. (But, of course, Maurice Smith was using that technique already in 2007).

S. Perkovic obtained her 6th consecutive european title. This time it was not easy since K. Pudenz, the silver medalist, was just 8 cm shy of Perkovic's performance 67.87 to 67.95 m. Everybody was betting on K. Ceh for the men's title but in the end it was M. Alekna (this name should also ring a bell) who won, 69.78 to 68.28 m. Both throwers are quite young, Ceh 23 and Alekna just 20 so we can start hoping to see the 36 years old world record soon erased from the tables. The olympic medal winning swedish duo was not in great shape: D. Stahl could do no better than 5th while S. Petterson was slightly better finishing 4th. 

E. Tzengko took control of the women's javelin throw from the outset, with a 60.82 m throw. In fact this throw would have sufficed for the gold medal up to the last throw of Vilagos. Tzengko secured the victory with a 65.81 m personal best in her second throw. 

The remaining athletes had trouble finding their rhythm but in the end the talent of Vilagos and the experience of Spotakova prevailed. Vilagos threw 62.01 m at her last throw obtaining silver while Spotakova with 60.68 m added one more medal to her rich collection. Tzengko is just 20 years old while Vilagos is just 18, so one can expect a renaissance of the european women's javelin. 

Unfortunately I cannot be equally optimistic for the men's discipline. At the end of the day it was J. Weber who won with 87.66 and saved the german pride, because with Vetter absent, Rohler eliminated in the qualifiers with 71.31 m and Hofmann finishing 14th with 74.75 m, the german javelin school did not look great. Things were slightly better for the finish school with Etelätalo obtaining bronze with 86.44 m and Kuusela 5th. (Helander who threw an impressive 89.83 m in June was absent). All things considered, it was the Czech school that fared better, with Vadlejch second with 87.28 m, Vesely 4th and Konecny also in the final finishing 12th.

Women's hammer was an uninteresting event won by B. Ghelber (2nd european in Eugene) in 72.72 m, while Fantini, the best european in the World's, finished third. S. Kosonen was 7th in Eugene (3rd european) but could do no better than 5th in Munich with 69.45 m, four metres off her personal best. After having won his 5th world title P. Fajdek managed to lose in Munich, finishing 4th. W. Nowicki won with 82.00 m and E. Henriksen was third just as in Eugene, this time with a sub-80 throw of 79.45 m. Halasz, 5th in the World's was second with a 80.92 personal best. Ch. Frantzeskakis confirmed his progress and his place in the final in Eugene, by finishing 6th in Munich with a personal best of 78.20 m. The minor surprise was the 7th place of Q. Bigot who was just outside the medals in the world championships.

Women's heptathlon was almost a formality for Thiam. She took control after the high jump (with 1.98 m) and she never relinquished it. Despite a so-so long jump and javelin throw but thanks to a more than decent 2:17.95 in the 800 m she finished almost 100 points ahead of Sulek, 6628 to 6532. Sulek obtained silver thanks to her 2:09.39 in the 800 m, overtaking Kälin who was 2nd before the last event, having jumped 6.73 m and thrown 48.72 m in the javelin. Her excellent 2:13.73, however, was not sufficient for her to keep the silver medal. N. Vidts was 2nd after the first day but with just 41.82 m at the javelin she could do no better than 4th, despite her 2:09.53 in the 800 m. (A small riddle for my readers: there is one number missing in the photo above. What happened?).

Only 18 out of 23 athletes who took the start finished the event. E. Oosterwegel fell in the hurdles while leading her series. 

Y. Dadic was disqualified in the 200 m for lane violation. M. Vicente fouled out in the long jump. Vetter quit after the long jump with an Achilles tendon injury: she was 3rd after the first day and 5th after the long jump. So the dutch school was represented only by 19 years old S. Dokter who finished at the 13th place with 5811 points (but she has a 6144 personal best so she will be someone to follow). 

Men's decathlon was probably the most suspenseful event of the European's. N. Kaul was 7th after the first day and, in fact, up to the 8th event. S. Ehammer was leading from the outset and up to the 9th event. With his 8.31 m in the long jump he would have won the silver medal in the event. In the end he did win a medal of that colour but in the decathlon. Just as in Doha, Kaul excelled in the javelin throw where with 76.05 m (a championship's best) he moved to the 3rd position. Ehammer threw just 53.46 m and J. Oiglane with 70.94 m moved to second position. Then Kaul ran a superb 1500 m, in 4:10.04 barely missing the championship's record for the decathlon 1500 m (Litvinenko 4:09.70) and won with 8545 points. Ehammer was second with 8468 and Oiglane 3th with 8346 points. M. Uibo could do no better than 5th with 8234 points. M. Dester was 2nd up to the pole vault but then faded to 6th with 8218 points (but still a national record). 

Apart from Ehammer and Dester who are 22 years old, there are other promising young athletes. The new french talent B. Thierry is 21. He finished 9th with 8057 points (but he is a runner-jumper, not my preferred profile). S. Skotheim is just 20 and he is better balanced. He finished 7th in 8211 points. Add to them S. Roosen, 21 years old, who finished 10th in 8021 and 22 years old L. Neugebauer who was 10th in Eugene with 8362 points, and this makes a whole bunch of new european talents to follow. And don't forget that N. Kaul is just 24 years old. But the competition will be fierce, since Owens-Delerme (8532 for 4th place in Eugene) is also 22 just as K. Garland (with a 8720 personal best).

Six out of the 21 who took the start dropped out. World champion and world record holder K. Mayer was the first victim, withdrawing after the 100 m due to a thigh injury.

Track events at the European Championships 2022

One has to go back to 2018 for the previous European athletics championships, the ones planned for Paris in 2020 having been cancelled (perhaps in an excess of caution) due to the epidemic. I was somewhat apprehensive before the beginning of this year's championships. A little bit over a month after the World Championships (and for the british and cypriot athletes, with the Commonwealth Games in between) one could fear hard choices on behalf of the athletes favouring the World's over the European's. Well, my fears turned out to be unjustified. The 2022 Europeans were of a very high level, the only negative point being the organisation of the results. European Athletics have some things to learn from World Athletics on this point. Can you imagine that there were no photo-finish images included in the official results? I had to go painstakingly through the videos (as always, I am recording everything) in order to find the relevant photo-finish images.

The 2022 edition of the Europeans saw a triumph of the Greek team who obtained the 4th position in the medal classification with four gold and one silver medal. (Just for comparison, my adoptive country, France, was 22nd without a gold medal, following the withdrawal of Mayer and the millisecond decision in the 100 m hurdles which relegated Martinot-Lagarde to second place). The success of the greek colours were mainly due to the exceptional feat of A. Drisbioti (I definitely reject the unpronounceable transcription of her name to Ntrismpioti) who won both women racewalking events, the 35 km and a few days later the 20 km. 

It is true that women have had only few occasions to contest two events in major championships, since the 50 km was added in the 2017 World's and was transformed to 35 km (along with the men's race) starting from this year. Be that as it may, Drisbioti's accomplishment is unique, athough to be fair, peruvian racewalker Kimberly García did win the two women's races in Oregon. Drisbioti's success compelled me to write about racewalking, which, as the readers of this blog know well, is a no-no. (But as I explain on each and every occasion, while I reject the discipline, I have a great respect for the athletes who train hard for this unnatural event). 

It was not clear whether M. Jacobs would be in top shape after having withdrawn before the semis in Eugene. But the fears were exaggerated and Jacobs obtained another major title winning the race with 9.95 s, equalling the championships record. 

The women's race was more eventful. M. Kambundji was leading up to 90 m, where curiously she lost her coordination allowing Luckenkemper and Neita to come to her level. The photo-finish saw Luckenkemper winning the race in 10.99 s with Kambundji second with the same time (they differed by milliseconds) Neita being third in 11.00 s.

Kambundji took her vengeance in the 200 m that she won in 22.32 s, while Asher-Smith (who limped to the finish line in the 100 m) was second in 22.43 s. The men's 200 m was won by Hughes (who was second in the 100 m) with 20.07 s, F. Tortu winning the bronze medal. In fact it is somewhat bizarre to see Tortu, a sub-10 100 m runner, focusing on the longer distance, but I think that it is the presence of Jacobs in the 100 m that pushes him to seek (and, in this case, to obtain) success in the 200 m.

World bronze medalist Hudson-Smith completed his medal collection with a european gold (after having obtained silver in the Commonwealth Games) running in 44.53 s. F. Bol attempted something that was never done before in a major championship, winning both the flat and the hurdles 400 m. And she did succeed. Winning the flat race was in theory the most difficult part due to the presence of the polish specialists and her teammate L. Klaver. Bol won in 49.44 s, ahead of Kaczmarek 49.94 s, while Klaver, running in the 8th lane started way too fast and she did not have any reserves when it came to the final sprint fading from 2nd to 6th in 50.56 s. The one athlete I remarked was R. Adeleke of Ireland who, running in lane 1, was in medal contention up to 300 m, finishing 5th in 50.53 s. I will keep an eye open for her.

K. Hodgkinson was the favourite for the 800 m and won the race after taking the control of it at the bell. (Of course, being the favourite does not guarantee anything as Hodgkinson herself learned to her detriment, having lost the Commonwealth title to Moraa whom she had beaten at the World's). R. Lamote added another european silver to her collection after the ones won in Amsterdam and Berlin.

The men's race saw the victory of Mariano García (I have to specify his given name since there are so many Garcías in the spanish team) in 1:44.85. The surprise winner of the world 1500 m title, J. Wightman, decided to try his hand in the shorter distance and he managed to obtain silver in 1:44.91. It is clear, given his powerful finish, that his victory in Eugene was not a fluke. Once more P. Dobek did disappoint me exiting at the semis.

The women's 1500 m was won by L. Muir who really dominated the race assuming the control with two laps to go. She won in 4:01.08 ahead of C. Mageean (I must keep an eye open for her) and S. Ennaoui who confirmed her excellent shape of the World's finishing third. 

At this point I cannot refrain from reporting a Commonwealth Games conflict. Muir participated not only in the 1500 m (which she won ahead of Mageean) but also in the 800 m finishing third with L. Goule fourth. And then the Jamaican team protested claiming that Goule did in fact beat Muir. The photo-finish, with a blow-up of the pertinent part is shown below. And my question is the same as always: why do the judges strive to separate the athletes by doubtful milliseconds instead of accepting that in some cases they can declare a dead heat? Milliseconds linked to a human-eye appreciation are pushing track events towards unfairness.

J. Ingebrigtsen won both the 1500 m and the 5000 m as he had done four years ago. Only this time that was not a real surprise, the 18 year old talent in Berlin is now, at 22, the best miler in the world. The 1500 m was a fast race that did not leave any chance to the challengers and which was won in 3:32.76. The 5000 m was rather tactical (13:21.13) but even fast finishers like Katir and Crippa could not match Ingebrigtsen's speed and had to settle for silver and bronze. 

K. Klosterhalfen created the surprise, to the spectators delight, winning the 5000 m in 14:50.47, beating Y. Can who had won the 10000 m a few days before (in 30:32.57). Klosterhalfen was 4th in the longer distance, where the medals were won by E. McColgan (she also won bronze in the 5000 m) and L. Salpeter (who after her success in the marathon in Eugene opted for the distance where she had won gold in Berlin, this time having to content herself with bronze). 

The women's marathon was won by A. Lisowska, essentially unknown prior to Munich, in 2:28:36 while the men's race was won in a spectacular finish by R. Ringer in 2:10:21. 

The fact that Ringer comes from track events (he had won european bronze in 2016 over 5000 m) explains his capacity to change gear at 200 m from the arrival. Two israeli runners obtained silver and bronze bringing the total to an astonishing four israelis in the first 10 finishers.

Men's 3000 m steeple was a boring race won by Raitanen in 8:21.80. The days of the european supremacy in this event are, alas, long past. On the contrary the women's race was a most interesting one where the future winner and pre-race favourite, L. Gega, took control of the race from the outset, never relinquishing it. Gega has a long experience in leading races and, now that she found her real specialty, she is making the maximum of it. She was never threatened, winning in 9:11.31, a championships record. I was keeping an eye on T. Güvenç, who finished 5th in the final but who, I believe, has real potential.

The men's 110 m hurdles was again a sad millisecond story. Martinot-Lagarde and Martinez finished together in 13.17 s but the photo-finish "gods" managed to find a one millisecond difference between the two offering gold to Martinez. How can these people sleep during the night knowing that they are spoliating athletes of their rightful rewards? France had three athletes in the final garnering silver with S. Zhoya falling at the 10th hurdle.

C. Sember was the favourite of the women's 100 m hurdles but she hit the second hurdle and was essentially out of the race. The race was won by P. Skryszowska in 12.53 s, ahead of L. Kozak 12.69 and D. Kambundji (the younger sister of Mujinga) who managed to overtake N. Visser at the 9th hurdle winning bronze in 12.74. 

Bol won the 400 m hurdles in 52.67 s (a championships record) with Tkachuk and Ryzhykova completing the podium.I was keeping an eye on A. Iuel who ran an excellent 54.68 s in the semis but she could do no better than 5th in the final. 

Before the men's 400 m hurdles the same tv commentators who were giving a chance to Bol over McLaughlin were discussing the possibility of Happio beating Warholm. What nonsense! Happio is a great hurdler but Warholm is a class of his own and he showed it in Munich winning with great ease in 47.12 s. Eugene is a thing of the past, due essentially to Warholm starting late the competition season and injuring himself on his first outing. Mind you, I do not imply that life will be easy for him now that Dos Santos is progressing. Given the great talent of the latter, Warholm will find himself in trouble already in 2023 and the record may change owner, but as far as Europe is concerned Warholm is still the indisputable number one. The men's low-hurdles race was another occasion for a photo-finish disaster. Just have a look. (Warholm is out of the frame and Happio is well ahead of the other three but how can one distinguish between Copello, Vaillant and Abuaku: again through those pesky milliseconds). 

Great Britain won, as expected the men's relay in 37.67 s, ahead of France the bronze medal going to an astonishing Poland, profiting perhaps from the fact that the german team did not finish. The fortune were reversed in the women's race. Great Britain and France did not finish the race and Germany won in 42.34 ahead of Poland (again!) and Italy. The team of Spain that finished 5th in the World Championships could do no better than 4th in Munich. Great Britain won also the men's 4x400 m, in 2:59.35, with Belgium once more on the podium thanks also to an impressive anchor by D. Borlée (44.49 s). France was third. 

The Dutch team won the women's 4x400 m relay. As expected, Klaver and Bol were impressive with 49.20 s split for the first, the latter anchoring in 48.52 s. Poland was second and Great Britain third. The women's team of Belgium was just outside the medals (in a national record of 3:22.12) despite a great 49.33 s split by H. Ponette. 

G. Purdy's approach to scoring

In the post where I interviewed G. Purdy I told the story on how we met and started collaborating. I also explained how, thanks to the precious help of L. Shieh I managed to obtain several papers that were included in Purdy's thesis bibliography as well as a digitised version of the thesis itself. The latter is a very interesting read, in particular for the detailed analysis of publications which either criticised Ulbrich's approach or tried to come to its defence. 

While reading the corresponding chapter in Purdy's thesis I came across a reference to G. Holmér. Holmér, a decathlon olympic medalist (well, after the disqualification of Thorpe), had co-authored, together with A. Jörbeck the 1952 scoring tables. Following the introduction, in 1962, of the tables based on Ulbrich's erroneous theories, sponsored by Jörbeck, he was constrained to write a short note pointing out the 1962 tables' shortcomings. He remarks, quite correctly, that what should be used as the basis for establishing a fair scoring is not the velocity but the energy necessary in order to realise a performance. But what is even more interesting is the fact that Holmér suggests that combined events should have their own scoring tables, constructed from the statistics of combined events performances. Holmér was a real decathlete and it shows.

Purdy gives a set of scoring principles. Some of them state something obvious (but when one sets down principles, one must be exhaustive). I am going to present them below together with a short discussion of some of them.

Purdy principles

STP 1. Definition Principle: A point score represents a standard unit of performance.

STP 2. Universal Principle: More points are awarded to better performances than to poorer performances.

STP 3. Equivalence Principle: Every point score should represent an equivalent mark for each event.

STP 4. Uniqueness Principle: The total change (absolute and percent) between the lowest (typical) and highest (world’s best) performance marks should be different for each event in accordance with the range of achievement.

STP 5. Null Score Principle: Any non-zero performance mark should receive some non-zero point score.

STP 6. Diminishing Returns Principle: An increasing (and always positive) percentage change in the point score should result as the performance level improves.

STP 7. Progressive Change Principle: A unit change in performance must represent a larger change in points as the achievement and point level increase; conversely, a unit change in points must represent a smaller, but always non-zero, change in performance as the point level increases.

STP 8. Mathematical Consistency Principle: For each successively higher point level in an event, the first difference in the points between two adjacent performance marks must be either increasing or unchanging.

STP 9. Infinite Precision Principle: For every performance mark, the corresponding point score should be calculated to as many places as necessary to avoid ties in a multi-event competition.

STP 10. Constant Rule Principle: The rules defining an event and the manner in which it is conducted are assumed to be unchanging; and when the rules change, the scoring table may need revising.

The first four principles, as well as STP 10, are easy to understand. STP 5 on the other hand needs some discussion. Purdy stresses the fact that points should attributed to some even very low performances. Up to that point there was practically no discussion on how the performance corresponding to zero points in the IAAF tables was fixed. Purdy introduces a perfectly cogent prescription for what he calls the null-score: walking is not running, stepping is not jumping (to which we added that stretching the arm is not throwing). Thus instead of a null-score velocity of more than 6 m/s for 100 m in the 1962 IAAF tables, Purdy proposes just 2 m/s.

I do not understand what STP 6 has to do with scoring: it refers to the fact that as the athlete's performance improves he has to train more and more in order to achieve the same increment in performance. One could justify it as the rationale behind the STP 7 which, to put it in a nutshell, states that scoring tables must be progressive. STP 8 could it be understood in this spirit were it not for the fact that Purdy tackles the question of rounding, an assumption in all tables since 1934, which he opposes. Unfortunately I disagree with this lust for precision of Gerry. M. Woolf in an article in a NUTS Notes of 1978 criticised this with the obvious remark: when some performances are measured with three significant figures how can one assign to it a score with a six figure precision (Purdy proposes tables up to 1/1000 of a point). A jumper jumps 7.27 or 7.28 m, everything in between is inconsequential. So, to Gerry's dismay, I will side with Woolf and the IAAF/WA practice concerning rounding the points to the lowest integer. Simplicity trumps (illusory) precision. 

In order to have progressive tables Purdy decided to introduce an exponential relation between the performance and the number of points. This was already tried in the 1934 IAAF tables by J. Ohls but, curiously, without much success. Given that Purdy's tables were setting the null-score at a very low performance it was imperative that they provide a way to attribute points to a large spectrum of performances. The solution was to add to the exponential part a linear one. This resulted to the expression

In his publications Purdy explains how the parameters a,b,c can be fixed (z being the null-score performance). The result is a set of tables, which, to my opinion, are perhaps too progressive. The figure below gives the scoring for long jump based on the values of the parameters furnished by Purdy. 

It is curious that once more the pendulum swung: from strongly progressive 1952 tables to regressive ones in 1962 and again strongly progressive in Purdy's proposal. Unfortunately, as he explains in his account (which will appear shortly in this blog) of his visit to Copenhagen Gerry's proposal, despite that fact that it had a solid scientific basis, was not adopted by the IAAF technical committee. And thus the combined events scoring had to wait another decade before new, and fair, tables saw the day.

Field events at the World Championships 2022

Tentoglou was not lucky this time. Leading the event up to the last attempt with 8.32 m, he saw Wang pass him with 8.36 m. My take is that, given Tentoglou's talent, he should be able to land consistently at 8.50 m or beyond so as not to be vulnerable to "oi polloi". This would ask a little bit extra work but he can do it and become thus the indisputable king of long jump. Ehammer made the good choice to opt for the long jump and not for the decathlon since he ended up winning bronze with his 8.16 m performance, to the detriment of Massó (olympic bronze medalist in Tokyo) who ended up fourth after Wang's jump. Montler was a disappointing 11th with just 7.81 m, while T. Gayle, the reigning champion, suffering from a bone bruise could not obtain a valid jump in the qualifiers.

Women's long jump saw Ugen, Iapichino and Gardasevic go out in the qualifiers (the latter fouling all three jumps). L. OroMelo was the last qualified with 6.64m while I. Spanovic-Vuleta just scrapped into the final with 6.65 m. She could do no better than seventh with a 6.68 m, performance. The final was eventful with OroMelo taking the lead with a personal best of 6.89 m. It turned out that that was enough for bronze. E. Brume took the control of the event with 7.02 m while M. Mihambo fouled her first two attempts. But thanks to her experience she managed to land a 6.98 m on her third try, pushing Q. Brooks, 6.88 m, down to fourth place and J. Sawyers out of the first eight. She then went on to jump 7.09 m on her fourth and 7.12 m on her last attempt consolidating her victory. 

You know that I am a fan of Spanovic/Vuleta 

(and in the photo you can see the back of OroMelo)

Reigning champion C. Taylor went out in men's triple jump qualifiers. And W. Claye could do no better than eleventh in the final. The gold and silver medals were decided on the first jump with Pichardo jumping 17.95 m and Zango 17.55 m. Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Y. Zhu had to content himself with bronze this time and a performance of 17.31 m. J. Díaz could not participate in the championships having switched alliance form Cuba to Spain just this year. But, since he is just 21 years old, he will have several more occasions.

There is not much to tell about women's triple jump. The scenario that has become the rule by now is that when Rojas registers a valid jump the event is over (as far as the gold medal is concerned). This is exactly what happened in Eugene. In a sense the real suspense is whether she will break the world record. She could not do it in Eugene where she jumped "only" 15.47 m, missing for the second time after Doha the championships record (it still stands at 15.50 m by Kravets, going back to 1995). Just as in Doha, S. Ricketts was second with 14.89 m. And I must add that I am already missing Ibargüen: nothing is the same now that she had left the high-level competition.

Barshim confirmed what we already knew: he is the best high-jumper today. And the lightness he exudes is something unique. He won the event with 2.37 m ahead of Woo 2.35 m. Tamberi was not considered among the favourites but you should never underestimate him. In the end he lost the bronze medal to Protsenko on count-back at 2.33 m. I must say that I am somewhat disappointed by J. Harrison who could do no better than 2.27 m (after having failed to make the US team in the long jump). 

The unfair exclusion of Russian athletes from international competitions deprived us of the presence of Lasitskene and a great fight at the top. As I wrote already I cannot condone the punishment of athletes, or scientists, or artists, for the decisions of a misguided head of state. With Lasitskene absent, Mahuchikh was elevated to favourite status. Curiously, she would never take the command of the event. Up to 2.00 m it was a "reborn" Valortigara who was first. I must say that after her 2.02 m jump in 2018 she had a succession of so-so performances and I had started to think that the 2018 performance was a "lucky" one. Well, I was wrong. She was in great shape in Eugene and her bronze medal is amply deserved. In the end Mahuchick lost to Patterson both clearing 2.02 m. (It's funny because we were expecting an australian to shine, in the person on McDermott-Olyslagers, and in the end it was Patterson who won the event). Geraschenko, in constant progress this year, went over 2 m at last (but she could do no better than fourth) while Levchenko, once a really promising athlete (silver world medalist in 2017 when she was just 19 years old), is having one so-so year after the other, eliminated in Eugene with 1.90 m in the qualifiers.  

There was one noteworthy absence, also due to the exclusion of russian athletes, in women's pole vault, that of the reigning world champion A. Sidorova. Her absence was going to make the task of the remaining athletes easier. In fact, prior to the championships, Stefanidi had stated that 4.85 m would suffice for a medal. And she was spot on. Unfortunately for her that height was beyond her possibilities this year, and with 4.70 m she had to content with a fifth place. Nageotte added the world title to her olympic gold thanks to a first try clearance of 4.85 m while S. Morris need two tries. N. Kennedy was the surprise bronze medal winner. 

I don't know what is Kennedy looking at

I have written time and again on Duplantis and how he is a unique talent. In an article of mine, two years ago, when Duplantis started breaking the world record I wrote: 

Forget Bubka, forget Lavillenie. Pole vault has just one name: Duplantis. 

It was in fact the name of the post. This is all the more true today. Duplantis has brought pole vault to unimaginable heretofore heights. Winning the world title was a pure formality, which he did by clearing 6.00 m. He then went on to break the championships record with 6.06 m and then he offered us a superb world record at 6.21 m. Reigning world champion S. Kendricks was absent having undergone knee surgery at the beginning of May. E. Karalis could not repeat his success of Tokyo and exited at the qualifiers. E. Obiena won his first major medal finishing third on count-back form Nilsen at 5.94 m (an area record). E. Sasma, an athlete that I follow, did not disappoint me this time jumping a national record of 5.80 m. There were, as usual, stupid comments on tv concerning the records established outdoors versus ones established indoors. For those ignorant purists the outdoors records are the "real" one. I find such statements ridiculous. Pushing their skewed logic to the limit we should attribute greater value to records established against a strong wind and/or under pouring rain. This is pure malarkey. A record requires optimal conditions and for the vertical jumps they are guaranteed indoors. Now it happens that Duplantis is so great a pole vaulter that he can break his own record outdoors. But, as I said, Duplantis is unique. 

The last time a woman threw the shot over 21 m was in 2011 when Dame Valerie Adams won the world title in Daegu with 21.24 m. Since then, a 20+ throw is an occasion for celebration and Lisovskaya's 22.63 m world record appears as something out of this world. Be that as it may, the world title was won by C. Ealey with a 20.49 m throw while L. Gong added another medal, this time a silver, to her rich collection, with 20.39 m.

The men's event saw a US medal sweep, Crouser, who was the pre-championships favourite, winning just by a slim margin: 22.94 to 22.89 m of Kovacs. T. Walsh could not make it to the podium this time. In fact bronze medalist J. Awotunde had three throws better than Walsh's 22.08 m the best being 22.29 m. J. Gill, a thrower I am following, was once again a finalist of the event, but I am not sure whether he will one day attain the podium. 

I am really uncomfortable writing about the women's discus. Just as in the women's javelin last year a lucky throw by a so-so thrower sufficed in order to carry away the gold medal.  B. Feng is a 65-66 m thrower and yet she managed a 69.12 m throw on her first attempt killing the event. Of course, Perkovic and Allman have only themselves to blame: being 70+ throwers could only manage 68.45 and 68.30 respectively and had to settle for silver and bronze. Reigning world champion Y. Pérez could only throw 63 m finishing seventh.

As the championships were approaching K. Ceh looked more and more as the favourite for the title. He confirmed it in Eugene winning with a championships record of 71.13 m. I think that breaking the world record is within his capabilities. The surprise came from 20-years-old M. Alekna who is already flirting with 70 m and obtained silver in Eugene with a 69.27 m throw. This time reigning champion D. Stahl could not attain the podium being beaten there by the 2017 champion A. Gudzius 67.55 to 67.10 m. F. Dacres was once more disappointing finishing ninth with just 64.85 m. 

K. Barber doubled her gold medals in women's javelin throw retaining with 66.91 m the world title she had won in Doha. I must say that it is a little bit sad to see major titles won with 66 m throws. The post Spotakova-Abakumova-Obergfoll era is poor in performances and M. Andrejczyk who looked, as their heir after her 71.40 m throw, is plagued by injuries and it is not clear whether she will one day realise her full potential. She was out in the qualifiers in Eugene with 55.47 m throw. Ditto for E. Tzengko who could manage only 57.12 despite having a 65.40 m personal best established at the end of May. H. Liu, the asian record holder was also out with 57.59 m. S. Liu, the olympic "lucky" winner of last year, was second up to the last throw but was pushed out of the medals by K. Winger and H. Kitaguchi: 64.05, 63.27 and 63.25 m for the three of them.

It's really pathetic to see such great champions like Y. Yego and K. Walcott being unable to throw 80 m and exit in the qualifiers. Fortunately the new generation is here and confirming their great talent. A, Peters retained the title he had won in Doha with three 90+ throws winning with 90.54 m. N. Chopra proved that his olympic gold was not a fluke and obtained silver with 88.13 m. I kept an eye open for O. Helander who had recently thrown 89.83 m, but he was rather disappointing with 82.24 m, placing eighth. With Vetter and Rohler injured and Hoffman out in the qualifiers Weber was the only representative of the german javelin school and finished fourth with 86.86 m. A. Nadeem finished fifth, just as in Tokyo, and I intend to keep an eye open for him. We may have a new Chopra there.

Women's hammer throw was an open event due to the absence of A. Wlodarczyk, recently injured and D. Price, the 2019 winner, who withdrew, despite having contested the US Trials. In the end B. Andersen won with a 78.96 m throw. J. Kassanavoid obtained bronze with 74.86 m, a first major medal in athletics for a native-American woman. If you wonder who was the first native-American man to obtain a similar honour, this means that you are not reading my blog, since I have written about him I don't know how many times. 

Kassanavoid's is the first athletcis medal for a native-Americal woman

Whenever Fajdek and Nowicki confront each other in a championship it is very difficult to make predictions. But you expect them to dominate the event. This happened again in Eugene with Fajdek taking early on the control of the event and winning with 81.98 m with Nowicki throwing 81.03 m for silver. Te bronze medal went to last year's olympic silver medalist  E. Henriksen with 80.87 m. This was just a permutation of the Tokyo podium with Fajdek going from third to first. C. Frantzeskakis reached the final, something only three other greek athletes managed in Eugene, but in the end he was ninth with 77.04 m, just one metre off his personal best.

Just in case you find that these reports of mine do not suffice there are two excellent series of articles on the World Championships at Track and Field News and RunBlogRun. And of course the site of World Athletics gives the official results in full detail.