Running News Daily

Jenny Simpson is Retiring after the New York City Marathon and Starting a New Adventure

After concluding a stellar, 20-year career, the Olympic bronze medalist will embark on a 50-state running-infused van-life tour of the U.S. with her husband, Jason, in 2025

Jenny Simpson will go down in the annals of American running as one of the greatest of all time. No question about it.

So as she approaches what is likely the last elite-level race of her long and storied career at the November 3 New York City Marathon, she has nothing to prove, no one to impress, and no specific performance goal that she needs to attain to secure her legacy.

As a four-time global championship medalist in the 1500 meters—including a victory in the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, Diamond League title in 2014, and bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics—Simpson has long been destined to go down as one of the best runners in U.S. history.

Add to that three Olympic appearances, 11 U.S. titles, three NCAA championships, eight top-10 finishes in international championships, eight Fifth Avenue Mile victories, six NCAA records (in six different events), and two American records (in the 3,000-meter steeplechase), and Simpson will rank among American legends for decades to come.

The fact that she’s been earnestly training to finish her career with a strong marathon performance in New York City epitomizes much of what the 38-year-old runner from Boulder, Colorado, has been about during her 20-year career. She’s not necessarily going out on top—that, she says, would have entailed making the U.S. Olympic team in the marathon for the Paris Olympic Games. But she is going out on her terms: focused, tenacious, and relentless to the end. It’s an opportunity afforded to few athletes, and even fewer distance runners.

“When I say I’m feeling good, it’s that I’m really excited for New York and I feel like I have a really, really good sense about my ability to run well,” she says. “I’m not going into it saying I’m gonna set the world on fire and be the top American or run 2:25 on that course. But I just know as good as I feel and as good as the training has gone, I know I’m capable of having a good day, and, most importantly, I have peace about it all.”

But as this chapter of life closes for Simpson, another very exciting one is about to begin, and that one will include quite a bit of running, too. She and her husband, Jason, are planning to embark on a year-long tour of the U.S. in 2025 that will take them—and their two Jack Russell Terriers, Truman and Barkley—to all 50 states while living out a van-life adventure focused on immersing in America’s thriving running culture.

From participating in races and visiting national parks to running iconic routes like Rim to Rim across the Grand Canyon and discovering hidden trails, Jenny and Jason have said their goal is to capture the heartwarming and inspiring essence of the country through the eyes of runners.

“We want to experience the beauty of this country firsthand, meet the incredible people who call it home, and celebrate everything that makes the U.S. so special,” says Jenny Simpson, who has represented the U.S. on the world stage for nearly two decades. “Through this journey, we hope to show that America’s beauty is not just in its landmarks, but in its people and the unique places they live, run, and explore.”

Out of the Ashes

In December of 2021, a devastating wildfire ripped through the south end of Boulder County—including the communities of Marshall, Louisville, and Superior, where it burned more than 1,084 homes and killed two residents and more than 900 pets. Miraculously, it didn’t burn the Simpson’s house—a restored circa-1900 schoolhouse they bought several years ago that was less than a half mile from the fire’s origin—but the house did incur significant smoke damage that needed mitigating.

The Simpsons were displaced and spent several months living in an apartment with little furniture, which forced them to live a rather spartan lifestyle. While Jason was still able to work as a creative director for a design firm, Jenny’s contract hadn’t been renewed by New Balance, and she wasn’t sure what the future held.

During that time, she had been doing a weekly call with her sister, Emily, and Jason’s sister, Annie, to discuss the book Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life, a guide aimed at helping people to reimagine their professional and personal lives. It was through those discussions that Jenny came up with an idea of buying a Winnebago so she and Jason could drive around the country with Truman, who they rescued in 2020 just before the Covid lockdown. (They got Barkley about three years later.)

“My idea was that we can just drive around America and see the place that I’ve had stamped across my chest on my Team USA gear all these years,” she says. “I have been on Team USA, but I really want to know what that means. I’ve raced in some amazing places all around the world, but I really haven’t seen much of our own country. I want to go see the places and the people that I haven’t seen. And then I had this idea of doing a 50 states, 50 weeks tour.”

Jenny told Jason about the idea and he was interested from the start, but it was initially just a fun distraction while Jenny was battling injuries. Jason was so intrigued, though, that he started searching for information about vans online and indulging in YouTube content from a variety of van-life influencers. Eventually, Jenny was healthy and racing on the roads for Puma, ultimately with a quest to qualify for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon.

A year later, they were still casually talking about the enticing “what if” possibilities of owning a van.

“So by 2023, we were like, ‘What do these vans look like? What do they cost? What kind of different layouts are best?” says Jason, 40, a 20-time marathoner with a 2:18:44 personal best. “And then I got really into the travel influencer YouTube videos and at some point told Jenny, ‘Hey, let’s just go look at them.’ And that led to looking at the timelines of: if we were to do this in 2024 or 2025, what would it take? It takes like a long time to build out the vans, and we are definitely not build-it-yourself van people.”

On Her Own Terms 

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Simpson’s career has been her consistency. She qualified for every U.S. national team on the track between 2007 and 2019. Not only did she put in the work and remain virtually injury-free during that time, but she also raced fiercely and rose to the occasion every single time without a single hiccup in any of her preliminary races. (She also made it to the 1500-meter final of the Covid-delayed U.S. Olympic Trials in 2021 at age 35 after what she admitted was a rough gap in competition during the pandemic.)

For most of that time, she was coached by her University of Colorado coaches Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs. They continued coaching her as she transitioned to road running over the past three years and ultimately to the build-up to the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in Orlando, Florida. Although she had brief moments of success on the roads—finishing second in the U.S. 10-mile championship in 2021 and turning in a solid ninth-place, 1:10:35 effort in the Houston Half Marathon in 2023—the first injuries of her career disrupted her training and delayed her debut at 26.2 miles until the Olympic Trials.

Over the past three years, continuing to adhere to the rigid lifestyle needed to keep racing competitively was increasingly met at an internal crossroads of wondering when it would feel OK to retire and move on in life and what that would look like.

“Running the Olympics Trials and then running Boston, I would say those were not successful outings,” Simpson says. “I did the best that I could and I got as prepared as I could, but they weren’t what I had hoped for, neither of them were what I’m capable of. I’m really proud of how I ran in Boston because I ran entirely alone after mile 3, but that’s not how I wanted to end my career.”

After Boston, Jenny still wasn’t ready to retire. But she’d heard the chatter that suggested she could give up the ghost and not try to remain competitive on the roads, knowing her legacy was already secure. After she took some time off to recover and reflect, she knew she wanted to get back into training and target one more race on the biggest stage and settled on the New York City Marathon.

She parted ways with Wetmore and Burroughs in the spring and decided to train on her own, although she’s continually received subtle guidance from Jason, who qualified for and raced in the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in Atlanta. Although he has imparted bits of knowledge to help keep her balanced, Simpson has been following a training plan in her marathon buildup that she designed.

From Best in the U.S. to Across the U.S.

Casual interest in buying a van led to more in-depth investigation and, after what was an otherwise random training run on the dirt roads north of Denver last year, they passed an RV sales lot and decided to take a look. One thing led to another and they put down a small, refundable deposit that would hold a fully appointed 23-foot Winnebago Ekko during what was expected to be nearly a year-long wait until it was built and delivered.

Fast forward to 2024 and Jenny made her marathon debut on February 3 in Orlando, but it didn’t go at all as she had hoped. She had been running among the top 20 early in the race but  eventually dropped out at mile 18. She returned 10 weeks later to run a respectable Boston Marathon in mid-April (she placed 18th overall in 2:31:39 and was the fourth American finisher), and although her effort was commensurate with her inner drive—and some degree of success felt good—she still wasn’t ready to call it a career.

Finally, in April, several days before they were going to travel to Boston, the RV dealership called and told them the van had arrived and they had a week to consider buying it. At that point, Jenny was eager to run Boston to make amends for her Olympic Trials experience, but she was also physically and emotionally fried.

“And I was like, we’re doing it,” she says. “It was the perfect time in the perfect year. Because I was like, ‘I’ve got to get out of here. I’ve got to be done.’ It was killing me. I actually might perish in the middle of the Boston Marathon. I just was so burnt out, and so it was the perfect time for them to call and essentially say, ‘Do you want to drive away into the sunset?’ And I was like, ‘Yes, I do. I really do.’” 

Two days after the Boston Marathon, they paid the remainder of the balance on the van and picked it up, immediately sending them into daydreaming mode about where they wanted to go.

Although their plans are still being formulated, they intend to rent their house and hit the road with the charming dogs in January, officially starting their “Jenny and Jason Run USA” tour in Florida. Along the way, they plan to see numerous sights, host or join at least one fun run in every state, promote dog adoptions by publicizing local humane societies, and create a wide range of engaging social media content on their Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube accounts along the way. Given that their longest stint in the van so far was the six-day trip they took to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming early last summer, they know they’re going to have to learn on the fly and continually adapt. But that’s what an adventure is all about.

“I’ve been nothing but focused on running New York, but I am excited about what’s next,” Jenny said this week. “As I have been tiptoeing toward the idea of being retired from professional running, I don’t know that I’m going to be really great at it or that it’s going to come easily for me. That’s why it’s so wonderful to have a partner in life like Jason because I think he sees that, too. So our goal is to create a lot of time and space to figure that out. I think the year will be kind of interesting and fun and wild and I really don’t know how it’ll end up, and I think that’s really good.”

Approaching the End … and a Beginning

Simpson admits her post-Boston malaise contributed to her having an inconsistent summer of training, in part because she was listening to voices that suggested she should relax and not be so rigid in her approach. When she showed up to run the Beach to Beacon 10K in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, on August 3, she admits she wasn’t very fit, and, as a result, finished a distant 12th in 34:30.

“My Beach to Beacon race was just so bad that it was like validation to me that caring less and trying less doesn’t work for me ever in anything,” she said. “I’m just not that person. It works for some people, but that’s not who I am. I used to joke that when you show up to the track and someone asks, ‘How do you feel?’ I always thought to myself it doesn’t matter how I feel. It’s about doing the work. I always feel like it’s execution over emotion for me all the time and that I have a job to do. I know who I am and I know how I operate, and how I operate is great.”

Simpson got back to work immediately after that race, ramping up her weekly mileage to the 100-mile range in the high altitude environs of Colorado. She says she’s done more than half of her long runs between 8,500 and 10,500 feet, including runs on Magnolia Road above Boulder, Golden Gate Canyon State Park near Golden, and even a loop around the paved Mineral Belt Trail in Leadville.

Her return to rigidity and improved fitness helped bring mental clarity that not only convinced her that she’d be ready to run a strong marathon in New York City, but also brought the revelation that she was ready to admit it was her last race knowing it would allow her to retire on her own terms.

Two months after feeling flat in the 10K, she won the Wineglass Half Marathon on October 5 in Corning, New York, running a near-PR of 1:10:50 (5:24 per-mile pace) as she ran stride-for-stride to the finish line with Jason. (She broke the women’s finisher’s tape for the win, while he ran slightly to the side as the 12th-place men’s finisher and 13th overall.) Now she’s likely in sub-2:30 marathon shape, even though the hilly New York City Marathon course is as equally challenging as Boston in its own way. Jason, meanwhile, will race in the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K the day before the marathon, not only so he can track Jenny on Sunday and meet her at the finish line, but also because he’s running the California International Marathon on December 8.

2025 and Beyond

Simpson arrived in New York City on October 30 healthy, happy, and ready to run hard—definitely not the feeling of holding on for dear life that she felt going into the Olympic Trials and the Boston Marathon. She says she couldn’t be more excited to run through the city’s five boroughs to the finish line in Central Park that she hopes will come with a satisfying result, as well as the beginning of closure to her star-spangled career.

Who knows what’s next after that—Coaching? Law school? A corporate career with a shoe brand? The world seems to be her oyster, but for the time being the cross-country tour might be just what she needs most. She’s excited to detach a bit from the rigid schedule and identity she’s clung to for the past 20 years and enjoy the freedom of the open road. She knows it will be a complete departure from the essence of what she’s all about, and to that point, she’ll likely dig into planning and scheduling early next week even before she recovers from the marathon.

Although she admits she was intrigued while watching some of the top runners finish the Leadville Trail 100 this summer, she says she’s decidedly not interested in running ultras. (However, Jason might be, and Jenny says she’s been keen to pace and crew him.) She might get more into trail running, something she did a little bit early in her University of Colorado career. Or she might even return to road running, but she’s not thinking that far ahead. For now, she’s focused on racing in New York and then continuing to run in 2025—on the magical mystery tour that awaits—and beyond.

“I feel a lot of peace about it, but it’s not like I’m over running. I want to retire so I can do more running and to explore the beautiful country I raced for,” she says. “I wanted to be world class at the marathon, and I’m not. I gave it a good try, and now it’s time to try something else, and I just feel really good about it.”

Eliud Kipchoge Drops Out of the 2024 Olympic Marathon

It may be the two-time gold medalist’s final Olympic Games.

In what may be his final Olympic Games, Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya dropped out of Saturday’s men’s marathon around the 31K mark. Today’s race was Kipchoge’s chance to be the first man to win the Olympic marathon three times in a career. His other Olympic marathon wins came in the Rio Olympics in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021.

“I will be the happiest on earth to win an Olympic medal for the third time, back-to-back-to-back,” Kipchoge said about the race prior to the Games on Olympics.com. “It’s about making history, it’s about inspiring a generation.”

Wearing a cooling headband for what was going to end up being a warm day, the race started relatively cool in the lower 60s on a clear day in Paris. Kipchoge hung with the lead pack for the first 15K until the notoriously challenging Paris Olympic Marathon hills started claiming victims.

After reaching Versailles and turning back to head toward Paris, Kipchoge was more than a minute off the lead pack, not within the top 50 runners. He split 25K to the 30K mark—the segment of the course from Chaville to Meudon with the steepest uphill and downhill—a little over 21 minutes, putting him more than 8 minutes off the lead pack. He was out of contention but gutting it out toward the finish line, buoyed by the Olympic crowd.

Journalist Michelle Katami found Kipchoge after the race, where he described his final few kilometers of the race. “I walked for about 2 kilometers, there were about 300 people walking with me. That’s why I don’t have my shirt, shoes. I gave them all out. Seeing that support is what motivates me.”

Win or not, Kipchoge’s extensive career has earned him G.O.A.T. status in the running world. He’s eclipsed the world record mark twice—both times at the Berlin Marathon—and became the only man ever to run under 2 hours in a non-record eligible marathon attempt in Vienna back in 2019.

For a period, Kipchoge was untouchable at the distance. He won 10 marathons in a row from 2014 to 2019. He finally showed himself as human at the 2020 London Marathon (a race he’s still won four times), when he finished a surprising 8th. He bounced back by winning the marathon in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, then winning both the Tokyo Marathon and Berlin Marathon in 2022.

Some recent marathons have been a step back for Kipchoge. He was 6th overall in his first Boston Marathon in 2023 but returned to form with a Berlin win later that year. Earlier this year Kipchoge placed 10th in the Tokyo Marathon.

He’s openly spoken about the strain he has taken after the tragic passing of the new marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum in a car crash in February 2024. He told the BBC that he was was subjected to online abuse wrongly linking him to Kiptum’s death.

“I was shocked that people (on) social media platforms are saying, ‘Eliud is involved in the death of this boy,’ That was my worst news ever in my life. I received a lot of bad things; that they will burn the (training) camp, they will burn my investments in town, they will burn my house, they will burn my family. It did not happen but that is how the world is. What happened has (made) me not trust anybody. Even my own shadow, I will not trust."

And on the track, he has two other Olympic medals, both in the 5,000 meters, with silver in 2008, and bronze in 2004.

Chepkoech believes she will be lucky at the Olympics on her third attempt

The third time is the charm. This is what 2019 World 3,000m steeplechase champion Beatrice Chepkoech is banking on as she braces up for a podium finish at the Olympic Games in Paris.

Chepkoech narrowly missed the podium in Rio 2016, finishing fourth (9:16.05) and placed seventh (9:16.33) in Tokyo 2021.

Tokyo saw Uganda's Peruth Chemutai (9:01.45), USA's Courtney Frerichs (9:04.79) and Hyvin Kiyeng (9:05.39) seal the podium while Rio Olympics top spots went to Bahrain’s Ruth Jebet (8:59.72), Kiyeng (9:07.12) and USA's Emma Coburn (9:07.63).

After heartbreaks in Rio and Tokyo, the 33-year-old is laser-focused on clinching the elusive Olympic medal.

“I have missed the podium in my last two Olympic appearances but I am optimistic on my third attempt. I will secure a podium finish,” Chepkoech revealed.

She also highlighted the importance of an Olympic medal to add to her rich trophy cabinet. “It is everybody’s dream to win an Olympic medal. I will be more than happy if I secure a podium in Paris,” she added.

Chepkoech’s impressive resume includes the 2019 world title in Doha, where she set a course record of 8:57.84 while leading Coburn (9:02.35) and Germany’s Gesa Felicitas (9:03.30) to the podium.

She also holds the African title having clocked 9:15.61 in Accra last year with Chemutai (9:16.07) and Ethiopia’s Lomi Muleta (9:26.63) sealing the podium.

Chepkoech is a bronze medallist in the 3,000m at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow. She finished third in 8:22.68 behind Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay (8:21.13) and USA’s Elle Purrier (8:20.87).

Despite strong competition from World Champion Winfred Yavi and Uganda’s Chemutai at the Paris Olympics, Chepkoech remains unfazed. 

“Anything can happen in Paris, I can’t say I fear anyone. I am going to run my race and do my very best,” she stated.

Yavi edged out Chepkoech at the 2023 Championships in Budapest beating her to the title in 8:54.29 with Chepkoech settling for second in 8:58.98 and Faith Cherotich (9:00.69) sealing the podium.

Chemutai beat her to the Prefontaine Classic title on May 25, clocking 8:55.09 with Chepkoech clocking 8:56.51. At the Paris Diamond League earlier this month, Chepkoech finished ninth place in 9:27.21.

Yavi (9:03.68), Alice Finot (9:05.01) and Britain’s Elizabeth Bird (9:09.07) claimed the podium.

Chepkoech has been honing her skills at the Nyayo Stadium, where she has been training three times a week ahead of Paris.

“Training has been intense but rewarding. I do training on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and I have been focusing on my weaknesses to ensure peak form in Paris,” she shared.

In Paris, she will be joined by world U20 champions Jackline Chepkoech (2021) and Faith Cherotich (2022). The duo have been intensifying their training in Eldoret.

Chepkoech highlighted that training alone has been lonely but reiterated her desire to put in more effort.

“The other athletes are training in Eldoret so I am alone. It’s a challenge but I have to do my best to be ready for the Olympics,” Chepkoech stated.

She further highlighted the importance of having her coach along with the assigned coaches from the National Olympics Committee of Kenya. 

“Training with my coach has been good because we can strategise on the areas we see weaknesses. It was a good initiative from the federation to have me train with my coach along with the assigned coaches,” she revealed.

Simpson, Frisbie, Rodriguez, Estrada Commit to Run Crazy 8s 8K Hoping for USATF National Championshisp

With the announcement that the Ballad Health Niswonger Children’s Network Crazy 8s 8K Run will host both the USATF Men’s & Women’s 8K Road Championship Presented by Gatorade on July 20th, competition is heating up for both championships.

Olympic bronze medalist Jenny Simpson and Annie Frisbie will be two of the headliners in the women’s field with Isai Rodriguez and Diego Estrada the early favorites on the men’s side.“We’re off to a good start,” said co-director Hank Brown.

“We are receiving tremendous interest from some of the best runners from around the country. We’re expecting 40-50 elite runners in the USATF championship which will be very exciting.”

Simpson is arguably one of the more recognizable women’s middle/long distance runners in the United States. She won the bronze medal in the 1500 meters at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the gold medal at the 2011 World Championships, and followed with silver medals at the 2013 and 2017 World Championships Simpson is a former American record holder for the 3000 meter steeplechase and has represented the United States at three Olympics – 2008 Beijing, 2012 London, and 2016 Rio.

Frisbie is on a personal tear recently, running personal bests in 2024 for the 10K (31:49), 15K (49:28), 25K (1:22:37), and half marathon (1:07:34, 1st place). She is running her best and is in excellent shape.In 2023, the men’s race came down to a sprint finish in J. Fred Johnson Stadium with Clayton Young outlasting Andrew Colley and Isai Rodriguez. Young will be going to Paris to run the marathon and Colley is nursing a sore foot, so Rodriguez will be the top returning finisher (Colley is still tentative).

Rodriguez has a 10,000 meter personal-best under 28 minutes and was the Pan Am Games 10k champion in 2023.Estrada is a veteran runner making a successful comeback in 2024. He represented his native Mexico in the 10,000 meters in the 2012 London Olympics, but became a US citizen in 2014 at which time became eligible to represent the USA in international competition.

He has an impressive 10k time of 27:30 set in 2015, and 5K of 13:31 at the Carlsbad 5K in 2014. He is now 34 and quite possibly running his best times in 2024.

He placed fifth at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon in January, running a very fast 1:00:49, which is a personal best at that distance and tnen followed that a thrid-. place finish at the USATF 15K Championship in Jacksonville. In May he set an American best of 1:13:09 at the USATF 25K Championship, winning the Amway 25K River Run in Grand Rapids, MI.

“We are thrilled to have these guys and gals at Crazy 8s,” said Brown. “When we decided to host the USATF 8K Championship this is exactly the caliber of runners we were hoping to attract to Kingsport.”

The Regional Eye Center is offering a $10,008 American Record bonus for men who can break Alberto Salazar’s record of 22:04 (1981) or women who can break Deena Kastor’s record of 24:36 (2005).

In addition to the bonus, the race is offering prize money to the top 10 in the USATF Men’s and Women’s Championships.Sponsors are Ballad Health Niswonger Children’s Network, Gatorade, The Regional Eye Center, Eastman Credit Union, Kingsport Pediatric Dentistry, Food City, Martin Dentistry, Mycroft Signs, Culligan, Associated Orthopaedics of Kingsport, and JA Street.

Dominic Ondoro and Elisha Barno will headline in the Grandma’s Marathon

Former champions and countrymen Dominic Ondoro and Elisha Barno will dominate the headlines in the Grandma’s Marathon men’s field, together having accounted for seven wins in the past nine years at this race.

Barno won for a record fifth time in his career last year, which came just one day after he was officially inducted into the Grandma’s Marathon Hall of Fame. Ondoro, meanwhile, still owns the event record of 2:09:06, a time he ran in 2014 that broke the longstanding record of Minnesotan Dick Beardsley.

The women’s field may be the most wide open of all this year’s events, with two-time Belarus Olympian Volha Mazuronak seemingly the pre-race favorite. She has top five finishes at both the Tokyo and Rio Olympics on her resume, as well as a runner-up finish earlier this year at the Los Angeles Marathon.

Chesebe ready to defy odds to make Team Kenya to the Olympics

2011 All-African Games women's 800m bronze medalist, Sylvia Chesebe has warned her competitors not to underestimate her ahead of the Olympic trials.

Eleven athletes will vie for a spot in the women's 800 team at the Nyayo National Stadium this weekend. So far, only four have the Olympic qualification mark of 1:59.30.

Chesebe is yet to qualify as her fastest time this year is 2:03.92— set at last month's National Championships.

Motivated to make her Olympic debut, Chesebe exuded confidence in posting the qualification time at Nyayo Stadium.

“I am confident I will attain the Olympic qualification time and make Team Kenya. Competition will no doubt be tough but winning depends on preparations and I am well prepared,” Chesebe stated.

Chesebe, however, acknowledged her competitors but also warned them not to overlook her.

“I am not underrating anybody and they should not underestimate me either. I am here to push everyone to the limit,” she added.

Headlining the list is world champion Mary Moraa, who already has the qualification mark of 1:56.03 posted in Budapest, Hungary, last year. 

 Vivian Kiprotich is the other athlete to watch having qualified after clocking 1:58.26 during the Kip Keino Classic, where she placed second behind Moraa (1:57.96).

21-year-old Nelly Chepchirchir clocked 1:58.98 for fourth place at the same event while Naomi Korir clocked 1:59.19 during the Grifone meeting in Italy last month.

Others on the list include national champion Lilian Odira, Dorcas Ewoi, Sarah Moraa, Mweni Kalimi, Winnie Kipsang and Naumglorious Chepchumba.

Chesebe emphasised that making the Olympics team would be a dream come true and will be hoping to end Kenya’s 16-year wait for gold in the two-lap race.

"The Olympics are a dream for every athlete. It is the biggest stage to display your talent. It would mean a lot for me to make my first appearance and also win gold for Kenya,” she stated.

Kenya’s only gold medal in the women’s 800m came at the 2008 Beijing Olympics through Pamela Jelimo, who clocked 1:54.87 to clinch the title. She led leading compatriot Janeth Jepkosgei (1:56.07) and Morocco’s Hasna Benhassi (1:56.73) to the podium.

Jelimo won bronze at the 2012 London Olympics in 1:57.59) while  Margaret Wambui (1:56.89) posted the same at the Rio Olympics.

Coached by her husband, Michael Cheren, Chesebe is focusing on fine-tuning her speed to ensure she is in prime condition for the trials.

“I am working on my speed. I already have the endurance, but I need to improve my speed, especially my finishing, to ensure I make the Olympic time at the trials,” she stated.

On Friday, Chesebe took part in the World Masters Athletics Trials at the Ulinzi Sports Complex, winning the 400m W35 category in 54.24 secs.

She hopes that competing in the 400m race will help her in improving her finishing.

“I took part in the 400m at the World Masters trials to work on my finishing. I hope it will pay off come the trials,” she stated.

During the 2011 All-Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, Chesebe clocked 2:04.16 behind Ethiopia's Fantu Magiso (2:03.22) and Uganda's Annet Negesa (2:01.81).

The 37-year-old is also a silver medallist at the 2014 World Relay Championships in Nassau, Bahamas, in the 4x800m clocking 8:04.28 together with Agatha Jeruto, Janeth Jepkosgei and Eunice Jepkoech.

Why Eliud Kipchoge trains on a gravel track in Eldoret once a week as he gears up for Paris Olympics

Experts have explained why Eliud Kipchoge and his teammates regulary train on a gravel track once a week as preparations for the Paris 2024 Olympics hit top gear.

Eliud Kipchoge's head coach Patrick Sang and training expert Louis Delahaije have explained why the legendary marathoner and his training mates train at the Moi University Law School track in Annex, Eldoret as they gear up for the Olympic games.

Kipchoge will be hoping to claim his third Olympic title in the marathon after securing wins at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the delayed 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.

His management, the NN Running team, is also making sure the five-time Berlin Marathon champion is in the right shape to achieve his goals. One way has been to normalize training athletes on the gravel track.

Sang explained that the track helps in recovery especially when one is going for tougher sessions and it also does not affect the legs a lot.

“We are at Moi University, Law School, a place in Eldoret called Annex. This is where most of the athletes do their training. You can see it’s a big group training here.

“Today, we’ve had athletes run the 800m all the way to the marathon. Of course, they come here to do specific sessions, specific to their event.

“The surface is good, I mean generally when you train on tartan or the road and train here, which is a dirt track, the recovery and the stress on the legs is less and recovery for the next hard session is quicker.

“We train here twice in a week for the track runners and for the marathoners, we do it once a week,” the veteran coach said in a documentary posted by NN Running team.

On his part, Delahaije was also quick to note that Eldoret being closer to the equator is a plus for athletes and insisted that competing on such a track reduced the risk of injury. He marveled at always finding athletes running before the crack of dawn.

“When you arrive on the track, let’s say at 6 o’clock, it’s already dark and one of the nice things is there are people running around the track and slowly by slowly, in let’s say, 10-15 minutes, the lights turn on.

“I think, when you look at injuries, it’s much safer to run at a gravel track, like Annex. Obviously, it’s a 400m track and it’s in Eldoret, so it’s a little bit lower than our grounds in Kaptagat. It’s about 2000m of altitude which I think is also perfect to do some speedwork.

“Well, Eldoret is very close to the Equator which means that there is a very stable climate, first of all. The runners also feel comfortable let’s say around 20 degrees. Well, you have that more or less all year round over there,” he added.

Muneria shelves marathon plans to focus on Olympic qualification in 10,000m

Malaga Marathon champion Charles Muneria has put his race plans on hold as he sets his sights on meeting the Olympic qualification mark in the men’s 10,000m.

The 28-year-old emphasized his goal to qualify for the Olympics and represent Kenya for the second time in the prestigious event.

"I've canceled all my upcoming marathons to focus solely on making the Olympics  10,000m team," Muneria confirmed.

He made his first Olympic appearance during the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 5,000m, where he finished in position 12 clocking 13:30.95.

With the Olympic mark in the men’s 10,000m set at 27:00.00, Muneria states that he hasn’t been able to meet the mark as he had switched to the full marathon.

“I have not met the Olympic mark yet because I was concentrating on the road races. I didn’t have the time to participate in events that would enable me to qualify for the 10,000m,” he stated.

Muneria has a few marathon titles under his belt including the 2023 Munster Marathon, where he clocked 2:09:07 to secure the crown. In 2022, he clocked 1:00:28 to seal the Zwolle Half Marathon title in the Netherlands.

Athletics Kenya (AK) announced last week that the Olympic Trials from the 10,000m races (both men and women) will take place on May  25  during the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon.

Muneria said he was cautious of the strong field in the men’s race but was confident in his experience and ability to pull off a win.

"I'm aware of the strong field in the men’s race, but I'm confident in my experience and ability to win," Muneria expressed.

Muneria said he is keen to improve on his speed.

"I'm reducing my long runs to work on my speed, which is crucial for the 10,000m. I already have endurance," he said.

Last weekend, Muneria clocked 28:50.9 to clinch the title at the Kenya Prisons track and field championships at the Ulinzi sports complex. Alsaya Lawi (28:52.4) and Peter Emase (29:32.1) sealed the podium.

Muneria mentioned that the win will be a motivation booster as he gears up for the trials.

"With my mind fully focused on making the team for Paris, winning the Prisons title is a motivation booster. It shows I have what it takes to meet the qualifying time," Muneria declared.

'I’ve found my spot in Iten'- Belgian marathoner training in Kenya ahead of Paris 2024 Olympics

A Belgian long-distance runner has opened up about how training in Kenya has changed his mindset ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Koen Naert, a Belgian long-distance runner loves training in Kenya and he also has a favorite spot he loves training at as he gears up for the Olympic Games in Paris, France later this year.

The 34-year-old already qualified for the Olympic Games, clocking a stunning personal best of 2:06:56 at last year’s Rotterdam Marathon.

The Belgian is targeting a top-eighth finish after finishing 22nd at the 2016 Rio Olympics and then improved that with a 10th-place finish at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

To achieve the goal, Naert has been burning the midnight oil in Kenya, and in an interview with Athletics Weekly, he explained how it feels training in his new-found spot in Iten.

He explained that being in Kenya has helped him work on different aspects of his training since he is away from family and has time to work.

“It depends on the build-up. I think right now I’m doing 100km of running and a 50/60km alternative on the Elliptical Machine. In between my marathon blocks, I’ll do a lot of alternative training like aqua jogging but during the marathon block itself – the 12 weeks preceding my marathon – I’ll run 200km a week. Sometimes even 240km or 250km.

“I meditate at least twice a day and when I’m on camp at altitude I do a lot more sessions of meditation. That’s one advantage of being in Kenya. I also like to train in the US and have been to train with Deena Kastor’s group on occasion.

“Since 2021 however, I’ve found my spot in Iten. I waited a long time to go to Kenya because I was a little bit afraid of the food and life there but once you are on the ground, there’s no distraction and it’s a bit like living like a monk on a mountain,” he told Athletics Weekly.

He added that Olympic success for him would be to have to be honest with himself and he explained that he would need a little miracle to get on the podium.

“However, sometimes miracles exist and you never know. It will be challenging with the weather and the course. I will prepare myself the best I can but the top eight is my absolute goal. I was pretty close in Tokyo but we will see and every race/championship is different,” he said.

There are a lot of training camps in Kenya.  One of the best is the KATA Running Retreat located near Thika.  At any one time there are 20 or more athletes training at the Kenyan Athletics Training Academy (KATA).

Edna Kiplagat to fight for top honors at NYC Half Marathon

Double world marathon champion, Edna Kiplagat will lead a stellar team of deep elite women at the 18th edition of the New York City Half Marathon scheduled for Sunday (17) in New York City.

The 44 year-old who is the oldest athlete to grace this event, comes to this race with the second fastest time on paper of 1:07.52 that she got last year at the Houston Half Marathon.

Kiplagat who is also a four time world major marathon winner will have to get past the two-time U.S. Olympian and Boston Marathon winner Des Linden and Rio Olympics 1500m bronze medallist, Jenny Simpson.

Other title contenders include former European 10,000m bronze medallist, Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal, who is also the fastest athlete on paper with a time of 1:07.34, world marathon bronze medallist, Fatima Gardadi, and Canadian marathon record holder Malindi Elmore.

The race organisers have assembled this strong team to target the race course record of 1:07.35 set eight years ago by Molly Huddle of United States.

LEADING TIME

21KM WOMEN

Karoline Grøvdal (NOR) 1:07.34

Edna Kiplagat      (KEN) 1:07.52

Malindi Elmore    (CAN) 1:10.11

Des Linden           (USA) 1:10.34

Jenny Simpson     (USA) 1:10.35

Fatima Gardadi    (MOR)1:10.28

Betsy Saina explains what it will mean to represent USA at Paris Olympics

Kenyan-born American marathoner Betsy Saina has revealed what is motivating her to represent USA at the Paris Olympics after ditching her motherland in 2021.

Kenyan-born American marathoner Betsy Saina believes she is representing her whole family by running for the United States.

Saina switched allegiance from Kenya to the US in 2021, having represented her country of birth in 10,000m at the 2016 Rio Olympics before later moving to the marathon.

The 35-year-old is gearing up for her first Olympics trials with Team USA set to be held in Orlando, Florida and she has explained what it would mean to don the American colours at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

“I'm really excited. Like I said, things have changed a lot,” Saina told CITIUS Magazine.

“The U.S. has become my home because it's been over ten years since I moved there. That makes me feel really emotional. My heart is full.

“I'm so grateful to be able to represent the U.S., after all I've gained in living there: to my two sisters living there, my son being born in the U.S. – it's a family thing for me. So I'm running for the whole family now.”

Saina moved to the US when she joined Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, later earning an agriculture and life sciences degree with a focus on nursing.

She has continued to shuttle between the US and Kenya, mostly training back home, including now as she prepares for the 2024 Olympics, alongside her long-time friend Joyciline Jepkosgei.

Saina admits it is much easier to train with Kenyan runners now knowing that she will not be competing with them for a ticket.

“I went to high school at the same time as her (Jepkosgei), so I knew her from back in 2005,” she added of her friend and training partner.

“When I made the decision [to switch allegiance] I really wanted to train with her because we have had a long-time friendship. But I was a little bit like, ‘oh my gosh, she's run 64!’

“But I looked at myself and I was like, ‘I need to challenge myself every day.’ When you're running with someone who is better than you, it's a privilege.

“I remember when I was training for Sydney and we were doing the same workouts, and my coach could use the time [difference between us] like, ‘hey, for this long run you still have like one or two minutes, you know, that you need to improve on.’ And I remember when I started maybe it was like four minutes and then by the time I was going for the race, I was closing down to like a minute."

Saina says unlike other runners, she enjoys training with Jepkosgei as she does not see her as a rival which makes things easier.

“It's been a big challenge, in a good way,” said Saina. “She's been helping me so much for the last month. She's not super competitive in training. Like, I know some people, when you're training with them, they can start saying, no, I don't want her to be close to me.”

“But for Joyciline, she really wants me, you know, to be on the same caliber with her, especially knowing that she's not in the same team with me. I love training with her. And when I come back from the Trials, I'll be able to keep training with her, whatever happens,” added the Sydney Marathon champion.

Grenadian Kirani James Teams Up with Chris Lawrence for Paris 2024 Olympics Preparation

Kirani James, the distinguished Grenadian 400m runner and Olympic medalist, is embarking on a new phase in his illustrious career as he prepares for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Under the guidance of his new coach Chris Lawrence, formerly an assistant to the late Harvey Glance, James is setting his sights on his fourth Olympic appearance.

This strategic coaching change aims to build upon Kirani James’ already impressive track record, which includes three Olympic medals in the 400 meters.

Kirani James Sets Sights on Paris Olympics under Guidance of Coach Lawrence

Kirani James concluded the previous season on a high note with a win at the Diamond League Final in Eugene. His decision to work with Lawrence reflects his commitment to continuing the legacy of Coach Glance. “I’m pleased that Chris will be able to accompany and help aide me to continue the journey and path set out by coach Glance,” James commented.

Kirani James’ journey in athletics has been nothing short of remarkable. He burst onto the scene with victories at the Carifta Games and the World Youth Championships in the 200m. He continued his rise by winning the World U20 (Junior) 400m title in 2010. His crowning achievement came with a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics, followed by silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics and bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, making him the first athlete to win all three medals in the 100-year history of the event.

Additionally, James secured a silver medal at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene and a bronze at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing. He also claimed two Diamond League titles in 2022 and 2023, along with a Commonwealth Games gold medal in 2014. These accomplishments have established James as one of the elite athletes in the 400m discipline and Grenada’s first and only Olympic medalist.

As James and Lawrence collaborate towards the Paris Olympics, the athletics world will be eagerly watching. With his resilience, dedication, and proven track record, James is poised to add yet another chapter to his already legendary career in the world of athletics.

France's former world 800m champion Pierre-Ambroise Bosse announced Tuesday his decision to retire because of recurrent injuries seven months before the Paris Olympics

The 31-year-old has failed to recover after undergoing surgery on his right thigh last year and has not competed since April.

"I've tried to get back in recent months ... but quickly felt pain when I accelerated a little," Bosse told French sports daily l'Equipe.

"After the operation, my hamstrings should have been better, it gave me a boost, hope and desire but this recurrence has broken the momentum.

"I no longer enjoy athletics. There is something unhealthy in this tendon, it's no longer there. The days go by, the Games are coming and at this rate, I will never be there."

Bosse finished fourth at the 2016 Rio Olympics but was eliminated before the finals in the Tokyo Games in 2021.

He has never regained the form which saw him crowned world champion over 800m in London in 2017.

He won bronze at the European championships in 2012 and 2018.

Not being able to achieve his Olympic dream has been tough, said Bosse, who explained how he had "spent days in bed".

"I no longer went out, I no longer played sports, I must not have been good to look at," he continued.

"I bottled things up a lot. At first I did not dare to tell my loved ones so as not to hurt them. My mother's dream was for me to go to the Games in Paris. The end of my career is still hard to admit," added the five-time French champion.

Two-time Olympic champion Ashton Eaton embraces distance running

It’s been seven years since two-time Olympic and world decathlon champion Ashton Eaton called it a career, but he has not hung up the running shoes quite yet. The 35-year-old ran in the Portland Half-Marathon over the weekend and tweeted about how taken aback he was by the toughness of distance running.

Eaton finished the half marathon in just under an hour and 50 minutes for 530th place overall. Eaton took to social media post-race to share how his body was feeling. “I think I ran 1:49. During the run, I felt fine, but now I feel like I can’t move at all. Insanely painful.”

During Eaton’s professional career, despite being the only decathlete to break the 9,000-point mark twice, he was never particularly dominant at distance events. His weakest event of the 10 was known to be the final one—the men’s 1,500m—an event where he only had a personal best of 4:14.48.

Eaton wasn’t only surprised by how painful half-marathons are; he also posted that he was astonished by the variety of running styles. “Runners are basically like fingerprints,” wrote Eaton. “I’ve always admired the mental toughness of distance running, and now even more so. It was a very cool experience.”

It’s clear that Eaton is now embracing life as a distance runner in his retirement. Last week, Eaton was named an event ambassador at India’s Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon, scheduled for Oct. 15.

Eaton and his wife, Canada’s Brianne Theisen-Eaton, retired from the sport at the prime of their respective careers in 2017. Eaton was coming off defending his Olympic gold medal at the Rio Olympics. While Theisen-Eaton won bronze in the heptathlon at the same Olympics. The multi-events power couple now live and reside in Oregon with their three-year-old boy.

Alexi Pappas gets a race named after her at San Francisco Marathon

2016 Olympian and renowned running author and influencer Alexi Pappas has joined forces with her hometown race, the San Francisco Marathon. On July 5, the San Francisco Marathon announced a multi-year partnership with Pappas, naming the 10K race in her honour.The race said in a statement: “We are delighted to announce the 10K will be now known as the Alexi Pappas SFM 10K, a race overflowing with excitement, fun, and of course, glitter!”Pappas has always had a strong connection to San Francisco’s Bay Area, growing up in nearby Alameda, Calif., and attending Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland. From there she went on to run at Dartmouth College and the University of Oregon before making the Greek Olympic team in the women’s 10,000m for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“Like every other ten-year-old, I wished for my own 10k race. My wish has come true,” wrote Pappas in excitement on Instagram.

Despite hanging up her competitive racing shoes in 2020, Pappas has continued to use her platform to inspire other women and help make running an inclusive space for all. Throughout her career, Pappas has been outspoken about her struggle with depression, calling for better care of elite athletes’ mental health. In 2021, her first book, Bravey: Chasing Dreams, Befriending Pain, and Other Big Ideas, was published, highlighting her triumphs and challenges in sports and life, and encouraging readers to be “braveys” in pursuing their passions.The Alexi Pappas 10K race is scheduled to take place on July 23 as a part of the San Francisco Marathon weekend. The race will also have custom medals and T-shirts designed by Pappas. 

Olympic sprint champion Tori Bowie dies at 32

Tori Bowie, a three-time 2016 Olympic sprint medalist and 2017 World 100m champion, has died at age 32, according to her management company and USA Track and Field.

“We’ve lost a client, dear friend, daughter and sister,” the company tweeted. “Tori was a champion…a beacon of light that shined so bright!”

Bowie, raised by her grandmother in rural Mississippi, converted from the long jump to the sprints in 2014 and was the world’s fastest woman in the 100m that year.

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she won 100m silver and 200m bronze and anchored the U.S. 4x100m relay to gold.

Then in 2017, she won the 100m at the world championships. Bowie remains the lone American woman to win an Olympic or world 100m title since Carmelita Jeter in 2011.

Bowie then re-added the long jump, placing fourth at the 2019 Worlds in her last major competition.

She did not enter the Tokyo Olympic Trials. Her last competition overall was in June 2022.

Olympic silver medalist Christine Mboma to undergo hormone therapy

Last week, World Athletics, the global governing body of track and field, announced new regulations to their DSD athletes competition policy, which requires all female athletes with differences of sexual development to reduce their testosterone to not more than 2.5 nmol/L for a minimum of 24 months to be allowed to compete internationally in the female category in any event. According to The Namibian, one such athlete who has achieved prominence, Tokyo 200m Olympic medallist Christine Mboma of Namibia, intends to undergo hormone therapy to continue her career in athletics. 

The new rule reduces the acceptable maximum testosterone limit to half of the previous limit, for twice the length of time.

In an extensive interview with The Namibian, Mboma’s coach, Henk Botha said, “We’ve had disappointments and some obstacles in the past. There’s not a lot that we can do as Namibians, we’ll have to take this one on the chin and do our best to get Christine back on the track.” 

“The one option is to stop with athletics, and the other is to go to court. Then, the third option is to reduce the levels,” said Botha. “The first two were never on our table, since we don’t have the money to go to court, and halting athletics is not something that Christine wants to do. She’s 19 and has a great career in front of her.”

The harsh alternative DSD athletes are faced with is to quit the sport altogether.

Athletics Namibia said they fully support Mboma, describing WA’s new DSD athlete requirements as “discriminatory, unfair, stigmatizing and not safeguarding all women in sport.” 

Mboma is one of five prominent DSD athletes who are or were at the top of their event in the last five years. Others are two-time Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya, 2021 Diamond League champion and 2,000m world record holder Francine Niyonsaba, Nigeria’s Aminatou Seyni and Mboma’s Namibian compatriot, Beatrice Masilingi.

Mboma, who started her career as a 400m runner, has been forced to transition down to the 200m, due to WA limitations barring DSD athletes from racing events between the 400 and the mile.

The new rules will apply across all track events as of April 1, with all five athletes ineligible to compete under the new DSD regulations in major international competitions like the Diamond League and World Championships. All qualified athletes will be eligible for the 2024 Olympic Games provided they are able to maintain their hormone levels over the next 18 months.

Burundi’s Niyonsaba has been quiet on the World Athletics ruling, posting on her Instagram three days after the WA decision, “It’s time to build and achieve progress.” Niyonsaba took the silver medal in the women’s 800m at the Rio Olympics and has since moved up to the 5,000 and 10,000, running her first half-marathon earlier this month in Lisbon in a national record for Burundi of 68:45.

“Every athlete is built differently and has different advantages and disadvantages,” said Botha. “Instead of pointing out our differences, we should be proud that we are all different.”

Kenyan world cross-country medalist Alice Aprot handed 4-year doping ban

The Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) hit Olympian Alice Aprot, 29, with a four-year ban from competition on Monday after a positive drug test she recorded in May 2022. Aprot was provisionally suspended from competition as of July 2022, following the positive result, and after a lengthy investigation, ADAK took the next step and banned her until 2026 (her ban begins retroactively, from when her suspension started).

Aprot has continually claimed she is innocent and did not knowingly ingest any illegal substances, blaming the positive test on medication she received from a Kenyan pharmacist. 

Aprot’s career 

Aprot has had several big results in her career. In 2015, she won 10,000m gold at the African Games, and represented Kenya at the Rio Olympics a year later. In Rio, she finished just off the podium, in fourth place. Her compatriot, Vivian Cheruiyot, won silver that day, breaking the Kenyan 10,000m record of 29:32.53, a mark that still stands. Aprot also beat the previous Kenyan record in Rio, and her PB of 29:53.51 is still the second-fastest 10,000m result in national history.  

A year after her near-miss at the Olympics, Aprot finished second at the 2017 world cross-country championships in Uganda. A few months later, at the track and field world championships, she finished just off the 10,000m podium again, once more crossing the line in fourth place. After a hiatus from competition in the 2020 and 2021 seasons, Aprot made a comeback in 2022, which eventually led to her positive drug test. 

A four-year ban

As noted in the ADAK report on Aprot’s case, she submitted an explanation for her positive test result, stating that she had taken an unknown medication while at a training camp. She claimed that she had experienced “sharp breast pains” (she was breast feeding at the time) and subsequently “rushed to the nearest pharmacy.” In her explanation to ADAK, Aprot said she told the pharmacist on duty that she was a professional athlete and could not take certain substances. According to Aprot, the pharmacist “assured [her] that the prescribed medication did not contain any prohibited substance and she proceed to ingest the prescribed medication.” 

When asked by ADAK if she had researched the medication before taking it, Aprot said she had not. She also said she had not even looked to see what the medication was called before taking it. “She claimed that she was in pain and did not bother to check,” the ADAK report reads. 

After considering Aprot’s case for several months, ADAK officials officially banned her from competition. The report notes that “it is evident that [Aprot] … acted in good faith by taking the prescribed medicine in order to manage the lingering breast pains.” However, officials added that even if Aprot didn’t knowingly take a banned substance, it was her job to ensure that all medications she took were approved by anti-doping agencies. “Athletes or other persons shall be responsible for knowing what constitutes an anti-doping rule violation and the substances and methods which have been included on the prohibited list,” the report says. 

The start of Aprot’s ban has been backdated to July 14, 2022, meaning she will not be eligible to compete again until July 13, 2026.

Two-time Canadian Olympian Lucas Bruchet hangs up his track spikes

On Feb. 14, two-time Canadian Olympian and multi-time national champion Lucas Bruchet announced on Instagram that his journey in track and field is over. The 31-year-old schoolteacher and third-fastest Canadian over 5,000m will retire from competitive racing–but he has plans to stay in the sport.

Bruchet posted on Instagram:

“It’s been no secret to many, but to everybody else that’s followed my journey in athletics it’s time I tell you it’s over. I mean it’s not totally over, I’ll always run, but it’s no longer the thing that drives my life.

The goals will be different and I hope to continue to inspire the Canadian running community and explore ways to continue growing this awesome sport. I am looking forward to connecting everything I’ve learned to teaching and coaching.

Much love and thank you to my team of people who guided me and helped me achieve every goal I ever set. To all those who have supported me over the years, I appreciate y’all, these were some damn good times.”

Bruchet represented Team Canada in the men’s 5,000m at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he finished 19th in his heat. At the 2021 Harry Jerome Classic in Vancouver, Bruchet ran a 12-second PB to become the third-fastest Canadian of all time, which earned him a spot on the Tokyo Olympic team alongside Moh Ahmed and Justyn Knight.

Bruchet ended up placing 12th in his 5,000m heat in 13:44.08. He also collected several national championship titles over the 5,000m, 10,000m and cross-country. Until 2022, Bruchet never finished lower than fourth at the Canadian XC Championships (ACXC), and he is the only male athlete in the last decade with more than one ACXC win.

He finished his career with personal bests of 3:58.60 (mile), 7:46.89 (3,000m), 13:12.56 (5,000m), 27:56.12 (10,000m) and 63:12 for the half-marathon.

Many icons in the Canadian running community paid homage to Bruchet in the comment section:

“Congrats on a great career Luc. Had a lot of fun races lining up next to you and was inspired by all the times you stepped up with big performances when you needed them. All the best moving forward!” – Cam Levins (Canadian marathon record holder and Olympian)

“You’re an inspiration man… congrats on an exceptional career. Good luck on your next chapter!” – Ben Flanagan (Canadian 10K record holder)

“Mudtruck, we love ya! what a career. Now let’s go coach some athletes and ride some bikes.” – Rob Watson (Mile2Marathon Coach and Olympian)

Bruchet plans on continuing to coach with Mile2Marathon’s Vancouver group, which offers services and training communities to runners and endurance athletes of all abilities.

Edward Cheserek to battle Shura Kitata in Houston Half Marathon

Kenya’s Edward Cheserek will be the star to watch at the 51st edition of the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon that will be held on January 15, 2023 in Houston, Texas, United States.

The 28 year-old comes to this race with the fourth fastest time on paper of 1:00.03 that he got last year in Valencia Half marathon, comes to this race with the fourth fastest time on paper.

After Valencia last fall, I’ve trained harder and I think sub-60 is possible. Houston is known for being a fast course and I want to have a chance with a personal best,” said Cheserek.

Cheserek who is the the 17-time NCAA champion, will battle the 2020 London Marathon champion, Shura Kitata who comes to this race with a life time best of 59:47 that he got at this same event in the same year.

The two will have to get past the 2015 All-African Games Silver medalist, Leul Gebresilase who comes to this race with the fastest time on paper of 59:18 that he got at the 2017 Valencia Half Marathon, where he took the silver medal and the 2018 Mediterranean Games half marathon champion, Mohamed El Aaraby who also comes with a personal best of 59:54 that he got last year at the Meta Time Trials By Asics.

The race organizers have assembled this deep field to chase the race course record of 59:22 that was set ten years ago by the 2016 Rio Olympics marathon silver medalist, Feyisa Lilesa from Ethiopia.

Eunice Chumba hopes to make it fourth time lucky in Adnoc Abu Dhabi Marathon

Eunice Chumba is hoping she can make it fourth time lucky at the Adnoc Abu Dhabi Marathon on Saturday.

The Kenyan-born athlete, competing under the Bahrain flag, is the most seasoned runner in the elite field.

Chumba, 29, was runner up in the inaugural race in 2018, finished fourth in 2019, and runner up again last year after the 2020 event was cancelled following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

She arrives for the fourth edition of the Abu Dhabi race on the back of a personal best 2 hrs 20 min and 02 sec that saw her finish third at the Seoul Marathon on April.

“It’s been a pretty good year for me so far and would be even better if I can finish it with a first position in Abu Dhabi,” Chumba told The National at the Event Village on Thursday.

“I have prepared well for this race and hoping I will be fourth time lucky in Abu Dhabi. It’s a title that I have been trying to win from its inaugural year. I have run two marathons and two half marathons this year, and I feel I’m in good shape coming into this race.

“There are lots of challenges of course but I hope I can better my own personal best to achieve this long-standing objective.”

Chumba will still have just over three minutes to make up to match Kenyan Angela Tanui, who ran the 46.2-kilometre distance in 2:17:57 in Amsterdam in 2021.

“My friend Angela has a personal best 2:17 and Mare Dibaba has a personal best 2:19, so I have a lot of catching up to do with these two, but I’m hopeful I can run a personal best on the day,” Chumba, who won silver in the 10,000m race at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games and finished seventh in the Tokyo Olympics last year, added.

Tanui, 30, the winner of the Amsterdam 2021 Marathon, and Ethiopian Dibaba, 33, a bronze medallist at the 2016 Rio Olympics for Ethiopia, are both first time runners in Abu Dhabi.

Tanui listed the Abu Dhabi Marathon as a strong race based on her compatriot Judith Jeptum Korir’s results this year after her win in the UAE capital last year.

“Judith won the Marathon de Paris in April and silver in the World Athletics Championships in Oregon in July, which just go to prove what a strong race Abu Dhabi is,” she said.

“That’s a good yardstick to measure strength of the Abu Dhabi Marathon and I’m glad to be racing here on Saturday.”

The men’s elite race is headlined by the Kenyan pair Daniel Kibet, winner of the 2019 Istanbul Marathon, and Dickson Chumba, champion in Tokyo in 2015 and 2018, as well as Chicago in 2015. Adeladlew Mamo of Ethiopia arrives with this year’s Seville Marathon under his belt.

More than 20,000 runners are expected to participate across the marathon relay, half marathon, 10km, 5km and 2.5km races.

The marathon starts and finishes in front of the Adnoc Headquarters and the race-route takes the runners through some of Abu Dhabi’s most famous landmarks.

Ethiopians And Kenyans Lead Elite Field at Historic 50th Honolulu Marathon

Athletes from Ethiopia and Kenya lead the elite field for the historic 50th edition of the Honolulu Marathon, scheduled for Sunday, December 11. Founded in 1973, and historically one of the five largest marathons in the United States based on finishers, this year's race will have its first full elite athletes program since 2019, paying prize money three-deep for both men and women: $25,000-10,000-5,000. The race will be run on its traditional course starting at Ala Moana Beach Park, making a loop through Downtown, wrapping around Diamond Head, going out along the Kalanianaole Highway to Hawaii Kai, then returning to Waikiki to finish in Kapiolani Park just after sunrise.

The race was held virtually in 2020 because of the pandemic, and had only a limited elite athlete program in 2021. Organizers are excited to have athletes this year who are strong enough to challenge the course records which were both set by Kenyans: 2:08:00 (2:07:59.02) by Titus Ekiru in 2019 and 2:22:15 by now world record holder Brigid Kosgei in 2017.

"We are excited to welcome top professional athletes to attack our incredible course records for the 50th anniversary race," said Honolulu Marathon Association President Dr. Jim Barahal. "At its core the Honolulu Marathon is an athletic competition, whether against others or against oneself, and we are excited to see what transpires on December 11."

Shifera Tamru is the leading entrant from Ethiopia. The 24 year-old has a personal best of 2:05:18 (Dubai, 2019) and has three marathon wins and five podium finishes in eight starts. He won the 2022 Daegu Marathon in Korea last April in 2:06:31, and was most recently fifth at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in October in 2:07:53. He'll be running the Honolulu Marathon for the first time.

His top rival is likely to be the Kenyan veteran Stanley Biwott, the 2015 TCS New York City Marathon champion who has a personal best of 2:03:51 (London 2016). Biwott, 36, has not completed a marathon since 2018 when he was fourth at the Abu Dhabi Marathon. He returned to racing after a long layoff earlier this year, clocking a 1:01:57 half-marathon in Padova, Italy. He has completed a total of 13 career marathons with four wins and eight podium finishes. Like Tamru, this will be his first run in Honolulu.

The other top contenders on the men's side are Asefa Mengstu of Ethiopia (2:04:06 personal best, Dubai, 2018) and Barnabas Kiptum of Kenya (2:04:17, Milano, 2021). Both men are veterans. Mengstu has completed 13 career marathons with 4 wins and 7 podium finishes. Kiptum has completed 18 marathons in 20 starts with 3 wins and 13 podium finishes. Neither man has ever run the Honolulu Marathon.

Two strong Ethiopian athletes lead the women's field. Abebech Afework (2:23:33 personal best, Dubai, 2015) and Bere Ayalew (2:22:52, Eindhoven, 2022) will both be making their Honolulu Marathon debuts. Afework, 31, is the more experienced athlete. She has completed 20 marathons in 21 starts, and has racked up three wins and seven podium finishes. She is coming back from a DNF at the Lisbon Marathon in October. Ayalew, 23, has only run four marathons. However, she's made the podium at all four including a second place finish at the Eindhoven Marathon in October of this year where she ran her personal best. Both athletes will be making their Honolulu Marathon debuts.

Reigning Honolulu Marathon champion, Lanni Marchant of Canada, is also in the field. The 38 year-old, who ran both the 10,000m and the marathon at the 2016 Rio Olympics, won last year's race in 2:41:25 on very limited training after finishing 11th at the TCS New York City Marathon a month before In her long marathon career, which began in 2011, Marchant has completed 15 marathons and made the podium three times. A criminal appeal lawyer based in Denver, she is the former Canadian record holder with a 2:28:00 personal best.

"It was a struggle out there," Marchant said after last year's race. "I dehydrated quick. Those last few miles I really had to find my purpose for running. I just got myself across the finish line."

Rounding out the elite field is Mai Ito of Japan. The 38 year-old --who competed in the 2016 Olympic Marathon and both the 2011 and 2015 World Championships Marathons-- has completed all 15 marathons she has started. Her personal best of 2:24:42 was set in Nagoya in 2015. This will be her first run ever at the Honolulu Marathon.

Are records going to be broken at the Berlin Marathon this weekend?

The fall marathon season kicks off this Sunday, Sept. 25, in Germany for the 48th annual Berlin Marathon, which is the first of four Abbott World Marathon Majors over the next six weeks. The biggest name is distance running Eliud Kipchoge returns to the course he set the world record on four years ago, but the question everyone is asking is whether he can run 2:01:39 again?

He also looks to become the second man to win four Berlin Marathon titles, joining the great Haile Gebrselassie, who won four consecutive between 2006 and 2009.

Kipchoge isn’t the only athlete chasing a record in Berlin. U.S. marathon record holder Keira D’Amato has made a quick turnaround from her eighth place finish at World Championships and has her eyes on the American record of 2:19:12, which she ran in Houston earlier this year.

Vancouver’s Natasha Wodak is the lone Canadian in the elite field, and she is looking to take advantage of the fast Berlin course. In 2020, Wodak ran the second fastest marathon time by a Canadian woman, 2:26:19, at The Marathon Project in Arizona. She followed up that performance with an impressive 13th place finish in the marathon at the 2020 Olympics Games.

Wodak hopes to shake 90 seconds off her marathon PB Sunday to challenge Malindi Elmore’s Canadian record of 2:24:50 from 2019.

The weather

The race starts at 9:15 a.m. local time on Sunday (which is 3:15 a.m. E.T. in Canada). The temperature looks to be perfect for marathoning — between 10 C and 14 C, with next to no wind. 

Men who hope to finish near Kipchoge

It is well-known that Kipchoge is the favorite, but who are the guys most likely to finish second or stick with him until 30K?

Ethiopia’s Guye Adola, who was second to Kipchoge in 2017, won Berlin last fall in 2:05:45. The win marked his first major victory after struggling with injury earlier in his career. Like Kipchoge, Adola is fast and knows what it takes to win on this course. In 2017, he ran the fastest marathon debut in history on this course but since has not run near 2:03. 

Adola is the only other sub-2:05 runner, which Kipchoge is bound to finish under. If anyone else wins this race, it would take a miracle, or mean both Kipchoge and Adola have blown up.

Ghirmay Ghebreslassie of Eritrea won the 2015 World Championships in Beijing and the New York Marathon in 2016 after missing the podium at the Rio Olympics. Although Ghebreslassie has the experience, in a sub-2:05 race, he may not have the speed to keep up with Adola and Kipchoge. 

Marley’s Pick: Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) – 2:02:29

Can Keira D’Amato become the first American winner?

D’Amato has the fastest time out of the 24 runners in the women’s elite field with a time of 2:19:12, but she has only had nine weeks to prepare for Berlin after her 2:23:34 at the World Championships in Eugene. She was only selected for the U.S. team after Molly Seidel dropped out a few weeks before the championships.

To run 2:23 at worlds off not much training is impressive and should be a confidence booster for D’Amato on a faster Berlin course. 

Many of the top Kenyan and Ethiopian runners will be competing later this fall, but there are other sub-2:22 runners in Berlin. Kenya’s Nancy Jelagat Meto (2:19:31 – Valencia) and Vibian Chepkirui, the winner of the Vienna City Marathon in 2:20:59 in April, have the experience and speed to deny D’Amato the title.

Rosemary Wanjiru of Kenya, a 65:34 half marathoner, is making her marathon debut here in Berlin. Although this is her first marathon, she will likely be in contention most of the race.

Marley’s Pick: Rosemary Wanjiru (KEN) – 2:18:39.

Hellen Obiri to defend Great North Run title, Peres Jepchirchir in the mix

Defending champion Hellen Obiri and Olympic marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir will be in the women’s lineup for the Great North Run slated for September 11 in the streets of Newcastle.

Obiri won last year’s edition in 1:07:42. She is a two-time world 5000m champion and a two-time Olympic 5000m silver medalist. Obiri has a personal best time of 1:04:22 which she ran at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in February.

Jepchirchir, who will be making her debut, has a personal best time of 1:05.06 which she ran at the 2017 Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon. She placed first during the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in 2016 and 2020 in respective times of 1:07:31 and 1:05:16. Jepchirchir is also a former world half marathon record holder. 

The Kenyan duo will be competing against the Ethiopian duo of Hiwot Gebrekidan and former Olympic 10,000m champion Almaz Ayana. Gebrekidan and Ayana have personal best times of 1:06:47 and 1:07:12 respectively.

Gebrekidan is the winner of the 2016 Copenhagen Half Marathon. She is also a former World Under-20 3000m silver medalist. Ayana won in the 2017 edition of the New Delhi Half Marathon. She is also a former world 10,000m record holder when she broke China’s Wang Junxia record during the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Charlotte Purdue and Jess Piasecki, both from Great Britain will also be in the race. Purdue placed third during last year’s edition of the Great North Run. She has a personal best time of 1:08:23 which she ran at the 2020 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon in Japan. 

Piasecki has a personal best time of 1:07:20 which she ran at this year’s Santa Pola Half Marathon in Spain. She is also the winner of the 2019 Usti Half Marathon in Czech Republic. She will also be making her Great North Run half marathon debut.

Tobi Amusan, the accidental hurdler who became the world record-holder

The new world champion and world record-holder in the women’s 100m hurdles only got into hurdling through a quirk of fate.

Tobi Amusan started out as a sprinter and long jumper as a youngster in her native Nigeria.  

At 13, she turned up to compete in a local athletics meet, only to find that just one event remained on the programme: the hurdles.

Amusan’s coach encouraged her to enter. She ended up winning the race and the rest, as they say, is history.

The switch to the sprint hurdles paid off in sensational fashion on Sunday (24) when the 25-year-old Amusan smashed the world record, clocking 12.12 in the semi-finals at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22. She shaved 0.08 off the previous mark set by Kendra Harrison of the US in 2016.

Less than two hours later, Amusan came back for the final and ran another spectacular race to secure her first global gold medal and the first ever for Nigeria at a World Championships.

Amusan was clocked in 12.06, but the time won’t be recognized as a world record due to a tail wind of +2.5 m/s.

After fourth-place finishes at the 2019 World Championships in Doha and last year’s Tokyo Olympics, Amusan finally made it -- not just onto the podium, but to the top of the medal stand.

“I was the ‘almost girl,’” she said. “I got fourth, fourth, fourth. Now I finally did it.”

And with a world record for good measure.

“The goal was to come out and to win this gold,” Amusan said. “I just did it. Honestly, I believe in my abilities but I was not expecting a world record at these championships. You know, the goal is always just to execute well and get the win. So the world record is a bonus. I knew I had it in me but I could not believe it when I saw it on the screen after the semis. But it was just a matter of time.”

Looking back on how she made it here, Amusan said: “It has been a long journey.”

Born in the town of Ijebu Ode in the western Nigerian state of Ogun, Amusan gradually made the transition to hurdles as a teenager. 

She continued competing in sprints and long jump but managed to squeeze in one hurdles session a week. She put cones and tires on the track to jump over because there were no hurdles in her town. 

When she was replaced as a member of Nigeria’s 4x100m relay squad at the trials for the 2014 African Youth Games, she figured she had nothing to lose and entered the hurdles. She won that and went on to earn silver at the African Youth Games in Botswana.

Then followed a trip to Ethiopia in 2015, where she won African U20 gold, followed by a breakthrough victory at the All-African Games in Brazzaville, Congo.

“It was one of the biggest milestones of my career; winning that championship set me up for who I am today,” she said.

There was no looking back; she was now a full-time hurdler.

In 2016, Amusan received a scholarship to attend the University of Texas, El Paso, where hard training brought her personal best down from 13.10 to 12.83.

At UTEP, she worked with new coach Lacena Golding-Clarke, a three-time Olympian from Jamacia and the 2002 Commonwealth Games 100m hurdles champion. 

There were setbacks along the way, of course. At the U20 world championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland in 2016, Amusan struggled with her technique and finished in fifth place. She was so devastated that she thought about quitting the sport.

But she regrouped and, after reaching the semi-finals at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Amusan went unbeaten in the 2017 outdoor US collegiate season and won the NCAA title in a PB of 12.57.

She went into the 2017 world championships in London as the season’s fourth-fastest hurdler, but cramped up in the cold conditions and failed to make the final. 

“After London,” she said, “I learned that the fact that I was in the mix, knowing I was capable of doing stuff at this age – I was just 20 – and being ranked in the top eight makes me confident that when I get my technique right, my speed right, and get a bit stronger, I’ll be fine.”

Amusan turned pro at the end of that year and went on to win gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, at the age of 20. She also triumphed at the African Championships later that year.

In 2019, she finished just 0.02 shy of a bronze in Doha. Last year, she came 0.45 from a medal at the delayed Tokyo Games.

“I don’t think there is a track and field event which can teach humility quite like the sprint hurdles,” Amusan said. “You can be the fastest in the field but one mistake can spell the end for your race. A hurdler should never go into any race with any level of complacency or arrogance. It teaches you to be humble.”

For now, at least, Amusan can afford to be a little less humble.

After all, she’s simply the fastest of all time and the best in the world. 

Not bad for someone who became a hurdler by chance. 

Noah Lyles storms to 200-meter gold at World Championships, leading U.S. sweep clocking the third fastest time ever

Thursday night was for the sprinters at the World Athletics Championships, as the men's and women's 200 meter finals took center stage in the only medal races of the session in Eugene, Oregon.

American Noah Lyles ran the third-fastest time in history and broke Michael Johnson's American record, crossing the line in 19.31 seconds and winning the men's race in dominant fashion. Not known for running a great curve, Lyles had a tremendous start and took all of the suspense out of the finish before it was halfway over.

Just as they did in the 100 meters, the United States swept the medals in the 200: behind Lyles was Kenny Bednarek in 19.77 seconds, and 18-year-old sensation Erriyon Knighton in 19.80 seconds.

The 25-year-old Lyles was the defending World champion but at the Tokyo Olympics last summer was disappointed to finish as bronze medalist; he has since revealed that he ran with a swelling in his knee, bad enough to affect him but not so bad that he couldn't race.

A Virginia native — he and his brother Josephus starred at T.C. Williams High, immortalized in "Remember the Titans" — Lyles is beloved for his playful spirit and candor. After the medal ceremony he joyously jumped on the back of the Championships. Fluffy yellow mascot, Legend, and got a piggy-back for a few seconds, jumping off and immediately going to the stands for autographs and selfies. Lyles' long coils are currently dyed a light brown, but in the past he's colored it silver, an homage to Goku of "Dragon Ball Z," and he's always open about his mental health journey.

Bednarek, who is 23, matched the silver he'd won in Tokyo in the 200, while Knighton became the youngest man to win a sprint medal in Worlds history.

After a poor showing from the American men at the Olympics last summer when they only won two gold medals — in shot put and the 4x400m relay — they have certainly bounced back this year at Worlds; Lyles' win is the fourth gold for the U.S. men, with a strong chance for three more in the closing days of the meet.

The thrilling men's race matched the women's race, which had been contested just minutes earlier.

Jamaica's women again asserted their short-distance dominance, with Shericka Jackson winning gold in a stunning 21.45 seconds and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce silver in 21.81 in the women's 200; Great Britain's Dina Asher-Smith, the defending champion, ran to bronze in 22.02.

Jackson's time makes her the fastest living woman on Earth — only the late Florence Griffith-Joyner, who ran a 21.34 in 1988, has ever run faster.

Fraser-Pryce, as is her way, was stellar out of the blocks but couldn't sustain it; Jackson passed her with around 90 meters to go and just kept pulling away, her arms driving her to the finish line. A veteran of several global championship meets, Jackson has multiple 400-meter bronze medals, from the 2015 and 2019 World Championships and the 2016 Rio Olympics as well as relay golds, but has since dropped down to the 200 and 100.

Earlier this week, she won silver in the 100m behind Fraser-Pryce, but Thursday was finally her night to get an individual gold.

(Third photo taken by Jivko at the USATF National Championships.)

The Dibaba family of Ethiopia dominated the women’s long-distance running for decades

The Dibaba Sisters, from Ethopia, is the fastest family on earth.

Ethiopian distance runner Tirunesh Dibaba made history at the 2008 Beijing Olympics when she became the first woman to win gold in both the 5,000-metre and 10,000-metre races. She defended her gold medal title in the 10,000 metres at the 2012 London Olympics, becoming the first woman to win the event at two consecutive Olympics.

She was inspired by a family of runners. In fact, she and her sisters have been amazing in the field of distance running. The Dibaba sisters — Tirunesh, Genzebe, Anna, and Melat — are the only siblings in recorded history to hold concurrent world records, and they are a fiercely competitive family from a humble background.

Their parents, Gutu Tola and Dibaba Kaneni, were not athletes themselves but their children have always acknowledged the support that their parents have given them to thrive in athletics.

Her baby-like face combined with her track performance gave her the perfectly fitting nickname ‘The Baby Faced Destroyer’.

Fourth born in a family of six, Tirunesh started running with a clear focus on becoming a professional athlete at the tender age of 14.

Her sister, Ejegayehu Dibaba was already a professional athlete, and her cousin, Derartu Tulu, also helped inspire to take up athletics.

Moving to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa in 2000, the year her cousin Ejegayu had won her second Olympic gold during the Sydney Olympics in the 10,000-meter race, Tirunesh moved in to live with Ejegayu launching her athletic career.

Just over two years later, in 2003, Tirunesh would win her first international medal by scooping gold in the 5000 metres during the IAAF World Track & Field Championships.

A year later, Tirunesh competed in the Olympics winning the bronze medal finishing behind teammate Meseret Defar and Kenya’s Isabela Ochichi. 

From there Tirunesh went on to establish herself as one of the greatest ever long-distance woman runners of all time becoming the youngest female World Champion in the history of athletics. She has gone on to win three Olympic gold medals.

In her highly decorated career, Tirunesh boasts of three Olympic gold medals and three bronze along with five World Championship gold and one silver. Additionally, she has four World Cross Country Championships 4 gold medals, and 2 silver, and has won two African Championships gold and one silver medal.

In total, ‘The Baby Faced Destroyer’ has 14 gold medals, four silver,  and three bronze medals from all major global athletics events.

  The biggest reason behind her success has been the blistering speed that she used in the final laps leaving the competition in her wake. 

Now 37 years old, Tirunesh has informally retired as one of the greatest track and field athletes of all time. She has won everything and set records that will take a while before they are broken. 

Ejegayehu Dibaba

Ejegayehu is the eldest of the Tirunesh’s and just like her younger sister she has also carried the Dibaba’s flag high and to the top.

Winner of the 10,000m silver medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics, Ejegayehu finished ahead of her cousin Derartu Tulu who took the bronze.

Other medals from major internationals include two World Championships bronze in Helsinki 2005 in the 5000m and 10,000m.

She also went on to surprise the world by winning her debut marathon in Chicago in 2011.

Genzebe Dibaba

Genzebe is the youngest of the family and has also tasted the sweetness of winning an Olympic medal. Her moment of glory in the Olympics came in the 2016 Rio Olympics winning silver in the 1500m race.

In total Genzebe won a total of 11 gold medals, five silver medals, and two bronze medals in her athletic career.

Derartu Tulu

Cousin of the three sisters, Derartu Tulu's exploits were an inspiration to the Dibabas setting the pace for her cousins by concurring the world.

Tulu became the first Black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal winning the 10,000m race at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Eight years later she would win her second Olympic gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

She would have an incredible achievement winning a medal in three different Olympics winning a bronze at the 2004 Athens Olympics in the 10,000m.

Other major titles in her illustrious career include 10,000m gold and silver medal at World Athletics Championships in Gothenburg 1995 and Edmonton 2001.

Sileshi Sihine

Sileshi Sihime is a two-time Olympic silver medalist with over a dozen major athletics medals under his belt. Married to Tirunesh Dibaba, he is a three-time Olympic gold medalist.

Conclusion 

In terms of ‘Sports Dynasties’, the Dibabas are the 'African Sports Dynasty’. Talent, hard work, and dedication are clearly what enabled the Dibabas to conquer the world of women's long-distance races for decades.

Becky Briggs and Jonny Mellor take Manchester Marathon victories

Becky Briggs enjoyed a huge breakthrough as she took five minutes off her PB with 2:29:04, while Jonny Mellor was close to his lifetime best with a commanding men’s win in 2:10:46 at the Therme Manchester Marathon on Sunday April 3.

In ideal conditions for marathon running, Briggs and Mellor both smashed the England qualifying standard for the Commonwealth Games of 2:14:00 plus the European Championships mark of 2:14:30 on a day of brilliant racing.

A total of 20 Brits broke the 2:20 barrier with Mellor’s training partner Ross Millington clocking 2:11:38 in his debut marathon in second place, as Kevin Seaward of Northern Ireland was third in 2:11:54.

Behind Briggs, Naomi Mitchell was runner-up in a PB of 2:30:54 while Georgina Schwiening was third in 2:31:37 and Sonia Samuels, 42, fourth in 2:32:32.

All of them were well inside the 2:34:00 women’s qualifying standard for the Commonwealth Games. Although in addition to places in the England team for Birmingham in July and GB team for Munich in August, the race was also a trial for the GB team for the IAU 50km European Championships in Avila, Spain, in October.

In a race packed with top-class performances, the super-vet Tommy Hughes (second photo) clocked a phenomenal 2:30:05 aged 62, although it is not quite as quick as his M60 record of 2:30:02 set two years ago.

Defending champion Matt Crehan enjoyed an early lead in the race but he was caught before halfway – which the leaders reached in 66:05 – and Mellor, who had been helped by pacemakers such as Ben Connor, Omar Ahmed and Charlie Hulson, made a strong move just after 20 miles to break away from his rivals.

Mellor and Millington are both members of Team New Balance Manchester and are coached by Steve Vernon. Millington ran for Britain over 10,000m at the Rio Olympics but Mellor has endured bad luck with major championships qualification, being overlooked by England in the run-up to the 2018 Commonwealth Games and then being forced to miss last year’s Olympic marathon trial due to a freak leg injury caused, he thinks, by compression socks during his sleep.

Briggs only turned 22 last month but looks ideally suited to the marathon. Just three years ago she was the third British athlete in the under-20 race at the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus but ran 2:38:58 on her marathon debut in the Olympic trial last year and then 2:34:34 in London last October.

Here she went through halfway in 74:16, then overhauled long-time leader Mitchell with about 10km to go and finished strongly to smash the 2:30 barrier and to go No.20 on the UK all-time rankings.

Tom Craggs, England Athletics road running manager, added: “We are delighted to see such tight competition today, with the athletes pushing themselves to place within the top three in order to join Team England this year for the Commonwealth Games 2022.

“This year is an incredibly exciting year for home nations athletes with three major championships taking place, and we were delighted to have worked with the team at Therme Manchester Marathon to support athletes to have the best possible experience at the England Commonwealth Games and British Athletics European Championship trials.”

With a rich history dating back to 1908, the Therme Manchester Marathon is increasingly popular due to its fast, flat course, welcoming Mancunian atmosphere – and Sunday saw 24,000 runners taking part.

Next year’s event is on April 16, 2023. 

Former World Athletics president Lamine Diack has died

The former head of global athletics Lamine Diack, who presided over the sport from 1999 to 2015 but was later convicted for corruption, has died aged 88, his family told AFP.

The Senegalese was head of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), now renamed World Athletics, the world governing body of track and field, the cornerstone of Olympic sport.

Diack, who was also a powerful figure at the International Olympic Committee (IOC), was found guilty of corruption by a French court in 2020 for covering up Russian doping cases in exchange for millions of dollars of bribes.

He was sentenced to four years in prison, of which two were suspended, and fined 500,000 euros ($560,000).

The trial in Paris heard that the money was paid in return for "full protection", to allow Russian athletes who should have been banned to escape punishment.

Twenty-three Russian athletes had their doping offences hushed up so they could compete at the 2012 London Olympics and 2013 world championships in Moscow.

Because of his age, Diack, a former long jumper, football coach and then businessman and politician who was decorated in the Kremlin in late 2011, was spared jail.

His son Papa Massata Diack, a former marketing executive for the IAAF, was tried in absentia because Senegal refused to extradite him. He was sentenced to five years in prison, fined one million euros and banned from all sport for 10 years.

- Olympic figure -

Lamine Diack, a member of the IOC from 1999 to 2013 and then an honorary member from 2014-15, was embroiled in another corruption affair linked to the awarding of the 2016 Rio Olympics and the Tokyo Olympics, that were postponed because of the pandemic but took place this year.

Despite not being jailed over the Russian corruption, he was held in France because of his indictment in the case involving suspected Olympic vote-buying. His passport had been confiscated.

But a judge soon lifted the ban on Diack leaving France, provided he paid a bond and that he continued to respond to summonses.

Senegalese Premier League side Jaraaf de Dakar, where Diack was club president, said it had sold part of its headquarters property to pay the bail.

Diack was replaced by Britain's Sebastian Coe in August 2015 as head of world athletics. The disgraced Senegalese had resigned from the IOC in the same year.

Coe had been one of Diack's vice-presidents at the then-IAAF between 2011 and 2014.

Born in Dakar on June 7, 1933, Diack started his sporting career as a long jumper, winning the French athletics championships title in 1958. A knee injury prevented him from competing in the 1960 Olympics, however.

He was also a footballer and was technical director of Senegal's national team from 1966 to 1969.

Diack also became head of Senegal's Olympic Committee, mayor of Dakar, a lawmaker and was head of the West African country's national water company before becoming the first non-European to take over as head of the IAAF following the sudden death of its previous president Primo Nebiolo.

The African power-broker said he had played a key role in globalising athletics and his time at the top certainly coincided with a huge boom in its revenues.

Diack was in charge as the sport grew and developed beyond its European and North American core.

He oversaw its move from amateur to professional status, ensured complete equality in events and prize money for men and women, and established international competition circuits for athletes in all the disciplines.

But the Senegalese had previous brushes with scandal before the most recent charges.

Diack and Issa Hayatou, acting FIFA president for four months in wake of the 2015 corruption case against Sepp Blatter, both received warnings from the IOC in 2011 over cash payments they received from International Sport and Leisure (ISL), a marketing company whose collapse caused a major scandal for football's governing body.

Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie and Feyisa Lilesa ready to join Tigray war

Ethiopian Olympic heroes Haile Gebrselassie and Feyisa Lilesa say they are ready to go to the front line in the war against rebel forces.

Their announcement comes after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said he would go to the front to lead the war.

Tigrayan rebels say they are advancing towards the capital Addis Ababa.

The UK has urged its nationals to leave Ethiopia immediately, saying the fighting may move closer to Addis Ababa in the coming days.

The rebels earlier this week said that they had taken control of Shewa Robit, a town about 225km (140 miles) north-east of Addis Ababa. There is no independent confirmation of the claim.

Communication Minister Legese Tulu said the military has had "many successes" since Mr Abiy's decision to lead the battle, and victory was "so close".

Earlier, Gebrselassie, 48, was quoted by state television as saying: "I am ready to do whatever is required of me, including going to the front line."

Gebrselassie is regarded as a legend in Ethiopia, and his comments were seen as an attempt to rally public support behind the war effort.

During his 25-year career as an athlete, he claimed two Olympic gold medals, eight World Championship victories and set 27 world records. He announced his retirement from competitive running in 2015.

Expressing his support for the war, Feyisa, 31, was quoted by the state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporation website as saying that he was ready to draw inspiration from the "gallantry of my forefathers" and go to the front line to "save my country".

The athlete won the marathon silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

He became famous for holding up his crossed wrists as if they were shackled to draw global attention to the crackdown on demonstrators demanding political reforms in Ethiopia.

The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) was the dominant party in government at the time. Following the protests, Mr Abiy became prime minister and the TPLF lost the grip on the country it had held for 27 years.

It later retreated to its stronghold of Tigray, from where it launched a rebellion last November after a huge fall-out with Mr Abiy over his reforms.

The war has created a massive humanitarian crisis, leaving thousands dead, forcing millions from their homes, and several hundred thousand in famine-like conditions as aid agencies battle to get food in war-affected areas.

The African Union is leading efforts to find a negotiated end to the fighting, but neither side has committed to talks.

The TPLF are advancing towards Addis Ababa on the A2 highway.

On Tuesday, Germany and France advised their citizens to leave Ethiopia.

The prospect of some of Ethiopia's most venerated sporting figures heading to the front lines to fight captures something profound and powerful about the mood in Addis Ababa and beyond.

At a time of intense crisis, many Ethiopians are clearly rallying behind their flag and prime minister, and are keen to play their part in galvanising public support for a military campaign that has suffered undeniable setbacks in recent months, though much remains in dispute in terms of casualty figures and battlefield momentum.

It is clear many people see the military threat posed by the TPLF and their assorted allies as an existential one for Ethiopia.

Added to that is a profound dislike of the TPLF itself, which stems from its decades heading an authoritarian national government. But there is more to it than that.

The prime minister has sought to portray his country as a victim, not just of Tigrayan aggression, but of a vast international conspiracy designed to weaken Ethiopia and punish it for, allegedly, challenging Western colonial interests on the continent.

Western media are portrayed as enthusiastic backers of that conspiracy theory - one which appears to have gained widespread credibility in a country struggling to explain how the rebel group could have made such startling headway.

Kenyan David Rudisha hints at comeback in athletics after successful surgery

David Rudisha has disclosed he is set to make a comeback in athletics after undergoing a successful surgery on Saturday.

The 800 m, 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics champion stated that he had undergone a successful surgery on his left leg and will make a return to the track since July 2017.

"I am glad that on Saturday i had a successful surgery of removal of an implant on my left leg that has been there for the last one year and a half. At least i will be back soon doing some running," Rudisha said.

Rudisha's career has been characterised by injuries that denied him opportunities to represent Kenya at major global competitions such as the 2019 World Championships and the 2020 Olympic Games.

The world record holder had earlier revealed he was set to retire soon after the 2020 Olympic Games after a four-year hiatus but had to shelve the idea after he injured his back and twisted his ankle prior to the global event.

Rudisha is regarded as one of the most accomplished 800-meter athletes after his sensation record time of 1:40:91 at the 2012 London Olympics, going on to become the first runner to break the 1:41 time barrier.

He also broke his own record of 1:41:01 that he had set back in 2010 during the Rieti Diamond League meeting.

Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie and Feyisa Lilesa ready to join Tigray war

Ethiopian Olympic heroes Haile Gebrselassie and Feyisa Lilesa say they are ready to go to the front line in the war against rebel forces.

Their announcement comes after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said he would go to the front to lead the war.

Tigrayan rebels say they are advancing towards the capital Addis Ababa.

Germany and France have become the latest countries to advise their citizens to leave Ethiopia, amid an escalation in the civil war.

On Tuesday, US envoy to the region Jeffrey Feltman warned that tentative diplomatic progress towards ending the conflict was being jeopardised by alarming developments on the ground.

The rebels earlier this week said that they had taken control of Shewa Robit, a town about 225km (140 miles) north-east of Addis Ababa. There is no independent confirmation of the claim.

Communication Minister Legese Tulu said the military has had "many successes" since Mr Abiy's decision to lead the battle, and victory was "so close".

With Mr Abiy gone to direct the war effort, his deputy, Demeke Mekonnen Hasse, had taken charge of routine government business, a spokesman was quoted by state-linked media as saying.

Mr Abiy's announcement has bolstered recruitment for the army, with hundreds of new recruits attending a ceremony, marked by patriotic songs, in Addis Ababa on Wednesday.

Communication Minister Legese Tulu said the military has had "many successes" since Mr Abiy's decision to lead the battle, and victory was "so close".

Earlier, Gebrselassie, 48, was quoted by state television as saying: "I am ready to do whatever is required of me, including going to the front line," he said.

Gebrselassie is regarded as a legend in Ethiopia, and his comments were seen as an attempt to rally public support behind the war effort.

During his 25-year career as an athlete, he claimed two Olympic gold medals, eight World Championship victories and set 27 world records. He announced his retirement from competitive running in 2015.

Expressing his support for the war, Feyisa, 31, was quoted by the state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporation website as saying that he was ready to draw inspiration from the "gallantry of my forefathers" and go to the front line to "save my country".

The athlete won the marathon silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

He became famous for holding up his crossed wrists as if they were shackled to draw global attention to the crackdown on demonstrators demanding political reforms in Ethiopia.

The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) was the dominant party in government at the time. Following the protests, Mr Abiy became prime minister and the TPLF lost the grip on the country it had held for 27 years.

It later retreated to its stronghold of Tigray, from where it launched a rebellion last November after a huge fall-out with Mr Abiy over his reforms.

The war has created a massive humanitarian crisis, leaving thousands dead, forcing millions from their homes, and several hundred thousand in famine-like conditions as aid agencies battle to get food in war-affected areas.

The African Union is leading efforts to find a negotiated end to the fighting, but neither side has committed to talks.

The TPLF are advancing towards Addis Ababa on the A2 highway, having previously said they had taken Kemise.

The prospect of some of Ethiopia's most venerated sporting figures heading to the front lines to fight captures something profound and powerful about the mood in Addis Ababa and beyond.

At a time of intense crisis, many Ethiopians are clearly rallying behind their flag and prime minister, and are keen to play their part in galvanising public support for a military campaign that has suffered undeniable setbacks in recent months, though much remains in dispute in terms of casualty figures and battlefield momentum.

It is clear many people see the military threat posed by the TPLF and their assorted allies as an existential one for Ethiopia.

Added to that is a profound dislike of the TPLF itself, which stems from its decades heading an authoritarian national government. But there is more to it than that.

The prime minister has sought to portray his country as a victim, not just of Tigrayan aggression, but of a vast international conspiracy designed to weaken Ethiopia and punish it for, allegedly, challenging Western colonial interests on the continent.

Western media are portrayed as enthusiastic backers of that conspiracy theory - one which appears to have gained widespread credibility in a country struggling to explain how the rebel group could have made such startling headway.

Sister of Bernard Lagat, Viola Cheptoo will Run her first marathon debut at New York Marathon

When Viola (Lagat) Cheptoo decided she was going to run her marathon debut at the 2021 New York City Marathon, one of the first things she did was tell her family in their WhatsApp group text.

As the youngest of 10 in a family full of talented runners, Cheptoo, 32, grew up watching her older siblings make history on the track and the roads. When she took up the sport as a kid, she had nine brothers and sisters to look up to and who’ve supported her endeavors ever since. This summer, the Iten, Kenya native couldn’t wait to share her plans for the next phase of her running career.

After she sent the text, Cheptoo was hit with another layer of excitement from the fifth-oldest sibling, five-time Olympian Bernard Lagat.

“My brother was like, ‘Oh my gosh! Are you serious because I’ll be commentating there!’” she told Runner’s World.

On November 7—three years after Lagat, 46, made his marathon debut in New York City—Cheptoo will compete in her first 26.2 on the same course, while her brother announces the 50th running of the race as one of three Olympians headlining the ESPN broadcast team.

When Cheptoo learned this news, she was reminded of the enthusiasm she felt during the summer of 2016 when she and Lagat both competed at the Rio Olympics. He represented Team USA with a fifth-place finish in the 5,000 meters, and she represented Kenya in the 1500 meters. This year, running is bringing them together once again on the streets of New York City.

“It’s one of those things that you only dream of, siblings to make a team for your country and be at big events at the same time,” she said.

Like her brother, who is 14 years older, Cheptoo started as a middle-distance runner. By the time she was in grade school, Lagat was becoming a three-time NCAA champion and 11-time All-American at Washington State University.

Cheptoo competed for two seasons at Central Arizona College in 2009 and 2010 before transferring to Florida State University in 2011. Looking back on her college career, Cheptoo credits then-FSU head coach Karen Harvey with encouraging her to see herself as a long-distance runner after competing in the 800 meters early on. By her senior year, Cheptoo bought into the idea and became an All-American in cross country and the 1500 meters.

In 2016, she competed for Kenya at the 2016 World Indoor Championships and 2016 Olympic Games. That year, she finished eighth in the 1500-meter indoor final in Portland, Oregon and sixth in heat 2 of the 1500-meter semifinal in Rio.

After the Rio Games, Cheptoo got injured and switched coaches in 2017, moving to Iten to join a training group led by coach Julien Di Maria. In her return to consistent running, he encouraged her to embrace longer runs to build a strong base of mileage. In 2018, she went from running 6 to 7 miles every day to 8 to 12 miles, depending on the workout, and the training paid off.

In February 2020, she made her 13.1 debut at the Napoli City Half Marathon in Italy, where she won in 1:06:47.

“​​My coach was like, ‘If you don't believe in yourself, I think this is something that should make you realize that you can actually run a good marathon,’” she recalled. In the same conversation, Cheptoo said he predicted she’d run a marathon in two years. “I thought he was joking.”

“​​I’ve just decided to give myself a chance when it comes to this marathon in New York,” Cheptoo said. “I’m just focusing on the positive things and thinking about mentally preparing myself that I’m going to be strong. I’m not going to let the pain distract me from focusing on my race.”

World record holder Eliud Kipchoge is ready to defend his Olympic crown

World marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge cannot wait to defend his Olympic crown at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Eliud won gold at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and is favorite to bag gold at the Summer Games. 

"I have completed my training and I am really excited to race in Sapporo. For me, there is no greater race than competing for an Olympic medal. In Japan, I will defend my title from Rio, to win a second Olympic medal in the marathon would mean the world to me," he posted on his Twitter handle Monday.

Kipchoge became the first man to ever run a full marathon, 42.195km, under two hours when he clocked 1:59:40 in Vienna, Austria in 2019. He also holds the world record over the distance at 2:01:39. 

Eliud is in the marathon team that also has Lawrence Cherono and Amos Kipruto. The women's team has record holder Brigid Kosgei, Ruth Chepngetich and Peres Jepchirchir.

The marathon teams will leave for Japan on August 1 and 2. The women's race will be held on August 7, while the men's race is on August 8 in Sapporo.

All eyes were on the Tokyo's Olympic Stadium, 69 athletes from the sport of athletics were among the flag bearers when the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 got under way

For the first time, each nation can be represented by two flag bearers, with 38 women and 31 men leading their nations before going on to compete in athletics at the Games.

A number of these athletes could also make history for their country when athletics action begins on 30 July and here are some of the stars to watch out for. 

Hugues Fabrice Zango, triple jump - Burkina Faso

Zango became the first athlete from his nation to win a World Championships medal thanks to his third place in Doha and now he could become the first person from Burkina Faso to win an Olympic medal in any sport. The 27-year-old broke the world indoor triple jump record of 18.07m in Aubiere in January and has also leapt a PB of 17.82m outdoors this year.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, 100m, 200m and 4x100m - Jamaica

Sprint star Fraser-Pryce will be looking to regain the 100m title after her wins in 2008 and 2012 and add further medals to a collection which also includes two 4x100m silvers, a 200m silver and a 200m bronze. The 10.63 she ran in Kingston in June puts her second on the world 100m all-time list.

Joseph Fahnbulleh, 200m - Liberia

No athlete from Liberia has ever finished in the top eight in their event at the Olympics, let alone won a medal, and sprinter Fahnbulleh will be looking to change that when he takes to the track for the 200m. The 19-year-old ran a PB of 19.91 to win the NCAA title in June.

Thea LaFond, triple jump - Dominica 

Dominica hasn’t yet won a medal in any Olympic sport but if she progresses beyond the qualifying round then triple jumper LaFond – who holds the national records of 14.54m indoors and 14.38m outdoors – will make further history for her nation, as no athlete from Dominica has ever competed in an Olympic final.

Alex Rose, discus - Samoa

Rose competed at the Rio Olympics in 2016, placing 29th in discus qualifying, but he’s keen to become the first Samoan athlete ever to reach an Olympic final. He improved his national record to 67.48m in May. 

Athletics flag bearers at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Afghanistan (AFG) - Kimia Yousofi (women’s 100m)

Albania (ALB) - Luiza Gega (women’s 3000m steeplechase)

Andorra (AND) - Pol Moya (men’s 800m)

Antigua and Barbuda (ANT) - Cejhae Greene(men’s 100m)

Bahamas (BAH) - Donald Thomas (men’s high jump)

Belize (BIZ) - Samantha Dirks (women’s 400m) and Shaun Gill (men’s 100m)

Belgium (BEL) - Nafissatou Thiam (heptathlon) 

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) - Amel Tuka (men’s 800m)

Botswana (BOT) - Amantle Montsho (women’s 400m)

Burkina Faso (BUR) - Hugues Fabrice Zango (men’s triple jump)

British Virgin Islands (IVB) - Kyron McMaster (men’s 400m hurdles)

Cambodia (CAM) - Sokong Pen (men’s 100m)

Cape Verde (CPV) - Jordin Andrade (men’s 400m hurdles)

Central African Republic (CAF) - Francky Mbotto (men’s 800m)

Colombia (COL) - Caterine Ibarguen (women’s triple jump)

Comoros (COM) - Amed Elna (women’s 100m) and Fadane Hamadi (men’s 110m hurdles)

Congo (CGO) - Natacha Ngoye Akamabi (women’s 100m)

Costa Rica (CRC) - Andrea Vargas (100m hurdles)

Croatia (CRO) - Sandra Perkovic (women’s discus)

Cuba (CUB) - Yaime Perez (women’s discus)

Cyprus (CYP) - Milan Trajkovic (110m hurdles)

Denmark (DEN) - Sara Peterson (women’s 400m hurdles)

Dominica (DMA) - Thea Lafond (women’s triple jump) and Dennick Luke (men’s 800m)

Equatorial Guinea (GEQ) - Alba Mbo Nchama (women’s 100m) and Benjamin Enzema (men’s 1500m)

Eritrea (ERI) - Nazret Weldu (women’s marathon)

Gambia (GAM) - Gina Bass (women’s 100m and 200m) and Ebrima Camara (men’s 100m)

Ghana (GHA) - Nadia Eke (women’s triple jump)

Guam (GUM) - Regine Kate Tugade (women’s 100m)

Israel (ISR) - Hanna Minenko (women’s triple jump)

Ivory Coast (CIV) - Marie-Josee Ta Lou (women’s 100m and 200m)

Jamaica (JAM) - Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (women's 100m, 200m and 4x100m)

Kazakhstan (KAZ) - Olga Rypakova (women’s triple jump)

Lao People's Democratic Republic (LAO) - Silina Pha Aphay (women’s 100m)

Liberia (LBR) - Ebony Morrison (women’s 100m hurdles) and Joseph Fahnbulleh (men’s 200m)

Mauritania (MTN) - Houleye Ba (women’s 100m) and Abidine Abidine (men’s 5000m)

Micronesia (FSM) - Scott James Fiti (men’s 100m)

Nauru (NRU) - Jonah Harris (men’s 100m)

Netherlands (NED) - Churandy Martina (men’s 4x100m)

Palau (PLW) - Adrian Justin Jimena Ililau (men’s 100m)

Panama (PAN) - Alonso Edward (men’s 200m)

Portugal (POR) - Nelson Evora (men’s triple jump)Refugee Olympic Team (EOR) - Tachlowini

Gabriyesos (marathon)

Rwanda (RWA) - John Hakizimana (men’s marathon)

Saint Kitts and Nevis (SKN) - Amya Clarke (women’s 100m) and Jason Rogers (men’s 100m)

Saint Lucia (LCA) - Levern Spencer (women’s high jump)

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (VIN) - Shafiqua Maloney (women’s 800m)

Samoa (SAM) - Alex Rose (men’s discus)Sao Tome and Principe (STP) - D'Jamila Tavares (women’s 800m)

Saudi Arabia (KSA) - Yasmeen Al Dabbagh (women's 100m)

Sierra Leone (SLE) - Maggie Barrie (women’s 100m)

Solomon Islands (SOL) - Sharon Firisua (women’s marathon)

Somalia (SOM) - Ali Idow Hassan (men’s 1500m)

South Sudan (SSD) - Lucia Moris (women’s 200m) and Abraham Guem (men’s 1500m)

Switzerland (SUI) - Mujinga Kambundji (women's 100m, 200m and 4x100m)

Timor Leste (TLS) - Felisberto de Deus (men’s 1500m)

Trinidad and Tobago (TTO) - Kelly-Ann Baptiste (women’s 100m and 4x100m)

Tuvalu (TUV) - Matie Stanley (women’s 100m) and Karalo Hepoiteloto Maibuca (men’s 100m)

Uruguay (URU) - Deborah Rodriguez (women’s 800m)

Vietnam (VIE) - Thi Lan Quach (women’s 400m hurdles)

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

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

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

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

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

Why is it tougher to set records in the Olympics

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The inspiring story of Sifan Hassan

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

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

The multiple World 3000m steeplechase champion Ezekiel Kemboi says he is satisfied with his accomplishments on the track and wants to transition to marathon races

Multiple world 3000m steeplechase champion and double-Olympic gold medalist Ezekiel Kemboi said he chose to focus on road races because he felt he had nothing left to prove on the track. 

The legend, who boasts four world titles to his name, said he is satisfied with his accomplishments on the track during which he won various medals on offer, including gold, silver and bronze. 

“I won everything, all the medals, and it’s like in politics, you can’t be president and come back to be an MCA,” Kemboi said.

Apart from the four gold won at the eight world championships in which he participated, Kemboi also clinched three silver medals in addition to a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.  

His first Olympic gold at the 2004 Olympics in Athens was followed by another at the London Olympics in 2012. 

Kemboi reminisces on that win in Athens as the groundwork for what would be a colourful career of which the 2009 World Championships in Berlin stands out. 

“The guys in that race were very strong. I remember around five guys who had participated in Diamond league, and I emerged a winner. That was the best race for me,” he said. 

During the Rio Olympics in 2016, Kemboi stepped out of the race after being pushed by a fellow athlete.

“Some guy from Eritrea pushed me and I lost momentum, I then stepped on the inner lane and it’s a rule when you step you get disqualified. It was good for me because sometimes it’s good to have ups and downs,” he recalls.

Kemboi willingly gave away his bronze medal to the number four athlete who protested that he had broken some rule.

I'm not finished yet, vows Sir Mo Farah after not making the Olympic team

Britain's Mo Farah has vowed to end his career on a high note despite failing to earn a chance to defend his Olympic 10,000m crown in Tokyo.

Farah won the 5,000m and 10,000m double at both the London and Rio Olympics.

But the 38-year-old will not compete in Japan after falling short in his final qualification bid in Manchester on Friday.

That was a crushing blow for Farah, but he is determined not to step away from athletics until he has enjoyed one more "massive" moment.

"At the moment in my career, I feel like I'm not finished yet. I know I can do it and I will not end it like this," Farah told TalkSport on Monday.

"I want to end it with something massive. Although obviously nothing is going to be as big as the Olympics, I want to come back out and do something great.

"That's what makes us champions. You have to continue, you have to go over many hurdles and you have to push on.

"At the moment, it's tough, but I will continue. You'll see that smile again."

After his Olympics heroics in 2012 and 2016, Farah admitted his failure to qualify for Tokyo came as a shock.

"The Olympics only come around every four years and when the opportunity comes you've got to take it, but this is the reality now, I'm not going. I'm so disappointed," he said.

"But I've said from day one, if I can't compete with the best out there, I wouldn't bother. If I'm not capable of that, why would I turn up just to make it on the team? I wouldn't do that."

Bromell back to his best while Felix and Winkler make history in Eugene

Three years ago, it seemed implausible that Trayvon Bromell and Allyson Felix would represent the United States at a 2020 Olympic Games. Bromell was coping with a debilitating sequence of injuries, and Felix was coming off a difficult childbirth.

Now that it is the 2021 Olympics, they will be running for medals in Tokyo.

Bromell won the 100m in 9.80 (0.8m/s), and Felix made her fifth Olympic team during the USA Olympic Trials on Sunday night (20) in Eugene, Oregon.

The 25-year-old Bromell once thought his end had come. He left the Rio Olympics in a wheelchair after aggravating a heel injury.

He has had two achilles surgeries over the past five years, and in a span of three-and-a-half years ran three races. He was effectively out of athletics. He credited religious faith for turning around his life, on and off the track.

“When I went down in 2016, I realised I didn't know what was going on,” he said. “In 2018, I wondered if I wanted to live anymore. What resource am I not going to for this change?

“My mom told me to try God. Since devoting myself, things have changed.”

In a high-quality final, the top four men finished inside 9.90, and 9.91 – recorded by teenager Micah Williams of host University of Oregon – was only sufficient for fifth place. It was the fastest first five in trials history.

Ronnie Baker and Fred Kerley, the latter dropping down from the 400m, claimed the two other Olympic spots, finishing second and third respectively in 9.85 and 9.86. 200m specialist Kenny Bednarek was fourth in 9.89. World 200m champion Noah Lyles started poorly and was seventh in 10.05.

Following this victory and his world-leading 9.77 from earlier this month, Bromell will head to Tokyo as a gold-medal favourite.

“I feel with confidence sometimes comes complacency. And for me, I don't like to get complacent,” he said. “For me, I'm still going to go home and train as if I'm not being talked about at all.”

On a day celebrated as Father’s Day, the top two in the women’s 400m were both mothers.

Quenara Hayes – who became a mother in October 2018 and has this year returned to sub-50-second form – finished first in 49.78, just 0.06 shy of the PB she set when winning the 2017 US title.

Felix closed rapidly to clock 50.02. Third spot was taken in 50.03 by Wadeline Jonathas, who was fourth at the 2019 World Championships. Kendall Ellis clocked 50.10 for fourth place, narrowly missing a team spot by just 0.07.

“When your body is out for eight to nine months, plenty of nights I would cry,” said Felix. “I was trying to rush the process.”

Felix made the team, 17 years removed from winning a 200m silver medal in Athens in 2004. She gave birth to a daughter in 2018, and she was at Hayward Field to see her mother race.

“There has been so much that has gone into this,” Felix said, “and there were many times where I didn't think I would get to this moment.”

She said she was “absolutely sure” she would not try for Paris 2024.

Sarah Lancaster was born to run but she also excelled in tennis and basketball too

If you’ve spent early mornings on the trails near downtown Austin, Texas you’ve probably crossed paths with Sarah Lancaster — 5 feet, 8 inches of mostly limbs and ponytail, casually eating up miles faster than you could drive on the Hike and Bike Trail, or sprinting so fast around the Austin High track off Lady Bird Lake that her male training partners have to tag each other in for pacing duty.

Lancaster is not just the fastest runner in Austin. She's one of the fastest women in the entire country, and she's competing at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., on Friday in both the 1,500- and 5,000-meter runs.

Her personal bests of 4 minutes, 5.55 seconds and 15:13.56 are only a few seconds off the Olympic standards of 4:04.20 and 15:10, meaning she can make this summer's Tokyo Olympics team if she can shave a few seconds off her best times and place in the top three.

Texas legend Trey Hardee, a 2012 Olympic silver medalist in the decathlon, recently declared Lancaster the best athlete in Longhorns history on Twitter, although that actually has as much to do with her pedigree as a dual-sport athlete at UT in tennis and basketball as it does her running resume.

At 33 years old, Lancaster is nearly 15 years behind most of her competitors in terms of specific training for distance running. She works full-time as an attorney in Austin, but nearly everyone who has run with her or coached her agrees: the former tennis ace possesses an unbeatable work ethic and killer instinct that makes her a natural on the track, no matter how late she found the sport.

Tennis beginnings

Lancaster grew up in San Antonio playing every sport offered, but quickly found herself drawn to tennis and basketball. She started taking tennis lessons when she was six years old and was competing in statewide tournaments by the time she was 11.

Lancaster's mother, Kelly, says Sarah was competitive "in everything. It wasn't necessarily sports," and that she inadvertently stoked the fire a few times when Sarah drew a tough opponent during a travel tournament. 

“I would say, ‘Oh gosh, you play so-and-so today, I just hope you get a point,’” Kelly Lancaster said. “Because maybe it was one of the top girls in Texas. She’s commented that I’d pack up our bags to check out of the hotel because I knew she was playing somebody (who was a top seed). And you can always go check back in, but if you don’t check out by 10 or 11, then you have to pay for a whole ‘nother day.

“She said, ‘I’d see mom packing up the bags and think, ‘Obviously, she doesn’t think I’m gonna win today, so I’m gonna show her!' I really didn’t do it for that reason. I was thinking, ‘We’re done, I’m tired, we’re going home.’ Little things like that, I guess, motivated her a little bit to prove me wrong.”

Lancaster played tennis, basketball and ran track during her freshman year at Alamo Heights High School before deciding to enroll in a tennis academy that her coach established more than 200 miles away in Conroe. The academy is no longer in existence, but at the time was affiliated with John Roddick, the older brother of tennis star Andy Roddick.

“I was 15 at the time and, looking back at it, I can’t believe my parents let me do that,” Lancaster said.

A typical day at the tennis academy included two hours of practice in the morning, home school sessions for five to six hours, and another afternoon practice session that could last anywhere from two to three hours. There were about five other female boarders, more young men, and a number of local kids from the area who drove in for practice every day.

“We had a good time,” Lancaster said. “It was definitely not your normal high school experience. ... We were at tournaments a lot, we would go to the movies or just normal things like that ... (but) you’re there to play tennis and you’re there to get good, you’re not there to be partying and having fun.”

Lancaster thrived in the environment, improving her national and state rankings to become one of the best players in Texas.

“For me, it was — I want to go and I want to get as good as I can and see what I can do,” she said of her motivation to attend the tennis academy. “Maybe a little part of me thought I was going to play professionally one day, but I think the focus for me was more on college ... making sure I was going to be recruited.”

Lancaster committed to Texas — "hands down my first choice" — but then suffered a stress fracture in her back and had to take a few months off from tennis. She moved back home and re-enrolled at Alamo Heights, where her old friends convinced her to play basketball again.

It was an easy sell. After all, she was already the best player when she was only a freshman.

"I talked to the UT tennis coach," Lancaster said. "'Hey, you know, I'd kind of like to play basketball. I think it would be fun for me and it might be good for me, coming back from this injury, to do a different sport.'" And she was agreeable to it as long as I taped my ankles for every practice or game."

The move was eerily prescient for her career at Texas. Also prescient — she ran a few track races (she said her best time was a 58-second 400 meters as a freshman).

Texas fight

Given her experience living away from home at the tennis academy, Lancaster’s transition to college and NCAA athletics was pretty seamless. The Texas women’s tennis team, which recently captured its third national championship, was solidly ranked within the top 10 to 20 programs in the nation during her years there, and as a senior in 2010, she helped the Longhorns to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament while totaling a 25-8 singles record, including an 11-0 mark in the Big 12.

“She is one of the best competitors I ever coached,” former UT women’s tennis coach Patty Fendick-McCain said in a text message. “She was the most solid player I ever coached at her position and when the chips were down, I always knew she would come through. She didn’t care what line she played, but that she would get a ‘W’ and contribute to the team.”

Of her own heroics on the court, Lancaster says simply that her personal highlight of her college tennis career was “probably the fact that we beat A&M every time we played them.”

Bored over the summer after her senior year and with one extra semester of school to complete, Lancaster and one of her tennis teammates filmed a video of her doing a trick layup shot. They sent it to their coach, who forwarded the video to the women’s basketball coach at the time, Gail Goestenkors.

To Lancaster’s surprise, Goestenkors told her to go play some pick-up games that summer with the team.

"I went and played with them over the summer, and it was really just pick-up games, coaches couldn't come," Lancaster said. "I didn't really feel like I was completely in over my head, you know — I wasn't like, 'Oh, I'm better than any of these people that have been playing their whole lives and have been recruited to play at the University of Texas,' (but) I felt like I could hold my own."

Sight unseen, based on positive feedback from the players on the team, Lancaster was invited to officially join the roster in the fall.

"None of the coaches had ever seen me play and they basically told me that they would let me play on the team, which was a little bit terrifying,” she said. “The first practice, I was like, please do not miss a layup, please do not miss a layup.

"I think part of it was, the team was really young, there were six or seven freshmen. There was really only one other senior at the time on the team and I think they were just kind of like, 'Sarah knows how to be a student-athlete, she can help these freshmen.' And I guess they confirmed with some other people that I wasn't a terrible basketball player."

Lancaster stepped into the leadership role naturally, had fun at practice and was fine with getting less minutes as the season went on. Her personal highlight from her basketball career didn’t even take place in the Big 12.

"My only basketball highlight is in seventh grade, when I scored 46 points in a game," she said with a straight face. 

'That’s just not something you see every day'

Paras Shah remembers the first time Lancaster showed up to a casual evening workout with RAW Running a few years ago. She made it up Wilke Road — a notoriously brutal 300-meter, 10.8% grade hill in the Barton Hills neighborhood — for all eight repeats, just a few strides behind Shah and the other former NCAA Division I male runners in the group.

"I asked her where she ran in college and she said she didn’t," said Shah, who ran at LSU. "(I thought) that’s obviously not possible. I just didn’t believe her.”

Lancaster was always naturally fast.

In mile time trials throughout her athletic career, she’d routinely clock in just under 5:30.

"Every running drill we did, Sarah was fastest and had the best endurance," Fendick-McCain said. "Her attitude was to leave blood on the court if necessary. She had better endurance than any other player I ever coached or that she played against. If it was a test of wills and endurance, she would always find a way to win."

When Lancaster started law school, she played in various recreational leagues and just had fun ("law school was the most free time I've ever had in my life," she said) while casually completing her first half-marathon. But a few years into the workforce, she happened to meet UT club running coach Kyle Higdon, a UT graduate student, and she asked him to train her to break five minutes in the mile.

"I just felt like that would be a cool thing to say I could do," she said. "And I had actually talked to multiple guys who told me that they tried to do it and couldn't do it. So I was, you know, even more motivated to try."

With light mileage (20-25 miles per week) and a few basic workouts under her belt, she clocked 4:46 in her first 1,500 meter race — the equivalent of a 5:07 mile. By the end of the spring, she had improved to about 4:30 for the 1,500, an incredible time for a brand new runner, albeit one who was 28.

As she watched the Rio Olympics that summer, she wondered: Could she qualify for the 2020 Olympic Trials?

“I had no concept of what a good time was,” she said.

The idea of the Trials wasn’t quite a solidified goal at that point — just a little bug in her head that popped up every now and then. With Higdon finishing his studies and moving on with his career, Lancaster evaluated her group running options, which, in Austin, are mostly marathon training groups that meet in the wee hours of the morning, or more casual after-work clubs.

She chose the latter, and started showing up to RAW. That’s where she met Shah, who helps organize the annual Schrader 1600 every May for high school runners and members of the community. 

At the 2018 event, with about two years of casual training under her belt, Lancaster ran 4:37.55 for 1,600 meters. The girl who kicked the boys’ butts at RAW workouts every Tuesday was legit.

Mike Kurvath remembers the race very vividly. Then 28, the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) track alum ran 4:17 in his section. At the time, he was thinking of moving on from running competitively.

"I remember that very specifically, because in the final 200 meters, she elbowed her way through a couple of high schoolers and it was a really strong move," Kurvath said. "That’s just not something you see every day.

"I was thinking that I was going to be done with running. After I saw that race ... it was actually quite inspiring. After a couple weeks of training with Sarah, you knew the potential was there. It gave me a second chance at my own running."

Kevin Kimball, a UT track alum, offered to help train her.

"Kevin was like, 'you could definitely run the Olympic Trials qualifying time,'" Lancaster said. “In the back of my mind, I had always thought I could … I haven't really been doing that much training and I can already run this fast, like, why can't I run, you know, sub-4:10 in the 1,500? I mean, looking back, that is kind of crazy to think about, but it probably benefited me that I had no real knowledge of running because I didn't see any limitations for myself.”

To make the 2021 Olympic Trials, the qualifying time in the 1,500 meters was 4:06, the equivalent of a 4:25 mile and 4:24 1,600 — a full 13 seconds faster than she had just run.

"Kevin was like, 'I think you can do it,' and I was like, 'all right, well, I'll give it a go.'"

2021 Olympic Trials

Lancaster definitely falls into the camp of athletes who benefited from having an extra pandemic year to train in preparation for the Olympic Trials.

She struggled with injuries in 2019 but regained form in early 2020, running an impressive 15:56 in a 5K time trial at the beginning of the pandemic. That made her consider switching events. She improved her time to 15:34 in December, then ran her Olympic Trials qualifying marks in a two-week period in May.

The major change she made in that six-month period was working with 1996 Olympian Juli Benson. The longtime coach has mentored some of the world’s best distance runners, including Jenny Simpson, whom she guided to a gold medal in the 1,500 at the 2011 World Championships.

"I was very taken aback," Benson said when Lancaster reached out to her. "That’s how unusual it is. I’ve been in the sport for a very long time and her story is really unique.

"I was certainly curious, but it was fairly late into the Olympic year to take on a new athlete who was trying to qualify for the Trials, but her story was so unique and her approach and perspective so intriguing that I definitely wanted to take up the challenge and she’s proven to be remarkable at every turn.

"She can handle everything I throw at her and it’s been really fun. It’s so rare and unique and surprising and refreshing and all of those adjectives, but she is an incredible athlete, I’ll say that."

For the Trials, Lancaster decided to focus on the 1,500, where she's the 14th seed, but also declared in the 5,000, where she's the 17th seed, as a backup plan in case she were to fall or otherwise not advance from her preliminary race. The first round of both races are Friday; the finals are on Monday.

Kurvath, who recently clocked his own personal best of 14:34 in the 5,000, said he knows Lancaster is capable of breaking the 15-minute barrier because they do all of their workouts together.

"I’ve seen it. I’ve seen the workouts, I’ve done the workouts," he said. "She’s been there with me and I just ran 14:34."

Benson thinks Lancaster is just tapping the surface of what she can do in the sport. 

"The other thing that's really, really fascinating about Sarah — she has got the most incredible race instincts," Benson said. "She races as if she's been on a world-class stage for seven or eight years. Her instincts are brilliant. ... I think she really loves to compete and it’s really no more complicated than that. Yes, she has interesting genetics, yes, she has really interesting talent, but I think she keeps it really simple and just wants to go out and see how many people she can beat.”

Lancaster isn’t sure if she’ll keep racing after this year. The World Athletics Championships are hosted by the United States next year, which presents a unique opportunity. She’s engaged to be married this fall. She’ll be 34 next year. For right now, it’s all about soaking in the realization of a long-awaited dream. 

And no, she’s not totally sure where her affinity for middle-distance running comes from, either.

"Tennis is an individual sport," she said. "It’s a high-pressure situation, you know you’re out there playing someone and you can only look at yourself (for) the outcome. You can’t blame anyone else. I think that translates to running. It’s you out there.

"I think I’ve always just wanted to win, I’ve always wanted to compete well and that’s just kind of ingrained in me. So I don’t know if I have a better answer for you than that.”

Barred from competing in her preferred event of the 800m, Burundi´s Francine Niyonsaba has now qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in both the 5,000m and 10,000m

Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba, the 800m silver medallist at the Rio Olympics, qualified for the 10,000m at the Tokyo Games on Tuesday after running under Olympic standard at the Ethiopian Trials in Hengelo, the Netherlands.

The race was Niyonsaba’s first at the distance, but her 31:08.51 finish beat the Burundian national 10,000m record by 20 seconds. Longer races are still quite new to the previously middle-distance specialist, but a 2019 World Athletics ruling now prevents Niyonsaba and other athletes with DSD (differences of sexual development) from competing in any event between 400m and the mile, as officials determined that the higher-than-usual (but natural) testosterone levels in these athletes gives them an unfair advantage over their competitors. 

Niyonsaba has had an amazing past few weeks. World Athletics’ DSD athlete ruling gave her three options: compete in races shorter than 400m, jump up to events longer than the mile or take medications to lower her testosterone levels. She picked the long route, and after not racing at all in 2020 and the first half of 2021, she jumped into the first 5,000m race of her career in late May at an event in Spain. 

At that race, Niyonsaba came close to the Olympic standard of 15:10.00, running 15:12.08. Just over a week later, she was back in action, this time in France, where she not only managed to beat standard, but also broke 15 minutes with a 14:54.38 run. Both of Niyonsaba’s 5,000m races broke the Burundian national record in the event.

She wasn’t done there, though, and although it was a big jump from the 800m up to the 5,000m, Niyonsaba took another leap on Tuesday and committed to a 10,000m race. With her ticket to the Tokyo Games already booked and nothing to lose, she stunned everyone with yet another Olympic-qualifying run, dipping well under the standard of 31:25.00 with her 31:08.51 finish in Hengelo (in the same race that Letesenbet Gidey broke the 10,000m world record with her 29:01.03 performance). 

As listed on Niyonsaba’s WA profile, her two latest races bring her national record tally to seven. She has competed in eight different events throughout her career as an elite runner, and she failed to run a Burundian record in only one of them, the 600m. She is without a doubt one of the greatest athletes Burundi has ever produced, and she’s still fighting for more as she races toward the Tokyo Olympics. 

New world record for women’s 10,000m

Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey lowered the women’s 10,000m world record, two days after Sifan Hassan broke it on the same track in Hengelo, Netherlands.

Gidey, who on Oct. 7 broke the 5000m world record, clocked 29:01.03 at the Ethiopian Olympic Trials (yes, the Ethiopian Trials are being held in the Netherlands). She took 5.79 seconds off Hassan’s record from Sunday.

Hassan, an Ethiopian-born Dutchwoman, brought the record down 10.63 seconds from Ethiopian Almaz Ayana‘s winning time at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

In total, 30.75 seconds have been taken off the world record starting with Ayana in Rio. Before that, the mark of 29:31.78 set by dubious Chinese runner Wang Junxia had stood since 1993, and nobody else had run within 22 seconds of it.

All four men’s and women’s 5000m and 10,000m world records have been broken over the last 10 months. Runners have benefited from technology — new spikes and pacing lights on the track.

In 2019, Gidey took 10,000m silver at the world championships. In 2020, she took 4.5 seconds off countrywoman Tirunesh Dibaba‘s 12-year-old 5000m world record.

Gidey, 23, was previously briefly expelled from school for refusing to run in physical education classes.

Canadian record-holders Levins, Elmore headline Canada's marathon team for Tokyo

Seventeen years after she last raced at the Olympics, distance runner Malindi Elmore has earned a spot on Canada's team for Tokyo, while Cam Levins will race at the Games after dipping under the qualifying mark with just a week to spare.

The two Canadian record-holders in the marathon highlighted Athletics Canada's team of long-distance runners and race walkers nominated on Friday.

Nine Canadian marathoners had achieved the qualifying criteria in the marathon, but each country is allowed only three men and three women, leading to speculation about the squad in recent weeks, and posing a good problem for Athletics Canada with the depth of talent.

"Over the past few years, Canadian middle- and long-distance runners have accomplished great things on the track and on the road," Athletics Canada's head coach Glenroy Gilbert said in a statement. "In Tokyo, we'll see a new generation of marathoners who have broken Canadian records, established impressive personal bests on-demand in less-than-ideal conditions and made a name for themselves in the gruelling 42.195-kilometre event.

"We are excited to see what this group can do in Sapporo against the greatest athletes in the world, as they deserve to be there."

World bronze medallist Evan Dunfee tops the race-walk team, while Mohammed Ahmed and Andrea Secdafien earned spots in the 10,000 metres.

The rest of Canada's track and field team will be announced at a later date.

Dunfee had already clinched his spot on the team based on his bronze at the 2019 world championships, while Dayna Pidhoresky and Trevor Hofbauer had previously earned automatic berths after winning the women's and men's Canadian marathon titles.

Elmore is a terrific comeback story. The Kelowna, B.C., native ran the 1,500 at the 2004 Athens Olympics missing the semifinals by one spot, then retired from track in 2012 and became a world-class Ironman triathlete. Moving down to the marathon in 2019 — as a mom of two, she said it requires less training time than the Ironman — she broke the Canadian marathon record in January 2020.

Natasha Wodak, who's raced at three world championships in the 10,000 metres, is the third Canadian woman on the marathon team.

Levins, a finalist in the 5,000 and 10,000 at the 2012 London Olympics, shattered the Canadian record in his marathon debut in 2018. He fell short on two attempts over the past year to qualify for Tokyo, but the 32-year-old from Black Creek, B.C., finally dipped under the mark on May 23 — a week before the qualifying window closed — in Styria, Austria, despite running in rain and alone for the last 25 kilometres of the race. 

Ben Preisner is the third men's marathoner nominated to the team.

"I am so pumped about this group of athletes," said Canada's chef de mission Marnie McBean. "They chose the 'suffer' events and make them look easy. Many of their recent results have been a beacon of light for the whole of Team Canada."

Mathieu Bilodeau joins Dunfee in the 50-kilometre race walk based on his world ranking. 

The marathons and race walk events will be held in Sapporo due to Tokyo's heat, and because of COVID-19, athletes will be restricted to staying in Sapporo.  

"Woohoo! Stellar Sapporo crew locked in," tweeted Dunfee, who was fourth at the 2016 Rio Olympics. "We'll be the only Team Canada teammates we see at the Olympics, sequestered 800km away, so I'm stoked that these people are all so lovely."

Mohammed Ahmed and Andrea Seccafien were nominated in the men's and women's 10,000. Ahmed owns the Canadian records in the 5,000 and 10,000 and won bronze in the 5,000 at the 2019 world championships. Seccafien broke the Canadian record in the 10,000 just three weeks ago. 

The window to qualify in the 10,000 remains open for another month, so Canada could add runners in that distance based on either their world ranking or by achieving an automatic entry standard.

There will be zero marathon runners from India at the Tokyo Olympics

Marathon races in the Olympic Games have been a permanent fixture in the men's roster since the inaugural Athens Games of 1896, while the women's event was first held 88 years later in Los Angeles. Ethiopian athletes have enjoyed the most successful in Olympic marathons, with men winning four golds; two of which came from Abebe Bikila in 1960 and 1964, who was the first athlete to win back-to-back golds (the only other athlete to win two golds in the marathon was East Germany's Waldemar Cierpinski in 1976 and 1980), and Ethiopian women have won two golds.

The Olympic records are 2:06:32 for men, set by Kenya's Samuel Wanjiru in 2008; and for women, it's 2:23:07 seconds, set by Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia in 2012.

India's history at the marathon dates back to 1928 when Phadeppa (Pavananjey) Dareppa Chaugule became India's first Olympic marathon runner. He represented India in the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, and finished 19th with a timing of 2 hours 50 minutes 45.2 seconds. He hails from the town of Belgaum (Now Belagavi) in Karnataka.

With the passage of time, many Indian marathon runners have taken part in the Olympics, with the 2016 Rio Olympics, having the highest number of five athletes - Thonakal Gopi, Kheta Ram, Nitendra Singh Rawat among the men, O.P. Jaisha and Kavita Raut among women. However, five years down the line nobody from India will be qualifying for Tokyo Olympics in the marathon.

Why did Indian athletes fail to qualify in marathons for Tokyo Olympics? To understand the reason one has to know the qualification process for the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics. The athletes in marathons (both men and women) can qualify by either entry standard or qualify by ranking during the qualifying period. The qualifying standard is 2:11:30 for men and 2:29:30 for women, while the qualifying period was originally from 1 January 2019 to 31 May 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the period was suspended from 6 April 2020 to 30 November 2020, with the end date extended to 31 May 2021. The world rankings period start date was also changed from 1 January 2019 to 1 December 2018.

With so many runners qualifying by meeting the entry standard, there was no scope left for an athlete through the world ranking. Indian athletes' hopes were shattered mostly because of the coronavirus wreaking havoc without allowing the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) to conduct marathons at regular intervals since 2020. Though the date was extended to 31 May 2021, India hosted fewer marathons, and also the potential challengers for Tokyo Olympics took part in a few of them hoping to qualify through the marathons hosted in 2021. With the second wave of coronavirus hitting India hard again, many of the marathons got cancelled and as a result, India's best marathon hopefuls could not meet the qualifying standard. Among the men, the hopefuls were Nitender Singh Rawat, Srinu Bugatha and Rashpal Singh.

While Rawat attained a personal best of 2:15:52, Bugatha and Rashpal could attain 2:14:59 and 2:18:57 during the qualification period. Among women, Sudha Singh had a PB of 2:34:56, Jyoti Gawate a 2:45:48 and Swati Gadhwe 2:58:10. With nobody being able to meet the mark, India will have to go to the Tokyo Olympics without a marathoner.

Doping-Olympic champion Brianna McNeal banned for five years, CAS to hear appeal before Tokyo Games

American Olympic 100 meters hurdles champion Brianna McNeal has been banned for five years for an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV), the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Friday, with her participation in the Tokyo Games in doubt until her appeal is heard.

McNeal, who had been charged and provisionally suspended for "tampering within the results management process" in January, was sanctioned by a Disciplinary Tribunal as it was her second violation of World Athletics' anti-doping rules.

The ban is effective from Aug. 15, 2020. The AIU said McNeal has appealed against the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), with the case set to be heard before the July 23-Aug. 8 Tokyo Olympics.

The AIU added that CAS had granted McNeal "provisional relief and temporarily stayed" the tribunal's decision so she can compete until the end of the U.S. Olympic trials on June 27.

The AIU did not elaborate on its decision for "confidentiality reasons".

McNeal, who won gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics and was world champion in 2013, had denied testing positive for any banned substance.

The 29-year-old led a U.S. clean sweep of the 100m hurdles podium at the 2016 Olympics but was banned for a year when she missed three out-of-competition drug tests, which constitutes an ADRV.

Her ban, which was applied for the 2017 season, resulted in her missing the World Championships that year.

South African Caster Semenya runs PB, misses 5,000m Olympic standard by 22 seconds

Olympic and world 800m champion Caster Semenya raced a 5,000m on Friday at a race in her home country of South Africa, and while her 15:32.15 run was a 20-second PB, it was still well off the Olympic standard of 15:10.00. 

A 2019 World Athletics ruling bars Semenya, who is an athlete with DSD (differences of sexual development), from competing in races from the 400m up to the mile, so she has set her sights on the 5,000m for the upcoming Tokyo Games.

Since the WA ruling blocked Semenya and other DSD athletes (who have higher-than-normal levels of testosterone) from competing in anything from the 400m to the mile, it gave her a couple of options: drop down to sprint races or jump up to longer runs. A third option offered by WA was for DSD athletes to take medications to lower their testosterone, but Semenya refused to do so. 

At first, Semenya dabbled in sprints, and in 2020, she got her 200m PB down to 23.49 seconds. This was still well off the Olympic 200m standard of 22.80, though, and Semenya shifted gears once more, this time jumping up to the 5,000m (which is the next-shortest race available to her and other DSD athletes in the Olympic program). She has raced the 5,000m three times in 2021, improving with each run. 

First, she ran 16:14.43 in March, finishing more than a minute off Olympic standard. A few weeks later, she broke 16 minutes for the first time in her career, posting a huge PB of 15:52.28. Unfortunately for Semenya, despite the big step toward Olympic standard, this time was still 42 seconds slower than she needed to run. On Friday, she got closer to standard, but she still sits well away from 15:10.00. The Olympic qualifying window closes at the end of June.

One piece of good news for Semenya is the fact that only one South African woman has hit Olympic standard during this current qualifying period. Dominique Scott ran 14:59.08 at a race in the U.K. in July 2019, which gives her by far the best result among South African women since the qualifying window opened in May of that same year.

This is good for Semenya because it means she doesn’t have to compete with other South African Olympic hopefuls. Each country can only send three men and three women per event to the Olympics, and if three South African women had already hit standard, it would likely mean that Semenya would have to not only run under 15:10.00, but also beat the slowest of those athletes. 

Semenya is not the only DSD athlete looking to make the Tokyo Games in the 5,000m — Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba has also made the jump up in distance. Niyonsaba won silver behind Semenya in the 800m at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and the 2017 world championships. While Semenya was the stronger of the two in the 800m, it looks like Niyonsaba is better at the 5,000m, as she recently ran a Burundian national record of 15:12.08. This time won’t get her into the Olympics, but seeing as she’s just two seconds off standard, she appears to have a much better shot at making it to Tokyo than Semenya does.

Former NCAA champ Justyn Knight wants to double at the Tokyo Olympics

After missing the Olympic qualifying standard in the 1,500m by only 85 one-hundredths of a second at the USATF Grand Prix in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday, Canada’s Justyn Knight told CBC News that he is open to the possibility of running both the 1,500m and the 5,000m at the Tokyo Olympics, should he achieve standard in the event. His time of 3:35.85 was a personal best, but the 24-year-old says he knows he can do better.

“I wasn’t pleased with the time I ran,” he told the CBC. “I know I’m better than that, but I felt good.”

We tend to agree with the Markham, Ont., native, considering the conditions on Saturday were windy and rainy, far from ideal for a track race. On top of that, the young athlete explained that he hadn’t done any speed training leading up to this race, so he didn’t have his usual finishing kick we’ve come to associate him with.

"The last 400, I wasn’t able to accelerate the way I usually would,” said Knight. “It’s just embarrassing how the race got away from me with a lap to go.”

Knight holds the Canadian record for the indoor 1,500m with a personal best of 3:36.13, but isn’t sure he’ll have another opportunity to run the outdoor standard before the Games. Instead, he said he will now be shifting his focus to the May 23 Diamond League season opener in Gateshead, U.K., where he’ll be racing in his first 5,000m of the outdoor season.

He fell just 1.36 seconds short of qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics, but this year he has already achieved standard in the event when he ran his PB of 13:09.76 in June 2019, and so it will be his main priority heading toward Tokyo. Still, he said doubling is “definitely something to consider” if he got standard in the 1,500.

“Right now, I am just focused on having a good season.”

NN Running has announced its elite field for Mission Marathon

Set to run in the Netherlands on April 18, Eliud Kipchoge will headline the race of about 60 athletes.

The fields for the NN Mission Marathon have been released, and the world finally knows who will toe the start line with Eliud Kipchoge. The races are set to be run in Enschede, the Netherlands, on April 18, and fields of 23 women and 35 men will line up to compete. Kipchoge is the clear favourite for the win, but second place in the men’s race and first place in the women’s are both anybody’s to claim, which will make for a couple of exciting and dramatic competitions.

The men’s race

In the men’s race, the pre-race seed times aren’t even close, and there’s really no debate as to who is most likely to win. Kipchoge owns the world record in the marathon with his PB of 2:01:39, and he has also run an unofficial record of 1:59:40. While many of the other runners racing the NN Mission Marathon are looking to qualify for the Tokyo Games or prove that they deserve to be chosen for their national Olympic teams, Kipchoge has a simpler and less stressful reason to run: he needs to bounce back from his poor race at the London Marathon last fall.

He’s still a heavy favourite heading into the Tokyo Games, but his poor 2:06:49 showing in October proved that he is human, and for the first time in years, his competitors might seriously believe they have a chance to beat him. A great race in the Netherlands can boost Kipchoge’s confidence while also knocking down that of his rivals ahead of the Olympics.

The next fastest PB in the men’s field belongs to Felix Chemonges, who owns the Ugandan national marathon record of 2:05:12 (which he ran at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2019). Chemonges hasn’t raced since March 2020, though, and his last result was a sub-par 2:10:08 run at the Lake Biwa Marathon in Japan.

Only one other man in the field, Kenya’s Laban Korir, has run a sub-2:06 marathon in his career, and his 2:05:54 PB puts him at third-best in the men’s race. Out of the 35 men set to race the NN Mission Marathon, 17 have run faster than the Olympic standard of 2:11:30, and 11 runners from that group have broken 2:10.

It’d be safe to bet on Kipchoge for the overall win in the Netherlands, but with so many other runners hovering around the same seed times, the battle for second and third place — plus the mad dash to cross the finish before the clock hits 2:11:30 — will produce must-watch coverage.

The women’s race has the potential to be much more competitive than the men’s when it comes to the overall win. Mexican marathon record holder Madai Perez has the fastest PB of any of the women in the field. The only thing is that she ran her national record of 2:22:59 all the way back in 2006, and the last time she broke 2:30 came in Chicago in 2017, when she ran 2:24:44. She certainly could take the win in the Netherlands, but her seed time is a bit misleading considering how long ago she ran it.

Next up are Jessica Augusto and Sara Moreira, a couple of Portuguese runners. Augusto owns a PB of 2:24:25, just ahead of Moreira’s career best of 2:24:49. Both of these women have posted tremendous times in the past, but neither has completed a marathon in recent years. Augusto’s last finish came in 2017, and she has one DNF since then.

Moreira has had an even worse few years, and her last finish came in 2015. Since then, she has DNFed three times, including in the marathon at the Rio Olympics. In 2015, though, she placed second at the Prague Marathon and fourth at the New York City Marathon. The next athlete on the start list is Kenya’s Gladys Chesir, who has a PB of 2:24:51, but like her Portuguese competitors, she hasn’t completed a marathon in years, and her last official finish was in 2017.

In total, nine of the 23 women in the field have beaten the Olympic standard of 2:29:30, with several others knocking at the door of sub-2:30 results. Like the men’s race, the women’s run should be an exciting affair, and it’s an event no running fan will want to miss.

Scheduling casts doubt over Miller-Uibo's bid for 200-400m Olympic double

Bahama’s Shaunae Miller-Uibo has hit out at athletics chiefs over the scheduling of races that could derail her hopes of becoming the first runner to claim a 200-400 metres Olympic double in 25 years.

The women’s 400m semi-finals at this year’s Tokyo Games are scheduled to take place two days before the final, as compared to the men’s event, which has an extra day’s gap.

An overlap of the 200m and 400m races also mean Miller-Uibo, who won gold in the 400m at the Rio Olympics five years ago, will have to run twice on successive days if she wants to secure the double, while the men will only have to do so once.

The 26-year-old, who aims to emulate Michael Johnson, Marie-Jose Perec and Valerie Brisco-Hooks, said the Bahamas Olympic Committee’s request to amend the schedule had been rejected.

“As much as I wanted a new title in the 200 metres, I also wanted to defend my Olympic one,” Miller-Uibo told The Times. “The guys have an opportunity where their events don’t clash and so all we were asking for was an opportunity to double.

“With the guys they had a two-day break between the 400m semis and final. Had they opened that up for the girls then it would have been fine.”

Miller-Uibo said she was almost certain to ignore the 400m, shifting her focus to the shorter distance and a potential battle with Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith.

“She’s a great competitor,” Miller-Uibo said. “I think we’ll bring the best out of each other.”

Miller-Uibo’s comments come days after World Athletics announced a series of pledges to “further advance the role of girls and women” in the sport.

Canadian athletes have been struggling to find competition as they try to qualify for Tokyo

In early January, when COVID-19 numbers were climbing again, and Ontario had just hunkered down in another stay-at-home order, Melissa Bishop-Nriagu, husband Osi and their daughter Corinne, moved from Windsor, Ont., to Victoria.

With her Olympic participation on the line, the west coast city offered fairer weather for training and fewer COVID-19 restrictions.

Still, the world 800-meter silver medallist faces an uphill battle in securing a spot on the Tokyo Olympic team. Bishop-Nriagu, who was fourth at the 2016 Rio Olympics, should be among Canada's top medal hopes on the track in Tokyo — if she can just get there.

"It is [brutal]," said Bishop-Nriagu. "And even more brutal given the pandemic. . . Bottom line: I need races. And I need them to be fast."

Track and field isn't the only sport scrambling to qualify amid Canada's COVID-19 protocols. Canada promised to send perhaps the strongest men's basketball team to Tokyo last year, when the Olympics were originally supposed to take place. Now, the compacted NBA season conflicts with the Olympic qualifying tournament in June in Victoria.

Canada's boxing team is in quarantine less than three months from a qualifying event in Argentina after a team member tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this week.

Athletics Canada had hoped to send a team of 60-plus athletes to Tokyo, but just 24 have achieved qualifying standards, largely due to the inability to compete.

Before the pandemic, World Athletics had implemented new qualifying rules that require athletes to either achieve one very difficult standard — a fast time, a long throw, etc. — to earn an automatic berth, or be ranked in the top 48 in a complicated points system calculated over an athlete's five best major competitions.

Athletics Canada is lobbying for an edit to the stringent qualifying rules to allow for a more even playing field in Tokyo.

"It's just so unfair for Canadians at the moment, it's terrible," said Simon Nathan, Athletics Canada's high performance director. "The worry is: if I don't travel, then I can't qualify. If I do travel, there are places that are more risky [for the pandemic] than Canada. And then I come home and have to sit on my bum, literally not allowed to do anything for two weeks while my rivals are still training, they're still competing.

"So it's stress coming from every direction."

The deadline to register an athlete in any sport for the Tokyo Olympics is July 5, which is less than five months away. And the pandemic is severely impeding international and domestic competitions that ultimately determine the expected 400 to 40 athletes representing Canada in Tokyo.

"We're going to see a lot of last-minute qualification around Tokyo," Canadian Olympic Committee chief sport officer Eric Myles said.

"There will be hard stories, heartbreaking stories for sure. There are so many moving parts. We are trying as much as possible to prevent unfairness issues, but it's not simple. The virus is not making it simple."

Canada as a country has gained 99 event entries into Tokyo, which represents 239 athletes, according to Myles.

Of Canada's 35 national summer sport organizations, 28 are still in the process of choosing their Olympic athletes.

"The challenges are massive," said Own The Podium summer sport director Mark Hahto.

"It stems primarily from the cancellations, the uncertainties, the postponements of so many events on the summer calendar."