Craig Pickering

[white lightning]

That is so funny.I was telling my friends the same thing everytime they show Oden.He looks like Father Time.Lebron James was also the oldest looking high school kid ever.He looks like an old man.It makes you wonder if it's a combo of the special vitamins and that they mature quicker.Basically they get old really fast!

As for Craig.He will be just fine.He is run a 10.15,a 10.16,and a 10.14 now in three of his last four races.That is very good.Remember,he is nowhere near his peak yet.No one is expecting him to go sub 10 on a consistant basis.That is a couple of years away although I think he will be at that level next year.It is all about little progressions when your that fast and to me,his ability to be consistant is more important.He has had no wind to speak of in the races to give him any help.In those three races I mentioned above,add a good tail wind and he is in the 10.05 range.
He is far from done.Trust me on that.

 

[jaxvid]

I don't think Pickering is "done" and I agree he has a lot of racing in him.

I'm a fan that's why I hate to see him lose.

It makes us look like chumps when there are 8 white guys and the black guy wins. Edited by: jaxvid

 

[freedom1]

It said in the report on Track and Field News that he came in with a back injury.

That aside, he's right where he should be for a non-steroidal, 20-year-old white guy (blacks mature faster). He's now consistently in the 10.1s in under less than ideal conditions.

 

[albinosprint]

i think he is coming along great.

 

[Maple Leaf]

White lightning, I agree with your "little progressions" statement. To truly perfect any athletic endeavour so much attention must be placed to the finest detail. It also takes an accute awareness from the athlete themselves or the coach to analyse and learn and make the small adjustments necessary to improve.

 

[waterbed]

i hope the next race he is in he got a good pushing wind and can lower his PB.The wind seems to be always like 0.0 0.1 or 0.2 when he races.LOL

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

So his personal best in the 60 meters is 6.55?

He needs to run a 6.5 flat in the first 60 meters if he is going to go sub 10 IMO. If he can perfect and gain more consistancy in his start, I predict we will see him go sub 10 by the '08 Olympics.

From what I hear his steady improvement in closing speed in the straightaway is what has led to his consistent 10.1x's not improvement in his start. Do you guys agree?Edited by: ToughJ.Riggins

 

[white lightning]

It is actually his improvement of his start.He ran in the 6.80 range just a year ago.He now is running 6.55's like clock work which has thus far lowered his p.b. to a solid 10.14! The big thing is that he has had bad conditions,a sore back and just no wind to speak of.He even ran his 10.16 in the pooring rain.In the right conditions,he will go under 10.10 soon.As far as your prediction of a sub 10 by next year.I agree 100%.

Pickering may even do it this year but I will stay conservative and say he will top out between 10.05 to 10.10 range.That would still be a hell of a progression.He won't turn 21 until October.Time is on his side as he will get alot faster for at least another 6 years at the minimum!

 

[white is right]

Yes his start has improved markedly. I am slightly disappointed because with his times in less than ideal conditions I figured he could do a low 10.0X with a good wind and hot weather. So far it hasn't happened. Also he may have peaked out as he has had a long campaign. The Brits that have been doing better than him lately hardly campaigned in the indoor season. Anyway his potential is greater than any non black prospect since Shirvington. I am quietly optimistic about his future....

 

[white lightning]

It's funny that you say quietly because sometimes I feel the same way.It's almost like he will get the Shirvo,Macro,Nagel Jinx or something.I would just want to throw up if this kid didn't at least run a few sub 10's before it is all said and done.It's like something weird is going to happen like usual.

Ok.No more crazy thoughts or bad energy!


CRAIG PICKERING WILL GO SUB 10 AND WIN MEDALS IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

Damn,that felt good to just speak what I believe will happen.I don't care what anyone says.I know my track and this kid is just too talented to fail.I can't wait to see peoples jaws drop world wide when he does and they try to explain how he must have some african heritage or something.It's just not possible.Hahaha.

 

[freedom1]

Does anyone know when his next major meet will be?

 

[white lightning]

This weekend at the England Track & Field Championships.

 

[albinosprint]

if he breaks 10 the buzz will be he is on steroids. in high school that's all I would hear when I won. fortunately at 6' & 165 lbs it was hard one to believe.

 

[Colonel Callan]

CRAIG PICKERING WILL GO SUB 10 AND WIN MEDALS IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

I have no doubt you are correct. What he needs to do is keep his attention
focused on himself and stay away from all the negative buzz, the ever
helpful MSM telling him he can't do certain things. He makes the
breakthrough, and other kids with more talent than Pickering will follow - in
Europe. The US kids endure the brunt of the brainwashing and will have to
see more than one example to "get over the hump".

 

[white is right]

It's funny that you say quietly because sometimes I feel the same way.It's almost like he will get the Shirvo,Macro,Nagel Jinx or something.I would just want to throw up if this kid didn't at least run a few sub 10's before it is all said and done.It's like something weird is going to happen like usual.

Ok.No more crazy thoughts or bad energy!


CRAIG PICKERING WILL GO SUB 10 AND WIN MEDALS IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

Damn,that felt good to just speak what I believe will happen.I don't care what anyone says.I know my track and this kid is just too talented to fail.I can't wait to see peoples jaws drop world wide when he does and they try to explain how he must have some african heritage or something.It's just not possible.Hahaha.

I think the reason why these guys have failed is numbers since about the early 80's white sprint prospects have dried up to a trickle and prospects that have failed or only marginally succeeded have been magnified. Parallels to this are in heavyweight boxing prior to the recent Soviet domination. Now in heavyweight boxing for every good American prospect(if there arey any good American ones?) they are probably 3 good Soviet ones. Ps I would also include Ian Mackie in that list as he semi-finaled at 21 in 96' and did virtually nothing after that result.

 

[white lightning]

That is a very good point white is right. If and when we can get large numbers of white sprinters worldwide competing again on a regular basis, we will see alot more world and olympic champions. Especially from the big countries like the United States.

I feel Craig dropping a really fast time this weekend if we can just get some warm weather. England is known for cold and wet weather which equals slow to average times. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.It would be a disaster if he didn't finish in the top three.

My prediction will be that he makes the team ane runs a new p.b. of 10.07! I'm hoping that the BBC or Euro Sport might have some coverage of this weekend. Good luck to my favorite sprinter period,Pickering! He can shock the world and open alot of eyes!

Edited by: white lightning

 

[devans]

This weekend at the England Track & Field Championships.

It's actually the UK or British Championships, not English. So Athletes from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be competing. It is on the BBC, and I will post some links to any highlights I find on their web site.

 

[waterbed]

i saw pickering running on BBC he did run a 10.29 in the semi final with a -0.9 wind .in the final he was second with a time of 10.32 into a -2.0 wind.he said that he was happy with the result because he head same back problems.Edited by: white lightning

 

[white lightning]

Craig was winning damn near the whole race but just didn't lean at the tape. I don't think he knew until it was too late as he was in lane 6 and the weather was horrible. He probably just assumed he had the race won.I'm worried about his back problems but at least he is still very young. It has been a long season but the most important races are still to come. The cold weather doesn't help either. What is with the weather in England? Anyways,he still looked as good as anyone and even Allan Wells is believing in this kid.

He next races August 3rd at the London Grand Prix.This race is loaded with T.Gay,J.Ross and F.Obikwelu.I hope he is able to run and post another p.b. before Osaka.Then he really needs to rest.

Edited by: white lightning

 

[white is right]

Craig was winning damn near the whole race but just didn't lean at the tape. I don't think he knew until it was too late as he was in lane 6 and the weather was horrible. He probably just assumed he had the race won.I'm worried about his back problems but at least he is still very young. It has been a long season but the most important races are still to come. The cold weather doesn't help either. What is with the weather in England? Anyways,he still looked as good as anyone and even Allan Wells is believing in this kid.

He next races August 3rd at the London Grand Prix.This race is loaded with T.Gay,J.Ross and F.Obikwelu.I hope he is able to run and post another p.b. before Osaka.Then he really needs to rest.

Yes if he based his off season training camp in Arizona I know his pb would be about 10.0X and with luck maybe a high 9.9X. I recall until Powell's drug fueled 9.7X(I assuming he was drugged last season), the British allcomers alltime best was barely under 10.0.Edited by: white is right

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

I still don't think Pickering will ever have quite the closing speed of Asafa Powell or Maurice Greene. That kind of closing speed I have only seen in a
"very select few" black sprinters. I still think to go sub 10 by the 2008 Olympics, he will have to run a 6.50 for the first 60 meters.

I could see him running a 9.9 though by the 2012 Olympics if he runs a 6.5 in the first 60 meters b/c his closing speed will be at it's peak around those Olympics. I would love it if he upset the field and won a gold with a 9.95-9.90 flat which I predict will be his PB he will top out at. It's the 2012 and 2016 Olympics we should really be looking forward to for him.

The best thing about it is that he will do it clean IMO and that would rank him as an all time great above so many guys overshadowed by steroid speculation.

For a white guy to run a 9.9 flat would raise a lot of eyebrows. Other than West Africans and maybe Australian Aborigines no group is as fast as Caucasians IMO. That would include even East Africans or Indigenous Americans. I would be quite happy with this result especially if he does it in an Olympic final and grabs a gold!

Edited by: ToughJ.Riggins

 

[Angelcynn]

I thought aborigines are more distant runners than explosive short distant runners? Like you say Middle West Africans are the fastest. A good example of this is that the best South African 100m sprinters are normally always white because Southern Africans are not as atheletic as the Mid-West Africans. As for Craig, after such a great start I was dissapointed he didn't win but 2nd is still great and he's still got all the time he needs to improve.

 

[jacknyc]

Criag definitely has room for improvement.
Not only is he young, but his form is still not very good. If he can work on this, while continuing to grow and mature physically, I think he could go sub 10 in the years to come....And more than just once.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

i am certainly not a track expert so i hope i'm not stepping on any toes, but i recall several articles from the indoor season quoting Craig as saying his closing speed was the difference.


he felt like his closing speed was his best attritbute, and it was his horrible starts that kept him from running even faster in the 60. he said he didn't hit his top gear until he ran the 100.


it was histop end speedthat put him with Europe's elite, he said, and his start was what really hurts him.


is that wrong?

 

[jacknyc]

Yes, that's basically true. Generally, he has very good closing speed, but not so good starts.
However, he did have a very good start at the UK Trials yesterday.
So he needs to continue to work on his start, but also to work on his running form which is sloppy and a bit raw. All these little things, along with his physical maturation, can push him closer to 10 flat and the elite sprinting level.