From Sha'carri Richardson to Noah Lyles, Sifan Hassan to Yared Nuguse, we honor the best and most entertaining athletes and races of 2023, and yes, of course, Jakob Ingebrigtsen makes the list.
Archived Homepage For December 21, 2023
Archived Homepage For December 21, 2023
The LRC Awards Part II
Random, But Very Interesting
- The fall of a Ukrainian hero – Sergey Bubka is now hated in Ukranian sporting circles as they view him as a Rusisan collaborator "Sergei Bubka was Ukraine’s most iconic sportsman. Now his name is mud. The legendary pole vaulter — a towering figure in post-Soviet Ukraine; dominating world championships and smashing records before becoming an elite sports politician — has been linked to business conducted in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied territories, while he lives it up in glitzy Monaco. As Ukraine continues to fight off Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion in the freezing, soggy Donbas trenches, there is no greater sin. Bubka, the former athletic hero and native of Ukraine’s east, is now seen by many Ukrainians as a Russian collaborator."
- Noah Lyles won 3 golds in 2023, but he might go for 4 in 2024 Remember, his dad was a world-class 400 guy. “I was talking to a close friend and he's like: 'I already know you're going to win three golds at the Olympics. I want you to win four...I've never had somebody tell me something that has thrown my out-of-the-box thinking to inside-the-box, but that was like: okay, I'm not going to say no to that. Because after what I did at Budapest and seeing what my body could handle, if I train for it, okay, let's take a shot. If they allow me, if they need me and they are willing - let's go, let's take it.”
- 2023 World Men’s Top 10 Voting You can see how TFN's 32-member panel voted - their #1 was Ryan Crouser while Ingebrigtsen was #5 and El Bakkalie #6.
On The Boards
On The Boards
Upcoming Competitions
- World Champs Grant Holloway, Marco Arop, and Gudaf Tsegay to race at New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston on Feb. 4 Tsegay, who holds the indoor 1500 WR but won gold in the 10,000 at Worlds, will headline the 1500. Noah Lyles, Gabby Thomas and Jake Wightman were announced earlier. The event sold out last year *Buy Tickets *Meet website
- Yared Nuguse willl run 2024 Millrose Games and says mile WR is a "very real possibility" Let's hope he does World Indoors too.
- Mondo will be at World Indoors
- Josh Kerr: 'I'd love to pace a major marathon!' And we'd "love to have him run World Indoors."
- After fantastic year that saw him win silver in 10,000 and World Half, Daniel Ebenyo says he wants to have to earn his spot on Olympic team “I do not want to be given a slot (to represent the country) on a silver platter," said Ebenyo, who ran the fastest 25k race (but not split) in history last weekend.
Seb Coe In The News
- Seb Coe is bullish on 2024 Coe said the TV numbers for the Diamond League were good and called Budapest the best Worlds ever. "I think it’s an obvious thing for me to say, but I’m really happy to repeat it, that I can’t remember coming out of a season with more optimism and more excitement about the nature and quality of our sport."
- Seb Coe admits Russia track athletes could compete in Paris "We have made a judgement that we believe is in the best interests of our sport," said Coe but he later added, "the world changes every five minutes, the situation could change."
- Paris Olympics chief defends track & field ticket prices and insists tickets are cheaper than London after Seb Coe expressed concern Factoring in for inflation, Tony Estanguet says the track prices are less than when Coe was in charge of the 2012 Olympics. “Our ticketing figures are absolutely unprecedented. We’re delighted with the approach we’ve taken to make the event accessible to as many people as possible, with tickets starting at €24 [1 million seats] and half the tickets at €50 or less."
2024 Will Feature World Indoor & World XC But Who Will Show Up
Wightman's coach (and father) Geoff tells LRC that Jake will not compete at World Indoors while Kerr's coach Danny Mackey explains why the world champ is considering skipping World Indoors. Plus World Athletics president Seb Coe weighs in.
WA Was Scared To Name 1 AOY, But We Have No Fear
Noah Lyles pulled off an incredible double, Mondo Duplantis and Ryan Crouser had record-breaking years, but there is no need to split this award: Kelvin Kiptum is our 2023 Men's Athlete of the Year. Faith Kiypegon (duh) wins our women's award.
Distance News Of Note
- Recommended Read: Genevieve Gregson Says That She's Grateful She Ruptured Her Achilles In The Tokyo Olympic Steeplechase Time off from the sport allowed her time to have a baby and now she's transitioned to the roads to try and make her 4th Olympics. On the injury she says, "I feel like it's just put me on a totally different trajectory now, and life honestly feels better since that moment."
- Marathon Great Catherine Ndereba Thinks Eliud Kipchoge Has The Edge Over Kelvin Kiptum At Paris 2024 "Experience is the best teacher. It is a different game to run a city marathon and an Olympics or a championship race."
- Runner's World: At 37, Shannon Jones Is a Collegiate Cross-Country Standout She took a hiatus from school, sports and became a mother. But she eventually got back into running and at 36 got a full scholarship to NJCAA school Daytona State College.
- Josh Kerr Says He "Circled The 2024 Olympics" 14 Years Ago As His Chance To Win A Gold Medal Interesting to note that Kerr only won one 1500m in 2023 - Worlds. He says, "There will be smaller objectives throughout [2024] but if I don't get any of those, that's completely fine. I only won one 1500m race this year - that's all that mattered to me."
- MB: NCAA 1500m record holder Eliud Kipsang joins Tinman Elite
Seb Coe Speaks
- Seb Coe Wants To Take The Marathon Out Of The World Championships Due To Global Warming Concerns He says they would have the world marathon championship as part of a World Marathon Majors race and have a half-marathon at the World Championships instead.
- Seb Coe: "Everyone wants progress as long as it doesn’t involve change." Coe says he wants to improve the quality of track on tv as he doesn't "think it's that good in many places." He also talks about too much downtime in field events "watching people getting changed and ready to do something" and "an awful lot of sandpit raking."
- Seb Coe Slams High Paris 2024 Ticket Prices The most expensive track tickets cost over $1000 and the cheapest evening session ticket is $215. Coe said, "These are going to be the most expensive ticket prices in an athletics arena that we have witnessed at an Olympic Games,” he said. “We asked for a balance."
LetsThrow.com
- Former Javelin World Champion Fatima Whitbread Wins Hellen Rollason Award At BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Show The award is given “for outstanding achievement in the face of adversity." Soccer player Mary Earps won the main Sports Personality award while heptathlon world champ Katarina Johnson-Thompson finished third.
- BBC: "Fatima Whitbread - The Abandoned Baby Who Became Javelin World Champion" 62-year-old Whitbread spent the first 14 years of her life in children's homes after being abandoned and left to die as a baby.
- American-born Italian Shot Putter Nick Ponzio Gets 18-Month Doping Ban He was banned for missing three out-of-competition tests.
- TheStar.com: "Canadian Throwers Stole The Show In 2023" Ethan Katzberg and Camryn Rogers swept the men’s and women’s hammer throw world titles and Sarah Mitton won silver in the women’s shot put.
The Indoor Season Will Start Heating Up Soon
- Yard Nuguse And Josh Kerr Announced For The Millrose Games Nuguse is in the Wanamaker mile and Kerr is racing the 2 mile. Also announced were world champions Yaroslava Mahuchikh (HJ) and Danielle Williams (60H).
- World 5000m Record Holder Gudaf Tsegay, Andre De Grasse And Mondo Duplantis Announced For Astana Indoor Meet On January 27
- Mondo Duplantis Already "Excited" About Defending His World Indoor Title In Glasgow We wish certain other athletes felt the same way.
- World Champions Gudaf Tsegay, Marco Arop And Grant Holloway Announced For New Balance Indoor Grand Prix On February 4
Olympic News
- Beer Company Withdraws Olympic Sponsorship Over IOC's Decision To Allow Russian Athletes To Compete In Paris As Neutrals
- Sapporo, Japan Drops Out Of Bid To Host Winter Olympics "An earthquake, scandal and the IOC desire to visit other continents after back-to-back Asian Games stood in the way of Sapporo’s second Winter Games after hosting Asia’s first in 1972."
- Central Figure In Tokyo Olympics Bribery Case Goes On Trial The former executive pleaded not guilty to taking bribes totaling about $1.4 million.
World Athletics Admin News
- Diamond League Releases List Of Which Events Will Be At Which Meets For 2024 The 2024 Diamond League season starts on April 20th in Xiamen, China.
- Summary Of Decisions Made At World Athletics Council Meeting Earlier This Month
- Calendar Published For 2024 World Athletics Continental Tour The first gold level meet is February 15 in Melbourne.
NCAA / HS News
- Jaydon Hibbert's Mom After He Won The Bowerman Award: “I cried, I cried, I cried. And I couldn’t sleep, even right now I still don’t want to sleep. I really don’t know how to explain my feelings right now." She says that he tried just about every event before figuring out he was good at the triple jump. “Even hurdles! Triple jump was his last resort. ...And it wasn’t a case where he was really trying it out, he just saw some other athletes doing it and asked the coach if he could try it and that is where it all started."
- MB: NAU got a couple of running lineage commits Including Kiki Vaughn, daughter of pro runner Sara Vaughn.
- South Carolina Freshman JaMeesia Ford Runs US Under-20 Indoor 300m Best With 35.83 At The Clemson Opener The time is 4th on the US all-time list and equal 7th on the world all-time list.
- Fast High School Sprinter's Name Is Nick Spikes
More Recent Distance Results
- Laura Muir Opens Her Indoor Season At Low Key Meet With 8:34.39 For 3000m It's the 4th fastest time ever by a British woman; only Muir herself and Jo Pavey have run faster.
- Spain's Abdessamad Oukhelfen And Kenya's Edinah Jebitok Win Venta de Baños XC Race In Spain USA's Katie Izzo was 3rd in the women's race.
*MB: Katie Izzo likely to hit Olympic 10k criteria through World XC series - Agnes Mwikali Wins Sanyo Ladies Road Race 10k In 31:09 Elsewhere, Eritrea's Tesfaye Biniam Zeratsion won the Kanto 10 miler in 47:56.
- Recaps Of The Masters Races From USATF Club Cross Country Championships
- Koyama Sweeps Girls' And Boys' Titles at National Junior High School Ekiden
Some KJT Updates From The British Press
- Katarina Johnson-Thompson: "I've Got Unfinished Business With The Olympics" She's won Worlds twice, but failed to medal at any of her three Olympics.
- Seb Coe Says Katarina Johnson-Thompson Should Win The Spoty Because She Is The Only One Who Won Something Apparently soccer player Mary Earps is the favorite.
- Katarina Johnson-Thompson Says She Went Into Budapest Feeling Like An Underdog And That She Wasn't "Even Considered As A Competitor Anymore" She says, "I didn't really get written up in any of the articles pre-Champs," but we can tell you she's wrong about that. There were a million articles about her.
Weekend Road Action
The race is roughly 2 minutes downhill but Kerr improved a lot from his 63:44 from last year. The race website gives Kerr an incredible 14:15 split for miles 6-10 which is 3:33 mile pace which clearly isn't accurate!
*Kerr post-race interview
- World 10,000m Silver Medalist Daniel Ebenyo And Sutume Asefa Kebede Set World Bests For The Standalone 25k At The Steel Kolkata 25k Ebenyo's 1:11:13 is the second-fastest 25k of all time, behind only Eliud Kipchoge’s 1:11:08 split from when he set the marathon WR in Berlin. Kebede ran 1:18:47 and the record is 1:18:03 from Ruth Chepngetich's split during the 2022 Chicago Marathon.
- Former Marathon WR Holder Brigid Kosgei Pockets Big Prize Purse With Her 2:19:15 Win At The Abu Dhabi Marathon Kosgei took home about $77 thousand for her win and course record. Eritrea's Samson Amare won the men's race in 2:07:10.
*MB: Bridgid Kosgei running Abu Dhabi Marathon - Mathew Kimeli (63:39) And Gladys Chepkurui (69:46) Win Bangsaen21 Half Marathon In Hot/Humid Conditions In Thailand Former WR holder Ruth Chepngetich finished back in 4th (1:11:51).
Athletes Of The Year
- Faith Kipyegon Is T&F News' Women's Athlete Of The Year World records and gold medals over 1500m and 5000m. Hard to argue with that.
- T&F News Chooses Ryan Crouser As Their Men's Athlete Of The Year Crouser had a super consistent year, only losing once. He won worlds, set the WR and now holds 9 of the top 10 all-time best throws (4 of which came this year).
- Josh Kerr And Katarina Johnson-Thompson Named British Athletics Writers Association Athletes Of The Year
Doping News
- Washington Post: Two Track Coaches Charged With Providing PEDS To Tokyo Olympians Former sprinters O’Neil Wright and Dewayne Barrett have been charged in connection to PED peddler Eric Lira. They provided at least three athletes with drugs. Blessing Okagbare and unnamed athletes from Switzerland and the UK.
- BBC: British Male Athlete Being Investigated In Connection With Eric Lira Case
*MB: Eric Lira Doping Case uncovers an unnamed British Athlete who met with Lira in Texas for 'treatment' prior to Tokyo Olympics
The 2023 Bowerman Awards Go To.....
It's the first time ever that two international athletes won the Bowerman in the same year. Hibbert, the youngest winner and 1st Jamaican winner, jumped 17.54m indoors and 17.87m outdoors while Alfred set CRs in the 60 (6.94) nd 200 (22.01) indoors while running windy 10.72 in the 100 and 21.73 in the 200 outdoors.
*MB: Jaydon Hibbert's got SWAG and personality. Check out these videos from him winning the Bowerman
1500 Truth or Trash Talk?
Let the countdown to the Olympic 1500m final begin. It's only 240 days way. On a recent podcast, Kerr seemed to relish the fact he had the opportunity to point out that Ingebrigtsen has some flaws by saying, "He doesn't win a lot of non-paced races. I would love for him to be listening to this."
Supporter's Club Content
Norway is one of the few countries in the world where tax lists are made public so we now know to the penny how much their top track and field stars made in 2022. Find out here how much the Ingebrigtsens made in 2022 - Jakob, Filip, Henrik and Gjert. Plus Karsten Warholm, Narve Nordas and Karoline Grøvdal.
Big Savings at Nike
Big savings at Nike especially on the Nike Pegasus, the most popular Nike shoe on LetsRun.com.
- Nike Pegasus 40 $83.97
- Nike Pegasus 39 $81.97
- Nike Pegasus 38 $99.97
- Nike Pegasus Turbo $104.97
- Nike Pegasus Trail 3 $99.97
Want to save on Tights, Shorts, Bras?
Click here
It's Official
Tuohy has left the NCAAs after 3.5 years with 3 straight NCAA team titles and 4 NCAA individual titles.
Good News
We've got good news. USATF has told LetsRun that they will honor the order of finish at the Trials for men who have broken 2:11:30. Confusing language in USATF's selection criteria document had caused us to wonder if the order of finish at the Trials or world rank would determine the third US men's Olympic spot (if the US gets a third spot). But have they not thought of a doomsday scenario where Scott Fauble gets left off the team despite winning the Trials?
Big USATF/Nike News
It's the fifth straight year that Siegel made more than $1.2 million. USATF's says the large loss came from "planned expenses related to the 2022 World Athletics Championships."
Everyone's still looking for an edge
Kelvin Kiptum, Faith Kipyegon, Keely Hodgkinson and everyone in the OAC are among the stars who experimented with Maurten Bicarb System in 2023 ($65 for 4 doses). The big question: does it work? (paywall lifted)
BetterRunningShoes.com
We think most of you could guess the #1 brand, but the #2 might be a surprise. We break down the most popular brands overall, and for road, trail, and racing.
Max Siegel's Contract Gets Extended and We're Not Happy About It
Max has been the CEO since 2012. Max put USATF on sound financial footing by signing the 23-year Nike deal but there has been a lot of chaos with the organization during his tenure. The press release says his tenure has been "marked by record financial growth." Revenue actually declined from 2016 ($35.0) to 2021 ($33.7) but the press release talks about the budget being $40 million so perhaps 2022 (financials have not been released yet) was higher. Revenue was $21.9 million when he took over in 2012.
Winners
Twoggle, the Shelby Houlihan defender, and a guy who took up the sport in 2016, were the big winners in our $200,023 Worlds Prediction Contest and take home some great Suunto watches.
LRC Q&A
Q&A with Twoggle who wrote the piece titled, "Houlihan, Burrito-Gate and the Problems of Sports Drug Testing"
Kiptum's 2nd Half in Chicago Was Wild But Not As Wild As Initially Reported
Kiptum's reported 4:21 19th mile and 4:18 22nd mile were the two fastest splits ever recorded in a marathon, but after an investigation by LetsRun.com, race organizers have confirmed discrepancies with those splits.
Sick of Shoes that Break Down Too Soon?
Running shoe construction has changed a lot in the last decade. Runners are still looking for more durable running shoes, but we take a look at some of the most durable shoes and what makes them stand out.
Looking To Paris 2024
We have good news US marathon fans. Scott Fauble is #61 in the marathon so it looks like the US will be sending 3 Olympic men's marathoners to Paris.
Get a Better Running Shoe
Stack heights on shoes are getting bigger and bigger. Runners are liking these shoes more and more. We try and make sense of the cushioning revolution.
More Kiptum / Marathon News
As running prepares for some of its biggest barriers to be broken in the coming years, guest columnist Stephen Lane argues it is time for World Athletics to take action.
- Recommended Read No, Kelvin Kiptum Is Not the Next Kipchoge (But Sifan Hassan just might be) Writing for Outside, Martin Fritz-Huber cites the LetsRun.com forum and includes the following quote from Molly Seidel, "Who’s the GOAT?’ Who fucking cares? Who’s got the story that’s going to get people excited?”
*MB: Molly Seidel: "Who’s the GOAT?’ Who fucking cares? Who’s got the story that’s going to get people excited?” - Kelvin Kiptum told his manager he wanted to withdraw from Chicago 1 week out as he had tonsilitis and a thigh injury but his coach told him he'd be fine The rest is history. *Discuss
- Chepng’etich still wants to WR despite losing to Hassan in Chicago - "Smashing the world record is still in my plans"
Inside Kiptum's Training
Kiptum, who regularly runs 150+ miles a week, runs so hard in training that his coach Gervais Hakizimana wants him to slow down: "I told him that in five years he would be done, that he must calm down to last in athletics."
- Kelvin Kiptum's dad is very proud and says his son has never had a drop of alcohol
- Kelvin Kiptum says he's ready to race Kipchoge: “It will be exciting to meet Kipchoge, who has inspired many. I am ready to race against him.”
- Kelvin Kiptum returns to Iten & reveals the secret to his success: “My secret is training not any other thing." He received a hero's welcome.
Better Running Shoes
The ASICS SUPERBLAST tops the first LetsRun.com shoe rankings for everyday trainers. The shoe is a worthy winner as it is the epitome as to how super shoe technology has made its way over to everyday trainers. Asics and HOKA each put 3 shoes in the top 10.
Ross Tucker Speaks
After Assefa's WR, sadly doping allegations swarmed the Internet, but could it simply be the shoes? "I hate these shoes, and I truly wish the authorities had acted to prevent this entirely foreseeable situation," writes Ross Tucker.
2024 Olympic Trials
Eugene fatigue is real but don't tell that USATF. This will be the fourth straight US championships at Hayward Field and the fifth straight US Olympic Trials. Eugene paid them at least $3 million for the last Trials and we all know that USATF needs at least $3 million just to pay Max Siegel. Ridiculous.
Ingebrigtsen Wants ALL of the WRs
After his double victory at Pre, Ingebrigtsen shared advice for those attempting double threshold and why he believes he can break every WR from 1500 through the marathon.
Better Running Shoes a Click Away
Want to know what running shoes real runners like best? We've got some answers for you as our Better Running Shoe review site is now open to the public. Real reviews, from real runners, with data science.
Max Siegel & USATF Are Getting Sued
Estes lawsuit stems from USATF's decision to disqualify Chattanooga's bid for the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials because Estes worked as a consultant on Chattanooga's bid. The idea that Siegel cited that conflict of interest as a deal breaker is laughable to us considering "under (Max) Siegel’s watch, USA Track and Field has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of business to an Indianapolis marketing firm that once advertised itself as “a Max Siegel company.”
XC Video Game
The XC video game that former Wisco runner Ryan Craven spent time developing during much of the Covid lockdowns is now available to play on your phone and it's free!!
Justyn Knight Joins The BTC
The former NCAA star announced earlier today and he is now a Nike and BTC man. We talked to him before it was announced about why he made the move and what does he have think he has left in the tank?
A legend speaks
Michael Johnson was the guest on the LetsRun.com Track Talk podcast on the anniversary of his 19.32 double gold world record to share his thoughts on the sport and its current crop of stars.
2024 Trials Update
Are the mid-day start times great so it can be shown live on TV? Or too hot? We give you our thoughts.
Karsten Warholm Q&A
Recently Alex Geula sat down with Karsten Warholm and his coach, Leif Olav Alnes, at the IK Tjalve club in Oslo to understand Warholm's beginnings, his career, and the sprint side of Norwegian training.
The Most Untalented 3:29 Guy Ever?
Is Nordås the least talented runner to break 3:30 in history? He thinks so, "I can guarantee you I'm the slowest sub 3:30 guy in history." Text highlights from his appearance on the LRC Track Talk podcast.
Paywall lifted!
Paywall lifted!
The Latest JG Feature
What links Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the NAU cross country team, and Sebastian Coe? Double threshold training, which is having a moment in 2023. Note, most of this article is behind our SC paywall for 72 hours (until Saturday).
How do you explain the ridiculous indoor distance times?
Are all the fast times merely a product of supershoes? Or is it something more? We spoke to coaches Dathan Ritzenhein, Jason Vigilante and Dave Smith to figure it out.
Kipchoge loving the LetsRun Shirt in Berlin
Your latest American stars share their insights.
American Record Holders
American Record Holders
Keira D'Amato, the new American record holder in the marathon, was joined by Deena Kastor, who held the record for 15 years.
Sisson was the guest on the LetsRun.com Track Talk podcast after she became the first American to go sub 67 in the half marathon on a record-eligible course. Podcast highlights above. Full pod here.
Woody Kincaid joined us after he broke the American record indoors at 5000. He talks above why he left the Bowerman Track Club. Podcast highlights and link to full podcast here.
Coogan's New Balance Boston team had 3 Olympians in 2021 and 2022 could be the biggest year yet for the program with 2 new additions and the TRACK at New Balance coming on March 1st.
Danny Mackey has taken the Brooks Beasts from an unproven club to the Olympic podium in its first decade.
Dathan Ritzenhein is the first of the top pro coaches to sit down and talk about his club heading into the 2022 campaign.
Best of Jon Gault
Best of Jon Gault
Take Your Love of LetsRun to the Next Level
Take Your Love of LetsRun to the Next Level
LetsRun Classics
LetsRun Classics
‒Brooks Beasts coach Danny Mackey explaining to LRC why Josh Kerr may skip out on running World Indoors in his native Scotland even though he's going for the 2-mile WR just 3 weeks before.
MB: Friendly reminder to Josh Kerr and Jake Wightman, Centrowitz won World Indoors and Olympics in 2016. The sport needs you there