Reasonable results, but Feofanova getting fewer votes (by far!) than Guevara,"Not terribly impressive"? She went under 50 seven times, including a 49.16! That's only .06 away from making the all-time top ten. And let's not forget that the world record was set by an East German, and half of the top 10 marks were set by Soviet-bloc athletes, and we all know what that means. (Standard disclaimer: No, I'm not implying that non-Commie athletes are pristine. In fact, I'm starting to wonder if any of them are.)
who may have beaten everybody but running not terribly impressive 400s, whereas
feofanova was much better qualitatively, shows that a certain American bias
still exists when the panel votes.
I realize Feofanova's best mark was 2nd all-time, but I think the voters probably still view the PV as an event that still isn't quite as mature as the 400. If anything, it is an anti-women's pole vault bias, and one that at this point is still justified, but probably won't be within five years or less.
--
Lee Nichols
Assistant News Editor
The Austin Chronicle
512/454-5766, ext. 138
fax 512/458-6910
http://austinchronicle.com
