The Tokyo World Championships: who's in and who's out

Having written an article after the US Trials commenting on the athletes that would not make the team, I felt compelled, once the final composition of the US team for Tokyo was announced, to compare my comments with the final formation. I will definitely not present an exhaustive list of all champions that will miss this year's World Championships. (Had that been the case I should have started with France's only Paris Olympics athletics medallist, Samba-Mayela, who will miss Tokyo due to injuries). I will concentrate on the US athletes, with just one exception (but more on this later).

To my eyes there is one "huge" absence from this year's World's: Joe Kovacs. He finished 4th at the US Trials in a competition where he was leading from the first to the third throw, was  second up to the fifth throw only to be passed in the last throw by two competitors, relegating him to the fourth position. (It is funny that 5 among the 8 finalists had their best throw in their last attempt. Not so Kovacs, who could not reply to the throws of Awotunde and Otterdahl). And, at the end of August, Kovacs went on to win the Diamond League final, beating Otterdahl and Piperi who had denied him the national selection. Now, normally, the winner of the Diamond League gets a wild card for the championship. But, unfortunately for Kovacs, a country can only have up to 4 representatives, including wild cards. And in the case of men's shot put, the US have already one wild card for the defending world champion, Ryan Crouser. So, Kovacs is definitely out. (Those who follow my blog certainly know that I am a big fan of Crouser. But Crouser, plagued by elbow problems, has not thrown even once in 2025. I just hope that the wild card, that would have allowed Kovacs to go for a third world title, would not be wasted). 

People were giving a non-negligible chance to J. Nuguse for a wild card qualification for Tokyo, after a victory in Zürich. However having seen the finish of Laros in the 1500 m in Brussels I was convinced that Nuguse did not stand a chance. This is exactly what happened. And with the condition of Ingebrigtsen being a mystery, I think that Laros has a serious chance for the world title. While Nuguse did not get a wild card there was another american athlete who profited from one. Before Zürich I remember reading in some article that V. Norwood stood a chance to make the US team if he won the Diamond League final. Well, they had missed the most probable way for Norwood to qualify. It was J. Patterson, who had won the US Trials (and is the second performer of the year over 400 m) who did win the Diamond, obtained a wild card, and opened the way for Norwood to join the US team. 

In my comments I had missed two important points. I made a whole fuss concerning the tactics of the Moll sisters in pole vault, forgetting one important thing: at 4.73 m, with just four athletes left, all of them had secured a spot in the team. K. Moon had a wild card, being the reigning champion (well, co-champion, to be precise). So, both Amanda and Hana Moll were in, and they could take any risk they wished with the remaining heights. The other wild card I had missed was that of B. Andersen in women's hammer throw. She had obtained it by being the best performer in the Continental Tour (the women's hammer not being part of the Diamond League circuit). Thus both Kassanavoid and Richeson made the team (which is somehow fair since, in the Trials, they were separated by just 2 cm). 

If you peruse the list of the medalists of the US Trials you'll find that there are athletes absent from the team. Most of them, like J. Lawson in the long jump or D. Simon in the javelin throw, could not qualify because they had not realised the minimum entry standard and were too far in the world rankings. You can verify this through the Road to Tokyo page in the World Athletics website, but bear in mind that it was not updated so as to include the Diamond League wild cards. 

Britanny Brown did obtain a wild card for the 200 m by winning in Zürich's final. But since Gabby Thomas had announced her non-participation due to injury, Brown's wild card offered to McKenzie Long a spot in the team. So, the two sprinters that were denied a selection for 1 and 2 milliseconds respectively, ended up making the team. Thomas has been in the limelight recently having declared that the coaches involved in doping offences should be banned for life. As expected, Thomas' inflammatory words sparked a huge controversy on the media. The one remark that I did not expect was that of multiple doping offender J. Gatlin. But in this case I must admit that Gatlin had a point. For him there were not the comments but their timing that was badly chosen. Had Thomas made those comments after winning gold in the 2024 Olympics, things would have been different. But after a season where she was regularly beaten by Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, Thomas' remarks look as they were addressed at Jefferson-Wooden and her coach (Dennis Mitchell, who was also the coach of Gatlin and was involved in doping controversies). 

The other absence from Tokyo, among the athletes who had already qualified, is that of Aleia Hobbs in the 100 m, opening the road for Twanisha Terry. Finally, reading in detail all the entries for the US team, I found out that I had made another pessimistic prediction: Britton Wilson is, after all, member of the team for the 4x400 m women's relay. She may even run in the heats, so, if the US win a medal, she will have a share in it. 

And now it's time for the exception I alluded to at the beginning of this post. I had a look at the composition of the Jamaican team and I was astonished when I did not see the name of R. Stona, who had won the men discus event at last year's Olympics. On the other hand I remembered well having seen him participate in international competitions and have thrown over 70 m. I decided to dig further and I discovered that Stona, together with olympic medallists Rajindra Campbell and Wayne Pinnock, as well as triple jump talent Jaydon Hibbert, who at 19 years of age finished 4th last year in Paris, had switched alliance form Jamaica to Turkey. (There was a signing bonus of reportedly half a million dollars, and the agreement included a monthly stipend and huge bonuses for medals won at major championships). Stona pointed out that his financial struggles had led him to first consider abandoning athletics for american football and, in the end, opting for the transfer of alliance. It goes without saying that, according to the rules, the four ex-jamaican athletes, will not be allowed to participate in major championships for three years (but can represent Türkiye at 2028 Olympics).

PS The entry list for the Tokyo World Championships are out and I would like to remark that Kovacs, figures prominently in the list. This is due to the fact that a country can enter one more athlete as "reserve". This means that if Crouser is not able to compete, Kovacs will be allowed to participate as the fourth US athlete, thanks to his wild card. 

The Balkan Games (aka Balkan Athletics Championships)

This a subject of pure nostalgia. 

Just picture a (very) young Athletics fan back in the 50s. No internet, no TV (in Greece), athletics being barely mentioned in the radio and the single source of information being the unique sports-centric greek newspaper "Athlitiki Icho". (The "Equipe" was available in Greece at that time, with a one-day delay, but regularly purchasing it was beyond my pocket money possibilities). So the best way to keep contact with Athletics was not to miss any local meeting organised in Athens' region. But these involved only the greek champions. So, whenever an international meeting was held in Athens that was something to celebrate. In this sense the year 1957 was special because we were treated to a double feature. Within a single week at the beginning of October we had first the Balkan Games and five days later the first and only historical meeting Balkans-Scandinavia. Having read about the feats of the Scandinavian athletes in the Melbourne Olympics the previous year, I was really thrilled about the opportunity to see them compete "live" in the Panathenaic Stadium. (And they did not disappoint me. I keep an indelible memory of that event).  

But throughout the decades of the 50s and 60s the most important yearly appointment were the Balkan Games. Now, let's be fair. European championships were first organised in the 30s and in the 50s they were held regularly every four years, with women events being included in the same organisation as that of men's already from 1946. The Mediterranean Games were first held in 1951 and by 1955 they were going strong. The famous annual duel USA-USSR was inaugurated in 1958 and would be held non-stop for over two decades. So, there were several important athletics events attracting the attention of the athletics fans, but, somehow, they all felt "far from home". The Balkan games though, were "our" Games. For greek champions the title of winner of Balkan games was probably the apex of their career. But let's start at the beginning.

The idea of an Athletics competition bringing together the countries of the Balkan peninsula germinated in the 20s (those of the 20th century, obviously). The main proponent was Demetrius Dallas, who came to Greece as a refugee from Smyrna in 1922. He was a lover of athletics and, while still in Smyrna, he was the organiser of the Panionian Games. During the 1924, Paris, Olympics he initiated discussions with the representatives of the other Balkan countries. The rationale was that, given the not-so-high level of the athletes of the Balkan countries, the participation in the Olympics could be a frustrating experience, while a competition among athletes of comparable levels could be much more rewarding. During the athletic congress in Amsterdam, on the occasion of the 1928 Olympics, it was agreed to organise yearly a Balkan Athletics Championship. And, as general rehearsal, the greek athletic federation organised in 1929, in Athens, the games that went down to history as pre-balkanic games, with the participation of Greece, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Romania. Turkey would join the "official" Balkan Games in 1931 (although the turk premier I. Inonu was present at the opening ceremony of the 1930 Games). Albania joined the Games later (some sources give 1933 as the date for the first albanian participation but the date of 1946 is also encountered. Probably the latter corresponds to the date when Albania officially ratified the protocol of the Balkan Games). 

Women joined the Balkan Athletics Championships in 1957 with the great Iolanda Balas winning the high jump 9 consecutive times from 1957 to 1965. (Given that in 1966 the high jump was won with 1.69 m and Balas had jumped 1.76 m in spring, she could have won a tenth title were it not for her torn tendon that forced her to withdraw from the 1966 Europeans and put an end to her career).

There was a hiatus due to the war with no Balkan Games organised during the period 1941-1952. Greece, Turkey and Yugoslavia participated in the first post-war championship in 1953 with Romania and Bulgaria joining the first three in 1956. Albania joined in 1963 but had just five participations up to 1986 (but is regularly participating since). The break-up of Yugoslavia in the 90s was a great perturbation and could have led to the demise of the Balkan Games, all the more so, since the interest in this competition was waning (by that time there was a slew of international competitions and the World Championships had seen the light in 1983). Croatia and Slovenia were reticent at the beginning but in the end they joined the circuit (in 2013 and 2014). Serbia together with Montenegro continued as Yugoslavia up to 2004 where they separated. North Macedonia joined from 1996, as well as Moldova, issued from the dissolution of the Soviet Union, while Bosnia appeared in 1998.

But this perturbation was most probably at the origin of a more relaxed approach towards the Balkan Games. First, it was realised that the strict borders of the Balkan peninsula were too confining a definition as to which country could participate (after all, Slovenia and Moldova are most probably, geographically speaking, non-Balkan countries). Then the obvious ties of Cypriots and Armenians with the Balkan peninsula and the emergence of Kosovo as an independent entity made the abolishment of the geographic criteria inevitable. Thus the Association of Balkan Athletic Federations (ABAF) opened its doors successively to Armenia, Cyprus, Georgia, Israel, Kosovo, San Marino, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Austria and Malta. (I am convinced that the influence of D. Karamarinov who has been president of the ABAF from 2010 to 2021, before becoming president of European Athletics, was instrumental in this opening).

For the participating countries, the Balkan Games is a test-ground for the young and upcoming athletes as well as for the established champions who are seeking a less stressful competition in order to fine-tune their preparation. Thus the competition that was flagging in the 80s is now in full swing with Senior, Junior, U20 (both outdoor and indoor), U18 championships as well as Cross Country, Race Walking, Marathon (and half-Marathon) and even Mountain Running championships.

If you are interested in the history of the Balkan Games there is an excellent article on the site Athletics Podium but even better is the Statsbook they had prepared on the occasion of the 2024 Games. I wrote a laudatory article on this great turkish site two years ago. So, if you are an athletics fan (if not, what are you doing here?) bookmark immediately the Athletics Podium site.

I cannot close this article without a remark on what is missing from the program of specific Balkan Championships: combined events. In fact, when the Balkan games were planned the greek organisers did not wish to include hammer throw (under the pressure of the other countries it became part of the program from 1930). Instead they pushed for the greek-style discus throw, only to see a Bulgarian win five times in a row. (Anyhow, the event was discontinued in 1939). There was also a discussion about a medley relay and in 1929 the program included a 1500-800-400-200 m one, only to be replaced from the next year by a 800-400-200-100 m (balkan?) relay (that was discontinued in 1939). But the astonishing point is that the greek representatives vetoed the inclusion of the decathlon in the Balkan Games. It was only in 1939 that the first decathlon was held in the balkan games, and with the interruption due to the war it had to wait till 1957 before appearing again. At that time the women's pentathlon entered the program as well and was replaced by a heptathlon in 1981. (World record holder of 80 m hurdles, Draga Stamejcic, won the pentathlon seven times between 1957 and 1964). Alas, in 1999 the most unfortunate decision to discontinue the combined events was taken. They disappeared from the program and were not replaced (as in the case of the Marathon) by a specific championship that would gather the best balkan combined-event specialists in the same venue. Fortunately, the ABAF saw the light and reintroduced the combined events in the program of the Balkan Championships from 2014. Hallelujah.

Decathlon2000 goes free

There is something with myself and Decathlon2000. First, the site is perhaps the best english-speaking decathlon site out there. (Just in case you do not get the "english-speaking" addition, I can make clear that the very best decathlon site is the one of my friends' Frédéric and Pierre Gousset, but, alas, in french: Décapassion). Second I am a huge decathlon fan. So, why do I have this reserved attitude when it comes to Decathlon2000? I have been writing my blog for over 10 years before referring for the first time to Decathlon 2000.

I tried to analyse my attitude and I concluded that my relative reticence was due to the fact that Decathlon2000 was for the major part behind a paywall. And I hate paywalls. I can understand it when newspapers do this. After all, they must make a living in the digital era and there is no other way to do this. But when somebody who is writing a blog out of passion tries to monetise it I start bristling. You can call me old-school, but I maintain that passion and money do not go together.

So, again, when I read in Décapassion around the beginning of July that Decathlon2000 was tearing down the paywalls I somehow suppressed the info and did not report right away. Today I am remedying this. Because, let's be fair, Decathlon2000 is the bible of combined events. If you look for statistical data that's the place you should visit. Ditto for historical articles. So from here onwards my attitude towards Decathlon2000 will definitely change. 

I forgot, there is one more thing (the expression is a tribute to the great Steve Jobs). Decathlon2000 is free but accepts donations. And this is something I totally condone. There is nothing more natural when you appreciate something than to make a small gift. So, if you become a regular visitor to J. Salmitsu's site, think about a donation. 

PS. Those who follow my blog have certainly remarked that I am a stickler for details. So I visited the decathlon point and I saw this

Now, why on earth, is there a different format for jumps and for throws? Both are measuring distances. I was thinking about replacing the USATF calculator I have been using for years by that of Decathlon2000 but I am sure that latter will grate on my nerves whenever I will open the window. So I am going to stick with the USATF one for the time being.