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Sidelines Kalani Simpson |
Rabinowitz sets stage
for showdownSO now, we wait.
We have to hold on and see if Hawaii's biggest sporting event in years will actually happen.
Tyson?
No. We talked about this on Friday.
Erwin.
Our Erwin Jaskulski's world-record time for 100 meters at 100 years old (36.49 seconds) was beaten Saturday in Cape Town, South Africa, by "Flying Phil" Rabinowitz.
This time, Phil didn't outrun the electronic timing mechanism (its failing foiled his last attempt), and was clocked at 30.86 -- if the official certification people sign off on it, a world record. Cool.
And as you know, Phil has already been invited to the Hawaii Senior Olympics in November, to run against Erwin in what would be a glorious Showdown of the Centenarians.
Can you imagine it?
But now we have to wait and see. That is several months away, and, after all, these guys are more than 100 years old.
And while it seemed a near- (or at least much nearer) certainty before Phil had the record, now it sounds like he's looking forward to a break.
He's softened.
"He would probably still consider a visit to Hawaii, and would love to meet Erwin," said South African journalist Eben Human, who covered Flying Phil's training and was there for the record-setting run.
But first Phil is going to take a trip to Australia -- where he is also a big hit -- to visit family members and get back to just walking, get away from the track for a while.
Take some time to come down from the high of that record sprint.
"Every time I go, I break my own record. I get younger and younger," Phil said in a BBC account.
But the key quote was what he said immediately before that: "I don't know how long it is going to be like this."
So he's going to enjoy himself on this latest Australian vacation, take some time before he seriously considers a trip across the globe -- so far away our clocks are exactly 12 hours ahead of theirs -- at his age.
In fact he's hurting a little, after the big run. He was so excited he threw himself into extra training and gave himself a slight groin pull. He ran with it, set the record with it.
"Gave his coach quite a fright," Human said.
So they're even. Erwin set his record after a nasty fall during warm-ups, running with stitches, and, some believe, a broken rib (but we'll never know, because he was a tough guy and refused X-rays).
After a couple months off? I'm betting if he's healthy you couldn't keep Phil away.
"He is a great admirer of Jaskulski," Human said.
But we -- and he -- will wait and see.
One more thing. Hawaii Senior Olympics president Mark Zeug said Erwin and Phil look like brothers. We know they are, with this unique bond they share. But there's more:
"I looked at a map," Human said. "And it looks like they were born only about (186 miles) apart in a region that was part of old Russia."
"It was fun writing copy on the old dudes," Human said. "Now back to serious stuff."
Are you kidding? It's summertime.
I'm milking this.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com