Running News Daily

Focus shifts from track as road racing season heats up

As the international outdoor track and field season draws to a close, we now look forward to the feast of top-class road racing that will be on offer throughout the final four months of the year.

In just 11 days’ time, the focus of the sport will be on the World Athletics Road Running Championships Riga 23, where the best distance runners on the planet will compete for global honours in the mile, 5km and half marathon.

The likes of world champion Faith Kipyegon, world record-holder Berihu Aregawi and Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir are among the stars set to compete in the Latvian capital. Recreational runners from around the world, meanwhile, will run on the same courses as the greats when they take to the streets of Riga for the associated mass races.

There are also eight Platinum Label road races between September and December, the first of which was held last weekend with Betsy Saina and Othmane El Goumri winning the Blackmores Sydney Marathon. Of the seven other upcoming Platinum events, three of them form part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors (WMM) series: the BMW Berlin Marathon, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and the TCS New York Marathon.

Platinum Label road races, Sep-Dec 2023

8 Oct – Chicago Marathon (WMM)

15 Oct – Amsterdam Marathon

5 Nov – New York Marathon (WMM)

26 Nov – Shanghai Marathon

3 Dec – Valencia Marathon

17 Dec – Bang Saen Half Marathon

The Chicago Marathon two weeks later will be highlighted by a clash between defending champion Ruth Chepngetich and London Marathon winner Sifan Hassan.

Two-time Tokyo Marathon champion Birhanu Legese, the fourth-fastest marathon runner of all time, headlines the men’s field for the Amsterdam Marathon. Defending champion Evans Chebet will take on two-time winner Geoffrey Kamworor at the New York City Marathon in November.

For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, the Shanghai Marathon in late November will welcome an international elite field.

Just one week later, multiple global champion and world record-holder Joshua Cheptegei will make his long-awaited marathon debut in Valencia. In recent years the event has established itself as one of the highest-quality marathons in the world, and this year’s edition will surely be no exception.

Towards the end of the year, the Thai coastal area of Bang Saen will host one of the newest additions to the Platinum Label calendar, the Bangsaen21 Half Marathon. Since the pandemic, it has been largely a domestic affair, but it will be back with a bang this year with a high-quality elite line-up.

Hundreds of road races each year are granted a World Athletics Label, ranging from ‘Platinum’, for the top tier of road events, to Gold, Elite and Label. There are still more than 100 World Athletics Label road races due to take place between now and the end of 2023.

Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay sets 5,000m world record at Prefontaine Classic

On Sunday afternoon at the Diamond League Final in Eugene, Ore., world 10,000m champion Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay almost achieved the unthinkable: breaking the women’s 5,000m world record in 14:00.20—nearly becoming the first woman in history to run a 5K under 14 minutes.

Tsegay surpassed the previous 5,000m world record of 14:05.20 by five seconds, which was set by her rival Faith Kipyegon earlier this year at the Paris Diamond League. Tsegay battled with world cross-country champion Beatrice Chebet until the final three laps when the Ethiopian pulled ahead.

The pace for the 5,000m final was set for 14:00 flat, with the pacers taking Tsegay and Chebet through 3,000m in 8:26.03. Tsegay threw down a 2:09 final 800m to shake off Chebet and become the first woman to threaten the 14-minute 5K barrier.

Chebet finished second behind Tsegay in 14:05.92, the third-fastest time in history. Ethiopia’s Ejgayehu Taye rounded out the Diamond League 5,000m final podium in 14:21.52. Kipyegon chose to run the 1,500m on Saturday and did not enter the women’s 5,000m at the Prefontaine Classic.

Tsegay had an up-and-down 2023 season, winning the world 10,000m title in Budapest, then finishing a disappointing 13th place in the world 5,000m final several days later.

This is the second world record of Tsegay’s career. In 2021, she ran an indoor 1,500m world record of 3:53.09 in northern France.

Beatrice Chebet sets lofty target ahead of next year's Paris Olympic Games

Chebet will be making her first appearance at the Olympic Games and she has already set her priorities right.

After closing the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary with a bronze medal in the women’s 5000m, Beatrice Chebet is now plotting a gold medal at next year’s Paris Olympic Games.

In a post-race interview after setting a world-leading time at the Xiamen Diamond League, she noted that she will be contesting for a gold medal but a podium finish will also be a great thing for her.

“I’m contesting for the gold medal but as long as I finish on the podium I think that will be okay,” she said.

The 23-year-old will be competing alongside compatriot Faith Kipyegon, who is also the current world record holder in the 1500m and 5000m. Kipyegon will be vying to bag double victory in the 1500m and 5000m.

However, before then, Chebet will be seeking to defend her Diamond League Final Trophy when she heads to the Meeting in Eugene, USA.

She won last year’s final which was held in Zurich, Switzerland in style and she will be seeking to bag back-to-back titles.

“I want to finish my season in Eugene, the last Diamond League then maybe I will go for a break then come back for training as I prepare for the Olympics,” Chebet said.

She also reflected on the outing in Budapest, Hungary, and noted that it was not a walk in the park since there were strong athletes on the field. Kipyegon and Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan finished first and second respectively.

“Budapest was not easy because there was a strong field with Faith, Sifan, and the Ethiopians. I’m glad I finished third,” he said.

4 Stunning Moments at the World Track and Field Championships

Here are the top moments at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, and what to watch for this weekendThere’s just three action-packed days of track and field remaining in Budapest, Hungary for the 2023 World Athletics Championships. Whether you’ve spent the past six days glued to your streaming service or you’re just catching up, here’s a refresher on the top highlights so far, and what we’re looking forward to most this weekend.Sha’Carri Richardson proved that she is here to stay by winning the 100-meter final with a new championship record of 10.65. To do it, she had to take down her Jamaican rivals Shericka Jackson, the fastest woman in the world this year, and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the reigning LLP world champion and 15-time world medalist.

After a poor showing in her semifinal, Richardson failed to achieve one of the auto-qualifiers and was placed in lane nine for the final. None of that mattered on race day, though, as the 23-year-old showcased the best acceleration over the final 30 meters of any runner in the field to claim gold from the outside lane. Jackson took silver in 10.72, while Fraser-Pryce ran a season’s best of 10.77 for bronze.

The victory marks Richardson’s first appearance at a global championship. She won the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2021, but was unable to compete in the Olympic Games in Tokyo after testing positive for marijuana, a banned substance. In 2023, Richardson said, she’s “not back, [she’s] better.”

Can magic strike twice, and can she earn another medal in the 200 meters? She’ll again face Jackson, the second-fastest woman in world history, as well as American Gabby Thomas, the bronze medalist in Tokyo and the fastest woman in the world this year.

The women’s 200-meter final is on August 25. On Saturday, August 26, Richardson and Thomas will team up to compete against Jackson and Fraser-Pryce in the 4×100-meter relay.The flamboyant American Noah Lyles has made clear his ultimate goal of breaking Usain Bolt’s world record of 19.19 in the 200 meters for nearly a year now, ever since breaking the American record, en route to his second world title last summer in Eugene. But to get there, coach Lance Brauman reveals in NBC docuseries “Untitled: The Noah Lyles Project,” the 200-meter specialist would need to improve his speed by focusing on the 100m.

Despite never making a U.S. team in the 100 meters before, Lyles muscled his way onto the podium at the USATF Track and Field Championships a week after getting COVID, and executed his race plan perfectly in Budapest to claim gold with a world-leading time of 9.83. Letsile Tebogo of Botswana set a national record of 9.88 to earn silver and become the first African to podium at a world championship, while Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain took home his first bronze medal.

“They said I wasn’t the one,” he said immediately after the race, in what is sure to be one of this world championship’s most memorable moments. “But I thank God that I am.”

Now his attention turns to a third world title in the 200 meter—and a potential world record. Only Bolt has won three straight world titles over 200 meters, and the Jamaican world record holder is also the last man to win the 100-meter/200-meter double back in 2015.

In a bizarre turn of events on Thursday, a golf cart transporting athletes including Lyles to the track for the 200-meter semi-finals collided with another cart. Several athletes had to be seen by a doctor before the race, and Jamaica’s Andrew Hudson was automatically advanced to the final after competing with shards of glass in his eye. Lyles was reportedly fine.

Tebogo and Hughes will be back for the 200-meter final, as well as Kenneth Bednarek and Erriyon Knighton, who completed the USA sweep with Lyles last year, and Tokyo Olympic champion Andre de Grasse of Canada.

The 200-meter finals are on Friday, and the 4 x 100-meter final is on Saturday.For the second year in a row, the best middle-distance runner in the world was outkicked in the world championship 1,500-meter final by a British athlete. This time, it was Josh Kerr who delivered the kick that broke Jakob Ingebrigtsen, winning his first world title in 3:29.38.

For the fiercely competitive Ingebrigtsen, the second-fastest man in world history in the event, silver is hardly any consolation for losing. Yet he nearly lost that as well — his Norwegian countryman Narve Gilje Nordås (who is coached by Jakob’s father Gjert) nearly beat him to the line, with Ingebrigtsen finishing slightly ahead, 3:29.65 to 3:29.68.Kerr, the Olympic bronze medalist in Tokyo, seemed to employ a similar tactic as last year’s upset winner Jake Weightman, who similarly sat and kicked with about 180 meters to go. Kerr and Weightman actually trained together as youth rivals at Scotland’s Edinburgh Athletic Club. Kerr now trains in the United States with the Brooks Beasts.

Ingebrigtsen revealed after the race that he had a slight fever and some throat dryness. He competed in the preliminary round of the 5,000 meters on Thursday, advancing to the final with the third-fastest time of the day. He is the reigning world champion and will race the final on Sunday.

While the path to victory looks difficult, at least one heavy hitter has removed himself from conversation — world record holder Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda, who already won the 10K this week, pulled out of the 5K with a foot injury.On the very first day of competition in Budapest, the Netherlands track and field federation suffered not one but two devastating falls while running within reach of gold.

Femke Bol was leading the anchor leg of the mixed 4×400-meter relay when she fell just meters from the finish line, leaving the Dutch team disqualified while Team USA captured the gold medal.

On the same night, countrywoman Sifan Hassan stumbled to the ground in the final meters of the 10,000 meters, going from first to 11th, while the Ethiopian trio of Gudaf Tsegay, Letesenbet Gidey and Ejgayehu Taye swept the podium positions.

Hassan was the first to get redemption, earning a bronze medal in the 1,500 meters in 3:56.00 behind only world record holder Faith Kipyegon of Kenya (3:54.87) and Diribe Welteji of Ethiopia (3:55.69). She reportedly did a workout immediately following the race, calling it “not a big deal,” and the next morning won her 5,000-meter prelim in a blistering 14:32.29 over Kipyegon, who also owns the world record over 5K (14:05.20). The two will face off in the final on Saturday.

On Thursday, 23-year-old Bol got her redemption run. With the absence of world record holder Sydney McLaughlin in her signature event of the 400-meter hurdles, the gold was Bol’s for the taking and she left no mercy on the field. She stormed to her first World Championships gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles with a dominant effort of 51.70, with the United States’ Shamier Little nearly a full second behind in 52.80. Jamaica’s Rushell Clayton took bronze in 52.81.

Bol will return to the track for the women’s 4 x 400-meter relay final on Sunday. The Dutch was also disqualified in this event last year at Worlds and will seek to record a result at all expense.

Sifan Hassan did workout immediately after her 1,500m final

If competing in three distance events in nine days at the 2023 World Athletics Championships wasn’t hard enough, Dutch athlete Sifan Hassan completed 400m repeats after Tuesday night’s 1,500m final, where she won bronze in 3:56.00.

Hassan told the media in Budapest after her 5,000m heat on Wednesday evening that she did a speed workout of five 400m reps in around 65 seconds with 40 seconds of rest, even though she had the 5,000m heats less than 24 hours later.

“I was just doing some easy making kilometers, some 400s,” says Hassan. “It’s not really a big deal. They (the media) make it a big deal.”

The 30-year-old reigning London marathon champion said her reasoning behind the workout was to continue to prepare for the 2023 Chicago Marathon on Oct. 8. “In six weeks, I have to run the Chicago Marathon,” says Hassan. “I am trying to prepare for that.”

Her triple at worlds got off to a rough start, falling in the final 50 meters of the women’s 10,000m on Day 1, finishing 11th. She won her first medal of the championships on Tuesday evening in the 1,500m, but faltered in the final 50 meters, conceding silver to Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji, while Faith Kipyegon defended her world title.

On Wednesday night, she squared up against Kipyegon again in the heats of the women’s 5,000m. Hassan won the heat in 14:32.29 over Kipyegon, both qualifying for Saturday’s final, which will be Hassan’s last race at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.

Faith Kipyegon storms to her second straight 1,500m world championship victory

It was her race to lose–Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, who is indisputably the greatest 1,500m runner the world has ever seen, would have had to make a serious mistake (or suffer a freak injury) to avoid winning the women’s 1,500m in Budapest on Tuesday. Neither happened, and the double Olympic champion and now three-time world champion and world record holder takes home another gold medal, with a finishing time of 3:54.87.

Former world junior champion Diribe Welteji of Ethiopia ran a smart race, positioning herself just behind Kipyegon near the start, and took home silver, in 3:55.69. And Olympic bronze medalist Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, after a disastrous 10,000m race on Sunday in which she fell in the final meters of the race she was leading, came from behind with her trademark finishing kick to take home bronze in 3:56.00.

Ciara Mageean of Ireland, the 2022 European silver medalist, ran an excellent race also, finishing fourth with a national record in 3:56.61. Nelly Chepchirchir of Kenya, who finished fifth, ran a personal best (3:57.90).

2022 bronze medalist Laura Muir of Team Great Britain ran 3:56 in the semi-final and was in the race for the first couple of laps, but ultimately faded to sixth (3:58.58).

After a fast first 100m, the race became very slow and tactical, but surprisingly, no one attempted to challenge Kipyegon’s lead, and allowed her to control the pace; the leaders went through 800m in 2:11 and were at 2:58 at the bell. And of course she closed lightning fast, with a 56.5-second final lap, completely unchallenged.

It was also Kenya’s first gold medal of the games. When asked in a post-race interview how it felt to bring home her country’s first gold medal of the games, the humble Kipyegon responded, “I’m so grateful,” and she repeated this when asked whether she felt that this third world title cemented her legacy as the greatest-ever 1,500m runner, adding that nothing in particular had changed in her training with coach Patrick Sang (who is coach also to marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge) to get her the extraordinary results she has seen so far this year.

Kipyegon set the world record at the distance at the Florence Diamond League earlier this season, becoming the first woman in the world to go sub-3:50. She, along with Hassan, will also race the 5,000m, which has been rescheduled from Wednesday morning to Wednesday evening, due to the extreme heat and humidity in Budapest. 

You can watch the World Athletics Championships live in Budapest at cbcsports.ca. For full results, click here. 

The 2023 World Athletics Championships are taking place from August 19-27 at the National Stadium in Budapest, Hungary. All the action will be brought to you by Canadian Running and Asics Canada. Follow us on Twitter on Instagram for all things Team Canada and up-to-date exclusive news and content.

Silver medalist Brenda Chebet will target 1500m in Budapest

The 2022 World Under 20 silver medalist Brenda Chebet has pledged to storm the final of the 1500m race at World Athletics Championships in Budapest on her debut in the senior ranks.

Chebet, 19, was enlisted on the Kenyan continent for the premier annual global showpiece at the eleventh hour to replace Purity Chepkirui Thursday who withdrew from the team last week. 

Speaking before departing for the championships, Chebet thanked Athletics Kenya for allowing her to compete for the nation in the Hungarian capital, saying she will not disappoint.

"I feel great having graduated to the senior's stage and received an invitation to compete in the World Championships," Chebet said.

She predicted abrasive competition from a rich field of rivals including her compatriots. 

"It won't be easy because we have some very gifted runners in the race such as Faith Kipyegon and the Ethiopians, who are known to pose a great challenge. I'll do my best in the race and wait to see how things will turn out," she said.

The diminutive runner said she feels privileged to be on the same team as Kenyan track queen Kipyegon, who boasts a world record over the distance.

 "Competing against Kipyegon means a lot to me because this will be the first time we shall be competing in the same event. She is a celebrated runner and any athlete would be proud to be in the same race with her," said Chebet. 

"Let's hope I'll make it to the final and then we can see what to do next."

She heads into the race buoyed by a sterling performance in Bathurst, Australia in February, where she and teammates Emmanuel Wanyonyi, Miriam Cherop, and Kyumbe Munguti delivered a gold medal in the mixed relay at the World Cross Country Championships.

The four wrapped up the race in 23:14 minutes ahead of bitter rivals Ethiopia's Adehera Kasaye, Hawi Abera, Getnet Wale, and Birke Haylom (23:21).

 Chebet also won the silver medal in the 1500m at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia, running a personal best time of 4:04.64, behind Haylom.

In June 2022 Chebet finished fourth in her specialty at the African Championship in Saint Pierre, Mauritius. She followed that with a sixth place finish in the women's 800m final. 

Faith Kipyegon now plans to attack the 40-year-old 800m world record

Her main focus at the moment is to successfully defend her world title when she heads to Budapest later this month.

Triple world record Faith Kipyegon might be targeting the 40-year-old 800m world record if a chance presents itself. 

Kipyegon has a personal best time of 1:57.68, which she ran to win the Diamond League Meeting in Doha, Qatar in 2020. The last time she ran the two-lap race was last year during the Trials for the Commonwealth Games and World Championships where she finished.

After three world records, will Kipyegon consider lowering Czechia’s Jarmila Kratochvílova world record time of 1:53.48?

“I don’t know…800m is not easy…but anything is possible. For now, I leave that one for Mary Moraa, she is capable…or Athing Mu and Keely Hodgkinson.

They are all capable of breaking that barrier in the 800m. But if a chance comes whereby I am able to try, I’ll appreciate it,” Kipyegon told Olympics.com.

Her main focus at the moment is to successfully defend her world title when she heads to Budapest later this month.

She admitted to pressure ahead of the event since she will be doubling in the 1500m and 5000m. Her performance at the World Championships will determine greatly whether she will also be doubling at the Paris Olympics.

“I can’t go there like just an athlete, now I have three world records, they expect a lot from me. But going to Budapest, I have to just be myself and run my races and see what will happen at the finish line.

Having fun, enjoying sports and even life is amazing… it has been the drive of our success. It helps mentally (by distracting) you from thinking of races every day and upcoming races and what you want to achieve or what will be the outcome,” she said.

Faith Kipyegon obliterates women’s mile world record by almost five seconds

On Friday at the Monaco Diamond League, Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon ran the fastest women’s mile in history, breaking her third distance world record in the last two months. The 29-year-old mom clocked a jaw-dropping 4:07.64, taking over four seconds off the previous mile record.

In her first mile race since 2016, Kipyegon led the race from start to finish, going through the first 800 in 2:04 and closing in a negative split 2:03. Kipyegon broke the former mile world record of 4:12.33 set by Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands at the same meet in 2019.

It has been a sensational season for the women’s Olympic and world champion in the 1,500m, who previously lowered the 1,500m and 5,000m world records in June over a seven-day span. There was never a doubt heading into the meet that Kipyegon would break the record, but the question was by how much–and she made a statement, becoming the first woman to run a mile under 4:10.

The mile world record was the only record broken in the race, Kipyegon dragging six athletes to their own respective national records in the mile. Ireland’s Ciara MaGeean finished behind Kipyegon in an Irish national record of 4:14.58, and Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu, who went out with Kipyegon through the first two laps, finished third in a season’s best 4:14.79. Olympic 1,500m silver medallist Laura Muir finished fourth in a British national mile record of 4:15.24.

Faith Kipyegon contemplates doubling at World Championships

Double world record holder Faith Kipyegon is contemplating whether to compete in both the 1500m and 5000m at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in August.

Kipyegon who holds the world records for the two distances said she is consulting widely before making a decision.

Speaking when she was named the LG/Sports Journalists Association of Kenya player of the month for June, Kipyegon said: "I will start my journey of defending my world title at the national trials this weekend."

"However, I am still consulting on whether I should double at the World Championships."

Kipyegon, a two-time Olympic champion over 1500m, said since she is qualified for Budapest after winning the world title in Oregon last year, she will compete in the 5000m race at the Athletics Kenya trials set for Friday and Saturday at the Nyayo Stadium.

This, she said, will also form part of her preaparations for the July 21 Monaco Diamond League.

At her training base at Global Sports Communication in Kaptagat, Uasin Gishu county, Kipyegon was crowned by the scribes after running two consecutive world records over 1500m and 5000m last month.

In Florence, Italy, on June 2, Kipyegon tore Genzebe Dibaba's record over 1500m with a new world mark of 3:49.11 over 1500m.

She was at it again in Paris a week later as she timed a new world record of 14:05.20 over 5000m.

“I’m so happy to be among the few athletes to win this award more than twice,” Kipyegon said.

“It's always good to see corporate entities acknowledge the good work of athletes. I am thankful to LG for their efforts to whip up the enthusiasm of sportsmen and women in this country. The win in Florence boosted my confidence levels and I feel I have to continue pushing for better track limits.”

She becomes the second athlete, after Angela Okutoyi, to win the SJAK award thrice. Kipyegon beat five other nominees among them Commonwealth Games champion Beatrice Chebet who produced a scintillating run to clinch the 3,000m title at the Oslo Diamond League in eight minutes, 25.01 seconds, which also counted as the latter's new personal best and world leading time.

Others were Carl Tundo and McRae Kimathi for their WRC2 and WRC3 finishes on the Safari Rally,  Moses Shumah for scoring Harambee Stars solitary goal at the Four Nations Tournament, Emma Wangila Nekesa for being the only African wrestler and Kenyan to have qualified for the World Beach Games in Indonesia.

Maureen Kemunto, LG East Africa Corporate Marketing and communication manager, said: “LG has been actively supporting the identification and recognition of sporting talent in Kenya through a partnership with SJAK."

"The purpose of this award is to recognise exceptional Kenyan sportsmen and women for their achievements across diverse disciplines each month and also to signify our commitment to contribute to the development of sport in the country."

SJAK President James Waindi congratulated Kipyegon and thanked LG for their continued support over the past eight years.

“With the monthly award, we are seeing a growing number of upcoming and talented sports personalities among them Angela Okutoyi who won the Wimbledon Open Junior category and won this award for a record three times, "said Waindi.

" Rewarding sportsmen and women is an important step towards whipping up the enthusiasm of sports personalities across all disciplines.”

Why Are Runners Suddenly So Fast?

Records are falling and times are dropping. Is it the shoes, or something else?

Consider the Paris Diamond League meet in early June. Jakob Ingebrigtsen smashed the two-mile world best by more than four seconds, becoming just the second man to run back-to-back sub-four-minute miles. Then Faith Kipyegon notched her second world record in a row, outsprinting the reigning record-holder over 5,000 meters just a week after becoming the first woman under 3:50 in the 1,500 meters. Then, to cap the night, Lamecha Girma took down the steeplechase record.

It was a great night—but it was just one of many great nights that track fans have been treated to recently. A week later, at the historic Bislett Games in Oslo, eight men broke 3:30 for 1,500 meters in one race, setting a new record—including Yared Nuguse, who set a new U.S. best. Meet records fell in almost every event. At the collegiate level, an analysis by Oregon-based coach Peter Thompson shows that the number of middle- and long-distance runners hitting elite benchmark times has doubled, tripled, or in some events even quadrupled in the last two years. Earlier in June, four high-school boys broke four minutes for the mile in a single race, matching the total number of people who’d done it in history prior to 2011.

I could go on.

There are two main questions that arise from this buffet of speed. First, is it real? Are runners getting faster across the board, or are we just being fooled by the brilliance of a few individuals and random fluctuations in the depth of different events? Second, if it’s really happening, then why? The easy answer is, “It’s gotta be the shoes” (or, in this case, the super spikes), but does the data really back that up?

I don’t have any definitive answers at this point, but here are my thoughts on some of the possible explanations.

It’s easy to make an anecdotal case that runners are faster than ever. Backing that up with data isn’t quite as straightforward. If you look only at whether the top-ranked time in the world is getting faster or slower from year to year, any trends will depend on whether you happen to have a generational athlete in the event at a given point in time. The effect of an Usain Bolt is bigger than the effect of, say, a new shoe design. Even if you go deeper, the top ten times in any year often come from just one or two races that took place in exceptionally good conditions. So you’re better off looking farther down the list.

For example, here’s some data for the men’s 1,500 meters between 2009 and 2022, drawn from the World Athletics database. I’ve shown the first, tenth, 100th, and 1,000th ranked performers (not performances) for each year. The horizontal dashed lines show the average for 2009 to 2018. The first super spike prototypes had shown up on the circuit by 2019 at latest, and were widely available by 2021. The big spike of slower times in 2020 is because there were so few races due to the pandemic.

The number-one times don’t show any particular trend. The tenth-best times show a dip since 2021, but no bigger than the dip in 2014-2015 (which corresponded to two particularly fast races in Monaco). For the 100th and 1,000th best times, the pre-pandemic data finally starts to look more consistent, which makes the dip since 2021 more telling. The 1,000th-best performer is now 0.9 percent faster than the pre-pandemic average, and the 100th-best is 0.5 percent faster. This is smaller than the 1.3-percent estimate derived from lab testing of super spikes, but in the ballpark.

Here’s comparable data for the women’s 5,000 meters:

Again, the first- and tenth-ranked times fluctuate too much to draw any conclusions. The 100th and 1,000th places do show an apparent drop in the last few years, by 1.9 and 2.0 percent respectively—more than the lab estimate. There are lots of possible explanations for this discrepancy, including that the benefits of super spikes are reduced at faster speeds.

I’ll add one more graph just for context. Supershoes came to road running way back in 2016 (for prototypes) and became widely available by 2018. I think most observers agree that these shoes really have affected road-running times. So what does the comparable data show for, say, men’s marathon times? Here it is:

The data is confounded by the effects of the pandemic, particularly in 2020. Still, the post-supershoe improvement looks fairly similar to the track data. Compared to the 2009 to 2016 average, last year’s times were 0.7 percent faster at tenth, 1.6 percent faster at 100th, and 1.3 percent faster at 1,000th.

The conclusion I take from all this data? It does like there’s something going on, both on the track and on the roads. But it’s way less obvious in the data than I expected. My subjective feeling was that the last few years have seen records broken and times redefined at a totally unprecedented rate. I thought I’d see robust improvement of at least three or four percent. But that scale of change is not there, at least in the events I sampled.

So with that in mind, what explains the changes we do see?

My starting assumption is that any performance improvements we’ve seen in the last few years are because of the shoes. I’m not going to belabor that point here, because I’ve already written plenty on both road supershoes and super spikes.

But I do want to make one key point. The reason my prime suspect is the shoes is that we have direct laboratory evidence that both types of shoes improve running economy, by around 2 percent on the track and at least 4 percent on the roads (and, to complete the circle, lab evidence that improved running economy directly translates to faster race times). It would take some weird and hitherto undiscovered science in order for the shoes not to make us faster. In contrast, the other hypotheses that I’m going to discuss below may be compelling to various degrees, but all rely on some assumptions and guesses and hand-waving.

Here’s a sentence you wouldn’t have read prior to 2018, from Letsrun’s description of Kipyegon’s thrilling 1,500 world record in Florence: “Kipyegon sprinted away from the pacing lights with 200m to go, lengthening her gap from the green lights as she rounded the turn and entered the home straightaway.” I wrote about World Athletics’s introduction of Wavelight pacing lights when Joshua Cheptegei set the 5,000-meter world record in 2020, positing that more even splits could make a notable difference to times. Good pacing has been a hallmark of this year’s records too, all assisted by Wavelight.

Wavelight doesn’t factor in on the roads, but ever since Eliud Kipchoge’s sub-two marathon exhibitions, big-time marathons have devoted more attention to providing top-notch pacers for their elite runners. That has the double benefit of saving the mental effort of setting the pace, and of reducing air resistance. I think good pacing and drafting are both beneficial. But that can’t explain why the 100th and 1,000th performers seem to be getting faster, because Wavelight and paid rabbits are generally reserved for the front of the pack.

Freed from the tyranny of over-frequent racing during lockdowns, runners spent 2020 building up a massive base of endurance that has catapulted them to new levels. It’s even possible that, having learned their lesson, they’ll continue with this more patient approach to training. This theory has the disadvantage of being both unprovable and unfalsifiable. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s untrue, but if performance levels don’t start regressing to their pre-pandemic means over the next few years, I’ll remain skeptical.

It’s the “big, sexy thing” in endurance training these days, as miler Hobbs Kessler put it in a recent interview: lactate-guided double-threshold training, as popularized by Norwegian Olympic champions Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Kristian Blummenfelt. As I explained in this article, the approach emphasizes high volumes of threshold training with very tight control on the intensity to avoid going too hard. Whether it’s objectively better than other training approaches remains to be seen—but it hasn’t yet been adopted widely enough to make a noticeable impact on the top-1,000 list.

In the past, when I’ve looked at broad trends in performance over time, one of the first factors I’ve considered is changes in drug availability or drug testing. It’s extremely noticeable (though of course not proof of anything) that long-distance track times took off like a rocket shortly after the introduction of EPO in the early 1990s. If you look carefully, you can find what seems to be the performance signature of various drug-related events like the introduction of EPO testing and, more recently, the implementation of athlete biological passports.

Is there something new on the scene over the last few years? Or are we still seeing the effects of pandemic-related disruptions in out-of-competition drug testing? I certainly hope it’s not the case, but you’d have to be amnesiac to discount the possibility entirely. Once again, the best counterargument is that the performance improvements are noticeable even at the 1,000th-best level—though perhaps I’m being naive.

As you can probably tell, I don’t think any of the alternative explanations I’ve offered so far hold water compared to my default assumption that it’s the shoes. But this last category is a little different. If you spend enough time arguing with people about why runners are getting faster, you’ll encounter a number of broad, hand-waving theories that are hard to substantiate but nonetheless sound reasonable.

For example, I can attest to the fact that the Internet has made training knowledge far more widely accessible than it was when I was a young athlete in the 1990s. Ideas and approaches (like the Norwegian model) are endlessly debated and dissected, and any student of the sport is exposed to multiple perspectives. (In contrast, when I arrived at university and found that the workouts were different from those I’d done in high school, I thought the world was ending.) This theory has been offered frequently over the last decade or more as an explanation for steadily improving U.S. high school times. Maybe it’s true more broadly: people everywhere simply know more about the principles of training, and are doing it better (or at least fewer people are doing really stupid training) compared to the past. Even if elite coaching was always pretty good, this creates a wider pyramid of prospective talent feeding into the elite coaches.

I also have the sense that the pendulum has swung away from sit-and-kick racing towards aggressive front-running. After the 2019 world championships, where super spikes first made headlines, I wrote an article about the unusually fast early paces of the races. Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the current king of the 1,500, is notable for running from the front and pushing the pace rather than relying on a finishing sprint—which likely helps explain why he led those seven other men under 3:30 in Oslo. If runners these days are more focused on running fast times rather than trying to win sprint finishes, it stands to reason that times would get faster overall.

And there are plenty of other theories out there—broader support for professional training groups, better nutrition and recovery, the inevitable march of progress, and some that I’ve undoubtedly missed completely. As I said at the top, I don’t know the answers, and I don’t think anyone else does either. Times do seem to be improving, but not as much as I would have guessed based on all the hype about recent record-breaking. The shoes almost certainly play some role—but if there’s some other secret sauce in there, it’ll be fun trying to figure out what it is.

Eliud Kipchoge says he is determined to keep on writing history — and secure a third Olympic marathon crown next year

Eliud Kipchoge is widely regarded as the greatest marathon runner of all time has set himself many challenges in his dazzling career, and remains insatiable despite his two Olympic titles, his world record of 2:01:09 in Berlin in 2022 and an incredible 15 wins in 18 marathons he has entered.

He broke the mythical two-hour barrier over the 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometre) distance in Vienna in 2019, with a time of 1:59:40, but the feat was not recognised as an official world record as it was not in open competition.

Victory has eluded the 38-year-old in the Boston and New York marathons, which if he won would make him the first man to have all six major titles under his belt.

"The priority now is to focus on the Olympics and win a third time. The other (challenges) will come later," Kipchoge says in an interview with AFP at the renowned Kaptagat training camp in Kenya's Rift Valley.

His two Olympic marathon gold medals in 2016 and 2021 put him at level pegging with Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila (1960, 1964) and Waldemar Cierpinski of East Germany (1976, 1980).

A third gold at the Paris Olympics in 2024 would make Kipchoge the undisputed marathon giant at the Games, and bring him a victory steeped in symbolism.

The French capital was the city where he won his first international crown in 2003 at the age of 18, clinching the 5,000 metres world championship title ahead of sporting legends Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco and Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele.

However, Kipchoge does not rule out giving up on his other goals.

"If time comes in to hang the racing shoes, I will say bye to other big things in sport."

'I know myself'

Sitting on a shaded bench in the Kaptagat camp where he has lived and trained for several months a year for 20 years, Kipchoge looks back on his poor showing in Boston on April 17, where he dropped from the lead group in the 30th kilometre and ended up finishing sixth.

This rare failure dampened his spirits.

"I'm trying to forget what has happened in Boston. It's caught in my mind... but I believe that what has passed has passed."

With his lifelong coach Patrick Sang, he has analysed the reasons for his disappointing performance, saying "it's mostly the hamstring".

He brushes aside concerns about his difficulties on hilly courses such as Boston and New York and which will also confront him in Paris.

"It is not really a concern, but I respect everybody's thoughts," he says. "I think it was a bad day and every day is a different day. I'm looking forward for next year.

"Everybody can write anything, you have no control. But I know myself."

'Want to be an inspiration'

Kipchoge is now preparing for his final marathon of the year.

"I'm doing well. My training is going on in a good way," he says.

But he has not yet disclosed which event it will be — Berlin on September 24, Chicago on October 8 or New York on November 5.

"At the end of July, I will know where to go."

He is following his usual training programme, eating up more than 200 kilometres a week on the red dirt tracks of Kaptagat forest, 2,400 metres above sea level.

Among his 20-odd training partners at the camp at the time of the AFP interview were Kenya's new 1,500m and 5,000m world record holder Faith Kipyegon and two-time New York marathon winner Geoffrey Kamworor.

As the respected dean of Kenyan athletics, Kipchoge is happy to see the emergence of 23-year-old compatriot Kelvin Kiptum, who won the London Marathon in April in 2:01:25, the second fastest time in history and just 16 seconds away from his own world record.

"I want to be an inspiration and I trust my breaking the world record twice is an inspiration to many young people. I trust they will want more and even beat my records."

'Prioritise drugs tests'

But in a country where athletics has become tainted by large-scale drug use, Kipchoge laments that "many people are going into shortcuts to advance".

"I think doping is there... It's all more about getting rich."

Kipchoge says the authorities should prioritise testing for performance-enhancing substances, saying it was much more important than education "because everybody who is doing doping knows what is going on".

"Just pump everything in testing, put testing as a first priority and all will be well," he says.

"The moment we prioritise testing and we register those who are handling the athletes across the country, we have the right data to know who is who in the whole country.

"But if we really ignore the people who are working with athletes and athletes themselves, then we are in danger."

Two world records and a house for Kenya's Kipyegon

Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, who recently set world records in the 1500m and 5000m, has received a house and 5 million KES ($35,000) following her historic feats in Florence and Paris this month.

Kipyegon met with Kenyan President William Ruto on her return to her home country, with Ruto pledging a similar monetary reward for Kenya’s future world record-breakers.

The awarding of a house to Kipyegon follows the announcement on 30 May of a new scheme in Kenya that is designed to help athletes to own property and invest their earnings. It is particularly important for female athletes, who will now be able to buy a house under their sole name.

Kipyegon – the first recipient of the scheme – ran 3:49.11 to break the world 1500m record in Florence on 2 June and a week later the 29-year-old clocked 14:05.20 in Paris to add the world 5000m record to her ever-expanding CV.

She met with Ruto at State House in Nairobi and was joined at the ceremony by her husband Timothy Kitum, the 2012 Olympic 800m bronze medallist, and their daughter Alyn.

The new scheme is the result of a partnership between Athletics Kenya and Kenyan banking institution Housing Finance Group that offers athletes affordable home ownership, financing at incentivised Kenya Mortgage Refinancing rates and links to strategic affordable housing developers.

“It is a no-brainer that having a decent shelter is one of the basic needs for human survival. Yet, for all its importance, decent housing is one of the biggest challenges that millions of Kenyans face in this country,” said Athletics Kenya President Jackson Tuwei during the launch of the partnership in Nairobi, where Hon. Ababu Namwamba, the Cabinet Secretary for Youth Affairs, Sports and the Arts, was chief guest.

“Among those affected are Kenyan sportsmen and women who struggle with balancing putting a decent roof over their heads and pursuing their ambitions on the track and field.”

Beatrice Chebet, Beatrice Chepkoech, Dan Kiviasi, Mary Moraa, Wiseman Were, Wilfred Bungei, Milcah Chemos, Catherine Ndereba, John Ngugi and William Tanui were among the current and former athletes who were present at the launch ceremony.

Is Wavelight technology good for the sport?

Last week at the Paris Diamond League, we witnessed one of the most extraordinary single-day spectacles in the history of the sport. Over the course of two hours, two world records and a world best were shattered; the races were nothing short of spectacular, particularly when Faith Kipyegon skilfully closed the gap on the Wavelight during the final two laps, leaving Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey in the dust and achieving the seemingly impossible: a new women’s 5,000m world record.

The question of whether Wavelights are beneficial for the sport remains subjective, with opinions among track fans varying. On one hand, they enhance the performance and make races more engaging for spectators at the track or watching from home. On the other hand, they provide a precise pacing strategy for elite athletes, potentially facilitating faster times and diminishing the traditional element of intense competition.What is Wavelight technology?

Wavelight technology, named for the Mexican Wave, was introduced by World Athletics in 2019. It serves as a tool for athletes and spectators, offering assistance with pacing and providing a visual representation of the race’s progression. A wave of lights appears along the inside edge of the track, moving at the desired pace for the race. Typically used in distance events like the 800m, 1,500m, or 5,000m, these lights are programmed to signify specific benchmarks, such as world championship standards, meeting records or world record times.Pros

People are drawn to track and field events to witness athletes breaking records, and Wavelight can serve as a valuable tool for athletes to gauge their paces and attempt to break records. A notable example: at the Paris Diamond League on June 9, where Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway and Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia ran ahead of the lights to set new records in their respective races. In Girma’s case, the lights pushed and challenged him throughout the 3,000m steeplechase, with Girma narrowly staying ahead in the final 100m to break the previous world record by one second.

Girma’s reliance on the lights became evident as his pace dropped off after 1,000m, and he had to dig deep to maintain the pace set by the flashing lights. Without them, it is unlikely he would have achieved the record.Track and field has faced challenges since the departure of Usain Bolt in 2017, with the sport seeking its next superstar. The success of major events like the World Championships and the Olympic Games significantly increases the sport’s popularity.

World Athletics recognizes the importance of world or national records in the Diamond League circuit, which contribute to increased viewership. The implementation of Wavelight technology allows athletes to run faster and challenge these record times, catering to the audience’s desire for exciting and fast-paced performances.While not every race will produce record-breaking times, Wavelight enhances the potential for thrilling performances that captivate viewers and generate greater interest in the sport.

Cons

When Ingebrigtsen shattered Daniel Komen’s two-mile record, which had stood for 26 years, my immediate thought was how fast Komen could have run with today’s technology. Komen had pacers guide him through the first 2,000m before running the final kilometre alone against the clock. Similarly, Ingebrigtsen had pacers until around the 2,000m mark, but they gradually dropped off, leaving him with a lead of 10-15 metres over the lights.

Depending on the race style or purpose, I believe Wavelight can have a positive impact on the sport. But they also detract from what track and field is fundamentally about—the world’s best athletes competing against one another. Watching a Diamond League event where one athlete outpaces the rest of the field by 15 to 20 seconds in the 3,000m steeplechase does not benefit the sport. While celebrating superstars is important, track and field legends like Komen, Kenenisa Bekele, Genzebe Dibaba and David Rudisha never had events specifically set up for them to chase world records.

They achieved their records in the heat of competition, racing against other competitors. This is where I believe Wavelight technology crosses a line.A compelling comparison was published in Track & Field News in 2020, analyzing the current and former 10,000m world records—Joshua Cheptegei’s record with pace lights versus Bekele’s record without them. The analysis revealed that Cheptegei maintained much more even splits than Bekele, with a variance of less than a second (0.8s) between his kilometres, which is truly remarkable. In contrast, Bekele’s variance was five times greater, with a difference of nearly five seconds between his fastest and slowest kilometres.I am not suggesting that Wavelights are ruining the sport of track and field, but I believe their use should be limited to specific situations, such as aiming for world standards or being present only during the final lap or two of distances ranging from 1,500m to 10,000m.

By implementing such limits, World Athletics can strike a balance between using technology for pacing assistance and preserving the essence of competitive racing.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen to chase his national record at Oslo Diamond League

At the Paris Diamond League last week, the incredible Norwegian athlete and Olympic 1,500m champion  Jakob Ingebrigtsen achieved a remarkable two-mile world best. On Thursday evening (afternoon for viewers in North America), the 22-year-old superstar will be competing in his home country, aiming to challenge his national record of 3:28.32 at the Oslo Diamond League.

Jakob’s WR bid

Ingebrigtsen headlines a deep men’s 1,500m field, featuring the silver and bronze medallists from Tokyo 2020, Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot and Josh Kerr of Great Britain. Other notable athletes are American Yared Nuguse and Mohamed Katir, who came off a Spanish national record performance over 5,000m in Florence two weeks ago, taking the win in 12:50.79. 

During the pre-race press conference, Ingebrigtsen put his confidence on display and said he’s eager to chase a personal best and even take a shot at Hicham El Guerrouj’s 1,500m world record of 3:26.00 “If I break the world record Thursday, I deserve a statue,” said Ingebrigtsen. The Bislett Games meet director responded: “If you do it, I’ll personally set up a statue outside Bislett [Stadium].”

Although there has been a lot of world record talk from Ingebrigtsen and the media, the Wavelight pace in the 1,500m will be set to the meeting record of 3:29.12, going through 800m in 1:52 and the first kilometre in 2:19. Ingebrigtsen will have to close the final 500m in 66 seconds and a sub-53-second final lap if he hopes to take down the world record. 

Canadians in Oslo

Two prominent Canadian athletes are competing at Oslo Diamond League Thursday. Olympic 200m champion Andre De Grasse looks to get his season back on track in the men’s 200m. The last year hasn’t been easy for De Grasse, changing coaches, battling injury and a slow start to the 2023 season. In his first three 200m race of the season, he has struggled to dip under the world championship standard mark of 20.24 seconds, a time he has frequently sailed under over the last two seasons. In his first Diamond League race in Doha on May 5, his turnover in the final 70 metres wasn’t there, and he faded to sixth in 20.35. It’s been three weeks since his last race, and he will come into Oslo as one of the favourites on paper, having the second-fastest personal best in the field after the young American, Erriyon Knighton.

Canadian mile and 1,500m record holder Gabriela DeBues-Stafford had a successful outing in her Diamond League return in Florence two weeks ago. After a full year off due to injury, the 27-year-old Olympic finalist ran to a season’s best 4:03.64 over 1,500m. She will come into the Oslo Diamond League as the top-ranked woman in the mile event. This race in Oslo should be more tactical and better suited for DeBues-Stafford’s racing style than the 1,500m in Florence, which resulted in a new world record for Faith Kipyegon. 

Two other athletes who will be a tough test for DeBues-Stafford are Jessica Hull, who recently set an Australian record of 3:57.29 in Florence, and Ethiopian rising star Birke Haylom, who ran a giant personal best of 3:57.66 for third place at the Rabat Diamond League. DeBues-Stafford’s mile best is 4:17.87 from Monaco Diamond League in 2019, but any result under 4:23 for her would be a step in the right direction as she continues to prepare for the 2023 World Athletics Championships later this summer. 

Kipyegon, Girma and Ingebrigtsen make history in Paris

It will go down in history as one of the greatest nights in athletics.

Between them, Faith Kipyegon, Lamecha Girma and Jakob Ingebrigtsen broke two world records* and one world best at the Meeting de Paris on Friday (9), providing the standout moments at a highly memorable Wanda Diamond League meeting in the French capital.

A week after breaking the 1500m world record in Florence, Kipyegon etched her name into the record books for 5000m, winning in 14:05.20.

Ahead of the race, the world and Olympic champion hadn’t made too much noise about a possible world record attempt in tonight’s 5000m. It was, after all, just her third ever race at the distance, and her first 5000m outing in eight years.

But, as is always the case with Kipyegon, the 29-year-old Kenyan showed no fear as she navigated her way through the race, the early pace – 2:52.31 at 1000m and 5:42.04 at 2000m – seemingly no bother for the two-time world U20 cross-country champion.

Steeplechase world record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech was the third and final pacemaker, leading the field through 3000m in 8:31.91. At this point, world record-holder Letesenbet Gidey led from Kipyegon with Ethiopia’s Ejgayehu Taye, the world 5km record-holder, a few strides behind.

Kipyegon took the lead with about 600 metres to go, but Gidey kept close contact. They were about six seconds outside of world record pace, but Gidey also knew what Kipyegon is capable of. The world 10,000m champion knew that Kipyegon had the finishing speed to break Gidey’s world record.

Kipyegon – now speeding up with each and every stride – hit the bell in 13:04.1, needing a final lap of about 62 seconds to break Gidey’s record. She did exactly that, covering the last 400m in 61.1 seconds to cross the line in 14:05.20 – a 1.42-second improvement on Gidey’s mark.

Gidey, competing for the first time since her unfortunate episode at the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, finished second in 14:07.94, the third-fastest time in history. Taye was third in 14:13.31, while the next three women – Lilian Kasait Rengerek, Freweyni Hailu and Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi – all finished inside 14:24.

“I didn’t think about the world record, I don’t know how I made it,” said a delighted and surprised Kipyegon. “I just focused on the green light and tried to stay relaxed and enjoy the race. When I saw that it was a world record, I was so surprised – I just wanted to improve on my PB, the world record was not my plan. I just ran after Gidey – she is an amazing lady.

“I do not know what will be next – I’ll have to discuss it with my coach and my management,” she added. “If my body is healthy, anything is possible.”

Girma had requested an ambitious pace for the men’s 3000m steeplechase – one that would result in a finishing time of about 7:52. The world and Olympic silver medallist almost got a bit carried away mid-race, though, and ran well ahead of the wavelights through the middle section of the race.

With two laps to go, the lights almost caught up with the Ethiopian – who by now was well ahead of the rest of the field. But the sound of the bell and the reaction of the crowd seemingly gave him added impetus on the final lap as he moved clear of the lights once more.

He sped around the final lap in about 64 seconds, crossing the line in 7:52.11, taking 1.52 seconds off the world record set 19 years ago by Said Saeed Shaheen.

“I feel so happy,” said Girma, who started his year world a world indoor record over 3000m. “I’m happy and very proud. I felt so fast during the race, so confident. The world record is not a surprise; it was my plan to beat it tonight in Paris. It’s the result of my full determination.”

Two miles not be an official world record distance, but that mattered not to Jakob Ingebrigtsen – or indeed the sell-out crowd at the Stade Charlety – as the Norwegian won the event in a world best of 7:54.10.

The race wasn’t a scoring discipline on this occasion, and as such was held outside of the main broadcast window. But that didn’t deter the world and Olympic champion, who stuck to the pacemakers throughout, passing through 1000m in 2:29.07 and then moving closer to the second pacemaker – and, significantly, ahead of the green wavelights.

Once the pacemakers had done their job, Ingebrigtsen maintained his tempo and breezed through 3000m in an official split of 7:24.00 – a European record and the third-fastest performance of all time for that distance. At this point he had a 13.5-second lead over Ethiopia’s Kuma Girma. Victory was Ingebrigtsen’s; his next target was Daniel Komen’s world best.

He charged through the final 218 metres, roared on by the crowd, and crossed the finish line in 7:54.10, winning by 15 seconds.

“Being able to break this mark feels amazing,” he said. “It is my first world best outdoors. The pace felt very smooth for me, coming out of the 1500m. The public was amazing; without their help, it would have been more difficult. I was a bit surprised by the time in the end.”

World leads for Hodgkinson, Wanyonyi and Holloway

World and Olympic silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson opened her outdoor season in stunning fashion in the women’s 800m, winning by more than two seconds in a world-leading national record of 1:55.77.

The European champion stuck to the pacemaker and covered the first lap in 57.7 seconds, already a stride or two ahead of the rest of the field. With 200 metres to go, there was clear daylight between Hodgkinson and Jamaica’s Natoya Goule, who was being pursued by world indoor champion Ajee Wilson.

But none of them could get near Hodgkinson, who eased down the home straight to cross the line in 1:55.77, taking 0.11 off the British record she set two years ago in Tokyo. Wilson finished second in 1:58.16 and Goule was third in 1:58.23.

Sifan Hassan dazzles on the track in her season opener

Six weeks after winning the London Marathon, Sifan Hassan returned to action on the track in dazzling fashion at the FBK Games in Hengelo, Netherlands. On Saturday, Hassan won the women’s 10,000m, clocking the seventh-fastest time in history and a world lead of 29:37.80. She followed up her 10,000m win with a 3:58.12 in the women’s 1,500m, dropping the field over the final lap to win with ease.

In a post-race interview, Hassan told reporters that she entered the two races to see where she was at, two months out from the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest. Hassan confirmed after her historic win in London that she is now shifting her focus to the track for the world championships, but said she plans to race another marathon in the U.S. (Chicago or New York), possibly as soon as this fall. 

“I had the marathon just six weeks ago, and for me, the change was very hard,” said Hassan. “I am happy with my performance.” Her times for both distances are inside of the 2023 World Championships qualifying standards.

This isn’t the first time Hassan has demonstrated her extraordinary range over a short period. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Hassan attempted the distance trifecta, winning gold in the 5,000m and the 10,000m but falling short in the 1,500m, taking bronze behind Faith Kipyegon and Laura Muir.

Faith Kipyegon smashes women’s 1500m world record in Florence

Kenyan Faith Kipyegon smashed the women’s 1500m world record, clocking 3 minutes, 49.11 seconds at a Diamond League meet in Florence, Italy, on Friday.

Kipyegon, a two-time Olympic champion and two-time world champion, took 96 hundredths of a second off Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba‘s world record from 2015. Kipyegon began the day as the second-fastest woman in history at 3:50.37.

The 29-year-old was already the most decorated female miler in history, the only one with four global 1500m titles. Her Olympic gold medals in 2016 and 2021 were separated by a 22-month maternity leave from competition (that included 12 months without running).

Kipyegon was the eighth of nine children growing on a farm in the Kenyan Rift Valley. She was a soccer player at age 14 when she lined up for a one-kilometer run in PE class, according to World Athletics.

“I won that race by 20 meters,” Kipyegon said, according to World Athletics in 2016. “It is only then I knew I could run fast and be a good athlete.”

In 2010, a barefooted Kipyegon placed fourth in the world cross country championships junior race as, at age 16, the youngest finisher in the top 21. The next year, she won it. The year after that, she made her Olympic debut at age 18. By 2015, Jenny Simpson, arguably the best American miler in history, had a nickname for her: “The Sniper,” for her ability to run people down in the final lap.

She ran her last lap on Friday in under 59 seconds.

Next year, Kipyegon can become the second person to win the same individual Olympic track race three times, joining Usain Bolt. She said last year that she may shift to the 5000m after the 2024 Paris Games, according to Olympics.com.

Also in Florence, world champion Fred Kerley extended a year-plus win streak in the men’s 100m, prevailing in 9.94 seconds over Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala (10.04) and American Trayvon Bromell (10.09).

WXC Bathurst 23 senior women's preview: Gidey goes for gold against tough opposition

Had the World Athletics Cross Country Championships Bathurst 23 gone ahead in 2021 as originally planned, there’s a strong chance that Letesenbet Gidey would already be a world champion at the discipline.

The Ethiopian was in sensational form in 2020 and 2021, setting world records of 14:06.62 for 5000m and 29:01.03 for 10,000m. She had to settle for bronze at the Olympic Games at the longer event, but she prioritized global honors over records in 2022 and was rewarded with her first world title on the track, winning the 10,000m in Oregon in a nail-biting race.

The 24-year-old is now focused on winning her first individual senior world cross-country title. She won back-to-back U20 crowns in 2015 and 2017, joining an elite club of athletes to achieve the feat, alongside Faith Kipyegon and Genzebe Dibaba.

Gidey finished third in the senior women’s race in 2019 and earned gold in the team competition, but this time she heads to Bathurst as one of the big favorites.

If her performance at the Jan Meda Cross Country – Ethiopia’s trial event for the World Cross – is anything to go by, Gidey is certainly in form to challenge for gold in Bathurst. In that race back on 1 January, she bided her time until the last kilometer of the race and then soon opened up a gap of about 20 seconds on a strong domestic field.

It looked as though she was running within herself, too.

As much as individual glory will be Gidey’s biggest goal on Saturday, she will also want to earn gold in the team standings, and Ethiopia will once again be in with a great shout of doing exactly that.

Gete Alemayehu, who has a 1:06:37 half marathon PB, was second in the trial race, just ahead of 30:06.01 10,000m performer Tsigie Gebreselama, bronze medalist in the U20 race in Aarhus in 2019. Fellow Ethiopian Fotyen Tesfaye just missed out on a top-10 placing in Aarhus, so will be keen to improve on that in Bathurst.

But Gidey and her Ethiopian compatriots won’t have an easy ride, as they’ll be up against someone who is undefeated in international cross-country races for more than a year.

Eritrea’s Rahel Daniel has dominated the World Athletics Cross Country Tour and currently tops the season standings thanks to her three victories last month. She won at the prestigious Campaccio meeting in San Giorgio su Legnano, then two days later triumphed in Elgoibar, winning by eight seconds. More recently she won in Hannut, racing in heavy snow, showing she can cope well in any conditions.

Daniel enjoyed a successful 2022 campaign on the track, setting national records for 5000m (14:36.66) and 10,000m (30:12.15), the latter when placing fifth at the World Championships in Oregon.

But the 21-year-old is clearly more at home on cross country, and despite this being her World Cross debut, Daniel will have high hopes for a podium finish.

Beatrice Chebet is just as formidable an opponent, though. The Kenyan took 5000m silver at the World Championships last year and won the U20 women’s title at the 2019 World Cross in Aarhus. She is also the African, Commonwealth and Diamond League 5000m champion, and is a former world U20 champion on the track.

She has raced just twice in cross-country events since the end of the track season, but won both of her races. She won by 13 seconds in Atapuerca in November and by 15 seconds at the Cinque Mulini in January.

In the absence of Chebet at the Kenyan trials, teenager Grace Loibach Nawowuna was a surprising winner of the senior women’s race, beating Olympic semifinalist Edinah Jebitok by four seconds. The Kenyan team also includes two-time world cross-country champion Emily Chebet and Agnes Ngetich.

Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba missed the peak of the 2022 track season through injury, but still managed to win three races on the Wanda Diamond League circuit, and then triumphed at the Venta de Banos Cross Country in December. In her latest appearance, though, she was a distant fifth in Elgoibar, some 47 seconds behind Daniel.

Stella Chesang, the 2018 Commonwealth 10,000m champion, was a dominant winner of the recent Ugandan Cross Country Championships and is keen to improve on her 21st-place finish from the 2019 World Cross. She is joined on the Ugandan team by world U20 5000m bronze medallist Prisca Chesang.

Olympic finalist Nozomi Tanaka, who holds national records for 1000m, 1500m and 3000m, leads the Japanese team. The 2018 world U20 3000m champion placed 39th at the last World Cross when she was still just 19 years of age, so she’ll be hoping for a higher position this time. Ririka Hironaka, who earned U20 team bronze in 2019, will also be flying the Japanese flag in Bathurst.

Ednah Kurgat and Weini Kelati feature on the US team, while Australia’s Rose Davies and Leanne Pompeani will aim to give the home crowd something to cheer for. Other contenders include Canada’s Regan Yee, Mexico’s Laura Galvan, and Britain’s Abbie Donnelly.

Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon wants to follow in Kipchoge’s footsteps

At last weekend’s Kenyan Sports Awards (The SOYAs), the reigning world and Olympic 1,500m champion, Faith Kipyegon, was recognized alongside her idol and compatriot Eliud Kipchoge for Sports Personality of the Year. Kipyegon revealed that she wants to follow in the footsteps of the great Kipchoge, and eventually plans on moving up to the marathon.

Kipyegon said that the unparalleled success of Kenya’s marathon icon, Kipchoge, has ignited and nurtured her ambition. “As my career evolves, I will continue to look up to Eliud because he is the greatest marathon runner of all time,” Kipyegon said. “That is something I hope to accomplish in the future.”I aspire to grow as a person and an athlete like him, as well as to become the greatest marathon runner of all time,” she added.

Kipyegon, 29, is only the second woman in history to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals in the women’s 1,500m, having triumphed in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. The only other athlete to accomplish the feat is Tatyana Kazankina of the Soviet Union at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics.

Since 2015, Kipyegon has either won or finished second in every major championship, and is widely regarded as the greatest female middle-distance runner in history.

At the 2022 World Championships. Kipyegon put on a dominant display, winning the world title in a blazing time of 3:52.96. Kipyegon stressed that she isn’t done with the 1,500m quite yet: “My goal is to break the world record, and I hope to do so in style.” 

Last year, she narrowly missed the world record of 3:50.07 held by Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia when she ran 3:50.37 at the Monaco Diamond League. Dibaba returned to distance running in 2022, placing second in her marathon debut at the Amsterdam Marathon in 2:18:05.

Kipyegon has yet to race on the road in her career as a senior, which dates back to 2011.

In 2018, she gave birth to her daughter, Alyn, and took 18 months off the sport before returning to win the 2019 Prefontaine Classic in her signature event. Months later, she placed second at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, breaking the Kenyan record of 3:54.22.

Although the 29-year-old has not revealed when she will be making her marathon debut, we can speculate that it will likely be after the Paris 2024 Olympics, where she will be vying to become the first middle-distance athlete to win three straight Olympic golds.

Faith Kipyegon has the marathon in mind

In the new issue of AW, the Olympic and world 1500m champion reveals that close friend Eliud Kipchoge has inspired her to tackle the 26.2-mile event in future

Many view already her as a true athletics great, but Faith Kipyegon doesn’t quite see it that way. Yet. Despite being a two-time Olympic and world champion over 1500m, the Kenyan believes she has more work to do before any such tag can be justified.

In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with Euan Crumley in the latest issue of AW, which is on sale from November 10, among other things the Kenyan discusses how she wants to leave a legacy, as well as outlining what she believes needs to happen in the fight against doping in her home country.

The 28-year-old still has more ambitions to fulfil on the track, too, but admits that the future will see her heading down a road which she hopes will lead to even more success.

Kipyegon trains at the camp in Kaptagat from which her close friend Eliud Kipchoge hones his mastery of the marathon, and admits that seeing the world record-holder at work has inspired her to tackle the 26.2-mile event in the future.

“I don’t see myself as a great, yet,” says Kipyegon who, like Kipchoge, is also coached by Patrick Sang. “I need to achieve more towards the marathon and I’m really looking forward to following in Eliud’s footsteps.

“He has already shown us the way and, training with him, I see what he does every day.

“I will work my way up towards the marathon in future and I will be the greatest.

“When you stay with marathon runners, you don’t see yourself as a 1500m athlete any more – you see yourself as a marathoner. You follow them on long runs, you follow them on fartleks and you see every day what they do. [It makes you feel like] ‘I need to do this’.

“That’s motivation from Eliud, from the whole group in Kaptagat that has really inspired me to see myself in the marathon in future.

“[When I will run one] is something I can’t predict, but I want to build myself and build my commitment towards marathon and just go step by step [through the distances] towards it.”

Kipyegon is one of the nominees in this year’s AW Readers’ Choice Awards, which launch this week in the magazine and online. This is your chance to pick which individuals, across a range of categories, you think have excelled in 2022.

Elsewhere in the issue, we take a deep dive into the state of play when it comes to officials. What does the future hold for those who make athletics tick? Paul Halford finds out, plus we feature a brilliant extract from new book Unsung, in which Alan Bell takes us into the world of the starter.

As we come to the end of the major road racing events season for the autumn, a trend of lower event entry levels is becoming all too evident. Tim Adams asks where all the runners who were expected to provide a boom for mass participation races post Covid have gone, while author Damian Hall examines the environmental impact of events and outlines what runners can do to make a difference in the climate crisis.

Elsewhere in the issue, there is also an exclusive interview with international marathon runner Callum Hawkins, who continues his recovery from injury, while our packed performance section features plyometric tips from coach John Shepherd, training insight from Amelia Quirk and running shoe guru Paul Freary tests out the best gear for off-road adventure this winter.

With coach and commentator Geoff Wightman the focus of this month’s Ask The Athlete, Richard Whitehead recalling his greatest race and columnist Katharine Merry looking at the huge impact felt when the rules are broken, there are plenty of reasons to pick up your copy.

Olympic 1,500m medalist Jenny Simpson is moving to the roads

One of the fastest U.S. milers in history is taking on a new challenge, according to her Instagram. The 2016 Olympic 1,500m bronze medallist, Jenny Simpson, may have hung up her spikes on the track, but will shift her focus to road races with her new sponsor, Puma.

“She’s ready to answer the call of the roads,” Puma’s Instagram reads. “Welcome to the FAM, Jenny. We are excited to see where this next challenge leads.”

Simpson, whose last race (according to World Athletics) was the Cherry Blossom 10-mile road race in Washington, D.C. in September 2021, will run what she called “a little rust-buster” at the Army Ten-Miler in Washington on Oct. 9. 

The Cherry Blossom 10-miler was Simpson’s first race longer than 5,000m. Although she has made the shift to distance running, the 36-year-old hasn’t hinted at whether she plans on moving up to the marathon distance. 

Simpson made her first Olympic team in 2008 in the 3,000m steeplechase, then in 2012 and 2016, she ran the 1,500m, earning a bronze medal in Rio behind Faith Kipyegon and Genzebe Dibaba. She is the only female U.S. athlete to win both a world championship title and an Olympic medal in the 1,500m.

She holds career PBs of 14:56 in the 5,000m, 4:16 in the road mile and 3:57.22 over 1,500m.

Throughout her career on the track, Simpson had a lot of success in road miles, winning eight NYC 5th Ave. Mile titles, including seven consecutive titles between 2013-2019.

Simpson focused much of her time through the pandemic helping her Boulder, Colo. community rebuild from a December 2021 fire. She is also a volunteer coach at the University of Colorado for the track and field and cross-country team.

1,500m world record holder Genzebe Dibaba to run Amsterdam Marathon

Dibaba, 31, will follow older sisters and fellow Olympic medallists Tirunesh Dibaba and Ejegayehu Dibaba into the marathon.

On Tuesday, the TCS Amsterdam Marathon confirmed on Instagram that the women’s 1,500m world record holder, Genzebe Dibaba, will make her marathon debut on Oct. 16 in Amsterdam.

Dibaba, 31, follows older sisters and fellow Olympic medallists Tirunesh Dibaba and Ejegayehu Dibaba into the 42.2-kilometre distance. Her 1,500m personal best of 3:50.07 from the 2015 Monaco Diamond League still stands as the world record, though Faith Kipyegon of Kenya ran the second-fastest 1,500m time in history (3:50.37) on Aug. 10.

Kipyegon beat Dibaba for the 1,500m title at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.

Dibaba has competed fewer than five times since she missed the 2019 World Championships and 2020 Olympics due to a foot injury. She has only raced the half-marathon distance once, at the Valencia Half Marathon in 2020, which at the time was the fastest-ever debut half marathon by a woman (65:18).

Joining Dibaba on the start line is her Ethiopian compatriot and 2016 Olympic 10,000m champion Almaz Ayana, who is also making her marathon debut. Ayana finished third at the Great North Run in Newcastle, U.K., last weekend in 67:10 and has run 29:17.45 over 10,000m.

The fastest debut marathon by a woman was 2:18:56 by Paula Radcliffe at the London Marathon in 2002.

Faith Chepng'etich asserted her supremacy as the world's best in 1,500m

World and Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon admits she never expected to go around the last bend alone on her way to victory on Day Two of the Zurich Diamond League on Thursday.

Kipyegon clocked 4:00.44 to win the women’s 1500m and rack up her third Diamond League title on the final day of this year’s League.

Ireland’s Ciara Mageean (4:01.68) and Ethiopian Freweyni Hailu (4:01.73) came second and third respectively.

“I was hoping that when I pushed, they would come with me and it would be a tough race. I enjoyed it anyway, but it was really funny because I honestly believed they were coming with me so it almost felt that I was running on my own towards the end,” the double Olympic champion said.

She added: “I tried to follow the pacer and do my own thing. It is really special to race here, this is Zurich, and you can really hear it out there.”

During this year’s edition of the prestigious track and field one-day meet, Kipyegon emerged victorious in the Prefontaine, Monaco and Zurich legs of the competition.

Last time out, in Monaco, she fell 0.3 seconds of setting a new world record, timing 3:50.37 on her way to victory.

Despite running slower this time, Kipyegon was still happy to finish off her season with a win and looked back to what has been business as usual for the two-time world champion.

“This was a really strong field, but then I kept thinking this was the last race of the season, and I took the opportunity to end it in a nice way. It has been a long season, and, indeed, my legs are tired, but I think I still managed to run a good time all things considered – like I said, it was a strong field,” she said.

Having cemented her status as the queen of the three-and-a-quarter lap race, Kipyegon will be keen on enhancing this reputation when she returns to Budapest next year to defend the world title she snatched from Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan in Oregon in July.

America's Heather MacLean runs sub four minute 1500m in Monaco

Heather MacLean became the 12th American woman ever to break 4:00 in the 1500m today in Monaco, running 3:58.89. When she finished out her collegiate eligibility at UMass in 2018, she was a 4:19.19 1500m runner.

The Monaco track is known for its speedy middle-distance performances and in the women’s 1500m Faith Kipyegon came within three tenths of a second of breaking Genzebe Dibaba’s world record with 3:50.37.

Allie Wilson led through 400m in 59.89 and 800m in 2:01.64 before Adelle Tracey took over to keep the pace as hard as possible. Kipyegon hit the front with 600m to go and despite hammering the final lap she fell agonisingly short of the mark but still went No.2 on the all-time rankings.

America's Heather Maclean (3:58.89) and Elise Cranny (3:59.06) were second and third with sub-four performances.

“I have been chasing the time for quite some time but I am happy with the personal best,” the Olympic and world champion said. “I knew this was the best place to get the world record but I am so disappointed I lost it in the last metres. I hope for the best next time. We will see when.

“I was definitely ready for it today. I am heading home now and want to get a good Diamond League final in Zurich.”

It was a first class track meet. World champion returns to winning ways at the Diamond League while fellow Brit Lizzie Bird smashes the national 3000m steeplechase record

Jake Wightman bounced back to form after his defeat at the Commonwealth Games by taking the 1000m at the Diamond League in Monaco on Wednesday (Aug 10).

The world 1500m champion destroyed many of the world’s top 800m runners over the neutral distance of one kilometre as he improved his Scottish record from 2:16.27 to 2:13.88 to go No.3 on the UK all-time rankings and No.9 on the world all-time lists.

Seb Coe’s long-standing UK record of 2:12.18 remains an elusive target and Steve Cram is No.2 all-time with 2:12.88 but Wightman has now overtaken Steve Ovett and James McIlroy on the rankings.

In Monaco the pacemaker Erik Sowinski led through 400m in 51.02 and Marco Arop was in pole position through 800m in 1:45.46, but Wightman, who spent much of the race running alone in no man’s land a few metres ahead of the main pack, finished strongly to pass Arop in the final metres as Clayton Murphy was third, Commonwealth 800m champion Wycliffe Kinyamal fourth and the Olympic and world 800m champion Emmanuel Korir 12th.

“I did not really know I was in shape to do this today. It was just very, very hard as I had run on my own,” said Wightman. “I knew Arop is a little bit quicker on the home straight so I had to judge the right moment. I had to stay strong to be able to catch him.”

Wightman steps down to the 800m at the European Championships next week and said: “This is a really nice step towards Munich. The main difference between the 1500m and 1000m is just the speed of the first couple of laps. You go from running 55s to 52.”

Lizzie Bird smashed the British record for 3000m steeplechase as she improved Aimee Pratt’s national mark by almost eight seconds to 9:07.87.

Pratt set a British record twice at the World Championships last month as she ran 9:18.91 in her heat and 9:15.64 to place seventh in the final. But Bird ran 9:17.79 to take silver at the Commonwealth Games and here in Monaco swiped a further 10 seconds off her best as she pipped former world champion Emma Coburn at the finish to place third behind Ethiopia duo Workua Getachew and Zerfe Wondemagegn.

Bird, 27, was encouraged to try the steeplechase while studying at Princeton in the United States. She was a reluctant steeplechaser at first and suffered injuries from 2016-18 but set a UK record of 9:19.68 when placing ninth in the Olympics last year and the Shaftesbury Barnet athlete is now closing in on the nine-minute barrier while combining athletics with a career in immigration law based in Colorado.

There is more: Distance runner Grant Fisher’s record-breaking 2022 season continued tonight at the Herculis meeting in Monaco where he ran 7:28.48 for 3000 meters, finishing 3rd, to break Bernard Lagat’s 7:29.00 American record which had stood since 2010.

Fisher’s 3000 record is his third American record of the year as in February he set the indoor 5000 record (12:53.73) and outdoors he set the American 10,000 mark in March(26:33.84).

Tsegay wins women’s 5000m world title after dramatic last lap

It was a 5000m race that came down to the final 100m, Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay using her 1500m speed to prevail in a thrilling sprint finish and gain her first global outdoor gold on the penultimate day of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.

The world indoor 1500m record-holder, who claimed the indoor title in that discipline in Belgrade in March, returned to the track five days after claiming 1500m silver behind Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon at Hayward Field and she had the 5000m title as her target. After a tactical test, she achieved her aim, clocking 14:46.29 as little more than a second separated the top three. Kenya’s 2018 world U20 winner Beatrice Chebet was right behind her, securing silver in 14:46.75, while Ethiopia’s Dawit Seyaum got bronze in 14:47.36.

Three years after placing runner-up to her compatriot Hellen Obiri – the two-time world 5000m champion who focused on the 10,000m in Oregon – Margaret Kipkemboi finished fourth in 14:47.71 and Ethiopia’s recently-crowned 10,000m champion, Letesenbet Gidey, was fifth in 14:47.98, one place ahead of Netherlands’ double Olympic champion Sifan Hassan in 14:48.12.

“The hard times were at the Olympics in Tokyo, because I was injured there” said Tsegay, who still managed to race for 1500m bronze at last year’s Games. “Not today.”

With a final 1500m of 4:14.59 and a last lap of 59.95, the 25-year-old pulled away from Chebet and Seyaum down the home straight, executing her plan.

“I have been training well for 1500m and this helps sprint on the home stretch,” added Tsegay, who claimed her 2014 world U20 1500m silver in Eugene. “I know that Sifan is a top athlete and she is also a 1500m runner, so she has the speed. When she came in front, I sped up even more and won the medal.”

It was that attack from Hassan at the bell that launched Tsegay into action. Always near the front, Tsegay led through the first 1000m in 3:14.21 ahead of Kazakhstan’s Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui, Seyaum and Gidey. Gidey and Tsegay continued to take turns at the front and Tsegay was to the fore as 3000m was reached in 9:02.79. The world 10,000m champion was a stride ahead with four laps to go as she and Tsegay continued to control the race, with Chebet right behind them.

Glancing over her shoulder with three laps remaining, Tsegay led the 10-strong group and Gidey moved ahead along the back straight. One lap later, Tsegay kicked ahead, but not by enough to shake off her rivals. With her eyes on the big screen, she could see Hassan move from seventh to fifth, and by the time they reached the bell the Olympic champion was on her shoulder.

The race was down to a six-strong battle for the medals. With Tsegay in front, Hassan moved ahead of Gidey as they ran down the back straight for the final time, taking the inside line to challenge Tsegay on the bend. Chebet was running wide, but holding her place. As they left the curve, Hassan no longer seemed the biggest threat, with Chebet providing the challenge. But no one could match Tsegay’s finishing speed and she strode ahead down the home straight, on her way to victory. Chebet held on for silver, as Seyaum came through for bronze.

“It was a matter of tactics,” said Chebet, whose CV includes the 2019 world U20 cross country title as well as her 2018 world U20 track win. “I was well positioned.

“Although I am young, I've run many races with elite athletes at the Diamond League. They are not new to me. This medal will make a good difference for me.”

For Seyaum, the bronze medal was welcome after years of injuries. “I hoped to get a place on the podium,” she said. “I hoped and expected to become a medallist in this event. For five years, I was having injuries, so this result is very special for me.”

And Hassan, who finished fourth in the 10,000m seven days earlier, explained how she was happy to be back on the international stage. “I started to train like two months ago and today, I did my best and I gave everything,” she said. “For me, it is important if I give everything and race smart, it does not matter what the position is.

“I think I really overworked last year, so I wanted to have a break mentally, because athletics is not only about running but also about motivation. I took an almost seven-month break. I am happy to be back, and I will try for more golds next year.”

Soufiane El Bakkali is the king of the steeplechase after claiming world title

Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali believes he is the "king of steeplechase" after adding the world title to his Olympic Games gold.

The 26-year-old put on a tactical masterclass over the 3,000m course in Eugene to end Kenya's 15-year reign in the discipline at the World Athletics Championships.

In a repeat performance of his Olympic success in Tokyo last year, he stayed near the back of the leading pack for much of the race before making the decisive move in the last 200m to claim gold in a time of eight minutes 25.13 seconds.

"I am the king of steeplechase because I have gained confidence on the track. That's why I am the Olympic champion and now the world champion," El Bakkali told BBC Sport Africa.

Ethiopia's Lamecha Girma had to settle for silver once again, having finished second in Tokyo and in Doha three years ago, while Kenya's Conseslus Kipruto, the 2019 champion, ended with bronze.

Kenyan runners had won men's steeplechase gold in every edition of the World Championships since Brimin Kipruto's success in Osaka in 2007 and El Bakkali said his finishing speed had been the key to victory in Oregon.

"The course was very tactical, slow. We had very good runners like defending champion Kipruto," said El Bakkali, who beamed as he waved the Moroccan flag over his head.

"I positioned well in the last lap. I am very strong in the 400m and it worked out for me.

"After the semi-final I had a good look at the strategy of the Kenyan athletes. I was on my own, the only Moroccan in the race, but I did not limit myself to winning silver nor bronze. Instead I managed to come first in two world league meetings and now the World Championship."

Kenya's Kipruto upbeat despite bronze

Girma, after another second-placed finish, intends to reassess his training with an eye toward next year's World Championships in Budapest.

"The pace was very slow today, my tactic did not work and that [cost] me the gold," he said.

"I was trying to change the tactic but the pace limited me very much. I will go for gold next year and my training is starting from now on."

Dethroned world champion Kipruto, meanwhile, said he "did not execute the race as planned".

"I was running against athletes who have two years of consistent running when I was struggling," he added.

"It was never going to be easy. But I take the bronze positively."

Kipyegon now the greatest 1500m runner?

Meanwhile two-time Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon of Kenya took 1500m gold in an astonishing time of 3:52.96 to regain her world title.

Kipyegon first took the crown in London in 2017 and becomes the first woman to win four global 1500m titles, with Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay second and Britain's Laura Muir in third.

Winning silver in Doha in 2019, having spent 12 months out of competitive running the year before when her daughter was born, meant crossing the line first in Eugene was even more fulfilling for the Kenyan.

"I knew it was going to be fast so I was really expecting that tight race," she told BBC Sport.

"I was not scared. I was like 'everything is possible' and I had to calm down, enjoy the race and I won.

"It feels very good to get back the world title that I lost in 2019 when I was coming back from giving birth to my daughter, who means the world to me."

Gold again for Faith Kipyegon as she wins 1500m in Oregon

Faith Kipyegon’s supporters were so confident she would win the women’s 1500m at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 that they put the Kenyan in an uncomfortable position.

“I was facing a lot of pressure,” said Kipyegon, the two-time Olympic champion in the 1500m. “Everybody was expecting something special from me. Everybody was like, ‘Faith, we believe in Faith,’ so it was a real pressure. But I managed it.”

In other words, their Faith was not misplaced.

With her trademark kick, Kipyegon regained the world title on Monday (18) that she first won in 2017. She claimed an unprecedented fourth medal in the event. And Kipyegon indeed did something special, clocking 3:52.96, the second-fastest time on US soil after her own 3:52.59 at the Prefontaine Classic in late May on the same Hayward Field track.

After crossing the finish line, Kipyegon, 28, kissed the track and blew kisses to the crowd on ‘Women in the Spotlight’ day.

The fast-paced race saw Kipyegon and three other runners quickly leave the rest of the field behind with a first lap in just under 59 seconds.

“I’m so grateful to have won the gold medal,” Kipyegon said. “This was my big target. I did do it. I was really looking forward to this championship. I was really, really prepared for this race.”

World indoor champion Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia was with her nearly every step until Kipyegon pulled away with about 300 meters to go. Tsegay took the silver in 3:54.52, upgrading from the bronze she won in 2019. She was also just a bit slower than she was at the Pre Classic, where she ran 3:54.21.

“I was expecting more from this race, but my opponents were more experienced and lucky so I have to be grateful for the silver,” said Tsegay, 25, who also will run the 5000m later in the week.

Great Britain’s Laura Muir, in her fifth World Championships final, at last secured a medal, claiming the bronze with a season’s best of 3:55.28. Muir, 29, finished six seconds ahead of Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu, the largest gap in World Championships history between third and fourth.

Sofia Ennaoui of Poland ran a season best of 4:01.43 for fifth. The US placed two runners in the top 10: national champion Sinclaire Johnson was sixth, clocking 4:01:63, while Cory McGee was 10th with a time of 4:03.70.

The third Ethiopian runner, Hirut Meshesha was 12th in 4:05.86 after helping Tsegay push the pace for the first half of the race.

“To tell you the truth, I knew the Ethiopian lady was going to be fast,” Kipyegon said. “I knew she was a front-runner, and we ran really quick and I thank God I won.”

While the two Ethiopians controlled the early part of the race, Kipyegon stayed on their heels. Muir also clung to the lead group. “To be honest, I didn’t look at the clock at all the whole race,” she said. “After the first couple of hundred meters, I knew this was very, very fast. I thought it’s not going to help to look at the clock right now; it’s probably better not to look.

"For me, it’s all about racing. It’s not about times. I’m really pleased I stuck with it and went with them and it paid off.”

Kipyegon has placed first or second in every major championship since 2015. Three years ago, she was coming off maternity leave after having her daughter and placed second behind Sifan Hassan, whose 3:51.95 is the championship record. Kipyegon also earned a silver in 2015.

Hassan decided not to contest the 1500m this year.

After Kipyegon won her second straight Olympic gold medal, Muir called her “the greatest of all time.”

“I can say thank you so much,” Kipyegon said at the post-race press conference in Oregon, with Muir at her side. “I’m really grateful; she is really a nice lady. Before the race, I talked with her and I wish her all the best. Laura, let’s continue like this. This is the spirit of sports.”

Kipyegon added that she was happy that Muir, the Olympic 1500m silver medallist, won her first World Championships medal.

“She has been really fighting since 2017 in London and also in 2019 in Doha,” Kipyegon said.

The Kenyan said she will skip the upcoming Commonwealth Games and prepare for the Diamond League meeting in Monaco.

She wouldn’t speculate about possibly breaking the world record. “I can’t talk about it right now,” Kipyegon said. “Let me focus myself and see what is possible. I will be trying my best to lower my personal best and to run a good race.”

In the meantime, she will spend time with her daughter. “She is everything to me,” Kipyegon said.

Joshua Cheptegei is set to defend his world title at Oregon

Cheptegei, 25, currently holds the 5000m and 10000m world records, the Commonwealth double and the 5000m Olympic title, will also hope to wrestle the 5000m title from Ethiopian Edris Muktar. 

Now Cheptegei, who is bidding to defend his world title over the 25-lap distance, will lead Africa’s quest for glory on the west coast of the USA.

Silver medalist over the same distance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics last August, Cheptegei’s title defence will be backed up by Stephen Kissa and world half-marathon champion Jacob Kiplimo on Sunday.

There are others like Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot will face stiff competition from Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen over the 1500m distance.

Other African stars set to bid for glory include South African sprinter Akani Simbine, Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon, Burkina Faso’s world triple jump bronze Hugues Zango among others.

According to World Athletics, 37 of the 43 individual winners from Doha will aim to defend their titles in Eugene.

Besides the champions from Doha, 42 individual gold medal winners at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics are in Eugene too.

TEAM UGANDA TO OREGON WORLDS:

Women: H. Nakaayi (800m),

W. Nanyondo (1500m),

P. Chemutai (3000m Steeplechase),

E. Chebet (5000m),

M. Chelangat (10000m),

S. Chesang (10000m),

I. Chemutai (Marathon)

Men: T. Orogot (200m),

R. Musagala (1500m),

P. Maru (5000m),

O. Chelimo (5000m),

J. Kiplimo (10000m),

S. Kissa (10000m),

J. Cheptegei (5000m & 10000m),

F. Chemonges, F. Musobo & J. Kiprop (Marathon)

That starts with Japanese Toshikazu Yamanishi who will attempt to retain his 20km race walk final on the morning programme of Day 1 action tomorrow.

Ethiopia Has Changed Its Team Again for the 2022 Worlds

On Tuesday, the Ethiopian Athletics Federation announced its team for the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene. If this sounds familiar, that’s because Ethiopia already named its team on June 13…and then updated it four days later to sub in Dawit Seyaum after she ran 14:25 to win the Oslo Diamond League.

Tuesday’s list — which the federation says is the final roster (it pretty much has to be, since entries were due to World Athletics on Monday) — features even more changes, which will have a major impact on Worlds, which begin on July 15 at Hayward Field. Remember, at World Indoor Championships earlier this year in Belgrade, Ethiopian athletes won eight of the 12 available medals across the 1500 and 3000 meters — including all four golds and a 1-2-3 sweep in the women’s 1500. The country is a distance powerhouse.

Here is the full roster, with changes, followed by some analysis on what it all means.

Men’s 800 (no changes)Ermiyas GirmaTolosa Bodena

Women’s 800Habitam AlemuDiribe WeltejiHirut Meshesha (1:58.54 sb) replacing Freweyni Hailu (1:59.39 sb)

Men’s 1500Samuel TeferaTaddese Lemi (3:37.06 sb) replacing Melese Nberet (no races this year)Samuel Abate

Women’s 1500Gudaf Tsegay (3:54.21 sb) replacing Axumawit Embaye (3:58.80 sb)Freweyni Hailu (3:58.18 sb, 4th in Olympics) replacing Ayal Dagnachew (3:59.87 sb)Hirut Meshesha

Men’s 3000 steeple (no changes)Lamecha GirmaHailemariyam AmareGetnet Wale

Women’s 3000 steepleMekides AbebeWorkua GetachewSimbo Alemayehu (9:09.17 sb at age 18) replacing Zerfe Wondemagegn (9:27.75 sb)

Men’s 5,000Muktar EdrisBerihu AregawiYomif KejelchaSelemon Barega replacing Telahun Bekele

Women’s 5,000Ejgayehu TayeLetesenbet Gidey (14:24.59 sb) replacing Gudaf Tsegay (14:26.69 sb)Dawit Seyaum (14:25.84 sb) replacing Fantu Worku (14:47.37 sb)

Men’s 10,000Selemon BaregaTadese WorkuBerihu Aregawi (26:46.13 sb) replacing Milkesa Mengesha (27:00.24 sb)

Women’s 10,000Letesenbet GideyEjgayehu Taye (30:44.68 sb) replacing Girmawit Gebrzihair (30:47.72 sb)Bosena Mulate

Men’s marathonLelisa DesisaTamirat TolaMosinet GeremewSeifu Tura

Women’s marathonGotytom GebreslaseAbabel YeshanehAshete Bekere

Quick Takes

1) Ethiopia’s team just got A LOT stronger and Ethiopia went from no one doubling to a lot of doublers

In recent years, Ethiopia has been reluctant to allow its stars to double at global championships. Last year in Tokyo, Ethiopia had two huge 5,000m medal threats in Selemon Barega (Olympic 10,000 champ) and Berihu Aregawi (the 10,000 4th placer who would go on to win the Diamond League 5,000 title) but neglected to enter either in the 5,000 meters. Of the three men Ethiopia did enter, two failed to even make the final and the third, Milkesa Mengesha, wound up 10th.

The federation took criticism after that misstep and it looked as if it would double down in 2022 as the initial team named in June featured no doublers. But the final squad features five athletes double-entered: World Indoor bronze medalist Hirut Meshesha (800/1500) and Ejgayehu Taye (14:12 pb, #5 woman all-time), Letesenbet Gidey (women’s 5k/10k world record holder), Barega and Aregawi, all of whom are running the 5,000 and 10,000.

2) The meet is more interesting with the Ethiopians doubling; the men’s 5,000 final is now totally stacked

The World Championships are meant to be about the best against the best. When a world final is over, we don’t want to be asking ourselves, “What would have happened if Athlete X was in the race?” But that’s absolutely what we were thinking after the 2021 Olympic 5000 final without Barega. And it’s been an issue for a lot longer than that. Only once in his career did Haile Gebrselassie attempt the 5,000/10,000 double at a global champs (1993), in part because there were still prelims in the 10,000 in those days and in part because he didn’t want to tire himself for the lucrative post-championship meets in Europe.

That shouldn’t be an issue in 2022 (and if it is, it won’t have been the fault of the Ethiopian federation) as the distance finals are much stronger with Taye, Gidey, Barega, and Aregawi doubling up. The men’s 5,000 could be an all-timer. Not only do you have Olympic 5,000 champion Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda, but now we have Olympic 10,000 champ Barega stepping down and Olympic 1500 champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen stepping up. It’s reminiscent of one of the most famous races in track history, the 2003 World Championship 5,000 final in Paris which featured Hicham El Guerrouj stepping up from the 1500 and Kenenisa Bekele stepping down from the 10,000 only for both of them to be defeated by an 18-year-old Eliud Kipchoge.

Having Aregawi in the 10,000 makes for a stronger race as well as he was 3rd at the Ethiopian trials in that event and set a Diamond League record for margin for victory when he ran 12:50 to win the Pre Classic 5,000 by 16 seconds.

3) Gudaf Tsegay’s medal odds went up but her gold medal odds went down

Tsegay is pretty clearly the #2 women’s 1500 runner in the world. She won World Indoors by 5+ seconds and is 3+ seconds faster than the #3 1500 woman in the world right now. But she’s also not close to double Olympic champ Faith Kipyegon, who beat her convincingly at Pre, 3:52.59 to 3:54.21.

Initially, Tsegay was entered in the 5,000 at Worlds (she ran the 5,000 only at the Olympics last year, earning the bronze medal) and while there’s no overwhelming favorite in that event like Kipyegon (well at least until we see how Sifan Hassan looks this weekend), Tsegay is not as good at the 5,000 as the 1500 (as evidenced by her defeat to countrywoman Dawit Seyaum in the 5,000 in Oslo). By running the 1500, Tsegay has a better shot at a medal but her odds at gold are worse.

4) It just got a WHOLE LOT harder for the Americans to medal

An American medal in the women’s 5,000 or 10,000 was already unlikely, so the Ethiopian roster changes didn’t make a huge impact on the chances of Karissa Schweizer or Elise Cranny. But the medal odds of Grant Fisher, who finished 5th in the Olympic 10,000 last year, are way lower today than they were a week ago (a statement also true for his US teammates Woody Kincaid and Joe Klecker).

Last Wednesday, two of the four men who finished ahead of Fisher in the 10,000 in Tokyo were major question marks. Bronze medalist Jacob Kiplimo hadn’t raced on the track all year, while Aregawi, the 4th placer, was named to Ethiopia’s team in the 5,000 only. Since then, Kiplimo ran 7:29 for 3,000 in Stockholm to show he’s very fit right now and Aregawi was added to Ethiopia’s 10,000 squad. Plus Barega was added to the 5,000.

Those developments will make it significantly harder for Fisher (or any American man in the 5,000 or 10,000) to earn a medal. That said, if an American can somehow medal, it will go down as a monumental achievement since no one can accuse these fields of being watered down.

Sinclaire Johnson‘s medal hopes in the 1500 also took a BIG hit. With Tsegay now in the 1500, two medals seem to be spoken for and new addition Freweyni Hailu, who was 4th in the Olympics last year at age 20, is better than Ayal Dagnachew (who is no slouch herself, world junior 800 champ last year and 3:59 this year).

5) Ethiopia needs to figure out a better way to do this

One of the most important jobs an athletics federation has is selecting national teams. And for countries that don’t use a “top 3 at the trials” model — which is to say, every country except for the US — things can get prickly as someone, inevitably, is going to be upset they’re missing out on the team.

There are ways to limit the outrage. The simplest solution is the one USATF has already discovered: hold a trials and just pick the top three finishers. Ethiopia actually did this ahead of the Olympics last year. The problem was, they held all the races on the same day, making it impossible for athletes to try out for both the 5,000 and 10,000 teams.

But even if you don’t want to stage a trials, a federation can avoid much of the backlash by announcing a clear criteria ahead of time and sticking to it. You want to pick the team based off season’s bests? Fine. Just let everyone know before the season starts and let them plan their races accordingly. Transparency and consistency are the keys.

Heck, even if you want to be subjective and use a selection panel, you can at least cut down on some of the drama by letting the athletes know in advance that they’ll have to run a few performances to impress the selectors.

What you don’t want to do is announce a team well before the entry deadline (and three days before two key Diamond League meets featuring most of your athletes) only to drastically change it three weeks later. Which is exactly what happened in Ethiopia, leaving athletes like Telahun Bekele (winner of the 5,000 in Oslo) to think they’re on the team only to yank it away less than a month later.

In the end, Ethiopia ended up picking the team by season’s best except in the 10,000, where it staged a trial race (and the top 3 there were the fastest 3 on the year). If it had just used that criteria throughout the year and stuck to it, there would be fewer angry people right now. The athletes deserve better.

All five reigning world champions named on Kenya's team for Oregon

All five of Kenya’s champions from Doha in 2019 will defend their titles at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on 15-24 July.

Beatrice Chepkoech, Ruth Chepngetich, Timothy Cheruiyot, Conseslus Kipruto and Hellen Obiri have been named on the Kenyan team for the event at Hayward Field, where they will be joined by athletes including Olympic champions Peres Jepchirchir, Faith Kipyegon and Emmanuel Korir.

Obiri won her second consecutive world 5000m title in Doha and has been selected for that event as well as the 10,000m, joined by Margaret Chelimo in both.

Chepkoech and Kipruto defend their 3000m steeplechase titles, while Cheruiyot will look to return to the top in the 1500m after securing silver behind Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen in Tokyo.

Chepngetich will be joined by Angela Tanui and Judith Jeptum in the women’s marathon, as well as Olympic champion Jepchirchir. After Tokyo, two-time world half marathon champion Jepchirchir went on to win the New York and Boston marathons and has been added to the team for Oregon.

Kenya finished second in the medal table behind USA in Doha three years ago with five gold, two silver and four bronze medals.

Kenyan team for Oregon

Women400m: Mary Moraa800m: Naomi Korir, Jarinter Mawia, Mary Moraa1500m: Winnie Chebet, Edinah Jebitok, Faith Kipyegon, Judy Kiyeng5000m: Beatrice Chebet, Margaret Chelimo, Gloria Kite, Hellen Obiri10,000m: Margaret Chelimo, Sheila Chepkurui, Hellen Obiri3000m steeplechase: Beatrice Chepkoech, Jackline Chepkoech, Celliphine Chespol, Purity Kirui20km race walk: Emily NgiiMarathon: Ruth Chepngetich, Peres Jepchirchir, Judith Jeptum, Angela Tanui

Men100m: Ferdinand Omanyala400m: Emmanuel Korir800m: Wycliffe Kinyamal, Emmanuel Korir, Cornelius Tuwei, Emmanuel Wanyonyi1500m: Timothy Cheruiyot, Abel Kipsang, Charles Simotwo, Kumari Taki5000m: Nicholas Kimeli, Jacob Krop, Daniel Simiu10,000m: Rodgers Kwemoi, Daniel Mateiko, Stanley Waithaka3000m steeplechase: Leonard Bett, Abraham Kibiwott, Benjamin Kigen, Conseslus Kipruto400m hurdles: Moitalel Mpoke20km race walk: Samuel GathimbaMarathon: Lawrence Cherono, Geoffrey Kamworor, Barnaba Kiptum

Kenyan Faith Kipyegon sets record in Eugene Diamond League

Two-time Olympic gold medallist Faith Kipyegon of Kenya ran a world-lead time as she won the 1500m race in Saturday's Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon in USA.

Kipyegon timed 3:52.59 on a night where Trayvon Bromell and Elaine Thompson-Herah grabbed 100m victories as eight world-leading performances highlighted the action at Hayward Field.

Kipyegon’s time was the ninth fastest in the 1500m history. She beat Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay who finished second in 3mins and 54.29secs.

Kipyegon, who trains in Kaptagat, Elgeyo Marakwet County, finished second in the 3000m in the season-opening Doha leg behind Burundi's Francine Niyonsaba.

America's Bromell, the fastest man in the world last year, bounced back from a false start disqualification in Birmingham last weekend to win a star-studded men's 100m in 9.93sec.

Jamaica's Thompson-Herah, who won back-to-back Olympic 100m-200m doubles in 2016 and last year, captured the women's 100m in 10.79.

Neither was a world best for 2022, but Thompson-Herah said she was just pleased to hit the line first and healthy on a rainy day in Eugene at the same venue that will host the World Championships on July 15-24.

"I'm excited I crossed the line healthy," Thompson-Herah said. "I don't care about the time. The rain was falling. It was a little cold.

"It shows I'm on a great path," added the Jamaican star, who pulled out of the Birmingham Diamond League meeting with a shoulder injury, testing herself in a lower-level meeting in Kingston last Saturday instead.

Norman reigns in fierce 400m clash with record run in Eugene

USA’s Michael Norman produced the standout performance at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Eugene on Saturday (28), the 24-year-old setting a Diamond League 400m record of 43.60 to beat Grenada's Kirani James (44.02) and Matthew Hudson-Smith, who broke the British record with 44.35. 

On a cool, blustery afternoon at Hayward Field, with many outbreaks of heavy rain, Norman was one of many athletes who defied the conditions to make it another memorable edition of the Prefontaine Classic.

“I had zero expectation of what I could run today,” said Norman, who revealed he and coach Quincy Watts had gone “back to the basics” during their winter training. “Hard work and consistency with diet and training,” he said. “My motto this year has been that if it’s comfortable, it’s too easy – on the weight room or the track. Based on how I felt, there are a few areas I can improve on.”

Looking to next month’s US Championships and the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on the same track in July, Norman said: “I’m going to train like I want to do something special, and when the time comes, the time comes.”

Kenya's Faith Kipyegon was equally peerless when taking the women’s 1500m in commanding fashion, the Olympic champion tracking chief rival Gudaf Tsegay until the final turn, at which point she blew by and came home a clear winner in a world lead and meeting record of 3:52.59. Tsegay got second in 3:54.21 with Canada’s Gabriela Debues-Stafford third in 3:58.62. “The race today gave me great morale that everything I’m doing is correct towards the World Championships – that’s my biggest fish and I hope for the best, for the gold medal,” said Kipyegon, who is “going to think about” a world record attempt at 1500m later in the summer. “I was not expecting (to run 3:52) when I saw the rain this morning, but I felt comfortable. It was good.”

USA's Ryan Crouser produced by far the standout performance in the field events, the Olympic shot put champion looking utterly peerless when launching a world-leading 23.02m effort in the second round. That left him well clear of long-time rivals Joe Kovacs (22.49m) and Tom Walsh (21.96m).

What made it more impressive is that Crouser did not use his full technique, but threw off a “static” starting position, which prior to today had never produced a 23-metre effort. Crouser said he usually throws 40-60cm farther when utilising his full technique. 

“I thought 23 was possible but I thought I’d have to get into my full (technique) to do it,” said Crouser. “My best static ever was in the 22.90s. To throw a static PR, under a heavy load, without a taper, is a really good indicator of where I can be seven or eight weeks from now.” Berihu Aregawi turned in a superb solo performance to take the men’s 5000m in a meeting record and world lead of 12:50.05, coming home well clear of fellow Ethiopians Samuel Tefera (13:06.86) and Selemon Barega (13:07.30). Aregawi swept to the front in the third kilometre after the pacers stepped aside and the Ethiopian broke clear of the field, powering through to the final laps to a rapturous reception from the crowd, which historically loves displays of fearless distance running. 

In the men’s 400m hurdles, Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos achieved another dominant performance, clocking a world-leading 47.23 to come home a distant winner ahead of USA’s Khalifah Rosser and Quincy Hall, who both clocked personal bests of 48.10. 

“I’m happy with this, but I want more, I want to go faster,” said Dos Santos. “Me and (Rai) Benjamin never win against (Karsten) Warholm, and nobody wants to lose, but it’ll be hard for us to come up against him at the World Championships and win. He is the boss, the guy to beat, and for winning the final you need to run 45 (seconds) – everyone is so strong.”

Sprint queen Elaine Thompson-Herah once again asserted her supremacy with a comfortable win in the 100m, clocking 10.79 (0.7m/s) to beat Sha’Carri Richardson, who bounced back to form with a 10.92 clocking to edge Shericka Jackson, who was third in 10.92. Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith was fourth with 10.98. 

“I’m happy to cross the line healthy and with the win,” said Thompson-Herah, who explained prior to the event that she’d been managing a niggle in training. “It got me ready for my championship in Jamaica next month.”USA’s Trayvon Bromell laid down a big marker ahead of next month’s US Championships by defeating his chief rivals in the 100m, pulling clear to take a comfortable win in 9.93 (-0.2m/s). Fred Kerley was next best with 9.98, while Christian Coleman faded from first at halfway to third at the finish, clocking 10.04 just ahead of Noah Lyles (10.05). 

"I really just wanted to come out with the win as I knew the wind was iffy today," said Bromell. "There were some technical things I wanted to do better with but I just have to go back to the drawing board and try to fix it."

Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn came from behind to score an impressive win in the 100m hurdles, a non-Diamond League event, the Puerto Rican clocking 12.45 into a slight headwind (-0.7m/s) with Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan second in 12.58 and USA’s Tonea Marshall third in 12.66. 

“It was a little sloppy,” said Camacho-Quinn. “I hit my trail leg a couple of times and that slowed me up, but I’ll take it. I went 12.4 in these conditions.”

Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was a clear winner of the women’s 200m in 22.41 (0.8m/s), with USA’s Brittany Brown second in 22.74 and Anthonique Strachan of Bahamas third in 22.76. 

Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen re-asserted his supremacy in the Bowerman Mile, the Olympic champion breaking clear with a lap to run and coming home a comfortable winner in a world lead of 3:49.76, with Australia’s Ollie Hoare second in a PB of 3:50.65 and world champion Timothy Cheruiyot third in 3:50.77. 

“It was a great race – I’m where I’m supposed to be,” said Ingebrigtsen, who will “for sure” double over 1500m and 5000m at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22. Looking towards the European Championships in Munich, he said he’d “love to do 800m, 1500m, steeplechase, 5km, 10km and marathon, but I don’t think that’s possible with the schedule.”

He will next race over 800m before competing at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Oslo on 16 June.  Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson utilised her typical sit-and-kick tactics to great effect to take the women’s 800m, the Olympic silver medallist powering clear of race leader Natoya Goule entering the home straight and holding off the late surge of world indoor champion Ajee Wilson to win in a world lead of 1:57.72, with Wilson second in 1:58.06 and Raevyn Rogers third in 1:58.44. 

Olympic champion Athing Mu was a late withdrawal after contracting Covid-19, but Hodgkinson is looking forward to renewing their rivalry in July. 

“It would have been good if she was here, but she’s going to be there at the World Champs and I’m sure we’ll have a good duel then –  I look forward to racing her,” said Hodgkinson. “I felt really good, it was a bit windy out there but there was good competition, it was a good run. I can’t complain.”

Sweden’s Khaddi Sagnia unleashed a PB of 6.95m (1.0m/s) to take victory in the women’s long jump, with Nigeria’s Ese Brume second with 6.82m and USA’s Tara Davis third with 6.73m. 

Norah Jeruto, the Kenyan-born athlete who now represents Kazakhstan, produced an impressive display to win the women’s 3000m steeplechase in 8:57.97, a world lead. Bahrain’s Winfred Mutile Yavi was close behind in second, clocking a PB of 8:58.71, while Ethiopia’s Mekides Abebe was third in 9:03.26. In the men’s 1500m, a non-Diamond League event, New Zealand’s Samuel Tanner took victory in a PB of 3:34.37 in front of Britain’s Neil Gourley, who clocked a PB of 3:34.85.

Italy’s Martina Caironi set a world record of 14.02 in the T63 women’s 100m, while in the men’s T62 400m, Germany’s Johannes Floors took the win in 48.13.  

Prefontaine Classic promises world record attempts and rich competition despite late losses

It is a measure of Eugene’s Prefontaine Classic meeting - which tomorrow forms the third stop on the Wanda Diamond League tour - that it can lose four Olympic gold medalists at late notice and still remain packed with compelling competition and world record attempts.

The arrangement of all that athletics action was altered today following forecasts of rain and high winds - likely to be blowing into the faces of the sprinters - on Saturday.

Accordingly the men's pole vault, featuring Olympic gold and silver medalists Mondo Duplantis of Sweden and Chris Nilsen of the United States, the women's discus, featuring the US Olympic champion Valarie Allman, and the women's high jump, involving Ukraine's world indoor champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh, have been moved to Friday night's programme, where world record attempts are being made over two miles and 5,000 meters.

The news that the United States' Olympic women’s 800 meters champion Athing Mu will not now race against Britain’s Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson, and that Italy’s men’s 100m champion Marcell Jacobs will not be in a field including the man he beat to gold in Japan, home sprinter Fred Kerley, was disappointing.

Also missing from the planned line-up at the new-look Hayward Field, which will stage this year’s World Athletics Championships, are home talents Matthew Centrowitz, the Rio 2016 1500m gold medalist, Tokyo 2020 and world 400m hurdles silver medalist Rai Benjamin and double world pole vault champion Sam Kendricks.

And South Africa’s double Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya, who had planned a first top-level race since 2019, has also withdrawn.

All this means the limelight will shine all the more intensely on stellar performers such as Jamaica’s double Olympic women’s 100 and 200m champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, who runs over the shorter sprint against a field including the American who missed last year’s Olympics because of a three-month suspension after testing positive for cannabis, Sha’Carri Richardson.

Britain’s world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith, who last Saturday won the Birmingham Diamond League 100m from which Thompson-Herah had made a late withdrawal, is also in the mix, as is Switzerland’s world indoor 60m champion Mujinga Kambundji and Jamaica’s Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Shericka Jackson.

Thompson-Herah chose to make a low-key start to her outdoor season, choosing to compete in Kingston, where she clocked 10.94sec despite a strong headwind of -1.8 meters per second.

It was on this track last year that she ran 10.54, putting her second on the all-time list.

The men’s 100m is also loaded given the presence of Kerley and his fellow Americans Trayvon Bromell, who will be keen to restore normal working after his early exit in Birmingham because of a false start, world champion Christian Coleman, world 200m champion Noah Lyles and Canada’s Olympic 200m champion Andre De Grasse.

And 18-year-old Erriyon Knighton, who last year became the youngest male athlete to represent the United States since middle distance runner Jim Ryun in 1964 and missed a 200m medal by one place, will seek to break 10sec for the first time.

Knighton already tops this year’s 200m world list with his startling 19.49sec in Baton Rouge last month, which put him fourth on the all-time list.

The women’s 200m will see double Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo taking on Jamaica’s 35-year-old Beijing 2008 and London 2012 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who won world gold at this distance in 2013 and took silver at the London 2012 Olympics.

The men’s 400m will see Kirani James of Grenada, the London 2012 champion and Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist, take on home athletes including Michael Cherry, Michael Norman – a major talent currently seeking a performance to do himself justice - Vernon Norwood and Kahmari Montgomery.

The absence of Benjamin from the 400m hurdles will offer Brazil’s Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Alison Dos Santos - who beat Benjamin in the opening Diamond League meeting of the season in Doha – a perfect chance to shine,

In the women’s 100m hurdles, Puerto Rico’s Olympic champion takes on the American who took silver behind her in Tokyo, world record holder Kendra Harrison.

The traditional Friday evening distance racing in Eugene will include a women’s two miles and a women’s and men’s 5000m race.

At the latter, which will be followed by an official Diamond League 5,000m on Saturday, Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei is billed to make an attempt at breaking his own world record of 12min 35.36sec, which he ran in Monaco in August 2020.

On Saturday afternoon the majority of the rivals Cheptegei beat to win Olympic 5,000m gold in Tokyo last year will line up for the Diamond League 5.000m, where Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega of Ethiopia, Olympic 10,000m bronze medalist Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda, Olympic 5,000m silver Mohammed Ahmed of Canada and two-time Olympic 5,000m medalist Paul Chelimo of the United States are the main contenders.

Friday night will also see Ethiopia’s 24-year-old Letesenbet Gidey aiming to lower the women’s 5000m world record of 14:06.62 that she set in Valencia in October 2020.

Gidey has since lowered the women’s 10,000m world record to 29min 01.03sec and the world half marathon record to 1hr 2min 52sec.

Elsewhere on Friday, the women’s two miles will see Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, the Olympic 5,000 and 10,000m champion, facing Diamond League 5,000m champion Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi.

The latter, who was disqualified at the Tokyo 2020 Games, beat Kenya’s double Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon over 3,000m in Doha earlier this month.

The world best of 8:58.58, set by Ethiopia’s Meseret Defar in 2007, is sure to be under threat.

Saturday’s middle-distance action will be highlighted by the clash of Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and world champion Timothy Cheruiyot, who renew their rivalry in the Bowerman Mile. 

Ingebrigtsen beat Cheruiyot for the first time in the Olympic final in Tokyo last year but the Kenyan beat his Norwegian rival a few weeks later to win over 1500m at the Diamond League final in Zurich.

Both men will need to be primed, however, to beat Kenya’s Abel Kipsang, who out-kicked Cheruiyot to win in Doha recently and who backed it up with 1500m victory in Birmingham last Sunday.

Kipyegon meanwhile will take on Britain’s Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Laura Muir and Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia in the women’s 1500m.

Hodgkinson faces an 800m field that includes home runner Ajee Wilson, who took the world indoor title earlier this year.

The men’s shot put will involve the respective Tokyo 2020 gold, silver and bronze medalists Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs of the United States and New Zealand’s Tom Walsh.

1500m world record Gudaf Tsegay sets sights on first global title in Belgrade

The past six winners of the women’s world indoor 1500m title have all either been Ethiopian or Ethiopian-born: Genzebe Dibaba (2018 and 2012), naturalised Netherlander Sifan Hissan (2016) and Swede Abeba Aregawi (2014), Kalkidan Gezahegne (2010) and Gelete Burka (2008). The sequence is unlikely to be broken in Belgrade.

In physical terms, Gudaf Tsegay might be only 1.63m (5ft 4in) tall but metaphorically the 25-year-old stands head and shoulders above the rest of the 22-strong entry list. In February last year she relieved Dibaba of the world indoor record with her sensational 3:53.09 run in Lievin and, 13 months on, the form book suggests that the clear world leader will succeed her compatriot as world indoor champion.

Tsegay ran a scorching 3:54.77 in Torun on February 22, the second fastest in history, and 3:57.38 in Madrid on March 2. Nobody else has cracked four minutes indoors in 2022. The next quickest is also Ethiopian. Axumawit Embaye, who won in Karlsruhe in 4:02.12, finished second to Aregawi in Sopot in 2014 and fourth in Portland in 2016 – behind Hassan and Ethiopian team-mates Dawit Seyaum and Tsegay.

Tsegay has won all nine races she has contested at all distances in the past three indoor seasons. Her last indoor defeat dates back to February 8, 2019, when she finished fourth over 3000m in Madrid.

She has not lost a 1500m race indoors or outdoors since the 2019 World Championships final in Doha, when she finished third behind Hassan and Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon. Her last indoor defeat at the distance was on 10 February 2018, when she placed third at the World Indoor Tour event in Boston.

Even when she fell on the opening lap of the mile race at this year’s Lievin meeting in February, she picked herself up, resisted a mid-race challenge from Embaye, and  proceeded to win comfortably in 4:21.72, breaking the 20-year-old meeting record.

Tsegay is on a run of three global bronzes, having finished third in the 2016 world indoor 1500m final, the 2019 world outdoor final in Doha and in the 5000m final at the Tokyo Olympics last year. Barring unforeseen disaster, the 2014 world U20 silver medallist’s long pursuit of a Midas touch seems destined to finally meet with a golden global success in Belgrade.

Heather Maclean could be a danger in a tactical affair, having gone from fifth to first with a 29.71-second last lap at the US Indoor Championships. Josette Norris, who finished second in that race, has also displayed great form this year.

Other potential podium placers include Ethiopia’s 2019 African Games 800m champion Hirut Meshesha, who was second in Karlsruhe in 4:02.22, and Uganda’s Winnie Nanyondo. Fourth in the 800m at the 2019 World Championships, Nanyondo improved her Ugandan indoor 1500m record to 4:03.54 in Torun.

Letesenbet Gidey, Hellen Obiri and Faith Kipyegon set to clash in Eldoret in honor of Tirop

Fittingly, for an event named in memory of one of the world’s best distance runners, the women’s race at the Agnes Tirop Cross Country Classic is expected to be the highlight of the World Athletics Cross Country Tour Gold meeting in Eldoret on Saturday (12).

Before Tirop’s tragic death in October last year, Kenya was already preparing to host a World Athletics Cross Country Tour event in Eldoret. But during Tirop’s funeral on 23 October – the day she would have turned 26 – Athletics Kenya announced that the cross-country event will be named after their star athlete.

Tirop will be remembered and celebrated this weekend for her great achievements in athletics. In 2015, aged just 19 at the time, she won the senior world cross-country title in Guiyang, then went on to earn bronze medals over 10,000m at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships. Just one month before her death, she set a women-only world 10km record of 30:01.

Many of Tirop’s friends, rivals and former teammates will be in action in Eldoret this weekend.

Letesenbet Gidey, who won the U20 title at the 2015 World Cross, leads the women’s field. The Ethiopian holds the world records for 5000m, 10,000m and the half marathon. This will be her first race since breaking the world half marathon record with her stunning 1:02:52 in Valencia last year, and her first cross-country race since the 2019 World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, where she took bronze in the senior women’s race.

Senbere Teferi, the silver medalist behind Tirop at the 2015 World Cross, is also expected to be on the start line. At the same event in Herzogenaurach where Tirop set a world 10km record last October, Teferi set a world 5km record of 14:29. Teferi has finished fourth in both of her recent cross-country outings, in Seville and Elgoibar, so will be keen to make it on to the podium in Eldoret.

World 5000m and cross-country champion Hellen Obiri and two-time Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon – both regular teammates of Tirop’s over the years – lead the Kenyan challenge.

Obiri, who earned Olympic 5000m silver last year, opened her 2022 campaign last month with victory at the World Cross Country Tour Silver meeting in Dundonald. Kipyegon, meanwhile, will be contesting her first cross-country race since the 2017 World Cross, where she finished sixth. Despite being a 1500m specialist, Kipyegon has always been a formidable competitor in cross country, having won two world U20 titles in the discipline.

The top-performing athletes from the recent Kenyan Cross Country Championships, held on this same course last month, will also be looking to produce another strong performance on home soil.

Joyce Jepkemoi, who emerged as the surprise winner in the senior women’s race at the Kenyan Cross Country Championships, will be hoping to confirm that she is indeed the best cross country runner in Kenya at the moment. World 5000m silver medalist Margaret ChelimoKipkemboi, who finished second behind Jepkemoi in Eldoret last month, is also entered.

Other leading Kenyan runners expected to compete include world marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich, steeplechase specialist CelliphineChespol, Lilian Kasait, Beatrice Chebet, EdinahJebitok and TeresiahMuthoni. Bahraini steeplechaser Winfred Yavi, the two-time Asian champion and fourth-place finisher at the 2019 World Championships, is also entered.

Geoffrey Kamworor, who excels on all surfaces, is the biggest name entered for the men’s race. The two-time world cross-country champion and three-time world half marathon champion last raced at the Valencia Marathon in December, where he set a PB of 2:05:23. His last cross-country race, meanwhile, was the 2020 Kenyan Championships, where he finished second.

National 5000m champion Nicholas Kimeli, who finished fourth over 5000m at the Tokyo Olympics at fourth at the recent Kenyan Cross Country Championships, will also be competing, as will 2018 world U20 5000m champion Edward Zakayo, who finished just behind Kimeli in Eldoret last month.

Other entrants in the senior men’s race include USA’s 2016 Olympic 5000m silver medalist Paul Chelimo, Eritrean steeplechase record-holder YemaneHaileselassie, and multiple NCAA champion Edward Cheserek.

Following feedback from competitors at the Kenyan Cross Country Championships, a number of adjustments have been made to the course. The muddy section that many runners had found tough – and lost their shoes in – has been compacted to create room for shallower mud.

What it takes to become a Kenyan distance champion

For several generations now, Kenya has produced many of the world’s greatest distance runners.

Many athletes from elsewhere in the world, meanwhile, have tried to tap into the secrets of Kenya’s success as they try to play catch-up – quite literally – with the east African nation that continues to churn out global medallists and world record-breakers.

The truth is, there is no one single reason why Kenya is so dominant in distance events. It’s more down to a combination of factors, many of which were explained during a recent trip to the NN Running training camp in Kaptagat, about 24km east of Eldoret, where the likes of Eliud Kipchoge trains for 11 months of the year.

A way of life

There are few countries where people live and breathe athletics, and where the No.1 Olympic sport can claim to be more popular than football, filling entire stadiums even for age-group championships.

And while Kenya isn’t the only country in the world where kids run long distances to get to school, running has a whole different meaning to many people in the country.

Running is something that comes naturally to us as it’s something that has been part of our lifestyle since we were born,” says three-time world half marathon champion and two-time New York City Marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor. “As a kid, I used to run from home to my school three kilometres away back and forth each day, so you end up running sometimes 12 kilometres a day as a teen without even realising it.”

Beyond being a means to an end, there is also a genuine love for running among the Kenyan population.

“As a kid, I would always go and watch athletics competitions when not at school and I enjoyed watching people competing,” added Kamworor. “It awoke my passion for running, especially seeing people cross the finish line and winning a trophy. In high school, it was always a fun and proud moment to represent your class and win a cup. I found it very encouraging.”

Having running embedded into day-to-day life sets Kenya apart from many other nations. But it’s just one of the many reasons why it is known as being the ‘home of the champions’.

Genetics

Simply running to school each day doesn’t automatically turn everyone into a world-class athlete. Genetics, as it does for every elite athlete, likely play a significant part.

Many people in the Rift Valley, where most of Kenya’s top distance runners originate, belong to the Kalenjin tribe. When compared to other Kenyan tribes, Kalenjin people are often described as having good natural running attributes: namely lean bodies and long legs.

Kipchoge, for example, isn’t particularly tall (1.67m / 5ft 6in), but the muscles on his legs are incredibly lean, his body fat percentage is low, and the strength in his feet make it appear as though he bounces along the grass.

But attributing all of Kenya’s success to just their genetics would be a gross over-simplification.

Conditions

Another element that helps Kenyan athletes in their training and preparation is the unique climate and surroundings in this part of the country. It also probably explains why there are so many training camps between Kaptagat and Iten, and why some people refer to it as the ‘Hollywood of elite runners’.

This region is located at 2500 metres above sea level, which, given the lack of oxygen, helps athletes produce a higher concentration of red blood cells and haemoglobin when training. This, in turn, gives runners an advantage when they return to lower altitudes to race.

The Eldoret region is also full of endless forests and dirt roads for athletes to use when running, while the area also enjoys a temperate climate with daytime temperatures ranging between 22-26C (68-78F) throughout the year, dropping to 10-12C (50-53F) at night time. That, combined with the good air quality, makes the area something of a distance-running paradise.

But as Kenya’s economy continues to develop, so do the local villages and the wider region, meaning many of the local dirt paths are now being made into proper roads – which is great for facilitating transport and access from other points of the country, but less so for athletes seeking a run-friendly surface.

Athletes are adapting well to this evolving environment, though, while remaining in close contact with nature. The Kalenjin community, Kipchogeand Kamworor  included, are running many tree-planting initiatives. “We evolve in a very natural environment which is a great advantage when it comes to training,” says Kamworor.

Patrick Sang, the 1992 Olympic silver steeplechase medallist and head coach at the Kaptagat training camp, explains how the new generation of running shoes can help counter the effects of running on harder roads.

“New running shoes help a lot because athletes can now do a lot more training on a hard surface and still recover on time to do their next hard session,” says Sang. “Overall, you can get more work done to help improve performance.”

Sleep, eat, train, repeat

Most world-class athletes are fully committed to their sport, but the elite runners at the Kaptagat training camp in particular take dedication to a whole new level.

Many of these athletes – including young mothers such as two-time Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon – have children who are at home during the week so that they can entirely focus on their training at the camp.

“Of course, it’s very hard but that’s the only way to be fully dedicated to being the best athlete you can and avoid any distraction,” said Kipyegon.

When not running, athletes at the Kaptagat training camp are focused entirely on other elements of their training, namely recovery and nutrition.

“When you are at the camp, your sole focus is on running and you are not distracted by anything else,” says Kamworor, father to five children, including young triplets. “You are away from your family, your wife and your kids during the whole week, and that makes you take your training very seriously as you are making sacrifices to achieve your goals. That’s the only way to be focused 100% on running and to give your very best.”

As in any walk of life, hard work and having the right mind-set are key to success. Kipchoge might be the most successful athlete at the camp, but Sang says that’s not just down to his talent. “Eliud isn’t the most gifted athlete within his training group but certainly the most dedicated,” Sang says of Kipchoge, who is always the first one ready for training and the last one to leave.

In an average week, athletes at the Kaptagat camp do one long run of 30km (once a month it will be 40km), which usually takes place early on a Thursday morning. Typical track sessions, meanwhile, would be something like 8x1600m (each rep completed in 4:40) and 8x400m (at an average of 65 seconds) on their local 380m cinder track.

“Have you seen him?” Sang says when watching Kipchoge train. “This guy is a machine.”

Athletes are religious in their approach to punctuality and producing their best effort in training. And other local athletes from outside the NN Running team are welcome to join in the sessions, provided they arrive on time. After all, no one wants to be playing catch-up with the likes of Kipchoge and Kamworor.

Community

The Kaptagat training camp is run entirely by the 25 athletes who live there for 11 months a year from Monday to Saturday morning before going back to spend quality time with their family, often in the big city of Eldoret. In and around the 12 training runs they do in a typical week, the resident athletes to everything at the camp.

“If you look at life at the camp, the one making bread is an athlete, the cleaning is done by the athletes, the one doing shopping for the camp is an athlete,” says Sang. “You don’t want athletes to live on another island.

“The whole idea is to make sure these athletes become well-rounded people. You wouldn’t want to help someone become a great athlete who lacks social skills or is out of touch with society.”

Kipchoge, whose wife and three children live just 45 minutes away from the training camp, could easily go and spend time with his family during his time off, but instead he chooses to stay at the camp with the rest of the group, monastically isolated from the rest of the world.

Kipchoge is rarely bored, too. When he’s not training or resting, he will be reading or working at the camp or reading.

The sense of community extends to caring about the environment. Every athlete at the camp gets a tree planted at the entrance as a welcome gesture and to symbolise their connection to nature. Some special guests to the camp – including Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie – have also had a tree planted for them in Kaptagat.

Occasionally, athletes at the camp will give each other lessons, or they will engage in real debates around serious issues, helping them develop holistically as people.

Simplicity

Far away from the latest technological innovations you often hear about in other parts of the world, daily life at the camp is basic.

Upon entering the gates at the Kaptagat training camp, the 380m cinder track is located on the left. It has a slight incline on the first bend and a couple of cows as spectators, but it meets all their needs.

“A synthetic track isn’t needed for what we do and the way we train,” says Marc Roig, a former international runner from Spain, who now works as a jack of all trades for NN Running, acting as a fitness coach, physio, runner, mentor and pacemaker. “If our athletes need a synthetic track, they can go to the one in Eldoret an hour away.” In fact, there are just four synthetic tracks in the whole of Kenya, but it’s clearly not a barrier to producing top athletes.

The runners at the camp rarely lift weights or spend time stretching, but twice a week they will do core strength sessions. Instead of water, they drink mursik – a nutritious fermented milk – in the morning and Kenyan tea in the afternoon. And not a single drop of water during their 30km long run. “That’s okay,” says Sang. “They don’t need it.”

Within the camp itself, there is a TV room with a small library corner with a few books there for the athletes, a living room for their meals, the dormitory (one for women and another for men), a basic gym comprising a bike, a treadmill, some elastic bands and a light weightlifting bar (with maximum 40kg available) and a big blue plastic drum outside used for ice baths.

It’s all quite rudimentary, but they don’t need more, and it seems to work.

The only visible ‘luxury’ – aside from the eco-friendly solar panels to get hot water – is that Kipchoge has his own bedroom. But even the king of the marathon does his fair share of the chores. He prepares tea for other athletes, and there’s a strict cleaning schedule that all athletes must stick to.

“I think that when you stop leading a simple life, your mind-set loses contact with the outside world and you lose your focus on your actual goals,” says Kipchoge. “At this point, you run the risk of forgetting about the really important things in life.”

Life at the camp is minimalistic, but nobody complains. Indeed, this simplicity is what defines them and enables the athletes to keep their focus and remain humble about who they are, where they come from and what they are here for.

Hollywood of running

To be the best, you need to surround yourself with the best – which is another reason why the Rift Valley continues to produce champion athletes.

The likes of Kipchoge, Kamworor and Kipyegon are true A-listers, but Kaptagat is filled with talented athletes who have achieved podium finishes at major championships and big city marathons.

Roig, who has a 2:18:05 marathon PB, moved to Kenya several years ago. “When I take my kids to school, I feel ashamed saying I am a runner as many of the dads there have 2:05 marathon PBs,” jokes Roig, who is now the race director for the Valencia Marathon. “There is even a mother at the school who has a PB similar to mine!”

But the Kaptagat camp isn’t the only leading training venue in the area. Iten, a small town at 2400 metres above sea level about an hour north of Kaptagat, is often referred to as the ‘home of champions’ or the ‘Hollywood of distance running’.

One of the drivers used for NN Running Team’s trip to Kenya, for example, was a former 1:06 half marathon runner. His wife, meanwhile, was a 2:21 marathon runner who finished second at the Rotterdam Marathon a couple of years ago. His neighbour is Emmanuel Korir, the Olympic 800m champion, and he is good friends with Joyciline Jepkosgei, the multiple world record-breaker and 2021 London Marathon champion.

Abdi Nageeye, the Olympic marathon silver medallist, also happened to be in Iten at the time of the trip. While ferrying around members of the media, the driver passed by a gas station named ‘Oslo’, which is one of many local businesses owned by Vivian Cheruiyot. The 2016 Olympic 5000m champion opened the station after winning at the Oslo Diamond League meeting.

One of the biggest training venues in Iten is the High Altitude Training Centre founded by multiple world half marathon champion Lornah Kiplagat, who herself is part of a highly successful family of runners, including Sylvia Kibet, Hilda Kibet and Susan Sirma. Many international athletes, including the likes of Mo Farah and Paula Radcliffe, have previously stayed there, while former steeplechaser Bob Tahri of France opened his own training centre in Iten a few years ago.

The Rift Valley – Iten and Kaptagat in particular – is like nowhere else on earth. Everybody knows a champion who is friends with another champion, who is the neighbour of another champion.

It’s yet another way – and one of the many – of becoming a great runner.

Laura Muir Hungry For More Success After Tokyo Silver

Laura Muir knows she may never better the Olympic silver medal that gave Britain a night to remember in Tokyo.

But as the new year dawns she insists her first taste of global success has only made her more hungry.

Until now Muir awoke from every Hogmanay resolving to shed her ‘nearly’ tag. Not today, not after that 1,500 metres performance.

It remains to be seen whether she will ever top beating Sifan Hassan to second place behind Faith Kipyegon in a British record time.

But the 28-year-old Scot has made clear she will not fail for the want of trying.

“The fire inside me is, if anything, burning even more fiercely now,” she said. “Tokyo gave me a taste of what it’s like to be on a global podium.

“I want more of that, I want to add more medals. It’s going to be incredibly tough. This is probably the most competitive time there’s been in my event. But I’m very excited to be a part of that.”

She has already returned to racing, winning the Scottish Short Course Cross-Country Championships.

It was small beer compared to the Olympics but it sent a message that she is back up and running, business as usual.

“I think I’ve got a few years left in these legs,” she smiled. “I’ll keep on running competitively for as long as my body holds up.

“To have finally put a performance out there that shows the calibre of athlete I am is huge for me. I always knew I could do it, but going to Tokyo and delivering has given me huge belief.

“I will now go into championships more relaxed, with the confidence that I’ve been and done it already. That's a huge hurdle. Now I’m over it, things should be a bit smoother in that sense.

Sifan Hassan wants to try a marathon before Paris Olympics

Hassan was crowned Dutch Sportswoman of the Year for the second year in a row

On Wednesday evening, triple Olympic medallist Sifan Hassan was crowned Dutch Sportswoman of the Year for the second year in a row, after her heroics at the Tokyo Olympics. Hassan revealed in her acceptance speech that she has aspirations of moving up in distance to the marathon soon.

“I want to run a marathon before the Paris Olympic Games,” she said in her virtual acceptance speech. Hassan was unable to attend the award ceremony in person after testing positive for COVID-19.

Going into the Tokyo Olympics, Hassan had her eyes on pulling off the trifecta in the 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m, an accomplishment no other athlete has achieved. She beat her rivals Letesenbet Gidey in the 10,000m and Hellen Obiri in the 5,000m to win gold in both, but fell just short of the triple, as she finished third in the 1,500m behind Faith Kipyegon of Kenya and Great Britain’s Laura Muir. Hassan joined a very small group of athletes to have won three individual medals in athletics at an Olympic Games.

Although the date for Hassan’s marathon debut has not been set, it will be interesting to see how she transitions into the 42.2-kilometre distance. Hassan currently holds the European half-marathon record of 65:15, which she ran at the Copenhagen Half Marathon in 2018.

Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon says she is motivated to break more records next season

Double Olympic1500m women's champion Faith Kipyegon hungry for more success.

Speaking on Tuesday after she was voted LG Sports Personality for the month of August, the mother of one stated that the timely award will motivate her going forward.

Faith defended her 1500m gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Games in Japan in a new Olympic record of 3:53.11, beating Great Britain's Laura Muir and Dutch star Sifan Hassan.

"I am surprised about this award. It has never happened before. Being the off season, coach Patrick Sang called me and said that there is an urgent meeting. Little did I know I was to receive this award. It is an inspiration for me and my teammates at the camp,” said Kipyegon Tuesday during the award ceremony at the Global Sports Communication Training Camp in Kaptagat in Elgeyo Marakwet County.

To win the monthly award, Kipyegon went home with a state-of-the-art LG washing machine worth Sh92,000 and a glittering trophy engraved with her name.

Kipyegon was voted the best ahead of the men’s marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, Peres Jepchirchir who both won gold in Tokyo Olympics in marathon, as well as 800m gold medalist Emmanuel Korir.

Also in the nominees were World Under-20 Walk champion Heristone Wanyonyi, 100m sensational Ferdinand Omanyala and World Under-20 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi.

LG Electronics Managing Director, Sa Nyoung Kim appreciated the partnership, saying that the electronic firm is committed to developing sports in the country.

“I am humbled to be at such a humble camp which has so many championships. LG and SJAK will continue working together to support and motivate sports personalities achieve their dreams,” LG boss said.

On his part, Valentijn Trouw, a senior manager in the Global Sports Communication Camp said, “We are pleased as a team to have a fifth athlete awarded. As Global Sports Communication we work as a team to ensure that we not only develop good athletes but a well-rounded person.”

Kipyegon becomes the fourth female athlete in 2021 to lay hands on the coveted award, previously won by the likes of Kipchoge, Geoffrey Kamworor, Kenya sevens star Jacob Ojee and 800m Commonwealth champion Wycliffe Kinyamal among others. 

She also joins the growing list of 2021 winners that includes tennis superstar Angela Okutoyi (January), Tylor Okari Ongwae of Kenya Moran’s (February), Hit Squad boxer Elly Ajowi (March), world marathon champion Ruth Chepng'etich (April), Milan marathon winner Titus Ekiru (May), Safari Rally WRC3 winner Onkar Rai (June) and US based Lioness basketball star Victoria. Reynolds (July).

A number of Tokyo Olympic medalists, including champions Faith Kipyegon and Peruth Chemutai, will be among the athletes in action at the Kip Keino Classic

Athletes from at least 28 countries are expected to compete when the final meeting of this year’s Continental Tour Gold series is held at the Kasarani Stadium, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, in Nairobi, Kenya, on September 18, which recently hosted the World Athletics U20 Championships.

After winning her second Olympic 1500m title and then claiming the series crown at the Wanda Diamond League final in Zurich, Kenya’s Kipyegon will make her Kip Keino Classic debut. Uganda’s Olympic 3000m steeplechase champion Chemutai, meanwhile, returns to the event after her sixth-place finish in the inaugural edition of the meeting last year.

Both Olympic steeplechase champions will be competing, with Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco having already been announced for the men’s race. He is set to be joined on the start line by Kenya's world U20 champion Amos Serem.

Like Kipyegon, USA’s Fred Kerley claimed a Diamond Trophy in Zurich, becoming the first athlete to ever win top series honours in both the 100m and 400m. Three years after his 400m success, Kerley won the 100m in 9.87 in Zurich and the Olympic 100m silver medallist is now set to race in Nairobi.

In men's 100m action will be the USA’s world leader Trayvon Bromell, Kenyan record-holder Ferdinand Omanyala and the USA’s Justin Gatlin, while Botswana’s Isaac Makwala has been announced for the 400m.

Namibia's Christine Mboma improved her world U20 record and African record to 21.78 to win the 200m Diamond Trophy in Zurich and the Olympic silver medallist returns to Nairobi, where the 18-year-old won the world U20 title last month.

The men’s hammer competition will also feature an Olympic champion, with Poland's Wojciech Nowicki among those who will be seeking more success when they compete in Kenya.

Ukraine’s world finalist Iryna Klymets will compete in the women’s event.

Kenyan Faith Kipyegon wins 1500m showdown for Diamond League success in Zurich

From the moment that Olympic 5000m and 10,000m champion Sifan Hassan declared that she would race fellow Tokyo gold medallist Faith Kipyegon in the 1500m at the Wanda Diamond League final in Zurich, the race had the makings of an all-time classic.

And so it was.

Their first meeting this year was in Florence in June, where world champion Hassan had Kipyegon’s measure. But Kipyegon took back the initiative in Monaco in July and claimed a dominant victory at the Tokyo Olympics in August, as Hassan fought through the fatigue of her extraordinarily ambitious race schedule to secure the bronze medal.

But with two such exceptional talents – Hassan led their head-to-head record 9-8 before tonight’s race – each battle must be fought anew.

From the first lap, each only had eyes on the other. The pacemaker was forgotten as they both waited and watched for the inevitable showdown.

Kipyegon moved into the lead just after the bell, with Hassan shadowing her every step. The Kenyan surged down the back straight and then stepped up the pace around the final bend, but Hassan would not concede.

The Dutchwoman moved out of the Kenyan’s slipstream as they entered the straight and drew level. For a moment with 50m to go it appeared that Kipyegon might buckle under the pressure but her strength held and it was Hassan who faded slightly in the final metres.

Kipyegon stopped the clock in 3:58.33, just a metre ahead of Hassan in 3:58.55. The USA's Josette Norris came through for third in 4:00.41.

“I knew it would be a tactical race today," Kipyegon said. “I was confident that in the last lap I could do better and it worked.”

Hassan declared Kipyegon was “really one of the greatest athletes” but vowed to keep challenging her.

“Today was my last race (of the season) and I wanted to give everything, and I did that and I am happy about it," Hassan said before warning: “Next year, I will train my speed and I will be amazing.”

Close finishes were the order of the evening as the men’s 1500m followed an eerily similar script.

This time the protagonists were the world champion Timothy Cheruiyot and the Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

Until the Tokyo Olympic Games, the young Norwegian had lost 12 straight races to Cheruiyot but he finally turned the tables on the biggest stage of them all. However, Cheruiyot gained a measure of revenge in Zurich.

Cheruiyot employed the same tactics as his compatriot Kipyegon, forcing Ingebrigtsen to chase him from the bell. He tightened the screws gradually until he entered the home straight and lit out for home.

Like Hassan, Ingebrigtsen had the strength to challenge in the straight but not to draw ahead. Cheruiyot hung tough and took the glory (and his fourth Diamond League trophy) by 0.08 – 3:31.37 to 3:31.45. Australia’s Stewart McSweyn (3:32.14) completed the podium, one place ahead of his compatriot Ollie Hoare (3:32.66).

Cheruiyot Defeats Ingebrigtsen In Diamond League 1500m Final

At tonight's talent-packed Wanda Diamond League Final at the Letzigrund in Zürich, Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot evened the score with Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen by defeating the reigning Olympic 1500m champion by just 8/100ths of a second, reversing their finish places from Tokyo. With his victory tonight, Cheruiyot retained the Diamond League title he had earned in Brussels in 2019 and sent a signal that he'll be tough to beat at next summer's World Athletics Championships in Eugene where he will come in as reigning champion.

"That was good but a very tight race," Cheruiyot said. "I knew the standard was strong here, and I am happy."

In last month's Olympic final, Ingebrigtsen cleverly shadowed Cheruiyot throughout the race before overwhelming the Kenyan in the final sprint. Tonight, Cheruiyot took the lead from Australia's Stewart McSweyn at the bell, and held his lead through the final bend where Ingebrigtsen was still close behind. In the last 100 meters, Cheruiyot kept his signature forward-leaning form as he accelerated to the finish line in 3:31.37. Ingebrigtsen tied up in the final meters and had to settle for second in 3:31.45. McSweyn held on for third in 3:32.14 just ahead of his compatriot Oliver Hoare who ran a personal best 3:32.66.

"It is what it is," lamented Ingebrigtsen. "I am really happy with what I did in Tokyo. It is tough to go into races afterwards. So I am just happy to be done with this season and looking forward to the World Championships next year."

Cheruiyot, who nearly missed out on Olympic team selection after he only finished fourth at the Kenyan Olympic Trials, is also looking forward to 2022.

"I was having many challenges in Tokyo, so now I am getting better," he said referring to a pesky hamstring injury. "My hamstring is getting better and I am prepared for next season. My goal is that I know I need to defend my world title at next year's championships. That is my target now, but I need to work out (hard) because I know Jakob Ingebrigtsen is going to continue to get better."

In another epic rematch from Tokyo, Kenyan Faith Kipyegon out-sprinted Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan to win the women's 1500m in 3:58.33. Like in the men's race, Kipyegon was able to hold her form and run smoothly through the tape, while an exhausted-looking Hassan thrashed her way to second in 3:58.55. Hassan had defeated Kipyegon in the 2019 World Athletics Championships, but Kipyegon beat Hassan to third place in last month's Olympics. Their rivalry is sure to continue into next year.

"I was confident that in the last lap I could do better and it worked," Kipyegon said. "This is my second Diamond League trophy and my first as a mother. My family is watching tonight from home. I started my season well and I finished it well, I won almost all my competitions, especially the Olympic final. I am so grateful."

Kenyan men also won the 800m and 3000m steeplechase. In the two-lap event, reigning Olympic gold and silver medalists, Emmanuel Korir and Ferguson Rotich, finished in the same order again tonight. Rotich tried to win with a long drive from 250 meters out, but Korir --who was sprinting furiously-- passed him in the homestretch to win 1:44.56 to 1:44.96. American Clayton Murphy got third (1:45.21).

"I think it was tough today," said Korir. "But I managed to follow my strategy, tried to push it in the end and now I have this Trophy and I am very glad."

Benjamin Kigen upset Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco in the steeplechase by running away from the field on the backstretch of the final lap, hurdling the final water jump, then holding on in the homestretch before El Bakkali could catch him. Kigen clocked 8:17.45 to El Bakkali's 8:17.70.

"It was my wish to win today," said Kigen. "I am very happy now. Today was not a matter of time, but it was a matter of winning."

A Kenyan also won the women's steeplechase. Norah Jeruto, who did not compete in Tokyo despite being the fastest steeplechaser of the year (8:53.65), won a two-way battle over compatriot Hyvin Kiyeng on the final lap. The two women were even going into the last water jump, but Kiyeng landed flat-footed, lost her momentum, and Jeruto scampered away. Jeruto was clocked in 9:07.33 to Kiyeng's 9:08.55. Olympic silver medalist Courtney Frerichs finished third in 9:08.74; her strong sprint got her past Ethiopia's Mekides Abebe and Kenya's Celliphine Chespol.

British teen Keely Hodgkinson, the Olympic 800m silver medalist, added "Diamond League Champion" to her résumé tonight when she pulled away from Jamaica's Natoya Goule in the homestretch to win in 1:57.98. Gould looked safe for second, but a charging Kate Grace just edged her at the line (both women were timed in 1:58.34). Jemma Reekie, Hodgkinson's Olympic teammate, finished fourth in 1:58.61, the same position as the Tokyo Olympics.

All the event winners tonight earned provisional starting starting spots at next summer's World Athletics Championships (conditions apply) and earned USD 30,000.

Duplantis, Hassan and Cherry break meeting records in Brussels

Meeting records are hard to come by in the Wanda Diamond League, given it’s the premier one-day meeting circuit in the world, but three such marks fell at the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels on Friday (3), thanks to Mondo Duplantis, Sifan Hassan and Michael Cherry.

When the men’s pole vault got underway, some 40 minutes before the first track event, the King Baudouin Stadium was still filling up. By the time the contest reached its climax three hours later, with all other disciplines having long finished, Duplantis commanded the attention of every single person inside the venue.

Though the world record once again evaded Duplantis tonight, the 28,000 spectators – the largest gathering for an athletics meeting since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic – were treated to a vaulting masterclass from a legend of the sport.

The Olympic champion opened at 5.50m, skipped 5.65m and then got over 5.75m and 5.85m on his first tries. Four other men were left in the competition at this point, but only two of them got over 5.85m; Olympic silver medallist Christopher Nilsen did it on his first try, while US compatriot KC Lightfoot scraped over on his third attempt.

The US duo couldn’t quite manage 5.91m tonight, though, but Duplantis once again went clear at the first time of asking to confirm his victory. The 21-year-old Swede then raised the bar to 6.05m in a bid to add some height to his own 6.00m meeting record from last year. He brought the bar down with his first two tries, but got over it on his third attempt.

The bar was then raised to the would-be world record height of 6.19m. Following a short wait while the technical officials ensured all was set for a record attempt, Duplantis took to the runway but wasn’t particularly close to clearing the bar on his first attempt. His second try was significantly closer, and his third attempt was also decent, but a world record wasn’t to be tonight.

Nevertheless, Duplantis wasn’t disappointed with his winning height of 6.05m. Only he, Sergey Bubka and two-time world champion Sam Kendricks have ever vaulted higher outdoors.

"I was really close to the world record," said Duplantis. "Everything was perfect, it was just up to me. I haven't had such an amazing atmosphere during a competition in a really long time."

Almost a month has passed since Sifan Hassan’s final race at the Olympic Games, where she won two gold medals and one bronze. Having raced just once during that time, the Dutch distance star arrived in Brussels well rested and ready to take on the mile.

She was the only athlete capable of sticking with the pacemakers as they led through the first 400m in 1:02.03. By the time the second pacemaker reached the 800m point in 2:04.97, with Hassan still in close attendance, the rest of the field was about 30 metres adrift.

With a lap to go, it was clear from the wavelight technology that an improvement on Hassan’s 4:12.33 world record was not on the cards in Brussels, though it never really seemed as though that was her ambition for the race anyway. By this stage, her lead had grown to 50 metres and she kicked for the final lap, going on to win by more than six seconds.

Her winning time of 4:14.74, the fifth-fastest performance in history, smashed Faith Kipyegon’s meeting record by two seconds. Ethiopia’s Axumawit Embaye was second in 4:21.08, closely followed by Australia’s Linden Hall, who broke her own Oceanian record with 4:21.38.

“Since the start of the pandemic, we haven’t had such a big crowd and I’m so happy to see them,” said Hassan. “We haven’t experienced it for nearly two years; it makes you feel special. It’s amazing, I really love it.”

In Tokyo last month, Michael Cherry was beaten to the 400m bronze medal by just 0.02 as Kirani James pipped the US sprinter at the line. Today’s race in Brussels was the first clash between the pair since the Olympic final, and Cherry ran like a man with a point to prove.

He went out hard, as did James, and by half way the duo had started to open up a clear gap on the likes of Isaac Makwala and Liemarvin Bonevacia.

James almost drew level with Cherry on the final bend, but Cherry had another gear left and forged ahead down the home straight, crossing the line in a lifetime best of 44.03 to take 0.03 off Michael Johnson’s meeting record from 1998.

James finished second in 44.51 with Makwala taking third place in 44.83.

The meeting record may have remained intact in the women’s high jump, but it proved to be one of the most enthralling contests of the night.

Olympic champion Mariya Lasitskene breezed through the first few heights and hadn’t recorded any failures up to and including 1.98m. World silver medallist Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who needed three attempts to clear 1.95m, also got over 1.98m on her first try, while Olympic silver medallist Nicola McDermott needed two jumps to clear it.

But McDermott was then the first to go clear at 2.00m, getting over on her first try, then Lasitskene did likewise. Mahuchikh succeeded on her second attempt at 2.00m, but then nailed 2.02m on her first attempt, taking the lead at a critical point of the competition.

Lasitskene missed once and then passed to 2.04m, while McDermott had two misses at 2.02m before registering a third failure at 2.04m. Neither of the trio managed to get over 2.04m, leaving Mahuchikh as the winner. It was just the second time in Diamond League history that three women have cleared 2.00m in the same competition.

With Lasitskene having won in Lausanne and McDermott winning in Paris, Mahuchikh’s triumph in Brussels means all three Olympic medallists have achieved Diamond League wins since the Tokyo Games.

Kerley makes Diamond League history

Olympic 100m silver medallist Fred Kerley won the short sprint, becoming the first man to win over 100m, 200m and 400m in the Wanda Diamond League.

World leader Trayvon Bromell blasted into an early lead and held his form well, but Kerley rallied and held off the additional challenge from Michael Norman in lane seven, dipping well on the line to take the victory in 9.94.

Bromell held on to take second place in 9.97, just 0.01 ahead of Michael Norman (9.98), completing a US sweep of the top three places.

Christine Mboma, also an Olympic silver medallist, won the women’s 200m. The Namibian teenager came through strongly in the closing stages to edge in front of Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson and world champion Dina Asher-Smith.

Mboma stopped the clock at 21.84 while Jackson took second place in 21.95. Asher-Smith recorded a season’s best of 22.04 in third, and US 100m champion Sha’Carri Richardson was a few strides adrift in fourth place (22.45).

Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba produced a similarly well-timed finish to win the 5000m.

Once the last of the pacemakers dropped out at 2000m, Niyonsaba took up the running at the front of the pack with two-time world champion Hellen Obiri close behind. The Kenyan led for a brief stint too, passing through 3000m in a swift 8:42.57.

Niyonsaba, who finished fifth over 10,000m at the Tokyo Olympics, led again for most of the final kilometre, but Obiri kicked into the lead when the bell sounded for the final lap. She appeared to be on her way to victory, but Ethiopia’s Ejgayehu Taye came back strongly and briefly led with about 90 metres to go, then a rejuvenated Niyonsaba came back to take the lead in the closing stages, crossing the line in a national record of 14:25.34.

Taye took second place in 14:25.63 with Obiri claiming third in 14:26.23. World silver medallist Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi set a PB of 14:27.12 in fourth as the top seven women finished inside 14:32 – unprecedented depth for a 5000m race.

Goule, Rotich and McSweyn take middle distances

Exactly one month since her eighth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics, Jamaica’s Natoya Goule rebounded with a satisfying win over 800m, beating several women who finished ahead of her at the Games.

With the pacemaker passing through the first lap in 56.99, the field was still relatively tightly bunched with 300 metres to go. Goule held the lead, but Olympic silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson moved on to the Jamaican’s shoulder on the final bend and looked poised to strike.

Goule had saved something for the finish, though, and she held off the challenge from the British teenager, winning in 1:58.09. Hodgkinson was second in 1:58.16 from compatriot Jemma Reekie (1:58.77).

Stewart McSweyn led an Australian 1-2 in the men’s 1500m. The Oceanian record-holder overtook a fading Mohamed Katir on the home straight to win in 3:33.20 with compatriot Oliver Hoare taking second place (3:33.79). Poland’s Michal Rozmys was third in 3:33.96.

Olympic silver medallist Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich was a comfortable winner of the non-scoring men’s 800m, crossing the line in 1:43.81 to win by more than a second from Belgium’s Eliott Crestan (1:45.24).

Hurdles victories for Dos Santos and Visser

Racing for the first time since taking Olympic bronze and moving to third on the world all-time list, Brazil’s Alison dos Santos won the men’s 400m hurdles with his trademark strong finish.

Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands led for most of the race, making up the stagger on Dos Santos, drawn one lane outside him, by the half-way point. Dos Santos stuck with McMaster around the final bend and drew level with Jamaica’s Jaheel Hyde. McMaster hit the penultimate hurdle, throwing off his rhythm slightly as he went into the final barrier. Dos Santos, meanwhile, came off the 10th hurdle much better and went on to win in 48.23.

McMaster finished second in 48.31 and Yasmani Copello took third place in 48.45.

The closest finish of the day came in the women’s 100m hurdles, in which Nadine Visser won by just eight thousandths of a second from Tobi Amusan, both timed at 12.69 (0.7m/s). Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper was third in 12.77.

Elsewhere, Steffin McCarter saved his best for last to win the men’s long jump. His sixth-round leap of 7.99m was not only the best in the ‘final three’ contest; it was also the top mark of the entire competition. Ruswahl Samaai was second thanks to his last-round leap of 7.89m, having jumped 7.95m earlier in the competition.

Eugene will play host rematches betwen olympic medalists at the Prefontaine Classic

Dozens of medal winners from the recent Tokyo Olympic Games will be back in action at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Eugene when Hayward Field hosts the Prefontaine Classic on August 21.

Based on the announcements made so far by the meeting organizers, five events will feature a full set of Olympic medalists from Tokyo.

Double Olympic champion Sifan Hassan headlines the women’s 5000m field and she’ll take on two-time world champion Hellen Obiri and world indoor 1500m record-holder Gudaf Tsegay, the silver and bronze medalists in Tokyo over 5000m.

All three medalists from the men’s 5000m will also be in action as Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei, Canada’s Moh Ahmed and USA’s Paul Chelimo clash over two miles.

Teenage stars Athing Mu and Keely Hodgkinson, the top two finishers in the 800m in Tokyo, will be back in action over two laps, along with world and Olympic bronze medallist Raevyn Rogers, world champion Halimah Nakaayi, Britain’s Jemma Reekie, Jamaica’s Natoya Goule and USA’s Ajee Wilson and Kate Grace.

World record-holder and two-time Olympic champion Ryan Crouser will look to maintain his winning streak in the shot put when he takes on world champion Joe Kovacs and 2017 world champion Tom Walsh. Brazil’s Darlan Romani and US duo Darrell Hill and Payton Otterdahl are also in the line-up.

Jamaican sprint stars Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson – who filled the 100m podium in Tokyo – will face USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson and Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast.

The men’s 100m, meanwhile, features Olympic silver and bronze medalists Andre De Grasse and Fred kerley, along with world indoor bronze medallist Ronnie Baker, 400m specialist Michael Norman and African record-holder Akani Simbine.

Two-time Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon will once again line up against Olympic silver medallist Laura Muir and Canadian record-holder Gabriela DeBues-Stafford, while world champion Timothy Cheruiyot will clash with Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the men’s Bowerman mile.

In the women’s steeplechase, world champion Beatrice Chepkoech takes on world leader Norah Jeruto Tanui, Olympic silver medalist Courtney Frerichs and 2017 world champion Emma Coburn.

Other global stars confirmed so far include world 400m hurdles champion Dalilah Muhammad, Olympic triple jump champion Pedro Pablo Pichardo and world indoor triple jump record-holder Hugues Fabrice Zango.

Kenyan Faith Kipyegon outkicks Hassan for Olympic 1,500m gold, sets Olympic record

On another hot, humid night in Tokyo, the match-up we’ve all been waiting for finally took place: defending Olympic 1,500m champion Faith Kipyegon of Kenya and the 5,000m gold medalist and world champion Sifan Hassan, who was attempting the 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m triple crown, went head-to-head over the metric mile, but it was the U.K.’s Laura Muir who got between them, setting a national record of 3:54.50, while Kipyegon took home the gold in a new Olympic record of 3:53.11. Hassan had to settle for bronze, in 3:55.86.

Canadian track fans had their eyes on Toronto’s Gabriela DeBues-Stafford, who was competing in her first-ever Olympic final. She did not make it out of the heats five years ago in Rio, but this time around was a potential challenger for a medal. She ran a brave race, going out strong to lead the pack through the first 300m. Hassan took over, to bring the pack through the first lap in 62 seconds, while Stafford stuck with the lead group to stay in medal contention.

She looked strong coming into the bell lap, but in the last 300m Kipyegon kicked up the pace and DeBues-Stafford began losing touch with the top three runners, ending up in fifth in 3:58.93 behind Ethiopia’s Freweyni Gebreezibeher, a 20-place improvement from her Olympic debut.

While everyone was expecting the fight for gold to be between Kipyegon and Hassan, it was Muir who was the (delightful) surprise of the night. The U.K. runner ran the race of her life, passing Hassan in the final 200m to take the silver medal in a new personal best and national record.

Hassan’s third-place finish means she will not accomplish the unprecedented 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m triple crown, but she still has a chance of winning three medals of different colours, with the 10,000m final taking place on Saturday.

Siffan Hassan has won at the 5,000 meters and now looks to the 1,500 and 10,000

Six races in eight days on the Tokyo track? No problem, says Sifan Hassan, who overcame a Monday morning fall in the 1500m heats to win 5000m gold in the evening.

How about 24,500 meters of Olympic racing in the matter of eight days?

The Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan has said she’ll try it, competing in each of the 1500m, 5000m, and 10,000m races at Tokyo 2020, a line-up rarely seen – especially in the hot conditions athletics runners are facing at these Games.

“For me it is crucial to follow my heart,” said Hassan in a press release. “Doing that is far more important than gold medals. That keeps me motivated and it keeps me enjoying this beautiful sport.”

Having already run on Friday (July 30) to qualify for the 5000m final, Hassan fell with a lap to go in Monday morning's 1500m first round, but picked herself up to win the heat!

Just 12 hours later, Hassan produced her famed finishing kick to take her first global title over 5000m and her first Olympic medal.

That may have been the hardest of three with the mile world record holder completing a 1500m-10,000m double at the 2019 World Championships.

See her full schedule below – and find out what other similar feats have been attempted in athletics in Games past, as you get to know the distance running star.

Born in Ethiopia in 1993, Hassan arrived in the Netherlands as a 15-year-old refugee in 2008. She split her time between running and studying to become a nurse.

She became a Dutch citizen in late 2013, which allowed her to represent the Netherlands in competition.

As early as 2011, Hassan began making her mark on the international stage, winning the Eindhoven Half Marathon that year. In 2013, she won the 3000m at the Ostrava Golden Spike meeting in June.

At the 2014 European Championships in Zurich, Hassan took gold in the 1500m and a year later, she won bronze in the 1500m at the World Championships in Beijing, joining Dafne Schippers as the only Dutch athletes to win medals at the Worlds.

She had clearly established herself as one to watch ahead of Rio 2016, though injuries hampered her build-up to those Games, where she went out in the heats in the 800m but reached the final of the 1500m, where she finished fifth behind Kenya’s gold medalist Faith Kipyegon.

Has anyone tried such an Olympic programme before? Let’s compare it with two great long-distance feats at Olympic Games.

According to  The Guardian, Paavo Nurmi went for four at Paris 1924: Nurmi won the men's 1500m, 5000m, and 3000m team event – as well as two cross-country events – but “Finnish officials feared for his health and refused to let him race the 10,000m.”

The 1500, 3000 and 5000 happened over a span of just five days.

At Helsinki 1952, Czechoslovakia’s Emil Zatopek won the 5000m, 10,000m, and marathon (42km) – all in Olympic records. Those four races (a semi and a final for the 5000), took place over eight days.

After Rio, Hassan joined Alberto Salazar’s training group in Oregon, keeping her focus largely on the 1500m. She was fifth again (behind Kipyegon) in the 1500m at the 2017 World Championships in London and took bronze in the 5000m with another Kenyan, Hellen Obiri, winning gold.

In 2019, after a quiet season to start, she set a new mile world record at the Monaco Diamond League in 4:12.33.

At the World Championships in Doha, she entered the 10,000m having only ran the race competitively just once before. But Hassan closed down Letesenbet Gidey before sprinting clear on the last lap to take her first global title.

A week later, she showed her versatility by winning the 1500m to complete a unique double at Worlds.

After worlds, it was announced that her coach, Salazar, would be suspended from athletics due to doping allegations. Hassan denied any knowledge of wrongdoing.

She continued to perform at the top level after his suspension: She set the aforementioned mile world record in 2019, then ran the fourth fastest 10,000m ever before setting a new world record at that distance in June of 2021. (That record was broken two days later, by Gidey.)

Hassan will almost certainly fight it out with Gidey for gold in the 10,000, but the Dutch runner’s famed finishing kick gives her a great chance of adding the Olympic title to her world title.

Here’s a breakdown of Hassan’s potential schedule, having already advance through into the final of the 5000m on Monday night (Aug 2).

Fri 30 July 19:00 JST - 5000m semi-finals – Finished 1st, to reach final.

Mon 2 August 09:47 JST - 1500m round 1 - Finished 1st in heat despite falling, to reach semi-finals.

Mon 2 August 21:40 JST - 5000m final

Wed 4 August around 17:00 JST - 1500m semi-finals.

Fri 6 August 21:50 JST - 1500m final (if she qualifies)

Sat 7 August 19:45 JST - 10,000m final.

Will Ethiopian-born Dutch distance star Sifan Hassan make history at Tokyo Olympics 2020?

Sifan Hassan is an Ethiopian-born Dutch female long-distance runner. Her plans to compete in 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m track races at the Tokyo Olympic Games have created buzz in the running world.

If she is successful in winning gold medals in all three races, it will be unprecedented in the history of Track and Field at the Olympics. No female distance runner has won more gold medals in the 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m track races at the same Olympic Games.

Athletes in the past have attempted the 5,000m and 10,000m double at the Olympics, but the 28-year-old has added a 1,500m event to her menu that is being intensely debated.

At the 2019 Doha World Championships, she made history by winning gold medals in the 1,500m and 10,000m, to become the first female runner to do so.

Why is it tougher to set records in the Olympics

There is a major difference in competing at the Olympics and posting a fast time during one-day international competitions.

During lucrative one-day prize money events across the globe, race organizers have pacemakers to break records. However, elite athletes employ different tactics to win medals at major championships including Olympics.

Therefore, timings are faster in one-day competitions rather than at the Olympics as the main aim is to win medals and not break records.

Since races at the Olympics are sometimes slow in comparison to one-day meetings, the tactical battle could be an advantage for Sifan as she has both the speed and endurance.

At the Tokyo Olympics, the women’s 5,000m preliminary round is scheduled for the evening session on July 30 while the women’s 1,500m heats are slated for a morning session on August 2.

There is enough time between the 5,000m and 1,500m heat for Sifan to recover.

But it could be punishing for the Dutch distance runner as the event progresses. After the 1,500m heat in the morning session, she will be racing the women's 5,000m final in the evening session on August 2.

Sifan's next race, the women’s 1,500m semis will be on August 4. The final is on August 6.

After a good race on August 6 will she recover to compete in the women’s 10,000m final on August 7?

Having shown her prowess over distances ranging from 1,500m to half marathon, Sifan would be one to watch at the Tokyo Olympics.

In the first week of June, Sifan smashed the women’s 10,000m five years old world record in Hengelo, the Netherlands. She clocked 29 minutes 06.82 seconds to better Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana’s record of 29 minutes 17.45 seconds set at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Last week (July 9) at the Monaco Diamond League, Sifan clocked 3 minutes 53.60 seconds to finish second behind arch rival Faith Kipyegon of Kenya, whose winning time was 3 minutes 51.07 seconds.

The inspiring story of Sifan Hassan

As a teenager, Sifan had to flee Ethiopia. She was barely 15 and reached the Netherlands as a refugee in 2008. She began running and enrolled herself in a nursing course. She gained Dutch citizenship in 2013.

According to Sifan, the nursing course took a backseat as she became a professional athlete. She will compete in Japan for her adopted country.

Kipyegon cruises to Kenyan 1500m record in Monaco

It’s all about keeping the faith.

Going into tonight’s 1500m at the EBS Herculis meeting in Monaco, world champion Sifan Hassan announced that she had asked for a pace of 61-second laps, which would add up to a second or so under the current world record of 3:50.07.

The Dutchwoman has set world records twice previously in Monaco, most recently over the mile two years ago, and she was feeling confident after rediscovering her love for the metric mile with a victory over Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Florence last month.

Hassan even floated the idea of adding the 1500m back into her Olympic schedule, having previously declared that she would attempt the 5000m-10,000m double.

She locked in behind the pacemaker from the beginning, her ambition obvious. Only Kipyegon and Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu dared to follow and the race was down to three when they reached the bell.

Hassan then turned the screws, but Kipyegon clung to her like a limpet down the back straight as the Dutchwoman stretched out her legs for the run home.

In the past three years races have inevitably gone Hassan’s way in this situation, her unmatched mix of speed and endurance proving irresistible. But not this time.

As they entered the final straight Kipyegon kicked hard, dashing past her rival and sprinting down the straight to win in 3:51.07, a Kenyan record and the fourth fastest time in history. In the last 90 metres she put two-and-a-half seconds into Hassan, who finished in 3:53.60, with Hailu third in a personal best of 3:56.28.

Despite her recent losses to Hassan, Kipyegon said she remained confident that her day would come.

“I knew Sifan was going for a fast race and my goal was to run a fast race here and I thank God that was,” she said. “I am really looking forward to Tokyo and I know it will be a very hard competition but I hope to go there and defend my title.”

Kipyegon gave birth to her first child in 2018, returning in 2019 to finish second to Hassan at the World Championships in Doha, but has now found an even richer vein of form than that which carried her to the Olympic title in 2016 and the world title in 2017. “I came back after giving birth and I feel like a role model for the young mothers out there and the young athletes,” she said. “I hope to show them that when you go for maternity leave, this does not mean the end of your career. You can come back strong and win races.”

Fellow Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot was also a man on a mission tonight.

With his Olympic dreams hanging in the balance, the world 1500m champion dashed to the fastest time in the world for six years.

An out-of-sorts Cheruiyot was a shock fourth at the Kenyan Olympic trials last month, putting him in grave danger of missing selection. The situation has been complicated by the fact that second-placed Kamar Etiang has not completed the requisite number of anti-doping tests to qualify for the Olympic Games so his eligibility is in question.

That has left Cheruiyot in limbo just weeks before the Tokyo Games, but he thrust aside all that uncertainty to race with clear intent in Monaco.

In the fastest race of the year, he led at the bell and fought off all challenges, setting a personal best of 3:28.28 as four men dipped under 3:30.

Spanish surprise packet Mohamed Katir took almost five seconds from his personal best to finish second (3:28.76 national record) ahead of European champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3:29.25) and Australia’s Stewart McSweyn, who set an Oceanian record of 3:29.51 in fourth.

Cheruiyot revealed afterwards that a hamstring injury and the death of a relative on the day of the Kenyan trial had affected his performance there but he still hoped to be selected for the Olympics.

“Hopefully that will be the deciding performance to make the team for Tokyo,” he said.

Amos and Muir impress over two laps

On a night of high-quality middle distance running, Botswana’s Olympic medallist Nijel Amos roared back to top form, recording the fastest time of the year to down a field full of Olympic contenders.

With his arms flailing, Amos used his awkward but effective running style to propel himself past Kenya’s Emmanuel Kori (1:43.04) and Canada’s Marco Arop (1:43.26).

Britain’s Laura Muir also had the last laugh in a world-class 800m field, looming late to take the win in a big personal best of 1:56.73. Muir had never cracked 1:58 previously for the distance, but had the strength to haul in her training partner Jemma Reekie (1:56.96) and USA’s Kate Grace (1:57.20) in the final metres as all three women set personal best times.

Muir has decided to focus her energy on the 1500m in Tokyo but that will be no easy task as Kipyegon demonstrated.

Both 3000m steeplechase races were suffused with drama and unpredictability at the Stade Louis II.

The men’s race descended into confusion when an official rang the bell a lap too early, but world silver medallist Lamecha Girma still managed to run a world-leading time of 8:07.75 to take the win from Abraham Kibiwot, just 0.06 behind.

In the women’s race, 2015 world champion Hyvin Kiyeng made a break from the pack after two kilometres but misjudged the remaining laps and kicked too early. After crossing the line and hearing the bell for the actual final lap, the Kenyan tried to muster some energy to run another circuit. USA’s 2017 world champion Emma Coburn positioned herself to challenge Kiyeng as they approached the water jump, but Coburn stumbled at the hurdle and fell into the water losing all momentum, leaving Kiyeng to take the victory in 9:03.82, with world record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech second in 9:04.94 and Winfred Yavi third (9:05.45). Coburn regathered herself to cross the line in fourth place in 9:09.02.

Baker blasts to 100m victory

There was unpredictability too in the men’s 100m where the form book was upended as the ever-reliable Ronnie Baker claimed victory in 9.91, from African record-holder Akani Simbini (9.98) and Italian Marcell Jacobs (9.99).

World leader Trayvon Bromell, regarded by many as the man most likely to win the Olympic 100m crown in Tokyo next month, lacked his usual zip and could only finish fifth in 10.01.

World 100m champion Shelley-Ann Fraser-Pryce used her early speed to take the lead on the bend in the women’s 200m, but could not hold off the Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo in the straight.

Miller-Uibo, who has chosen to focus on the 200m for Tokyo, won in 22.23 from Marie-Josee Ta Lou (22.25) with Fraser-Pryce third (22.48).

New world 400m hurdles record-holder Karsten Warholm returned to the competition track for the first time since his heroics in his hometown Oslo last week, eager to challenge his new “personal best” of 46.70.

He made a typically aggressive start, making up the stagger by the second hurdle, but ultimately he could not match the pace he set last week, crossing the finish line in a meeting record of 47.08, still the fourth fastest time of his career and faster than all but five other men in history.

He was pleased to maintain such a consistently high level of performance. “This was a good race so I’m satisfied,” he said.

Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos continued to build his Olympic medal credentials with a strong second place in 47.51, just outside his personal best of 47.34, also set in Oslo.

In the field, US pole vaulter Katie Nageotte carried her fine form to Europe to clear 4.90m and claim an impressive victory over world champion Anzhelika Sidorova and Olympic champion Katerina Stefanidi, who both cleared 4.80m.

A tight high jump competition was decided by a jump-off after both neutral athlete Mikhail Akimenko and Canadian Django Lovett were tied with best clearances of 2.29m. Akimenko then claimed the victory by leaping 2.32m in the decider.

World triple jump champion Yulimar Rojas had a tough night at the office, fouling four of her six jumps, including two that looked like they would have challenged the world record (15.50m). She led after five rounds with a best leap of 15.12m but could not find the board in the all-important sixth round under the Final 3 format being trialled in the Diamond League this year.

Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts took the win with 14.29m after she was the only one of the top three to register a legal jump in the final.

The men’s long jump also finished with an anti-climax after Miltiadis Tentoglou was the only one to hit the board in the final round (8.24m).

The women’s javelin was the only throwing event on the programme and saw a return to the winner’s circle for the veteran world record-holder Barbora Spotakova, who threw a season’s best of 63.08m in the sudden-death final round, the farthest mark ever achieved by a 40-year-old thrower.

Kenya's Faith Kipyegon runs spectacular 1500 at Herculis meeting

Off of an early fast pace, Kenya's Faith Kipyegon kicked to glory today in the 1500m at the Herculis meeting at the Stade Louis II, clocking the fourth-fastest time in history, 3:51.07. The 2016 Olympic 1500m champion swept past the tiring Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan in the homestretch, to beat the reigning world 1500m and 10,000m champion by two and one half seconds and break her own Kenyan record.

"I thought I could run faster than that," Kipyegon said improbably after the race.

American 800-meter runner Chanelle Price got the race off to a good start, leading Kipyegon, Hassan and Ethiopia's Freweyni Hailu through 400m in 61.5 and 800m in 2:03.6. Price quickly stepped aside, and Hassan took the lead and was clearly focused on running a fast time. Kipyegon stayed close, but did not attempt to pass. She knew this was a great opportunity to run a fast time.

"I knew Sifan was going for a fast race and my goal was to run a fast race here and I thank God that was," Kipyegon said.

The petite Kenyan, who took a full year off in 2018 to have her daughter Alyn, waited until she came out of the final bend to launch her lethal sprint, and she clearly showed the kind of fitness which will be required to defend her Olympic title in Tokyo.

"I am really looking forward to Tokyo and I know it will be a very hard competition but I hope to go there and defend my title," she said. "I have a lot of pressure because the 1500m is a tactical race. Now I will train hard and hope to do my best at the Games."

Hailu, who is only 20 years-old, held on to get third place in a personal best 3:56.28.

There was also fast men's 1500m tonight. Off of the perfect pacing job by American 800m runner Chris Sowinski who hit 400m in 54.2 and 800m in 1:50.8, reigning world champion Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya had a narrow lead over Australia's Stewy McSweyn and Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Spain's Mohamed Katir was close behind the leading trio.

With about 200 meters to go, Katir tried to pass Cheruiyot on the outside, but the tall Kenyan quickly responded. In the homestretch, Katir continued to dig, but Cheruiyot would not relent and beat the Spaniard 3:28.28 to 3:28.76. Cheruiyot's time was a 2021 world leader and a personal best, while Katir bested Fermin Cacho's 24 year-old Spanish record of 3:28.95.

"Today's race was good and I won it for the third time," said Cheruiyot who also won here in 2019 and 2020. "I missed competition a lot after spending a lot of time in Kenya where I had a few issues like my hamstring injury and after also losing a relative in my family on the day of the Kenyan trials explaining why I missed out on making the team," Cheruiyot added. "I am therefore happy I am back again after all this."

There were more fast times down the finish order; 11 men broke 3:33. Ingebrigtsen finished third in a season's best 3:29.25, and McSweyn ran an Australian record 3:29.51. McSweyn has also run an Australian record for the mile in Oslo eight days ago.

There were strong 800m races here for both women and men. In the women's contest, Scotswoman Laura Muir got a dramatic victory moving from fourth place to first by sweeping wide in the final 50 meters. She ran a personal best 1:56.73 ahead of her training partner Jemma Reekie (1:56.96 PB), American Kate Grace (1:57.20) and Jamaican Natoya Goule (1:57.35). Goule had led the race into the final 200 meters but tied up in the homestretch.

The men's two-lap race played out similarly when 2012 Olympic silver medalist Nijel Amos muscled past the tiring Marco Arop of Canada --who had led after the pacemaker dropped out-- and Emmanuel Korir of Kenya in the homestretch. Amos finished in a world-leading 1:42.91, while Korir got a season's best 1:43.04 and Arop a personal best 1:43.26. Clayton Murphy, the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist finished seventh in 1:44.41.

"It is always a good feeling coming out here to Monaco, that I am always winning out here, always having a good time," said Amos. "So I try to channel that positivity and bring it to the race. No matter what shape I am in, it always seems to come together."