Archived Homepage For March 30, 2022

Distance News

Runner's World: How Texas' Yaseen Abdalla Rose From Walk-On to NCAA Champion Abdalla split 3:55 to get Texas the DMR win at NCAA Indoors, but his PR was only 4:19 in high school.
Keely Hodgkinson's Art Will Feature In A London “The Art of the Athlete” Exhibition Art sales will go towards two organizations that support athletes and coaches.
Japan Names Their "Best Ever" Marathon Team For Eugene Worlds National record holder Kengo Suzuki (2:05:28) leads the men's team while Mizuki Matsuda (2:20:52) leads the women.
Eliud Kipchoge Talks About Mental Health And Explains How He Always Stays So Positive "I think the mental stress with sports men and women actually is increasing and it's unfortunate. But it's a result of living or being surrounded by negative people. ...I've been surrounded for the last 18 years with positive people, both in sport and outside the sport."

Anti-Doping News

The International Testing Agency To Test Delivering Anti-Doping Samples Via Drone There would be multiple advantages of drone delivery including having samples handled by fewer people, decreasing the possibility of tampering with samples.
WADA Research Survey Finds Need For Rapid Physical Development The Biggest Factor In Doping Isn't this kind of like saying having a cough is the biggest factor in people who take cough medicine?

On The Boards

Japan Road Racing Vs COVID

Hellen Obiri (64:48) And Rodgers Kwemoi (59:15) Win At The Istanbul Half-Marathon

Obiri beat Tsehay Gemechu (65:52) by over a minute and her time was the 10th fastest half-marathon ever (her 64:22 PB has her #5 on the all-time list).

AW Extensive Weekly Round-Up: Two-Time World Champ Muktar Edris (28:31) And Francine Niyonsaba (32:01) Win At The San Anton Nigh Race 10k In Spain Another interesting result was world indoor 800m champ Mariano Garcia finishing 24th place in 34:41. There was a lot of other weekend road action including Kadar Omar (62:46) and Natasha Cockram (70:47) winning at the Cardiff Half.
Fikre Bekele (2:06:48) And Sechale Dalasa (2:26:09) Win The Run Rome Marathon
MB: CJ Albertson 2:10:28 at the Modesto Marathon According to his Strava, he was DQ'd after the lead bike took him off course.
Athletics Weekly: England Dominate SIAB Schools International XC

NCAA Rankings - Longhorns On Top

Texas Men Start Out #1 In The First NCAA Rankings Of The Outdoor Season Baylor, Texas A&M and USC are ranked 2-4 in these early rankings.
Texas Women Are Ranked #1 In First NCAA Outdoor Rankings Of The Year Texas Tech, LSU and Texas A&M are 2-4.
D1 Program Of The Year Standings Mid-Year Update After two of the three national championships, NAU men lead while BYU and NC State women are tied for first.

Other News

New "Visual Experience Board" At Hayward Field Almost Finished; Largest Permanent Screen For A Track Stadium In The Country The screen features a portrait of former UO coach Bill Hayward with the old grandstands behind him.
Bidding Open For The 2024 World Relay Championships (World Athletics Relays 2024)
USATF Foundation Gives $10,000 Grant To Support Youth Program Fast Feet NYC

This Week's Results / Outdoor Track Gets Going in Earnest This Weekend With Texas & Raleigh Relays

MB: Newbury Park tonight - Colin Sahlman (1:48.84), Aaron (1:48.91), Leo Young (4:00.77), Lex Young (4:04.68)!!
MB: Gabby Thomas 21.69 (WIND AIDED) !!!
MB: Raleigh Relays: Katelyn Tuohy beats the pros and wins 1500 in 4:12 as and Marlee Starliper debuts in 4:23 In the men's 1500 on Thursday, UVA's Wes Porter ran 3:39.
MB: High Schooler Dahlia Frias runs 4:35.06 to win mile over Sadie Engelhardt (4:36.63)
MB: NCAA 800 runner-up Jonathan Jones runs 1:45.83 outdoors season opener @ Texas Relays In other events, Princeton Olympian Ed Trippas won the steeplechase (8:49.11) while Texas' DMR hero Yaseen Abdalla won the 5000 in 13:48.80
MB: Boling runs 10.03, wind legal, 100m personal best
Abdel Laadjel Runs 29:32.92 At Raleigh Relays To Break 52-Year-Old Irish U20 10,000m Record He crushed the 30:17 record by Frank Greally from 1970.
Japan Weekend Track Roundup Steeplechase Olympians Kazuya Shiojiri (7:53.44) and Ryuji Miura (7:55.43) raced over 3000m.
Event-By-Event Top 10 NCAA Marks From The Weekend
Texas Relays is back in full force this year after being limited last year And Texas' studly mid-d squad is racing as is NCAA 800 champ Brandon Miller.
*USTFCCCA: "Texas Relays Has Way Of Altering Collegiate History" The meet has had a lot of record-breaking performances since it's first edition in 1925.

European News

World Indoor HJ Champ Yaroslava Mahuchikh Talks About Escaping War In Ukraine - "It was the longest trip that I have ever been on, three days by car." She also said she supported Russian athletes being banned from competition: "Russian athletes must understand that Russia started the war and a lot of Russians supported it."
Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji Defied The Odds By Winning The World Indoor 60m From Lane 8 She said, "At first I was a bit disappointed I was in lane eight - usually I prefer to be next to the others just to feel them but I know I couldn’t change it so I just have to focus on myself and just do the best race. I think in that case it was just perfect. I was doing my own race, trying to run as possible and seeing nobody. That’s what I did."
There Is Some Controversy In Parkrun's New Rules Banning Bungee-Style Leads For People Running With Their Dogs They can still run with their dogs, but have to use a standard short, handheld leash.
European Under-20 Athletes Excelling On The US Collegiate Scene
TV Viewership Was High Across Europe For World Indoor Champs

Semenya Updates

Caster Semenya Runs 3000m PB Of 8:54.97 To Win In Cape Town Semenya is trying to make South Africa's World Champs team in the 5000m.
Caster Semenya Lashing Out Again At World Athletics - "So according to World Athletics and it’s members I’m a male when it comes to 400m, 800m, 1500m and 1600m! Then a female in 100m, 200m, and long distance events." World Athletics has never said Semenya is a male or should race against men, but they require women with hyperandrogenism to lower their testosterone to compete in certain events (which Semenya refuses to do).

Jonathan Gault's End of Indoor Summary Piece Is Excellent

Former World XC and track champ and NCAA star for Villanova Sonia O'Sullivan: Transgender athletes cannot be allowed to compete in women’s sport

Kudos to O'Sullivan for having the guts to not worry about being canceled and pen the column in the Irish Times.

Bill Maher (sarcastically) praises Lia Thomas: "(Lia's NCAA win) proves that a woman can do anything a man can do, especially if she was born with a penis"

Administrative News

USATF announces that its first outdoor event of the year will be in Bermuda, additionally there will be a World Athletics Contintental Tour gold meet at Randall's Island on June 12

British Distance News

Mo Farah's Comeback Starts In May; Could He Still Race At Eugene Worlds? Farah is racing on the roads twice in May (the first at the Vitality London 10,000m against Stewart McSweyn and Andrew Butchart). GB head coach Christian Malcolm claimss Farah is "50-50" on racing Worlds.
Video: Josh Kerr Explains Why Pros Don't Care About World Indoors Kerr talked about the timing and travel and also said, "I don't have a major gold medal and before I get one of those, I'm not looking to get minor medals."
*MB Archive: Oh the irony: Josh Kerr: "It's all about the medal count this year"
Josh Kerr Vs Samuel Tefera Set For Birmingham DL 1500m On May 21

Doping News

Russian Race Walker Yelena Lashmanova Stripped Of London 2012 Olympic And Moscow 2013 World Gold Medals Russia had initially won 8 gold medals at London 2012, but after doping DQ's, they now only have 2. All 9 Russian Race walkers from those Games have been DQ'd.
*MB: Russian Race walker Yelena Lashmanova stripped of 2012 Olympic gold
MB: Transgender Kenyan doper charged with presenting fake documents
The Russian Athletics Federation Paid Off Part Of Its Debut To World Athletics Despite Disruption To Russian Banking System If they hadn't made payments, World Athletics was going to suspend their reinstatement process.
Suspended Kenyan Sprinter Mark Otieno Blames Failed Doping Test On Contaminated Supplement He says this was confirmed by a WADA-accredited lab.
WADA Delays RUSADA Audit Due To Travel Challenges Caused By The Russia-Ukraine War The audit was part of RUSADA's reinstatement process.
Olympic Figure Skating Result May Not Be Known Until Next Year As 15-Year-Old Kamila Valieva Case Is Likely To Drag On
Other Testing: Over 2.5 Million COVID Tests Were Done On Participants At The 2022 Beijing Olympics And Paralympics There were 463 positive cases recorded.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen Tests Positive For COVID After World Indoor Defeat

Ingebrigtsen said that he "felt like shit" during Worlds.

Transgender Issue Hitting Its Breaking Point?

Seb Coe Warns That "The Future Of Women's Sport" Is At Stake Due To Transgender Athlete Issue After seeing transgender swimmer Lia Thomas win NCAAs, Coe said: “I think that the integrity of women’s sport - if we don’t get this right - and actually the future of women’s sport, is very fragile.” Coe added that, “Gender cannot trump biology."
Female Swimmers DID NOT Stage Podium Protest After Being Beaten By Transgender Lia Thomas The three women who finished behind Thomas stood together on the podium away from Thomas during the award in the photo above but one of them has clarified it was not a protest.
*MB: Lia Thomas: National Swim Champion

Upcoming

Caster Semenya Racing 3000m At Athletics South Africa Meet On Wednesday
Athing Mu, Noah Lyles, Grant Holloway, Yohan Blake Among Stars Lining Up For USATF Bermuda Games On April 9 Also Sha’ Carri Richardson.
GB's Dina Asher-Smith Announced For Birmingham DL On May 21
*BBC Video Interview With Dina Asher-Smith Looking Ahead To The Summer She says she hopes to race at Euro Champs, Commonwealth Games and Worlds.

From The Weekend: High School - Pro - Masters

DyeStat Recap Of Adidas National Indoor High School Championships Zyaire Nurridin ran the #3 all-time 400m with 46.04.
AW Weekly Round-Up: Jonny Mellor Wins Waters Wilmslow Half-Marathon In 64:24 In South Africa, Olympic 200m silver medalist Christine Mboma won the 100m in a Namibian record of 11.15.
MB: 17 year old Australian runs 1:47.6 for 800m!
MB: Kerley runs world leading 20.04 200m to win ASU's Baldy Castillo Invy
Masters Finish Strong On Final Day Of USATF Masters Indoor Champs At The Armory
USATF Youth National Championships Wrap Up On Staten Island
2022 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field National Awards NAU's Abdihamid Nur and Kentucky sprinter Abby Steiner were the track athletes of the year. Arkansas heptathlete Ayden Owens and Florida jumper Jasmine Moore were the field athletes.
Event-By-Event Top-10 NCAA Marks From Last Week

World Indoors

Embed from Getty Images

LRC DOMINATION: Ajee' Wilson Gets Her 800m Gold

Ajee' Wilson dominated the final lap to get her elusive world title at 800m at the World Indoor Track and Field Championships in Serbia.
Discussion: Ajee MF Wilson FINALLY gets her due. Total domination. Gold medal 1:59.09!!

LRC Samuel Tefera Upsets Olympic Champ Jakob Ingebrigtsen in 1500m Thriller

Samuel Tefera upset Jakob Ingebrigtsen to defend his world indoor 1500m title in Serbia.

SC Supporters Club Worlds Recap Podcast Hear the LetsRun.com crew break down World Indoors.

Post-Race Videos

Sunday Worlds Videos

Ajeé Wilson runs away with GOLD in the 800m! 🥇

📺: CNBC | #WorldIndoorChamps | @usatf pic.twitter.com/tlvI2VxT20
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) March 20, 2022

Ajee Wilson Gold

.@Flaamingoo_ 🇺🇸, take a bow 👏

7.29 in the semis (to equal his own world indoor 60m hurdles record)
7.39 for 🥇 in the final#WorldIndoorChamps pic.twitter.com/bsL17W18gz
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) March 20, 2022

Grant Holloway Ties WR in Semis

Mondo Gets WR

Ivana Vuleta Gets Serbian Gold

LRC Barega Bags 3000 Gold as Rojas Jumps 15.74 TJ WR

Barega's claim to being the best distance running on the planet grows stronger as the BTC's Marc Scott snags a bronze. Plus the men's 4 x 400 was eliminated despite a heroic effort from Isaiah Harris.

Rojas Does It Again

Sunday Worlds Talk

Official Day 3 World Indoor Discussion Thread
Worlds Day 3 Video Recap Show from LetsRun.com
Ajee MF Wilson FINALLY gets her due. Total domination. Gold medal 1:59.09!!
Jakob Ingebritsen: "If I knew I was going to be complete shit tonight, I would of course do a lot of things different
Grant MF Holloway. 7.29 WR in the semis!!!
Mark MF Scott! The BTC does world indoors and comes home with a medal.
Absolutely HEROIC. Isaiah Harris pulls muscle with 150m to go and LIMPS HIMSELF to 2nd in 4 x 400 But sadly the US didn't qualify.

NYC Half

Post-Race Interviews

RRW RRW: Rhonex Kipruto (60:30) And Senbere Teferi (67:35) Win United Airlines NYC Half Titles

Kipruto won over Edward Cheserek in 60:37 while Teferi beat Irine Cheptai by 2-seconds despite losing some time following the lead vehicle the wrong way in the final 400m. Talking about Galen Rupp's DNF, his agent said, "Unfortunately, it was still his lower back/S.I. joint issue. Galen felt discomfort and stiffness there and wasn't able to run fluently."

MB:Galen Rupp drops out after yelling expletive going up bridge Some post-race interviews as well and an update on Conner Mantz and Sara Hall.
Good Read: Pre-Race Interview With Galen Rupp Who Talks About Grant Fisher Breaking His Records, Training Solo, Aging And Deciding Against Racing 3 Marathons In 2022 He also talks wanting to eventually break the AR in the marathon.
Japan Running News: Akira Akasaki And Haruka Onodera's Road To The 2022 United Airlines NYC Half
MB: Sunday at 7 am eastern - NYC Half Official thread with streaming info.

More Non-Worlds Weekend Results

MB: Cooper Teare 13:06, Cole Hocker 13:08 In The Cardinal Classic 5000m Yes our sport is such that Hocker skipped World Indoors to run a race with 3 finishers. Sad. *Results
MB: Athing Mu Runs 1:24.13 For 600m At ASU The time is #2 on the US all-time list for the rarely run outdoor 600m. Behind her, Texas A&M's Avi Tal Wilson-Perteete ran 1:28.02 to set the collegiate outdoor record. *Results
MB: The drug cheat now clean Asbel Kiprop runs about 2 flat for 800 and gets dead last today
John Korir (2:09:07) And Delvine Meringor (2:25:03) Win The LA Marathon
World And American Records Fall At USATF Masters Indoor Championships
*11 Records Set On Opening Day Of USATF Masters Indoor Champ
Big Marks And Fast Races Crown Champions At The USATF National Youth Indoor Championships
*Day USATF National Youth Indoor Champs Recap
AW English Schools XC Championships Recap

World Indoors

Schedule / Results

LRC Marcell Jacobs Edges Christian Coleman By .003 in Dramatic Men’s 60m Final

Both Jacobs and Coleman were credited with a time of 6.41 (a European record for Jacobs, a season's best for Coleman) as Jacobs beat WR holder Coleman in his specialty.

LRC World Indoors Day 2: Mariano Garcia Goes From Last To 1st To Win 800 as Bryce Hoppel Wins Bronze, Gudaf Tsegay Goes Wire-To-Wire To Win 1500

Garcia backed up his status as the world leader with a brilliant race to win gold for Spain, while Ethiopia got an unprecedented 1-2-3 sweep in the women’s 1500.

LRC World Indoors Day 2: 2022 World Indoors Day 2: Darlan Romani Shocks Ryan Crouser, Shaunae Miller-Uibo Wins Gold, Sandi Morris Too

The Stark Arena was rocking a 9 golds were awarded on Saturday night - some to the favorite and some to underdogs.

LRC Day 2 AM Recap: Ajee’ Wilson & Jakob Ingebrigtsen Cruise, Keely Hodgkinson Withdraws, & High Jump Gold for Ukraine

Ajee' Wilson cruised to the final where she may be the favorite for gold. The 2 American men made the 1500 final as Jakob Ingebrigtsen ran like the Olympic champ and Ukraine got gold in the women's high jump.

World Indoors Post-Race Videos

Men's 60 Final Jacobs vs Coleman

MB: Marcell Jacobs Proves Tokyo Wasn’t A Fluke

W1500 Final - Ethiopia 1-2-3 Sweep

World Indoors Day 1

Embed from Getty Images

LRC Elle Purrier St. Pierre Takes 3000m Silver as Lemlem Hailu Wins to Cap Day 1 at 2022 World Indoors

Lemlem Hailu was too good and made Elle Purrier St. Pierre's first global medal be a shiny silver, as Miltiádis Tentóglou soared in the long jump and the women's 60 was a thriller.
*MB: Where's the love? Elle Purrier silver

More World Indoor Coverage

Yaroslava Mahuchikh Wins HJ Gold After Three-Day Drive From Ukraine She won with a world leading 2.02m and said, "To jump here was so difficult psychologically because my heart remains in my country. It’s so difficult but I think I’ve done very well for my country because I protect my country on the track."
Keely Hodgkinson On World Indoor Withdraw: "This is a rational decision – a business decision – so I have to take the emotion out of it.”
*MB: Keely Hodgkinson OUT of World Indoors -- withdraws with quad injury
From Parkour To Long Jump, How Miltiadis Tentoglou's Coaches Helped Him To The Top The Olympic champ won World Indoors with a Greek indoor record of 8.55m. His coach Georgi Pomashki says, “He is very easy to coach. You don’t have to do an exercise 10 times to get him to perfect it. It’s difficult to find an athlete like that: it’s a present from God.”
Switzerland's Mujinga Kambundji Jumps To #4 On The All-Time List With Surprise 60m Win In 6.96
Donald Scott Earns TJ Bronze To Lead Team USA Morning Session On Day 1 Scott jumped 17.21m to finish just ahead of three-time Olympic medalist Will Claye (17.19m).
Portugal’s Auriol Dongmo Wins Shot Put Gold With 20.43m US's Chase Ealey gave her a scare, almost getting an upset win with 20.21m, but ended up settling for silver.
GB's Katarina Johnson-Thompson Withdraws From Pentathlon Before Final Event, Says "For me this is a triumph" She said she could take "so many positives" from the competition, despite failing to defend her world indoor title (she was in 6th place when she pulled out before the 800m). *The Telegraph article
World Athletics Day 2 Recap: Yaroslava Mahuchikh Transcends All Barriers As She Soars To Inspirational Gold For Ukraine
World Athletics Day 1 Recap

LRC An Improved LetsRun.com Forum Is Here

The new and improved LetsRun.com forum is here. Read about the new features. Or just check them out yourself.

Gatlin Review

LRC Justin Gatlin Leaves Complicated, Uncomfortable Legacy Upon Retirement

Gatlin won global 100m titles 13 years apart and retired last month as the fifth-fastest man in history. He also served a four-year ban for doping and his reluctance to discuss it has made discussing his legacy a complicated issue.

MB: Jonathan Gault: Justin Gatlin has left the sport. What is his legacy?

Best of the LetsRun.com Track Talk Podcast

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Hellen Obiri (64:48) And Rodgers Kwemoi (59:15) Win At The Istanbul Half-Marathon

Recommended Read 2022 Indoor Awards: Final Thoughts On A Fantastic 2022 Indoor Track Season + Meet the World Champ Who Trains on a Triangular Dirt Track

Former World XC and track champ and NCAA star for Villanova Sonia O'Sullivan: Transgender athletes cannot be allowed to compete in women’s sport

Jakob Ingebrigtsen Tests Positive For COVID After World Indoor Defeat

LRC DOMINATION: Ajee' Wilson Gets Her 800m Gold

LRC Samuel Tefera Upsets Olympic Champ Jakob Ingebrigtsen in 1500m Thriller

Post-Race Videos

LRC Barega Bags 3000 Gold as Rojas Jumps 15.74 TJ WR

RRW RRW: Rhonex Kipruto (60:30) And Senbere Teferi (67:35) Win United Airlines NYC Half Titles

LRC Marcell Jacobs Edges Christian Coleman By .003 in Dramatic Men’s 60m Final

LRC World Indoors Day 2: Mariano Garcia Goes From Last To 1st To Win 800 as Bryce Hoppel Wins Bronze, Gudaf Tsegay Goes Wire-To-Wire To Win 1500

LRC World Indoors Day 2: 2022 World Indoors Day 2: Darlan Romani Shocks Ryan Crouser, Shaunae Miller-Uibo Wins Gold, Sandi Morris Too

LRC Day 2 AM Recap: Ajee’ Wilson & Jakob Ingebrigtsen Cruise, Keely Hodgkinson Withdraws, & High Jump Gold for Ukraine

LRC Elle Purrier St. Pierre Takes 3000m Silver as Lemlem Hailu Wins to Cap Day 1 at 2022 World Indoors

LRC An Improved LetsRun.com Forum Is Here

LRC Justin Gatlin Leaves Complicated, Uncomfortable Legacy Upon Retirement

American Record Pod: Yared Nuguse and Wood Kincaid Open Up

Webb, Ritz, and Hall

Madeline Manning Mims

Frank Shorter

LRC American Marathon Record Podcast: Keira D'Amato and Deena Kastor

LRC Emily Sisson - The Next US Marathon Superstar?

LRC Woody Kincaid - On His American Record and Leaving Bowerman

LRC New Balance Boston's Mark Coogan

LRC Brooks Beasts' Danny Mackey

LRC OAC's Dathan Ritzenhein

The Rise of Syracuse: How a Cross Country Powerhouse Was Built From Scratch in 10 Years

26:59: The Story of Chris Solinsky's American Record and Upset of Galen Rupp

The Summer of Webb: An Inside Look at Alan Webb’s Magical 2007 Season

Dreams Become Reality: Jake Wightman Stuns Jakob Ingebrigtsen to Win World 1500m Title

Wejo Speaks: Why I Sucked in College

Escorting Paula - How LRC Co-Founder Weldon Johnson Paced Radcliffe To Her 1st World Record

American Strong: How American Teamwork Helped Meb Keflezighi Win Boston

LRC's Robert and Weldon Johnson Named as Two of “The 50 Most Influential People in Running”

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