Running News Daily

Kenyan-born runners see dust at US Olympics trials as all of them miss tickets to Paris

It was a nightmare outing for all six Kenyan-born American runners at the US Olympics trials as none of them managed to secure a ticket to the Paris 2024 Games.

Kenyan-born runners who were seeking to represent the United States of America at the Paris 2024 Olympics all ended up empty-handed at the just-concluded trials.

At the weeklong trials that started on June 21 and ended on June 30, six Kenyan-born runners had signed up in a bid to represent their adopted country in various disciplines at the Paris Olympics.

However, none of them could finish among the first three to secure the coveted tickets.

Sam Chelanga and Paul Chelimo, Olympics bronze medallist in 5,000m, were the first to miss out on the first day of the trials when they finished seventh and 10th respectively in the men’s 10,000m race.

Grant Fisher, fifth at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, clinched first place in the race, followed by Woody Kincaid with Nico Young claiming the final ticket.

The story was the same for three Kenyan-born athletes in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase. Anthony Rotich, who had already hit the Olympic qualifying standard, could only manage eigth place, followed by Bernard Keter in ninth, while Hillary Bor was 13th in the final.

Kenneth Rooks, Mathew Wilkinson and James Corrigan are the athletes who will be competing with Kenyan trio of Simon Koech, Amos Serem, and Abraham Kibiwott in the 3,000m steeplechase at the Olympics.

In the men’s 800m, Jonah Koech was the last man standing among the Kenyan-born contingent at the US trials heading into the final day on Sunday but he also met his waterloo.

Koech finished fifth in the final which was won by Bryce Hoppel, followed by Hobbs Kesler and Brandon Miller in second and third positions respectively.

It has been a horrible year for the Kenyan-born runners as only Leonard Korir managed to secure an Olympics slot after earning a late lifeline when qualification rules for the marathon were altered last month.

Korir had finished third at the marathon trials in February but had to wait for months to know his fate.

It was double disappointment for Chelimo who had also missed out on a place on the marathon team after dropping out of the race at the trials while Betsy Saina, Caroline Rotich and Elkanah Kibet also failed in their quest in February.

A number of them such as Saina, Koech and Chelimo has pitched camp in Kenya to train for the Olympics trials but it was still not enough.

(07/03/2024) Views: 250 ⚡AMP
by Joel Omotto

Ingebrigtsen, Cheptegei beware! Jacob Krop sets target after punching 5000m ticket to Olympic Games

Jacob Krop has sent a stark warning to Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Joshua Cheptegei, and other 5000m bound athletes after securing a ticket to the Olympic Games, following his relentless run at the Kenyan Olympic trials.

World 5000m bronze medallist Jacob Krop has promised to burn the midnight oil and ensure all the glory comes back to Kenya as he heads to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Krop secured a direct ticket to the global showpiece, thanks to his relentless pursuit of greatness at the Olympic trials where he managed to finish second in the 5000m, clocking an impressive 13:27.54 to cross the finish line behind Ronald Kwemoi who won the race in 13:27.20. Edwin Kurgat completed the podium, clocking 13:27.75 to cross the finish line.

He will team up with Kwemoi and Krop believes they have the ability to silence serial winner Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway, defending champion Joshua Cheptegei and other opponents who have for long dominated the distance.

He disclosed that he moved to Japan and training there has been very effective since he has been able to work on certain areas of his training and he is now back.

“This is my first time to make the cut to the Olympic team and I want my fans to expect something good. To bring the medals back home, we shall practice teamwork and invest more time in training.

“Everything is possible and I know it’s not easy but we shall work hard in training and see how things work out. I went to Japan and my stay there had been great since they always give me ample time to even come back to Kenya and train,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kenya last won the Olympic gold medal over the distance at the 1988 Seoul Olympics where John Ngungi beat a strong field to claim the coveted prize.

During the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, no Kenyan made it to the podium as Cheptegei claimed the top honours with Canadian Mohammed Ahmed finishing second in the race as Kenyan-born American Paul Chelimo completed the podium.

As they head to the Olympics, Krop is aware of the tough opposition but he is sure anything is possible if they work hard and embrace team work.

(06/15/2024) Views: 372 ⚡AMP
by Abigael Wuafula

Paul Chelimo is set to make marathon debut at Olympic Trials

Paul Chelimo, an Olympic 5000m silver and bronze medalist, will make his marathon debut at the U.S. Olympic Trials on Feb. 3 in Orlando.

“Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of running a marathon… The day has come- this is it!” was posted on his social media Friday.

Chelimo, 33, qualified for the marathon trials by running a 1:02:22 half marathon last April 2, safely quicker than the 1:03:00 minimum to get into the field.

He didn’t publicly commit to racing the marathon trials until now. He could still contest the track trials in June.

“Let’s start by Orlando... then we will see!” Chelimo’s agent wrote in an email when asked about track trials.

At marathon trials, the top three finishers on Feb. 3 are likely to make up the team for Paris. Since Chelimo has never raced a marathon, he also must run 2:11:30 or faster to hit a minimum qualifying time for Olympic eligibility.

Chelimo made five of the last six Olympic or world outdoor championships teams on the track in the 5000m. He won Olympic silver in 2016 and bronze in 2021, the latter being the lone U.S. men’s distance medal at the Tokyo Games.

Now, he joins a recent list of American global track medalists to move up to the marathon after Kara Goucher (2007 World 10,000m silver), Shalane Flanagan (2008 Olympic 10,000m silver), Galen Rupp (2012 Olympic 10,000m silver) and Bernard Lagat (world 5000m medals in 2007, 2009 and 2011).

Jenny Simpson, a world champion and Olympic bronze medalist at 1500m, also plans to make her marathon debut at the Feb. 3 trials.

Rupp made the 2016 Olympic marathon team in his debut at the distance at those trials. Molly Seidel did the same for the Tokyo Games. Each won a bronze medal in their first Olympic marathon.

Rupp, eyeing a fifth Olympics, headlines the men’s trials field along with Conner Mantz, the fastest American marathoner in 2022 and 2023 going for his first Games.

(01/27/2024) Views: 525 ⚡AMP
by Olympic Talk

2023 NYC Marathon Men’s Preview

This year’s TCS New York City Marathon fields are very different. The women’s race is absolutely stacked — the best in race history and one of the greatest assembled in the history of the sport. If you haven’t read our women’s preview yet, go ahead and do it right now. The men’s race is more of a typical NYC field — a large diversity of nationalities with some premium East African talent at the top.

Initially, the headline showdown on the men’s side was going to be the battle betweeen 2022 champ Evans Chebet and 2017/2019 champ Geoffrey Kamworor, but both withdrew last month. Instead, the field is led by Ethiopians Tamirat Tola (the 2022 world champ) and Shura Kitata, who has twice finished as runner-up in NYC but never won. Throw in a rising Cam Levins and the debut of Edward Cheserek, and there will still be some intrigue on the men’s side, but this is without a doubt the shallowest men’s major of 2023. Here are the men to watch in Sunday’s field.

The Three Guys Who Have Won Majors Before

Tamirat Tola, Ethiopia, 2:03:39 pb (2021 Amsterdam), 32 years oldSignficant wins: 2017 Dubai, 2021 Amsterdam, 2022 Worlds

Shura Kitata, Ethiopia, 2:04:49 pb (2018 London), 27 years oldSignificant wins: 2017 Frankfurt, 2020 London

Albert Korir, Kenya, 2:08:03 pb (2019 Ottawa), 29 years oldSignificant wins: 2019 Houston, 2021 New York

When looking for a winner, the first place to start is the runners who have won a major before. Seven of the last 10 NYC men’s winners had already won a major when they won New York. Tola, Kitata, and Korir all fit that criteria, with Tola and Kitata particularly worth of note (though Korir is the only one of the trio to have won NYC before).

The world champion last year, Tola ran 2:03:40 in Valencia in December, then finished 3rd in London in April. He did drop out of his most recent marathon at Worlds in August, but it’s worth noting he was in 3rd at 37k and dropped out in the final 5k once he was no longer in medal position. He quickly rebounded to win the Great North Run on September 10 by more than a minute in 59:58. Tola has some experience in NYC, but has had the least success of the trio in New York — Tolas was 4th in his two previous appearances in 2018 and 2019.  Tola has won 3 of his career 16 marathons.

Kitata was second in NYC a year ago and was also second in 2018, when he ran 2:06:01 — the third-fastest time ever in NYC. When he’s on his game, he’s one of the best in the world — he broke Eliud Kipchoge‘s long win streak by winning the 2020 London Marathon. But Kitata is coming off one of the worst marathons of his career as he was only 14th in Boston in April. Kitata has won 3 of his 18 career marathons.

Korir won NYC in 2021 — granted, against a very watered-down field that included just one man with a pb under 2:07– and was 2nd in 2019, beating both Tola and Kitata in the process. A grinder, he most recently finished a solid 4th in Boston in 2:08:01 and will be a contender again on Sunday. Korir has won 5 of his career 15 marathons.

In my mind, there’s a roughly a 65% chance one of these guys is your winner on Sunday, with the remaining 35% split between a few slightly longer shots. Let’s get to them.

The Global Medalists

Abdi Nageeye, Netherlands, 2:04:56 pb (2022 Rotterdam), 34 years old

Maru Teferi, Israel, 2:06:43 pb (2022 Fukuoka), 31 years old 

Nageeye and Teferi have a lot in common. Both moved from East Africa to Europe as children (Nageeye from Somalia to the Netherlands when he was 6, Teferi from Ethiopia to Israel when he was 14). Both have earned global medals (2021 Olympic silver for Nageeye, 2023 World silver for Teferi). Both won a famous marathon in 2022 (Rotterdam for Nageeye, Fukuoka for Teferi). One more similarity: neither has won a World Marathon Major.

But if you’ve medalled at the Olympics/Worlds and won Rotterdam/Fukuoka, you’re pretty damn close to winning a major. Both are coming off the World Championship marathon in August, where Teferi took silver and Nageeye dropped out after 25k.

It would be a pretty cool story if either man won as it took both of them a while to reach their current level: Nageeye did not break 2:10 until his sixth marathon; Teferi did not do it until marathon #10! New York will be career marathon #20 for Nageeye (and he’s only won 1 of them) and #19 for Teferi (and he’s only won 2 of them), and runners almost never win their first major that deep into their careers. But Nageeye and Teferi have also continued to improve throughout their careers. They have a shot.

The Former NCAA Stars

Cam Levins, Canada, 2:05:36 pb (2023 Tokyo)

Edward Cheserek, Kenya, debut.

Though Levins was an NCAA champion on the track at Southern Utah — he actually beat out future Olympic medalist Paul Chelimo to win the 5,000 in 2012 — his triple sessions and mega-miles (170+ per week) suggested his body was built to withstand the pounding of the marathon. It took a few years, but Levins is now world-class, running a 2+ minute pb of 2:07:09 to finish 4th at Worlds last year, and following that up with another huge pb, 2:05:36 in Tokyo in March. He’s run faster than any North American athlete in history.

No Canadian has ever won New York, and Levins will need an off day or two by the big guns if he is to break that drought. But Levins was only 14 seconds off the win in Tokyo in March, and he may not be done improving. Of the three men seeded above him in NYC, two are coming off DNFs (Tola and Nageeye) and the other is coming off a poor showing in Boston (Kitata). If Sharon Lokedi can win NY, why can’t Levins?

Speaking of Loked, her partner Edward Cheserek is making his marathon debut on Sunday — something that is suddenly much more exciting after Cheserek took down 2:04 marathoner Bernard Koech to win the Copenhagen Half on September 17 in 59:11. While Cheserek has had a few standout performances since graduating from the University of Oregon since 2017 (3:49 mile, 27:23 10k), his professional career has largely been one of frustration following 17 NCAA titles in Eugene. In six pro seasons, Cheserek has competed in just two Diamond Leagues (finishing 15th and 7th) and never run at a global championship.

Throughout that time, Cheserek’s desire had been to stay on the track, which was one of the reasons he split with coach Stephen Haas to reunite with his college coach Andy Powell. Based on what he had seen in training, Haas believed Cheserek was better suited for the marathon and told him as much. Now, after spending time training in Kenya — 2022 NYC champ Evans Chebet is a friend and occasional training partner — Cheserek has decided to make the leap.

“A lot of people have probably got in his ear and said, look you can be really good at this if you commited to it and trained for it,” said Haas, who remains Cheserek’s agent. “…He’s going really, really well. I was super impressed with him when I was over in Kenya, his long runs, his ability to up his volume…I really think this is where he’s gonna find himself as a pro runner and I think he’s got a lot of years, a lot of races to come as a marathoner.”

What is he capable of his first time out? New York is a tough course on which to debut, but Cheserek is an intriguing wild card. In the last two years, we’ve seen unheralded former NCAA stars hang around far longer than anyone expected on the women’s side, with Viola Cheptoo almost stealing the race in 2021 and Lokedi winning it last year. The men’s races have played out somewhat differently, but if this race goes slower and Cheserek is able to weather with the surges of the lead pack, he could be dangerous over the final miles.

Promising Talents that Would Need a Breakthrough to Win

Zouhair Talbi, Morocco, 2:08:35 pb (2023 Boston), 28 years old

Jemal Yimer, Ethiopia, 2:08:58 pb (2022 Boston), 27 years old

Based on what they’ve done in the marathon so far, both of these guys need to step up a level to actually win a major. But both have intriguing potential with Yimer being the much more likely winner.

Yimer formerly held the Ethiopian half marathon record at 58:33 and just finished 4th at the World Half. He’s only finished 2 of his 4 career marathons, however. But he’s in good form. Earlier in the year, he racked up good showings on the US road scene – winning Bloomsday in May,  finishing 4th at Peachtree and winning the Utica Boilermaker in July before running 58:38 in the half in August. Most recently he was fourth  (59:22) at the World half a month ago.

Talbi, the former NAIA star for Oklahoma City who has run 13:18 and 27:20 on the track, was 5th in his debut in Boston in April, running 2:08:35 in against a strong field.

The Americans

Elkanah Kibet, USA, 2:09:07 pb (2022 Boston), 40 years old

Futsum Zienasellassie, USA, 2:09:40 pb (2023 Rotterdam), 30 years old.

There are a few other US men in New York, including 2:10 guys Nathan Martin and Reed Fischer, but Kibet and Zienasellassie are the most intriguing. Kibet is 40 years old but has churned out a number of solid results recently — 4th at ’21 NYC, 2:09:07 pb at ’22 Boston, 2:10:43 at ’23 Prague. Zienasellassie, meanwhile, has run two strong races to open his marathon career: 2:11:01 to win 2022 CIM, then 2:09:40 in April to finish 11th in Rotterdam.

Ben Rosario, executive director of Zienasellassie’s NAZ Elite team, told LetsRun Zienasellassie is running New York in part because his idol, fellow Eritrean-American Meb Keflezighi, has a deep connection to the race, winning it in 2009. The other reason? To challenge himself in terms of his in-race decision making and get some reps in an unpaced race before the Olympic Trials.

(11/02/2023) Views: 654 ⚡AMP
by Jonathan Gault

Paul Chelimo planning to spoil Eliud Kipchoge's party in Berlin

Paul Chelio intends to make his marathon debut at Sunday's Berlin Marathon with one goal in mind, to spoil the party.

All roads will lead to the Berlin Marathon on Sunday where Eliud Kipchoge will be planning to lower his time as he races on one of his favourite courses.

However, many athletes will be hoping to stop him from reigning supreme, and in particular, Kenyan-born American Paul Chelimo will be hoping to stop his dominance.

Chelimo is yet to run a marathon and he has shared his thoughts on making his debut in the German capital with a goal in mind.

In a post on his Twitter page, he said: “Might show up to Berlin this weekend and spoil the party.”

Chelimo has had a great season on the track so far but has failed to impress in the road races, finishing 14th at the Berlin Half Marathon and 20th at the Valencia 10km race.

On the track, he has managed to bag wins in the men’s 10,000m at the Night of the 10,000m PB’s and also win the 5000m at the Track Night Vienna.

If he makes up his mind to race at the Berlin Marathon, he will definitely have it rough trying to stop the world record holder over the distance.

Kipchoge started off the season on a low note but he has since bounced back and will be looking to impress in the streets of Berlin. He has won there four times and he will be looking to bag his fifth title.

It remains one of his favourite course since he has also set the world record twice on the same streets. It will surely take concerted efforts to bring him down.

(09/22/2023) Views: 622 ⚡AMP
by Abigael Wuafula

Cardboard beds for athletes to return at Paris 2024 Olympics

The infamous beds are back! 16,000 cardboard beds will be supplied for all Olympic and Paralympic athletes plus media.

The cardboard beds that went viral from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will make a resurgence at the 2024 Games in Paris. The 2024 Olympic organizing committee confirmed that they have selected Japanese mattress manufacturer Airweave, which will supply an impressive tally of 16,000 cardboard beds for all athletes housed in the Olympic and Paralympic Villages, as well as journalists staying at the Media Village.

To relieve any concerns about the size, these beds come in a standard dimension of nearly three feet wide and six and a half feet in length. However, the beds can be extended to 2.20 meters for tall athletic superstars (like seven-foot basketball player Victor Wembanyama of France). After all, we don’t want Olympians’ or Paralympians’ legs dangling off the end of the bed.

You might recall the frenzy on social media surrounding these cardboard beds during the previous Olympics. Some suggested that Tokyo 2020 organizers were being “anti-sex,” as if these beds were specifically engineered to sabotage athletes’ romantic and athletic endeavors. The rumors were swiftly debunked when videos flooded the app TikTok showing Olympic athletes jumping on the beds to test their sturdiness. 

Two-time U.S. Olympic 5,000m medalist Paul Chelimo shared his thoughts on the cardboard beds, stating that it likely wouldn’t be a problem for distance runners, and how they could probably fit four of them.

Motokuni Takaoka, the esteemed founder of Airweave, joined the athletes in this whimsical testing routine. He gleefully jumped on the beds himself to demonstrate their durability, exclaiming, “We have designed these cardboard beds for three or four people jumping because after winning a medal, athletes get very happy!” Who can argue with that?

Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet expressed his satisfaction with Airweave’s beds, praising their use of recycled materials in line with the organizing committee’s sustainability aspirations. “We were impressed by Airweave’s technology,” he said in a press release. “We know that we have a solid partner in terms of sustainability and delivery.”

When cardboard beds reach the end of their useful life at the Olympics, they are broken down and recycled. Unlike other materials that may contribute to landfill waste, cardboard is biodegradable, making them an easy eco-friendly choice to promote a greener Olympic Games.

(07/17/2023) Views: 764 ⚡AMP
by Running Magazine

2023 US Outdoor Track and Field Championships preview from Chris Chavez

Last night was the deadline for athletes to declare their event for the 2023 U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which will take place in Eugene from July 6-9. At USAs, athletes are allowed to enter multiple events and then make a decision about which event(s) they wish to contest once entries are in, which allows those who’ve achieved multiple qualifiers to be strategic about where they want to concentrate their efforts. The top three in each event who meet the qualifying standards for the World Athletics Championships will go on to represent the United States in Budapest in August.

Reigning World champions have a “bye” to the next year’s Worlds, which means the country they represent gets to send four athletes, not three. Similarly, reigning Diamond League and World Athletics Continental Tour champs earn a bye, but if there is both a World and other champion in the same event, their country still only gets to send one extra athlete.

These complex rules lead many American World champions to make interesting choices about what events they wish to contest at USAs and how hard they want to push while still in the middle of the championship season.

MEN’S SPRINTS

– 100m world champion Fred Kerley has the bye to the world championships and will only run the 200m. Last year, he qualified for the World Championships in the 200m with a third place finish behind Noah Lyles and Erriyon Knighton. He injured his quad in the semifinal of the 200m and was unable to run the 4x100m relay for Team USA. Kerley has a season’s best of 19.92 from his win at the Doha Diamond League.

– 200m world champion Noah Lyles has the bye to the world championships and will only run the 100m. He ran a season's best of 9.95 in his outdoor opener in April. The last time he ran the 100m at a U.S. Championship, he finished seventh at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials final.

– 400m world champion Michael Norman is declared for the 100m and 200m at the U.S. Championships. He ran a wind-aided 10.02 (+3.0m/s wind) at the Mt. SAC Relays in April. He has not raced since a last place finish in the 200m at the Doha Diamond League in 20.65 on May 5.

WOMEN’S SPRINTS

– Sha’Carri Richardson is running the 100m and 200m. She is looking to qualify for her first World championship team. Her season’s best of 10.76 from her victory at the Doha Diamond League is the second-fastest performance in the world this year. Her season’s best of 22.07 from the Kip Keino Classic at altitude in Nairobi is No. 4 on the world list.

Only Gabby Thomas’ 22.05 from the Paris Diamond League is faster this year by an American woman. Richardson, the 2019 NCAA champion, attempted the double at USAs in both 2019 and 2022, where her highest finish was 8th in the 100m in 2019. She has yet to make a U.S. final in the 200m.

– Reigning U.S. champion Abby Steiner is only running the 200m despite qualifying in both the 100m and the 400m as well. She just ran her season’s best of 22.19 to win the NYC Grand Prix.

– As previously announced, 400m hurdles Olympic champion, World champion and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is running the flat 400m. She plans to make a decision after the U.S. Championships whether she will run the flat 400m (if she qualifies) or defend her 400m hurdles title in Budapest.

– NCAA record holder Britton Wilson, who ran 49.14 to become No. 4 on the U.S. all-time list, will only run the 400m and not the 400m hurdles. She hurdled at last year’s World championships and participated in the 4x400m relay.

MEN’S DISTANCE

– This year’s men’s steeplechase team should have a new look. 2016 Olympic silver medalist Evan Jager is not entered in the steeplechase. He has raced just once this outdoor season. Hillary Bor, the reigning U.S. champion who also owns the fastest steeplechase time by an American this year in 8:11.28, broke his foot earlier this spring and will miss the U.S. Championships. This is the first U.S. team he has missed since 2015. The top returner is Benard Keter, who made the Olympic team in 2021 and the World team in 2022, but he is only the fifth-fastest entrant by seed time.

– For the first time, 2021 U.S. 5000m champPaul Chelimo is entered in both the 5000m and the 10,000m. Chelimo, the 3x global medalist at 5000m, has typically only focused on the shorter event, but after his 27:12.73 performance at the Night of the 10,000m PBs in the U.K. earlier this season, he has decided to contest both events. He’s seeded No. 4 by qualifying time in both events behind Grant Fisher, Woody Kincaid, and Joe Klecker (all also double-entered).

WOMEN’S DISTANCE

– 800m Olympic and world champion Athing Mu entered the 1500m, as previously announced with coach Bobby Kersee. She has the bye to the world championships in the 800m. Her personal best of 4:16.06 is well outside the automatic standard of 4:05.00 and was achieved outside the qualifying window for the championships, but USATF rules allow for significant discretion in accepting entries from the Sports Committee chair.

– Josette Norris and On Athletics Club coach Dathan Ritzenhein have decided to focus solely on the 5000m. Norris ran 14:43.36 at Sound Running’s Track Fest in early May. That’s the second-fastest time by an American woman on the year behind her teammate and training partner Alicia Monson’s 14:34.88 at the Paris Diamond League. Monson is entered in both the 5000m and 10,000m after choosing to only contest the 10,000m last year.

– NC State’s NCAA record holder Katelyn Tuohy will only run the 5000m. Tuohy qualified for NCAAs in both the 1500m and the 5000m but ended up only running the 1500m after an uncharacteristically disappointing performance in the final.

– The Bowerman Track Club’s Elise Cranny has declared for the 1500m, 5000m and the 10,000m. The first round of the women’s 1500m is 19 minutes before the final of the 10,000m on Day 1 of the competition, so Cranny will likely scratch one or more events at a later point.

 

(06/30/2023) Views: 982 ⚡AMP
by Chris Chavez (Citius magazine)

Paul Chelimo leaves Nike, signs with Decathlon-owned brand Kiprun

American Olympic medallist Paul Chelimo announced on Thursday that he has signed with Kiprun, a French brand owned by the sports retailer Decathlon. He was previously sponsored by Nike, a relationship that dated back to 2018, but he will be sporting a new look as he moves forward with the rest of his season. 

Kiprun is not a big name in the North American running scene, likely due to the fact that Decathlon only has 15 stores across Canada (according to the retailer’s website) and none in the U.S. However, simply because it’s not a household name in Canada and the U.S. doesn’t mean it isn’t a good brand, and Chelimo clearly saw something in the company that he liked. 

As his agent, Riad Ouled, told LetsRun, a lot of different brands were after a partnership with Chelimo. “He had offers from Asics, from On, and Nike wanted to renew him. But the project from Kiprun touched something in him.” Ouled added that a big draw for Chelimo was Kiprun’s willingness to let him have a say in the development of future shoes. 

“He was very interested by … giving feedback,” Ouled said. “All of the brands offered him a lot of money, but Kiprun gave him consideration and said OK, we want to do shoes as you expect as a good runner.” Chelimo’s partnership with Kiprun is currently set to last until at least the 2028 Olympics.

The two-time Olympic 5,000m medallist is Kiprun’s biggest athlete signing to date, as the brand has yet to attract many big names in running. The brand could be in for some big growth in the coming years, however, as there are plans to launch the Kiprun 42 House, which will be a training group for promising Kenyan athletes.

Chelimo will make his debut as a Kiprun athlete at the Berlin Half Marathon on April 2. He has run one half-marathon in his career and owns a PB of 62:19. 

(03/24/2023) Views: 1,268 ⚡AMP
by Ben Snider-McGrath

Olympic medalist Paul Chelimo says 5,000m “is all in the mind”

In a recent interview with the Diamond League, American Olympian Paul Chelimo said, “the 5,000m is all in the mind.” With two Olympic medals (silver in 2016 and bronze in 2021) and a world championship podium (bronze in 2017) to his name, Chelimo knows a thing or two about the 5,000m (and running in general).

This “mind over matter” mentality is widely embraced by professional athletes, but just because you’re not an elite runner doesn’t mean you can’t apply it to your training and racing, too. Here are some tips on how to improve your mental game when racing.

Be ready for anything

Alright, so full disclosure: after his initial declaration that the 5,000m is all in the mind, Chelimo went on to say the race is actually 75 per cent physical and that “the rest is mental,” but the point remains that your mind plays a huge role in your success (or failure) on race day. And that you must expect the unexpected–always. Chelimo’s races are likely much different than the ones you enter, but both can come with unexpected hiccups.

Right from the moment you wake up, it’s possible for any issues to arise. Maybe your alarm won’t go off, and you’ll have to rush to the race; or perhaps your classic race morning breakfast will burn in the toaster. Whatever the case, these speed bumps could potentially mess with your head long before the starting gun goes off. When it comes to the race itself, weather could be a factor, you could get caught up in the moment and go out too fast, or you could have digestion issues that lead you to the course-side porta-potties.

When these problems pop up, you have a choice: you either let them get to you, or you move on and forget about them. Of course, it’s easier said than done, but when things go wrong on race day, try to give yourself a few moments to be upset, then do your best to leave them in the past and refocus on the task at hand. 

Set mid-race goals

If you get knocked out of your groove, try not to worry about how that will affect the PB you were aiming for, or any other pre-race goal you set for yourself. Instead, set some mid-race goals to get your mind off the negatives. Is there a pack of runners a few hundred metres ahead? Commit to catching them by a certain kilometre marker. Maybe you can start counting the number of people you pass as you make your way through the field. Try to get back into your groove by aiming to hit a certain time for your next kilometre, or, if you’re in a longer race, for the next 5K segment. If you set these goals in the middle of the race, they’ll give you something new to chase, and when you start reaching them, your spirits will be lifted and you can get back on track.

Use positive self-talk 

When things go wrong on race day (and in training), talk yourself up. Find a mantra (something as simple as “You’ve got this” is good, just make sure whatever you pick works for you) and repeat it to yourself. Remind yourself of all of the hard work and long training hours you put into preparing for this day. If you start a positive inner dialogue, soon enough you’ll feel lighter, and chances are, that will make you faster. Also, remind yourself that it’s only a race. It’s natural to be disappointed if things don’t go the way you hoped, but remember to be grateful that we get to run.

(02/10/2023) Views: 808 ⚡AMP
by Ben Snider-McGrath

Yalemzerf Yehualaw will challenge her global mark of 29:14 this weekend in Valencia

Get ready for some quick times on Sunday (Jan 15) when the self-styled “ciudad del running” stages its annual 10km Valencia Ibercaja event on its famously fast roads.

Many of the world’s top distance runners will descend upon the Spanish city this weekend in search of record-breaking performances. These include Yalemzerf Yehualaw, who will attack her own women’s world record of 29:14 set in Castellón 11 months ago.

The 23-year-old impressed over the marathon last year, too, as she clocked what was, at the time, the world’s fastest ever debut by a woman with 2:17:23 in Hamburg before later capturing the London Marathon title in 2:17:26.

British athletes are in Valencia in force too. The Spanish road race clashes with the trial in Perth, Scotland, for the World Cross Country Championships, but many have opted to slip on their super-shoes rather than spikes to chase PBs on the road.

Yehualaw is the star attraction and will wear No.1 on her singlet on Sunday, but she is joined in Valencia by fellow Ethiopian Ejgayehu Taye, who holds the world 5km record with 14:19 from Barcelona in 2021. In addition, Karoline Grøvdal of Norway will attack the European record of 30:05 held by Lonah Salpeter of Israel.

In the men’s field, sub-27min performers Richard Kimunyan Yator and Weldon Kipkirui Langat of Kenya plus Rodrigue Kwizera of Burundi lead the men’s entries in a field of around 11,000 runners which is set to feature about 100 elite athletes from 15 different nations.

Jacob Krop, the world 5000m silver medallist and 12:45.71 runner on the track, is also in the line-up together with Paul Chelimo of the United States, while Morhad Amdouni and Jimmy Gressier of France lead the European challenge.

Their target is Rhonex Kipruto’s world record of 26:24, which was set in this event in 2020.

“We want the men to approach the European record (27:13 by Julien Wanders set in Valencia in 2020) and, with the African armada, to look for sub-27 records and even approach the world record,” said Acuña. “The 2023 race will be the most competitive of all editions. The best European athletes want to run the 10km Valencia Ibercaja – and we have been working for months in that direction.”

He added: “The goal of the race is to become more international year after year and reach more and more countries. We are a world reference for the distance and the best athletes want to run in Valencia.”

Don’t be surprised to see the UK all-time rankings revised on Sunday when a large contingent of British athletes tackle the Valencia 10km.

They are led by Samantha Harrison, who already sits No.5 on the UK all-time rankings with 31:10 from Telford in December.

Calli Thackery, the fifth quickest British woman in history over 5km with 14:58, is also set to compete. Add to this Olympic marathoner Steph Twell, plus Amelia Quirk, Lucy Reid and Sarah Astin.

One week after out-kicking Jake Wightman indoors over 3000m, Phil Sesemann takes to the roads looking to beat his 28:24 PB from 2019.

The Mahamed brothers – Mahamed and Zak – are also in the line-up, plus Olympic 5000m finalist Andy Butchart, Efrem Gidey, Ellis Cross, Calum Elson and Kadar Omar.

The list goes on with Kieran Clements, Jack Gray, Jonathan Hopkins, Alfie Manthorpe, Lewis Jagger, Ronny Wilson, Jonny Davies, Alex Lepetre, Jonathan Escalante, Dan Studley, Norman Shreeve and Corey De’Ath. 

(01/13/2023) Views: 891 ⚡AMP
by Jason Henderson

Abdihamid Nur Dominates, Runs Off Course, & Still Wins, Kelati Gets Record

The day before 50,000 runners cross the finish line in Central Park at the 2022 TCS New York City Marathon, some of America’s fastest pros did the same at the USATF 5K Road Championships — though the fastest of them all, men’s champion Abdihamid Nur, almost missed it. Despite a very late wrong turn, Nur, 24, won his first US title in a course record of 13:24 after kicking away from US steeplechase champion Hillary Bor (13:29) in the final mile.

On the women’s side, Weini Kelati rolled to her second straight title in 15:16, gapping the field thanks to a quick first mile and running unchallenged from there to lower her own course record of 15:18. The B.A.A.’s Erika Kemp (15:30) was second, improving on her 2021 finish by one place, while Emily Infeld (15:30) was third in her first race as a member of Team Boss. Both Kelati and Nur claimed $12,000 for the win.

Four thoughts from a beautiful morning for racing in New York.

Abdihamid Nur wins his first national title…but how the heck did he make a wrong turn 15 meters from the finish line?

It’s always tricky knowing who is in shape for this race as most pro runners aren’t in top shape in November. Based on 5k personal best and 2022 form, however, Abdihamid Nur should probably have been the favorite and he looked great throughout the race, hanging onto Hillary Bor early as Bor pushed the pace before making his move in Central Park and opening up a cushion.

That cushion would prove necessary. It’s not uncommon to see an athlete make a wrong turn when the lead vehicle pulls off the course near the finish line, but I can’t ever remember someone doing it as late in the race as Nur. The finish line was in clear sight and only about 15 meters away when Nur veered to the left and tried to follow the lead car. It was a chaotic sight.

"The finish line was right there, but I just knew it,” Nur said. “They told me to follow the car, so I didn’t know that the car wasn’t going to the finish line. I’m glad Hillary wasn’t too close, because it was a mistake I could afford.”

Chalk it up to a rookie mistake — this was Nur’s first road race as a pro.

Nur’s time of 13:24 was very quick considering the undulating New York course. He smashed Paul Chelimo‘s course record of 13:45 and was just four seconds off Ben True‘s American record of 13:20 from the 2017 B.A.A. 5K. Nur’s wrong turn definitely cost him a second or two, but he didn’t know if it cost him the record.

“Maybe, who knows?” Nur said. “But I’m still happy with the win.”

(Note: David Monti points out that Grant Fisher‘s 13:01 at the Diamond League 5k final in September is considered the American road record because it came on an irregular 563-meter track, though that record has yet to be ratified by USATF. As far as LetsRun is concerned, you shouldn’t be able to set a road record on a track so True still has the record.)

The win capped a banner year for Nur, who won a pair of NCAA titles indoors, set the collegiate 5k record, made the Worlds team outdoors, and signed a pro deal with Nike. He’s still based in Flagstaff and even though the NAU men have struggled more than usual this year, he’s predicting a national title for them and his former teammate Nico Young at the NCAA XC champs in Stillwater in two weeks.“Coach Smith’s gonna have them ready for NCAAs,” Nur said. “I think they’re going to win and my boy Nico’s going to take the individual title.”

Weini Kelati is never that far from fitness

If it seems like Weini Kelati is always in shape, that’s because it’s true. She took a month off after the track season, but returned to training in September and quickly found herself in good shape. Today she ran 15:16 to win by 14 seconds and break the course record by two seconds — one set by Kelati in this event last year.

“What’s interesting about my body is it’s just not hard to build,” Kelati said. “I can get in 10 days, 80% of my fitness.”

Kelati, 25, has already found a lot of success on the roads in her young pro career. With her cross country background (Foot Locker and NCAA champ) and front-running style, she seems a natural fit for the half and, eventually, full marathon, but so far she has yet to race beyond 10k. When will we see her in the half?

“I’m not sure how soon,” Kelati said. “But I’m looking forward [to it]?”

Could we see her in a half in 2023?

“Let’s see, I don’t know,” she said with a smile. “Maybe.”

What we know for sure is that Kelati is not done racing on the track. After just missing out on a spot at Worlds in 2022 (she was 4th in the 5,000, 5th in the 10,000 at USAs), Kelati wants to make the team next year.

“I’m really excited to run road races and half marathon and stuff, but I have unfinished business on the track and I want to clear it up first,” Kelati said.

Kelati also said that during her break from running this summer, she got the opportunity to see her mother for the first time since she defected from her native Eritrea in 2014. The two were able to visit Uganda together, where they spent three weeks together.

“We were both in shock,” Kelati said. “For a week, we couldn’t believe [it]. She just [kept] touching me like, I can’t believe this is real. We both cried happy tears in the airport.”

Though Kelati had been able to talk to her mother over the phone since her arrival in the US, their conversations were never very long. In Uganda, they made up for lost time, often staying up until 4 a.m. catching up on all they had missed in each other’s lives the last eight years.

“The first 14 days, we just talked,” Kelati said.

Kelati said she emerged from the trip feeling renewed.

“That makes me feel like it’s a new beginning, a fresh start for me,” Kelati said.

 

 

(11/06/2022) Views: 1,270 ⚡AMP

Highlights from the 2022 USATF Outdoor Championships June 26

The USATF Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon have finished and the athletes set to represent Team USA at the World Athletics Championships have been decided. Over four days, there was a world record set and plenty of great battles for the limited spots on the world team.

The World Athletics Championships will be back at Hayward Field from July 15 to July 24. It will be the first time the United States is hosting the meet.

Here are the highlights from the 2022 USATF Outdoor Championships.

Cranny wins a close one in the 5,000 meters

After a schedule change to avoid hot conditions, the women’s 5,000 meters opened the final day of the USATF Outdoor Championships. Unfortunately, the women couldn’t completely escape the heat—the temperature on the track read 82 degrees.

As a result, the women dawdled, running most of the race in a tight pack. With 1600 meters remaining, Karissa Schweizer—who placed fourth in the 1500 meters on Saturday—picked up the pace. With two laps, four women separated themselves: Schweizer, indoor American record holder Elise Cranny, world championships bronze medalist Emily Infeld, and Weini Kelati. Kelati fell off the group by the bell, and the top three were set. Now, it was a battle for place.

Schweizer, Cranny, and Infeld battled down the final straightaway, trading leads multiple times. When the dust settled, Cranny earned the victory, with Schweizer and Infeld less than a half second behind in that order.

Each woman completed their own unique narrative coming into the race. Cranny scratched from the USATF 10,000-meter championships on May 27, saying in an Instagram post she hadn’t been feeling like herself in training. Schweizer, who did qualify for the 10,000 meters, also placed fourth in the 1500. With this 5,000-meter performance, she completed one of the best championship runs in U.S. history. Finally, after just missing out on qualifying for the 10,000-meter world team, Infeld earned a spot on her first global championship team since 2017.

Fisher takes down 5,000 meet record, Kincaid unleashes furious kick for second

Conversely to the women’s race, the men’s 5,000 meters went out hard. Hillary Bor, who qualified for the steeplechase team on Saturday, kept checking his watch—apparently pacing the race. Multiple time global medalist Paul Chelimo and Bowerman Track Club teammates Grant Fisher and Woody Kincaid held position right behind Bor.

Bor dropped out at 1800 meters after splitting 4:12 for the mile. Evan Jager, who also qualified for the steeplechase world team, led the men for another mile. Fisher, Emmanuel Bor, and NCAA indoor 5,000-meter champion Abdihamid Nur of Northern Arizona quickly separated from the group after Jager dropped out.

Over the final 1200, Fisher put on a clinic, squeezing the pace over each lap until he was all alone. He won the race in 13:03.86, a meet record.

The most exciting portion of the race occurred offscreen. After trailing the top three by five seconds with 400 to go, Kincaid unleashed a monstrous 54.24 final lap to take silver in a time of 13:06.70. Nur held on to earn his first world championship berth, running 13:08.63. Emmanuel Bor faded to fifth.

Coburn claims eighth straight U.S. steeplechase title

After a moderate first 1,000 meters, four women were clear of the pack in the women’s steeplechase: recent NCAA champion Courtney Wayment, Gabi Jennings, six-time U.S. champion Emma Coburn, and Olympic silver medalist and American record holder Courtney Frerichs.

That group whittled down to Wayment, Coburn, and Frerichs by 800 to go. Half a lap later, Coburn quickened her pace. Wayment and Frerichs, perhaps surprised by the move, didn’t go with Coburn, who put more and more distance on them over the final lap. Coburn notched her eighth consecutive U.S. title in a season best of 9:10.63. Wayment finished second, and Frerichs took third.

Ajeé Wilson nearly upsets the defending Olympic champion The women’s 800 meters promised to be the event of the meet, and it didn’t disappoint.

Athing Mu, defending champion, jumped off the line hard to take her traditional spot in the lead. Olivia Baker and indoor world champion Ajeé Wilson were right on her heels while Olympic bronze medalist Raevyn Rogers hung around mid-pack.

All of the women were still together with 200 to go. The broadcast commentators predicted that Mu would break the race open before the end of the bend, but spectators were treated to something more interesting: Wilson was right on Mu’s shoulder with 100 to go. With gritted teeth, the two athletes dashed neck-and-neck down the straightaway. It looked as if Wilson had the upper hand, but the Olympic champion pulled through in the final meters to snag the victory in 1:57.16. Rogers slingshotted out of the pack to pass three runners for third.

Bryce Hoppel earns first outdoor national title

The men’s 800 meters featured a consequential last 100 meters. Texas A&M’s Brandon Miller set a fast early pace, crossing the 400-meter mark in 51.62. He fell to second as Hoppel took control on the final bend.

It wasn’t over yet, as the entire field was still in striking range with 100 left. But Hoppel and Jonah Koech surged ahead, while Miller duked it out with a late-charging Clayton Murphy for the third qualifying spot. Miller overtook the two-time Olympian with a dramatic dive at the line, securing a trip to worlds. Hoppel’s winning time was 1:44.60, a season best, while Koech’s ran a personal best of 1:44.74.

Noah Lyles charges late to overtake 18-year-old star Erriyon Knighton

After 100 meters, it looked like 18-year-old Erriyon Knighton was on his way to his first national championship. But that’s why there’s another 100 meters in this event, because defending world champion Noah Lyles found another gear. With a smile and finger pointed at Knighton, Lyles broke the tape first in 19.67. Knighton finished second, while 100-meter national champion Fred Kerley nabbed another world team spot. Because Noah Lyles has a bye to the world championships, fourth-placer Kenny Bendarek also qualified.

NCAA champion Abby Steiner becomes U.S. champion

With defending U.S. champion Gabby Thomas in poor form this year, the gate was open for a new women’s 200-meter champion. Abby Steiner, who won the NCAA title two weeks ago, capitalized on that opening. She won the title with a world lead and personal best of 21.77. Tamara Clark and Jenna Prandini qualified as well with their respective second and third place finishes.

(06/27/2022) Views: 1,445 ⚡AMP
by Runner's World

Woody Kincaid eyes redemption at USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships

Woody Kincaid’s last visit to Hayward Field didn’t go as planned.

So, Kincaid has something extra riding on the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships, which begin a four-day run at Hayward Field in Eugene on Thursday.

The USATF 10,000-meter final took place at Hayward last month in conjunction with the Prefontaine Classic. Kincaid, the Olympian who trains with the Portland-based Bowerman Track Club, was defending his USATF title.

It was a slow pace and headed toward a kicker’s finish -- Kincaid’s kind race -- when a sharp pain in his side almost doubled him over 6,600 meters in.

Buchanan, who would finish ninth, trains with the California-based Mammoth Track Club. The two UP grads weren’t working together. It just … happened.

(First photo): Woody Kincaid and Grant Fisher react after finishing first and second place in the men's 10,000 meters during Day 1 of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 18, 2021, in Eugene, Oregon.

Kincaid remembers thinking, “‘Damn. That’s Reid Buchanan. And this is the Olympic trials.’ It was pretty surreal.”

In the final lap, it became outrageous. Kincaid covered the final 400 in 53.47 seconds, the final 200 in 25.51.

“A lot of people can’t do that,” says UP coach Rob Conner, who nurtured Kincaid through five up-and-down, injury-troubled years on The Bluff.

Staggered, Kincaid couldn’t go on. He was on the sideline when Joe Klecker, Grant Fisher and Sean McGorty went 1-2-3 to claim the spots on Team USA for the World Outdoor Track & Field Championships next month in Eugene.

“It wasn’t a hard effort,” Kincaid says, trying to make sense of what caused the stitch. “It was a slow pack, 4:52 mile pace. So, it wasn’t like I was hanging on or anything. It’s never happened before.”

Kincaid says it’s been diagnosed as a diaphragm cramp. He has been checked out. There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong medically.

“One of those things,” he says.

And ready to be discarded like yesterday’s news. Kincaid is entered in Sunday’s 5,000 in the main portion of the USATF Outdoor Championships. He will be running to win.

Kincaid was third in the 5,000 at last year’s Olympic trials. He went on to represent the U.S. in both events in Tokyo, placing 14th in the 5,000 and 15th in the 10,000.

“I was glad I made the team in the ‘5,’” Kincaid says of last year’s Olympic trials. “But there still is a little bit of ‘Damn, I should have gotten the ‘5′ too.’ I still want a national title in the ‘5.’”

Last year’s Olympic trials was a breakthrough for the former University of Portland star who seemed to spend his first four years as a professional either hurt or trying to come back from injury.

It all clicked last summer on the first day of the trials at Hayward Field when Kincaid positioned himself perfectly in the 10,000 with two laps to go.

He wasn’t quite ready to make his move when former UP teammate Reid Buchanan obliged by going to the front.

It was a Hollywood finish in more ways than one. As Kincaid took his victory lap, his father, Mike, met him at along the rail. Mike was in a fight with mesothelioma that he would lose five months later.

Father and son both knew the score, which made for a poignant moment.

“We were both like in shock, like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe that just happened,’” Kincaid says. “My dad couldn’t speak. We were super close. I don’t think he had anything to say.”

Kincaid’s BTC teammates took a photo of the scene and blew it up to poster size.

“Best race I’ve ever run,” Kincaid says. “That was special.”

Shocking as it might have been to fans, it wasn’t totally unexpected by those close to him.

BTC coach Jerry Schumacher believes Kincaid actually arrived at the 2019 USATF Outdoor Championships, when he survived a wicked pace set by Olympic silver medalist Paul Chelimo in the 5,000, stayed at the front and finished third.

“That got me excited,” Schumacher says.

That September, Kincaid and teammates Lopez Lomong and Matthew Centrowitz ran a 5,000-meter time trial on the Nike campus.

Kincaid bolted past Lomong in the race’s final 120 to finish first in 12:58.10. Even Kincaid did a double take at the sub-13 time.

COVID scrubbed most of the 2020 outdoor season, leaving Kincaid something of a question mark heading into last summer’s Olympic trials.

“People kind of missed on him,” Schumacher says. “We got to see him at practice. We got to see how he trained and worked out. He was determined. He had everything you would want to see in an athlete going into the Olympic trials.

“For us, it wasn’t a huge surprise. He’d basically been at that level for two full years, and 2021 was the first time he got to showcase it.”

He is a known commodity now, and an acknowledged threat in the USATF 5,000 final. A totally focused and injury-free Kincaid will be tough to beat, particularly if the race comes down to a kick.

“He’ll get the job done,” Conner says. “I’m 100 percent confident of that.”

(06/21/2022) Views: 762 ⚡AMP
by Ken Goe (OregonLive)

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.

(05/27/2022) Views: 1,530 ⚡AMP
by Mike Rowbottom

Timothy Cheruiyot and Jakob Ingebrigtsen will resume rivalry in Eugene Mile

Reigning Wanda Diamond League champion Timothy Cheruiyot and Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen will resume their rivalry in the men's 1500m when they go head to head in the prestigious Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene on May 28th. 

Cheruiyot claimed his fourth career Diamond Trophy when he edged out Ingebrigtsen in the final in Zurich last year, just weeks after the Norwegian had beaten him to the gold medal in Tokyo.

Ingebrigtsen, 21, already has a rich history of success in the Bowerman Mile. At the 2017 Pre Classic Ingebrigtsen became the youngest to ever break the four minute barrier, running 3:58.07 at the age of 16. One year later he would lower his time to 3:52.28 and come back again in 2019 with a 3:51.30. In last year’s race, Ingebrigtsen captured his first Bowerman Mile victory, running the fastest time ever on U.S. soil, 3:47.24. After breaking the Olympic record in Tokyo last summer and taking down the indoor 1500 meter world record earlier this year, it’s clear the Norwegian is ready to cement himself further in the record books.

The budding rivalry between Ingebrigtsen and Cheruiyot will add another chapter at the Pre Classic in 2022. After winning the Bowerman Mile and claiming gold at the World Championships in 2019, Cheruiyot took silver at the Olympic games last year. He would ultimately bounce back to beat the Norwegian in Zurich.

The third Wanda Diamond League meeting of the season will also feature a strong field in the men's 5000m, with Canada's Olympic silver medallist Mo Ahmed taking on home hero Paul Chelimo and 2018 Diamond League champion Selemon Barega of Ethiopia. 

In the women's discus, meanwhile, 2021 Diamond League champion Valarie Allman will be looking to use home advantage to get valuable points on the board in her bid to defend her title, going up against the likes of Olympic silver medallist Kristin Prudenz and six-time Diamond League champion Sandra Perkovic.

(05/06/2022) Views: 1,212 ⚡AMP

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.

(02/10/2022) Views: 1,262 ⚡AMP
by World Athletics

National Champions and olympic medalists will Headline 2021 USATF 5K Championships at Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K

The 2021 Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K and USA Track & Field (USATF) 5K Championships on Saturday, November 6, will feature five Olympians and 28 athletes who competed at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials.

The event will take place in Midtown Manhattan the day prior to the TCS New York City Marathon and will be broadcast live on USATF.TV. Abbott will return as the title partner of the event which features a $60,000 prize purse – the largest of any 5K race in the world.

The men’s field will be led by two-time Olympic medalist and eight-time national champion Paul Chelimo and Rio 2016 Olympic gold medalist and seven-time national champion Matthew Centrowitz. Chelimo, who won an Olympic 5,000-meter silver in 2016 and bronze in 2021, won the 2018 USATF 5K Championships in New York in a course-record time of 13:45. They will be challenged by 2021 national champions Eric Avila (mile), Sam Chelanga (10K), and Biya Simbassa (10 mile and 25K).

“I learned a lot in my experience racing in NYC at the Fifth Avenue Mile earlier this fall, but the 5K is my event, and as the course-record holder at the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K the way I see it, all these other guys are coming into my house,” Chelimo said. “I look forward to the challenge and will run my heart out for another USATF 5K title. Go hard or suffer for the rest of your life!”

Two-time NCAA champion Weini Kelati and two-time U.S. champion Erika Kemp will headline the women’s field. They will be joined by Rio 2016 Olympic triathlon gold medalist Gwen Jorgensen, who won the Dash to the Finish Line 5K in 2014, and two-time Olympian and Team New Balance athlete Kim Conley.

“Winning the 10K for Women in Boston earlier this month gave me a huge confidence boost as I get ready for the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K and USATF 5K Championships,” Kelati said. “That I broke Molly Huddle’s event record, who won the USA 5K Championships six times, makes me believe that I can compete against the very best and add my name to that list of national champions. I can’t wait to run my first New York City road race.”

Following in the footsteps of the professional athletes will be more than 7,000 runners participating in the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K, including top local athletes and many runners participating in the marathon the following day.

Abbott, the title sponsor of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, will be the sponsor of the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K for the fifth time. Abbott, a global healthcare company, helps people live fully with life-changing technology and celebrates what’s possible with good health.

The Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K annually provides TCS New York City Marathon supporters, friends and families the opportunity to join in on the thrill of marathon race week. The course begins on Manhattan’s east side by the United Nations, then takes runners along 42nd Street past historic Grand Central Terminal and up the world-famous Avenue of the Americas past Radio City Music Hall. It then passes through the rolling hills of Central Park before finishing at the iconic TCS New York City Marathon finish line.

The Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K and USATF 5K Championships will be broadcast live via USATF.TV. The broadcast is scheduled to begin at 8:20am ET with the first race starting at 8:30am ET.

About New York Road Runners (NYRR)

NYRR’s mission is to help and inspire people through running. Since 1958, New York Road Runners has grown from a local running club to the world’s premier community running organization. NYRR’s commitment to New York City’s five boroughs features races, virtual races, community events, free youth running initiatives and school programs, the NYRR RUNCENTER featuring the New Balance Run Hub, and training resources that provide hundreds of thousands of people each year with the motivation, know-how, and opportunity to Run for Life. NYRR’s premier event, and the largest marathon in the world, is the TCS New York City Marathon. Held annually on the first Sunday in November, the race features a wide population of runners, from the world’s top professional athletes to a vast range of competitive, recreational, and charity runners. To learn more, visit www.nyrr.org.

(10/29/2021) Views: 1,409 ⚡AMP
by Running USA

Olympians and Past Champions will Headline New Balance 5th Avenue Mile on Sunday

To close out their seasons, 15 Tokyo Olympians, three Olympic medalists, and two past event champions will race down Manhattan’s most famous thoroughfare in the professional athlete heats at the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile on Sunday, September 12.

The 40th running of the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile – the world’s most iconic road mile race since 1981 – stretches 20 blocks along the east side of Central Park. In addition to age-group heats, there will be an NYPD/FDNY heat taking place to mark the 20th anniversary weekend of 9/11, a Back to School Mile for youth ages 12-18, a George Sheehan Memorial Mile for seniors and NYRR Road Mile Championship heats.

“The New Balance 5th Avenue Mile is an iconic race which invites people of all ages and abilities to run down one of the most famous streets in New York City,” said Ted Metellus, Vice President of Events, NYRR and Race Director, TCS New York City Marathon. “This year will be incredibly exciting with a number of Olympians joining us after their top performances in Tokyo, and we are looking forward to showcasing the city’s resiliency and honoring the work of those participating in the FDNY/NYPD heat to mark 20 years since 9/11.” 

The NYRR Road Mile Championships and professional athlete races will be live streamed on USATF.TV free beginning at 11:35 a.m. ET, with a webcast replay for on-demand-viewing available on USATF.TV+.

Leading the way in the professional men’s race will be three-time U.S. Olympian Matthew Centrowitz who won Rio 2016 Olympic gold in the 1,500 meters and the 5th Avenue Mile in 2012, and two-time U.S. Olympian Paul Chelimo, who won bronze in Tokyo and silver in Rio in the 5,000 meters.

“I’m excited to return to New York for my sixth race down 5th Avenue, a race I first won nine years ago,” Centrowitz said. “Heading back East and ending my season there is like a great end-of-summer tradition, and I’m looking to show the rest of the guys I’ve still got a step or two left in 2021.”

“I’ve already run a 5K and half marathon in New York, so now I just need to check the mile and the marathon off my list,” Chelimo said. “Running a straight line down 5th Avenue is very different than running laps on a track, and I’ve got more road racing experience than the other guys in this field. I’m confident in my finish, so if I can keep it close through halfway, I think I can beat the milers at their own game. Go hard or suffer for the rest of your life."

Challenging them will be two-time U.S. Olympian and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist in the 800 meters Clayton Murphy, Olympian and 2018 event champion Jake Wightman, and Olympian and European Indoor Championships gold medalist Adel Mechaal.

A trio of other Americans to watch will be Tokyo Olympians Joe Klecker, Mason Ferlic, and Hilary Bor, with Ferlic racing the event for the third time and Klecker and Bor making their debuts in the event after competing in Tokyo earlier this year.

The professional women’s race will see a first-time winner, with top contenders including USATF Road Mile Championships runner-up Shannon Osika, British indoor record-holder and Olympian Jemma Reekie, and European Indoor Championships gold medalist Amy-Eloise Markovc.

About New York Road Runners (NYRR)

NYRR’s mission is to help and inspire people through running. Since 1958, New York Road Runners has grown from a local running club to the world’s premier community running organization. NYRR’s commitment to New York City’s five boroughs features races, virtual races, community events, free youth running initiatives and school programs, the NYRR RUNCENTER featuring the New Balance Run Hub, and training resources that provide hundreds of thousands of people each year with the motivation, know-how, and opportunity to Run for Life. NYRR’s premier event, and the largest marathon in the world, is the TCS New York City Marathon. Held annually on the first Sunday in November, the race features a wide population of runners, from the world’s top professional athletes to a vast range of competitive, recreational, and charity runners. To learn more, visit www.nyrr.org.

(09/08/2021) Views: 1,378 ⚡AMP
by Running USA

Jacob Ingebrigtsen and Karsten Warholm will attack European records in Lausanne

The Athletissima meeting in Lausanne on Thursday (Aug 26) is part of the Diamond League series. Perhaps the most intriguing event of the night, though, is an event that is not part of the Diamond League programme – the men’s 400m.

Karsten Warholm will enjoy a rare race on the flat with no barriers in his way. His target? Thomas Schönlebe’s long-standing European record of 44.33 which was set when the East German won the 1987 world title in Rome ahead of Innocent Egbunike of Nigeria and Butch Reynolds of the United States.

The mark has stood for 34 years. Warholm’s best time is 44.87 which dates back to 2017. However the 25-year-old Norwegian took down Kevin Young’s long-standing world 400m hurdles record earlier in Oslo this summer and then annihilated his own mark with a further improvement to 45.94 in the Olympic final in Tokyo this month.

What’s more, Warholm equalled Schönlebe’s European indoor 400m record of 45.05 in Glasgow in 2019. The omens are good and in Lausanne he faces a field that is led by Isaac Makwala – a 43.72 man who was seventh in the Olympic final.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen also has a European record in his sights – Mohammed Mourhit’s 3000m mark of 7:26.62 which was set 21 years ago in Monaco and one-year before he was suspended for using EPO. Ingebrigtsen ran 7:27.05 in Rome last year when he finished close behind Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo.

Kiplimo is again in the field on Thursday along with Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega of Ethiopia, Canadian Mohammed Ahmed, American Paul Chelimo, Australian Stewart McSweyn and Ethiopia’s Olympic steeplechase silver Lamecha Girma.

Andy Butchart, meanwhile, will be having a crack at Mo Farah’s UK record of 7:32.62 in what promises to be a fast race.

Fresh from her stunning 10.54 100m run in the Diamond League in Eugene on Saturday, Elaine Thompson-Herah travels back to Europe to race over the distance again. Her rivals include fellow Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, in-form Swiss sprinters Ajla Del Ponte and Mujinga Kambundji, Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast and Britain’s Daryll Neita.

The meeting actually kicks off with a city center high jump contest between Olympic medalist Mutaz Essa Barshim, Gianmarco Tamberi and Maksim Nedasekau on Wednesday (Aug 25) in Lausanne. It acts as a prelude to the main event on Thursday and will see a rematch of the men who famously shared gold in Tokyo.

Back in the stadium on Thursday, the field events see triple jump world record-holder Yulimar Rojas in action, as well as German javelin star Johannes Vetter and shot put giants Ryan Crouser, Joe Kovacs, Tom Walsh and Darlan Romani.

(08/24/2021) Views: 1,341 ⚡AMP
by Jason Henderson

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.

(08/14/2021) Views: 1,421 ⚡AMP
by World Athletics

World record holder Joshua Cheptegei wins 5000m gold for Uganda

Joshua Cheptegei added the Olympic 5000m title to his world record in a race which was just short of achieving a Games best time.

The Ugandan was forced to settle for silver in the 10,000m, but made amends by winning the shorter distance in 12:58.15, less than half a second slower than the Olympic record set by Kenenisa Bekele in 2008.

Cheptegei finished ahead of Canada's Mohammad Ahmed and American Paul Chelimo to succeed Mo Farah as champion.

Britain's Andy Butchart fell off the leading pack with around 1000m to go, finishing 11th.

Cheptegei, who revealed he had been struggling with a heel injury heading into the Games, made sure he was near the front of the field right from the start.

But he will be thankful to his team-mate Jacob Kiplimo, who did much of the heavy lifting early on, setting a pace which always looked like it would dip below 13 minutes.

It was easily the quickest 5000m Olympic final since Bekele’s victory in Beijing 13 years ago, and Cheptegei looked to ease to victory when he took full control on the final lap. Ahmed finished well, but never appeared likely to overhaul his rival.

The victory makes the Ugandan, whose world record stands at 12:35.36, an Olympic and world champion, adding to his 10,000m win at Doha 2019

(08/06/2021) Views: 1,310 ⚡AMP
by Richard Newman

130 athletes named on the team to represent the United States at the Tokyo Olympic Games

World outdoor record-holders Sydney McLaughlin, Ryan Crouser and Keni Harrison are among the 130 athletes named on the team to represent the United States at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

The squad includes 13 medalists from the 2016 Games in Rio and six defending world champions from Doha. Experienced headliners include five-time Olympians Allyson Felix in the 400m and Abdi Abdirahman in the marathon, while the youngest athlete on the team is 17-year-old Erriyon Knighton, who twice broke the world U20 200m record last month at the US Olympic Trials.

JuVaughn Harrison won both the long jump and high jump at the Trials in Eugene and he will be among the athletes contesting two events in Tokyo as he has been selected for both disciplines.

Other athletes announced on the team include world indoor 60m hurdles record-holder Grant Holloway, who was just 0.01 shy of breaking Aries Merritt’s world 110m hurdles record of 12.80 in Eugene, plus former world 400m hurdles record-holder Dalilah Muhammad, the second-fastest ever 200m sprinter Gabby Thomas and multiple global long jump gold medalist Brittney Reese.

USA team for Tokyo 

WOMEN

100m: Teahna Daniels, Javianne Oliver, Jenna Prandini

200m: Anavia  Battle, Jenna Prandini, Gabby Thomas

400m: Allyson Felix, Quanera Hayes, Wadeline Jonathas

800m: Athing Mu, Raevyn Rogers, Ajee' Wilson

1500m: Heather MacLean, Cory McGee, Elle Purrier

5000m: Elise Cranny, Rachel Schneider, Karissa Schweizer

10,000m: Alicia Monson, Karissa Schweizer, Emily Sisson

Marathon: Sally Kipyego, Molly Seidel, Aliphine Tuliamuk

3000m steeplechase: Emma Coburn, Val Constien, Courtney Frerichs

100m hurdles: Christina Clemons, Gabbi Cunningham, Keni Harrison

400m hurdles: Anna Cockrell, Sydney McLaughlin, Dalilah Muhammad

20km race walk: Robyn Stevens

High jump: Tynita Butts-Townsend, Vashti Cunningham, Rachel McCoy

Pole vault: Morgann LeLeux, Katie Nageotte, Sandi Morris

Long jump: Quanesha Burks, Tara Davis, Brittney Reese

Triple jump: Tori Franklin, Jasmine Moore, Keturah Orji

Shot put: Adelaide Aquilla, Jessica Ramsey, Raven Saunders

Discus: Valarie Allman, Kelsey Card, Rachel Dincoff

Hammer: Brooke Andersen, Gwen Berry, DeAnna Price

Javelin: Ariana Ince, Maggie Malone, Kara Winger

Heptathlon: Erica Bougard, Annie Kunz, Kendell Williams

4x100m: English Gardner, Aleia Hobbs, Gabby Thomas (plus others selected in individual events)

4x400m: Kendall Ellis, Lynna Irby, Kaylin Whitney (plus others selected in individual events)

MEN

100m: Ronnie Baker, Trayvon Bromell, Fred Kerley

200m: Kenny Bednarek, Erriyon Knighton, Noah Lyles

400m: Michael Cherry, Michael Norman, Randolph Ross

800m: Bryce Hoppel, Isaiah Jewett, Clayton Murphy

1500m: Matthew Centrowitz, Cole Hocker, Yared Nuguse

5000m: Paul Chelimo, Grant Fisher, Woody Kincaid

10,000m: Grant Fisher, Woody Kincaid, Joe Klecker

Marathon: Abdi Abdirahman, Jake Riley, Galen Rupp

3000m steeplechase: Hillary Bor, Mason Ferlic, Benard Keter

110m hurdles: Devon Allen, Grant Holloway, Daniel Roberts

400m hurdles: Rai Benjamin, David Kendziera, Kenny Selmon

20km race walk: Nick Christie

High jump: JuVaughn Harrison, Shelby McEwen, Darryl Sullivan

Pole vault: Sam Kendricks, KC Lightfoot, Chris Nilsen

Long jump: Marquis Dendy, JuVaughn Harrison, Steffin McCarter

Triple jump: Chris Benard, Will Claye, Donald Scott

Shot put: Ryan Crouser, Joe Kovacs, Payton Otterdahl

Discus: Mason Finley, Reggie Jagers, Sam Mattis

Hammer: Daniel Haugh, Rudy Winkler, Alex Young

Javelin: Michael Shuey, Curtis Thompson

Decathlon: Steven Bastien, Garrett Scantling, Zach Ziemek

4x100m: Kenny Bednarek, Cravon Gillespie, Micah Williams (plus others selected in individual events)

4x400m: Elija Godwin, Vernon Norwood, Trevor Stewart (plus others selected in individual events)

MIXED

4x400m: Shae Anderson, Bryce Deadmon, Wil London, Taylor Manson (plus others selected in individual events).

(07/07/2021) Views: 1,782 ⚡AMP
by World Athletics

McLaughlin smashes world 400m hurdles record in Eugene with 51.90 and other highlights

In a culture saturated by so many other sports, those in the USA fret about who can be the face of athletics.

Who can be featured on television news? Who can be a crossover figure like gymnast Simone Biles? Who can be a Carl Lewis or a Jackie Joyner-Kersee?

As the 10-day US Olympic Trials closed on Sunday night (27) in Eugene, Oregon, there was a deep reservoir of young candidates – none more so than Sydney McLaughlin. The 21-year-old became the first woman to break the 52-second barrier in the 400m hurdles.

Record temperatures approaching 44C delayed the programme by five hours, but there was no delaying the inevitable: McLaughlin was going to break the world record, and she did so with her time of 51.90.

“I definitely saw it coming,” said Dalilah Muhammad, the world and Olympic champion. “She looked so good in the rounds.”

McLaughlin’s time broke the record of 52.16 set by Muhammad at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019. McLaughlin, second in that race in 52.23, pulled away from Muhammad over the final two hurdles in Eugene.

Even with 2020 lost to the pandemic, the world record has been broken three times in 23 months – twice by Muhammad, once by McLaughlin.

That was the highlight of another historic day of young record-breakers. The trials ended with 11 world-leading marks, five by men and six by women.

Athing Mu, 19, set a trials record in the 800m; Cole Hocker, 20, became the youngest men’s 1500m champion in 110 years; JuVaughn Harrison, 22, became the first to make the US team in the high jump and long jump since Jim Thorpe in 1912; Noah Lyles, 23, ran a world-leading 200m, and Erriyon Knighton, 17, again lowered the world U20 record in the 200m.

McLaughlin has been projected as the sport’s face in the United States since she made an Olympic team at age 16. After one college season at Kentucky, she turned professional.

“I was growing into my own person,” she said. “My faith is the biggest change. Trusting God and knowing He will carry me through.”

Her record-setting might not be over. Not only could McLaughlin lower her world record at the Tokyo Olympics, she should be named to the 4x400m relay team that could set one – though that mark (3:15.17) is arguably a much bigger ask.

McLaughlin trains in Los Angeles under Bobby Kersee, who also coached Joyner-Kersee.

“Bobby knows how to put things together when the time comes,” McLaughlin said.

Muhammad, who over the past 12 months has had to contend with injuries and a bout of Covid-19, finished second in 52.42, the third-fastest time of her career. NCAA champion Anna Cockrell took the third spot in 53.70, nearly a full second faster than her previous PB, in beating Shamier Little (53.85). Olympic bronze medallist Ashley Spencer stumbled over an early hurdle and finished seventh.

Likely to join McLaughlin in that 4x400m team is Mu, considering earlier this month she set a collegiate record of 49.57 – faster than the winning mark at the USA Trials.

Mu ran a world-leading 1:56.07 to win the 800m, breaking her own North American U20 record. World silver medallist Raevyn Rogers was second in a PB of 1:57.66 and US record-holder Ajee Wilson third in 1:58.39. Not until late did Wilson overtake Michaela Meyer, who was fourth in 1:58.55.

Mu sat in the pack for the first lap, passing through 200m in 27.54 and 400m in a swift 57.53. She then made her move on the second lap, positioning herself at the front with 200 metres to go. She kicked hard as she came off the final bend and, having covered the final lap in 58.54, crossed the line almost two seconds ahead of her nearest opponent.

In the men's 1500m, Hocker was in sixth place with about 150 metres left but used a closing rush to overtake Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz, 3:35.28 to 3:35.34.

Yared Nuguse, 22, was third in 3:36.19, overtaking the most recent national champion, Craig Engels, who is also this year’s fastest US man (3:33.64).

Hocker put a finger to his lips past the finish as if to shush critics. An “in-the-moment thing”, he said.

“Last year I wasn’t at this level. I was nowhere near this level,” he said. “This whole year, I felt like I was proving myself to the world, but also proving my talent to myself. There’s a lot of negative talk out there, and I wanted to silence everyone.”

Hocker has not met the 3:35 Olympic standard but has a world ranking that looks sufficient to secure his spot on the US team.

He is the youngest US Olympian in the men’s 1500m since Marty Liquori, then 19, in 1968. And he is the youngest national champion in the men’s 1500 or mile since 1911, when Abel Kiviat won a few days after turning 19.

Hocker has run 23 races since 29 January. Thirteen were PBs. Of the 10 others, eight were prelims and one an NCAA indoor title.

“I’m impressed that he’s been able to do that since January and is showing no signs of letting up,” said Centrowitz.

Harrison won the high jump at 2.33m, beating Darryl Sullivan on countback. Olympic medallist Erik Kynard was fourth.

The delay allowed Harrison more rest for the long jump, in which he jumped a PB of 8.47m, completing the best ever one-day jumps double.

“It just gave my legs more time to recover and gave me a chance to eat something,” Harrison said. “I was ready to go earlier, even though they said it was too hot.”

Marquis Dendy, the 2016 world indoor champion, was second at 8.38m and Steffin McCarter third with 8.26m. Olympic champion Jeff Henderson was sixth with 8.08m, meaning he won’t defend his title in Tokyo.

In a competition that showcased newcomers, it was appropriate that the last athlete to secure an Olympic berth was Knighton. He is the youngest man on the US team since Jim Ryun in 1964.

World champion Lyles won the 200m in a world-leading 19.74, followed by Kenny Bednarek, 19.78, and Knighton, 19.84. Knighton broke his own world U20 record of 19.88 from Saturday’s semifinals. He set a world U18 record of 20.04 in Friday’s first round, then twice broke that.

Lyles was fourth in the 200m at the 2016 trials as an 18-year-old.

“Ever since then, the mind-set of being an Olympian has been on my mind,” said Lyles. “Having the pause on 2020 has probably been my hardest yet. I don’t think anyone can prepare you for the lion you have to slay at the Olympic Trials.”

In the heptathlon, the year’s top three scores were posted by Annie Kunz (6703), Kendall Williams (6683) and Erica Bougard (6667). Kunz, whose previous best was 6153, did not have the Olympic standard until this week.

Kunz broke or was close to her PBs in all seven disciplines. She started with a marginally wind-assisted 12.95 in the 100m hurdles and followed it with 1.81m in the high jump, an outdoor PB. She then threw 15.73m in the shot put, which moved her into the lead overall – a position she maintained after clocking a PB of 23.71 in the 200m to end the first day at the top of the leader board.

She started the second day with a huge PB of 6.50m in the long jump, but briefly relinquished her lead after the javelin (45.06m). Kendell Williams, who ended the first day in third place, was having a strong second day with marks of 6.73m in the long jump and 47.41m in the javelin. It meant Williams went into the final event with a two-point lead over Kunz.

But Kunz ensured she stayed ahead of Williams in the 800m, eventually clocking 2:15.24 to retake the lead with a score of 6703, moving to fifth on the US all-time list. Williams, who finished second with a PB of 6683, is now sixth on that list.

Taliyah Brooks, in fourth place through five events, had to withdraw because of the heat.

“I have grown immensely since 2019,” said Kunz, who finished 13th at the 2019 World Championships. “It feels like the sky’s the limit now.”

The men’s 5000m, held in the morning to escape the worst of the heat, was won by Olympic silver medallist Paul Chelimo. He gradually veered from the rail to inside of lane four to force out Bowerman Track Club’s Grant Fisher and Woody Kincaid.

Chelimo was first in 13:26.82, followed by Fisher (13:27.01) and Kincaid (13:27.13). Their respective closing laps were 52.83, 52.99 and 52.74. Cooper Teare was fourth in 13:28.08 off a 53.97 last lap.

Fisher and Kincaid became the first pair to finish in the top three of 5000m and 10,000m at the same US Trials. Qualifying in both had been done previously, but never two at the same trials.

(06/28/2021) Views: 1,148 ⚡AMP
by World Athletics

World record-holders will headline a stunning cast of athletic talent for the 60th edition of the Golden Spike in Ostrava

Paul Chelimo, Joshua Cheptegei, Genzebe Dibaba, Barbora Spotakova and Anita Wlodarczyk have all gone where no other athlete in history has, while with his indoor world record of 18.07m earlier this year, Hugues Fabrice Zango showed he has the potential to one day surpass Jonathan Edwards’ triple jump world record of 18.29m.

With 1500 fans allowed in the stadium, every set of eyes will be trained on Cheptegei when he takes to the track for the men’s 3000m, the final event on the programme. Edged by Duplantis for Male World Athlete of the Year in 2020, the Ugandan 24-year-old has been untouchable on the track since 2019, setting world records at 5000m and 10,000m.

Cheptegei’s current best for 3000m is 7:33.26, but the enlisting of Australia’s Stewart McSweyn – a 7:28 man – as pacemaker suggests the Ugandan is ready to take a massive chunk off that. If conditions are favourable, he looks primed to challenge Daniel Komen’s 3000m world record of 7:20.67, which has stood for 25 years. The world 10,000m champion sharpened his speed last month with a 3:37.36 1500m PB at altitude in Kampala. Olympic 5000m silver medallist Paul Chelimo is likely to be his closest pursuer.

Elsewhere in the distance events, world half marathon champion Jacob Kiplimo will open his season over 10,000m where it seems the 20-year-old Ugandan’s personal best of 27:26.68 is due for serious revision. In the men’s 3000m steeplechase, 2019 Diamond League champion Getnet Wale of Ethiopia will be looking to improve on his best of 8:05.21, having clocked a blazing 7:24.98 for 3000m indoors back in February.

Poland’s world bronze medalist Marcin Lewandowski takes on Ugandan record-holder Ronald Musagala in the men's 1500m. European Indoor 800m champion Patryk Dobek will race the two-lap distance in Ostrava, and the Pole remains undecided between the 800m and the 400m hurdles for the Tokyo Olympics. He should get a good indicator of his medal chances at the longer distance on Wednesday as he takes on seasoned veterans Adam Kszczot and Amel Tuka.

Genzebe Dibaba is the star attraction in the women’s 1500m, her first outing at the distance in which she holds the world record since August 2019. The Ethiopian made an eye-catching half marathon debut last December when clocking 1:05:18 in Valencia, but she failed to finish on her only outing since, an indoor 3000m in February. Uganda’s Winnie Nanyondo should be her biggest rival. In the women’s 800m, European indoor champion Keely Hodgkinson should be tough to beat.

Richardson takes on Schippers and Okagbare

In the sprints, the women’s 200m will take top billing, with fans eager to see what Sha’Carri Richardson can produce after her red-hot form in recent weeks. The 21-year-old US sprinter clocked wind-legal 100m times of 10.72, 10.74 and 10.77 already this season and she seems primed to dip below 22 seconds over 200m for the first time. Also in the field is two-time world champion Dafne Schippers and Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare.

Olympic 100m bronze medallist Andre De Grasse will face 2004 Olympic champion Justin Gatlin in the men’s 100m and while both have edged below 10 seconds this year, they will have it all to do to beat 400m specialist Fred Kerley, who clocked 9.91 (2.0m/s) in Miami last month.

Kerley is also slated for the 200m, which takes place 80 minutes after the 100m. In the latter, Kenny Bednarek should prove tough to beat, having run 19.94 behind Noah Lyles at the USATF Golden Games recently.

In the men’s 400m, 2012 Olympic champion Kirani James will be looking to return to his best as the clock counts down towards the Tokyo Games. The Grenadian opened his season with a 44.88-second clocking in Phoenix, USA, last month, though Vernon Norwood is the quickest in the field this year with his 44.64.

Olympic bronze medallist Yasmani Copello headlines the men’s 400m hurdles, while Denmark’s Sara Slott Petersen is the quickest on paper in the women’s event.

(05/17/2021) Views: 1,239 ⚡AMP
by World Athletics

Paul Chelimo is chasing the American indoor 5,000m record this Thursday

If the Olympic silver medalist Paul Chelimo accomplishes his goal, he stands to be the first American man to run under 13 minutes in the indoor 5,000m.

The track meet is being staged by the American Distance Project with strict COVID-19 mitigation protocols, which means there will be no spectators, coaches or competitors outside the American Distance Project’s training group bubble.

The race is being held with the goal of chasing the Olympic and U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying time, as well as Galen Rupp’s seven-year-old indoor record of 13:01.26.

According to a press release on LetsRun.com, the meet will consist of just a 5,000m and a 10,000m race for both men and women, and will be held on Virginia’s new 200-metre hydraulically banked indoor track.

Athletes will also be using the Light Speed Pacing System, which is a wireless LED pacing that assists runners with setting target paces. Other athletes in the impressive field include Leonard Korir (13:15.45), and NCAA Champions Lawi Lalang (13:00.95 outdoor) and Anthony Rotich (13:31.95), among others.

Chelimo is currently ranked sixth in the world in the men’s outdoor 5,000m and owns a PB of 12:57.55, which he set in 2018. Should he achieve his goal of breaking Rupp’s indoor 5,000m American record, that will put him in the top 10 in the world at the indoor event, along with world record-holder Kenenisa Bekele (who ran 12:49.6 in 2004), Haile Gebrselassie (12:50.38 from 1999) and four other men who have run under 13 minutes in the indoor 5,000m.

In order to run under 13 minutes, Chelimo’s pace will have to be less than 2:36 per kilometre, or 31 seconds per lap of the indoor track. With that in mind, the American record is certainly a lofty goal, but Chelimo must be in good shape if he’s planning on going after it.

In a short season that has been packed with incredible performances, this would be yet another record to add to the books, and the eyes of the track world will certainly be watching on Thursday to see if Chelimo gets the job done.

(03/03/2021) Views: 1,283 ⚡AMP
by Brittany Hambleton

Kenyan Daniel Simiu and Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw imposed their rhythm in the San Silvestre Vallecana event

Kenyan athlete Daniel Simiu and Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw were proclaimed winners of the 56th edition of the Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana on Thursday, after dominating their respective races with authority.

The athletic event with which Madrid says goodbye to the year 2020 surely missed the 'magic' of its usual route and seeing how the streets are flooded with runners for the popular test, and the spectators who approached the Ensache de Vallecas did not witness the usual spectacle of a San Silvestre marked by the wind and by the great dominance of its two winners.

In the men's event, from the beginning, the small group of candidates for victory was formed and to which the rest of the participants could hardly get close, with the Spanish-Moroccan veteran Ayad Lamdassen setting the pace from the beginning and with Ebenyo , the American Paul Chelimo, the Dutch Mike Foppen, the Burundian Thierry Ndikumwenayo and the Spanish Ouassim Ouaziz.

All eyes were focused on Chelimo, but it was Simiu who made the move that dictated the future of the event. The Kenyan was brave and changed pace on the third lap to open a gap that would already be impossible for his rivals.

Simiu, who had a personal best of 27:18 last September in Berlin, did not slacken and took advantage of his tactic. The African gradually opened the distance with the rest and was able to win comfortably with a record of 27:41.

On the other hand, in the women's race, there was a bit more emotion, mainly because the two indicated as favorites, the Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich and the young Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw Densa, fought a beautiful heads up.

However, Densa, who had already beaten Chepntegich in the New Delhi Half Marathon, was again stronger than her rival with an acceleration in the third lap against which the Kenyan could do nothing.

The Ethiopian went solo and won with a time of 31:17, ostensibly improving her personal distance record (31:55) and condemning Chepntengich, who reached more than half a minute, again to second place in the vallecana race. The podium was completed by the French Alessia Zarbo, one place ahead of the best Spanish, Carolina Robles.

(01/02/2021) Views: 1,403 ⚡AMP

Paul Chelimo, is set to compete for the title at San Silvestre Vallecana

Paul Chelimo, the Olympic runner-up in Rio of the 5,000 meters can become the first athlete 'made in the USA' to win the Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana.

Chelimo also has the challenge of beating the American record for 10K -27: 48 , the same as Toni Abadía's in Spain - shared by Bernard Lagat and Mark Nenow . If he arrives in good shape, in a season in which he has hardly run a cross after the outbreak of the pandemic, he should be in a position to do so.

Among his great rivals we can mention the Israeli of Ethiopian origin Maru Teferi , triple national record holder of his adopted country in the distances 10K, half marathon and marathon, and the Kenyan Daniel Simiu Ebenyo , athlete with little pedigree but who arrives endorsed by the 27 : 18 who signed at the 10K Invitational in Berlin at the end of September.

Burundian Thierry Ndikumwenayo , ninth in the Cross World Championship in 2019 and an old acquaintance of cross-country events in national territory, arrives with 28:18 as the best 10K mark and closes the list of candidates for victory, always with the permission of the great Spanish figures.

Much national brilliance

Speaking of Spaniards, the national media, as usual, will not miss the appointment. Kevin López, Jesús Gómez and Ignacio Fontes arrive endorsed by their great season in the 1,500 and promise to fight.

The Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana is also fertile ground for surprises. From León comes Jorge Blanco , who arrives at the classic on December 31 with a mark achieved in the 10K in Alcobendas, 27:51, second behind Fernando Carro in that race.

Among the specialists in obstacles, the triple champion of Spain of 3,000 meters, Sebas Martos, will seek to rediscover his best feelings after a fateful season in which he has not been at his best. In front of him, the Burgos Daniel Arce, current runner-up of

Among the specialists in obstacles, the triple champion of Spain of 3,000 meters, Sebas Martos, will seek to rediscover his best feelings after a fateful season in which he has not been at his best. In front of him, the Burgos Daniel Arce, current runner-up of

Among the specialists in obstacles, the triple champion of Spain of 3,000 meters, Sebas Martos , will seek to rediscover his best feelings after a fateful season in which he has not been at his best. In front of him, the Burgos Daniel Arce , current runner-up of the discipline in the Madrid nationals.

This dream cast is completed by Absessamad Oukhelfen , current champion of Spain of 5,000 meters in the open air; Jesús Ramos , ninth in the last Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana and with a mark of 27:56 in 10K en route; the two-time Spanish half-marathon champion Houssame Benabbou and the national 3,000-meter indoor champion, Mohamed Katir .

(12/30/2020) Views: 1,425 ⚡AMP
by Thomas Campos

Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw and Kenya’s Daniel Simiu poised to strike in Madrid

The 56th edition of the San Silvestre Vallecana will be held, as is tradition, on New Year’s Eve in Madrid, but this year there have been some significant changes to the World Athletics Gold Label road race.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, organisers have been forced to design a new circuit and so the race won’t start alongside Real Madrid’s famous Santiago Bernabeu stadium, nor will it finish in the stadium of another Spanish first division football club, Rayo Vallecano. Instead, competitors will have to cover four laps of a flat 2.5km circuit, meaning – unlike previous years when the race was held on a slightly downhill course – performances will be record-eligible.

The mass race, which often attracts about 40,000 runners, has been cancelled and only the elite contests will be held with separate starts for men and women.

The showdown between Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw and Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich in the women’s race promises to be one of the highlights of the evening.

Yehualaw is in the form of her life. After taking bronze at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020, the 21-year-old Ethiopian stormed to a 1:04:46 victory over the same distance in New Delhi in late November, beating Chepngetich in the process. Yehualaw now sits second on the world all-time list behind compatriot Ababel Yeshaneh, while Chepngetich, the world marathon champion, emerged from New Delhi with a lifetime best of 1:05:06.

Yehualaw’s fastest clocking in a standalone 10km race is 31:55, recorded more than a year ago at altitude in Addis Ababa. It’s worth noting, however, that she recorded 30:49 and 30:43 for the two 10km sections in New Delhi.

Chepngetich, meanwhile, has an official PB of 31:12 and she recorded 30:57 on Madrid’s downhill course last year. She, too, passed through the first 10km in New Delhi in 30:49.

Ethiopia’s Likina Amebaw, a 32:55 performer over 10km, is expected to battle with top Spaniards Lucía Rodríguez and Irene Sánchez-Escribano in the hunt for a place on the podium.

The men’s race features Olympic 5000m silver medallist Paul Chelimo. Having finished fourth and second at the World Athletics Cross Country Permit meetings in Elgoibar and Seville respectively in January, the 30-year-old US distance runner will compete in Spain for the third time this year.

His most recent outing was a cross-country race in November in Terre Haute where he finished second. His last completed race before that was the 3000m at the US Indoor Championships, which he won. Chelimo’s main aim in Madrid will be to break the US 10km record of 27:48, co-held by Bernard Lagat and Mark Nenow. The continental record of 27:41, held by Mexico’s Arturo Barrios, could also be within his sights.

Kenya’s Daniel Simiu Ebenyo appears to be the most in-form athlete heading into the race. The 25-year-old set a big 10km PB of 27:18 in Berlin in September to move to fourth on this season’s list.

Burundi’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo, who finished ninth at the 2019 World Cross in Aarhus, is also one to watch. He has recently enjoyed a one-month training stint in Tenerife in the company of Italian 3000m and 5000m record-holder Yemaneberhan Crippa.

Many of the top Spaniards will be in Madrid, headed by Ouassim Oumaiz, Toni Abadía, Javier Guerra, Fernando Carro, Ayad Lamdassem and Yago Rojo. Oumaiz improved to 13:13.14 over 5000m this summer, Abadía holds the national 10km record at 27:48, Guerra is fresh from a 1:01:21 PB at the Valencia Half Marathon, European steeplechase silver medallist Carro clocked 27:46 last month at a downhill event in Alcobendas, 39-year-old Lamdassem is the newly-minted Spanish marathon record-holder with a 2:06:35 clocking in Valencia, and Rojo is a newcomer to the elite, having run under 2:10 on his marathon debut earlier this month.

(12/30/2020) Views: 1,541 ⚡AMP
by World Athletics

MASON FERLIC OUTKICKS PAUL CHELIMO TO WIN MEN'S 8-KILOMETER RACE AT XC TOWN USA MEET OF CHAMPIONS

Mason Ferlic, the 2016 NCAA Division 1 3,000-meter steeplechase champion and an assistant coach at the University of Michigan, pulled off a huge upset in raw, wet conditions in the men's elite/college/open 8-kilometer race Saturday at the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Championshipship Course in Indiana. 

Ferlic and his long strides pulled away from 2016 Olympic 5,000-meter silver medalist Paul Chelimo over the final 1,000 meters to earn an impressive victory at the XC Town USA Meet of Champions, presented by the Garrett Companies. 

Ferlic and Michigan State runner Morgan Beadlescomb clung to Chelimo, while a large pack assembled behind them. 

"That was a fun race," Ferlic said. "Morgan, Paul and I were duking it out since pretty much the first half mile. (I) felt really strong today. Paul was throwing in some surges early. I kind of expected that. It's his racing style. I just stayed patient, absorbed that and realized the guys were hurting a little bit more than I was, and opened it up and put the hammer down with about a K to go."

Although Beadlescomb led Michigan State to the team victory, with the group competing as Go Green placing five athletes in the top 32 to score 27 points, several Wisconsin individuals racing unattached had a strong performance behind the top trio, with Jack Meijer (23:54.6), Jackson Sharp (23:54.8), Shuaib Aljabaly (23:56.8) and Olin Hacker (23:57.8) finishing fourth through seventh overall.

The women's 6-kilometer race that began the two-day event featured a dramatic kick to the finis

Amy-Eloise Markovc, a former University of Washington star, surged past Huntington University (NAIA) sophomore Emma Wilson to win in 20:17.3. Wilson was second in 20:18.7.

"Honestly, it's just a really nice boost of confidence," said, Markovc, who competed in her first event since running a 5,000-meter race Aug. 22 at the Sound Running Sunset Tour in Lake Balboa, Calif.

"We're really just in fall training right now, which includes a lot of mileage and tempos and fartleks and that sort of thing, so we're not really focusing on speed. It was really nice and comforting to see that strength come through, and just knowing that my consistency over the past couple of years has really paid off."

Four years ago on the same course, Markovc placed eighth in the 2016 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Wilson also placed eighth for Greencastle High in the Indiana state final at LaVern Gibson that same fall.

The following year, Markovc took second at the 2017 Division 1 championship meet at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park in Louisville, and Wilson won the first of her two Indiana state titles at LaVern Gibson.

Michigan sophomore Ericka VanderLende, who took 25th to earn All-America honors at last year's Division 1 final at LaVern Gibson, was third Saturday in 20:28.8. Michigan State junior Jenna Magness, 46th last season at the NCAA Championships, finished fourth in 20:34.1 and Indiana senior Kelsey Harris rebounded from placing 196th at last year's Division 1 final to secure fifth in 20:42, followed by teammate Sarah Schmitt (20:53.4) in sixth after she secured 58th place at the NCAA final.

Wisconsin, competing as B1G Mack, had five athletes place in the top 30 overall to win the team competition. Lucinda Crouch led the way for the Badgers by finishing seventh in 20:58.2. Crouch took 96th at last year's Division 1 championship race. 

Concerns over the Coronavirus appeared to take some toll on the fields. Of the 112 women entered late in the week, 92 finished the race. In the men's race, 154 finished out of 178 names on the start list. Both races were populated by open competitors and college athletes running unattached.

Ferlic's kick drove him to a 10-second victory (23:43.4) over Chelimo (23:53.3), Beadlescomb (23:54.3) and four athletes from Wisconsin who broke 24 minutes. 

(11/15/2020) Views: 889 ⚡AMP

Paul Chelimo is set to race at XC Town USA Meet of Champions in Terre Haute on Nov 14

Paul Chelimo, who thrilled American distance running fans with his silver medal-winning performance in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games 5,000-meter run, has been confirmed as one of the top entries for the Men’s Elite 8K field at the XC Town USA Meet of Champions, Presented by The Garrett Companies, Nov. 14-15 at LaVern Gibson Championship XC Course in Terre Haute, Ind.

Chelimo, who competes for Nike and is based in Colorado Springs, also was the meet-record-setting victor in the USATF Men’s 5,000m at the 2017 USATF Championships, then followed that with a bronze-medal finish at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London. He was the top-ranked USA 5,000m runner each year from 2016-19 (Track & Field News) – world-ranking in the top 4 for three of those years – and has clocked PRs of 12:57.55 for 5,000m and 27:43.89 for 10,000m on the track.

The Men’s Elite/College/Open 8K race will take place Saturday, November 14 at 11:15am at LaVern Gibson. It’s the second of the two races of the meet that will take place Saturday, with the Women’s Elite/College/Open 6k race starting the day at 10:30am. A full day of competition follows on Sunday, starting with the Middle School races and finishing with the Boys and Girls High School Championship races.

“Obviously, we are thrilled to have Paul Chelimo compete in the Men’s Elite/College/Open Race in our meet,” said NSAF Executive Director Jim Spier. “As one of the world’s best distance runners, his presence elevates an already great event.”

(11/02/2020) Views: 15,894 ⚡AMP
by Steve Underwood

Paul Chelimo: “Go Hard Or Suffer The Rest Of Your Life”

THE WILD CARD of the U.S. distance scene? That would be Paul Chelimo. He’s unpredictable on the track: witness his blistering 57-second opening at last year’s USATF 5000, his brutal pace for half the race, then a switch to slowish sit-and-kick tactics for the second half of what turned out to be a runner-up performance.

Chelimo can also be unpredictable—as well as funny—off the track. He had plenty of people going this spring with his social media demonstration of how to use a bathtub as a treadmill.

Then there’s his April training account via Twitter: “I drank liquid bleach and went for a tempo run, now I’m seated somewhere on the trail breathing fire… KABOMMMM!!!”

In jest? Of course. Much of the time that’s how the 29-year-old Chelimo operates. But he’s dead serious about where he’s going in this sport. It shows in his oft-repeated mantra: “Go hard or suffer the rest of your life.”

He tells us, “I’m not a perfectionist, but I like being close to perfection in everything I try to do. If I feel like I’m tying up in a workout or in a race, if I don’t go hard, then I’m definitely going to suffer. If I don’t go hard at the Olympics next year, it’s going to be tough for the sponsors to believe in me.”

Still, he has to laugh often, he says, because “I have funny things going on.” He describes one workout that happened the day after he raced at one of Winston-Salem’s Camel City events:

“I went for a long run and it was pouring rain that day, it was crazy. Luckily, I can swim, you know? I ran from the hotel because I missed the shuttle. I was running to where we usually begin our long runs. I got to like, mile 2, and I figured out, ‘Wow, there’s a reason why this year they said they were going with a shuttle.’ It turns out that where we used to cross the water, there was a lot of water, and nothing like a bridge.

“I couldn’t even jump; over the years we used to just jump over the water. And I was like, ‘Man, I’m not going to miss a long run today.’ Because if I decided to go back, that would mean I’m not going to do the long run. And by the side I saw a tree that fell across the water. And I figured I can just jump on this tree and cross. Trust me, it wasn’t a good idea.

“The next thing I saw was just red—it was dirty water. I fell in the water. My whole body. It’s a good thing I can swim. It was like 10-feet deep. I had headphones on and long-run gear and I was drowned, I was drained. I just crossed through and kept going. I met the guys and they were like, ‘How did you get here? Why are you sweating like this?’ I told them what happened and they started laughing at me. They were like, ‘Man, you’re crazy!’ When I am running, there’s a lot of stories happening.”

Chelimo always has been an interesting story himself. He came to the U.S. from Kenya 10 years ago as a recruit for NAIA school Shorter in Arkansas. After winning several national titles, he transferred to UNC Greensboro, where he was twice a runner-up in the NCAA 5000.

In ’14 he entered the Army’s World Class Athletic Program where he found an accelerated path to U.S. citizenship and started to emerge as world class. Two years later his 3rd in the Trials 5000 led to his impressive silver medal performance in Rio, with a then-PR 13:03.90. He landed on the podium again at the London Worlds with his bronze. In ’18, he ran his lifetime best 12:57.55, a mark that makes him the No. 4 American ever.

Last season, however, he didn’t run as well as he had hoped. No longer in the Army, he was competing for Nike but still working with WCAP coach Scott Simmons.

“It was a different thing,” he says, noting that the biggest change came when his wife, Brenda, gave birth to their daughter, Arianna, at the end of ’18. “She has to eat, she has to dress well, she has to get some nice stories, she has to go to school. I had to step up and properly care for my daughter.”

Arianna makes her appearance in the interview, running to her father but tumbling en route and erupting in tears. “She fell down, but she’s OK,” assures Chelimo. “When she sees me, every time she wants all the attention.” He adds, “But definitely, I was able to pick up fitness as the season went by.”

That led him to Doha, where everything went perfectly in the 5000 final, until it didn’t. “I really don’t know what happened to me,” he explains. “When we got to 400 to go, I felt like, ‘Yeah, I think I’ve got the gold this time.’ And just after that, at 300 to go, my legs started tying up; 200 to go I’m in 3rd place and I can’t even move anymore. I mean, [normally] no one can match me in the last 200m.”

Instead, he struggled to 7th in 13:04.60, more than 3 seconds away from a podium spot. “It told me I have an issue with strength,” he says. “If it gets to the point where my legs just give up, it’s time to do it a different way.” So he and Simmons revamped his training to focus on that deficit.

With almost no races this season—2 XC meets in January, 2 indoor affairs in February—Chelimo got frustrated at first, tweeting in May, “Someone find me a race before I lose my mind.” He included a photo of plants growing in his spikes.

“It got to a point.” He acknowledges the frustration, but says he got past it: “I just made up my mind. It doesn’t do any good stressing about racing. The only thing is to stay positive. When you panic, bad things happen. When I stay consistent, that’s the best thing. And trust me, I never, never go to the starting line unless I am really ready to run a race.”

His only “competition” of 2020 after winning the USATF Indoor 3000 was, yes, a triathlon of sorts, where he and his training partners battled in the long jump, shot and discus. For the record, he probably won’t be lured away from the distances after hitting PRs of 13-9½ (4.20) for the long jump, 23-8¾ (7.23) for the shot and 55-9¼ (17.00) for the discus. 

He explains that the impromptu field event competition followed a 20M (32K) long run at 9500ft (2895m) of altitude. “I’m a very competitive guy. It was good for me mentally. At first I thought it was going to be easy. When you’re on the runway, you think you’re going to jump really far, but then once you’re in the air, you start worrying about getting injured and breaking your leg.”

He says that if ’21 goes according to plan, he hopes to hit the Olympic 10K standard of 27:28.00 in the early season and tackle both of the long track races at the OT: “I’ll definitely double. The 5K comes first, which is perfect for me, because the 10K is not my main goal.”

Recall that in May ’19 he ran his first 10,000 in 8 years, scoring a PR 27:43.89 in Stockholm. That came two months after his debut half-marathon (62:19) in New York.

“At this point, I’m trying to move up in distance,” he says. “A few years down the line, I might be dropping into marathons, that is my big goal. I mean, in 2028 in LA, I’m going to be in the marathon hopefully.”

Chelimo sums up his career ambition by saying that for him, medals mean much more than records. “I feel like I was built for championship races. I have a tough mentality. It wouldn’t do me any good to break the American Record and not medal at the Olympics. My big goal is I want to peak really well for the Olympic Games. I don’t want to get distracted.

“I want to be smart and I want to be patient.”

 

(09/27/2020) Views: 1,415 ⚡AMP
by Track and Field News

Paul Chelimo says that he is willing to die in a race

United States Olympic 5,000m silver medallist Paul Chelimo was the guest on last week’s LetsRun.com Track Talk podcast and he had a lot of interesting things to say about his career, running fast, his goals, doping in Kenya, racism in America, his daughter, his rivalry with Lopez Lomong, and a lot more.

As a teenager in Kenya, Chelimo ran a tryout race in the hopes of earning a scholarship to come to the United States. Though Chelimo ran poorly, he still made it to the States, and the rest is history. He arrived at NAIA Shorter (Ga.) University with $450 to his name. He’d move on to UNC Greensboro and become a two-time NCAA runner-up, but then joined the Army thinking his running career may be over. Fortunately for Chelimo, he was accepted into the Army World Class Athlete Program and in 2016 he burst onto the professional scene in the biggest way possible, ending up with an Olympic silver in the 5,000m in Rio.

Chelimo revealed two factual things of note we had not heard before. First, he said his ultimate goal is to run the Los Angeles Olympic marathon in 2028.

And he revealed that he missed two out-of-competition drug tests when he was first put into the anti-doping pool after bursting onto the scene in 2016. He said he was unfamiliar with the whereabouts system and how it worked so he missed two tests. “Since then I was so strict, because I knew if I just missed the last one, the third one, it’s gonna be a huge mess,” he said, explaining that a lack of familiarity with the system may be why runners in Kenya are now getting whereabouts failures of their own.

More highlights from Chelimo’s comments below. You can click on the timestamps to listen to them.

[60:06] On what he thinks of Moh Ahmed running 12:47 for 5,000m and Lopez Lomong going sub-13:00 and whether that makes him scared or confident:

“I never get scared. As long as we start from the same starting line in a race, and we finish at the same finishing line in a race [it] really, really doesn’t scare me…

“Usually they say it’s the lion that is smart that strikes the meat. My goal is, it’s towards the Olympics…

“If you’re going to show up and run really fast, and try to frustrate me or frustrate anyone else, I really don’t care. I have a strong mind…. I know they can run fast now. They can pace me. I don’t have to pace them anymore… So it’s good. It’s good for the sport, actually.”

On whether his rivalry with Lomong is overstated:

[62:37] “You know, it gets to a point like when someone is becoming dominant. It’s time someone else tries to break that dominance and I see Lopez Lomong try[ing] break the dominance that I’ve had in the 5K and I like it. I like challenges and Lopez Lomong is very competitive. We’re going to show up and we’re going to race and whoever wins is a champion that day.”

Chelimo says his ultimate goal is running the Olympic marathon in LA 2028, so that makes it easy to avoid taking the shortcut of doping.

[63:41] “Eventually the big goal is to get to LA 2028 in the marathon, think about me being in the LA 2028 marathon. It’s gonna be big. So I just want to keep going and keep going to when I get there.  I just want to have a long career. That’s that’s what my big goal is and I just don’t want to be greedy and that’s why I don’t support the drug cheats because I know the more patient you are, the more you get. I know like if I cheat today, yeah, I’ll make a lot of money. But what happens if I get busted? I stay out of running for four years…. And it’s so easy in track and field to be so greedy. It’s so easy to be greedy, especially when people are smoking you in races. It’s so easy to be greedy and try take the shortcuts but let them… I’m happy with what the anti-doping [authorities] are doing and everything because people are getting busted. Which shows it’s working.”

On being willing to die in a race:

[89:19] “Really, it’s all about life. I just have to put food on my table. I just have to hustle hard and I just have to make a living. People hate, they don’t know what I’ve been through…  I ran a 5k on a dirt track in Kenya. I ran like eight laps. And I got kicked out of the track because I got lapped in a 5k, running barefoot. And I remember I ran a cross country race in Kenya. I was third to last. I was like, second or third to be last….So, coming from that, and now Nike [is] sponsoring me, I have the best shoes in the world and you want to put me in a race against someone who has had shoes the whole time? You’re gonna think that guy is gonna beat me? I mean I’m just gonna do my best, just to do all I can win the race because I know where I’ve come from…. And I really, really want it. So am I guy, I’m willing to die in a race. And trust me if I die in a race one day, that’s the best way I could die man. I could be happy because I know I was hustling and I know I was digging deep. So that’s pretty much it. That’s pretty much me.”

(08/05/2020) Views: 1,360 ⚡AMP
by Lets Run

American Olympian and US. Army veteran Paul Chelimo is scheduled to be the guest speaker for the 24rd Air Force Marathon

Paul Chelimo was the 2016 Olympic silver medalist at 5000 meters in Rio and the 2017 World Championship bronze medalist at 5000 meters.

He is training for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in August, with the 5K Olympic Trials coming up June 19-28 in Eugene, Oregon.

“We are honored and humbled to have not simply one of the world’s best runners join us at the 24th Air Force Marathon, but for him to be a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces means so much to our entire team, our volunteers, our participants and this entire community,” said Brandon Hough, Air Force Marathon director.

Born in Iten, Kenya, Chelimo moved to the United States on a running scholarship in 2010. After graduating from the University of North Carolina majoring in public health, he joined the Army’s World Class Athlete Program.

“I want to talk about the grit and the grind that comes from running and training,” Chelimo said. “I want to motivate the beginners and those who are regular runners and impart how to run a really fast 5K. I want those who listen to my story to learn what it takes to be a successful runner and how to prevent injuries.”

Chemilo will speak at the Breakfast of Champions and the Gourmet Pasta dinner on Sept. 18.

The Air Force Marathon, presented by Northrop Grumman, USAA and Boeing, is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020.

(02/27/2020) Views: 1,625 ⚡AMP

Chelimo floors Obiri at Cross Italica

World 1,500m silver medallist Margaret Chelimo stunned World Cross Country champion Hellen Obiri to win the ‘Cross Internacional de Itálica’ in Seville, Spain on Sunday.

Chelimo cruised to victory in 28 minutes and 37 seconds beating compatriot and World Cross Country Under-20 champion Beatrice Chebet to second place in 28:49 as Ethiopian Tsehay Gemechun settled third in 29:00.

Obiri, who is also the World 5,000m champion, came in fourth in 29:27 followed by fellow countrywoman Eva Cherono in 29:41.

Ethiopian Radese Worku reigned to claim victory in the men’s race in 27:31 as 2016 Rio Olympics 5,000m silver medallist Paul Chelimo from United States clocked 27:42 for second.

Kenya’s Richard Yator took the last podium place in 27:48.

 

(01/19/2020) Views: 1,997 ⚡AMP

Ethiopia’s Tadese Worku and Kenya’s Hellen Obiri will be the favorites athletes at the Cross Internacional de Itálica in Santiponce on Sunday

Ethiopia’s Tadese Worku and Kenya’s Hellen Obiri will be the marquee athletes at the ‘Cross Internacional de Itálica’ in Santiponce on the outskirts of Seville on Sunday, the sixth leg of the 2019/20 World Athletics Cross Country Permit series.

The event promises to be a rematch of last Sunday’s races in Elgoibar as both podiums will be on show again.

Will Worku confirm breakthrough?

Turning 18 the day after the race, the young Ethiopian will be happy to celebrate his birthday one day in advance with a victory to confirm his overwhelming win last weekend was no fluke. The reigning world U-20 cross country silver medalist proved to be in stellar form last Sunday and should be tipped as the main favorite in the 10km event.

One of his stiffest opponents should be Burundi’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo, the 22-year-old who will be making his sixth appearance on Spanish soil this cross country campaign. He’s produced three wins -- in Alcobendas (Nov 24), Aranda de Duero ( Dec 1) and Cantimpalos (Dec 8) -- plus a runner-up finish in Soria ( Nov 17). The Italy-based runner, who was ninth at the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus last year, only finished outside the top-five in Atapuerca (Nov 9) where he finished sixth.

Kenya’s Richard Yator and Aron Kifle, runner-up and third respectively in Elgoibar should also be in contention. The Kenyan was 13th in Aarhus while Kifle has changed his base from Madrid to Nijmegen after joining the Global Sports agency. He will be joined by fellow Eritrean Yemane Haileselassie, an 8:11.22 3000m steeplechase specialist who reached the Rio Olympics final.

Watch out too for USA’s Paul Chelimo and Shadrack Kipchirchir. The former is the reigning Olympic 5000m silver medalist and is fresh from a fourth place in Elgoibar while Kipchirchir came tenth at the Doha worlds over 10,000m and holds a PB of 27:07.55 set in 2017.

Obiri the woman to beat

The women’s cast is headed by the reigning world cross country champion Hellen Obiri. The 30-year-old Kenyan kicked-off her winter campaign successfully in Elgoibar where, after running alongside compatriot Beatrice Chebet for most of the race, broke away from the reigning world U20 cross country on the last lap.

The 19-year-old Chebet should pose the main danger for Obiri, again alongside the reigning world 5000m silver medalist Margaret Kipkemboi Chelimo. The 26-year-old captured a surprise silver in Doha where she set a lifetime best of 14:27.49 and has shown fine form recently by winning a 5km road race in Bolzano on 31 December before taking second at the Campaccio cross country on January 6.

Trying to deny a Kenyan clean sweep over the 9135m contest will be Ethiopia’s Tsehay Gemechu, fourth at the Doha worlds over 5000m in a career best of 14:29.60. Barely two weeks later the 21-year-old set a 1:06:00 personal record for the half marathon in New Delhi. She’ll be racing her first race of the year on Sunday. Gemechu will be joined by fellow Ethiopian Tsige Abreha, the winner in Amorebieta. Kenya’s Eva Cherono, third in Elgoibar, and Bahrain’s World Championships marathon silver medalist Rose Chelimo will also be on show.

 

(01/17/2020) Views: 1,934 ⚡AMP
by World Athletics

Ethiopian Muktar Edris went from being an underdog to being a two time world champion

Rarely had a reigning world champion been such an underdog. Rarely had an athlete so accomplished, so dangerous, been so overlooked in the pre-race predictions.

But Muktar Edris has a habit of defying expectations.

When the 25-year-old Ethiopian launched his kick to grab gold in the men’s 5000m, many at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 turned to each other, as they had done in London two years earlier, in surprise: Where had he come from?

Edris’s second successive title proved a much bigger shock than his first, even if two years ago he had to defeat Mo Farah on his home turf to take gold, the Briton who had won the previous three world 5000m titles.

The reason for Edris being so severely doubted was simple: injuries.

After London he developed chronic pain and inflammation in his achilles tendon, and while it wasn’t the kind that completely side-lined him, it limited his training substantially. Edris could only do longer, slower running for much of the past two years, his achilles flaring up anytime he let rip on the track with shorter reps.

“One kilometre and under, no,” he said. “Because (practising the) kick is painful. I could just do slow running, lap after lap. The injury is still sore today.”

It was the reason he failed to fire in 2018 and for much of 2019, Edris’s two outings in the IAAF Diamond League resulting in an 11th-place finish in Oslo (over 30000m) and an 18th-place finish in Lausanne (over 5000m). In May he dropped out of the 10,000m at the Ethiopian Championships, which meant the only reason he was able to compete in Doha was via his wild card entry as defending champion.

But he had shown flickers of his old self in the summer, clocking a 7:39.52 3000m to finish second in Budapest – good, but not the kind of great form needed to win a world title.

Few had expected him to repeat his 2017 feat, with teammates Selemon Barega and Telahun Haile Bekele tearing it up on the circuit, the Ingebrigtsen brothers primed to utilise their fearsome kicks if the pace was slow, and accomplished 5000m performers like Mohammed Ahmed of Canada and Paul Chelimo of USA never to be discounted.

Edris himself didn’t expect it to win. “I had such problems with injury,” he said. “My hope was to be in the medals.”

(10/18/2019) Views: 2,000 ⚡AMP
by IAAF

Ethiopia’s Muktar Edris, Repeats As 5,000 World Champion

Ethiopia’s Muktar Edris, the man who two years ago shocked the world by knocking off Mo Farah to capture the men’s 5000-meter world title, has done it again. Edris came into the 2019 IAAF Worlds Athletics Championships as a 15/2 underdog, having done nothing this year (his SB was just 13:29), but he will leave it once again with a gold medal hanging around his neck as he used a 55.07 final lap to close out a 3:59.63 final 1600 (64.62, 60.84, 58.99, 55.07) and come from behind to win gold in 12:58.85.

Edris’ compatriot Selemon Barega, who ran 12:43 last year, nabbed silver in 12:59.70. Moh Ahmed of the Bowerman Track Club made history for in third (13:01.11), earning Canada’s first-ever world or Olympic medal in an event longer than 1500 meters, after a confident run that saw him lead from 3800 until just after the bell.

Norway’s teen sensation Jakob Ingebrigtsen, 19, the youngest sub-4 miler in history and betting favorite, ended up fifth in 13:02.29 after putting forth his best impersonation of Steve Prefontaine at the 1972 Olympics. Ingebrigtsen boldly ran for gold taking the lead with just less than 300 meters to go before totally running out of gas in the last 100, which he covered in just 17.17 seconds.

Two of Ingebrigtsen’s older brothers were also in the race. Filip Ingebrigtsen was still with the lead pack with a lap and half to go and actually still ahead of the race winner Edris when he raised the white flag and stepped into the infield with 550 meters remaining, saving himself for the 1500 meters, where he won bronze in 2017. Henrik Ingebrigtsen was dropped early in the race and finished 13th in 13:36.25.

American Paul Chelimo, who had medalled as the last two global outdoor championships in the 5000, entered the final lap in 4th but ended up 7th in 13:05.27.

 

(10/01/2019) Views: 1,969 ⚡AMP
by Lets Run

Paul Chelimo qualifies for World Championship 5,000m final, who won without a shoe

In Friday’s World Championship 5,000m, American and Olympic 5,000m medallist Paul Chelimo lost his shoe in the heats but still managed to win his section and qualify with the leading time for the final on Monday.

Chelimo was clipped on lap seven of 12.5. He reportedly has several blisters, but should be fine to compete come Monday. After his cool down, he said he plans to go and find his shoe.

Chelimo ran a strong race and managed to remain on the pack despite multiple pace and lead changes during the 13 minute race. Canada’s Justyn Knight and Moh Ahmed are also both through to Monday’s final. Both Knight and Ahmed were 2017 World Championships 5,000m finalists and are poised to be serious contenders.

Knight has run a massive personal best this year, hitting 13:09 in the same race that Ahmed became the first Canadian to run under 13:00 minutes for the 5,000m.

After one day of track action, team Canada is has sent an athlete to the semi-final in every event with qualifiers. Gen Lalonde has qualified for the 3,000m steeplechase final on Monday, Lindsey Butterworth qualified for the 800m semi-finals, Andre De Grasse and Aaron Brown are both through to the 100m semi-final and now Ahmed and Knight are through in the 5,000m.

Tonight is the first final of the event with three Canadian women running the marathon at 4:59 p.m. EDT. Sasha Gollish, Melanie Myrand and Lyndsay Tessier are all lining up for what will likely be the hottest marathon of their lives this evening. The temperature at the start of the marathon is estimated at upwards of 40 degrees celsius.

(09/28/2019) Views: 1,971 ⚡AMP
by Madeleine Kelly

USA’s World and Olympic 5000m medalist Paul Chelimo plus Switzerland’s Julien Wanders, are among the latest star names to be added to Eliud Kipchoge’s pacemaking team for the INEOS 1:59 Challenge

Chelimo and Wanders will also be joined in Kipchoge’s pacemaking squad by Tesfahun Akalnew (ETH), Mande Bushendich (UGA), Shadrack Kipchirchir (USA), Philemon Kacheran (KEN), Noah Kipkemboi (KEN) and Vincent Kiprotich (KEN).

They will all be tasked with helping Kipchoge make history by becoming the first man to break the two-hour barrier for the marathon in Vienna in October.

Chelimo, who won a silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics and a bronze medal at the World Championships a year later, will be flying to Vienna – the host city of the INEOS 1:59 Challenge – from this year’s World Championships in Doha.

He said: “I have been fortunate to win medals at both of the past two major championships and I will be hoping to continue that trend in Doha before heading to Vienna to help Eliud try to make history. If I am able to achieve both those goals it will be a truly memorable period in my career.”

Wanders, who spends much of his year living and training in Kenya, holds the European record for the half marathon (59:13) and 10km (27:25), and will also be racing in both the 5000m and 10000m at the World Championships in Doha.

He said: “As someone who spends a lot of time in Kenya, I know how important running is to the Kenyan people and how proud they will be if Eliud is able to become the first man to run sub two hours for the marathon. It’s a great honour for me to have been asked to be part of this amazing project.”

Paul Chelimo (USA, 28): The Kenyan-born American is a proven performer on the biggest stages. He won a silver medal in the 5000m at the 2016 Olympics in Rio and backed that up with a bronze medal over the same distance at the World Championships in London in 2017.

Julien Wanders (SUI, 23): Based in Kenya for much of the year, Wanders is the European record holder for both the half marathon (59:13) and 10km (27:25). He also holds the world 5km record (13:29) which he set in Monaco earlier this year.

(08/28/2019) Views: 2,006 ⚡AMP

Selemon Barega is going to defend his two-mile title at the Prefontaine Classic at Stanford and Yomif added to mile field

Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega will return to the Prefontaine Classic to defend his two-mile title at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Stanford on 30 June.

Barega, the 2016 world U20 champion, won the 2018 Diamond League 5000m title in 12:43.02, a time bettered only by the last three world record setters – two of whom ran before he was born.

Already this year, the 19-year-old has finished fifth at the World Cross Country Championships, first over 10,000m at the Ethiopian Championships and has recorded a season’s best of 12:53.04 for 5000m.

Olympic silver medallist Paul Chelimo finished second to Barega in the two-mile race at last year’s Prefontaine Classic. He may have one eye on the North American best of 8:07.07 set by Matt Tegenkamp in 2007.

Asian champion Birhanu Balew was the only athlete to beat Barega on the IAAF Diamond League circuit last year. The Bahraini runner, who finished third in this event at last year’s Pre Classic, will be looking to get the better of Barega once again.

Abadi Hadis, the 2017 world cross-country bronze medallist, recently came close to his 5000m PB with 12:56.48 in Rome. The versatile Ethiopian also equalled his half marathon PB of 58:44 earlier this year.

Olympic bronze medallist Hagos Gebrhiwet will be contesting the distance for the first time. The Ethiopian has finished third over 5000m in Shanghai and Rome so far this year and second over 10,000m in Stockholm.

World cross-country champion Joshua Cheptegei and fellow Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo are also in the field. Kiplimo finished 11th in this race last year, setting a national record of 8:25.17 – a time that should be within range for both men this time round.

Mo Ahmed, who last week lowered the Canadian 5000m record to 12:58.16, was also in last year’s Pre Classic two-mile race, finishing fourth.

Getaneh Molla made headlines earlier this year when he won the Dubai Marathon in 2:03:34, the fastest debut marathon in history. The Ethiopian will be moving down in distance in Stanford.

While younger brothers Filip and Jakob will line up for the mile in Stanford, older brother Henrik Ingebrigtsen will contest the two-mile event and will look to improve upon his 8:22.31 fifth-place finish from last year.

Others in the field include world U20 1500m record-holder Ronald Kwemoi, Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Paul Tanui, 2018 world 10,000m leader Richard Yator, world U20 cross-country champion Milkesa Mengesha, Australia’s Stewart McSweyn and Canada’s Justyn Knight.

In other Stanford-related news, world indoor record-holder Yomif Kejelcha has been added to the Bowerman Mile field.

(06/12/2019) Views: 2,516 ⚡AMP
by IAAF

How The 2020 Olympic Qualifying Rules could Impact The Sprints, Field Events, and Walks in the United States

In case you haven’t been paying close attention, the IAAF has greatly increased the difficulty of the entry standards as they mainly want athletes to qualify via the newly-created world rankings. When the IAAF announced its new qualifying system on March 10,  “the process is designed to achieve about 50 percent of the target numbers for each event through Entry Standards and the remaining 50 percent through the IAAF World Ranking System,” but that is somewhat misleading as most of the athletes who qualify via the entry standard would also qualify via the world rankings.

The entry standards were mainly designed as an insurance policy for a superstar who might have been out with injury or pregnancy, as the IAAF explained in a press release in July, “Entry standards will be approved and published later this year, but will be set for the sole purpose of qualifying athletes with exceptional performances unable to qualify through the IAAF world rankings pathway.”

Despite that, for some unknown reason, USATF told us on Friday that they won’t pay any attention to the IAAF world rankings for Olympic Trials competitors if there are three people in an event who have hit the qualifying standard.

So even if the top three finishers in an event at the US Olympic Trials are all ranked in the top 32 in the world — the IAAF takes at least 32 people for every track and field event except for the multis (24) and 10,000 (27) — if they don’t have the standard, USATF has said they won’t be going to the Olympics if there are three other finishers at the Trials who have hit the qualifying mark.

If the 2020 rules had been in place for 2016, USATF wouldn’t have sent  Paul Chelimo — who finished third at the Trials in the 5,000 in 2016 and would have been ranked in the top 30 in the world had the world rankings existed — to the Olympics even though he went on to earn a silver medal as his PR at the time was slower than the 2020 standard.

All told, seven US mid-d or distance runners — all of whom were top three at the Trials and five of whom went on to make the final in their event in Rio — would not have made the team.

 

(03/20/2019) Views: 1,937 ⚡AMP

Belay Tilahun of Ethiopia and Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya won their New York City racing debuts in the open division

Tilahun, a 24-year-old member of West Side Runners, recorded his surprise victory in a time of 1:02:10 with an exciting kick through the final two miles. 

“I was feeling quite cold at the beginning, but as I was warming up, I began to feel better. After about 15 kilometers, I was confident that I could win. So I used the finishing kick that I had to win,” Tilahun said. 

Eritrea’s Daniel Mesfun finished second in 1:02:16 after leading for the majority of the race, while U.S. Olympic silver medalist Paul Chelimo took third in 1:02:19 in his half-marathon debut. 

A record eight American men finished in the top 10 in the open division, as Chelimo was followed by Jared Ward, Noah Droddy, Brogan Austin, Tim Ritchie, John Raneri, Parker Stinson, and Ben True, respectively.

 In the women’s open division, Jepkosgei, the half marathon world record-holder, won her first-ever race in the United States on a solo run to the finish in a time of 1:10:07. The world championship silver medalist in the distance became the sixth woman from Kenya to win the event, and the first to do so since 2014. “This season I am preparing to debut in the marathon, and this was a great half marathon to see how my body feels,” Jepkosgei said.

Fellow Kenyan Mary Ngugi came through the finish line one minute later in 1:11:07 to take second place, 15-hundredths of a second ahead of last year’s champion, Ethiopia’s Buze Diriba.

Emma Bates, the 2018 USATF Marathon champion, was the top American in the women’s open division, taking fourth place in 1:11:13. She was followed by 2018 Boston Marathon winner Des Linden in fifth place in 1:11:22.

(03/19/2019) Views: 2,520 ⚡AMP

Canadian marathon record holder Cam Levins and 2015 Pan Am Games medallist Sasha Gollish are set to run United Airlines NYC Half

The 2019 United Airlines NYC Half-Marathon has a truly star-studded lineup. In the men’s field, Levins is joined by Americans Ben True and Paul Chelimo. Chelimo is an Olympic silver medallist over 5,000m and Sunday will be his half-marathon debut.

Chelimo told Let’sRun on Monday that he’s less concerned about time, and aiming for a spot on the podium. True was sixth at the 2015 World Championships in the 5,000m and is the 2018 NYC Half defending champion. 

Levins is targeting the London Marathon at the end of April where he will race against world record holder Eliud Kipchoge. “I’m very excited to meet him, he’s an inspiration to marathoners everywhere, but if he goes out on world record pace I’d hardly even call it the same race.”

Levins’ half-marathon personal best is a 1:02:15 from the World Half-Marathon Championships last March in Spain, which is less than a minute off of the current Canadian half-marathon record of 1:01:28 set in 1999 by Jeff Schiebler. It would take a very strong run for Levins to knock down this mark, but it doesn’t seem out of the question considering the strength of Sunday’s field. 

On the women’s side, 2:32 marathoner Sasha Gollish is joined by 2018 Boston champion Des Linden, half-marathon world record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei and two-time marathon world champion Edna Kiplagat. 

Gollish’s personal best is from 2018 World Half-Marathon Championships where she was the first Canadian across the line in 1:11:52.

(03/13/2019) Views: 2,787 ⚡AMP

Defending Champions Ben True, Buze Diriba, Ernst van Dyk, and Manuela Schär will Return for defending titles at 2019 United Airlines NYC Half

The 2019 United Airlines NYC Half will feature a star-studded field featuring nine Olympians leading 25,000 runners from Brooklyn to Manhattan in the first race of the 2019 NYRR Five Borough-Series.

The elite field will be headlined by 2018 Boston Marathon champion Des Linden and U.S. Olympic silver medalist Paul Chelimo, who will make his half marathon debut, as well as all four defending event champions: Ben True, Buze Diriba, Ernst van Dyk and Manuela Schär. 

In addition to Linden, the Americans will be represented by two-time TCS New York City Marathon top-10 finisher Allie Kieffer, USATF champion and Pan American Games medalist Kellyn Taylor, 2018 Boston Marathon runner-up Sarah Sellers, and 2018 USATF Marathon champion Emma Bates.

This year, runners will begin their journey on Prospect Park’s Center Drive before taking the race onto Brooklyn’s streets.

For the second year in a row, the course will take runners over the Manhattan Bridge and up the FDR Drive before a crosstown dash on 42nd Street and a turn north on 7th Avenue, through Times Square, and into Central Park.

This year’s less hilly Central Park route finishes just north of Tavern on the Green and will feature a shorter post-race walk-off for runners to exit the park and start their celebrations.

(02/22/2019) Views: 3,084 ⚡AMP

Paul Chelimo is running the United Airlines New York City Half Marathon, his debut at the distance

Paul Chelimo, 5,000-meter silver medalist at the 2016 Olympics, is making his debut in the half marathon distance. Last fall, Chelimo won the USATF 5K championships in Central Park in a course-record time of 13:45.

The 14th running of the event will take runners on a 13.1-mile tour through New York neighbourhoods in Brooklyn and Manhattan and past iconic city landmarks.

“I’m really excited about this new challenge in my career,” Chelimo told the New York Road Runners in a press release. “I’ve been doing longer runs than ever in my training this winter, and am ready to show the long distance guys a thing or two on March 17.”

Chelimo will face some hefty competition in the race. Ben True, who won last year’s race in 1:02:39, is returning to defend his title. The field will also include four-time Olympian Abdi Abdirahman, 2018 USA Marathon champion Brogan Austin, and U.S. Olympian Jared Ward, who finished as the top American finisher at the 2018 NYC Marathon.

“I am ready to show the long distance guys a thing or two on March 17. I have unfinished business on the track, and then I’m looking forward to making a debut in the TCS New York City Marathon in the near future.”

(02/21/2019) Views: 2,747 ⚡AMP

NCAA champ Cheserek breaks course record on a frigid day at the Manchester Road Race, and Celliphine Chespol of Kenya wins for the women runners

In frigid conditions, Clutching hand warmers to fend off the frigid cold, Edward Cheserek broke the course record, winning the 82nd Manchester Road Race in 21:16 Thursday morning. Cheserek, a 17-time NCAA champion from Flagstaff, Ariz., broke the record for the 4.748-mile race set by Aaron Braun (21:19) in 2012. It was his first time running Manchester. “I looked at the time, it was 21:17 or 16 and I thought that’s really OK,” said Cheserek, 24, who didn’t know he broke the record until somebody told him. “That’s a very good time.” Cheserek broke away from the pack at the top of the Highland Street hill and ran alone down Main Street toward the finish. Last year’s champion Paul Chelimo was second and Andy Butchart, who defied the elements by wearing a singlet and shorts, was third. Celliphine Chespol of Kenya was the women’s winner, outkicking last year’s winner Buze Diriba and 2016 winner Emily Sisson at the finish. It was the first road race for Chespol, 19, who is a steeplechaser. She ran the third fastest time (8:58.78 in the 3,000 meter steepchase in May 2017 at the Prefontaine Classic. “I’m so happy because this is my first time to run a road race,” Chespol said. It was about 16 degrees at the start but the wind chill lowered the temperatures to single digits. About 12,000 people ran and walked Thursday. (11/22/2018) Views: 1,754 ⚡AMP

Paul Chelimo will return to defend his title at Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving Day

Paul Chelimo, the Olympic silver medalist who won the Manchester Road Race last year, and Buze Diriba of Ethiopia, who set the women’s course record last year, will return for the annual Thanksgiving Day 4.748-mile race on Nov. 22. Chelimo, 27, won the race last year in 21:32, edging out runner-up Kirubel Erassa, who finished in 21:34. Erassa, who moved from Ethiopia to Georgia when he was 11, is a naturalized American citizen and was an All-America runner at Oklahoma State. He is also returning to run at Manchester. Chelimo, who competes for the U.S. Army’s World Class Athletes Program, won the silver medal in the 5,000 meters at the Rio Olympics. Last summer, in a meet in Brussels, he ran the fourth-fastest time ever by an American in the 5,000 meters, 12:57.55. Last year, Diriba, who lives and trains in Albuquerque, won the women’s title in 21:57, outkicking Olympian Molly Huddle, who also finished under the course record (23:59, set by the late Emelie Mondor in 2003). Nick Willis, a two-time Olympic medalist in the 1,500 meters from New Zealand who won Manchester in 2005, is also returning, as is Olympic steeplechaser Donn Cabral, who lives in Hartford. (11/14/2018) Views: 1,721 ⚡AMP

Kenyan-born American runner Paul Chelimo wins his first USA road title this morning in New York

The 2018 USATF 5K Championships for men and women was part of the Abbott Dash to the Finish 5K held this morning in New York City and produced by the New York Road Runners.  The race featured Team USA Olympians and national record-holders vying for $60,000 in prize money and the title of USA champion.  The first place man and woman won $12,000 and the title.  In addition to the elites, thousands of others took to the street the day before the NY City Marathon.  Paul Chelimo and Shadrack Kipchirchir battled to the end both clocking 13:45 with Paul breaking the tape first.  Stanley Kebenei was eight seconds back.  Emily Sisson pulled ahead in the women's race clocking 15:38.  Erike Kemp was second in 15:50 followed by Amy Cragg (15:54) and Kim Conley (16:01).  Paul is a Kenyan-born American runner.  He was the 2016 Olympic Silver medalist at 5000m.  He said after the race, "Wow, so excited to have won my first USA road title alongside my best friend, brother and training partner."   (11/03/2018) Views: 1,862 ⚡AMP

17 year-old Jakob Ingebrigtsen wins European Championship 1,500m, He becomes the youngest runner to ever win a European track title

17 year-old Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the European Championship 1,500m in Berlin on Friday evening in 3:38.10. He becomes the youngest runner to ever win a European track title. All three Ingebrigtsen brothers raced the 1,500m final, but the youngest of the siblings came out on top. The three brothers, aged 25, 27, and 17, were looking for a podium sweep in the race, but unfortunately only one made it to the medal ceremony. Second place went to Marcin Lewankowski of Poland in 3:38.14, and third place was Jake Wightman in 3:38.25. Henrik Ingebrigtsen was fourth in 3:38.50 and Filip Ingebrigtsen was 12th in 3:41.66. The brothers are coached by their father, Gjert Ingebrigtsen. 17-year-old Jakob asserted himself as a truly world class middle distance runner earlier this summer when he beat Olympic medalists Paul Chelimo and Matt Centrowitz to win the Payton Jordan 1,500m. (08/10/2018) Views: 2,267 ⚡AMP

U.S. Men’s Runner of the Year: Galen Rupp

Let's Run.com awards: Galen Rupp is the obvious choice here. Paul Chelimo (U.S. champ indoors and outdoors, World Champs bronze) and Evan Jager (U.S. champ, World Champs bronze) were brilliant, but with a runner-up finish at the Boston Marathon and the first Chicago Marathon victory by an American man since 2002, Rupp had the best year of any U.S. runner. (12/22/2017) Views: 1,617 ⚡AMP