Y ask Y: Kansas Relays reports: LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Yuriy Syedikh (Yur-ee Sid-yeak), the world record holder in the men's hammer throw with a mark of 284-7 will compete at the 2001 Kansas Relays, "An Olympic Return." Syedikh, a former Track and Field News athlete of the year, has had over 204 documented throws over 80 meters. Syedikh is a veteran of multiple Olympic teams for the Soviet Union. The Bill Penny hammer throw takes place on April 19 at 5 pm just outside Memorial Stadium. "As far as athletes go and as far as the hammer throw goes this guy is an absolute legend," Kansas Relays meet director Tim Weaver said. "I've seen studies done that have marked consistency over time and this guy ranks above Michael Johnson as far as athletic excellence. They don't get much bigger then Yuriy and I hope that we have enough field to contain his throws." Me again: It's not likely that YS will throw 80 meters at Kansas, but if he's in good shape he'll have a good shot at the world age-group record for me 45-49. (He was born June 11, 1955.) The current M45 WAVA record is 64.70 (212-3) by American Dave McKenzie on 6- 4-95. YS already holds the M40 record at 75.66 (248-3) on 6-29-95. In addition, Sanda Farmer Patrick is set to run the 400 hurdles at Kansas. She's 38, having been born August 8, 1962. The single-age world record for 38 is 62.82 by Leonie Louwrens of South Africa on 7-19-97. That's a soft record. WAVA records in that event: W35 52.94 Marina Stepanova(URS) 36 9/17/86 W40 62.08 Maria Sangous Espina(ESP) 40 6/22/95 Ken Stone http://www.masterstrack.com
