On Sunday World Athletics presented us with another edition of the Ultimate Garden Clash. This time it was a competition between three decathletes, World champion and record holder K. Mayer, world champion N. Kaul and world vice-champion M. Uibo. As in the previous Garden Clash events the three athletes were competing in their respective training base.
I did enjoy the previous Garden Clash events but I found this last one even more interesting. Watching close to a 100 times pole vaults can lack excitement in the long run. The 10+10+5 minutes formula is, and by far, more interesting.
In the first event the athletes had to vault over 4 m. For Mayer and Uibo who have a personal best at 5.45 and 5.40 m respectively that was a pure formality. In fact Mayer was jumping with just a seven stride run-up. Despite having started later by more than 20 seconds Mayer carried the first event with 17 successful jumps (somehow he managed to miss one). Uibo was second with 15 and Kaul (whose personal best is a mere 5.00 m) was third with 14.
Then came the shot put where the athletes had to throw over 12 m. It was a mere formality for everyone since all three have personal bests over 15 m (Mayer's is an impressive 17.08 m). The difficulty here came from the fact that they had to chase the shot and come back to the throwing circle. Mayer again dominated the event with 28 throws while Kaul and Uibo had 22 and 20 respectively.
At this stage of the competition it was clear that Mayer was going to win. The last event was a 5 minutes' shuttle run between two pegs situated at a distance of 20 m. Kaul, being the best of the three over 1500 m, had a definite advantage, and although he did manage to beat Mayer in the end their difference was a meagre 1 lap, 27 to 26. In fact Mayer was keeping up with Kaul up to the very last laps. Uibo had to contend with the third overall place (with 26 laps). Kaul was second, scoring three points more than Uibo, with Mayer dominating the events with 8 points more than the second.
I did like the structure of this competition a lot. It is testing, following the ideas of Gaston Meyer, the overall value of a decathlete (except speed, but I do not see how a speed event can be incorporated to such a repetition-based formula). It is in the spirit of the triathlon events that Mayer would like to see incorporated in major competition circuits, like the Diamond League. While the triathlons Mayer is talking about would be more speed-force oriented ones, a Garden Clash like one is more force-stamina oriented.
With the adequate changes it could even become a competition event. One can imagine a fixed number of successful attempts, for instance 3, at heights that increase regularly, say by 10 cm every time, the last height determining the points of the athlete. Same for the throwing event, where the athlete will have to succeed repeatedly progressively increasing distances. And I would prefer discus throw which is more difficult technically and will ask the thrower to fetch back the implement from further away. Finally a 1500 m run would complete the event. But of course, as soon as the restrictions are over, we shall forget the Garden Clash events and go back to business as usual.
I must admit that I am looking forward to the day (sometimes in August if the current planning does not get disrupted) where we'll be able to watch the world elite participate in major competitions. In the meantime I cross my fingers for WA to offer us another Garden Clash combined event, this time with the participation of the best heptathletes.
I did enjoy the previous Garden Clash events but I found this last one even more interesting. Watching close to a 100 times pole vaults can lack excitement in the long run. The 10+10+5 minutes formula is, and by far, more interesting.
In the first event the athletes had to vault over 4 m. For Mayer and Uibo who have a personal best at 5.45 and 5.40 m respectively that was a pure formality. In fact Mayer was jumping with just a seven stride run-up. Despite having started later by more than 20 seconds Mayer carried the first event with 17 successful jumps (somehow he managed to miss one). Uibo was second with 15 and Kaul (whose personal best is a mere 5.00 m) was third with 14.
Then came the shot put where the athletes had to throw over 12 m. It was a mere formality for everyone since all three have personal bests over 15 m (Mayer's is an impressive 17.08 m). The difficulty here came from the fact that they had to chase the shot and come back to the throwing circle. Mayer again dominated the event with 28 throws while Kaul and Uibo had 22 and 20 respectively.
At this stage of the competition it was clear that Mayer was going to win. The last event was a 5 minutes' shuttle run between two pegs situated at a distance of 20 m. Kaul, being the best of the three over 1500 m, had a definite advantage, and although he did manage to beat Mayer in the end their difference was a meagre 1 lap, 27 to 26. In fact Mayer was keeping up with Kaul up to the very last laps. Uibo had to contend with the third overall place (with 26 laps). Kaul was second, scoring three points more than Uibo, with Mayer dominating the events with 8 points more than the second.
I did like the structure of this competition a lot. It is testing, following the ideas of Gaston Meyer, the overall value of a decathlete (except speed, but I do not see how a speed event can be incorporated to such a repetition-based formula). It is in the spirit of the triathlon events that Mayer would like to see incorporated in major competition circuits, like the Diamond League. While the triathlons Mayer is talking about would be more speed-force oriented ones, a Garden Clash like one is more force-stamina oriented.
With the adequate changes it could even become a competition event. One can imagine a fixed number of successful attempts, for instance 3, at heights that increase regularly, say by 10 cm every time, the last height determining the points of the athlete. Same for the throwing event, where the athlete will have to succeed repeatedly progressively increasing distances. And I would prefer discus throw which is more difficult technically and will ask the thrower to fetch back the implement from further away. Finally a 1500 m run would complete the event. But of course, as soon as the restrictions are over, we shall forget the Garden Clash events and go back to business as usual.
I must admit that I am looking forward to the day (sometimes in August if the current planning does not get disrupted) where we'll be able to watch the world elite participate in major competitions. In the meantime I cross my fingers for WA to offer us another Garden Clash combined event, this time with the participation of the best heptathletes.
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