Running News Daily

Mu, Moraa and Hodgkinson confirmed for 800m clash in Eugene

Athing Mu, Mary Moraa and Keely Hodgkinson – the three women who’ve claimed the 800m medals at the past two World Championships – will clash at the Prefontaine Classic when the Wanda Diamond League reaches Eugene on 25 May.

Mu won in Eugene last year when Hayward Field hosted the Wanda Diamond League Final. Having finished third at the World Championships three months prior, the Olympic champion gained revenge on home soil and kicked to victory in a US record of 1:54.97.

Hodgkinson – as she had done at the Olympics in 2021, as well as at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships – finished second on that occasion in a British record of 1:55.19.

Moraa wound up fourth in that race, but the Kenyan had won the biggest prize of the year in Budapest, taking the world title in a PB of 1:56.03.

The trio have clashed just three times in the past, with Mu coming out on top in two of those encounters.

It’s the second big middle-distance clash announced by the Prefontaine Classic, following the news last month that Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen will take on world champion Josh Kerr and North American record-holder Yared Nuguse in the Bowerman mile.

Mary Moraa confirms next assignment in the build up to the Paris 2024 Olympics

Commonwealth Games 800m champion Mary Moraa has confirmed her next destination as she builds up steadily for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Reigning World 800m champion Mary Moraa has disclosed her next stop after a fruitful outing at the African Games where she bagged a gold medal in the 400m and propelled Team Kenya to a bronze medal in the 4x400m mixed relay.

Moraa will be eyeing her maiden appearance at the Olympic Games in Paris, France and also looking for a podium finish in the event which has very strong opponents waiting for her to descend on the starting line.

The Commonwealth Games champion has confirmed participation at the Kip Keino Classic, where she intends to showcase fireworks just like last year. This year’s event will be held at the Nyayo National Stadium and the likes of Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala and world leader Letsile Tebogo have already confirmed participation.

In a post on her Facebook page, Kisii Express said: “From African Games, I shift my gears to Kip Keino Classic Continental Tour.”

Moraa has been off to a good start to the season and she will hope to enjoy 2024 just like she did in 2023. The Kenyan was only beaten once in the 800m, at the Prefontaine Classic, the Diamond League Meeting final, where she finished fourth.

In the race, Athing Mu won the trophy as Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson and Jamaica’s Natoya Goule completed the podium.

This season, she has competed in the 400m unbeaten and her speed seems to be in perfect condition. At the Kip Keino Classic, Moraa will compete in her specialty, the two-lap race.

Confirmed! When serial track rivals Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen will face off

The date when a showdown between 1500m Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and 2023 1500m world champion Josh Kerr has been confirmed.

Serial track rivals Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen have both been confirmed as headliners for the Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic, the fourth leg of the Diamond League Meeting series happening in Eugene, USA on May 25.

The duo has been known to attack each other with the two-time World 5000m champion from Norway also attacking the Scot most of the time.

The Norwegian, from time to time has been on record, trash-talking his rivals including Kerr and he once referred to him as the guy next door.

In his recent interview Speaking to the UK Times, Ingebrigtsen noted that he believes his competitors are irrelevant and very inconsistent when it comes to the sport.

“I’m going to say my competitors are irrelevant in the way I see them all the same. One of the main issues is they are very inconsistent and that means my rivals are always changing.

“From 2017 I have had ten to 12 different rivals. It’s easier for them to have a rival in me but not as easy for me to have a rival in them,” Ingebrigtsen said.

After the Scot broke the two-mile indoor world record, the World 1500m silver medallist also made fun of him and noted that he would have beaten him blindfolded.

“I would have beaten him in that race, blindfolded… But it’s good that people run better than they have done before,” Ingebrigtsen said.

The duo now clashes at the Prefontaine Classic and Kerr will be debuting at the event. U.S. indoor and outdoor mile record holder Yared Nuguse will also be in the mix.

In last year’s race, Ingebrigtsen battled to the finish line with Nuguse with the Norwegian star winning in 3:43.73. Nuguse took nearly three full seconds off Alan Webb’s American record with a 3:43.97.

Shericka Jackson shares secret to maintaining great form in the Olympic season

Jamaican track star Shericka Jackson has shared the secret to maintaining her great form as she eyes the Olympic Games in Paris, France.

Two-time world 200m champion Shericka Jackson has shared the secret to her great form as she eyes a grand return to the Olympic Games in Paris, France.

Speaking on a video shared by her sponsor, Puma Running, the Olympic 100m silver medalist noted that consistency is what keeps her grounded.

“Consistency for me has played a great role in my life. For me, it’s more mental and physical and once I’m physically fit and mentally ready I think it plays such a great role to just stay consistent by working hard and staying grounded,” Jackson said.

Meanwhile, the Jamaican will hopefully enjoy her 2024 season just like she did in 2022 and 2023. In 2022, Jackson won her first-ever gold medal in an individual event at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon. In the 100m, she bagged a silver medal, finishing second behind compatriot Shelly-Anne Fraser-Pryce.

At last year’s World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, she clocked the second-fastest time, behind Flo-Jo’s world record in the 200m to successfully defend her title. She then settled for silver in the 100m, behind American Sha’Carri Richardson.

She proceeded to win a double (100m and 200m) at the Prefontaine Classic, the Diamond League Meeting final held in Eugene, Oregon. Her eyes are now set on the Olympic Games where she intends to have a good run and don the Jamaican colors with pride.

World record holder Christian Coleman going for third victory at Millrose Games

World record holder Christian Coleman will be aiming for his third straight victory at the Millrose Games after bagging wins in 2022 and 2023.

World record-holder Christian Coleman will be seeking his third straight 60m victory at the Millrose Games, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in New York on Sunday, February 11.

Coleman will be opening his season at the event after a mixed 2023 season where he lost some races and emerged victorious in others.

He completed his season at the Prefontaine Classic, the Diamond League final meeting where he stunned triple World Champion Noah Lyles.

At the Millrose Games, he will be up against Canada’s Olympic 200m champion Andre De Grasse, who has not run the 60m at Millrose since 2016.

Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake, who set a PB of 6.45 in his first-ever indoor 60m race last weekend in Boston, should also prove to be a nightmare for the American.

Meanwhile, Tia Jones turned heads in Boston last week when she sped to victory in the 60m hurdles, clocking 7.72 – just 0.04 shy of the world indoor record.

At the Millrose Games, Jones will take on the likes of two-time world champion Danielle Williams, two-time world indoor champion Nia Ali, defending Millrose champion Devynne Charlton of The Bahamas, and NCAA champion Ackera Nugent of Jamaica.

Sprint sensation Julien Alfred is opening her season after an incredible 2023 campaign. The Saint Lucian star, who was undefeated last year in the 60m and 100m until placing fifth in the 100m at the World Championships in Budapest, will line up against Jamaicans Shashalee Forbes and Briana Williams and US contenders Tamara Clark and English Gardner.

In the men’s 60m hurdles, 2022 world silver medallist Trey Cunningham of the US, who is second on the world list, will take on a strong slate that includes 2023 world bronze medallist Daniel Roberts.

On her part, Alicia Monson broke the North American record in the 3000m last year at Millrose and is on a mission to win her third straight title on this track – with a record perhaps in a different event.

The two-mile distance is one more lap than 3000m and her ultimate goal is the continental record of 9:10.28. Monson will be in fast company with Olympic 1500m silver medalist Laura Muir of Great Britain, US mile record-holder Nikki Hiltz, and world U20 5000m champion Medina Eisa of Ethiopia.

World indoor silver medalist Elle St Pierre will vie for her third title in the women’s Wanamaker Mile with the race being a rematch between herself, and Jessica Hull of Australia, who won their showdown in the 3000m last week with an Oceanian indoor record.

Olympic 800m bronze medalist Raevyn Rogers, who contested the 400m last week in Boston, returns to her specialty at Millrose and will face Jamaica’s Natoya Goule-Toppin.

Noah Kibet and Bryce Hoppel, the world indoor silver and bronze medalists respectively, will clash in the men’s 800m.

5 things you should know about Steve Prefontaine

Steve “Pre” Prefontaine would have turned 73 on Thursday, and the legendary runner’s enduring legacy and impact on the sport continues. From Coos Bay, Ore., Pre became one of the biggest stars in the sport during his time at the University of Oregon in the 70s, where he held seven American records from the 2,000m to the 10,000m. Here are five facts about the iconic runner, whose achievements and words continue to inspire and resonate.

Trailblazer of distance running

Prefontaine was a pioneer in distance running, known for his fearless approach and unwavering determination. He burst onto the scene in the early 1970s, and his aggressive front-running style and refusal to settle for anything but victory revolutionized distance running in the U.S. and beyond.

Prefontaine’s Olympic journey was tragically cut short when he was 24. He competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich and was preparing for the 1976 Olympics with the Oregon Track Club when he died in a car accident on May 30, 1975.

Advocate for athletes’ rights

Beyond his achievements on the track, Prefontaine was a vocal advocate for the rights of amateur athletes. He challenged the existing system, governed by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) that restricted athletes’ ability to earn money while maintaining their amateur status. Prefontaine defied the AAU by organizing a series of meets with a group of Finnish athletes. One of these meets, held at Marshfield High School in 1975, was where Prefontaine set his last American record.

Legendary duel at the 1972 Munich Olympics

One of Prefontaine’s most memorable moments was the 5,000m race at the 1972 Munich Olympics. In a fierce battle against Finnish runner Lasse Virén, Prefontaine showcased his indomitable spirit, finishing fourth in a race that is often considered one of the greatest duels in Olympic history. The image of Prefontaine pushing himself to the limit serves as a timeless reminder of his competitive fire.

Nike’s first signature athlete

In 1974, Prefontaine signed with Nike for $5,000—as the first runner to sign with the company, he jump-started the brand as a running shoe company. Bill Bowerman, the sports coach at the University of Oregon, also happened to be the co-founder of Nike. In 2022, a pair of Nike Oregon waffle shoes worn by the distance runner were sold for USD $163,800 on the auction site, Sothebys.com.

The Prefontaine Classic

In honor of Pre’s lasting impact on the sport, the annual Prefontaine Classic track and field meet was established in Eugene, Ore. This prestigious event attracts elite athletes from around the world and continues to be a fitting tribute to Pre’s legacy. Hayward Field, where the meet is held, holds a special place in the hearts of runners as the venue where Prefontaine achieved many of his remarkable feats.

Prefontaine is remembered not only for his athletic prowess but also for the passion, courage, and advocacy that defined his life.

Five things you should know about Steve Prefontaine, on his birthday

Steve “Pre” Prefontaine would turn 73 on Thursday (Jan 25), and the legendary runner’s enduring legacy and impact on the sport continues. From Coos Bay, Ore., Pre became one of the biggest stars in the sport during his time at the University of Oregon in the 70s, where he held seven American records from the 2,000m to the 10,000m.  Here are five facts about the iconic runner, whose achievements and words continue to inspire and resonate worldwide.

1.- Trailblazer of distance running

Prefontaine was a pioneer in distance running, known for his fearless approach and unwavering determination. He burst onto the scene in the early 1970s, and his aggressive front-running style and refusal to settle for anything but victory revolutionized distance running in the U.S. and beyond.

Prefontaine’s Olympic journey was tragically cut short when he was 24. Prefontaine competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich and was preparing for the 1976 Olympics with the Oregon Track Club when he died in a car accident on May 30, 1975.

2.- Advocate for athlete’s rights

Beyond his achievements on the track, Prefontaine was a vocal advocate for the rights of amateur athletes. He challenged the existing system, governed by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) that restricted athletes’ ability to earn money while maintaining their amateur status. Prefontaine defied the AAU by organizing a series of meets with a group of Finnish athletes. One of these meets, held at Marshfield High School in 1975, was where Prefontaine set his last American record.

3.- Legendary duel at the 1972 Munich Olympics

One of Prefontaine’s most memorable moments was the 5,000-meter race at the 1972 Munich Olympics. In a fierce battle against Finnish runner Lasse Virén, Prefontaine showcased his indomitable spirit, finishing fourth in a race that is often considered one of the greatest duels in Olympic history. The image of Prefontaine pushing himself to the limit serves as a timeless reminder of his competitive fire.

4.- Nike’s first signature athlete

In 1974, Prefontaine signed with Nike for $5,000—as the first runner to sign with the company, he jump-started the brand as a running shoe company. Bill Bowerman, the sports coach at the University of Oregon, also happened to be the co-founder of Nike. In 2022, a pair of Nike Oregon Waffle shoes worn by distance runner Prefontaine were sold for USD $163,800 on the auction site, Sothebys.com

5.- The Prefontaine Classic

In honor of Pre’s lasting impact on the sport, the Prefontaine Classic, an annual track and field meet, was established in Eugene, Ore. This prestigious event attracts elite athletes from around the world and continues to be a fitting tribute to Pre’s legacy. Hayward Field, where the meet is held, holds a special place in the hearts of runners as the venue where Prefontaine achieved many of his remarkable feats.

Prefontaine is remembered not only for his athletic prowess but also for the passion, courage, and advocacy that defined his life.

Eugene Will Host 2024 US Olympic Track & Field Trials, Again

The next US Olympic Track and Field Trials will be held in ….. Eugene, yet again.

Yes that’s right. Hayward Field will host the 2024 US Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field from June 21-30, 2024, USATF announced in a statement on Thursday. The Olympic track & field program will begin four weeks later, on August 1 in Paris.

2024 will be the fifth straight Olympic Trials hosted by Eugene (2008, 2012, 2016, 2021, 2024) and Eugene’s fourth straight USATF Outdoor Championship. Since the new Hayward Field opened in 2020, no other stadium has hosted the US championships.

That means that in 2024 — just as in 2015, 2016, 2021, and 2022 — the three biggest meets in American track & field will be held at Hayward Field: the Prefontaine Classic, the NCAA championships, and the USATF championships/Olympic Trials. Here is what the schedule will look like for 2024:

May 25: Prefontaine ClassicJune 5-8: NCAA championshipsJune 21-30: US Olympic Trials

Quick Take: Eugene does a fantastic job hosting big meets, but it’s time to give someone else a chance to host the Olympic Trials

Let’s make a few things clear. The new Hayward Field is the best track & field stadium in the country, and Eugene has a terrific local organizing committee in TrackTown USA that knows how to stage big meets. The 2024 Olympic Trials are going to be terrific — they always are.

When you’ve got a beautiful new stadium like Hayward Field, you don’t want it to go to waste. But from 2021-2024, almost every major track meet in the US will have been staged at Hayward Field. The three most important track meets in the US are the Prefontaine Classic (the US’s only Diamond League), the NCAA championships, and the USATF championships/Olympic Trials. During a four-year period, 11 of those 12 meets will have been hosted in Eugene. And that does not even include the biggest meet Eugene has ever hosted — the 2022 World Championships.

That’s a recipe for major Eugene fatigue.

The Prefontaine Classic obviously isn’t moving out of Eugene, and the NCAAs are locked into Eugene through 2027. But it’s a missed opportunity to hold USAs in Eugene every single year, particularly the Olympic Trials. There are a limited number of diehard track fans in the US, and any diehard who has wanted to visit the new Hayward Field has probably done it at this point. If a husband and wife are huge track fans and they already figured out a way to take their kids to Eugene for Worlds, are they really going to want to go back again to the same location for the Trials?

The Olympic Trials should be in Eugene at most once every eight years. The last two normal* Trials drew more than 20,000 fans per day (21,644 in 2012; 22,1222 in 2016) but it’s foolish to suggest that the Trials can only do those sort of numbers in Eugene.

*Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was ticketing uncertainty about the 2021 Trials until the very last minute, which meant attendance numbers were a fraction of previous years

In the United States, when you throw the word Olympic in front of anything, people go crazy. And the last few US championships has shown that the built-in track fanbase in Eugene — the diehards who will go to every meet — has dwindled significantly.

We’re confident that if you staged the Olympic Trials in Austin, Des Moines, Omaha, Sacramento, or Mt. SAC, you’d draw big crowds. The Olympic Trials will do well anywhere they are held.

The question then, is why isn’t this happening?

“We all know that getting [to Eugene], it’s trying,” said Will Leer, chair of the USATF Athlete Advisory Committee, when LetsRun asked him about this at USAs in July. “Small airport, it’s expensive, hotels are minimal. But the process by which championships are awarded is through a bid. That much is well-known throughout all of USATF. And time and time again, TrackTown comes to the table with the best bid.”

Eugene certainly has a lot to offer, but we also don’t how much competition there is to host these events. It’s not as simple as USATF just awarding the Trials to a different city. A potential Trials host needs a world-class track facility and a local organizing committee interested in bidding for the Trials, which requires dollars.

Sarah Lorge Butler reports that Eugene paid at least $3 million to host the 2020 Trials, writing, “TrackTown paid a nonrefundable rights fee of $500,000 and the total prize purse of $1.4 million. They also had obligations to provide $1.1 million for athlete support during the meet, to be used at USATF’s sole discre

It’s an expensive undertaking for any local organizing committee. We know Eugene has the dollars. It’s unclear whether anyone else does (If you know of any other city that bid for the Trials, please email us at letsrun@letsrun.com)

If it’s simply a matter of USATF needing to find $3 million to put on the Trials, we know where they could find it. USATF head Max Siegel was paid a ridiculous $3.8 million in compensation in 2021; reduce that to a more reasonable $800k and you could hold the Trials wherever you wanted without any financial impact on USATF.

Ferdinand Omanyala shares secret on how to achieve top-three finish in a race

The African record-holder has shared a tip on how an athlete can make it to the podium.

Reigning Commonwealth Games 100m champion Ferdinand Omanyala has explained what it takes to get on the podium of any assignment as an athlete.

The 27-year-old has been the epitome of hard work, sharing snippets of his training as he gears up for the World Indoor Championships and the Olympic Games among other events.

Sharing a training video on his X (Twitter) handle, the African record holder captioned it saying: “Consistency to performance is what pressure is to diamond....it takes lots of work across many training variables to finally step on that podium!

"The most important thing is getting back up after a fall. If it does not kill you it will make you stronger.”

Meanwhile, the African champion has enjoyed a great 2023 season, with the only major setback being the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

At the global showpiece, Omanyala was off to a good start in the heats and semifinal but faltered in the final where he ended up finishing seventh.

However, he recorded big wins including becoming the first Kenyan to win the Diamond League Meeting in the 100m in Monaco. Omanyala also finished third at the Prefontaine Classic, the Diamond League Meeting final.

He also ended the season as the fourth-fastest sprinter in the world behind triple World champion Noah Lyles, Christian Coleman, and Zharnel Hughes.

Kenyan Emmanuel Wanyonyi plotting to break David Rudisha's 800m world record

Emmanuel Wanyonyi has made his intentions clear about breaking David Rudisha's world record.

Teenage sensation Emmanuel Wanyonyi believes his dream of breaking David Rudisha’s 800m world record is inching ever so closer.

Wanyonyi, the reigning world 800m silver medalist, told Sports Brief that he believes everything is possible and if Rudisha did it, he can also do it.

“In one of my first interviews, I said that I would break the world record. I want to use my talent to show people that it is possible.

"If David Rudisha did it, I can also do it. I just have to believe in my potential,” Wanyonyi said.

On his part, Rudisha first broke the world record on August 22, 2010, at the ISTAF World Challenge meeting in Berlin where he clocked 1:41.09 to win the race.

He then went ahead to break his own world record, clocking 1:40.91 set during the 2012 London Olympic Games that still stands to date.

Meanwhile, 19-year-old also talked about his training routine which has seen him achieve a number of feats in the 2023 season.

At just 19, he bagged a silver medal at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, finishing second behind Canada’s Marco Arop, 25.

He also won the Diamond League Meeting final, Prefontaine Classic, held at the Hayward Field in Eugene, USA.

Wanyonyi explained that his training includes a 20 to 25-kilometer run on alternate days. He also switches the running with fieldwork to work on speed, given that 800m is a combination of endurance and a little bit of sprinting towards the tail end.

Noah Lyles reveals what he would have become if not for athletics

Noah Lyles' sponsor Adidas have appreciated him over a recent clip where he revealed that if he had not been an athlete he would have been an artist.

Triple world champion Noah Lyles has disclosed that if he would not have carved out a career in athletics, he would be an artist.

During a ‘Never Have I Ever’ game with Meta endurance news, Lyles disclosed that he has done many different types of art and he would definitely be somewhere painting or singing if he would not be an athlete.

“I was going to be an artist before being an athlete…I’ve done many different types of art. Actually, I went to a school for the arts when I was in middle school. I was really going to be an artist,” Lyles said.

In the video posted on Instagram, Adidas commented saying: “Lucky for us all, he turned out to be a world champion.”

Meanwhile, Lyles has made headlines this season where he was unbeaten in the 200m. Lyles also bagged double gold, in the 100m and 200m, at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. The American also propelled the 4x100m relay team to victory at the Hungarian capital.

He finished second behind compatriot Christian Coleman in the 100m at the Diamond League Meeting final, Prefontaine Classic.

Aside from showcasing his talent on the track, Lyles has also modeled for top brands including Hugo Boss, and has managed to earn millions from his stunning sense of fashion.

Mary Moraa dreaming of breaking 800m world record soon

Mary Moraa has promised that she will attack the 800m world record very soon.

Reigning World 800m champion Mary Moraa has promised to go for the 800m world record very soon.

In a post on her Facebook page, Moraa shared a throwback photo of herself and double world record holder Faith Kipyegon. She was in awe of Kipyegon’s record-breaking spree and noted that she is an inspiration to many people.

She said: “When you step out in style with the world's middle distance track finest Faith Kipyegon. A great inspiration. Hii 800m World Record tutavunja siku moja...hivi karibuni (We shall one day break this 800m world record…very soon).”

The women’s world record over the 800m stands at 1:53.28 and was set by Jarmila Kratochvílová 40 years ago.

She clocked the time on July 26, 1983, at the Olympiapark Meeting in Munich’s Olympic Stadium and has remained to be the oldest outdoor world record in the book.

On her part, Moraa’s Personal Best time currently stands at 1:56.03, a time she clocked to win the race at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

By winning the title, she became just but the third Kenyan woman to win the 800m on the global stage. She comes after Janeth Jepkosgei and Eunice Sum who won the titles in 2007 and 2013 respectively.

She has also been banked on severally to break the 800m world record and affirming her fans that she would surely go for it is a sign of light at the end of the tunnel.

The reigning Commonwealth Games champion is gearing up for the Olympic Games in Paris, France next year where she hopes to extend her winning streak. This season, she only lost one 800m race, the Prefontaine Classic.

Elaine Thompson splits with coach less than a year before Olympic Games

Jamaica's Elaine Thomspon has split with her coach Shanique Osbourne less than a year before the Paris Olympic Games.

As reported by Radio Jamaica Sports, Thompson’s agent Marvin Anderson could not be reached for comment and her coach, Osbourne declined to field questions when she answered her telephone late Monday night.

She only noted that she was not accepting any media to her training base. The specific reason for the split has not been disclosed, but speculation is that both parties could not agree on remuneration.

Meanwhile, Thompson had been struggling from an Achilles tendon injury, which saw her placing fifth in the 100m final with 11.06 seconds at the Jamaican Championship on July 7.

The Jamaican missed out on an individual slot at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, and did not even compete in the final of the 4x100m relay team.

After the World Championships, Thompson headed to the Diamond League Meeting in Zurich where she clocked 11.00 to finish third. She posted her first sub-11 performance at the Gala dei Castelli where she clocked 10.92 to win the race.

She then clocked 10.84 seconds at the Diamond League Meeting in Brussels on September 8, before ending the season with 10.79 seconds on September 16 at the Prefontaine Classic, the Diamond League Final Meeting.

Lilian Kasait reminisces on season comeback after doping ban

Lilian Kasait has given a candid assessment of her season after completing her doping ban in February.

Lilian Kasait is one of the few athletes who bounced back after a doping ban threatened her career and she has come out to give an assessment of her 2023 season.

According to reports by BBC, the Kenyan runner was banned for 10 months for the use of the hormone therapy drug Letrozole.

The former world Under-18 3,000m champion had her results annulled on January 20, 2022, the day she provided her positive sample. Her suspension ran from April 2022 to February 2023 after admitting to her guilt.

Speaking to Nation Sport after ending her season at the World Road Running Championships, Kasait expressed her delight to have made a comeback and ended her season on a high. She bagged a silver medal at the global showpiece where she was debuting.

“I’m very happy because I’ve ended my season with a medal. The road race was my first and I just went there hoping for the best,” she said.

Kasait opened her season with a fourth-place finish at the Kip Keino Classic before proceeding to reign supreme in the 1500m and 5000m at the Kenya Prisons Championships.

She then began her Diamond League Trophy campaign at the Meeting in Paris where she finished fourth in the 5000m before heading to the Meeting in Oslo where she competed in the 3000m and finished second.

The former All Africa Games champion then jetted back to the country for the National Championships and World Championships National Trials. She secured a ticket to the global show in the Hungarian capital and managed to finish 10th.

She soothed her World Championships heartbreak with a win at the Diamond League Meeting in Brussels before closing her track season at the Prefontaine Classic with a fourth-place finish.

Why Mary Moraa dedicated her world title to Hellen Obiri

Mary Moraa has explained why she dedicated her World 800m title to the reigning Boston Marathon champion Hellen Obiri.

World 800m champion Mary Moraa has disclosed the reason why she dedicated her title to her mentor Hellen Obiri.

The Commonwealth Games champion singled out Obiri, a two-time World 5000m champion, as a great pillar in her career.

Speaking to Nation Sport, Moraa noted that she sees Obiri as her elder sister and she always checks up on her.

Obiri has played a vital role in Moraa’s career since she gifted Kisii Express her first spikes when she began her professional career. The Boston Marathon champion also encouraged Moraa to switch from the 400m to the 800m where she is currently dominating.

“I want to single out Hellen Obiri who has been encouraging me to be consistent on the track as the person who ensured I clinched the gold.

"Obiri is my elder sister and mentor who always checks on me hence I am proud of her,” Moraa said during her heroic homecoming party at the Ichuni grounds in Nyaribari Masaba constituency.

Meanwhile, at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Moraa was in a class of her own as she destroyed a strong field to clinch top honours in the 800m race.

She clocked a Personal Best time of 1:56.03. Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson and USA’s Athing Mu finished second and third respectively in the hotly contested race.

Owing to her win, she became just but the third Kenyan to win the 800m on the global stage after Janeth Jepkosgei and Eunice Sum who won the titles during the 2007 and 2013 editions of the World Championships.

Moraa was also on fire this season, only losing one 800m where she finished fourth at the Prefontaine Classic, the final Diamond League Meeting.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yared Nuguse Shatters American Mile Record At Prefontaine Classic

Yared Nuguse shattered the American record in the Bowerman Mile, finishing second to Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen in 3:43.97 at the Prefontaine Classic.EUGENE -- Yared Nuguse shattered the American record in the Bowerman Mile, finishing second to Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen in 3:43.97 at the Diamond League Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field.

Nuguse lowered the previous American mark of 3:46.91 set by Alan Webb in Belgium in 2007. His time now ranks fourth on the all-time world list.

“I feel like a 3:44, 45 felt reasonable, but 43 is the same second as the world record which is absolutely insane that we were able to do that today, but still (have) a great race,” Nuguse said.

Ingebrigtsen won the race in the third-fastest time in history 3:43.73, establishing new Diamond League, Pre Classic and European records while pulling the entire field to extraordinary performances. Everyone in the race clocked sub-3:54 and established either a new season best or personal best. There were also there national record and world U20 mark established.“I think he pushes all of us to be better, and that’s really huge," Nuguse said of Ingebrigtsen. "To have someone like this at the time same time that I’ve come to my peak is just really big, to make me catch things that I didn’t think were possible, like running 3:43.”

As expected, from the early going, this shaped up to be a two-man race between Ingebrigtsen and Nuguse. In the pre-meet press conference Nuguse stated that he wanted the American record. Ingebrigtsen playful told Nuguse to hang with him as long as he could and he just might get it.

And he was right.

Pacer extraordinaire Eric Sowinski kept the two runners on world-record pace, taking them through 800m in 1:51.67. When he stepped off slightly before 1200m, Ingebrigtsen had covered the next quarter in 56.06 with Nuguse right on his heels. The duo hit the bell in 2:47 and the race against the clock and each other was very much on.

“He does a very good race," Ingebrigtsen said of Nuguse. "Obviously he’s in a good enough shape to run what he does, but at the same time today I wanted to race where I could challenge myself to really set out at a decent pace, somewhat conservative, and then I go as hard as I could the last two laps to try to run as fast as I could. So it was very good.”As the two hit the back straight, it was apparent from the green LED pacing lights on the rail that they had fallen about two strides behind world-record pace but the intrigue was far from over. 

They remained tight rounding the next to last curve when Ingebrigtsen turned the screw with 150 to go and began to open slight daylight. Nuguse covered the move and pulled right back onto the heels of the leader.

Coming down the stretch, Nuguse grimaced as he tried to keep up with Ingebrigtsen, moving wide to lane two to try and get passed but he was unable to close the gap.

“This is gonna be my last chance for a while to beat him, I might as well just pour my whole heart into it," Nuguse said of his mindset late in the race. "It was the perfect race because I just felt very unbothered the entire time, so it was all just really gritting it out and seeing who could run faster. But you know, definitely tough competitor but still felt really good about it.”

Nuguse credited the passionate crowd at Hayward Field -- there were 12,634 ticketed spectators in attendance -- with providing him with the home-cooking spark he needed late in the race.

"“Definitely that third lap, I feel like having that crowd just going nuts was really huge," he said. "I could just feel they’re all cheering for me for once, when I feel like in Europe they’re mostly cheering for him. It was still just a really amazing crowd, I always love hearing a big roar, especially here in Eugene.”While Nuguse can kick back into the offseason and start recharging for the Olympic year -- he said, his plans are to “just have a ton of fun tonight, not think about running for a month” -- Ingebrigtsen has one more race to go in his season, and on a tight turnaround. The 5000m world champion is favored in tomorrow's men's 3000m.

"Obviously I was here to run the mile," Ingebrigtsen said of his focus. "I’m jumping in the 3k because I got the opportunity. But now it’s all about getting back home to the hotel, eat, sleep, try to prepare as good as I can and we’ll see tomorrow.”

After the meet ends, is  Ingebrigtsen's year done?

"Not quite," he said. "Hopefully getting married next weekend, so I think I have to prepare for that as well.”

Shericka Jackson maintains attack on Flo Jo's world record as she heads to Prefontaine Classic

Two-time World 200m champion Shericka Jackson will be eyeing the world record when she heads to the final Diamond League Meeting, the Prefontaine Classic, on Sunday.

She hoped to smash the late Florence Joyner’s record at the meeting in Brussels but missed out after clocking 21.48 to cross the finish line. The late Joyner’s record stands at 21.34 and Jackson is the only woman who has gotten close to the record.

She, however, has not lost hope and she wants to give her best shot when she races on US soil one more time.

The 29-year-old has sweet memories of the Hayward Field in Eugene since she won the 200m at last year’s edition of the event.

“I believe in myself, I believe in what I’m capable of doing. If it comes it comes if it doesn’t it’s okay. I’ll cool down, take a little break, and then prepare for next year.

But as I said the focus is on this year…if I get the record in Eugene, then it will be a plus but I won’t kill myself,” the Jamaican said.

She has been unbeaten so far this year in the 200m and that shows how formidable she is to take down the record.

The World 100m silver medalist opened her track season in the 200m at the Diamond League Meeting in Rabat, Morocco where she reigned supreme.

She also clinched top honors at the Jamaican Championships before also winning at the Gyulai István Memorial, a Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix.

She then proceeded to the Diamond League Meeting in Monaco before heading to the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary where she defended her title.

After the World Championships, she competed at the Meetings in Zurich and Brussels where she bagged wins. She is now eyeing glory at the final Diamond League Meeting.

Athing Mu a surprise entrant for Pre Classic Diamond League final

The entries for this weekend’s Prefontaine Classic, which will serve as the 2023 Diamond League final, were announced on Tuesday and they included a surprising name: Athing Mu.

The last time we saw Mu, the 2021 Olympic and 2022 world champion at 800 meters, she had just finished third in the 800m at the World Championships in Budapest on August 27 and looked set to end her season.

“I can go home and finally go on vacation and stop thinking about track & field,” Mu said after the race.

Whether it’s because Mu changed her mind or her sponsor Nike put its foot down (many Nike athletes are required to compete at the Prefontaine Classic as part of their contract), it sure looks like Mu is thinking about track & field again. She is listed among the entrants for the women’s 800 meters (Sunday, 5:19 p.m. ET) alongside world champion Mary Moraa of Kenya and Worlds silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain.

Just because Mu is on the start list does not guarantee that she is competing. She was supposed to run the Millrose Games in February but withdrew the week of the meet. She was listed among the entrants at the Music City Track Carnival in June — something she claimed to have no knowledge of — but did not compete there and also withdrew from the Ed Murphey Classic in August.

Just because Mu is on the start list does not guarantee that she is competing. She was supposed to run the Millrose Games in February but withdrew the week of the meet. She was listed among the entrants at the Music City Track Carnival in June — something she claimed to have no knowledge of — but did not compete there and also withdrew from the Ed Murphey Classic in August.

Furthermore, it’s not as if Mu’s name just showed up on the start list. Mu has competed in just three meets in 2023, none of them Diamond Leagues, meaning she did not qualify for the Diamond League final. The only way she could have been granted a lane is by wild card — the US, as host country, gets one bonus entry in every event, determined by the meet director. If Mu was not going to take her spot, Prefontaine meet directors Michael Reilly and John Capriotti would have found another American to use the wild card rather than waste it on Mu.

All of this suddenly makes the women’s 800 one of the most compelling events of the meet. The last two Mu-Hodgkinson-Moraa matchups — the 2022 and 2023 world finals — were both fantastic races. Now we get to see how Mu will respond to her third-place finish in Budapest — the first 800-meter defeat of her professional career. And American fans will get to see Mu once more this season in just the third Diamond League appearance of her life. The first two went pretty well: in her DL debut at the 2021 Pre Classic, Mu set an American record of 1:55.04. In DL #2 in Rome last year, Mu won in 1:57.01, more than two seconds up on Moraa.

How will she fare in #3? If all goes to plan, we won’t have to wait long to find out.

Why Letsile Tebogo is unfazed going to the Prefontaine Classic despite facing tough opposition

Botswana’s wonderkid Letsile Tebogo will be heading to the Diamond League Final Meeting in Eugene, USA under no pressure despite facing off against some of the strongest 100m sprinters in the world.

The 20-year-old made history as Africa’s first man to win a medal in the 100m at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. He beat some of the greatest athletes who will be going to Eugene with revenge written all over their faces.

However, the youngster is not under the pump to deliver since he has achieved most of his goals for the 2023 season.

Speaking to Business Weekly, his coach Kebonyemodisa ‘Dose’ Mosimanyane assured his fans that the youngster will go to the final of the Diamond League Meeting under no pressure.

“We have reached our goals for this season. So, going into the DL finals, there’s no need to burden ourselves with unnecessary pressure," he said.

"Our primary focus is on Tebogo’s well-being for the upcoming Olympics in Paris. That’s why we’re avoiding undue pressure.

"While we’re not suggesting we don’t aim to perform well at the DL finals, we want to ensure that we don’t add unnecessary stress."

The coach insisted that Tebogo’s participation in the finals is primarily for enjoyment and to conclude the season on a high note. After the event, he will return to Botswana to rest before coming back to prepare for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

At the Diamond League, he will face off against double World Champion Noah Lyles, who beat him to gold 100m, in Budapest, Hungary.

He will also lock horns with Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala who exited the World Championships empty-handed. Omanyala will be hoping to end his season on a high. The two pose as potential threats to the wonderkid but he remains still.

Reynold Cheruiyot eyeing more glory at Prefontaine Classic after estelar ML performance in Brussels

World Under-20 1,500m champion Reynold Cheruiyot is not resting on his laurels as he eyes more success at the final Diamond League Meeting, Prefontaine Classic, scheduled for September 16 and 17.

Cheruiyot was in action during Friday night’s Diamond League Meeting in Brussels, Belgium and he managed to finish second in the men’s 2,000m.

The 19-year-old clocked a Personal Best and national record time of 4:48.14 as Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen broke the world record, clocking 4:43.13 to cross the line.

After his victory in Brussels, Cheruiyot wants to extend the hot streak to his final race of the season in Eugene, USA.

In a post-race interview, he said: “It was a tough race and I tried to follow the best. The race was not ideal for me but I was still able to follow and to run a personal record."

"The stadium was very good, the crowd was loud so that really helped. I only have one race left, the final in Eugene. I'm already looking forward to it and hope to run close to this time again.”

The youngster has had an amazing season thus far, making his debut in the senior category at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary where he reached the final of the event.

He has also competed with the seniors in a couple of races including the Kip Keino Classic where he won and the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix where he finished second behind Timothy Cheruiyot.

Sha’Carri Richardson, Noah Lyles ready to blaze track at 2023 Prefontaine Classic

The 2023 Prefontaine Classic will feature star sprinters Sha'Carri Richardson and Noah Lyles competing in the 100-meter races.

Two sprinters who have been setting the world of athletics ablaze in 2023, Sha’Carri Richardson and Noah Lyles, are poised to ignite the track in their respective 100m  races at this year's highly anticipated Prefontaine Classic. 

This electrifying event, which doubles as the Wanda Eugene Diamond League Final, will take place on Saturday, September 16, in the iconic city of Eugene, Oregon. 

Sha’Carri Richardson, fresh off her remarkable triumph at the 2023 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships where she secured the 100m  title, declared confidently, "I’m not back. I’m better." 

Richardson, who has been making waves both on and off the track, continued to showcase her undeniable talent by clinching gold in the 100m  and 4x100m relay, as well as a bronze in the 200m at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

 With two World Championship titles under her belt, Richardson is now poised to extend her reign of success at the upcoming Prefontaine Classic.

On the other side of the sprinting spectrum, Noah Lyles is a force to be reckoned with. Fresh from a sensational performance at the World Athletics Championships, where he clinched gold medals in the 100m , 200m, and 4x100m relay events, Lyles is now setting his sights on a new accolade. 

While he has already amassed four Wanda Diamond League Champion trophies in the 200m category, spanning the years 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022, Lyles is hungry for his first-ever 100m title at the Diamond League Final.

 His wind-legal personal best of 9.83 seconds this season has earned him the coveted top spot in the global rankings for the event, making him a formidable contender in the world of sprinting.

Fans can expect an evening of high-speed drama, record-breaking potential, and nail-biting competition as Richardson and Lyles go head to head in the 100-meter races.

The Prefontaine Classic is scheduled to kick off at 9:00 PM East Africa time on Saturday September 16.

Australian high schooler runs 3:55 mile, beating pros

At the first World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet of the 2023 season in Melbourne on Thursday, a Grade 11 student from Canberra, Cameron Myers, became the second-youngest person in history to break the four-minute mile barrier, at 16 years and 259 days, setting a new U16 world record of 3:55.44. 

Myers placed third in the men’s mile at the Maurie Plant Classic, behind 2022 Commonwealth Games 1,500m champion Olli Hoare and New Zealand’s Sam Tanner, and beating a lengthy list of pros, including 2016 Olympic 1,500m champion Matt Centrowitz. 

The 16-year-old is the second youngest runner in history to break four minutes in the mile; the youngest was Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Ingebrigtsen first went sub-four at age 16 years and 250 days, when he ran 3:58.04 at the 2017 Prefontaine Classic in Oregon. Myers, who is only nine days older than Ingebrigtsen was then, produced a quicker time than Ingebrigtsen when he first went sub-4.

Myers’s run stripped an incredible 12 seconds off his previous mile personal best of 4:07.04. His time also broke Ingebrigtsen’s U16 world record of 3:56.29 from the 2017 Bislett Games in Oslo.

“At 16, it’s impressive to see Myers running better than most college athletes in the U.S.,” said Hoare to reporters post-race. “He’s an amazing talent for Australia moving forward, and I’m excited for him.”

Hoare won the mile in 3:52.24, coming off a bronze-medal performance in the mixed relay team event at the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst last weekend. Hoare’s time was the third-fastest mile time in history by an Australian. 

Two Canadian athletes also competed in Melbourne–John Gay placed 10th in the men’s 3,000m in 8:03.91, while Erin Teschuk was 13th in the women’s 1,500m. Both athletes represented Canada at the 2023 World XC Championships five days ago. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

U.S. Olympian Hassan Mead accepts three-year doping ban

Former U.S. Olympian and 2018 NACAC 10,000m champion Hassan Mead has accepted a three-year suspension for an anti-doping rule violation.

On Nov. 29, USADA announced that Mead, 33, tested positive for two anabolic agents—ostarine (enobosarm) and ligandrol (metabolite di-hydroxy-LGD-4033) as the result of an out-of-competition urine sample collected on Oct. 17. Mead has not competed since the 2022 Prefontaine Classic on May 27. 

Athletes will use ostarine to increase muscular strength and power without causing excessive weight gain or water retention. Ligandrol can make fat loss more efficient and has muscle-gaining effects.

Although Mead has not raced in six months or announced his retirement, he will not be eligible to compete until 2025. Since 2012, Mead trained with Nike’s Oregon Track Club (OTC) under coach Mark Rowland. Rowland is currently the Athletics Canada West Hub Coach (Endurance) in Victoria, a position he took earlier this summer.

Mead’s agent Chris Layne gave a comment to CitiusMag regarding the ban:

“Mead stopped running and let us know he would be retiring immediately at the end of May 2022. At this point, he stopped training and started to take an over-the-counter pre-workout drink for lifting in the gym. Mead made a regrettable decision to not file the retirement paperwork, which kept him in the USADA testing pool until November. Mead has never failed a drug test while competing and this is a sad situation of not filing paperwork on time.”

The Portland, Ore. runner is the second OTC athlete to receive anti-doping sanctions this year. His teammate and 2012 Olympic silver medallist in the 800m, Nijel Amos, was provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for the use of GW1516—a drug that modifies how the body metabolizes fat and that boosts endurance.

Mead has represented Team USA six times internationally, with his top finish coming at the 2016 Olympic Games, where he was 11th in the men’s 5,000m final. He made a run at qualifying in the 5,000m for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, but he wound up 11th at U.S. Olympic Trials.

Steve Prefontaine's Nike Oregon Waffle shoes sell for USD$163,800

A pair of Nike Oregon Waffle shoes worn by distance runner Steve Prefontaine has been sold for USD $163,800 on the auction site, Sothebys.com.This pair of Oregon Waffle sneakers in a men’s size 9.5, including the original laces and blue insoles, was worn and owned by Prefontaine. The sneaker is finished in a nylon upper in the University of Oregon’s signature yellow and green colourway. Prefontaine is widely considered the greatest U.S. runner of all time.

The waffle pattern was developed by Oregon track and field coach and Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman.

These are the first pair of Pre’s shoes to be publicly sold, which is notable considering the lasting impact he had on Nike, the most iconic sneaker company in the world: Nike.

Prefontaine was the first runner signed by Nike and jump-started the brand as a running shoe company.The auction for the shoe opened on Sept. 6, and the bidding began at $100,000.

From 1969 through the mid-1970s, Pre dominated the sport, setting eight NCAA records during his time at the University of Oregon and competing in the 5,000m at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. In 1975, Prefontaine died in a car accident in Eugene, Ore.

The winner of the auction will now get to hold on to a unique piece of running history. Each year, Prefontaine’s career and life are celebrated at the Prefontaine Classic, a world-class Diamond League track event held at Hayward Field in Eugene, in his honour.

Caster Semenya unnoticed at World Championships The South African Olympic champion fails to advance in the 5,000 meters in Oregon – her first major international competition since 2017

How many times had South Africa’s Caster Semenya charged onto the Hayward Field homestretch seemingly in a different race than the rest of the pack, the sport’s most storied stadium rocking as Semenya raced into the deafening roar?

How many times had American track and field’s most knowledgeable fans, most passionate crowd stood in appreciation of the two-time Olympic, three-time World 800-meter champion?

On a scalding hot afternoon at the World Championships on Wednesday, Semenya labored through the final meters of her 5,000-meter heat in front of a half-empty stadium, largely ignored or unnoticed even in a place that calls itself Tracktown U.S.A.

Semenya, one of the most compelling and controversial athletes of her generation, has fallen so far off the sport’s radar since 2019 that the most well-known of her fellow competitors on Wednesday didn’t even realize she was in the competition.

“Caster?” asked Sifan Hassan, the Olympic 5,000 and 10,000 champion from the Netherlands, who ran in a later heat on Wednesday.

“Caster Semenya ran the 5,000?” Hassan asked again. “ I had no idea. I didn’t even know she was here. Did she make it?”

Semenya, running in her first major international competition since winning the 2017 Worlds 800 title, did not advance to the final, finishing 13th in her heat, running 15 minutes, 46.12 seconds, nearly a minute off the winning time of Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia (14:52.69).

“Cooking,” Semenya said after the race, referring to the heat. She declined to answer reporters’ questions.

Under different circumstances, the sport would be obsessing over the prospect of a showdown between Semenya, 31, and Athing Mu, the 20-year-old Olympic champion from the U.S. in Sunday’s 800 final and whether the pair could challenge the world record of 1:53.28 that was set by Czechoslovakia’s Jarmila Kratochvilova in 1983.

Instead, Semenya, who was assigned female at birth, raised as a girl and identifies as a woman has not raced the 800 in meets sanctioned by World Athletics, the sport’s international governing body, because of her refusal to submit to the organization’s guidelines regarding intersex athletes.

Under the World Athletics guidelines athletes in events from the 400 to the mile – in other words, Semenya’s events – are required to take hormone suppressing drugs to reduce their testosterone to below 5 nanomoles per liter for at least six months before being allowed to compete internationally.

Semenya has an intersex condition called Differences in Sexual Development (DSD) or 46, XY that because of differences in sex development that causes male and female traits and a testosterone level higher than the typical female range. She is not transgender.

“I am a woman and I am a world-class athlete,” Semenya said in 2019, shortly before the Prefontaine Classic, her final 800. “The IAAF will not drug me or stop me from being who I am.”

Semenya had found herself unwittingly in the center of controversy almost from the moment she emerged on the world stage a decade earlier.

She won her first Worlds title in 2009 as an 18-year-old, a victory that prompted Russia’s Mariya Savinova to suggest the South African was a man.

“Just look at her,” Savinova said.

While the results of Semenya’s sex test were supposed to be confidential they were leaked to Australia’s Daily Telegraph. Semenya has internal testes but no ovaries or womb, the newspaper reported quoting the test report.

“She is a woman, but maybe not 100 percent,” IAAF secretary general Pierre Weiss said at the time, doing nothing to discourage the headline writers at New York’s Daily News who blared that the World champion “is a woman … and a man.”

Semenya began taking a hormone suppressant drug. She finished second to Savinova at both the 2011 Worlds and 2012 Olympics.

“The IAAF used me in the past as a human guinea pig to experiment with how the medication they required me to take would affect my testosterone levels,” she said in 2019. “Even though the hormonal drugs made me feel constantly sick the IAAF now wants to enforce even stricter thresholds with unknown health consequences.

“I will not allow the IAAF to use me and my body again. But I am concerned that other female athletes will feel compelled to let the IAAF drug them and test the effectiveness and negative health effects of different hormonal drugs. This cannot be allowed to happen.”

Semenya was awarded the 2012 Olympic gold medal in 2017, two years after the World Anti-Doping Agency recommended that Savinova receive a lifetime ban for doping and her results dating to July 2010 be disqualified.

Given the event’s suspect history, the irony of World Athletics now demanding she dope to level the playing field is not lost on Semenya.

“I’m not going to do that,” she told the Orange County Register after the 2019 Prefontaine meet. “I’m a very clean athlete. I believe in the clean sport. I believe in the equal opportunities. At the end of the day, this is a woman’s sport, this is a man’s sport. If they’re going come (at) me with that nonsense then why do you lead?”

Semenya challenged World Athletics guidelines with the Court of Arbitration for Sport. A three-member CAS panel in June 2019 said the World Athletics policy was “discriminatory” toward athletes with DSD but two of the panel members, nevertheless agreed with the World Athletics that policy was “necessary, reasonable and proportionate” to counter advantages DSD athletes have over other female competitors. Semenya and other female athletes with DSD should be considered “biological males” World Athletics told CAS.

Switzerland’s Supreme Court rejected Semenya’s appeal in September 2020. She filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights in February 2021.

While Semenya fell short in her bid to reach the Olympic 200-meter qualifying standard last year, the success of other intersex athletes has raised further questions about the World Athletics policy.

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

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

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

In other words, their Faith was not misplaced.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hassan decided not to contest the 1500m this year.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The second fastest woman in history Elaine Thompson-Herah has signed with Puma, and now wants the world record

Five-time Olympic champion and the second fastest woman of all time has signed a sponsorship deal with Puma Running. Elaine Thompson-Herah, the back-to-back Olympic 100m and 200m champion, will boost the company’s impressive roster of track and field athletes ahead of the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Ore.

“Puma just felt like the right fit,” says Thompson-Herah. “The company has been working with the world’s fastest athletes for decades and I can’t wait to be part of such an elite group.”

In 2021, Thompson-Herah became the second fastest woman in history when she clocked 10.54 seconds at the 2021 Prefontaine Classic. The 30-year-old Jamaican 100m and 200m record holder spent several years with Nike, and now has her sights set on breaking Florence Griffith-Joyner’s 100m world record of 10.49 seconds from 1988.

“Now is the time to break it,” says the double Olympic champion. “I think there’s still a lot I can unleash.”

Puma has a long history in the sport of track and field, and has sponsored the Jamaican Athletics Team since 2002. Thompson-Herah now joins her Jamaican compatriot, 100m and 200m world record holder and eight-time Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt.

Thompson-Herah kicks off her 2022 World Championship campaign on Saturday evening in the women’s 100m heats.

Galen Rupp fueled by family time as he prepares for marathon at World Athletic Championships

It’s been nine months since Galen Rupp ran his last full marathon.

He contemplated running another this spring after finishing the Chicago Marathon last October, but decided against it to avoid tiring himself out ahead of the summer.

Now, as he trains for the 2022 World Athletics Championships, he’s been replicating the effects a marathon has on his body. That includes going on long, painful runs no matter how tired he is.

But Rupp is always able to get through it because he knows what’s waiting for him at home once he’s finished: a sit-down dinner with his wife and kids.

It doesn’t matter if his training went well or not, Rupp said. When he gets home and his kids come running to hug him, whatever happened that day doesn’t matter compared with what’s in front of him.

“I get a lot of strength from being around them,” Rupp said. “Mentally, I’m in the best place possible when I’m in their presence.”

That helps fuel Rupp, 36, as he’s running competitively, knowing his family is in the stands or along the route. They’ll only need to make a two-hour drive south to Eugene for this year’s world championships, which run July 15-24 and are being held in the United States for the first time.

Friends, family and fans of Rupp have always turned out to watch him race, from his time at Central Catholic High School in Portland all the way to the Olympics.

Rupp is no stranger to competing at Hayward Field. He ran with the Ducks’ cross country and track teams from 2004-09 and holds multiple school records. The team’s website refers to him as “one of the greatest distance runners in UO history.”

His days competing in Eugene didn’t end once he joined the professional ranks. He frequently has been in town for the Olympic trials or the Eugene Marathon. Memories from Eugene that stick out for Rupp include setting the American record in 10,000 meters at the 2014 Prefontaine Classic and making his first Olympic team in 2008.

"There’s always a buzz around the city and stadium when there’s a big meet in town,” Rupp said. “There’s really nothing like it.”

Rupp’s training process changed slightly since he started working with a new coach, Northern Arizona University’s Michael Smith, in 2020. With Smith based in Arizona, he relies on Rupp sending videos of his workouts, taken by his wife, to provide tips and advice.

The two keep up a steady stream of communication via text, and Rupp said he appreciates Smith’s willingness to tell him to try different things and new workouts.

“He’s not scared to challenge me,” Rupp said. “The biggest growth comes when you start trying new things and doing some different things in training.”

All that training, which Rupp said amounts to a full-time job, has kept him busy over the last few months. Outside of spending time with his kids, which usually means fishing for trout, he’s had to stay off his feet in his free time.

With the downtime he has, Rupp tries to keep up with UO athletics. He’s particularly excited for Oregon’s new football coach, Dan Lanning, and the Ducks’ season opener against Georgia in September.

“I’m pumped for Dan Lanning, excited to see what the team’s going to look like under him,” Rupp said.

Rupp said he hasn’t given much thought to what he’ll do once his running career wraps up. The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris are on his radar, but he stressed that making Team USA at the trials is difficult, so he doesn’t want to make any hasty assumptions.

Going into coaching has crossed his mind a few times, but he doesn’t dwell on those thoughts to avoid letting them become a distraction. For now, he’s focused on the next race.

“I still feel like I’ve got a lot of years left for sure,” Rupp said. “I want to keep putting all my energy into that for the time being.”

It Shouldn’t Be This Hard to Be a Running Fan

Despite incredible performances at the USATF Outdoor Championships, the meet’s presentation failed to make the sport accessible for a wider audience.

The USATF Outdoor Championships were last weekend. But unless you made the trek to Eugene, Oregon, or you knew exactly where to watch at exactly the right time, you might have missed some (or all) of the action. 

Even if you managed to watch the meet, you might have been left wondering who actually qualified to represent Team USA at the World Athletics Championships from July 15–24. Why will sprinter Christian Coleman run worlds after skipping out on the 100-meter final, despite running the rounds? But Jonathan Davis, who finished second in the men’s 1500 meters, did not qualify? There are answers to these questions, but such answers require prior knowledge of an elaborate qualification system that’s bound to confuse the casual viewer.

Those unclear qualification parameters, along with schedule changes, expensive travel and lodging, and an inconvenient number of streaming services, turned a celebration of athleticism into a Twitter gripe-fest, led by some of the sport’s biggest stars. 

That’s not to say the U.S. championships weren’t exciting. Quite the opposite, in fact—the best part of the championships were the athletes’ performances. But everything outside the physical races, throws, vaults, and jumps was simply not on par with other professional sports’ presentations. 

How can running become a more accessible sport to the general public? A lot of factors are at play, but critiquing the current shortcomings is step one.

Eugene is difficult and expensive to get to

Hayward Field is undoubtedly a historic venue in track history, and its home city, Eugene, is often dubbed Tracktown USA. So it makes sense that it should host major U.S. meets. But that doesn’t mean it should host all of the important events. 

Between Memorial Day weekend and late July, the University of Oregon stadium will have hosted the Prefontaine Classic, the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships, the USATF Outdoor Championships, and the World Athletics Championships—the four best meets in the U.S. this year. 

It’s definitely an outlier year—the World Athletics Championships are on U.S. soil for the first time—but that means the NCAA championships and USATF Outdoor Championships should have been held elsewhere. (The Prefontaine Classic won’t and shouldn’t leave Hayward, because of Steve Prefontaine’s connection to the state and university.) 

But track fans who live outside the state face complicated and expensive trips to make it to just one of these meets, let alone four over the course of two months.

An estimated 55,000 people will be in Eugene for the World Athletics Championships, and it shows in hotel supply and demand. Oregon Live reported that the Best Western close to Hayward Field costs $110 per night on a typical week, but it will skyrocket to $596 per night during Worlds. Add in the cost of a flight to Eugene—or a flight to Portland, plus a rental car—and track fans could likely only afford one trip this year, skipping the U.S. championships in favor of Worlds.

The attendance numbers speak for themselves. Only 13,306 people showed up for the 2022 USATF Outdoor Championships—an average of 3,327 each day in a stadium with the capacity for 12,650, expandable to nearly 25,000. In 2019, the last World Championships year, 30,367 fans traveled to Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, to watch the U.S. national meet.

The takeaway isn’t simply to host the U.S. championships elsewhere, however. Hayward Field hosted the 2015 U.S. championships that qualified for worlds and 38,705 people were there. (It also hosted the Olympic Trials last year, though Olympic years generally have higher attendance numbers.) USATF needs to encourage other venues to bid for a chance to host the U.S. championships—preferably in locales more accommodating to large sporting events. 

Unfortunately, hosting the national championships is a big undertaking, and USATF doesn’t recommend new cities go straight from nothing to hosting the big one. Hayward Field already has the infrastructure in place to put on big meets—but so do Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, California, which hosted U.S. nationals in 2017, and Drake Stadium. In a unique year like this one, USATF should do more work to ensure fans aren’t stuck paying big bucks to go to the same stadium four times in two months. 

Fans at home navigate increasingly convoluted streaming and broadcasting schedules and costs

If the prevalence of “how to watch this event” articles tells you anything about track, it’s that viewing the sport at home requires multiple streaming subscriptions, a beefy cable package, and hour-by-hour knowledge of which network shows which events. 

This year, the USATF Outdoor Championships were broadcast across three different channels: NBC, CNBC, and USA. All three are owned by NBCUniversal. The meet streamed on two services: Peacock, which is NBC’s streaming service, and USATF.TV, a partner site on Runnerspace. 

To catch every event live, you had to bounce around. Day one was only streamed on USATF.TV. Day two streamed on Peacock and broadcast on CNBC. On day three, the first hour of competition was on USATF.TV, while the rest was on Peacock and NBC. Every full-length field competition streamed on USATF.TV.

The final day didn’t go as planned. It was supposed to stream on Peacock, while the first half broadcast on NBC and the second half on USA. If the broadcast splitting into two networks mid-meet wasn’t ridiculous enough, a last-minute schedule change (due to high temperatures in Eugene) pushed some events earlier in the day, which disrupted the broadcast and streaming schedule. 

Therefore, fans had to again turn to USATF.TV for the updated portion of the schedule, then log back into Peacock or turn on their televisions for the rest of the events. 

Streaming is normally the simplest and most cost-effective way to watch the U.S. national meet. To watch live sports on Peacock, you have to pay a $4.99 per month fee. A USATF.TV subscription is more costly—a monthly pass costs $12.99, and a yearly pass costs $119.88, which works out to $9.99 per month—but also gives you access to all other Runnerspace content. And if you only wanted to tune into the U.S. track championships, you only had to pay $18 total for a one-month subscription to each—that’s much less than a ticket to most sporting events. 

But here’s the trouble: if you’re a running fan who diligently follows the sport, you can’t watch every event on those two services alone.

Flotrack owns the rights to stream many of the major invitational track meets across the U.S., and they charge $29.99 monthly or $12.49 per month with an annual subscription. ESPN owns the rights to the NCAA championships, some major NCAA conference meets, the American Track League, and the New York City Marathon, which are only streamable if you have a cable subscription. The website Cable TV analyzed 381 plans across 15 providers and concluded that the average cost of cable is $79—and that’s without an internet bundle.

So how much does it cost to be a track fan that wants to watch most events live? Over $100 per month with annual subscriptions. That’s not cheap—especially when coverage is across disparate platforms subject to change at day’s notice and varies in quality. 

Unfortunately, there’s no easy solution to this problem. While a singular running broadcast hub would be fantastic, it’s simply not feasible. Each network and service has rights to certain events and control them as such. But there are two things track fans can demand: clear and timely communication from USATF about where they can watch events live, and the respect of cable television networks, like NBC or ESPN, to show meets in their entirety on a single channel—without cutting to commercial mid-race.

It’s exhausting to explain the world championships qualification process to a casual viewer

Before 2019, USATF selected world championships qualifiers based on two main factors: whether you finished top three at the USATF Outdoor Championships, and whether you had the world qualification standard. The world standards are put in place by World Athletics—the international governing body of track & field—to limit the global championships to the best athletes.

If the top three finishers did not have the world standard, they were allowed to chase the standard for a period after the national meet ended and before the world meet began. If one of those athletes did not get the standard in time, the next person in finishing order at the USATF Outdoor Championships would qualify instead. 

For example, athletes A, B, and C get first, second, and third at the U.S. championships in their event. Athlete C, however, did not achieve the world standard mark. Athlete C chases the standard, but fails to achieve it in the allotted time frame. Athlete D, who finished fourth, does have the standard, and will compete at the world championships instead of athlete C.

Does that already sound a bit confusing? Well, in 2019, World Athletics introduced a world ranking system, where “athletes score points based on a combination of result and place depending on the level of the competition in which the result is achieved.” This adds a new dimension to qualification, which assists athletes who might not achieve the standard but have been performing well in highly competitive meets, like the Diamond League circuit. 

At the U.S. championships, this is normally not an issue. The top three athletes usually either have the standard or have a high enough world ranking that they qualify. At this year’s championships, however, one event caused everyone in the track world to scratch their heads. 

The men’s 1500 meters is often a slow, tactical race, which leads to unconventional outcomes. Four men in this year’s final achieved the world standard mark of 3:35.00. But only one of those men placed top three—Cooper Teare, who won the race in a pedestrian 3:45.86. Second-place finisher Jonathan Davis had neither the standard nor a high enough world ranking, because he competed in the NCAA for the University of Illinois all season. Third-place finisher Josh Thompson similarly did not hit the standard, but he did have a high enough world ranking in 39th. The next two people with the world standard were Johnny Gregorek in sixth, and Yared Nuguse in 11th. But because this race counts toward world rankings, someone in between Thompson and Gregorek, like Eric Holt in fourth, could potentially jump the world rankings list to snag the third world team spot. However, Holt would have to land in the top 45 on the world ranking list—he sat 73rd before the race.

Chaos ensued over the next few hours as journalists, athletes, and fans deliberated over Twitter about who would actually qualify. But when the dust settled, there was no definitive answer. By the end of the last day of the U.S. championships, June 26, World Athletics released new rankings. Davis jumped from 110th to 93rd, while Holt remained the same. Neither earned the World Championships berth, as the qualification window closed on June 29.

Such a convoluted system isn’t just a blight for fans. Athletes like Davis, who ran the race of his life to earn second place, miss out on a chance to represent the United States. And those opportunities don’t come often.

“It was a little bittersweet,” Davis told Runner’s World. “It’d be really nice if it would have been similar to past years, where a top finish would possibly get you into the world championships. But [my coach and I] knew this was a possibility and that we have to deal with it.”

Davis believes emphasizing national meet placement would be more fair—and that the NCAA championships should have more impact on world rankings. But overall, he was happy with his performance and not too worried about missing out on worlds. “If I’m back next year, we’ll make sure I have the standard and get into some better races to increase my world rank,” he said. 

But when asked directly about his thoughts on just how confusing the qualification procedures are, he laughed and said, “I’m not going to explain them to my grandparents.”

The world rankings are still a work in progress, according to World Athletics: “As we develop tools and processes to further expand the reach of our statistical service, these figures are destined to grow steadily and consistently.” In the meantime, athletes suffer, fans get confused, and casual viewers remain apathetic.

Sinclaire Johnson confident heading into USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships

As Sinclaire Johnson made her way to the starting line for the women’s 1,500 meters at the Prefontaine Classic last month in Eugene, she took a moment to take in her competitors.

Eight of them ran in the 1,500 final at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo last year. Now, she had the opportunity to show she belongs among them.

 No thoughts about Johnson’s final time crossed her mind throughout the race. They never do. She’s too focused on her pace and beating those around her, and she rode that mindset to a fourth-place finish, beating six of those Tokyo Olympians.

“I felt like I had finally stepped into that pool of competing on that world-class level,” Johnson said this week.

Running a sub four-minute race was always Johnson’s goal heading into the meet. When she had the time to think about her official time, she saw it read 3 minutes, 58.85 seconds, a new personal record. It’s a far cry from where she was nine months ago, when she could train only in pools or the gym while dreaming of getting back to running.

Johnson joined Bowerman Track Club following her college career at Oklahoma State University, where she won a national title in the 1,500 as a junior in 2019. She made the switch to coach Pete Julian’s Portland-based Union Athletics Club last August.

That’s when the pain started.

It began as persistent pain in her hip following a workout early in the week. She couldn’t walk by Saturday, and an ensuing MRI showed a small tear in her labrum. Such tears typically can be corrected only through surgery, but this tear was small enough to not require an operation.

Johnson resumed training with caution, but she was still in pain that wasn’t getting better. Another MRI a month later showed something new: a stress fracture. So Johnson’s time with Union Athletics Club began in earnest while she was in recovery.

Running wasn’t an option, so Johnson instead spent time in the gym strengthening the muscles surrounding her hip and pool exercises to reduce the stress on her body. The process of getting Johnson back into competitive shape was slow and cautious, Julian said, but she was finally able to start running again in November.

“Every week just kept getting better and better,” Johnson said. “I just kept shocking myself with what I could do.”

Julian and Dave McHenry, Union Athletics Club’s strength coach, were with her every step of the way, Johnson said. This included daily check-ins on Johnson’s physical and mental health, scheduling appointments with doctors and breaking down how to get her back to training.

“She’s been able to just continue to progress honestly, just with more training load,” Julian said.

When it wasn’t her coaches reaching out with support, it was her new teammates. Jessica Hull, a former track athlete at the University of Oregon, met Johnson as a competitor when the two were running in college.

Hull was right behind Johnson when the latter won the NCAA title in 2019. It was a flip of the preliminary round earlier that day, when Hull took first and Johnson claimed second.

“We both knew at that point, we couldn’t have done it without each other, pushing each other,” Hull said.

Not only has Hull been training alongside Johnson at Union Athletics Club, she was also one of the eight Olympians running with her at the Prefontaine Classic. The two aren’t competitive with each other now that they’re on a team, Hull said.

Heading into the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships this week, Hull said she’s looking forward to seeing Johnson’s training pay off.

“Watching her race at USA is gonna feel like my heart is out there with her,” said Hull, who competes for Australia.

Messages from coaches and teammates were important, but Johnson’s ultimate confidence boost came from herself. Slowly, but surely, she worked through the outdoor season to go from hanging on in races to competing to win.

That top-four finish in the Prefontaine Classic against some of the same competition she’ll see in the 1,500 this week proved to Johnson that she can earn a spot on Team USA for the World Athletics Championships next month.

“Not only do I want to make a team,” Johnson said, “I believe that I can make a team.”

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.”

Five high school boys have combined to break the four-minute barrier seven times in 2022 and no one has enjoyed it more than Jim Ryun

Jim Ryun was the first high school boy to break the four-minute barrier in the mile as a Kansas 17-year-old in 1964 and went on to a legendary track and field career that included three Olympic appearances in the 1,500m, a silver medal in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, and numerous American and world records. 

Ryun’s name always surfaces when a high schooler dips under 4 minutes in the mile. And in 2022, his name has been coming up a lot. 

Ryun’s career was also in the spotlight earlier this month when he was one of 30 former college track and field athletes inducted into the inaugural class of the USTFCCCA’s Athlete Hall of Fame in conjunction with the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. 

The original 4-minute high school barrier breaker celebrates the resurgence of American high school distance running and says for too long runners were held back in fear of what would happen if they ran under 4 minutes for the mile. 

“I think they realize it’s not a barrier that can’t be broken, it’s more of a matter that if you break it,” Ryun said, “will you go on from there, which you can because we’re seeing more and more of them that are doing that.  

“It’s not the barrier that it once was, should never have been there. For a long time, there were three of us. Myself, Marty Liquori and Tim Danielson. We were the only (sub) 4-minute milers from high school for years and I think it was the result of people being afraid of that, and coaches saying if you run too fast, too soon you’ll never make it very far.” 

Growing up, Ryun often wondered if he would ever be successful in an athletic endeavor. He tried basketball and football and was cut from his church baseball team. At a high school assembly, Bob Timmons, the school’s track and field and cross country coach, encouraged students to run on his cross country team in the fall. 

Ryun had never run more than one lap around a track before joining the cross country team, but in one season at Wichita East High School, he went from the last runner on the third-string team to a sixth-place finish at the Kansas state meet. 

“Running was so new to me, I didn’t know who the heroes were,” Ryun recalled. “In fact, my first thought was I wanted to be a baseball, football, basketball player. Running, what’s that? So, it took a while. The first book Coach Timmons gave to me was about Emil Zatopek, the great Olympian, so I read that, and it began helping me understand about the sport.” 

Ryun said Timmons was convinced he could be the first high school runner to break 4 minutes in the mile. That came true on June 5, 1964, when Ryun ran 3 minutes, 59.0 seconds to finish eighth at the Compton Invitational in Los Angeles. 

“The goal originally was my coach’s because I was the kid that got cut from the church baseball team, didn’t have great talent and when I started running, I was looking for direction,” Ryun said. "And he began basically teaching me about goals, how to reach goals, and gave me workouts to get there. The night that I ran 4 minutes, 3:59.0, I didn’t sleep that night (before) because I realized that it was his goal. 

“But my thought was, what happens if I take ownership, ownership being there’s certain things you as an athlete know you could do like maybe a little extra weightlifting, better eating. It was a transformational moment, because I mean when you finish eighth in a race and become the first kid to run under 4 minutes, that has to change your life – and it did.” 

Ryun’s running career took off from there. He made the 1964 U.S. Olympic team in the 1,500m that went to Tokyo and was the last U.S. high school men’s track and field athlete to make the U.S. Olympic team until teenager Erriyon Knighton qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 200m and finished fourth there. 

As a high school senior, Ryun broke 4 minutes four more times. His time of 3:58.3 at the 1965 Kansas state meet was the first time 4 minutes was broken in a high school-only meet. On June 4, 1965, Ryun returned to the Compton Relays, the site of his first sub-4-minute mile and ran 3:56.8. A little over three weeks later, he ran 3:55.3 at the U.S. AAU Championships in San Diego and beat New Zealand’s Peter Snell, the 1964 Olympic champion in the 800m and 1,500m. 

Ryun, who would stay close to home and attend Kansas University after graduating from high school in 1965, roomed with a former Jayhawks great, Billy Mills, during U.S. training camps leading up to the 1964 Olympics. In Tokyo, Mills stunned the world by becoming the only U.S. athlete to ever win the Olympic 10,000m. 

In 1966, Tim Danielson became the second American high schooler to break 4 minutes when he ran 3:59.4. A year later, Marty Liquori ran 3:59.8 to become the third high schooler under 4 minutes. 

Ryun and Liquori had illustrious careers after high school, particularly Ryun. At age 19 in 1966, Ryun set two world records, first in the 800m (1:44.9), and then the mile (3:51.3). He was the NCAA indoor mile champion for Kansas in 1967, 1968 and 1969, and the 1967 outdoor NCAA mile champion. In 1967, he set a 1,500m world record of 3:33.1 that stood for seven years.

That same year, he lowered his mile world record to 3:51.1., a mark that stood for almost eight years. Ryun was the last American man to hold the mile world record. He still holds American junior records for the mile (3:51.3) and 2-mile (8:25.1), and his 800m American junior record of 1:44.9 stood for exactly 50 years. 

In 2003, ESPN.com ranked Ryun as the greatest U.S. high school athlete of the 20th century, ahead of Tiger Woods, LeBron James, Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Wilt Chamberlain, Marion Jones, and others.

After Ryun, Danielson, and Liquori, the 4-minute mile wasn’t broken by a prep athlete again for more than 32 years until Alan Webb ran 3:59.86 at the New Balance Games in New York on Jan. 20, 2001. Sensing something special in Webb, the promoters of the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore., invited him to run in the Bowerman Mile, the signature event of the meet that has since become a Diamond League event, on May 27, 2001. 

Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj, still the world record-holder in the 1,500m and mile, won the event in 3:49.92, followed by Kevin Sullivan of Canada and Bernard Lagat, then of Kenya, who later ran for the U.S. They helped pull Webb to a fifth-place finish in 3:53.43, breaking Ryun’s 36-year-old high school record. 

“I thought he would. I just didn’t know how much he would break it by," Ryun said. “It was one of those moments in time where he had run well, but he needed somebody to help him get over that finish line, just as I did running under 4 minutes for the first time. You need someone to help set the pace. You can relax a little bit, and he was able to take advantage of that.  

“So, there was no real surprise to me. The biggest surprise was that there weren’t more high school boys running under 4 minutes.” 

It would be another 10 years before a high schooler would break 4 minutes in the mile. In 2015, Matthew Maton and Grant Fisher, now the U.S. record-holder in the men’s 10,000m, both ran 3:59.38 about one month apart. In 2016, two runners broke 4 minutes, including Drew Hunter, who did it twice in a 15-day span in February indoors, both times in New York. 

The 4-minute barrier was broken by high schoolers once in 2017 and again in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Hobbs Kessler ran the fastest high school mile since Webb when he ran 3:57.66 indoors. Kessler later that year broke Ryun’s 1,500m American junior record of 3:36.1 that stood for almost 55 years. 

The lack of American high school runners breaking 4 minutes in the mile for decades might be a big reason why U.S. men haven’t enjoyed much Olympic or international success until recently. When Matthew Centrowitz won the men’s 1,500m at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, he was the first American man to do so since 1908. At the same Olympics, Clayton Murphy won the bronze medal in the 800m, the first American man to medal in the event since 1992. 

And when the World Athletics Championships are hosted on U.S. soil for the first time next month in Eugene, Ore., the defending 800m men’s champion is American Donavan Brazier. 

“If you look back in history, you’d see there was a dominance maybe by a country for a time like Great Britain had all those great runners. America at one time was dominant in that area as well,” Ryun said. “So, I think it’s a matter of floating from place to place, and I think it comes down to motivation. How motivated are you?  

“Over time you start realizing that motivation has to come down to you be willing to get up, run in all kinds of weather, race all over the world and let those talents be developed that God’s given you. So, it takes time. I think America can come back with dominance, but it also comes down to how motivated you are. I see the Kenyans as very motivated, and America can be just as motivated as you see with these new young runners that are developing quickly.” 

That has proven to be the case this season. Seventeen high school runners have broken the 4-minute barrier, and 2022 has been the banner season for it so far with five runners breaking the mark seven times. 

“I think a lot of coaches are seeing, too, that kids are just developing a lot faster doesn’t mean you’re going to burn out,” Ryun said. “It means you’ve got great opportunities. Will you decide to keep it going and, in my case, will you take ownership? The coach can only take you so far, but then you have to establish ownership.” 

The owner of the fastest prep mile this year is Colin Sahlman, who ran 3:58.81 indoors in February, and, like Webb, was invited to the Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic. In a field that included 2020 Tokyo Olympic 1,500m gold medalist Jackob Ingebrigtsen, defending World Athletics Championships 1,500m gold medalist Timothy Cheruiyot, and defending 1,500m NCAA outdoor champion Cole Hocker, Sahlman finished 13th in 3:56.24. Of the 14 men who finished the race, seven set personal bests and seven set season bests, including Ingebrigtsen, whose time of 3:49.76 is the fastest in the world this year. 

Sahlman’s time moved him to third on the all-time prep list behind Webb and Ryun. Sahlman, who is headed to Northern Arizona University for college, was part of a high school powerhouse at Newbury Park High in Southern California. In 2021, Newbury Park became the first high school team to have four runners break 4:10 for the mile in the same season. 

“That mindset has really evolved and developed over these last three to four years,” Sahlman said in a March article in the Los Angeles Times. “It’s just like it’s transformed into something that we never thought was possible. Now we think anything’s possible.” 

Gary Martin has also broken 4 minutes twice this year, running 3:57.98 on May 14 and 3:57.89 on June 2 in the Festival of Miles in St. Louis. At the Festival of Miles, Connor Burns ran 3:58.83 to become the first high school junior since Ryun to break 4 minutes. It was also the first time two prep runners broke 4 minutes in the same race.

Those two performances gave the Festival of Miles four prep runners who have broken 4 minutes. That’s where Fisher did in 2015, a feat repeated by Reed Brown a year later. 

And one day after Martin and Burns broke 4 minutes, Rheinhardt Harrison ran 3:59.33 in Florida on June 3. On June 15, Simeon Birnbaum added to the list of sub-4 minute runners when he became the second high school junior this season to break the mark with a time of 3:59.51.

Will this high school running resurgence lead to greater U.S. success against international competition and major global championships? Only time will tell.  

Kenyan Faith Chepng’etich steps up preps for major races

Two-time Olympic 1,500 meters champion Faith Chepng’etich will on Monday compete in the 800m race at the FBK Games in Hengelo, the Netherlands.

She will battle it out with the world champion over the distance, Ugandan Halima Nakayi.

Chepng’etich said that she will be using the race to improve her speed in preparation for the World Athletics Championships that will be held in Eugene, Oregon, United States of America on July 15-24.

The world 1,500m silver medalist finished second behind Burundi’s Francine Niyonsoba in the 3,000m race at the Doha Diamond League on May 13.

And at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League held on Saturday in Eugene, Oregon, Chepng’etich ran a world-lead time of three minutes, 52.59 seconds (3:52.59) to win the 1,500m race.

“Competing in the 800m race is part of my training. I will be testing my speed as I prepare for the world championships in July. Speed is critical for a podium finish,” she told Nation Sport.

Chepng’etich will be looking to reclaim the world 1,500m title that she won during the 2017 edition held in London, but which she surrendered to Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands in Doha in 2019.

During the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games that were held last year, Chepng’etich defended her 1,500m title that she had previously won at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

In the 3,000m steeplechase, another top Kenyan athlete, Celliphine Chespol, will be seeking to qualify for the world championships.

The 2018 World Athletics Under-20 Championships winner in Tampere, Finland will be competing against Olympic champion Peruth Chemutai from Uganda, who will be participating in her fifth event this year.

During last week’s Prefontaine Classic, Eugene Diamond League, Chespol finished fifth in her specialty.

Kenyan-born Kazakhstani athlete Norah Jeruto won the race and another Kenyan-born Bahraini runner Winfred Yavi was second.

Chespol said that her season has started slowly, but she is getting back into shape. She said that the races she has participated in have helped her improve her performance.

Kenyan Faith Kipyegon sets record in Eugene Diamond League

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Schweizer, Klecker Win U.S. 10,000-Meter Championships

They lead the U.S. contingent in the event for the World Championships in July.

After 24 and a half laps of the track, Karissa Schweizer sprinted past Alicia Monson to win the U.S. title in the 10,000 meters at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon. 

Schweizer’s time, 30:49.56, was less than two seconds off her personal best, and by finishing in the top three, she earned a spot on the U.S. squad competing at the World Athletics Championships in July. That meet will also be held in Eugene, the first time the meet will be in the United States.

Monson, who led the last 10 laps of the race until Schweizer sprinted by her, was second in 30:51.09, a personal best by nearly 20 seconds. 

Well behind the top two, a pack of six women vied for third place and the final of three Worlds spots. Natosha Rogers and Emily Infeld were back and forth in the final 100 meters, and Rogers pulled ahead just before the line. She clocked 31:29.80, and Infeld was less than a quarter of a second behind, in 31:30.04. 

Weini Kelati was fifth, Sarah Lancaster was sixth, and Steph Bruce, in her final year of racing, was seventh.

The race went out in a relatively easy first half. Emily Durgin led the field through a 5,000-meter split of 15:50. Schweizer ran just under 15 minutes for the second 5,000 meters, and Monson was right behind.

Joe Klecker takes the men’s title

The men’s 10,000 meters had the same stakes—top three earn a trip to worlds—but the pace went out so easy that most of the field was still in the race when the sprinting started during the bell lap. 

Joe Klecker, an Olympian at 10,000 meters last year, won in 28:28.71, just beating Grant Fisher, the American record holder in the event, who finished in 28:28.81. Fisher’s time was nearly two minutes slower than the record (26:33.84) he set in March. 

Although Emmanuel Bor had a lead heading into the final 100 meters, Sean McGorty emerged in third place after Bor, slowing, tripped in the final meters and finished in eighth. 

McGorty, recovering from Achilles surgery last July, ran 28:29.57 and earned his first berth on a U.S. team. 

Dillon Maggard was fourth, Shadrack Kipchirchir was fifth, and Lopez Lomong was sixth. 

In both races, first place earned $8,000, second earned $6,000, and the third-place finishers took home $4,000. 

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.

Pre Classic Hit With Withdrawals: Olympic Champs Athing Mu, Marcell Jacobs and Matthew Centrowitz All Withdraw From Meet

Every year the Prefontaine Classic is an incredible meet. Not only is it the lone Wanda Diamond League meeting in the US, but Nike pretty much mandates that its top athletes compete unless injured.

This year’s meet was shaping up to be totally spectacular as it comes less than two months before Worlds are held on the very same track. However, while the meet is going to be amazing, it’s going to be less than amazing than it was looking like a few days ago as a bunch of big-name stars have been taken off the start lists in recent days.

Reigning Olympic 800 champ Athing Mu is no longer listed in the women’s 800. The same is true for Marcell Jacobs in the men’s 100, which this year is supplanting the Bowerman Mile as the last event on the schedule. However, he has been replaced by Trayvon Bromell –the fastest man in the world in 2021. 2016 Olympic 1500 champ Matthew Centrowitz also is off the start lists, meaning he still hasn’t raced at all in 2022.

“Matthew has a knee injury and is unable to race this weekend. Hopefully, he will be back in action soon,” texted Ricky Simms, the agent for Centrowitz, when asked for comment by LetsRun.com.

The Italian federation said that Jacobs picked up a muscle injury during his race in Savona last week and has been told to take 10 days off. No reasons have been given for Mu’s withdrawal and Wes Felix, her agent, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Friday night, the US 10,000 meter champs will be held plus there will be world record attempts in the women’s 2 mile with Francine Niyonsaba and Sifan Hassan as well as 5000s with Letesenbet Gidey and Joshua Cheptegei. Then on Saturday, the normal meet will be held.

Elaine Thompson-Herah and Sha'Carri Richardson will headline 100 meters in Prefontaine Classic

Jamaica's Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah and American prodigy Sha'Carri Richardson will headline the 100 meters at Saturday's Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, organizers for the Diamond League event said on Monday.

Thompson-Herah returns to the venue where she nearly broke American Florence Griffith-Joyner's 100m record last year, weeks after leading a Jamaican podium sweep at the Tokyo Games.

She dropped out of the Birmingham Diamond League meet over the weekend citing discomfort in training. Thompson-Herah's management agency did not respond to a request for comment.

Richardson's memories of Hayward Field are more complicated.

She was the United States' brightest hope for a gold medal in Tokyo after winning the U.S. Olympic Trials in June but lost her spot at the Games after testing positive for cannabis.

Richardson, 22, returned to Eugene in August after serving a 30-day suspension, where she finished last in the 100m.

Rounding out the field on Saturday are Britain's 200 meters world champion Dina Asher-Smith and Shericka Jackson, who won gold in the 4x100m relay alongside Thompson-Herah in Tokyo.

Olympic Champion Marcell Jacobs opens season with sub-10 run in Savona

The blue track of Savona’s Fontanassa Sports Center was the venue for Marcell Jacobs’ first 100m since his Olympic triumph in Tokyo last year. The Italian sprint star made a victorious return at the World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger meeting on Wednesday (18), winning the final in 10.04 (0.4m/s) after a wind-assisted 9.99 (2.3m/s) in the heats.

It was just shy of the 9.95 he ran on the same track last year when making his season debut, but was a solid return to action after an intestinal problem forced him to withdraw from the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Nairobi earlier this year.

“I struggled a bit,” said Jacobs, whose last race was his world indoor 60m victory in Belgrade in March. “I wanted to run faster in the final than I did in the heat. I thought that I could run better technically, especially in the second half of the race. I need some more work in training, but it’s just my first outdoor race of the season.

“I have time to reach my best form for the World Championships,” added Jacobs, who had originally been slated to contest the 200m in Savona. “But my next race, at the Prefontaine Classic, could be more difficult than at the World Championships, as I’ll face seven US sprinters.”

Arthur Cisse from Ivory Coast finished second in 10.10, beating former European record-holder Jimmy Vicaut (10.12). Sri Lanka’s YupunAbeykoon took fourth place in 10.16 ahead of Italy’s Chituru Ali, who improved his PB to 10.18.

Olympic 400m silver medallistMarileidyPaulino from Dominican Republic stepped down in distance to win the women’s 200m in a national record of 22.59 (2.0m/s). Paulino, who beat Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo over 400m at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha last Friday, missed Dina Asher-Smith’s meeting record by 0.03.

Paulino’s compatriot FiordalizaCofil achieved another victory for Dominican Republic by winning the 400m in 51.36.

Britain’s Olympic 4x100m bronze medallist Darryl Neita was fastest in the women’s 100m heats with 11.12, but she skipped the final to focus on the 200m, where she finished to Paulino in an equal PB of 22.81. Italy’s European U23 champion DaliaKhaddari was third in 22.83.

Two-time Italian 100m champion ZaynabDosso won the women’s 100m final in 11.21 after improving her PB to 11.19 in the heats, missing Manuela Levorato’s national record by 0.05.

“I am not completely happy with my performance,” said Dosso. “It was a good day at the office, but it is not the right time of the year for a super-fast time. It’s the start of the season. My goal is to come close to breaking the 11 seconds barrier and reach my best form for the World Championships in Eugene and the European Championships in Munich.”

World indoor finalist Nick Ponzio won the men’s shot put with 21.12m. Ponzio competed for the third time in just five days after throwing 20.53m in Ponce and 21.73m in Rovereto last Sunday. Olympic fifth-place finisher Zane Weir made it an Italian 1-2 with a best throw of 21.05m.

Dominica’s Thea Lafond, who finished fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, continued her good form by winning the women’s triple jump with 14.53m. Ana Lucia Jose Tima from Dominican Republic finished runner-up with 14.46m.

Elsewhere, Brazil’s Rafael Pereira won the men’s 110m hurdles in 13.36, missing the meeting record by 0.06, and double World University Games champion Ayomide Folorunso won the women’s 400m hurdles in a meeting record of 55.29.

The Wanda Diamond League Final to alternate between Zurich and Brussels in 2024-27

The Wanda Diamond League Final will be held alternately in Zurich and Brussels between 2024 and 2027, following a decision by the Diamond League Association’s General Assembly in March.

Hosting rights for the two-day season finale – at which all 32 Diamond League champions are crowned – have been awarded to the Allianz Memorial van Damme meeting in Brussels for 2024 and 2026, and to Weltklasse Zurich for 2025 and 2027.

The General Assembly made the decision on the recommendation of the Quality Commission, which reviews applications to host the final.

The host city is now confirmed for each of the next five Wanda Diamond League seasons, ensuring all stakeholders are able to plan beyond the short-term.

The final will be held in Zurich on September 7-8, this season, before moving out of Europe, for the first time in the series’ history, to the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene in 2023. Zurich was also the host in 2021, becoming the first city to hold the final as a two-day event featuring all 32 Diamond Disciplines.

As in 2021, future finals held in Zurich will be split between city and stadium. Day one will see selected Diamond League champions crowned at the iconic Sechselautenplatz in Zurich city center, while the remaining disciplines will be held as part of a bumper programme at the Letzigrund Stadium on day two.

In both Eugene and Brussels, both decisive days will take place at the stadium, the former at the newly renovated Hayward Field, and the latter at the Belgian capital’s King Baudouin II Stadium.

Memorial Van Damme will celebrate its 50th anniversary when it hosts the final in 2026.

The Wanda Diamond League Final is the showpiece event of track and field’s premier international one-day circuit and features the biggest stars of the sport.

Athletes compete for points at Wanda Diamond League meetings throughout the season, with the most successful qualifying for a place in the final and a shot at the iconic Diamond Trophy, the most prestigious title in athletics beyond the major championships.

Both the Brussels and the Zurich meetings have a wealth of experience in hosting the showcase event, having been joint hosts between 2010 and 2019, when the final was split between two separate meetings.

Both have also played host to some of the most memorable moments in Diamond League history.

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.

Seven reigning global medalists to renew rivalry in Eugene 100m

The medalists from the men’s Olympic 100m and 200m finals in Tokyo, plus the men’s world indoor 60m final in Belgrade, will all clash in a stacked 100m field announced for the Prefontaine Classic, part of the Wanda Diamond League series, in Eugene on May 28.

Reigning Olympic champions Marcell Jacobs and Andre De Grasse will go up against Fred Kerley, Kenny Bednarek, Noah Lyles, Marvin Bracy and Christian Coleman, as well as Olympic 100m fifth-place finisher Ronnie Baker, at Eugene’s Hayward Field.

They will all be looking to make their mark ahead of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 taking place in the same stadium in July.

“I am honored and excited to be part of this year’s Prefontaine Classic at the University of Oregon in Eugene,” said Italy’s Olympic 100m champion Jacobs, who also claimed the world indoor 60m title in Belgrade last month.

“It’s going to be my first race in the US since the Tokyo Olympics and the adrenaline is already pumping. I can’t wait to feel the track beneath my feet.”

De Grasse won the 100m at last year’s Prefontaine Classic, a few weeks after becoming a three-time Olympic medalist in Tokyo. The Canadian claimed 4x100m silver and 100m bronze in Japan along with his 200m title.

Kerley secured 100m silver between Jacobs and De Grasse in Tokyo, while Bednarek gained silver and Lyles bronze behind De Grasse in the 200m. At the World Athletics Championships Belgrade 22, Jacobs was joined on the podium by silver medalist Coleman and bronze medalist Bracy.

The men's 100m is the latest in a number of strong fields announced for the Eugene meeting. All three Tokyo Olympic medallists – Athing Mu, Keely Hodgkinson and Raevyn Rogers – will race in the 800m, while champion Mondo Duplantis will take on his fellow Tokyo Olympic medalists Chris Nilsen and Thiago Braz in the pole vault.

Michael Norman, Michael Cherry and Kirani James will race the 400m, while Rai Benjamin and Alison Dos Santos will go head-to-head in the 400m hurdles and the 100m hurdles will pit Keni Harrison against Jasmine Camacho-Quinn. Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Nicola McDermott will renew their rivalry in the high jump.

Nick Willis runs sub-four minute mile for 20th consecutive year

Nick Willis ran a sub-four minute mile at the Millrose Games in New York- 20 seasons after first breaking the barrier in 2003.

New Zealand track and field great Nick Willis has earned $25,000 for an athletics charity after completing 20 years of sub-four minute miles.

The 38-year-old finished ninth in the Wanamaker men’s mile at the Millrose Games indoor meet in New York City on Saturday January 29 in 3min 59.7sec.

It was in 2006 that Willis experienced international success for the first time, claiming 1500m gold at the Commonwealth Games in 3:38.49 ahead of Canada’s Nathan Brannen and Australia’s Mark Fountain. That same year, he lowered his mile personal best to 3:52.75. 

In 2007, Willis made his first world 1500m final, placing 10th in Osaka in 3:36.13.

The following year, Willis ran what he considers one of his best races to improve his mile personal best to 3:50.66, finishing second behind Kenya’s Shadrack Korir at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon. Two months after that, he went on to claim 1500m silver at the Beijing Olympics in China.

At the following 2012 Olympic Games, Willis had the privilege of being his country’s flag bearer during the opening ceremony held at the London Stadium. He finished ninth in the Olympic 1500m final and had a season's best of 3:51.77 for the mile.

In 2014 at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Willis earned 1500m bronze, his third straight Commonwealth medal after the one he had taken in Delhi four years prior. It was also in 2014 that he set his lifetime best of 3:49.83 in the mile, which stood as the Oceanian record until July 2021.

In 2015, Willis clocked a still-standing Oceanian record of 3:51.46 for the indoor mile, and a national 1500m record of 3:29.66 at the Herculis Diamond League meeting in Monaco. That same year he finished sixth with 3:35.46 in the 1500m final at the World Championships in Beijing, his best placing in the competition.

The following year, Willis added two global medals to his tally with a 1500m bronze at the World Indoor Championships in Portland and an Olympic 1500m bronze in Rio.

At 38, Willis was the oldest athlete in the 1500m field at the Tokyo Olympics, where he placed ninth in his semifinal in a season’s best of 3:35.41.

Earlier in 2021, he had already broken the record of 19 consecutive years of sub-four-minute miles. And he finally went on to improve that record to 20 on 29 January 2022 with his 3:59.71 run.

Craig Engels, Running’s Most Committed Party Animal, Returns to Nike—and Running Fast

Craig Engels explains what he can about his new four-year deal and heads to Millrose Games in good shape.

Craig Engels, the fun-loving 1500-meter runner who never misses a party, inked a new deal with Nike in the early days of 2022. It’s a four-year agreement, taking him through 2026.

But he went through a lot of soul-searching before he decided to return to running at a high level.

Engels, 27, finished fourth by half a second in the 1500 meters last June at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, just missing the team bound for Tokyo.

In the days afterward, he was adrift. “Everything I worked towards [was] over,” he told Runner’s World during one of several recent interviews. “I didn’t know what to do with myself. Which—I don’t know what emotion that is. It wasn’t sadness. More like, what do I do?”

He spent the rest of the summer racing on the track and road circuit in the U.S. He helped pace men who were trying to break 4:00 in the mile, and he encouraged facial hair growth. And still, he raced at a high level, although neither Engels nor his coach, Pete Julian, would say that his training resembled what it was before the Trials.

“We had to change things up,” Julian told Runner’s World last September, “had to piece together workouts in between to keep him so he could at least finish a mile. That’s what Craig needed at the moment.”

On August 14, he finished second at a mile in Falmouth, Massachusetts, clocking 3:53.97. Six days later he finished second again in the international mile at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, in 3:55.41.

That runner-up finish at Pre came as a result of a premature celebration. He waved to the crowd at the top of the home stretch, but Geordie Beamish of New Zealand sailed by him with a few meters to go.

They hugged it out on the track and then took a victory lap.

“That’s Craig,” Julian said. “He makes mistakes along the way, it’s why he’s so damn popular. I’ve never seen anybody do something as dumb as wave to the crowd and then get beat and still get to take a victory lap. Pretty classic, right? There’s one guy in the world who can do that, and that’s Craig.”

After Pre, Engels shut down his season. In the fall, he returned to the University of Mississippi to finish the final semester of classes he needed to complete his MBA.

While Engels was in Oxford, Mississippi, he trained with Ole Miss cross-country coach Ryan Vanhoy, who had coached him in college, and the Ole Miss team. They logged high mileage and did a lot of long strength-based workouts. Meanwhile, Engels pondered his future.

Engels flirted with retirement, and Julian said Engels was sincere in his questioning, asking himself: “Is this something that I want to do?”

Running the Numbers

As Engels got back into shape and finished his classes, he began the process of negotiating a new contract. Initially, he tried to do it alone. He said he parted ways with his first agent, Ray Flynn, via email between rounds of the 1500 at the Olympic Trials.

Reached by text message, Flynn said, “It’s all good with Craig and I. Happy to see him doing well.”

Engels said he had long struggled with the role of agents in pro running and the fee they charge—15 percent of everything, including sponsorship deals, appearance fees, and prize money—for negotiating what often turns out to be a single contract with a shoe company.

“A lot of these agents were athletes,” Engels said. “I don’t know how they possibly sleep at night, taking 15 percent. NFL agents are capped out at three [percent].”

But as Engels talked to shoe company executives and weighed various offers and training situations, he realized he needed someone to review the contracts—“the lawyer jargon,” he calls it. “I was getting a little stressed,” he said.

So he hired Mark Wetmore as his agent, who also represents Engels’s teammate Donavan Brazier, among others. Wetmore immediately increased the value of the offers Engels had started negotiating on his own behalf.

Engels signed with Nike again. At the end of the four-year deal, he’ll have run professionally for 9 years, and he said it will be his last contract.

The terms of the deal are private—Engels had to sign a nondisclosure agreement, as most athletes do, which also limits the knowledge athletes have about their value in the market.

All he could say about it? “I definitely had some great offers on the table, which led to a very good contract for myself.”

Engels said if it were up to him, he’d post the details of his contract on Instagram to his 97,000 followers. Such knowledge would only help other runners, he says, while the current system benefits agents.

The Athlete Changes the Coach

Engels also returned to train with Julian and his team, recently named the Union Athletics Club (UAC). The club is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, but between altitude stints, training camps, and races, they’re rarely there for long.

He is now doing the bulk of his workouts with Charlie Hunter, who is on the UAC, and Craig Nowak, who trains with the group but isn’t officially on the roster. The group has been training in San Luis Obispo, California—team member Jordan Hasay’s hometown—and enjoying sunny skies and warm weather, and preparing to race the Millrose Games. Engels is entered in the mile.

“I’m in pretty good shape, yeah,” he said. “I don’t want to talk too much before it happens. I’m in pretty good shape.”

After Millrose, UAC hosts an indoor meet in Spokane, Washington, the Lilac Grand Prix, on February 11. The U.S. indoor championships are back in Spokane two weeks after that.

Julian, for one, is glad to count Engels on the roster. He told Runner’s World that Engels has “completely changed” the way he coaches.

“He’s made me realize that making [something] enjoyable and working hard don’t have to be separated, don’t have to be mutually exclusive,” Julian said. “The two things can exist. And we can be really great. But by being able to enjoy ourselves and being able to have some fun. To not take ourselves as seriously, but at the same time, take what we’re doing very seriously. You can do both.”

That’s a startling admission from Julian, who was a longtime assistant coach to Alberto Salazar. He was viewed as in relentless pursuit of every advantage for his athletes. Salazar is now banned from coaching Olympians permanently by SafeSport and serving a four-year ban for anti-doping offenses.

“[Engels has] made me realize that, hey, we can add some color to our lives,” Julian continued. “We’re not curing pediatric cancer here. We’re running around in half tights on a 400-meter circle. Coming from my own background, I’ve had to realize that, too, [with] my own coaching the last four or five years. You know what? Everyone needs to chill out a little bit. Let’s quit trying to eat our own and actually try to promote the sport and race really, really fast.”

One small way that Engels has changed the team? He prefers FaceTime to phone calls. Julian said Engels likes to see people, likes to smile at them. The FaceTime habit has spread throughout the group, so now, anytime anybody communicates on the team, it’s always by FaceTime. “That started from Craig,” he said.

Critics of Engels—who is an unabashed beer drinker, hot-tub soaker, RV driver, and mullet wearer—don’t see the work that he does, his coach says. And they don’t see how hard he tries.

“He did everything he could to make that Olympic team,” Julian said. “He’s done everything he can to make the sport better. He puts forth an amazing effort and he tries to win. But he’s not a robot, either.”

Women athletes allege body shaming within Oregon Ducks track and field program

Six women athletes who left the University of Oregon track and field program in recent seasons say they felt devalued as individuals and at risk for eating disorders because of the program’s data-driven approach to their weight and body fat percentages.

Five of the women departed with remaining eligibility.

One said she began binge-eating while at Oregon.  Another says she struggles with body dysmorphia and has nightmares about competing at Hayward Field, Oregon’s iconic track stadium, while UO coaches stare at her and say: “You’re never going to be good enough.”

Robert Johnson, who became UO’s track and field and cross country head coach in 2012, has guided the Ducks to 14 NCAA championships while elevating what already had been one of the sport’s premier college programs.

Under Johnson the Ducks increasingly have embraced expensive and advanced technological tools such as blood tests, hydration tests and DEXA scans. A DEXA scan is a medical imaging test that uses X-rays to precisely measure bone density and body fat percentage.

DEXA scans, in particular, have become a flashpoint for some athletes, who say the precise body fat percentage measurements can trigger unhealthy behaviors.

Johnson contends his scientific approach largely removes human bias from judgments about athletes and allows the UO coaching staff to design workouts precisely tailored to each athlete’s needs.

“Track is nothing but numbers,” he says. “A good mathematician probably could be a good track coach.”

He says UO athletes receive DEXA scans in the fall, winter and spring, and no more often because of radiation emitted during the tests.

“When we get the numbers from our DEXA scans, we have an Excel spreadsheet that we can plug the numbers into, hit a button and it gives us a starting value for a training program.” he says. “It allows us to be cutting edge and innovative in our approach to performance.”

Some athletes contend this innovation comes at a staggering personal price.

An athlete who graduated from Oregon at the end of the 2020 school year emailed UO deputy athletic director Lisa Peterson, senior women’s administrator, in October 2020.

In the email she says she had been receiving text messages and Snapchats that fall from former teammates so worried about upcoming DEXA scans they were starving themselves.

She tells Peterson in the email: “I have seen and experienced an absolutely disgusting amount of disordered eating on the women’s track team, all because the coaches believe body fat percentage is a key performance indicator.

“We are not professional athletes. We do not have access to a bounty of organic food. We do not have unlimited time to cook. We cannot plan our days around our nutrition, and we are not the 30-year-old Olympians that coach Johnson seeks to compare our body fat percentage to.

“While knowing body composition may be helpful for some athletes, I have seen it be nothing but destructive.”

The athlete says Peterson responded by thanking her for the email and saying she had passed it on and said that Peterson thought the allegations would be investigated. A public records request did not turn up a report of an internal investigation.

“A BIG, BIG ISSUE”

The issues of weight-shaming, body image and body fat percentage testing have become more common in recent years. Longtime Washington track coach Greg Metcalf lost his job in 2018 after accusations of body-shaming and verbally abusive treatment of female athletes. Former Nike Oregon Project star Mary Cain and other women who competed for the NOP have made similar accusations about former coach Alberto Salazar.

Five former UO athletes consented to extensive interviews on the condition their names not be used for several reasons. Among them:

• Oregon is one of the most nationally prominent college track and field programs.

• The school has a cozy relationship with Nike, which underwrites the funding for USA Track & Field and sponsors a high percentage of professional track athletes.

• Oregon’s Hayward Field, largely built with money donated by Nike co-founder Phil Knight, is the host of the Prefontaine Classic professional meet, the semi-permanent host of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, next year’s USATF Outdoor Championships and the 2022 World Outdoor Championships.

One athlete says Johnson “is such a terrifyingly powerful man. There are people who would lose their ability to go to the Pre Classic or lose USATF funding, because speaking up against him is like speaking up against basically USA Track & Field.”

One athlete says when she was given her first DEXA scan at Oregon, she already had not had a menstrual period in a year and a half. She says the nutritionist knew that.

The scan showed her body fat percentage at 16%. She was told by the nutritionist she should consider lowering it to about 13%. And while the suggestion came from the nutritionist, she is certain the message originated with the coaching staff.

“They always were talking together,” she says.

The university did not make available a nutritionist or nutritionists in response to a formal interview request.

The athlete consulted her personal doctor, who advised her not to try to lower her body fat percentage any further. The American Council on Exercise suggests an ideal body fat percentage for a female athlete to between 14% and 20%.

“He said I already was in a situation that was dangerous for my body and that I needed to make sure I got my period back,” she says.

After that, she says, she struggled mentally.

“I started worrying a lot about what I was eating,” she says. “I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to get too much bigger of a percentage. That was like a big, big issue.”

She was very careful during the day. At night in her apartment, though, she began binge-eating, which she says led to feelings of depression and guilt.

“That never had happened before I came to Oregon,” she says. “I never had any issues with food. I was completely fine. I loved food.”

At Oregon, she says, the yearlong monitoring became a trigger.

“You want to make sure you don’t put on weight, you become more paranoid and it gets worse,” she says.

She left after the school year, and still fights the temptation to binge.

Another athlete says her events coach conferred with her during her freshman year. She says he admitted he wasn’t supposed to tell her this, but said if she were to go above a certain body weight she never would be an Olympian.

After her first DEXA scan, the nutritionist told her she couldn’t travel to away track meets unless her body fat level was below 12%.

“That was when I started counting calories,” she says.

She says she weighed herself daily. What she saw on the scales determined whether she viewed her day as successful.

If she was above the targeted weight, “I would look at my legs, and I would say, ‘My legs look like tree trunks,’” she says. “If I was below that weight, I would be like, ‘Oh, I must be skinny.’ In reality, two or three pounds looks no different on your body.

“It wasn’t until I started seeing a sports psychologist that I realized this was not normal.”

That came after she transferred and her new school flagged her for an eating disorder.

A third athlete says that during her freshman year Johnson called her over during a workout and asked if she was on birth control.

Stunned by the question, she stammered “no” and returned to the workout.

“It was very crazy,” she says. “I was like, ‘What is going on? This is not happening. I am not having this conversation with him right now. This is just wrong. It’s none of his business.’”

She returned to ask Johnson why he wanted to know.

She says he told her: “Well, I noticed your hips have gotten wider, and that comes along with that kind of stuff.”

She says at Oregon she constantly monitored what she ate.

“They do multiple things to people about their weight,” she says. “They’re kind of notorious for it. They keep weight at a very high importance level. …

"Like whenever I would eat a cookie, I would feel so guilty. I would be like ‘Wow, it’s going to make my next DEXA scan bad. I’m going to get in trouble.’”

Four of the women interviewed say athletes whose DEXA scans show what coaches/staff consider an unacceptably high body fat content frequently are required to do additional cross training on a stationary bike.

Other athletes know who is doing mandatory cross training and why, even though it’s not explicitly said.

Athletes interviewed say this not only stigmatizes those doing the extra training, but incentivizes others to carefully monitor themselves so they aren’t singled out in that way.

“This program is just something different,” says one athlete who left the UO track team. “I don’t think it’s a place for young girls.

“Girls already have enough body image issues.”

“WE TRY TO APPROACH IT WITH SCIENCE”

Johnson said he would respond to specific allegations in general because he didn’t know which athletes were making the allegations. He says he feels sympathy and regret for athletes who believe they developed eating disorders while part of his program.

He says he and others in positions of responsibility within the program have acted swiftly and decisively to intervene when learning of athletes with disordered eating, or with emotional or physical problems.

“If these things were happening, such as binge-eating, or they were going down this road of unhealthy behaviors, hopefully we would catch it, and then give them resources to get better,” Johnson says.

“The health and safety of all our student-athletes is extremely important and at the forefront at all times.”

Johnson says nutritionists meet regularly with athletes in each event group so they understand the program’s approach and to identify any potential problems.

“We try not to let this weight issue be the pink elephant in the room,” he says. “We try to approach it with conversation and we try to approach it with science. … That’s one thing the DEXA scan helps us do. It takes our personal opinions out of it.”

Johnson says all UO athletes receive DEXA scans, men and women. He says UO track athletes are told there are sports psychologists available to them if they are struggling mentally with any aspect of being a college athlete.

But he says neither he nor psychologists can help if athletes don’t come forward.

“If those things were their experiences here, it’s shameful,” Johnson says. “We try to give them the information and the execution to deal with these things. If they choose to engage in those, there is help there. We can’t read their minds.”

Johnson says if he asked an athlete about birth control, it would have been only to suggest she use one recommended by UO doctors so weight gain wouldn’t be a side effect.

He says mandatory cross training isn’t meant to stigmatize athletes, but to help them get into competitive shape. He says that is part of his responsibility as coach.

Johnson says he could send those athletes on extra training runs to accomplish the same purpose. But that would expose their legs and feet to more pounding and increase the potential for injury.

“It’s basically that we want to increase their activity level in a safe manner that allows them to move closer to achieving their goals they set for themselves,” he says.

Many UO athletes compete for the Ducks without adverse effects.

Sprinter Rachel Vinjamuri says she is untroubled by the different ways the program monitored her, including the DEXA scans that revealed her body fat percentage.

“I never had a negative mindset about it,” says Vinjamuri, who transferred to UO from Portland State and graduated in 2020.

“It was just like this is where you need to be at to perform your best and here is how we do it. It was never like you get punished. It was just, let’s work toward this.”

She says she found the coaches and nutritionists constructive and helpful.

“People are more aware that eating disorders, dieting and things like that are becoming a huge problem in college sports,” she says. “I think Oregon is becoming more aware of that. I think they were doing the best they could.”

Vinjamuri says one difference between Portland State and Oregon is the superior resources at UO. In addition to the various high-tech tests, UO athletes have access to nutritionists who supplied them with snack bags of healthy food and recipes.

Some athletes who have competed for other programs in Power Five conferences, though, say differences in approach between Oregon and those programs are stark.

One says at her current school “everything is about holding yourself accountable. But if you don’t, you’re not getting punished. I think it’s the way you should treat college athletes. We’re adults. We’re not high schoolers anymore.”

Dan Steele was an assistant track coach at Oregon through 2009. He later was head coach at Northern Iowa and an assistant at Iowa State. He says his coaching philosophy is to steer clear of discussions about weight and body fat percentage.

“Testing for body fat is humiliating and detrimental to the athlete’s psyche,” he writes in a text message. “Young female athletes need to know their coaches believe in them.”

Steele says he never brought up an athlete’s weight or appearance, believing the athlete is the person most aware if she is too heavy or out of shape.

“I always tell them, ‘You’re fine. If you eat sensibly your body will morph naturally to the perfect size for optimum performance,’” he texts. “And that’s what I believe.”

“ATHLETES ARE NOT MACHINES”

Body weight and body fat percentage do factor into athletic performance. But several sports psychologists see red flags in approaches such as the one Oregon uses, particularly with women college athletes.

The sports psychologists consulted spoke in general terms, and not specifically about the UO track program.

Eugene sports psychologist Melissa Todd says she finds a process-oriented training approach better for college athletes than ones targeting a specific outcome.

She says young adults, away from home for the first time, are at a vulnerable point in their lives. The danger of emphasizing weight or body fat percentage is that those arbitrary numbers can begin to define victory for competitive people conditioned to win.

The first rule of any training strategy, she says, “should be to seek to minimize the potential for harm.”

“Athletes are not machines,” Todd says. “We need to see them in their entirety, as a whole person, and not boil down athletic performance to small details while missing the big picture.”

Portland sports psychologist Brian Baxter agrees, saying coaches should be at least as concerned with athletes’ emotional and mental well-being as they are with skill, technique and conditioning.

“The physical body doesn’t matter without mental health,” Baxter says. “Really, that has to be first.”

On its website, the National Eating Disorders Association includes a “Coach & Athletic Trainer Toolkit” for working with athletes. It includes this admonition:

“Coaches should strive not to emphasize weight for the purpose of enhancing performance, for example by weighing, measuring body fat composition, and encouraging dieting or extra workouts.”

The toolkit section of the website continues to say coaches who emphasize those things can lead athletes into unhealthy behaviors such as disordered eating that offset any gains achieved by lowering weight or body fat percentage.

The email sent in October 2020 to Peterson, the deputy athletic director and senior women’s administrator, seems not to have altered Johnson’s use of DEXA scans to monitor body fat percentage.

Responding by email, Peterson writes that she forwarded the email detailing concerns about the track program’s use of DEXA scans to “the appropriate campus officials.”

UO spokesperson Jimmy Stanton issued a statement in which he says the health and safety of athletes is the athletic department’s top priority.

Stanton’s statement continues: “There are many sports professionals on our staff that work closely in supporting student-athletes, including our medical team, athletic trainers, sports scientists and nutritionists. Additionally, all of our coaches undergo annual training from the UO Title IX office on a variety of topics, including communication with student-athletes.”

Eliud Kipchoge and Joshua Cheptegei to battle for best male athlete award

Olympics men's marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge will be hoping for a hattrick of awards after he was nominated for the World Athletics Male Athlete of the Year award alongside nine others. 

The world record holder for the men's marathon was crowned victor in 2018 and 2019 but missed out last year, which came almost two months after a disappointing outing at the London Marathon where he finished a shocking eighth due to fitness complications. 

Kipchoge has since bounced back handsomely from that setback to win a second successive Olympic marathon title in Tokyo, a couple of months after he excelled at the NN Mission Marathon in Twente, the Netherlands. 

However, it will not be an easy passage to the throne for the Kenyan as the other nine competitors have an equal claim to the top gong owing to their stellar seasons. 

Among them is Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei who finally clinched his first Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games in August, timing 12:58.15 to win the men's 5000m. 

The 10,000m world champion and world record holder also came away from the Japanese capital with a silver medal in the 16-lap race.

A world lead of 8:09.55 in 5000m at the Prefontaine Classic was the icing on the cake for the Ugandan who has been one of the standout athletes in the world for the past two years. 

Voting ends on November 6 and is open to WA Council, WA Family whereas fans can vote via WA's social media pages. 

Other nominees:

Sweden's Mondo Duplantis (Olympic and world pole vault champion); Norway's Jakob Ingebrigsten (Olympic 1500m champion); Portugal's Pedro  Richardo (Olympic triple jump champion); Ryan Crouser (Olympic and Diamond league shot put champion); Norway's Karsten Warholm (Olympic 400m hurdles and world record holder); Canadian Damian Warner (Olympic decathlon champion); Greece's Miltiadis Tentoglou (Olympic long jump champion) and Sweden's Daniel Stahl (Olympic discus champion).

Steve Prefontaine bib sells for $27,000US

A few weeks ago, Steve Prefontaine’s NCAA-winning race bib from the 1970 NCAA cross country championship was up for sale on Lelands Auctions. On Sept. 27 the bib sold for just under USD $27,000.

The bidding opened at the end of August, starting at $5,000. The first bid of USD $5,500 came on Sept. 20. Several bidders went back and forth over the last couple of days to escalate the price over USD $20,000. 

Prefontaine is a running hero to many. He set every American record from 2,000m to 10,000m in the early 70s, before dying in a car accident at the age of 24. His achievements helped ignite the running boom of the 1970s. His three and six-mile records set at the University of Oregon still stand today. 

The bib sold is from a cross-country meet on Nov. 23, 1970, at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va. Bill Dellinger, the coach of Oregon’s track program in the ’70s, gave the bib to a young athlete who was starstruck went he saw Prefontaine but was too shy to ask him to sign it.

“On the back of the bib, our consignor wrote ‘Steve Prefontaine’s number won in 1970 NCAA cross Country Championships held at William & Mary, which he won in record time,’” the Lelands lot description reads.

“On December 1st, just over a week after the race, Prefontaine replied to our consignor with a handwritten letter stating: ‘I slightly remember you standing there with the red cap on you should have said something. I’m glad you found some use for that no. 506, and I hope I can live up to yours and everybody else expectations of me.’”

The winner of the auction will now get to hold on to a unique piece of running history. The bib is a memory of one of the greatest American distance runners ever. Each year, his career and life are celebrated at the Prefontaine Classic, a world-class track event held in Eugene, Ore., in his honor.