Running News Daily

Ugandan distance star stands up against gender-based violence

Ugandan middle-distance runner Halimah Nakaayi, the 2019 800m world champion, is using her platform to raise awareness about gender-based violence in East Africa. In a powerful video released by Uganda Athletics on UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (Nov. 25), Nakaayi underlines the struggles many women (including herself) face outside of running.

The video portrays Nakaayi training, with the message: “On the track, she runs for gold… At home, she runs for her life.” It also depicts a man threatening her with violence–a threat millions of women endure. According to global statistics, one in three women will experience gender-based violence in their lifetime. The campaign, supported by the Ugandan Olympic Athletes Commission, aims to spark conversations and push for systemic change to protect women and girls.

This campaign comes in the wake of a shocking incident involving Ugandan Olympic marathoner Rebecca Cheptegei. In August, Cheptegei was attacked by her ex-boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, who doused her in gasoline and set her on fire. She succumbed to her injuries on Sept. 5, with burns to 80 per cent of her body. Ndiema also died, days later, from burns sustained during the attack. The incident devastated the athletics community and highlighted the urgent need to address domestic violence in East Africa.

In 2021, Kenya’s Agnes Tirop, a two-time 10,000m world championship bronze medalist, was found stabbed to death at her home. Her husband was arrested and charged with her murder. These incidents underscore the prevalence of violence against women, including among some of the world’s most high-profile athletes.

Nakaayi’s commitment to advocacy stands beyond her athletic career. Fans have praised her for standing up in a region where gender-based issues are often underreported. The campaign, launched by the Ugandan Olympic Athletes Commission, serves as a reminder of the ongoing fight against femicide and gender-based violence, and urges communities and governments to take stronger action.

20 athletes to represent Uganda in Olympic Games Paris 2024

The Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF) has unveiled a team of 20 athletes to represent the country at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games later this month.

Over 10,000 top athletes from around the world will take part in the Games slated for July 26 to August 11 in France.

Announcing the track and field squad, UAF President Dominic Otuchet said the team boosts experienced athletes who have what it takes to win medals for the country.

“We have athletes who have been proven and tested at the big stage,” said Otuchet.

World star Joshua Cheptegei who bagged a gold and silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 will lead Uganda’s team together with half-marathon world record holder Jacob Kiplimo. The duo will battle in the 5,000m and 10,000m final.

“After getting a bronze medal at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo, my target is now to improve and win a gold medal. I know it will call for a lot of hard work to be able to achieve this and I am already working hard,” says Kiplimo.

Female athlete Peruth Chemutai who won a gold medal in the women’s 3000m steeplechase will also be another medal hopeful for the Ugandan team.

The team has 10 male and 10 female athletes, with another two, Belinda Chemutai and Loice Chekwemoi, on the waiting list. Besides track and field athletes, Uganda will also have two swimmers, a cyclist and a female rower.

Uganda Team:

Men:

Tarsis Gracious Orogot (200m),

Tom Dradriga (800m),

Jacob Kiplimo, Joshua Cheptegei (5,000m/10,000m),

Oscar Chelimo (5,000m),

Martin Magengo Kiprotich (10,000m),

Leonard Chemutai (3,000m SC),

Victor Kiplangat, Stephen Kissa, Andrew Rotich Kwemoi (Marathon)

Female:

Halimah Nakaayi (800m),

Winnie Nanyondo (1,500m),

Joy Cheptoyek (5,000m/10,000m),

Esther Chebet (5,000m),

Sarah Chelangat, Annet Chemengich Chelangat (10,000m), Peruth Chemutai (3,000m SC),

Stella Chesang, Rebecca Cheptegei, Mercyline Chelangat (marathon),

Reserves: Belinda Chemutai (5,000m),

Loice Chekwemoi (3,000m SC).

Mile clash the big attraction in Eugene

Going strictly by time, the Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic on Saturday (25) is one of the fastest races in the meeting’s 49-year history.

Add in the storylines, and it’s one of the most anticipated, too.

Featuring seven men with lifetime bests faster than 3:50, Olympic and world championship gold medallists, world record-holders and rivals whose banter has preceded the matchup for months, the mile caps a Wanda Diamond League meeting at Hayward Field whose potential for world-leading marks extends far beyond its final event.

Consider, for one, the women’s 800m, and the early window it will open into this summer’s Olympics. The field includes six of the eight competitors from last year’s World Championships final in Budapest, including gold medallist Mary Moraa and silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson. Notably absent will be bronze medallist Athing Mu, the Olympic champion, who was initially scheduled to race but has been withdrawn out of precaution because of a sore hamstring.

Raevyn Rogers, the 2019 world silver medallist whose image adorns a tower standing high above Hayward Field, also is entered, along with Jemma Reekie, Nia Akins and Halimah Nakaayi, who is coming off a victory at the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix.

World champion Sha’Carri Richardson and Elaine Thompson-Herah headline the women’s 100m, along with world indoor 60m champion Julien Alfred and Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith, while world indoor 60m champion Christian Coleman and Ackeem Blake are among the fastest entered in the men's 100m.

Perhaps the most dominant athlete entering the meeting is Grant Holloway, the world 110m hurdles champion who has won all 10 races he has contested this year, including the indoor season and heats. That also includes running a world-leading 13.07 into a headwind to win in Atlanta last weekend.

The three-time world champion's last loss came on the very same Hayward Field track, at last September’s Prefontaine Classic. The only remaining gap on Holloway’s resume is an Olympic gold medal, and Saturday’s race could be an early preview of Paris, as the field includes five who raced in last summer’s World Championships final in Budapest, including silver medallist Hansle Parchment and Daniel Roberts, who earned bronze.

Shot put world record-holder and multiple world and Olympic champion Ryan Crouser will open his outdoor season in his home state and at the stadium where he owns the facility record, while trying to best Leonardo Fabbri’s world-leading mark of 22.95m.

Since 2023, Crouser has lost in just one final – and it was at September’s Prefontaine Classic to Joe Kovacs, who won in Los Angeles last weekend with 22.93m, and is entered again. Payton Otterdahl, who owns the world No.3 mark this year, also is in the field.

Those events offer no shortage of global medallists. Few, however, carry the prospect for as much drama as the mile.

Over the past year, Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr, who outkicked Ingebrigtsen for last year’s world title in Budapest, have carried on a battle of words through the press about who could prevail in Paris.

Commonwealth champion Olli Hoare, who is part of the field following his 1500m win in Los Angeles last week, said the sport was better for the attention drawn by the back-and-forth between Ingebrigtsen and Kerr – but added that other racers wanted to strike the appropriate level of respect for their competitors, such as Yared Nuguse, whose PB of 3:43.97 was set battling Ingebrigtsen (4:43.73) down to the line at September’s Pre Classic.

“This is a big one. This is going to be a big one for a lot of egos,” Hoare said in Los Angeles. “But I think it’s going to be a big one for me because it’ll be the first race where I’ll have an inkling of where I am with the world’s best. There’s a bit of tossing and turning with the banter but you can’t disrespect that field. If you do, you’ll get eaten alive.”

That list of seven men under 3:50, which includes Hoare, notably doesn’t include Jake Wightman, who will be racing Ingebrigtsen for the first time since their duel at the 2022 World Championships in Oregon, when Wightman won gold; Abel Kipsang, who was fourth at the Tokyo Olympics; Geordie Beamish, less than three months after he stormed to the world indoor title; or Lamecha Girma, the steeplechase world record-holder who is making his mile debut.

“Jake Wightman’s back, he’s a world champion,” Hoare said. “Yared Nuguse, 3:43 mile – these guys are keeping quiet and they’re going to wait for their opportunity to strike. And when they do strike, I guarantee they will make a comment.”

They are not the only accomplished names entered in the distances.

Athletics Kenya will determine its men's and women's Olympic 10,000m qualifiers at Hayward Field, with Kenya's two-time world cross-country champion Beatrice Chebet, the world leader at 5000m this season, part of a women's race that will include world champion Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia, eight months after Tsegay set the world 5000m record on the same track.

World record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech will attempt to retain her controlling hold over the steeplechase when she races top challenger Faith Cherotich. The Kenyan duo produced the two fastest times in the world this year at the Diamond League meeting in Xiamen, which Chepkoech won in 8:55.40 to Cherotich’s 9:05.91. Olympic silver medallist Courtney Frerichs will no longer run after injuring the ACL and meniscus in her right knee.

One week after winning in Los Angeles, Diribe Welteji leads the 1500m field that includes 13 women who have run under four minutes. World indoor 3000m champion Elle St Pierre, who won the 5000m in Los Angeles, is running her first 1500m of the season, with Laura Muir, Nikki Hiltz, Jessica Hull, Hirut Meshesha and Cory McGee also entered.

Multiple world and Olympic gold medallist Sifan Hassan, as well as world No.2 Ejgayehu Taye, will feature in the 5000m.

In the field, world and Olympic pole vault champion Katie Moon opens her outdoor season against Sandi Morris, and in the triple jump four of the top five women this season are entered, led by Thea LaFond, whose 15.01m jump to win the world indoor title in Glasgow still stands as the mark to beat.

Olympic discus champion Valarie Allman has not lost in Eugene in two years, a run that includes claiming September’s Diamond League final. That could change on Saturday because of the presence of world leader Yaime Perez, who finished second to Allman in Xiamen last month.

In the men’s 200m, top US sprinters who will duel at the Olympic trials only weeks later will face off. Kenny Bednarek, fresh off a world-leading 19.67 in Doha, is scheduled to race against world No.2 Courtney Lindsey (19.71), with world silver medallist Erriyon Knighton making his season debut. Joe Fahnbulleh and Kyree King, winner of the Los Angeles Grand Prix 100m, are also entered.

Another winner in Los Angeles, Rai Benjamin, headlines the men’s 400m hurdles, and he enters with considerable confidence after running 46.64, the ninth-fastest performance of all time.

“I think I’m the fastest guy in the field, honestly,” Benjamin said of potential Olympic chances.

The women’s 100m hurdles and women’s hammer will not count towards Diamond League points totals, but will be more potential previews for global championships.

Women who account for five of the year’s six fastest times, all of whom are separated by fractions of a second, will face off in the hurdles. Tonea Marshall, fresh off her victory in Los Angeles in 12.42, leads 2019 world champion Nia Ali, Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, two-time world champion Danielle Williams and world indoor champion Devynne Charlton.

Brooke Andersen’s 79.92m throw from earlier this month remains the world-leading hammer mark this season but she will be challenged by world champion Camryn Rogers, 2019 world champion DeAnna Price and world silver medallist Janee’ Kassanavoid, who own the next three farthest throws this season.

Beatrice Chepkoech to open her indoor track season against two Ethiopian youngsters

Beatrice Chepkoech will be pitted against two Ethiopian youngsters in the women's 1500m at the ORLEN Copernicus Cup, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting.

Ethiopian youngsters Diribe Welteji, and Freweyni Hailu will be up against Beatrice Chepkoech in the women’s 1500m field at the ORLEN Copernicus Cup, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting, in Torun, Poland, on February 6.

21-year-old Welteji set a world record when winning the mile at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga in October, as she clocked 4:20.98 as her compatriot Hailu finished second with Faith Kipyegon completing the podium.

Welteji and Hailu will team up again in Torun where they will be up against the world 3000m steeplechase record-holder Chepkoech. Other strong opponents in the field include Ethiopia’s world indoor 1500m bronze medallist Hirut Meshesha and Uganda’s 2019 world 800m champion Halimah Nakaayi.

Welteji has proven to be a master in the 1500m and she also doubles up as the World 1500m silver medallist, having finished runner-up to Kipyegon in Budapest in August. She will surely be the one to watch when the race begins.

Meshesha has the quickest short track PB of the quintet, having clocked 4:02.01 in Lievin last year, finishing second and one place ahead of Hailu who set a PB of 4:02.47. Chepkoech ran her national record of 4:02.09 in 2020.

Meanwhile, multiple US record-holder Grant Fisher will take on the already announced world champion Josh Kerr in the two-mile race at the Millrose Games, also a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold event.

The race on February 11 is set to be paced with the world indoor two-mile best of 8:03.40 as the target. Joining them on the start line will be USA’s Joe Klecker, Cooper Teare, and Dylan Jacobs. New Zealand’s George Beamish, Australia’s Morgan McDonald, and Ky Robinson will also be in the mix and will be joined by Britain’s Matthew Stonier, Japan’s Keita Satoh, Ethiopia’s Samuel Firewu and Addisu Yihune, and Sam Parsons of Germany.

Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo puts speed shift for Oregon Worlds

Jacob Kiplimo has his priorities set. His main goal is a medal over the 10000m at the World Athletics Championships which come in Oregon, US, in under a fortnight.The 21-year-old could have done the long-distance double on the West Coast but just one will do.Kiplimo feels he is in a good place after posting seven minutes and 29.55 seconds for second place over the 3000m at the Stockholm Diamond League (DL) in Sweden on Thursday night.

“Yes, I’m happy about it,” the reigning world half-marathon champion and record holder told this publication before returning home at the weekend. “I came to Stockholm because I needed to test my body. I had to withdraw from the Pre Classic (Eugene DL) and it was important to run one race before the world championships.”

Despite doing one race on track all year, Kiplimo is confident ahead of the 25-lap final set for July 17 at the Hayward Field in Eugene.“I’m 99 percent satisfied, the one percent is because I missed the victory in the last 15 meters but it’s part of the job,” Kiplimo posted on Instagram.

Leading at the bell, Kiplimo could have won his first track race in 11 months but it was Athlete Refugee Team’s Domnic Lobalu who beat him to the tape with about 30 metres left.Lobalu, who hails from South Sudan, posted 7:29.48 not only for the world lead time over the distance but also slashed his personal best by 20 seconds.

Prior, middle-distance runner Ronald Musagala continued to improve with another season best of 3:36.90 in third place over the 1500m.“According the way I was struggling with my body in Uganda, it’s a good progress,” noted Musagala, currently based at the Global Sports Communication camp in Nijmegen, Netherlands.

Meanwhile, world 800m champion Halimah Nakaayi will need maximum concentration to perfect her craft before flying to Oregon. In the Swedish capital, she lost some seconds and energy trying to get space on the outside before finishing fourth in 1:58.85.The two-lap race was won by in-form Kenyan Mary Moraa in 1:57.68, beating Olympic silver medallist Briton Keely Hodgkinson (1:58.18) and Australian Catriona Bisset in third with 1:58.54.

Ingebrigtsen and others in record breaking form in Oslo despite the rain

A Wanda Diamond League record from Jakob Ingebrigtsen (first photo) in the mile, along with meeting records from Mondo Duplantis in the pole vault and Femke Bol in the 400m hurdles brightened a rainy evening at the Bislett Games in Oslo on Thursday (16).

Ingebrigtsen has won almost all there is to win in middle-distance events, but a senior Dream Mile victory in Oslo was one thing missing from the 21-year-old’s resume. In fact, before today no Norwegian man had ever won the prestigious discipline at the Bislett Games.

But, racing in the final individual track event of the night, Ingebrigtsen ensured the 15,000 fans at the Bislett Stadion went home happy as he won the mile in a Norwegian record of 3:46.46, breaking the Wanda Diamond League record in the process.

Paced through the first two laps in 56.01 and 1:53.30, Ingebrigtsen was tracked closely by Australia’s Oliver Hoare and Britain’s Jake Wightman for most of the race. The Olympic 1500m champion never appeared to be under too much strain, though – even when Hoare was attempting to close in on the leader with half a lap left.

Ingebrigtsen – roared on by the home crowd, many of whom were on their feet – kicked down the home straight and crossed the line in 3:46.46, taking almost a second off his own Norwegian record and moving up to sixth on the world all-time list, just 0.14 shy of Steve Cram’s European record.

Hoare finished second in 3:47.48 to break the Oceanian record and move to 13th on the world all-time list. Wightman was third in a PB of 3:50.30 from fellow Brit Neil Gourley (3:52.91). There was also a national record for Charles Grethen of Luxembourg in fifth (3:53.20).

“I was ready to run fast and was happy to do that and to win,” said the world indoor silver medallist. “Some work needs to be done before the World Championships, but I will work hard to be in better shape there.

“Last year I was sick and couldn't race here, so it was even more special here tonight, as being the first Norwegian to win the Dream Mile. Doing things nobody else has done before is really great.”

Seyaum and Bekele lead Ethiopian 5000m sweeps

Dawit Seyaum may be new to the 5000m, but the former 1500m specialist looked anything but inexperienced as she outkicked her fellow Ethiopians to win a high-quality race.

The opening pace was steady, the first 1000m covered in 2:53.83 and 2000m reached in 5:52.33. Versatile Norwegian runner Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal then took up the pace in the second half and passed through 3000m in 8:48.65, leading a large lead pack. Grovdal held on to that lead for another 1500 metres, but then Seyaum and compatriots Letesenbet Gidey, Gudaf Tsegay and Almaz Ayana started battling for the lead with one lap to go.

Ayana’s challenge soon faded, leaving Seyaum, Tsegay and Gidey out in front. Seyaum’s kick down the home straight was enough to break free from Tsegay and she won in 14:25.84. Tsegay, the Olympic bronze medallist at this distance, was second in 14:26.69 while world record-holder Gidey was third in 14:26.92. Grovdal held on to fourth place in a Norwegian record of 14:31.07 and USA’s Alicia Monson was fifth in a big PB of 14:31.11.

(Second photo)Dawit Seyaum celebrates her 5000m win at the Wanda Diamond League in Oslo 

For just the second time in history, seven women finished inside 14:35 and eight women finished inside 14:40.

There was another Ethiopian 1-2-3 in the men’s 5000m, though this time the 1500m standout was beaten by the 5000m specialist.

The pace was steady though never blazing quick, meaning most of the field was still in contention at the business end of the race. Two-time world indoor champion Samuel Tefera led at 3000m, passing in 7:54.39, but then sat back in the pack to save his legs for a potential fast finish.

He made his way back to the front of the pack in the closing stages, but could not get on level terms with Bekele, who kicked ahead and won in 13:03.51. Tefera held on for second in 13:04.35, just ahead of compatriot Getnet Wale (13:04.48).

Keely Hodgkinson won the battle of the Brits over 800m, getting the better of fellow Olympic silver medallist Laura Muir.

The 20-year-old ran a controlled and assured race and kept her cool in the closing stages to win comfortably in 1:57.71. Muir was second in 1:58.09, ahead of France’s Renelle Lamote (1:58.50) and world champion Halimah Nakaayi of Uganda (1:58.68).

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.

Middle-distance stars added to Monaco line-up

Four more world champions have been added to the fields for Meeting Herculis EBS as the middle-distance events once again look set to provide the highlights at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco on 9 July.

World champion Sifan Hassan and Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon will renew their rivalry in the 1500m. Their head-to-head record, which Kipyegon currently leads at 7-6, dates back to 2014 and includes three World Championship finals, one Olympic final and nine Diamond League meetings.

This will be the first time they have clashed in Monaco, though, and it follows on from their recent encounter in Florence, where Hassan finished just ahead of her rival, clocking 3:53.63 to Kipyegon’s Kenyan record of 3:53.91.

Timothy Cheruiyot’s winning streak may have recently come to an end at the Kenyan Olympic Trials, but the world champion feels at home in Monaco. The 25-year-old has won there for the past three years, producing the two fastest times of his career.

He’ll take on Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen in Monaco. Although Cheruiyot has won all 11 of their clashes to date, Ingebrigtsen has consistently been the Kenyan’s biggest challenger on the circuit in recent years. He will also be buoyed by his recent European 5000m record of 12:48.45, set in Florence.

World champion Beatrice Chepkoech will return to the scene of her world steeplechase record and will take on USA’s 2017 world champion Emma Coburn. World 800m champion Halimah Nakaayi will contest her specialist event and will face France’s two-time European silver medallist Renelle Lamote.

Other additions to the field include European champion Miltiadis Tentoglou in the men’s long jump and world silver medallist Amel Tuka in the men’s 800m.

World record-holders ready to clash in Hengelo

Five world champions, four Olympic gold medallists and two world record-holders are set to compete at the FBK Games – a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting – in Hengelo on Sunday (6).

Pole vault world record-holder Mondo Duplantis will be raring to go after his 23-meet winning streak came to an end at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Gateshead at the end of last month. Battling tough conditions, the 21-year-old from Sweden gave the bar a slight nudge on his final attempt at 5.80m – what would have been a winning height – and it came down, meaning victory went to two-time world champion Sam Kendricks.

Kendricks won’t be in Hengelo, but Duplantis will have one eye on the US vaulter’s meeting record and Dutch all-comers’ record of 5.91m.

Olympic champion Thiago Braz and Dutch vaulter Menno Vloon, who set a national indoor record of 5.96m earlier this year, are also in the line-up.

Double world champion Sifan Hassan will return to the track on which she set a European 10,000m record of 29:36.67 last year and will again contest the 25-lap discpline. The Dutch distance runner has tested her form over a range of distances this year, clocking 8:33.62 for 3000m indoors, followed by 14:35.34 for 5000m and 2:01.54 for 800m outdoors.

Kenya’s Daisy Cherotich, New Zealand’s world finalist Camille Buscomb and Canada’s Andrea Seccafien will all be hoping to emerge from the race with lifetime bests.

World 800m champion Halimah Nakaayi will open her 2021 campaign over her specialist distance. The Ugandan middle-distance runner takes on a quartet of Britons – Laura Muir, Kelly Hodgkinson, Jemma Reekie and Adelle Tracey – as well as Norway’s Hedda Hynne and France’s Renelle Lamote.

In the men’s event, indoor sensation Elliot Giles lines up for his first outdoor 800m of the year, taking on fellow Brits Max Burgin – who set a European U20 record of 1:44.14 in Ostrava last month – and Daniel Rowden. Tony van Diepen, one of the Netherlands’ top performers at the World Athletics Relays Silesia 21, is also in the field.

Recent Montreuil winner Abel Kipsang goes in the men’s 1500m where he’ll take on Uganda’s Ronald Musagala and Britain’s sub-3:30 performer Jake Wightman.

Asher-Smith, Kerley and McLeod set to produce sprint highlights

Although she has raced there only once before, world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith has fond memories of racing in Hengelo.

It is where, as a teenager back in 2015, she set her first senior national record over 100m, clocking 11.02. Six years on from that performance, and having bagged many more records and medals, the world 200m champion will be hoping for a sub-11-second clocking to improve on the 11.35 season’s best she recorded when winning in Gateshead, running in heavy rain and into a -3.1m/s headwind.

Nigeria’s world and Olympic medallist Blessing Okagbare, who has a season’s best of 10.90, and two-time world 200m champion Dafne Schippers are also in the line-up.

World 4x400m champion Fred Kerley has so far this year produced his most impressive performances at 100m, clocking 9.91 and 9.96 in recent weeks. In Hengelo, however, he’ll step back up to his specialist 400m discipline and will aim to improve on the 44.60 season’s best he recorded in Doha last week.

Two Ugandan world champions, Joshua Cheptegei and Halimah Nakaayi open new track in Uganda

Ugandan world champions Joshua Cheptegei and Halimah Nakaayi recently helped open a track in Chemwania, a village in Uganda.

With the help of Global Sports Communication (the management agency that represents Cheptegei and Nakaayi) and the NN Running Team (Cheptegei’s professional team), the pair funded the development of the track, which was built with the next generation of Ugandan running stars in mind.

Cheptegai is the reigning 10,000m world champion, he owns four world records (5K, 5,000m, 10,000m and 15K) and he is a heavy favourite to win the 5,000m-10,000m double at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. He grew up in Uganda’s Kapchorwa District, which isn’t far from the new track in Chemwania.

Nakaayi, the 800m gold medallist at the 2019 world championships, grew up in Mukono, closer to the Ugandan capital of Kampala.

As reported by Ugandan news outlet the Daily Monitor, Cheptegei spoke at the track’s opening ceremony, saying that he and Nakaayi helped with its development to provide local athletes with “a more conducive environment so that the country can tap and groom more sports personalities.” 

He also noted that construction on a sports complex will soon begin in Chemwania.

The project will cost 1 billion Ugandan shillings (about C$344,000), and it will be funded by the district’s local government and Global Sports Communication (the management agency that represents Cheptegei and Nakaayi). The complex will have a pool, a basketball court, a soccer field and a tennis court, plus it will be equipped 2,000 seats for spectators.

This is not the first time Cheptegei has looked to nurture young Ugandan athletes. In 2020, his foundation (the Joshua Cheptegei Development Foundation) started a kids’ run in Kapchorwa, with races open to children aged 16 and younger.

Warholm, Kipyegon, Cheruiyot and Kendricks are set to compete at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco on August 14

Herculis organizers have announced another four global champions who are set to compete at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco on August 14.

Two-time world 400m hurdles champion Karsten Warholm will compete in Monaco for the first time in his career. The 24-year-old, who set a world best for 300m hurdles at Oslo’s Impossible Games last month, will have one eye on Kevin Young’s meeting record of 47.60, set just five days after the US hurdler set a world record of 46.78 to win the 1992 Olympic title.

"I've always wanted to run in Monaco because of the track," said Warholm. "I know people have run fast there before, and I've trained there too. It’s a nice stadium and I know I might be able to run even faster on it.

"In Norway we've been able to train very well, so my shape is actually good," he added. "I was hoping to get a chance to test myself, so when the opportunity came for Monaco, that was nice."

Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon and training partner Timothy Cheruiyot, the world 1500m champion, will also be in action. Kipyegon, who’s also making her Herculis debut, will contest the 1000m in which she’ll face world 800m champion Halimah Nakaayi and European 1500m champion Laura Muir. Cheruiyot, meanwhile, will line up for his specialist distance to take on Jacob and Filip Ingebrigtsen.

Two-time world champion Sam Kendricks has been confirmed for the pole vault. The North American record-holder will face world record-holder Mondo Duplantis, whose participation was announced earlier this month.

Other clashes include Olympic silver medalist Orlando Ortega and world bronze medalist Pascal Martinot Lagarde in the 110m hurdles, Ukrainian duo Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Yuliya Levchenko and world heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson in the high jump, and world bronze medalist Marie-Josee Ta Lou and Ajla del Ponte in the 100m.

They will all join the previously announced stars, including double world champion Sifan Hassan, world 5000m champion Hellen Obiri, world 200m champion Noah Lyles, two-time world triple jump champion Yulimar Rojas and world 10,000m champion Joshua Cheptegei.

World 5,000m champion Hellen Obiri pulls out of Monaco event

World 5,000m champion Hellen Obiri won’t take part in women’s 5,000m race during the Monaco leg of the Diamond League on August 14.

Obiri, the Africa and Commonwealth champion, said it will not be possible for her to compete efficiently having not trained and tested track since retaining her World 5,000m title on October 5, last year in Doha.

Obiri and Conseslus Kipruto (3,000m steeplechase), were among five world champions, who have been lined up by the organizers of the Herculis EBS meeting.

“You can’t go to such an event without having done speed work. We were hoping venues like the Nyayo National Stadium or Moi International Sports Center, Kasarani could be opened for us, but it has not happened,” said Obiri. 

Obiri, who is also the Continental Cup champion, said her only hope this season is the Doha leg that will go down on October 9.

The last time Monaco hosted a long distance track event for women was in 2017 where Obiri won the 3,000m race.

Sporting facilities in the country have remained closed since March this year after the government announced measure to curb the spread of novel coronavirus.

Before Doha, Obiri will line up for the Kip Keino Classic, one of the World Athletics Continental Tour events due September 24 in Nairobi.  

Katarina Johnson-Thompson, the world champion in the heptathlon, will compete in the high jump, her best individual discipline.

Another middle distance star announced is Halimah Nakaayi of Uganda, the surprise 800m champion in Doha last year. 

Organizers also announced that Noah Lyles, the World 200m champion, will headline his favorite event. 

Others on the slate include world pole vault record-holder Armand Duplantis; Laura Muir of Great Britain, who will race over 1000m; and Germany's Konstanze Klosterhalfen, the European indoor 5000m record-holder.

Tefera and Nakaayi join Lievin cast

Organisers of the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais have confirmed that world indoor 1500m champion Samuel Tefera and world 800m champion Halimah Nakaayi will compete at the World Athletics Indoor Tour meeting in Lievin on 19 February.

Tefera won the 1500m convincingly in Lievin last year, finishing three seconds ahead of his nearest rival. Six days later, he broke the world indoor record for the distance in Birmingham, clocking 3:31.04 to break a record that had stood for 22 years.

Hicham El Guerrouj, who held the world indoor record before Tefera, still holds the Lievin meeting record at 3:32.01.

Nakaayi was a surprise winner of the 800m at last year’s World Athletics Championships, taking gold in a Ugandan record of 1:58.04. The 25-year-old has never competed indoors before this year, but it’s highly likely she will break the Ugandan indoor record of 2:04.57 during her indoor campaign.

The IAAF has set the same limit for trans women, as expected that it imposes on female athletes with DSD

World Athletics (formerly the IAAF) has ruled that transgender women must maintain testosterone levels at a maximum of 5 nanomoles per liter for 12 months before being declared eligible to compete, it was announced. The limit is half the previous limit of 10 nmol/l, in effect since 2015.

The new rule, passed during IAAF Council meeting in Doha at the conclusion of the recent World Championships, brings guidelines for female transgender athletes into line with those imposed on female athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD) such as Olympic gold medalist and former world champion in the 800m, Caster Semenya, who was ruled ineligible to compete while appealing the decision brought down by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on May 1.

(Semenya is not transgender, but her DSD means she has naturally elevated levels of testosterone, exceeding the average range for women of between 0.12 and 1.79 nmol/l. In her absence, the women’s 800m in Doha was won by Halimah Nakaayi in 1:58.04, a new national record for Uganda.)

Trans women do not need to show evidence of being recognized by law as female, as long as their testosterone levels are maintained within the acceptable limit, but “should provide a signed declaration that her gender identity is female,” according to a report on the Inside the Games site. 

The Council also created a five-member Expert Panel for the Eligibility Regulations of Transgender Athletes, comprised of endocrinologists and other medical experts from around the world. The panel will sit for a four-year term.