Clementine Lucine Calls for Improved Safety Measures at Junior Men’s jump Event. Event. event
The 2024 Masters Water Ski and Wakeboard Tournament was marred by a series of alarming crashes during the Junior Men’s jump event, prompting serious safety concerns from former world record holder and world champion Clementine Lucine.
“Every year, incidents occur that seem to disturb no one, leaving me perplexed and, frankly, terrified at the thought of getting my own children on jumpers and maybe sending them to jump there one day,” shared Lucine, an 18-time Masters competitor.
The event’s troubling start saw Japan’s Jo Nakamura, the first competitor, flirt with the right corner before crashing on the ramp. Shortly after, German Tim Wild also clipped the corner and ended up upside down through the air. Despite these dramatic crashes, both Nakamura and Wild managed to recover and post competitive scores.
The tumult continued with French favorite Tristan Duplan-Fribourg, who was in a tight battle with Jake Abelson for the overall crown. After a pass on his first jump, Duplan-Fribourg missed getting his right ski onto the ramp on his second attempt, resulting in a backward fall. On his third attempt, he had to back off significantly but still ended up collapsing into another backward somersault off the ramp.
Lucine argues that such incidents have become all too common at the US Masters. “Particularly at the junior level, it’s rare to find young athletes who haven’t experienced a crash.”
She speculates on the causes, wondering if the speed, load, and pressure at the bottom of the ramp at the Masters are overwhelming compared to other events. “Is it the ramp? The driver? Are the boats used at the Masters more powerful than those at other events? Is it the prestige of the event that weighs heavily on the minds of young jumpers? Or is there no specific reason?”
Lucine questions whether adequate measures are being taken to ensure the safety of young athletes, suggesting more thorough examinations after a first crash to prevent a potentially fatal second one.
Like many sports, water skiing faces the challenge of safeguarding athletes eager to return to action after a collision or suspected concussion. The IWWF introduced concussion protocols several years ago, but these are not always consistently followed or adhered to.
“Yes, the Masters is THE most prestigious event we have,” Lucine acknowledges. But she insists, “prestige and safety must go hand in hand for success.”
“This year, we narrowly avoided a tragedy, and it seems to be a recurring issue for the past 25 years,” she concluded.
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Mykolas Alekna breaks men’s discus world record with throw of 74.35m
Australian Matthew Denny’s quest to win discus gold at the Paris Olympics got harder, with Mykolas Alekna breaking the oldest world record in men’s track and field.
The Lithuanian powerhouse took advantage of windy conditions in the unlikely setting of Ramona, Oklahoma, on Monday AEST, to set a new mark of 74.35 metres.
The previous best of 74.08m was set by German Juergen Schult way back in 1986.
Having finished fourth at last year’s world championships and the Tokyo Olympics, Denny is a serious medal contender at the Paris Games.
But if he is to secure top spot on the podium, the Queenslander will need to find a way past reigning world and Olympic champion Daniel Stahl from Sweden, as well as Alekna, who at just 21 is six years younger than the Australian.
“I’ve said my focus was to win the Olympics and a lot of people haven’t taken that too seriously,” Denny said after his record-breaking throw on Saturday.
“Which is fair enough considering I’m fourth in the order right now, fourth in the rankings and I haven’t broken that 70-metre mark.
“Today we didn’t have huge winds or anything.
“That’s a replicable (sic) throw in an Olympics and that changes my argument on being competitive and looking for that win in Paris.”
Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-15/mykolas-alekna-breaks-men-discus-world-record/103708542
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Torrie Lewis, Ebony Lane, Bree Masters, and Ella Connolly break national 4x100m record to secure Olympics spot for Australia
A squad anchored by Australia’s fastest woman Torrie Lewis has smashed the national 4x100m record for the second time this year to claim an automatic spot at the Paris Olympics.
Racing at the World Relays meet in the Bahamas, Ebony Lane, Bree Masters, Ella Connolly and Lewis clocked 42.83 seconds to finish second in their heat behind Germany.
It was the fifth fastest overall time, with the top two in each heat advancing to the final and guaranteeing their places for the Olympics in early August.
“I think we all had a lot of trust in each other, so we said, you know what, let’s just relax, we’ve done the work and we’ve done this a million times,” Connolly said.
“Let’s just go do this and qualify for the Olympics together.”
The same quartet had flagged they were destined for great things by running 42.94 at the Sydney Track Classic in late March, breaking an Australian standard that had stood for 24 years.
Lewis, 19, is also well placed to contest either the individual 100m or 200m in Paris.
The US women were fastest in the Bahamas qualifying round in 42.21.
Australia’s 4x100m men went within a whisker of also claiming an automatic Olympic slot on day one at the World Relays.
The young team of Sebastian Sultana, Jacob Despard, Calab Law and Joshua Azzopardi clocked 38.50, only to be pipped for second spot by Jamaica in a photo finish.
They have another chance to shore up an Olympic berth in the repechage round on Monday (AEST).
“Jamaica have always been such a powerhouse team, so to even be in the same conversation with them is kind of surreal,” Azzopardi said.
“If we run roughly the same time tomorrow, then we should be going to Paris but we will need to execute and run to our full potential.”
If they are successful in that quest, Australia’s leading male sprinter Rohan Browning would be added to the relay squad in Paris.
An American team including world 100m and 200m champ Noah Lyles led the automatic qualifiers in 37.49 — the fastest time in the world this year.
Australia’s men’s and women’s 4x400m squads will contest the repechage rounds in the Bahamas on Sunday.
Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-05/torrie-lewis-and-team-break-4×100-national-record/103807212
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