Running News Daily

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I'm hungry to reclaim my title in Budapest – Timothy Cheruiyot

2019 1500m World Champion Timothy Cheruiyot says he is ready to reclaim his title at the World Championships set for Budapest, Hungary from August 19-27.

The 19th edition of the biennial championships will last for eight days.

The 27-year-old will lead a team of former Olympian Abel Kipsang and reigning World junior champion Reynold Cheruiyot.

“Together with Reynold and Kipsang we have to plan well how we will execute the final. We know the competition will be very tough but we are ready. Similarly, we are also a threat to our competitors and if our plan goes on well, we will bring medals home,” he said.

The men’s 1500m heat will be the main event of the championships on the first day and will begin at 13:15 pm August 19.

Cheruiyot will be seeking to emulate his Doha heroics that saw him cross the finish line in a time of 3:29:26.

“My preparation for the World Championships has been good. We have executed the training well and I can say that I am now ready.

"We will be competing on the first day of the championships and thus my strategy is to run well in the heats and semifinals and then plan for the finals. I am very hungry to reclaim my title,” Cheruiyot said.

Cheruiyot won a silver medal at the 2017 edition of the competition in London after clocking 3:33:99.

Cheruiyot has won the Diamond League meet four times (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021).

He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medalist.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen to chase his national record at Oslo Diamond League

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

Jakob’s WR bid

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

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

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

Canadians in Oslo

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

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

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

Hobbs Kessler set the record for the fastest 1500-meter run by an American on U.S. soil as he finished third overall with a time of 3:32.61

Hobbs Kessler has already broken records left and right in his running career and the Ann Arbor native added to that growing list with an eye-popping performance at the Los Angeles Grand Prix on Saturday.

The 20-year-old phenom set the record for the fastest 1500-meter run by an American on U.S. soil as he finished third overall with a time of 3:32.61.

Kessler finished just behind former world champion Timothy Cheruiyot, who won the race at 3:31.47, and U20 world champion Reynold Kipkorir Cheruiyot, who took second in 3:32.01.

He ran a 55.83 in his final lap to past U.S. champion Cooper Teare, who also ran a personal best time of 3:32.74.

Kessler’s finish was the 13th fastest all-time for an American runner and his time is the second best by a U.S. male runner under the age of 21 as Cole Hocker ran 3:31.40 at the 2021 Olympics.

It was a personal best time for Kessler but yet another memorable performance by the former Ann Arbor Skyline standout.

He holds the North American U20 record in the 1500 at 3:34.36 as well as the U.S. high school record in the for the indoor mile with a time of 3:57.66 and was named the Gatorade National Track and Field Athlete of the Year for 2021.

Kessler signed a contract with Adidas and turned professional in 2021. He also won the Boston Athletic Association Invitational Mile in April.

Abel Kipsang eyes gold at World Championships in Budapest

The 2022 World Indoor Championships 1500m bronze medalist, Abel Kipsang will be targeting gold in his specialty at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. 

"I'm aiming for gold, but if things go wrong, I should be able to finish on the podium in Budapest," said Kipsang in an exclusive interview on Monday.

Kipsang has been honing his skills at the Traffic Police headquarters training ground under the watchful eye of legendary athletics coach Alfred Sang.

The National Police officer will attempt to beat his personal best time of 3:31.65, which he set at the Tokyo Games last year. 

"I also want to beat my previous best time. I've already clocked a 3:29.56 and my new goal is a 3:28.00."

Kipsang expressed his satisfaction with his performance at the weekend's Kip Keino Classic at Moi Stadium in Kasarani. He clocked 3:32.70 minutes to finish second to Reynold Kipkorir, who won in 3:32.01.

"I prepared well for the race, and my body was in top shape. I'm pleased with the time I set at Kasarani. I'm hoping to accomplish a lot more in the coming events," Kipsang remarked.

With his sights set on boarding the Team Kenya jet to Budapest, Kipsang is overjoyed to have already met the qualification standards for the much-anticipated annual global extravaganza, which will be held in August.

"The qualification time set by World Athletics is 3:34.20, and I managed a 3:32.70 at the Kip Keino Classic on Saturday," Kipsang stated.

Despite the stiff competition he is going to face in Budapest from a talented field of rivals, Kipsang says he is not nervous.

"I'm not training with any particular opponent in mind. It's all about getting the greatest time possible to give me an advantage in competition."

He will rely primarily on his extensive knowledge and superior skill to lead him to stardom in Budapest.

Kipsang won the bronze medal at the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade after finishing fourth in the 1500m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

At the 2019 African Games in Rabat, he competed in his first international competition, finishing fourth in the 800m with a time of 1:45.43 mins.

On June 9, 2021, in Marseille, he ran a personal best of 3:32.6 in the 1500m. He had placed third at the Kenyan Olympic trials 10 days earlier, securing his spot in the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

His score from Marseille put him in the top ten in the world. Kipsang achieved a new Olympic record in the semifinals of the 1500m on August 5, 2021, in Tokyo, clocking 3:31.65, to improve his personal best.

This record was eventually surpassed by Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who ran 3:28.32 in the final, while Kipsang finished fourth in 3:29.56. Timothy Cheruiyot won silver in 3:29.01, while Josh Kerr finished third in 3:29.05.

In 2022, he won a bronze medal at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, clocking a personal best of 3:33.36 and finishing behind Samuel Tefera (3:32.77) and Ingebrigtsen (3:33.02).

Jakob Ingebrigtsen wants to run a marathon

On Wednesday at the Diamond League Final press conference in Zurich, the Olympic 1,500m champion, Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, expressed interest in seeing what he could do in the marathon in the next three to five years.

Ingebrigtsen told British running legend and interviewer Steve Cram that he wants to run a fast marathon. Immediately, Cram laughed and said, “Why on earth do you want to do that?”

 “I love the sport and running,” Ingebrigtsen replied. “I see people running well in the marathon, which inspires me to be able to see what I can do. Training for the marathon doesn’t seem fun, but I’ll have to try it.”

Earlier this summer, Ingebrigtsen chatted about doing the triple (1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m) at the 2023 World Championships and 2024 Olympic Games. When the question arose, Ingebrigtsen said he’s always thinking and planning three to four years ahead.

The 21-year-old gave no exact time or future race plans, but said he’s enjoying the 1,500m right now. “One thing I like about the 1,500m is that it’s only a three-and-a-half-minute race.”

Ingebrigtsen will look to win his first Diamond League title in the men’s 1,500m on Thursday afternoon. Last year, he finished second to Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot.

Britain’s Jake Wightman stunned the Olympic champion, the defending world champion and himself at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 running the race of his life to take the 1500m title

Britain’s Jake Wightman stunned the world on Tuesday night. Winding up to a world-leading PB of 3:29.23, the 28-year-old European and Commonwealth bronze medallist left Jakob Ingebrigtsen with no response as he surged down the home straight, eyes fixed firmly ahead. As the finish line neared, the Briton first raised his arms wide and then threw his hands to his head in disbelief, Norway’s Olympic champion Ingebrigtsen following him home in 3:29.47 and Spain’s Mohamed Katir coming through for bronze in 3:29.90.

“That’s my son,” came the voice over the loudspeaker, the race having been called by in-stadium announcer Geoff Wightman – father and coach of the winner, “and he’s the world champion.”

Left disappointed after a 10th-place finish at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Jake Wightman went back to work. He focused on building his strength over the winter, returning to some cross country racing and doing over-distance work as he refocused on Oregon.

Achieving his aim of staying under the radar through the rounds, he took his place on the Hayward Field start line with Ingebrigtsen to his left and Katir to his right. Kenya’s Abel Kipsang, who had the season’s quickest time going into the race, went straight to the front and led from Ingebrigtsen and Kenya’s defending champion Timothy Cheruiyot, with Wightman sitting in behind them. Ingebrigtsen, who broke the world indoor 1500m record with 3:30.60 in February, moved to the front with two laps to go, with Kipsang and Cheruiyot on his shoulder and Wightman tracking their every move.

At the bell it was Ingebrigtsen, Cheruiyot and Wightman, with Kipsang running wide on his shoulder. Judging the race to perfection, the Briton first surged past Cheruiyot, moving into the lead ahead of Ingebrigtsen with just over 200m to go.

As he left the bend, the anticipated kick from Ingebrigtsen never came. Glancing over his shoulder, the Norwegian looked like he knew he was beaten and settled for silver, followed by Katir and his Spanish teammate Mario Garcia, running a PB of 3:30.20 for fourth.

Wightman’s British compatriot Josh Kerr – the Olympic 1500m bronze medallist – finished fifth in 3:30.60, just ahead of Cheruiyot (3:30.69) and Kipsang (3:31.21).

“It probably won’t sink in until I have retired,” said Wightman, who has run 1:44.18 for 800m and clocked a 3000m PB of 7:37.81 indoors in February. “It’s mad. I had such a disappointing year in Tokyo last year. I don’t think people realise how crushing it was to go in with such high expectations and come away hoping for a medal but ending up 10th.”

His parents – both former elite marathon runners – were at Hayward Field to see him win, his father on the commentary mic and his mother, Susan, in the stands.

“Dad can be a bit of a robot on the mic sometimes,” smiled Wightman junior, whose time in Oregon is the third-quickest in World Championships history. “Some say robot, some say professional. I hope he broke that down today. My mum was in tears, so someone was crying.”

Reflecting on the race, he added: “The strength for me is that if I can get there with 200m to go, I will always make a move because it’s how I feel best running. As soon as the opportunity was there to go past, I just wanted to be leading the bend. The only perk of having a good 800m PB in races like that is if you are still there with 200m to go, which I haven’t managed to be in previous years.

“Even when I was coming down the home straight I felt strong, but Jakob is a beast and I never knew if he was going to come past.”

But he didn’t. Wightman's last lap was timed at 54.84, Ingebrigtsen’s was 55.24. In Tokyo, the Norwegian clocked 54.42 for the final 400m.

“I was feeling good, but I couldn't keep up with Jake in the last 200m,” said Ingebrigtsen. “I'm owning it. I am very disappointed by not winning, but I'm very happy for him. He is a great runner.”

He will now refocus on the 5000m, the heats for which take place on Thursday.

It was the 5000m that Katir contested at last year’s Olympics, the 24-year-old finishing eighth, but after setting national records at 1500m, 3000m, 5000m and 10km last year his decision to race the shorter event in Oregon paid off as he bagged the bronze with his second-fastest ever time.

Just behind him was European U23 silver medallist and NCAA runner-up Garcia, who runs for the University of Mississippi and achieved the fastest ever time by a collegiate athlete.

Cheruiyot has been some way off his best form this season and although making his presence felt in the early stages, he didn’t have the strength in the finish and faded out of medal contention.

Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera won the world indoor title ahead of Ingebrigtsen and Kipsang in Belgrade in March but finished ninth in his semifinal in Oregon, missing out on the final.

Why run tall is bad advice, the connection between correct running posture, glute activation and quad dominance, explained

You may have heard a lot of advice to keep your shoulders back when you run, or to be mindful of having good posture, or to “run tall.” This advice sometimes even comes from seemingly well qualified people, but it’s based on a fundamental misunderstanding. The best posture for running is with a slight forward lean, which engages your glutes–the body’s largest and strongest muscles and the source of running power.

You may also have heard a lot of advice about “activating your glutes” when you run. This is good advice–but it’s not something you need to do consciously, as long as you’re running with a slight forward lean, as movement expert Jae Gruenke explains in the video.

Moreover, the advice to strengthen your glutes is of little value if you are not running in such a way that your glutes are engaged.

Running with a very upright posture means your weight is too far back for powerful running, and is likely to result in your becoming a “quad-dominant” runner, i.e. a runner who is mostly using their quads, at the expense of their glutes and hamstrings, when they run. (This may also be associated with knee pain, lower back pain and plantar fascia issues, according to Gruenke, who frequently sees this in her practice.)

You may feel like your running is fine, but your quads are likely often sore after a long or hard run, and you are probably not running as powerfully (or as fast) as you could be, even at lower efforts. Moreover, the advice to activate your glutes will seem mysterious, since it’s impossible to do if you’re not leading with your head and chest. (And you do not need to consciously contract your glutes in order to activate them.) Running with a slight forward lean will also greatly improve your ability to run uphill.

The problem, Gruenke explains, is the assumption that leaning forward when running tilts your pelvis in a way that makes it difficult to engage your glutes; but that assumes that your muscles function the same way when you’re standing, sitting or performing a deadlift as when you’re running, which is not the case. In fact, you must tilt your pelvis forward in order to engage your glutes when running, and take the full load off your quads.

One way to test this is to stand with your knees slightly bent, feet slightly apart, in a forward-leaning position, and hold it for a couple of minutes; you will soon feel your glutes working.

If you’ve ever watched champions like Jakob Ingebrigtsen or Timothy Cheruiyot run, you’ll see the forward lean in action. (It’s not a coincidence that they usually dominate in races!) Granted, they’re running much faster paces than the average runner, but the principles are no different. 

Joshua Cheptegei is set to defend his world title at Oregon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TEAM UGANDA TO OREGON WORLDS:

Women: H. Nakaayi (800m),

W. Nanyondo (1500m),

P. Chemutai (3000m Steeplechase),

E. Chebet (5000m),

M. Chelangat (10000m),

S. Chesang (10000m),

I. Chemutai (Marathon)

Men: T. Orogot (200m),

R. Musagala (1500m),

P. Maru (5000m),

O. Chelimo (5000m),

J. Kiplimo (10000m),

S. Kissa (10000m),

J. Cheptegei (5000m & 10000m),

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kenyan team for Oregon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Timothy Cheruiyot and Jakob Ingebrigtsen will resume rivalry in Eugene Mile

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

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

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

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

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

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

Josh Kerr hopes to make history at Hayward Field

Josh Kerr knows the history, that long line of British middle-distance greats who all but monopolised the men’s 1500m back in the 1980s. Those names – Seb Coe, Cram, Ovett, Elliott – conjure up memories of grainy footage, the kind Kerr has watched countless times on YouTube. 

Now that he’s run faster than them all – his PB of 3:29.05 is behind only Mo Farah on the British all-time list – Kerr feels part of that lineage, especially after winning an Olympic bronze medal last year. 

But as much as he appreciates the achievements of past generations, the 24-year-old Scot is keen to kickstart a new golden era.

“Myself and (Jake) Wightman, we’ve run faster than all those guys but they’re not known for how fast they ran, they’re known for what medals they won and what colours they are,” says Kerr. “We hadn’t won an Olympic medal in 33 years and hopefully we’re moving back into an era people will remember as the Kerr-Wightman era. I want to leave a stamp on the 1500 and grab that British record as an extra.

“But,” he adds, “it’s mostly about medals.”

The game is changing these days. In the decade preceding the 2019 World Championships, the quickest winning time in a global 1500m final was 3:33.61, and in just two out of seven championships did the winner come home in under 3:35. 

Then there was Doha, where Timothy Cheruiyot blitzed a solo 3:29.26 to take gold. Two years later in Tokyo, Jakob Ingebrigtsen outkicked and outlasted Cheruiyot to set an Olympic record of 3:28.32.

Cheruiyot is 26, Ingebrigtsen is 21. Neither is going anywhere any time soon, and both are at their best when the pace is hard from the gun, which means that when it comes to global finals, the future is almost certainly fast. 

Kerr knows this, and he prepares accordingly. 

“The 1500 has evolved over the last two or three years,” he says. “We have to be strong and we train like a 5km athlete. That helps, knowing I’m going to get better round by round. It’s exciting for people to watch and it’s really hard for us racing, but that’s what we’re there for: to find the best. 

“I do believe the world and Olympic champions over the next three or four years will be true champions – who are the best at the distance. Jakob last year was the best and he showed that in the final and Cheruiyot was second and I was third: those are honest, clear-cut, black-and-white results, and you can’t ask for anything more.”

Kerr prepared for Tokyo in his typical manner, racking up 65-70 miles (104-112km) a week in training, along with two gym sessions. It’s been his approach since 2018, when he joined the Brooks Beasts in Seattle and began training with coach Danny Mackey. 

Being a three-time NCAA champion for the University of New Mexico, the Scottish athlete had a wealth of options in the professional ranks. Why did he choose the Brooks Beasts? It came down to his trust in Mackey. 

“I’ve had the most amazing, honest conversations with him,” says Kerr. “He knows me very well, I know him very well. He said, ‘this is the coach I am, we’re not the flashiest group but you come here, you’ll get better.’ He stayed true to that promise. I’ve got six seconds quicker since I’ve gone there.

“The training isn’t massively intense but what I do really well: my injury rate is really low and I’m able to stack a bunch of days together and it ends up being a phenomenal fitness level.”

That was exactly what Kerr carried to Tokyo, and while his 1500m PB of 3:31.55 had many underrating him at the time, his workouts convinced him he was ready to run 3:28. 

“I thought, ‘you know what, the best way to run that is evenly,’” says Kerr. “I wasn’t planning on being so far at the back after the first lap but it was just so fast.”

Kerr narrowly avoided disaster in the heats, scraping through as a non-automatic qualifier, but he was far more convincing in the semifinal, finishing a close third.

After the first lap of the final, with Ingebrigtsen pouring it on from the outset, Kerr was 10th, splitting 57.3 seconds. By 800m he’d moved up to seventh. By 1200m, he was fourth, and ready to take aim at the big two out front – Ingebrigtsen and Cheruiyot – along with Abel Kipsang of Kenya. Kerr waited until the home straight before going for broke, overtaking Kipsang and finishing just 0.04 behind Cheruiyot. 

“I was hoping for a better medal than the one I got,” he says now.  

After the Games, he went to Albuquerque, USA, to spend time with his fiancee and a few weeks later he returned to Scotland. The last six months have been a “whirlwind”, but after a few weeks off Kerr was back into base training to prepare for better things again in 2022. 

“It’s about building the motivation back up, climbing back up the hill with fitness and trying to show some better performances,” he says. “And hopefully better colour of medals.”

He had just one race set in stone for the indoor season: the Wanamaker Mile at last month's Millrose Games, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold event. After biding his time for seven laps, Kerr powered to the lead at the bell, but couldn’t hold off the vicious surge of longtime rival Ollie Hoare, who won in 3:50.83 with Kerr second in 3:52.27, just shy of Peter Elliott’s British record of 3:52.02. 

“First one of the season is always going to be a bit rocky but I told myself I’d be aggressive, I’d push,” says Kerr. “I may have pushed a little bit too early, but I gave it my all. I like to press a little bit and see who falls apart, and it might be me. I’m not scared of anyone or any distance or any race.”

That may be Kerr’s only race of the indoor season. With an outdoor season overflowing with medal opportunities, he’s giving that his prime focus. 

His main targets are the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 in July and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Only after that will he make a decision on the European Championships in Munich. 

“Because that’s enough for my brain to explode,” he says. “We’ll take it step by step.”

When he speaks of such championships, Kerr does so with a calm but resolute confidence that he can beat whoever he faces. It’s not surprising, given he has a habit of toppling favourites. 

When he lined up in the mile at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships, he was a 19-year-old with a 1500m personal best of 3:41.08 – an athlete no one expected to challenge the all-conquering Ed Cheserek. 

When Kerr surged past Cheserek with two laps to run, the ESPN commentator all but dismissed his chances: “That’s Josh Kerr, the New Mexico freshman, and that may just be a freshman move.” 

But it wasn’t. Kerr ran Cheserek into the ground during the final lap, coming home a distant winner. He added the NCAA title outdoors that year – winning the 1500m at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon – and repeated his indoor win in 2018. Those successes taught him he could contend at global level. 

“You have that mindset of wanting to be the champ, to go after the fastest guys,” he says. “You don’t care who anyone is, and if you have that fearless mentality you’re going to be fine in the pros. But if you always look at stats and look up to these guys, you’re going to find it hard to toe the line against them.”

Does he believe he can match Ingebrigtsen and Cheruiyot this summer?

“Yeah, definitely,” he says. “It’s quite funny, but people were saying, ‘any other Olympics you’d have won with the times,’ but they’re different races. The 1500m is exploding because of the way we’re running these races. Those guys are doing great things for the sport.”

Kerr knows those two will likely be the men to beat again in Eugene this summer. He’s not yet raced in the new-and-improved Hayward Field, but is relishing the chance to do so.

“It’s over the top,” he laughs. “It’s a phenomenal facility and I’m excited to go there and run fast. It’s built for fast times and for history to be made, and that’s what’s going to happen this year.” 

He knows his sport’s history, but he also knows his own, and Kerr can extrapolate plenty from it about what might lie ahead.

“I was 37th (at the World Championships) in 2017, sixth in 2019, and third (at the Olympics) in 2021,” he says. “So in 2022 the trajectory is looking like second or first. That’s always what I’m going for. I’m always looking for progress.”

Global 1500m champions Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Samuel Tefera ready to clash in Belgrade

Two global champions are on a collision course in the men’s 1500m at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22, with Olympic gold medallist Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway looking to depose Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera as the world indoor champion.

Based on their recent clash in Lievin, where Ingebrigtsen broke Tefera’s world indoor 1500m record, clocking 3:30.60, the pressure and expectation will rest with the 21-year-old Norwegian. That Lievin race was Ingebrigtsen’s sole outing of the indoor season, and he looked majestic as he bounded away from Tefera over the final 300 metres after the pacemaker stepped aside.

A championship final, of course, will present a very different challenge, but Ingebrigtsen showed in Tokyo and at last year’s European Indoor Championships that he has the tactical nous to go with his physical gifts. With his long-time rival Timothy Cheruiyot bypassing the indoor season, he will likely have to do his own pace-making if he wants a fast final, the kind of race in which he has become nigh-on unbeatable.

Tefera, however, will not go down without a considerable fight, and the 22-year-old Ethiopian gave Ingebrigtsen a much better race in Lievin than the three-second margin of victory suggested.

Perhaps Ingebrigtsen’s biggest challenger, though, will be Kenya’s Abel Kipsang. He finished fourth in the Olympic final last year and showed impressive indoor credentials when taking victory in Birmingham last month in 3:34.57. A recent 1:45.84 clocking for 800m outdoors in Nairobi signals he’s got the speed to be a threat here.

The British challenge will be led by Neil Gourley, who clocked 3:35.32 in Boston last month and who was runner-up in a slow 1500m final at the British Indoor Championships. He will be joined by George Mills, who impressed in Birmingham last month when clocking a PB of 3:36.03 against a world-class field.

Another athlete keen to see a fast final will be Oliver Hoare, the Australian who clocked a 3:50.83 mile to win at the Millrose Games in New York in January. In that race he powered away from Olympic bronze medallist Josh Kerr, showing the kind of closing speed and strength that will make him dangerous, particularly in a fast race.

Spain’s Ignacio Fontes, like Hoare, was an Olympic finalist last year and he booked his place here with a runner-up finish behind Adel Mechaal at the Spanish Indoor Championships, with Mechaal later electing to focus on the 3000m in Belgrade.

Germany’s Robert Farken is another who’ll have high expectations after the 24-year-old lowered his PB to 3:35.44 in Birmingham last month, while Ethiopia’s Teddese Lemi clocked an indoor PB of 3:35.84 last month and has 1:44 800m speed – which should prove useful in this realm.

Ireland’s Andrew Coscoran will be hoping to reproduce the form that saw him take victory in Staten Island last month with a 3:53.64 mile, where he was followed in third place by compatriot Luke McCann, who will join him in Belgrade.

The US charge will be led by Josh Thompson and Sam Prakel, who finished second and fourth respectively at their national championships.

Josh Kerr smashes Peter Elliott’s UK indoor mile record

Olympic 1500m bronze medallist clocks 3:48.87 in Boston to go No.3 on the world all-time rankings

After finishing third in the Olympic 1500m final last year behind Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Timothy Cheruiyot, Josh Kerr boldly stated this month that he is going for gold at the World Championships in Eugene in July.

On Sunday (Feb 27) in Boston he showed why he carries such confidence when he ran 3:48.87 for the mile at the Boston University Last Chance Meet.

The time puts him No.3 on the world all-time rankings behind Yomif Kejelcha’s world record of 3:47.01 and Hicham El Guerrouj’s 3:48.45.

It also smashes the long-standing British record of 3:52.02 held by Peter Elliott – a mark which was set at East Rutherford in 1990.

Elliott incidentally also holds the British 1500m indoor record with 3:34.20 but it is thought Kerr may have run quicker en route during his mile.

In addition, Kerr’s time is a European record, as it breaks Eamonn Coghlan’s 3:49.78, which was also set in East Rutherford back in 1983. At the time Coghlan was the first man to run a sub-3:50 mile indoors and even now, 39 years later, Kerr has become only the seventh athlete to achieve the feat.

Kerr’s splits saw him pass the first lap in 58.15 and halfway in 1:56.75 before he ran a trademark strong second half of the race to go through three laps in 2:52.04 (55.3) before finishing with a 56.8 final lap.

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

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

And so it was.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cheruiyot Defeats Ingebrigtsen In Diamond League 1500m Final

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hassan and Warner among Tokyo 2020 Closing Ceremony flag bearers

More than 50 athletes from the sport of athletics will carry the flags for their nation at the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 on Sunday (8).

Ten days of competition, which included three world records, 12 Olympic records and 28 area records, came to a close with the men’s marathon on Sunday morning, with Kenya’s marathon great Eliud Kipchoge retaining his title.

Now his fellow Olympic gold medallists Sifan Hassan, Damian Warner, Pedro Pichardo and Peruth Chemutai will be among the flag bearers returning to Tokyo's Olympic Stadium as the 2020 Games come to a close.

For Hassan, the moment will cap an incredible performance in Tokyo, with the Dutch star having claimed an unprecedented medal treble of 5000m and 10,000m golds plus 1500m bronze over nine days.

“I am so happy and I cried during the medal ceremony,” the 28-year-old said after her 10,000m triumph on Saturday. “I actually realised that I am done, the Games are over.”

Warner’s victory had been secured on Thursday, when he became just the fourth man in history to break the 9000-point barrier to win the decathlon title. The Canadian’s 9018-point tally was one of the 12 Olympic records set at the Tokyo Games.

Portugal’s Pichardo, meanwhile, leapt to the triple jump title, setting one of the 151 national records achieved at these Olympics with his winning mark of 17.98m. In that same competition, the bronze medallist was world indoor record-holder Hugues Fabrice Zango and as a result, Burkina Faso became the 100th country to have won an Olympic medal in athletics.

For Chemutai, victory came in the 3000m steeplechase. Other medallists in Tokyo carrying their nation’s flag will be Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega, Grenada’s Kirani James, Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot and New Zealand’s Valerie Adams.

With the 2020 Games delayed a year due to the pandemic, athletes and fans now have only three years to wait until Olympic action returns in Paris in 2024.

Athletics flag bearers at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony

Listed in the order in which they will march. List correct at time of publication and may be subject to change.

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

Andorra (AND) - Pol Moya (men’s 800m)

Italy (ITA) - Lamont Marcell Jacobs (men’s 100m and 4x100m)

Uganda (UGA) - Peruth Chemutai (women’s 3000m steeplechase)

Uruguay (URU) - Maria Pia Fernandez (women’s 1500m)

Ecuador (ECU) - Glenda Morejón (women’s 20km race walk)

Estonia (EST) - Maicel Uibo (decathlon)

Eswatini (SWZ) - Sibusiso Matsenjwa (men’s 200m)

Ethiopia (ETH) - Selemon Barega (10,000m)

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

Netherlands (NED) - Sifan Hassan (1500m, 5000m and 10,000m)

Guyana (GUY) - Emanuel Archibald (men’s 100m)

Canada (CAN) - Damian Warner (decathlon)

Gambia (GAM) - Ebrima Camara (men’s 100m)

Cuba (CUB) - Zurian Hechavarría (women’s 400m hurdles and 4x400m)

Grenada (GRN) - Kirani James (men’s 400m)

Kenya (KEN) - Timothy Cheruiyot (men’s 1500m)

Cote d'Ivoire (CIV) - Marie-Josee Ta Lou (women’s 100m and 200m)

Costa Rica (CRC) - Noelia Vargas (women’s 20km race walk)

Comoros (COM) - Fadane Hamadi (men’s 110m hurdles)

Congo (CGO) - Gilles Anthony Afoumba (men’s 400m)

Zambia (ZAM) - Sydney Siame (men’s 200m)

Djibouti (DJI) - Souhra Ali Mohamed (women’s 1500m)

Jamaica (JAM) - Demish Gaye (men’s 400m and 4x400m)

Sri Lanka (SRI) - Yupun Abeykoon Mudiyanselage (men’s 100m)

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

Chinese Taipei (TPE) - Chen Chieh (men’s 400m hurdles)

United Republic of Tanzania (TAN) - Male Alphonce Felix Simbu (men’s marathon)

Czech Republic (CZE) Jakub Vadlejch (men’s javelin)

People's Republic of China (CHN) - Su Bingtian (men’s 100m and 4x100m)

Tuvalu (TUV) - Karalo Hepoiteloto Maibuca (men’s 100m)

Dominica (DMA) - Thea Lafond (women’s triple jump)

Trinidad and Tobago (TTO) - Andwuelle Wright (men’s long jump)

Namibia (NAM) - Beatrice Masilingi (women’s 200m)

New Zealand (NZL) - Valerie Adams (shot put)

Haiti (HAI) - Mulern Jean (women’s 100m hurdles)

Pakistan (PAK) - Arshad Nadeem (men’s javelin)

Panama (PAN) - Jorge Castelblanco (men’s marathon)

Bahamas (BAH) - Megan Moss (women’s 4x400m)

Paraguay (PAR) - Derlys Ayala (men’s marathon)

Barbados (BAR) - Tia-Adana Belle (women’s 400m hurdles)

American Samoa (ASA) - Nathan Crumpton (men’s 100m)

Virgin Islands, US (ISV) - Eddie Vovett (men’s 110m hurdles)

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

Botswana (BOT) - Anthony Pasela (men’s 4x400m)

Bolivia (BOL) - Angela Castro (women’s 20km race walk)

Portugal (POR) - Pedro Pichardo (men’s triple jump)

Honduras (HON) - Ivan Zarco Alvarez (men’s marathon)

South Africa (RSA) - Anaso Jobodwana (men’s 200m)

South Sudan (SSD) - Abraham Guem (men’s 1500m)

Republic of Moldova (MDA) - Andrian Mardare (men’s javelin)

Luxembourg (LUX) - Bob Bertemes (men’s shot put)

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

Lesotho (LES) - Neheng Khatala (women’s marathon)

United States of America (USA) - Kara Winger (women’s javelin)

Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen takes 1,500m gold in Olympic record

In the last individual final on the track at Olympic stadium, the young Norwegian, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, has taken the gold medal, outkicking his Kenyan rival, world champion Timothy Cheruiyot in a furious race over the final 200m. Ingebrigtsen crossed the line in 3:28.33, an Olympic record surpassing the one set just a few days ago by Abel Kipsang, who finished fourth.

Cheruiyot took silver in 3:29.01. Great Britain’s Josh Kerr unleashed a monster kick to take the bronze medal, only 0.04 seconds behind Cheruiyot.

The field looked on race favorite and world champion to take the race out swiftly, and he did. The Australian, Stewart McSweyn, looked strong in third place in the first few laps, with Ollie Hoare and Team GB’s Jake Wightman following closely behind but they fell off as they reached the bell. With one lap to go, Cheruiyot took off, with Ingebrigtsen right on his heel, but ultimately he didn’t have enough left in the tank to secure the race.

This is Ingebrigtsen’s first Olympic medal in his Games debut. The Norwegian, who is only 20, has a prolific resume over the European circuit, finishing fourth in this event at the world championships in Doha in 2019.

This is the final day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The final events are the men’s 4x400m final and the men’s marathon.

The wild and crazy men’s1500m at Tokyo Olympics

In heat one Belgium’s Ismael Debjani won to be fastest overall in 3:36.00 with a 53.4 last lap, just ahead of world champion Timothy Cheruiyot (3:36.01), Oliver Hoare (3:36.09), US trials winner Cole Hocker (3:36.16), Abdelatif Sadiki (3:36.23) and Michal Rozmys (3:36.28) who qualified automatically.

Rozmys had been six tenths of a second behind Kerr as he hit the straight but ran a 12.9 last 100m to the Scot’s 13.5 to catch him on the line, meaning the British champion missed out on automatic qualification by one hundredth of a second as he struggled in the closing stages.

Kerr said: “I was really frustrated with my positioning and there was some shoving and I made a hard move at 500m to go. Then, at 200m to go, I felt I was going to pay for this in the home stretch. I was just trying to stay focused and push all the way, but it just wasn’t a good run for me. I am fit and ready and I have had no problems. There are just no excuses for that. I just raced it badly.”

Kerr must have been relieved as heat two was run at nowhere near the same pace. The field ambled through 400m in 62.4 and 800m in 2:02.9, only really coming to life on the last lap as Kenyan Abel Kipsang covered it in 52.8 to win in 3:40.68.

Second was defending champion Matt Centrowitz (3:41.12), just ahead of Wightman (3:41.18) who ran his last 400m in 53.2 and 200m in 26.3. Also qualifying easily were Azeddine Habz (3:41.24), Samuel Zeleke (3:41.63) and Charles Grethen (3:41.92).

Marcin Lewandowski fell on the last lap and he jogged home but was added to the qualifiers by the judges after the event.

Wightman said: “It’s the most nerve-racking round, isn’t it? You’re worried you’re going to be embarrassed. I’m glad I managed to stay on my feet and get through. I had a smooth enough ride. I think I got a spike wound, had a few pushes but there was the fall which I’m glad I didn’t even notice until the end.

“The heats are the worst, because you’ve come all this way and no-one wants to get knocked out in the heat or expects to get knocked out in the heat, so you just want to get past and know how you are running to get through to the semi-final.”

The third heat was faster but, with six fastest loser spots, it did mean there would have to be 12 quicker than 3:36.29 for Kerr to exit and, in the end, there were only two.

The first lap was a slow 61.7 before Stewart McSweyn kicked on. The Australian completed the second lap in a lively 56.9 and the third in a top class 55.1, with only Heyward still in contact as the pair went through 1200m in 2:53.7 and 2:53.9, holding a big gap over the pack led by Robert Farken in 2:55.1.

Heyward passed McSweyn in the straight and won clearly in 3:36.14, having eased around his last lap in 55.9 and covered his last 1200m inside 2:50. Ethiopia’s Tedesse Lemi, who had been 12th at the bell, ran a 53.9 last lap to finish second in 3:36.26 and he had covered his last 1200m in 2:48.9.

McSweyn (3:36.39), Jakob Ingebrigtsen (an anonymous 3:36.49), Farken (3:36.71) and Adel Mechaal (3:36.74) completed the automatic qualifiers.

Double Olympic medallist Nick Willis (3:36.88), Andrew Coscoran (3:37.11), Ayanleh Souleiman (3:37.25) and Kenyan trials winner Charles Simotwo (3:37.26) qualified by time as they joined Kerr and Ignacio Fontes (3:36.95) as fastest losers.

Soufiane El Bakkali, who won the 3000m steeplechase title the previous day, was in contention until 200m to go but pulled out.

Heyward said: “I don’t think it could have gone much better. Safely through, that’s the main thing. You have to have a few scenarios, you have to be versatile. It could be fast, could be slow, so you’ve got to be ready for that. I think I always give my best performances in championships and I hope that showed a glimpse of what I can do.

“You can’t take anything for granted at the Olympics, you’ve got to be prepared for anything, and I was prepared to run super hard today, so that was my mindset going in. Luckily because I didn’t have to run that hard it felt quite comfortable, so it was good.”

World 1500m champion added to Kenyan Olympic team as 18-year-old dropped

World 1500 meters champion Timothy Cheruiyot, left out of the Kenyan Olympic team after finishing outside the top three qualifying places at last month’s trials, has been added to the squad for Tokyo 2020. 

Cheruiyot, pictured limping away from the trials with a hamstring injury, won the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco last Friday (July 9) in a personal best of 3min 28.28sec, the fastest time run since 2015 and seventh best ever.

The 25-year-old from Bomet expressed hopes after his win that he would be able try to add the Olympic gold medal to his world title and he is now due to do that against a field that will include his perennial 20-year-old Norwegian rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen, European record holder with 3:28.68.

"I am thrilled to be part of the Kenyan Olympic team," Cheruiyot, now the favourite for gold, told Agence-France Presse. 

 "I am in better shape than I was during the trials and I promise to deliver a medal for Kenya in Tokyo."

Cheruiyot’s addition has been made possible by the ineligibility of the relatively unknown 18-year-old who finished second at the trials, Kamar Etyang.

He has had to be removed from the team because he does not have the minimum number of three out-of-competition tests that Kenyan athletes must fulfil in the 10 months before any major championship following the country’s placement in category A of the World Athletics and World Anti-Doping Agency watchlist.

Kenya's Olympics general team manager Barnaba Korir told The Nation that Athletics Kenya had petitioned the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) over the issue of Etyang without success.

"It’s really unfortunate that Etyang had to be dropped due to the AIU rules which require one to be tested three times out of competition," Korir said.

"We have explained this to the athlete and he has understood the situation we are in."

He added that the AIU were unable to make exceptions to the ruling.

"We were in the same situation in 2019 when two athletes Michael Kibet and Daniel Simiu were dropped from the team that was heading to the World Championships [in Doha]," Korir said.

"This is because Kenya is in category A and we need to strictly follow the rules so that we can get out of the woods in future."

Cheruiyot had made it clear after his Monaco victory that he was hopeful of being in the team for Tokyo 2020.

"I missed competition a lot after spending a lot of time in Kenya where I had a few issues like my hamstring injury and after also losing a relative in my family on the day of the Kenyan trials explaining why I missed out on making the team," he said.

"I am therefore happy I am back again after all this.

"Hopefully that will be the deciding performance to make the team for Tokyo.

"My hope now is to be in another Olympics, that is where my mindset is and I will be very happy if I achieve that."

Ingebrigtsen, reportedly unable to train for the preceding fortnight because of a bacterial infection, finished second, with Spain’s Mohamed Katir setting a national record of 3:28.76 in second place.

Three other athletes originally named for the Kenyan team for Tokyo have been dropped - racewalkers Samuel Gathimba and Emily Ngii and 400m hurdler Moitalel Mpoke.

Kenya will send 40 athletes, mainly runners, to Tokyo 2020, which are due to open on July 23 with the athletics programme running from July 30 to August 8.

Kipyegon cruises to Kenyan 1500m record in Monaco

It’s all about keeping the faith.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amos and Muir impress over two laps

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Baker blasts to 100m victory

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kenya's Faith Kipyegon runs spectacular 1500 at Herculis meeting

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

"I thought I could run faster than that," Kipyegon said improbably after the race.

American 800-meter runner Chanelle Price got the race off to a good start, leading Kipyegon, Hassan and Ethiopia's Freweyni Hailu through 400m in 61.5 and 800m in 2:03.6. Price quickly stepped aside, and Hassan took the lead and was clearly focused on running a fast time. Kipyegon stayed close, but did not attempt to pass. She knew this was a great opportunity to run a fast time.

"I knew Sifan was going for a fast race and my goal was to run a fast race here and I thank God that was," Kipyegon said.

The petite Kenyan, who took a full year off in 2018 to have her daughter Alyn, waited until she came out of the final bend to launch her lethal sprint, and she clearly showed the kind of fitness which will be required to defend her Olympic title in Tokyo.

"I am really looking forward to Tokyo and I know it will be a very hard competition but I hope to go there and defend my title," she said. "I have a lot of pressure because the 1500m is a tactical race. Now I will train hard and hope to do my best at the Games."

Hailu, who is only 20 years-old, held on to get third place in a personal best 3:56.28.

There was also fast men's 1500m tonight. Off of the perfect pacing job by American 800m runner Chris Sowinski who hit 400m in 54.2 and 800m in 1:50.8, reigning world champion Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya had a narrow lead over Australia's Stewy McSweyn and Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Spain's Mohamed Katir was close behind the leading trio.

With about 200 meters to go, Katir tried to pass Cheruiyot on the outside, but the tall Kenyan quickly responded. In the homestretch, Katir continued to dig, but Cheruiyot would not relent and beat the Spaniard 3:28.28 to 3:28.76. Cheruiyot's time was a 2021 world leader and a personal best, while Katir bested Fermin Cacho's 24 year-old Spanish record of 3:28.95.

"Today's race was good and I won it for the third time," said Cheruiyot who also won here in 2019 and 2020. "I missed competition a lot after spending a lot of time in Kenya where I had a few issues like my hamstring injury and after also losing a relative in my family on the day of the Kenyan trials explaining why I missed out on making the team," Cheruiyot added. "I am therefore happy I am back again after all this."

There were more fast times down the finish order; 11 men broke 3:33. Ingebrigtsen finished third in a season's best 3:29.25, and McSweyn ran an Australian record 3:29.51. McSweyn has also run an Australian record for the mile in Oslo eight days ago.

There were strong 800m races here for both women and men. In the women's contest, Scotswoman Laura Muir got a dramatic victory moving from fourth place to first by sweeping wide in the final 50 meters. She ran a personal best 1:56.73 ahead of her training partner Jemma Reekie (1:56.96 PB), American Kate Grace (1:57.20) and Jamaican Natoya Goule (1:57.35). Goule had led the race into the final 200 meters but tied up in the homestretch.

The men's two-lap race played out similarly when 2012 Olympic silver medalist Nijel Amos muscled past the tiring Marco Arop of Canada --who had led after the pacemaker dropped out-- and Emmanuel Korir of Kenya in the homestretch. Amos finished in a world-leading 1:42.91, while Korir got a season's best 1:43.04 and Arop a personal best 1:43.26. Clayton Murphy, the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist finished seventh in 1:44.41.

"It is always a good feeling coming out here to Monaco, that I am always winning out here, always having a good time," said Amos. "So I try to channel that positivity and bring it to the race. No matter what shape I am in, it always seems to come together."

Kenyan´s Timothy Cheruiyot bounces back in Sweden after missing out on Tokyo Olympics

World 1,500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot put behind the disappointment of missing a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics when he clocked 3:32.30 his speciality at the Stockholm Diamond League on Sunday evening. 

Cheruiyot crossed the finish line ahead of Spaniard Ignacio Fontes (3:33.27) and countryman Ronald Kwemoi (3:33.53) in second and third respectively. 

The win in the Swedish capital continues the rich vein of form for the Bomet-born runner whose disappointing fourth-place finish at the national trials for the Tokyo Olympics remains the only blot to a sensational season so far.

In late-May, he set a world lead of 3:30.48 at the Doha Diamond League during the men's 1500m. 

Another Kenyan, Ferguson Rotich, lay down a marker for the Olympics when he set a season lead of 1:43:84 in the men's 800m to finish first ahead of Canadian Marco Arop (1:44:00) and Briton Elliot Gilles (1:44:05) in second and third. 

The world 800m bronze medalist recovered from a slow start to stamp his authority on the race and carry on from his impressive performance at the Doha Diamond League where he timed 1:44.45 to finish second behind compatriot, Commonwealth 800m champion Wycliffe Kinyamal. 

In the women's 3000m steeplechase, former world champion Hyvin Kiyeng added momentum to her bid for an Olympic gold when she clocked  9:04.34 to finish first ahead of German Gesa Felicitas Krause (9:09.13) and countrywoman — and record holder — Beatrice Chepkoech (9:10.52) in second and third. 

Other Kenyans, Purity Kirui (9:16.91) and Rosefline Chepngetich (9:22.30) finished in fourth and sixth respectively. 

The exploits on Sunday followed those of Nicholas Kimeli, Jacop Krop and world 5000m champion Hellen Obiri who posted excellent results at the Oslo Diamond League on Friday. 

Krop and Kimeli timed 7:30.07 and 7:31.33 respectively to finish second and third behind winner Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia who timed 7:26.25. 

Another Kenyan — and Olympics debutant — Charles Simotwo finished fourth in the men's 1500m, clocking 3:49.40. 

Middle-distance stars added to Monaco line-up

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scottish middle-distance runner Josh Kerr runs fastest-ever 1,500m on U.S. soil at Stumptown Twilight

The Stumptown Twilight meet in Portland, Oregon on Thursday night saw several stellar performances, but it was Scottish middle-distance runner Josh Kerr who stole the show. The 23-year-old won the men’s 1,500m, blowing away the field by more than four seconds and crossing the line in 3:31.55. His time breaks the previous American soil record of 3:32.34, set by Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain in 2006.

His result is also the fastest time in Europe this season, and is the second-fastest 1,500m time this year in the world behind Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot, who ran 3:30.48 in Doha on May 28. This is a new personal best for Kerr, who set his previous PB of 3:32.52 at World’s in Doha in 2019, where he placed 6th overall.

While Kerr originally hails from Edinburgh, Scotland, he competed for the University of New Mexico Lobos, where he set the men’s 1,500m NCAA record of 3:35.01 in 2017 (his record has since been broken by Notre Dame runner Yared Nuguse). The Olympic standard in the men’s 1,500m is 3:35.00, and considering he is currently the fastest athlete in Europe at the distance, Kerr has likely solidified his spot on Great Britain’s team headed to Tokyo this summer.

World 1,500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot has missed out on the World Athletics Male Athlete of the Year Award

Cheruiyot was Kenya's sole flagbearer for the coveted award. World Athletics has released the final five nominees for the award with the winner expected to be announced virtually on December 5.

Uganda's world record holder in the 5,000m and 10,000m Joshua Cheptegei is the favorite for the gong. He broke world records at 5,000m (12:35.36), 10,000m (26:11.00) and 5km on the roads (12:51) and was fourth at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships on his debut over the distance.

Two-time 400m hurdles world champion Karsten Warholm of Norway makes the cut for the award after a stellar season on the track.

He ran a world-leading 46.87 in the 400m hurdles, the second-fastest performance in history, and was undefeated in nine 400m/400m hurdles races and set a world best of 33.78 in 300m hurdles

Former world javelin champion Johannes Vetter, of Germany, is in the mix after winning eight of his nine javelin competitions and throwing world-leading 97.76m, the second farthest throw in history

World Pole vault record holder Mondo Duplantis of Sweden makes the shortlist. He broke the world record in the pole vault twice (6.17m and 6.18m) and produced the highest outdoor vault of all time (6.15m) and was undefeated in 16 competitions.

USA'S Ryan Crouser will be e hoping to break the trend and win the award. He was undefeated in 10 shot put competitions and his 22.91m world-leading performance moved him to equal third on the world all-time list

A three-way voting process determined the finalists. The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family cast their votes by email, while fans voted online via our social media platforms.

The Council’s vote counted for 50 per cent of the result, while the Athletics Family’s votes and the public votes each counted for 25 per cent of the final result.

Joshua Cheptegei and Karsten Warholm headline nominees for Male World Athlete of the Year

World Athletics released its list of 10 nominees for Male World Athlete of the Year on Monday, and six of the finalists are runners. The list consists of 10 incredible athletes, each of whom have had amazing 2020 seasons despite having limited opportunities to compete, and it includes the likes of Joshua Cheptegei and Karsten Warholm.

Here are the six runners who have been nominated, along with their accomplishments in 2020 and why they deserve to win Male World Athlete of the Year. 

Noah Lyles only raced a handful of times this year, all in July and August, but he finished his season undefeated. He had one second-place finish in a 100m race in Florida, but that was in a preliminary heat. Later that day, he ran 9.93 seconds in the finals to take the win. He also has the world-leading 200m time of 19.76, which he ran at the Monaco Diamond League. 

Donavan Brazier, Like Lyles, Brazier went undefeated this year. He kicked the season off by setting an American 800m indoor record with a 1:44.22, and he also ran the outdoor 800m world-leading time in Monaco, where he won the race in 1:43.15. Racing in 600m, 800m and 1,500m events throughout the season, Brazier showed off his speed and endurance, often cruising to wins. On top of all that, after his final race of the year, news came out that he had been dealing with plantar fasciitis during these races, although he certainly didn’t let it slow him down too much.

Karsten Warholm, Once again, we have an undefeated athlete nominated. Warholm not only won all six of his 400mH races this year, but he also ran the six fastest times in the event in 2020. He’s the only athlete who ran sub-48 seconds this year (a feat which he accomplished five times), and he also ran the second-fastest 400mH time in history with a 46.87 in Stockholm in August. This was just 0.09 seconds off the world record of 46.78, which has stood since 1992. Finally, he also set the 300mH world record at a meet in Oslo, where he ran 33.78 seconds.

Timothy Cheruiyot, didn’t have an undefeated season, but he did remain perfect in his preferred event of 1,500m. He won each of his three 1,500m races in 2020, and he also set the world-leading time of 3:28.45, which he ran in Monaco. He also stepped out of his comfort zone with a 5,000m run in March. He recorded a time of 13:47.2, and while this result doesn’t even put him in the top 700 all-time among Kenyan runners, it’s still cool to see him broadening his horizons. We don’t expect to see him making the jump to longer races anytime soon, but if a 5,000m every now and then helps him with his endurance for the 1,500m, then all power to him. 

Joshua Cheptegei, has had the year of his life. He raced four times in 2020 and broke three world records. He opened the year with a 5K road world record in Monaco, where he ran 12:51, but before he could continue his season, COVID-19 hit and put everything on hold. His time away from racing didn’t seem to faze him, though, because in his return to competition, he set the 5,000m world record (once again in Monaco) with a time of 12:35.36. Two months later, he followed that up with a 10,000m record of 26:11.00. He ran his season finale at the World Half-Marathon Championships in Poland, and while he didn’t win (he finished in fourth in 59:21), it was his debut at the distance, and he still has plenty of time to chase that world record in the coming years. 

Jacob Kiplimo, only raced three times in 2020, but he won each event, and he showed impressive range as he performed well across three different distances. He opened his season with a 5,000m, which he ran in 12:48.63 (the second-fastest time in Ugandan history, behind only Cheptegei). A little over a week later, he ran a 3,000m in 7:26.64 to set the Ugandan national record and world-leading time in the event. Finally, he won his first world title when he ran to victory in 58:49 at the World Half-Marathon Championships, setting another Ugandan record along the way. 

The Kenyan trio of Hellen Obiri, Faith Kipyegon and Peres Jepchirchir are among 10 nominees for the 2020 World Athletes of the Year- Female Award

The winner will be declared during the 2020 World Athletics Awards to be held virtually on December 5.

Obiri, the World 5,000m champion, remained undefeated in three races over 3000m and 5000m during this season's Diamond League and ran a world-leading of 8:22.54 over 3000m at Doha on September 25.

Kipyegon also had a great year undefeated in five races over all distances and also ran world-leading performances over 800m (1:57.68) and 1000m (2:29.15) in Doha.

Peres Jepchirchir twice broke the world half marathon record for a women-only race (1:05:34 and 1:05:16) at the Prague Half Marathon and at the World Half Marathon Championship. No Kenyan woman has ever emerged the World Athlete of the Year winner despite their dominance in long distance races.

On Monday, Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot was shortlisted for the men's award.

World Athletics disclosed on Tuesday that the list of 10 nominees for the Female World Athlete of the Year were selected by an international panel of athletics experts comprising representatives from all six continental areas of World Athletics.

“The nominations reflect the remarkable range of exceptional performances that the sport has witnessed this year, despite the challenges that the global Covid-19 pandemic presented,” said a statement on World Athletics website.

The trio of Kenyans will definitely face stiff competition from Muir, Gidey, Ababel Yeshaneh and Ethiopian-born Dutch European 10,000m record holder, Sifan Hassan. Also to watch out is Jamaican sprinting queen Elaine Thompson-Herah.

Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot makes the cut for Athlete of the Year

World 1,500 meters champion Timothy Cheruiyot has made the 10-man shortlist for the World Athletics Male Athlete of the Year.

The Kenya Prisons officer ran world-leading 3:28.45 over 1,500m and was undefeated in three races in his speciality.

Cheruiyot faces a herculean task to bag the award with Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei the front runner for the award after a stellar season.

Cheptegei broke world records at 5,000m (12:35.36), 10,000m (26:11.00) and 5km on the roads (12:51)  and was fourth at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships on his debut over the distance.

His Ugandan counterpart Jacob Kiplimo won World Half Marathon title in a championship record of 58:49 and ran a world-leading 7:26.64 over 3,000m—the fastest time in the world since 2007.

Donovan Brazier of the United States of America has also made the cut after running a world-leading 800m times  of 1:44.22, North American indoor record and outdoors (1:43.15). He also won all seven of his races over all distances.

World 400m hurdles champion Karsten Warholm of Norway is also in contention for the coveted award. He has a world-lead of 46.87 in the 400m hurdles, the second fastest performance in history and was undefeated in nine 400m/400m hurdles races. He also set world best of 33.78 in 300m hurdles.

Others in the mix include USA sprint sensation Noah Lyles, who was undefeated in five finals and ran a world leading time of 19.76 over 200m

World javelin bronze medalist Johannes Vetter, of Germany, USA's shot put specialist Ryan Crouser and Swedish duo of Daniel Stahl and Mondo Duplantis also made the cut. A three-way voting process will determine the finalists.

The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family will cast their votes by email while fans can vote online via the WA social media platforms. Individual graphics for each nominee will be posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram this week; a 'like' on Facebook and Instagram or a retweet on Twitter will count as one vote.

The World Athletics Council’s vote will count for 50 per cent of the result while the World Athletics Family’s votes and the public votes will each account for 25 per cent each of the final result. Voting for the World Athletes of the Year closes at midnight on November 15.

Britain’s Laura Muir and Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei among World Athletics awards nominees

Britain’s Laura Muir is among the nominees for the female world athlete of the year honor, while Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei is on a shortlist for the male prize at the World Athletics Awards.

This year the global governing body’s awards event will be held virtually on Saturday December 5.

Muir clocked 1500m times of 3:57.40, 3:57.86 and 3:58.24 to lead the world rankings and set a British 1000m record of 2:30.82 in 2020, while Cheptegei broke three world records throughout the year – running 12:51 for a road 5km, 12:35.36 for 5000m on the track and 26:11.00 for 10,000m on the track.

Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey, who set a world record of 14:06.62 over 5000m, and Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan, who recorded a world record distance of 18,930m in the one-hour run and broke the European 10,000m record with 29:36.67, are also among the female nominees.

The men’s shortlist also features Sweden’s world pole vault record-breaker Mondo Duplantis and Norway’s Karsten Warholm, who ran a world-leading 46.87 in the 400m hurdles and was unbeaten in that event.

Female world athlete of the year nominees: Femke Bol, Netherlands; Letesenbet Gidey, Ethiopia; Sifan Hassan, Netherlands; Peres Jepchirchir, Kenya; Faith Kipyegon, Kenya; Laura Muir, Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Hellen Obiri, Kenya; Yulimar Rojas, Venezuela; Elaine Thompson-Herah, Jamaica; Ababel Yeshaneh, Ethiopia

Male world athlete of the year nominees: Donavan Brazier, USA; Joshua Cheptegei, Uganda; Timothy Cheruiyot, Kenya; Ryan Crouser, USA; Mondo Duplantis, Sweden; Jacob Kiplimo, Uganda; Noah Lyles, USA; Daniel Stahl, Sweden; Johannes Vetter, Germany; Karsten Warholm, Norway

A three-way voting process will determine the finalists. The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family will cast their votes by email, while fans can vote online via the World Athletics’ social media platforms.

As well as male and female athlete of the year honors, the World Athletics Awards will include the president’s award, coaching achievement award and athletics photograph of the year, as well as a Covid inspiration award, athletes community award and member federations award.

Last year Eliud Kipchoge and Dalilah Muhammad were named world athletes of the year, while the 2018 winners were Kipchoge and Caterine Ibarguen.

World champions Timothy Cheruiyot and Conseslus Kipruto are planning to raise the bar in the 800m and 1,500m respectively at the Doha Diamond League meeting on Friday

The world and Olympic 3,000m steeplechase champion Kipruto, who missed the opening leg of Diamond League series in Monaco in August after testing positive for COVID-19, will return to action after shaking off the virus.

However, the 25-year-old Kipruto will be competing in an unfamiliar event in Doha, when he takes on compatriot Brimin Kipruto, Vincent Kibet and Bethwell Birgen in the men's 1,500m event.

"I am glad to have been declared fit to compete after missing the opening leg of the series. I am also excited to compete in the 1,500m, I am really looking forward to running the shorter distance on Friday," Kipruto, who boasts a personal best of 3:39.57 in the 1,500m told Xinhua on Tuesday.

Cheruiyot, the world 1,500m champion, will race over 800m. The 24-year-old has a personal best of 1:43.11 in the event from August 2019 during the Kenyan national championships in Nairobi.

He clocked an impressive 3:28.45 to win the 1,500m in Monaco, just four one-hundredths of a second outside his lifetime best.

Cheruiyot will contest the event with fellow Kenyans including the world 800m bronze medalist Ferguson Rotich and Commonwealth Games 800m champion Wycliffe Kinyamal.

Both Kinyamal and Rotich boast personal bests of 1:43.12 and 1:42.54 respectively in the 800m.

"It's good to try other events, but I haven't run an 800m event outside Kenya and I will be happy to register good times and compete against the events specialist," Cheruiyot told Xinhua.

There will be an exciting lineup in the women's 3,000m. The event will consist of Kenyan quartet Hellen Obiri and Beatrice Chepkoech, 2019 world champions over 5,000m and 3,000m steeplechase respectively, in addition to Olympic 3,000m steeplechase silver medalist Hyvin Kiyeng, and world 5,000m runner-up Margaret Chelimo.

The world 10,000m bronze medalist Agnes Tirop of Kenya will also spice up the 3,000m event.

After running 2:29.15 for the 1,000m in Monaco, narrowly missing the world record in the process, Kenyan Faith Kipyegon, the Olympic 1,500m champion will return to her specialty, the 1,500m.

World 1,500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot unstoppable in the Stockholm Diamond League on Sunday

World 1,500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot stamped his authority to seal his season’s double with an emphatic front-running victory in the Stockholm Diamond League on Sunday.

World 800m bronze medallist Ferguson Rotich might not have been lucky yet, but staged an improved performance to finish fourth as compatriots, Continental Cup 1,500m champion Winny Chebet and World 5,000m title holder Hellen Obiri failed to click in their respective races.

Nine days after clocking a world lead of three minutes and 28.45 seconds in Monaco, missing a personal best by four seconds, Cheruiyot timed 3:30.25 this time around in the Swedish capital.

Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen once again played second fiddle, finishing second in 3:30.74 as Australian Stewart Mcsweyn dug in for third in personal best 3:31.48.

“It was a bit windy, but the pace was good and I am pleased with my win today. We are travelling around many countries but we are following all precautions and wearing masks so I am happy to be racing,” said Cheruiyot.

Ingebrigtsen noted that his target was to get close to Cheruiyot and see if he could beat him, but the Kenyan still looked stronger.

“I didn't have the great legs that I had in Monaco, it was a tough race, it wasn't too easy today, “said Ingebrigtsen

“I am closing in on him though, and it’s just a matter of time before I beat him.”

The Norwegian, who set a new European record and personal best 3:28.68 in Monaco, explained that his goal to get a fast race this season and he did that in Monaco.

In the men's 800m, Rotich clocked 1:45.11 to lose the battle to World champion American Donovan Brazier, who sealed his second win in 1:43.76.

Marco Arop from Canada and Swede Andreas Kramer settled second and third in 1:44.67 and 1:45.04 respectively.

Laura Muir from Britain, who finished second behind Kenya’s World 1,500m champion Faith Chepng’etich in 1,000m race in Monaco, cashed in on Chepng’etich's absence to win the metric mile race in Stockholm.

Muir returned a world lead of 3:57.86 in a race where Chebet settled fourth in 4:02.58 as Obiri, the Olympic 5,000m silver medallist, who won the 5,000m in Monaco, came in 12th in 4:10.53.

European champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen from Norway set his second European record of the season in the 1500m with 3:28.68 in the Monaco Diamond League on Friday

After breaking the European 2000m record with 4:50.01 at the Impossible Games in Oslo where he had the advantage of being paced by his brothers, Ingebrigtsen was racing against not only his older brother Filip but also the reigning world champion Timothy Cheruiyot from Kenya who was decisively beaten by the Ingebrigtsens in the virtual head-to-head clash between Oslo and Nairobi.

Aided by his training partners who were acting as his pacemakers, Cheruiyot blazed through the early stages in an unfathomably fast pace on his unofficial season’s debut. These exertions appeared to be catching up on the world champion as the pack closed up on Cheruiyot at the bell with Ingebrigtsen looming into view and Great Britain’s Jake Wightman also rounding into contention.

Ingebrigtsen was in position to strike off the final bend but the forward-leaning Cheruiyot kicked away again, holding the Norwegian off to win in a world leading 3:28.45 after an overly exuberant first 400 meters of 52.59. In contrast Ingebrigtsen ran a much more steady paced race and was rewarded with a phenomenally fast time of 3:28.68.

Ingebrigtsen’s time eclipsed Mo Farah’s European record of 3:28.81 which was set in the same stadium seven years ago and the teenager moves to eighth on the world all-time list which is still headed by Hicham El Guerrouj’s world record of 3:26.00.

“I felt like I kept the same pace...going from 3:30 to 3:28 it's double the achievement. It's crazy,” said Ingebrigtsen whose previous lifetime best stood at 3:30.16.

Ingebrigtsen was gearing up for not only his Olympic debut in Tokyo as well as the now-cancelled European Championships in Paris where more continental honors must have surely beckoned. Despite the decimation of the summer calendar due to the coronavirus pandemic, motivation has by no means been lacking for the ebullient and popular Norwegian.

“This year I have been doing every session, I never skipped a single one because I was very motivated after Doha. That's why I can run this fast. It's unbelievable to run this fast in one race. It's one shot, one chance,” he said.

The Stade Louis II Stadium is the foremost venue for middle distance runners searching for fast times. Behind Ingebrigtsen, Wightman moved to fourth on the European all-time list - ahead of both Sebastian Coe (3:29.77) and Steve Cram (3:29.67) among others - with a marvelous lifetime best of 3:29.47.

Filip Ingebrigtsen, who had to concede the family record of 3:30.01 to Jakob tonight, almost matched his lifetime best with 3:30.35 in fourth. Reigning European indoor champion Marcin Lewandowski from Poland was seventh in 3:33.99.

Lots of fast times in Monaco including a new 5000m world record

Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei broke a 16-year-old world record in the 5000m by nearly two seconds, clocking 12:35.36 in Monaco on Friday.

Cheptegei, the 2019 World 10,000m champion who reportedly needed 80 hours to travel from Uganda for the Diamond League meet, took 1.99 seconds off Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekele‘s world record from 2004. Bekele is also the 10,000m world-record holder and the second-fastest marathoner in history.

“It took a lot of mind setting to keep being motivated this year because so many people are staying at home, but you have to stay motivated,” Cheptegei said, according to organizers. “I pushed myself, I had the right staff with me, the right coach.”

Cheptegei, 23, came into Monaco as the 73rd-fastest man in history with a personal best of 12:57.41. But he declared before the meet that the world record was his goal, given he had no Olympics or world championships to peak for this year.

“It is very difficult to run any world record,” was posted on the Instagram of Bekele, who is part of the NN Running Team with Cheptegei. “Congratulations to my teammate [Cheptegei].”

The Diamond League next moves to Stockholm on Aug. 23.

In other events Friday, Noah Lyles easily won a 200m after raising a black-gloved first before the start. More on Lyles’ gesture and victory here.

Donavan Brazier extended a year-plus 800m win streak, clocking 1:43.15 and holding off countryman Bryce Hoppel by .08. Brazier won his last seven meets, including national, world and Diamond League titles in 2019, when he broke a 34-year-old American record.

Olympic silver medalist Orlando Ortega of Spain won the 110m hurdles in 13.11 seconds, overtaking world champion Grant Holloway. Holloway, who won worlds in 13.10 last autumn, finished fourth in 13.19.

Timothy Cheruiyot followed his 2019 World title by clocking his second-fastest 1500m ever. The Kenyan recorded 3:28.45, holding off Norwegian 19-year-old Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who set a European record of 3:28.68.

Sifan Hassan, the world’s top female distance runner, dropped out of the 5000m with two and a half laps left while in the lead pack. Two-time world champion Hellen Obiri won in 14:22.12, surging past Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey on the final lap.

Karsten Warholm ran the joint eighth-fastest 400m hurdles in history, a 47.10 against a field that lacked rivals Rai Benjamin and Abderrahman Samba. Warholm, the two-time world champion, ranks second in history with a personal best of 46.92, trailing only American Kevin Young‘s 46.78 from the 1992 Olympics.

American Lynna Irby won her Diamond League debut with a 50.50 in the 400m. Irby, the second-fastest American in 2018, failed to make the 2019 World team. On Friday, she beat Wadeline Jonathas, the top American in 2019.

Elijah Manangoi, the 2017 World 1500m champ, provisionally suspended

Elijah Manangoi, became the latest Kenyan to be suspended over anti-doping violations.

Manangoi has been provisionally suspended in a case of whereabouts failures, the Athletics Integrity Unit, track and field’s doping watchdog organization, announced Thursday. Athletes must provide doping officials with their whereabouts, or locations to be available for out-of-competition testing.

Three missed tests in a 12-month span can lead to a suspension, even if an athlete has never tested positive.

The Athletics Integrity Unit did not disclose details about Manangoi’s case, such as if or when he has a hearing to determine anything beyond the provisional ban.

Manangoi was unable to defend his world title in 2019 due to injury. Since July 2017, he is the only man to defeat Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot in the 1500m, doing so five times. Cheruiyot won the 2019 World title and is the Olympic favorite.

Other Kenyan distance-running stars have been banned in recent years for failing drug tests.

Rita Jeptoo had Boston and Chicago Marathon titles stripped, and Jemima Sumgong was banned after winning the Rio Olympic marathon after both tested positive for EPO. Asbel Kiprop, a 2008 Olympic 1500m champion and a three-time world champ, was banned four years after testing positive for EPO in November 2017. 

Wilson Kipsang, a former marathon world-record holder, was earlier in July banned four years for whereabouts failures.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kenyan Rodgers Kwemoi Chumo says that Coronavirus paused his marathon debut

Trouble has come in doubles for Commonwealth Games 10,000m bronze medalist Rodgers Kwemoi, who, in addition to failing to make his marathon debut, is locked up in Kenya away from his place of work in Japan.

Kwemoi, who runs for Aisan Kyobio, whom he signed for in 2015, has had a time time due to the coronavirus pandemic that has made a return to the island nation impossible due to travel restrictions.

“ I was to return to my work station in Japan on March 25, the date that all international flights were canceled,” said Kwemoi.

However, to keep himself fit as he waits on what's next, he does long runs and takes his free to tend to his cattle.

The former world junior 10,000m champion said also revealed his plans for the future, despite the uncertainties surrounding the world of sports.

His focus, he said, is to deliver a world and Olympics 10,000m title, which has been elusive for decades with his immediate focus being the 2020 Olympic Games set for Tokyo, Japan next year.

Naftali Temu was the last Olympics 10,000m winner at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games while Charles Kamathi was the last to win the world title at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton, Canada — the third after Paul Koech (1983) and Moses Tanui (1991).

“I want to run several 10,000m, 5,000m and road races but now am focusing on the Olympics. I want to bring the 5,000m and 10,000m Olympic titles,” said Kwemoi.

Despite his current struggles, Kwemoi can count himself lucky after he was considered for the Sh100,000-a-month scholarship programme by the National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) courtesy of Association of National Olympics Committees of Africa (Anoca).

He is joined by Commonwealth Games 800m champion Wycliffe Kinyamal, 800m Africa Games bronze medalist Emily Cherotich, world 800m silver medalist Ferguson Rotich, world champion 3,000m steeplechase champion Conseslus Kipruto and world 1,500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot.

“I thank God and NOCK for selecting me. I will use the scholarship well as I prepare for the Olympic Games,” said Chumo.

He said that the scholarship will use it well as he prepares for Olympic Games, utilize it well.

“I don’t want to let those who chose me down. I will work to the best of my knowledge,” he said.

He joined Japan through former Africa cross country champion Leonard Barsoton after the world cross country in China.

“Going to Japan was my dream and all my prayers were answered because I had wanted to work in Japan like my friends,” he said.

He also hailed his employer for ensuring that, despite being away from work, he still gets his wages.

Huge blow for Kenyan athletes as European Union travel ban continues

After a dark season that has seen them lose massive earnings from the international circuit due to cancellation of global sporting events owing to the coronavirus pandemic, Kenyan athletes face another blow.

Kenya is among the nations yet to be cleared to travel into Schengen states when the European Union (EU) opens its borders on July 1.

The Kenya athletes will be hit hard should the country continue to remain on the Covid-19 compliace “blacklist” when the 2020 Diamond League circuit resumes in August.

Kenya is not among 54 world countries that will benefit from the reopening of the EU borders from July 1.

Things haven’t been made any easier as Kenya’s Covid-19 cases continue to rise in the country with 6,190 cases having been reported with 144 deaths and 2,013 recoveries by Monday.

However, athletes from Kenyan neighbors Ethiopia, Uganda and Rwanda are among the African countries who will be allowed to enter the Schengen states from July 1.

Should the ban be sustained, then Kenya’s world 1,500 meters champion Timothy Cheruiyot will not be able to defend his title alongside former champion Elijah Manang’ oi, among others, during the Monaco leg of the Diamond League on August 14.

Monaco will signal the resumption of Diamond League action.

More Kenyan athletes are likely to miss the Stockholm meet on August 23 in Sweden and if EU doesn’t clear Kenya then the athletes will also miss Brussels leg on September 4 in Belgium since the Lausanne meet on September 2 will be an exhibition event.

Nationals of the following countries are listed in this draft list of nations allowed into the EU from July 1:

Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Australia, Bahamas, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Dominica, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Lebanon, Mauritius, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Palau, Paraguay, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Serbia, South Korea, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vatican City, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia.

The Oslo’s Impossible Games will be the biggest meet of the track season so far

The first big track meet of the summer is Oslo’s Impossible Games on June 11—an event which replaced the Oslo Diamond League, which was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The meet will have a limited lineup of events (just 13 in all) and very few athletes competing (not even 50), but there will be many exciting races and competitions, including solo runs, shots at European records and world record attempts. This is not an event that track fans will want to miss, but if you can’t watch it all, here are some highlights you might want to try to catch.

At 8:35 p.m. local time (2:35 p.m. ET), Norway’s Karsten Warholm will run a solo race as he shoots for the 300mH world record. Warholm is the two-time defending world champion in the 400mH, and he has a PB of 34.26 in the 300mH, which is actually faster than the current world record, although he ran it indoors. On June 11, he’ll run outdoors in Oslo’s Bislett Stadium to try and break the current record of 34.48.

Henrik, Filip, and Jakob Ingebrigtsen will run in a 2,000m team event at 8:50 Oslo time (2:50 ET) along with fellow Norwegians Narve Gilje Nordås and Per Svela. The all-Norwegian team will run in Oslo and face-off against a team of Kenyans who will run in Nairobi. The Kenyan team (dubbed Team Cheruiyot) will include 2017 and 2019 1,500m world champions Timothy Cheruiyot and Elijah Manangoi.

All 10 runners will go at once (the race will be broadcast live on a split screen), and three athletes must finish from each team. The team with the fastest cumulative time from their top-three runners wins.

This will be a fun event to watch as it is, but there will also be a couple of record attempts in this race as well to add to the excitement. Team Ingebrigtsen will be chasing the European 2,000m record of 4:51.39, and Team Cheruiyot will look to capture the 2,000m world record of 4:44.79.

Later on in the evening at 9:30 p.m. (3:30 ET), Norwegian cross-country skiing star Therese Johaug will run a solo 10,000m race. As a skier, Johaug has three Olympic medals and multiple world championship golds to her name, but in 2019 she surprised the world by adding a track and field win to her resume when she won the Norwegian 10,000m national championships in 32:20.86.

This was the fifth-fastest time ever run by a Norwegian woman, and to make it more impressive, she won the race in regular running shoes rather than spikes. Hopefully she’ll wear some faster footwear at the Impossible Games so we can see just how fast she’s capable of running.

The Cheruiyot´s team targets sub-4:50 time against Ingebrigtsens´ team

Team Cheruiyot, led by World 1,500 metres champion Timothy Cheruiyot, is targeting a winning time of sub-four minutes and 50 seconds in the virtual Maurie Plant Memorial Race on June 11.

Dubbed ‘Impossible Games’, the Maurie Plant Memorial Race will see Team Cheruiyot, made up of Cheruiyot, 2017 World 1,500m champion Elijah Manang’oi, 800m runner Edwin Meli, 800m runner Timothy Sein and 1,500m athlete Vincent Keter take on Team Ingebrigtsen made of world-famous Ingebrigtsen brothers Jakob, Henrik and Filip, and two other athletes over 2,000m.

Team Cheruiyot will run at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi, while Team Ingebrigtsen and two other yet-to-be-named athletes, will run at Bislett Stadium in Norway.

And Cheruiyot has pointed out that it has been though adjusting to 2,000m race in training, saying that with the 2,000m race that stretches over five laps requires a good strategy, and theirs is to spend between 56 and 57 seconds in covering the first three laps.

“We want to do the last lap in 53 seconds, and it will be great to finish under for four minutes and 50 seconds,” Cheruiyot, the 2018 and 2019 Diamond League champion, said. “In fact, we are aiming at one of us finishing the race in 4:44.”

The 24-year-old Cheruiyot, who has competed in more than five distances (800m, 1,500m, One Mile, 5,000m and distance medley relay), said they have had to change their training programme by introducing more lapping sessions to cover an additional 400m to 500m.

“We have also added more of the long runs as we train how to spread our energies across the distances,” said Cheruiyot, who has tipped Manang’oi and Meli to return good times in the race.

“Meli has been in camp while Manang’oi has had at least a month of training. I just started two weeks ago but all has been well for me, having hit the track for the first time in a while,” said Cheruiyot.

Cheruiyot said their Norwegian opponents will have a slight advantage over his team owing to difference in altitude and more so because they have been in training longer.

Oslo lies at an altitude of 23 metres while Nairobi is 1,795 metres above sea level.

“They will have the advantage of competing at a lower altitude, practically at sea level while we shall be higher up. Nevertheless, we shall take them head-on,” said Cheruiyot.

Cheruiyot, who has personal best of 1:43.11 in 800m, 3:28.41 in 1,500m and 3:49.64 in One Mile, said the Maurie Plant Memorial is part of his preparations for the Diamond League and World Athletics Continental Tour starting in August.

“You realise we shall have few races this season owing to the Covid-19 pandemic but our main focus is now on next year’s Tokyo Olympic Games,” said Cheruiyot, who is targeting on open his Diamond League season with his 1,500m title defence in Monaco on August 14.

The 2020 Diamond League that has been shortened, will end in October and has 11 events.

Several events being cancelled for instance Rabat, London and Zurich as organisers continue to adapt the season in the face of the coronavirus crisis.

Like A Starved Lion, Manangoi Back In Action Hungry For Success

With a hairline stress fracture on his heel, Elijah Manangoi missed the trip to Qatar to defend his 1500m world title, a crown that was aptly picked up by training partner Timothy Cheruiyot at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha.

And now, partly thanks to the break occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, Manangoi, nicknamed ‘The Lion’, has had time to fully recover without missing any major competition and is raring to go in search of the elusive Olympic title.

“The Olympic medal is the only one I don’t have,” Manangoi says with his eyes shining in confident determination.

“I feel like this pandemic has given me a chance to recover well. I am now injury free and I have returned to training fully, like I have never been injured before. I was rushing to be back in time for the Doha Diamond League but at least now, the break has given me time to recover well,” stated the Commonwealth Games champion.

“I think I have returned hungrier and I need to continue fighting. I am serious in my training and the competitions I will take,” he added.

Manangoi had hoped to recover well to travel to Doha, but a week to the Championship, pulled out of the race where Cheruiyot went on to clinch the title after a successful season in the Diamond League.

“Last year was too tough for me especially noting I didn’t go to defend my title in Doha. But I was very happy when my ‘brother’ Cheruiyot went and came back with the gold medal,” further added Manangoi.

Manangoi is already into his second week of training and on Tuesday he hit the track for the first time, training with Cheruiyot and two other team-mates from the Rongai Athletics Camp who will be part of the Maurie Plant Memorial Race on June 11.

This will be his first competition of the season, but his campaign will begin proper on August 4 at the Monaco Diamond League.

But even as he prepares for the make-up season, Manangoi has reiterated his focus is on Tokyo Olympics Games that was postponed to 2021, and an assault at the Olympic Gold, having pulled out in the semis due to injury at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

“This is my first journey towards the Olympics which is my big focus. The Diamond League is not so crucial in terms of winning, but I want to participate to get confidence to build up towards Tokyo,” he stated.

Manangoi has spent a huge chunk of his recovery time especially during the COVID-19 pandemic with family back at his Narok home, while also fanning his farming hobby, tending to his wheat farms.

“I have continued to train even while I am at home, taking morning runs and doing some physio in the house as well. Going back to the track feels great and we have literally hit the ground running,” he further stated.

Ingebrigtsen v Cheruiyot: Impossible Games take shape

A world record attempt in the hurdles, a star-studded pole vault battle and a long distance showdown between Norway and Kenya in the middle distance will all be on the agenda when the Impossible Games take place in Oslo next month. 

Kenyan middle-distance star and reigning 1500m Diamond League Champion Timothy Cheruiyot is to go head to head with Norway’s Ingebrigtsen brothers in a one-off, team event at the Bislett Impossible Games next month. 

The Ingebrigtsens will run in Bislett while Cheruiyot-led rival team will compete in Nairobi, in what Oslo meeting director Steinar Hoen described as “the first virtual race at such a level in the history of athletics”.

The Maurie Plant Memorial Race, named in honour of the former Bislett organising committee stalwart, will see the two teams battle it out in an innovative new format over 2000 metres.

Both teams will start with five runners and end with three, and the winner will be the team with the best overall time from their top three runners. 

A Wanda Diamond League exhibition event, the Impossible Games were conceived by Bislett Games organisers to allow this year's Oslo Diamond League meeting to go ahead under Norway's coronavirus regulations. 

Instead of the usual, elite-level hunt for Diamond League points, the Impossible Games will instead showcase the innovative spirit of athletics with a series of set-piece exhibition events. 

Beyond the 2000m battle, the programme is taking shape for the Games, which will take place at Bislett Stadium on June 11. 

Confirmed events now include:

A long-distance pole vault showdown involving world-record holder Mondo Duplantis and record Diamond League Champion Renaud Lavillenie.

A 300m hurdles world record attempt from World Champion and Norwegian star Karsten Warholm

A Norway vs Finland duel in the women’s 200m hurdles

An all-Scandinavian discus competition involving Swedish World Champion Daniel Ståhl.

A Norwegian record attempt over 1000m by Filip Ingebrigtsen. 

The meeting will be shown on Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, with commentary from British middle-distance legend and 2000m European record holder Steve Cram.

The Oslo Bislett Games has created a unique clash between Team Ingebrigtsen and Team Cheruiyot as part of the Impossible Games

While the Covid-19 outbreak has prevented Wanda Diamond League meetings from going ahead in their usual fashion, the Oslo Bislett Games has created a unique clash between Team Ingebrigtsen and Team Cheruiyot as part of the ‘Impossible Games’ on June 11th.

Racing over 2000m, the Ingebrigtsen brothers – Henrik, Filip and Jakob – will run at the Bislett Stadum, while world 1500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot and 2017 world champion Elijah Manangoi will form part of ‘Team Cheruyitot’ and will run in Nairobi.

The race will be shown on international TV as a split screen competition and is named ‘The Maurie Plant Memorial’ in honour of the Australian athletics agent who passed away in January.

“This will be the first virtual race at such a level in the history of athletics,” said meeting director Steinar Hoen.

“Maurie loved middle-distance running and he loved Bislett,” added Hoen. “But he also loved non-traditional arrangements of events. In his earlier years, serving the athletics family, he was the mastermind behind countless matches between countries around the world. Our idea is to honor him with such an event which is completely in line with everything he loved.”

Both teams will start with five runners and will have to finish with three. The winner of the match will be the team with the best overall time for three runners.

Individual times will count as well, and the Ingebrigtsen brothers will have one eye on the European record of 4:51.39 held by Steve Cram, who will be commentating on the race.

“Athletics Kenya is fully supportive of this creative idea from the Oslo DL,” added Athletics Kenya President Jackson Tuwei. “Serious racing within a safe environment while also entertainment for avid athletics fans the world over is to be welcomed. Our planning has begun, and we thank Oslo for involving us.”

Swedish Athletics Association now tightens rules for Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes

As concerns increase over rising violations of anti-doping regulations, Kenyan athletes will now face more intense scrutiny before competing in Sweden.

This is after the Swedish Athletics Association on Monday said they are sharpening rules for athletes who train in countries where out-of-competition tests are not quite advanced, with Kenya and Ethiopia classified in this category.

According to EME News, an independent track and field information agency, quoting Swedish public broadcaster SVT, Swedish Athletics Association secretary general Stefan Olsson has expressed concerns over the capacity of anti-doping testing in Kenya and Ethiopia.

“There is no prohibition on going there, but if they do, we should really have knowledge of where the athletes are, how long they should be there, with what training group, coach and manager they train with,” Olsson said.

“It may be that we contact Swedish anti-doping so that they can add extra resources before, during and after these trips,” he added.

Kenyans and Ethiopians have always featured prominently in athletics competitions in Sweden, both in road racing and in track and field.

Athletes from Kenya have been regular winners at the annual BAHAUS-galan Diamond League meeting in Stockholm whose new 2020 date was on Tuesday set for August 23 after changes in the global track and field calendar by World Athletics.

At last year’s meeting, Rhonex Kipruto and Timothy Cheruiyot triumphed in the 10,000 and 1,500 meters races, respectively, with Agnes Jebet Tirop winning the 5,000 meters in a race that also featured eight Kenyans, including two-time world 5,000m champion Hellen Obiri.

Ethiopian and Kenyan athletes have won 13 titles out of the 20 on offer in the men’s and women’s divisions of the annual Stockholm marathon.

World 1,500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot hopes to maintain form for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics

World 1,500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot is ruing the missed chance to cement his name in the sport's folklore by winning an Olympic medal in 2020.

Cheruiyot, 24, had high expectations this season, but all that has disappeared as he can't train or compete in any event at the moment.

The Diamond League has been postponed with the first race likely in August and the Olympic Games have been pushed back to 2021. Now, he is left with doing his part-time job, farming.

"Of course I had set my sights on winning my fourth Diamond League trophy and the Olympic Games," said Cheruiyot on Monday from his home in Bomet.

Cheruiyot had hoped to use the top form he has enjoyed recently to challenge some of the times set in the distance, defend the Diamond Trophy and win the Tokyo Olympics.

Now he will have to wait, hoping he will find similar form in 2021, to hunt for medals and records.

"Hopefully, I will be in the same form as last season. But we have to accept to live with things we can't change. We have to accept the postponement of the Games because nothing much could have been done," he said.

Cheruiyot says the world will emerge stronger after the coronavirus and it is important that athletes continue training no matter how hard it is to do alone.

"Of course, we are finding ourselves in a very difficult situation as athletes but we take heart because it is a global problem. We will overcome it and sports will be back on the big stage," Cheruiyot said.

Kenyan athletes will have a tough choice to make in 2021 when most sports events are expected to return. There will be the Commonwealth Games, the Olympic Games, the Diamond League, Africa Championships and Continental Tour.

Some of these events, running from May to August, are so close that it will be hard to see some athletes doubling up or competing in subsequent races.

"For me, being able to race again will be enough," said Helen Obiri, the world 5,000m champion. "I have no plans on doubling, because now what is important is being safe, healthy and focused. Coronavirus will end and we will return to action."

World 1,500m champion Cheruiyot rues missed chance to break record

World 1,500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot has said he had high hopes of peaking at the right time this season to make a serious attempt on the world record.

"When the year started, I had two items I wanted to accomplish - winning Olympic gold and breaking the world record. At the moment, the Olympic dream is gone, moved to 2021 and the dream chance of running at the higher level at full throttle looks bleak," he said on Sunday.

Hicham El Guerrouj's record of 3:26.00 has stood the test of time for over two decades and Cheruiyot, who has seen his rise from obscurity to blossom as a world champion feels he was the man to finally shatter the record.

However, the coronavirus pandemic has nipped in the bud his dream as he has no idea when he will return to action.

Cheruiyot is worried many athletes will struggle to regain fitness and sharpness in competition whenever the ban on sports competition is lifted.

With the shutdown of all training camps in Kenya, Cheruiyot, like many other athletes is facing the prospect of lazing at home in 2020 after the Covid-19 global pandemic wrecked the sports calendar.

Cheruiyot now has turned his focus on staying safe and forgotten his hope of chasing records.

His best time on the miler is 3:28.41, which he posted in Monaco in 2018.

"People break records when they run regularly and competitively at the highest level. So clearly from where we stand that is not going to be the case this year," he added.

Meanwhile, Olympic 5,000m silver medalist Hellen Obiri has urged fellow athletes to follow social distancing and practice good hygiene standards.

Obiri, the world 5,000m champion, who has been forced to amend her training program, says she only has one session in the morning to train.

She believes, like other sectors, sports will have to suffer initially before order is restored. However, she believes she will emerge out of the self-quarantine stronger and ready to battle her way to the top to win the only medal missing in her collection, Olympic gold.

"I have to train alone and it is difficult. It requires a lot of discipline and focus because distractions are many," Obiri said on Monday in Nairobi.

"These are difficult times, which call for special measures. As athletes and role models we must sensitise the need to keep safe and follow government directives. We must be very careful, that is why I can only afford to train once a day."

With no Diamond League meetings and the World Athletics Continental Tour having been postponed, Obiri has had to be careful not to peak too soon.

"There will be time for action and the important thing now is to remain safe and healthy. When everything is done and there is no coronavirus, we will train as a team and compete at the highest stage again," she said.

World Athletics President Seb Coe has said it will be a lot harder to stage all competitions in 2020 when the situation allows and athletes will have to select which events to take part in after Covid-19 is defeated.