I’M EXCITED TO SEE that the IAAF and the Daegu organizers have combined to come up with a radically revamped schedule for next year’s World Championships. If you check out a list of the finals (see chart at end) you’ll quickly see what I mean.

First, there’s the return of what is, in essence, a rest day (just one walk; nothing in the stadium). That’s great, bulking up the program on the rest of the days. We hated it when the rest day disappeared in ’95.

But here’s the real biggie. When’s the last time you were at a meet of any level where the 4x4 didn’t finish things off? Like never?

For Americans it can/should likely be viewed as a move in the wrong direction. Why? Psychological reasons: no matter how poorly the rest of a World Champs/Olympic Games may have gone for Uncle Sam’s troops, wrapping things up with a pair of golds in the last two events tends to have U.S. fans and athletes alike leaving town with smiles on their faces.