Archived Homepage For July 30, 2022

Saturday Morning Action (ATL Live on ESPN2 Today From 11:30am-1:30 pm ET)

LRC 2022 Ed Murphey Classic Results - Final American Track League Meet Results

In Friday night's action, Sage Hurta (4:01.79) won the women's 1500 in a MASSIVE :01.79 PB while Yared Nuguse destroyed the likes of Holt, Prakel, Parsons and Jager won the men's race in 3:34.95. Plus Nia Akins (1:58) and Jonah Koech (1:44).
*MB: Ed Murphey Classic / ATLeague Official Thread - Jager, Nuguse, Gregorek / Hurta, Norris 1500- ESPN2 11:30am-1:30pm Sat.

LRC 9 Things I Can't Believe Happened at the 2022 World Athletics Championships

From Max Siegel scheduling a press conference in the middle of the meet while it was going on to Galen Rupp only finishing 19th in the marathon, Rojo reveals what stunned him at Worlds.

LRC Update on Devon Allen's Disqualification from Agent Paul Doyle: "It's been stolen from the fans. It's been stolen from Devon and that's unfortunate."

A controversial start deprived Devon Allen of possibly the greatest opportunity in his athletic career. What is World Athletics doing to rectify the situation? What about the possible make-up race? Devon Allen's agent gives us an update. "Not to take anything at all away from Grant Holloway, he's an amazing athlete, but as competitive as Devon is, having already run 12.84 this year, running in front of the whole crowd, running for his dad, there's no way he loses that race and we'll never get to see it."

On The Boards

Important Post 2022 Eugne Worlds News

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3 of Ethiopia's 4 gold medallists in Eugene were Tigray and they can't contact their own parents thanks to an internet and telecom shutdown] “My mother and father would have been delighted,” said marathon champ Gotytom Gebreslase before bursting into tears.
MB: Ken Goe: Vin Lananna's ideas are "too big, too bold, too risky" for Max Siegel and USATF We still can't believe that Max Siegel scheduled a press conference that took place while the competition was going on. Talk about a lack of planning and sending the wrong message - that track prelims aren't worth watching.
World Athletics Championships in Eugene drew more than 18 million viewers across NBC Sports platforms It peaked at 3.2 million at the end of Sunday night and was the 2nd most-watched sports competition of the weekend.

Commonwealth Games Marathon is Saturday

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Men's CG men's track & field preview Some of these fields are SUPER loaded.
Women's CG women's track & field preview
Doping? Kenya down to just one athlete in women’s marathon at CGs No formal new suspensions have been announced, however.
A look at the Australian field event "chicks" leading the way for Australia “I don’t know the answer to why, but it’s bloody awesome seeing three chicks of similar age... coming top three in the world is incredible. Go us!” said WC pole vault bronze medallist Nina Kennedy said, smiling.
Local UK sportswear brand MG Sportswear steps up and outfits entire Nigerian Commonwealth Games kit after team let down by original supplier When the owner first got the call, he thought it was a prank.
Team Canada preview for CGs and how to watch in Canada
Dina Asher-Smith will run Euros despite pulling out of CG

LRC Podcast

Winners and Losers from Worlds + Devon Allen's Agent Paul Doyle With an Update on Devon's DQ

The US sprinters brought it in Eugene, the US distance runners didn't, and World Athletics blew it by not admitting their error and giving Devon Allen a second chance.

NCAA News

Oregon Ducks coaching staff still not known, some Duck sprinters have transferred out Sprint coach Curtis Taylor was still wearing Duck gear at Worlds last week.
*MB: Oregon Women's Head Coach Out - another female coach out
*SC And the new Oregon director of ops is going to be.......... (this name may blow your mind). We share the latest hot rumor with our SC members.
Texas A&M hires former Texas head coach Mario Sategna as an assistant Sategna competed under Pat Henry when he was in college at LSU.

The Latest Distance News

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70 years ago, Emil Zatopek pulled off maybe the greatest track accomplishment in Olympic history - gold in the 5000, 10,000, & marathon
Q&A with Jake's Wightman's dad and coach Geoff talks about Jake's future plans and reveals some coaching advice he got from the disgraced Alberto Salazar.
Sydney Marathon announced as 3rd and final Abbott World Marathon Majors candidate race The other two are Cape Town’s Sanlam Marathon and China’s Chengdu Marathon.
Juliette Whittaker, Roisin Willis hope to go 1-2 at World Jr like Sammy Watson and Aaliyah Miller did 6 years ago

Sprint News

Noah Lyles felt like Worlds should have been marketed better “I feel the ball’s been dropped a little bit, not going to lie. I feel there could have been way more advertisement on America’s side. This is an immaculate meet. This is by far the best track and field meet that America has had in years. And I’m watching these immaculate performances, and I’m like, ‘The crowd is here, yes. But gosh darn it was this not put together well.’ All the times are happening late at night. I’m still barely seeing much presence outside of what NBC is doing. Yes, people are talking about it. But people are late."
100h WR holder Tobi Amusan has learned a lot from previous struggles “I don’t think there is a track and field event which can teach humility quite like the sprint hurdles,” Amusan said. “You can be the fastest in the field but one mistake can spell the end for your race. A hurdler should never go into any race with any level of complacency or arrogance. It teaches you to be humble.”
Ande de Grasse says he may shut down season as he's not feeling fully healthy but relishes winning 4 x 100 with his family "It felt really good to win gold with these guys. Because I know them on a personal level, we have that team chemistry, we've been together for so long. They're family to me . . . and we hang out together

Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony Was Thursday

Prince Charles and Duran Duran open up 2022 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games ‘far from irrelevant’, insist organisers Did you know the LGBTQ+ community is criminalized in a majority of the Commonwealth countries?
Neeraj Chopra pulls out of Commonwealth Games with hamstring injury, was also scheduled to be flagbearer His medical team has advised a month's rest.

What's Next For Sydney McLaughlin?

Sydney McLaughlin Will Race At Her First Diamond League Meet In Three Years At The Monaco DL On August 10
*World Athletics: "McLaughlin Among 10 World Champions Keen To Maintain Momentum In Monaco"
AP: After Running Fastest Split On Worlds 4x400, People Are Wondering What Sydney McLaughlin Will Do Next She split 47.91 (a time that would have placed 7th in the 400m final) and hinted that she could run the flat 400 or 100H in the future.
The Guardian: "The Sydney Project - How Elite Athletics Traps McLaughlin But Also Sets Her Free" An, um... interesting analysis of McLaughlin's mentality and outlook towards sport and her place in the track and field world.

More Post Worlds News

The Oregonian: Eugene Charms Athletes, Fans As Unlikely World Champs Host An overall positive take on Worlds in Eugene.
*Old Hayward Field Records Vs New The new Hayward Field has only been going since 2021, but already had most of the records.
Fan Vote Open For The World Champs "Fair Play Award" One of the five moments shortlisted for the award was Noah Lyles "losing" his spikes to a young fan in a rock/paper/scissors game.
Cuba's Olympic Bronze Medal Discus Thrower Yaimé Pérez: Defects While On The Way Back From World Champs She was the second athlete to defect during Cuba's trip to Worlds and a physiotherapist did as well.
Alan Abrahamson Talks To A Family Of Four That Did Their Family Vacation At Worlds The 16-year-old and 14-year-old boys weren't that into it. One said, “It was a little better than I thought it would be. but I would rather still be at home with my friends.”
NBC Reports 2022 World Champs Was Watched By More Viewers Than Any Previous Worlds, But Still Less Than Last Year's Olympic Trials The last day of Worlds was just the fifth-most watched sports event of the weekend in the US.
Kenyan Media On World Champs: "Kenya Needs To Go Back To Drawing Board After Dismal Show" They write, "Kenyan athletes largely failed to live up to their billing at the Oregon22 championships in Eugene."

More Commonwealth Games News

Australia's World Javelin Champ Kelsey-Lee Barber Tests Positive For COVID, But Still Expects To Compete At The Commonwealth Games The javelin isn't until August 7th and apparently the CWG has some "controversial" COVID rules which allow countries more leeway with COVID. If they had the same rules as Tokyo 2020 she would have been ruled out instantly.
Wales' Adele Nicoll Is A Bobsled World Cup Medalist As Well As Well As The UK's Top Shot Putter She's hoping for a shot put medal at the Commonwealth Games. On doing both sports she says, “The events look very different from the outset, but essentially they are power events which involve strength and speed and that’s the kind of athlete I am."
Unnamed Indian Sprinter Will Miss Commonwealth Games After Failing Drug Test Five Indian athletes have tested positive ahead of the CWG.
Dina Asher-Smith On Missing CWG: "I love racing in front of a British crowd and was so excited to return to Birmingham, so I’m sad that I won’t be there.”
Opinion: "Do the Commonwealth Games still matter in 2022?" Apparently "the plan is to downsize [the CWG] considerably after Birmingham 2022."
Birmingham 2022 Chief Claims COVID Positives "Relatively Low" Fewer than 3% of athletes/officials at the CWG have tested positive.

NCAA News

Illinois Hires NCAA Title-Winning Coach Petros Kyprianou Kyprianou was the former head coach at Georgia, coaching them to two NCAA titles (women indoor, men outdoor).
MB: Oregon Women's Head Coach Out
NCAA DI Cross Country Regional Sites Announced Through 2025

Admin News

World Athletics Sets Up Competition Manipulation Watchlist To Combat False Qualifying Marks The AIU received referrals to investigate 17 suspicious marks during the qualifying period for the Tokyo Olympics.
Allyson Felix Joins IOC Athletes’ Commission IOC athletes’ commission has a mix of members that are elected and those appointed directly by IOC president Thomas Bach. (Felix was appointed.) *World Athletics article

High School / Youth / Masters Stuff

Colin Sahlman Named Overall (All Sports) Gatorade Male Athlete Of The Year He's the first boys XC or track athlete to ever be chosen for the all-sports award.
World Athletics Looks At Some Of The Top Teenagers Who Will Be At World Under-20 Champs After Competing At Worlds In Eugene
*Entry List For World Under 20 Championships In Cali, Colombia Starting August 1
USATF National Junior Olympic Championships Day 1 Recap *Day 2 Recap
USATF Masters Outdoor Championships Start Today In Kentucky
USTFCCCA High School Track & Field Coaches of the Year – State-By-State

Paris 2024 News

Rising Inflation Prompts Warning Of "Very Tight" Budget For Paris 2024
The Official Slogan For The Paris 2024 Olympics Is "Games Wide Open"
Some Ticket Info Revealed For Paris 2024 Olympics 50% of the tickets will be $50 or less.
Paris 2024 Event Schedule Released

World Athletics To Introduce Repechage Round At Paris 2024 Olympics For Events 200m To 1500m

Rather than have athletes make it out of the heats with a small 'q' based on time, they will all compete against each other in another round to make the semi-final

Athletics Weekly Says The Reaction To The Repechage Announcement Has Been "Rather Negative" Multiple athletes including Dai Greene, Mark English and Gabriela DeBues-Stafford criticized it and pointed out that it puts the athletes forced to run an extra round at a disadvantage in the semi-final
MB: World Athletics Moves Away From Small q in 2024
MB: How the hell do you pronounce ‘repechage’

Was Worlds In Eugene A Success?

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NBC gets good World Champs ratings and The Times of London notices Sunday afternoon’s coverage of the championships on NBC averaged 2.235 million TV-only viewers.
*MB: Great news: World Champs on NBC CRUSHES F1, beats Wimbledon in tv ratings!!!
Irish Independent: "Should athletics have brought its showpiece event (to Eugene)? Probably, is the short answer. It was worth a try."
Seb Coe wants Worlds to return to US, but not to Eugene "I want to be back in L.A. or Miami or Chicago.”
Oregonian: Eugene has mixed success, but it’s just a starting point as World Athletics looks to revive track & field in United States - oregonlive.com
NY Times: The OAC had a poor World Champs, but in the age of social media does performance matter any more? “We had kind of a rough meet,” said Ritz in the article that looks at how so many track teams are obsessed with social media now.
Los Angeles Times: Despite success at worlds, track popularity lags in U.S.
LA Times writes that USATF will have "a circuit of meets in five U.S. cities next summer that its chief executive, Max Siegel, likened to the Diamond League in the quality of its international fields. " We'll believe it when we see it.

Meet Gary Martin's Coach

LRC Meet Gary Martin's Coach: Paul Streleckis Had Never Coached a Sub-5:00 Miler. Then Gary Martin Entered His Life.

Streleckis was diagnosed with prostate cancer in March but didn't let that stop him from engineering one of the most memorable seasons in prep mile history.

Looking Ahead To The Rest of the Year

LRC The Eight Most Interesting Track Storylines to Follow in 2022

From world record chases to era-defining rivalries, here are the eight stories Jonathan Gault will be following closely throughout the 2022 track season.

MB: Here are the 8 storylines I'll be watching most closely in track in 2022. What are yours?

Are The Marathon Trials In Trouble?

SC Are the US Olympic Marathon Trials Broken? Examining the Business Model of America's Greatest Marathon

As USATF searches for a bidder for the 2024 Trials, those in charge of recent Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston and Atlanta believe the Trials' financial model is unsustainable. Will anything change?

Ross Tucker Speaks

LRC Sports Scientist Ross Tucker Weighs in on the Shelby Houlihan Case

We paid one of the top sports scientists in the world to analyze the Shelby Houlihan doping case and CAS ruling. He has 2 pieces for us, the piece above is an opinion piece where he answers our questions. In a 2nd more technical piece, Ross goes through the CAS decision step by step and outlines in clear terms exactly what Houlihan argued and why he thinks CAS ultimately (correctly) ruled against her.

Discussion: Sports Scientist Ross Tucker breaks down the Shelby Houlihan case for us

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.

Best of the LetsRun.com Track Talk Podcast

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LRC 2022 Ed Murphey Classic Results - Final American Track League Meet Results

LRC 9 Things I Can't Believe Happened at the 2022 World Athletics Championships

LRC Update on Devon Allen's Disqualification from Agent Paul Doyle: "It's been stolen from the fans. It's been stolen from Devon and that's unfortunate."

Winners and Losers from Worlds + Devon Allen's Agent Paul Doyle With an Update on Devon's DQ

World Athletics To Introduce Repechage Round At Paris 2024 Olympics For Events 200m To 1500m

LRC Meet Gary Martin's Coach: Paul Streleckis Had Never Coached a Sub-5:00 Miler. Then Gary Martin Entered His Life.

LRC The Eight Most Interesting Track Storylines to Follow in 2022

SC Are the US Olympic Marathon Trials Broken? Examining the Business Model of America's Greatest Marathon

LRC Sports Scientist Ross Tucker Weighs in on the Shelby Houlihan Case

LRC An Improved LetsRun.com Forum Is Here

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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