Don't Count Geb Out Yet


"In 2007 when I dropped out from London marathon it looked like the end of my career. Six months later I broke the world record."

- Haile Gebrselassie, talking about how even after the disappointing dropout at Berlin, he still thinks he could win in London 2012 and even feels he's still capable of breaking the World Record. He discloses that he was aiming for 2:03:30 at Berlin, but says that "Maybe I was a bit too ambitious that day."

Athletics Kenya Shooting Itself In The Foot?

  • Athletics Kenya Announces That All Gold Medallists From Daegu Along With Patrick Makau Are Automatically Named To London 2012 Team In a surprise announcement AK selects Olympic team members way in advance. Team so far includes David Rudisha, Asbel Kiprop, Ezekiel Kemboi (steeple), Abel Kirui and Patrick Makau (marathon). The women have Vivian Cheruiyot (10k/5k double) and Edna Kiplagat (marathon). This means that out of Boston Champ Geoffrey Mutai, runner-up Moses Mosop, and London champ Emmanuel Mutai ONLY ONE can be chosen for the Olympic team. Also worth mentioning that Makau said he won't run another marathon until the London Games.
  • New AK Olympic System Stirs Debate AK’s Nairobi branch chairman, Barnabas Korir: “We have the best athletes in the world and such early selection is denying others who are equally good a chance. It is a wrong move and has never happened anywhere in the world. It is premature and should never be considered.”

US Stuff

Marathon News *LRC Berlin WR Photo Gallery

It's Official: Geoffrey Mutai And Mary Keitany Added To 2011 ING NYC Marathon Field This is big, big news (but not new news if you've been paying attention on LRC), as NYC got the 2 biggest names in marathoning in 2011 (outside of Patrick Makau) in Mutai (2:03:02 in Boston) and Keitany (2:19:19 destruction versus the best field in the World in London), plus 2011 Boston champ Caroline Kilel.

More Marathon Stuff

College XC News

#6 Oregon Men Taking On #2 Wisconsin At Home This Weekend

Post-Berlin News *Race Video *LRC Photo Gallery

Mr. World Record: *Patrick Makau Had Worked On His Tactics On His Way To World Record IAAF.org
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Paul Tergat Congratulates Patrick Makau On Bringing World Marathon Record Back To Kenya
*Despite Death Of Sammy Wanjiru, Kenyan Olympic Team To Be Stacked

Paula Radcliffe To Have Ankle Surgery This Friday
If Paula can get 100% healthy, Sunday's run in Berlin shows she can be a factor in London 2012.
*Paula And Irina Mikitenko Talk About Their Runs In Berlin

BMW Berlin Marathon *Race Video *LRC Photo Gallery *Yahoo Photos

Patrick Makau Smashes Marathon World Record, 2:03:38!!! Florence Kiplagat got the win on the women's side, Haile Geb dropped out when Makau took off, and Paula ran 2:23 in 3rd to book her ticket to London.
*IAAF: Patrick Makau Talks About His "Zig-Zag" Tactics Which Knocked Geb Out Of The Race "It is one of my tactics. I did some zig-zags, to confuse him. I had a lot of energy, and wanted to tire him. He was trying to use me, to maintain the pace, and I wanted to run alone, either behind him or to the side."
*The Science Of Sport Analyzes Patrick Makau's WR And Compares It To Geb's In 2008
*Geb's Agent: "This is not the end of Haile, but this is the end of an era."
*
Paula Radcliffe Says She Swallowed Her Pride At Berlin Thinking Long-Term On 2012
*UK's Scott Overall Runs 2:10:55 In Debut Marathon
*Haile Will Not Retire, Will Likely Run Dubai In January He was originally going to run Tokyo, but now won't since that isn't a fast course and he needs a time to make the Ethiopian team for 2012.

On The Boards: 2:03:38 ! ! ! Patrick Makau Shatters Marathon WR
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BERLIN MARATHON ANALYSIS
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Canova was right Fools! 2:03:02 Should be WR!!
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American Performances at Berlin
*MAKAU IS A HEEL STRIKER!

Edward Cheserek Sets CR At Passaic Coaches Invitational In 14:53
*MB:
Edward Cheserek (NJ/KEN) opens his season and runs 14:53 to break Bob Keino's (NJ/KEN) record at Garrett Mountain!

30 Track Stars And Their Major Sports Doppelgangers Usain Bolt is Shaquille O'Neal.

David Rudisha Loses *Race Video

In Rainy & Windy Conditions, David Rudisha Loses For 1st Time Since 2009 Worlds The weather was similar the last time Rudisha lost in Berlin in 2009 and Rudisha said he had trouble warming up. Ethiopian teen sensation Mohamed Aman got the win 1:43.50 to Rudisha's 1:43.57.
*AW: Rudisha's 34-meet winning streak is broken by a 17-year-old
*Milan Results
*LRC MB: Aman has beaten Rudisha

Course Record Falls At BUPA Great North Run *Cool Photos

Martin Mathathi Sets New Course Record (58:56) As Lucy Kabuu Wins Women's Title In 67:06 Jonathan Maiyo was 2nd in 59:27 while London champ Emmanuel Mutai was third in 59:52. *BBC Recap *IAAF Recap
*Kabuu And Mathathi Were Former Teammates On Japanese Suzuki Team

Post-Brussels News *Rupp 10k Video

Recommended Read: Rupp & Salazar Reflect On Galen's Historic Run Galen's mindset and focus on improvement is 100% spot on. The article is a great read and full of interesting quotes, including this one from Salazar, who thinks the heat hurt Galen in Daegu: "Galen is not a big guy, he's still big compared to a Kenyan or an Ethiopian. It's a disadvantage if you are a Caucasian running in the heat versus an African, you just have more body mass and it's going to be harder."
*LRC MB: Discussion Of Rupp Article
*Writer Admits He Mistakenly Doubted Bekele: "Never again will I doubt Bekele's ability to do amazing things on the track."

2011 Diamond League Is Over *Results

LRC 2011 Brussels Recap: Usain Bolt Runs World Leader But Gets Overshadowed By His Training Partner Yohan Blake's 19.26!! (link fixed) In terms of sprint action, Yohan Blake and Usain Bolt may have done the fans a disservice by ducking each other, but at least they put on quite a show as Usain Bolt put up a world leader in the men's 100 before Yohan Blake stole the show by running 19.26. *IAAF Recap: Blake Upstages The World

LRC Morgan Uceny Emphatically Shows She's The Best In The World The American who suffered a heartbreaking fall at the World Championships destroyed the field over the final 400 to win the Diamond League title in a world-leading 4:00.06 as she got her third DL victory on the year. World champ Jenny Barringer Simpson was way back in 13th.
*LRC MB Chatter: Pic of the Day, Uceny, really?
*Uceny just proved

LRC Galen Rupp Shatters The American 10,000 Record By Running 26:48.00 Galen Rupp crushed the American record and became the 16th-fastest man in history, as Kenenisa Bekele won in a world-leading 26:43.16.
*LRC MB Chatter: CALLING IT RIGHT NOW, RUPP WILL RUN A 2:03 MARATHON
*Dear Galen Rupp: Time to Move up to the Marathon
*Remember when 13:26.6 and 13:23.4 would have ranked you in the top 5 in the US? Now they're 10k splits
*Galen Rupp's 10000m Is Not Superior To Chris Solinsky's
*Official Brussels 10k live update thread

2012 US Olympic Trials Standards Released The standards include "approximate" field sizes. However, we are almost certain that John Chaplin will find a way to ruin several people's dreams. LRC Rule #1 - Please put 32 people exactly in the men's and women's 800s. 30 makes zero sense. LRC Rule #2. Please share rule #1 with Mr. Chaplin.

The Short Track Stanford Of Europe? Rieti *Results

Rieti Saturday: Rudisha 1:41.33!!!, Kiprop 3:30.46 PR Rudisha returned to the site of his 1:41.01 world record and he came close to matching it. Asbel Kiprop, two days after not being able to finish 3rd in Zürich to win the $40,000 Diamond League title, blasted a 3:30.46 to get a PR faster than Andrew Wheating. And WORLD CHAMPION Jenny Simpson raced for the first time since Worlds. The result? 4:06.13 for 10th place. Lagat outkicked Vincent Chepkok, Thomas Longosiwa and last year's winner Tariku Bekele. In the 100, Walter Dix won in 10.02 over Jamaica's Lerone Clarke in 2nd, and Justin Gatlin 3rd. Lashawn Merritt ran 20.13 to win the 200 beating Norway's World Champs fourth placer Jaysuma Saidy Ndure (20.41).
*Video Of Rudisha's Run
*Aussie Jeff Riseley Gets Pulled To 800 PR In Rieti With 1:44.64 For 7th
*Poland's 800m Runner Adam Kszczot Runs 1:43.30
*Jamaica's Kaliese Spencer Wins 400m Hurdles
Rieti On The Boards: *Asbel 3'30.46 *RUDISHA 1:41.33 *Jenny Simpson 4:06.13 in Rieti Today

Three Recommended Reads

2011 Worlds End With A Bang!
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Final Results *LRC Interviews From Daegu *LRC Photos From Daegu

LRC Men's 5,000 Gets Physical: Farah Wins But Lagat Says He Had It Deserving champ Mo Farah goes home with 5,000m gold, but were it not for a now-DQed Imane Merga getting physical with 3 top contenders in the span of 300m, including prime rival Bernard Lagat, Farah may have returned to Oregon with 2 narrow losses. We've got the story of the most controversial distance event at Worlds.

LRC Women's 800 Final: Semenya Goes Down Caster Semenya goes home with silver as Russian Mariya Savinova ran 1:55 to shock the huge favorite and herself to take home the gold, with Alysia Montano just missing out in 4th. Semenya, who was permitted to skip the press conference amid the 2009 controversy in Berlin, did a great job talking to the media in her first Worlds press conference.
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After 6th Place Finish In 800, Maggie Vessey Says She's Disappointed She concedes that having to run multiple fast 800s to make the final took a lot out of her.

Sunday AM:
2011 World Championships Marathon: Abel Kirui X 2 Kirui destroyed the field the second half to get his second world title. Despite being 2009 World Champ, Kirui switched coaches this year to LRC message board favorite Renato Canova. Kirui gave Canova a call after the race. The American men struggled.

Friday:
*LRC Day 7 Non-Distance: Dwight Phillips Gets Gold #5, US 4 X 400 Kicks By S. Africa, VCB Over Jeter And Felix, US Shotputters Shut Out The quotes, the interviews, the results ... plus the cover jinx barely survives, why Pistorius didn't run for South Africa's medal-winning 4 x 4, and more.

Worlds Thursday

LRC Day 6 Jenny Gets Gold Jenny Simpson powered home the final 100m to stun the world Thursday night to end America's 28-year drought of distance gold. Her run was unexpected, but in retrospect not totally shocking, as the American phenom showed in 2009 she can run with the world's best when fit and healthy. And she's definitely fit and healthy now and from now on will always be Jenny Simpson ... World Champion.
*British Media Falls In Love With "Starlet" Hannah England, Who Won Silver Some great photos of her on her victory lap.
*Hannah England Makes Mentor Kelly Holmes Proud By Winning Silver
*Seb Coe Always Believed In Her As Well (But Few Others) It's a shame the British media doesn't realize how hard it is to win an NCAA title.
On The Boards: *Simpson wins 1500m - Uceny falls! *GUTTED for Morgan Uceny

Previous Worlds

800m Final LRC David Rudisha Gets The World Title He Deserves, Nick Symmonds Comes Up Short Rudisha had been undefeated in every race since the last World Championships and on Tuesday he won the one race he hadn't won in two years - the World Championships. American Nick Symmonds was in medal contention but came home in fifth and the American medal drought continues at 800m.
More On The Boards: Mens 800 Final
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Nick Symmonds Post-Race Comments


Monday: LRC Lots Of Sprint Intrigue: WR Holder Dayron Robles Goes From Gold To Zilch, Allyson Felix Upended By Botswanan,  Pistorius Has Chance But Fades Good thing there was no distance action Monday night, as we wouldn't have had time to recap all the sprint/field event action. A DQ in the hurdles that gave Jason Richardson the unexpected World title, Allyson Felix got a PR but lost, and Oscar P fizzled out. Plus an unexpected medal in the shot for an American, a thrilling pole vault and, oh yeah, the 100m women's final, where HSI got its 2nd gold of the night.

Men's 10,000m: LRC Ibrahim Jeilan, A Guy You've Never Heard Of, Stuns The World In Men's 10,000m
The men's 10,000m was a total shocker as Ibrahim Jeilan, a former World Junior champion who was passed over by the Ethiopian team on two occasions and had to go to Japan to keep his running career alive, shocked the world's best distance runner Mo Farah in a great duel over the final 100m, as Farah apparently kicked too hard, too soon. Galen Rupp was 7th and the great Kenenisa Bekele dropped out, losing his first 10,000m ever.

LRC Kenya's Heavenly Day 1 Ends With Perfection! Vivian Cheruiyot Leads Kenyans To 1-2-3-4 Domination Of Women's 10,000 The much-anticipated battle between the undefeated Meseret Defar and Vivian Cheruiyot never materialized as Defar fell off and then dropped out, but Cheruiyot did come through as expected. The Oregon track club's Sally Kipyego got the silver as the Kenyan women's day went from incredible to heavenly, as they followed up near perfection in the marathon with total perfection in the 10,000. The American women struggled, as Shalane Flanagan was 7th and Kara Goucher was lapped. Jen Rhines was 9th.
*LRC Video Reaction From Cheruiyot, Kipyego, Flanagan And Goucher

LRC Recap
Now Up
Saturday's Action Underway: Edna Kiplagat Survives Fall, Leads Kenya To 1-2-3 Sweep In Marathon To Start Worlds
Kiplagat has shot to the top of the world marathon ranks in the last two years (New York champ last year, 2:20 for 3rd in London) and she backed it up with an impressive win despite falling at a water station in the final 10km. Priscah Jeptoo was second and Sharon Cherop third. Tera Moody - just months removed from 3 surgeries - was the first American (interview here) in 17th and Kathy Newberry was 30th (interview here).

It's Cross Country Season

Haile G

*Haile Gebrselassie: "In 2007 when I dropped out from London marathon it looked like the end of my career. Six months later I broke the world record." He says that asthma won't be a problem in the London summer and that he thinks his chances are better at the Games because in a championship "you don't need a time, just to win the race." Although he says that he still thinks he is capable of breaking the WR.
*Geb Goes For A Short Run With Group Of 50 London Joggers

International News

LetsRun.com National And Conference XC Polls Released

LRC Oklahoma State And Georgetown Ranked #1 In First 2011 LRC Cross-Country Polls The OSU Cowboys are going for a three-peat and the LRC faithful like their chances, although some believe Stanford can pull the upset. On the women's side, G'Town is planning on stopping Villanova from the three-peat. The first national and conference polls are out in advance of this weekend's big XC action. Error fixed and all 75 teams showing up now in rankings.

US News

Bolt And The False Start

Big Names In The News (Thanks To Their Sponsors)

After Helping Kids At Track Clinic In LA, Bolt Talks Tyson Gay And Yohan Blake Bolt is in LA for some sponsor commitments (Puma and Hublot) and he took time to talk about how 2012 will be tough for Tyson Gay and things will not be different between himself and training partner Blake. Some pics on his twitter account.

Tyson Gay Partners With EAS Sports 100% Certified Program Even though Gay's training partner Steve Mullings tested positive this year, Gay has always been active in the anti-doping community, volunteering for USADA's stringent testing program in 2008.

Sony Releases Special Edition "Meb" Walkman We at letsrun are a little late on this news.

Remembering Hadd

John Walsh aka "Hadd" Has Died Hadd, only 56, died while on a run. John (we did not learn his real name until he died) was a huge contributor on the LRC message boards, sharing his tremendous training knowledge for years under the moniker "Hadd." His most famous thread was perhaps "2 kinds of runners. Which are you?" with Portuguese coach Antonio Cabral. Hadd also was the Malta Marathon founder, a husband and great friend to many. While Hadd avoided the limelight, his training knowledge was immense, and he influenced thousands of LRC readers. Our thoughts and prayers go to his wife and friends.
More: Heart Attack The Official Cause Of Hadd's Death Times of Malta
*Malta Marathon Director Remembers John (Hadd) Walsh
*Famous Hadd Thread: 2 kinds of runners. Which are you?
*Pay Your Respects To Hadd In This Thread

More Weekend Action

Another Stupid IAAF Pacing Rule: Pacer Who Broke 30km World Record In Berlin (Pacing Makau) Doesn't Get The Record Because He Didn't Finish The Marathon So the guy who ran 30km faster than anyone else in the world will not be the record holder.

Lisbon: Despite Heat (78 F), Mary Keitany Breaks Her Course Record By Over A Minute In Lisbon, Desiree Davila Runs 1:11:27 Discuss Desi's run here.

*Lizzie Hawker Breaks Women's 24-Hour Run Record And Beats All The Men In The Process
*Max King Dominates XTERRA Trail Run National Championship

Good Read: Dai Greene Worked At McDonald's, Quit Taking His Epilepsy Medication To Become World Champion In The 400m Hurdles

Brief Chat With Morgan Uceny "Sometimes when you see someone like (Maryam) Jamal, they're foreign, and have an aura of mystery, and you kind of put them on a pedestal at times - for no reason, because really, at the end of the day, we're all athletes and we're all training hard to be the best. Why shouldn't it be me and not her?"

5th Avenue Mile *Full Race Video: Men & Women *Results *Video Highlights *LRC MB: 5th Avenue Mile *Photo Gallery

Bernard Lagat, Jenny Simpson Win Fifth Avenue Mile Lagat ran 3:50.5 over defending champ Amine Laalou from Morocco, with David Torrence in 3rd in a race that saw 15 runners sub-4. For the women, Jenny Simpson won in 4:22.3 over 10k World silver medallist Sally Kipyego and UK's Hanah England. Morgan Uceny was back in 6th.
*Bernard Lagat: "I didn't let up. I didn't treat this as a vacation. I wanted to win ..." Some good reactions from the elites and a look at some of the non-elite aspects of the race. Nick Symmonds finished 17th and said, "The 800 is far enough for me. The mile today felt like my own New York Marathon."
*MB:
What happened Uceny at Fifth Ave?

Michael Johnson Thinks Usain Bolt Can Break 19 Seconds In The 200m

Post-Brussels Rupp Mania Continues

Administrative News

AIMS And World Marathon Majors Say Women's World Records In Mixed Races Should Count

Prefontaine Classic Ranked As #1 Meet In 2011 In Terms Of Overall Performances Pre was incredible this year but we'd love to have someone tell us why the track is so much faster than other tracks in the sprints. Email us.

IAAF Looking At London And Doha As Hosts For 2017 Worlds

26:48.00 - If You Didn't See Highlights, Click Here

LRC Galen Rupp Talks After Setting The 10,000 American Record Of 26:48.00 In the midst of enjoying a much-deserved two-week break from running, Rupp talked about his successful 2011 season but was already focused on doing one thing for 2012 - getting better. Rupp is full of praise for Salazar and Farah, is looking forward to his marathon debut and has some bad news for prospective American Olympic 5,000 hopefuls.

More Rupp:
Alan Abrahamson Looks At Galen Rupp's American 10,000m Record He even talks about LRC message boarders suggesting Rupp should move up to the marathon since he got outkicked in Brussels (and they were trying to get a rise out of everyone else).
*AP Article On Rupp's American Record
*AFP: Rupp Wants To Double At Olympics

2011 USA 5k Road Champs *Results/Video Coverage *More Video

LRC Flash Recap: Ben True, Julie Culley Win CVS Downtown 5k True outkicked Sam Chelanga (who will be joining Jerry Schumacher's group) and Aaron Braun, while Julie Culley got the win over Kim Conley and Emily Brown. Results, Wejo's quick recap, and reaction from top 3 (and news of Chelanga joining Jerry's group).

Remembrances Pour In - 10 Years Ago Almost The Entire Men's XC Team At Wyoming Was Killed By A Drunk Driver

New York Gets Some Studs

Emmanuel Mutai And Martin Lel Rematch In NYC! Emmanuel Mutai and Martin Lel put on a marathoning clinic at this spring's Virgin London Marathon. Mutai ran 2:01 pace for the 4th 10k of the race, what we called "unofficially the greatest fourth 10km stretch ever run in the history of the marathon" to destroy the London field. Lel, once the world's greatest marathoner, came back to the sport and surprised even himself by finishing second. They'll get a rematch in NY with 2-time World Champ Jaouad Gharib, plus the previously-announced Gebre2 and Meb. Britain's Jo Pavey is joining the women's field.

Gold For Lukas *Two Photos Of Lukas

Lukas V Gets World Junior Triathlon Gold He delivered on his promise to get gold for his friend with cancer. Now it's off to freshman year of Oregon.
On The Boards: LUKAS VERZBICAS - GOLD!
*Philip Hersh Covers LV's World Junior Triathlon Win Of going into the run with a 30-second lead, LV said, "On the run, I just kind of enjoyed the moment. It just felt nice."

3 Recommended Reads

Zürich Weltklasse *Results *Recap *More Yahoo Zürich Photos

LRC Zürich Recap: Blake 9.82! Over Powell, Nixon Chepseba?! Wins Diamond League 1,500 Title, Kemboi Wins Again, Savinova Wins Stacked 800  It's called the best one day track meet in the World for a reason, it gets the stars. This year's meet had 18 events and in 17 of them it featured the recent World Champ (and in the women's 200 it had Jeter and Felix). Yohan Blake beat Asafa Powell in the 100, Vivian Cheruiyot faced a tough challenge from Sally Kipyego in the 5000, as Shalane Flanagan struggled. Nixon Chepseba and Jenny Meadows got surprise overall Diamond League titles and $40,000, as Dayron Robles crossed the finish line first again. LRC Recap and analysis, as we even take a look at Allyson Felix and Carmelita Jeter six years ago.
AFP: Blake Gets Zurich Win

Daegu 2011 ... It's Over, Folks
*Photos: Bolt *Centro *Jenny *Semenya *Blade Runner

*Shocking Final Eve: Bolt, Jamaica Set 4 X 100 WR SI.com Usain Bolt saw the 37.04, crossed the line, threw the baton 100 feet in the air, danced for 30 minutes on the track, and of course unlike any HS or college kid who might do that, was celebrated rather than DQed. *Best Video Of What Happened To US Team
*US Youngsters Carry Team - Christian Taylor's 17.96 TJ Stuns Field Taylor and Will Claye took gold and bronze in the TJ to overshadow men's 4 x 100 fall. Taylor's 17.96m jump is the 2nd-longest triple jump in World Champs history.
*LRC Video: Lananna Quick Take On USA Team Performance Simply put, the US crushed the rest of the world medal-wise, winning some surprise medals from Simpson, Centro and the TJers but also missing some opportunities in men's shot, men's 400H, men's 4 x 1.

Worlds Friday - More Gold For Kenyan Women, USA *Results *Special Worlds-Only LRC Forum More Centro Photos

LRC: Matt Centrowitz Gets Bronze As Asbel Kiprop And Silas Kiplagat Go 1-2 Only 21, Centrowitz ran like a seasoned pro and got the first American-born track medal since 1987. Another 10 meters and his medal might have been a different color. Asbel Kiprop got Kenya its first World Championships 1,500m gold and Silas Kiplagat backed him up with silver. Ladies (and gentleman for the first time), we also tell you how to get onto Centro Nation. Recap and extensive post-race reaction.
*Matt Centrowitz Says Jenny Simpson's 1,500 Win "Set The Tone" And Made Him Believe He Could Medal

Worlds Friday

LRC Vivian Cheruiyot Completes 10k/5k Double American Lauren Fleshman finished a solid 7th in a race that saw Vivian Cheruiyot run away with her 2nd gold of the champs, closing in 58.6 to lead Kenya to their 8th and 9th medals of the championships.
*LRC: Women's 5,000m Analysis And Reaction
*More Cheruiyot Photos
Rec Read: How Cheruiyot Got The Double The Daily Nation Cheruiyot's manager Ricky Simms before the race: "If it is a slow race, Vivian will win. If it is a fast race, Vivian will win."

Worlds Thursday Action *Results *Special Worlds-Only LRC Forum *Thursday AM Post-Race Interviews
Day 6 Is In The Books *
Athletics Weekly Recap *IAAF Day 6 Recap

LRC Ezekiel Kemboi Gets Gold And Does The Mini Bolt Ezekiel Kemboi absolutely crushed the field the final 200m to arguably become the greatest championship steepler ever. He was so majestic the final 200 that he had time to celebrate in lane 7 before the silver medal was determined.
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Kemboi Explains To Kenyan Media Why His Celebration Was Extra Long "My friend Usain Bolt remember was not in the finals and he would have danced well. I had to do (it) for Usain Bolt and me."
*Kemboi Left Stadium "In Stitches And Awe In Equal Measure"
*Kenyan Media Happy With "Stylish" 1-2 Finish In Steeple - Proclaims Cheruiyot Winner Of Women's 5,000 Before Race Is Even Run
*Eldoret Erupts In Joy For Most Popular Runner In Town - Kemboi
On The Boards:
Ezekiel Kemboi Appreciation Thread - That was the greatest final 200 (and celebration by a distance runner) ever

2011 Worlds (Race Highlights Embedded On Right)
Day 4 Is In The Books *
Athletics Weekly Recap *IAAF Day 4 Recap

LRC: Day 4: Teenage King James Nips Merritt In 400m, Zaripova Takes Steeple Going Away, Uceny And Simpson Make 1,500m Final We recap all of Tuesday's pm action outside of the men's 800m final in this piece. We break down the 400m final, the women's steeple final (and where Jenny Simpson would have finished), look at the 1,500m semis and much more.


LRC: Day 4 Daegu Distance Previews: Men's 800 Final - Nick Symmonds Goes For A Medal, 1,500 1st Round Highlight Busy Day Great distance action, including the women's steeple final, men's 1,500m round 1 and women's 5,000m round 1 and of course the anticipated 800m final with Symmonds, Rudisha and Kaki.

LRC
Usain Bolt False Starts ... Or Did He? Video Proof That Yohan Blake Flinches And Then Usain Bolt False Starts
The video shows very clearly that Yohan Blake flinches and then Usain Bolt subconsciously reacted and bolted from the blocks. According to IAAF rules, at a minimum Blake should have been warned. Under no scenario should Bolt have been given the DQ.
*Telegraph Article Here Picking Up The LRC Cause On The Blake Flinch
LRC
Bolt's DQ, Ashton Eaton's 1,500m And More

Usain Bolt DQed For FS, Yohan Blake Wins Title
*Bolt: "Looking for tears? That's not going to happen."
*Dix (silver): "I couldn't believe it, it's kind of surreal. I didn't think they were going to kick him out. It's pretty hard to kick Usain out of the race."
*Bolt's Coach: "I think he would have run in the sixties (9.60s)."

Usain Bolt Races Jimmy Kimmel

Random But Funny

*Usain Bolt Loses 40 Yard Dash Against Jimmy Kimmel As well as a race walk against Billy Bush.
*Cool Photo: British LJer J.J. Jegede Jumps Over 3 Mini Cars

International Stuff

*Ciaran Ó Lionaird Talks About Move To Oregon To Be Coached By Alberto Salazar Apparently Salazar recruited him in between races in Daegu.
*After His 2:10 Debut, UK's Scott Overall Thinks He Can Still Go Faster His US coach Robert Chapman says that he ran the 2nd half completely alone and could run maybe 2:08-09 with competition/pacers.
*Ethiopia's Koren Yal Looking For Sub-2:24 At Toronto Marathon

Olympians In The News

Nick Symmonds Says He Still Hasn't Rewatched Daegu 800m Final, Says More And More Guys Want To Go Wire-To-Wire We never thought of front running as advantageous in the 800, but Symmonds points out more guys are doing it. Gags chewed him out after Daegu for getting passed on the final turn.

Trey Hardee Has Elbow Surgery

BMW Berlin Marathon Photos! Makau Takes Geb's World Record

Women's Marathon Rule

*UK Writer Calls New Women Record Rule "Boneheaded And Heartless" As Well As Sexist
*
AP Article On Women's New Marathon Record Rule Mary Wittenberg says she thinks it's "probably a two-minute advantage" when the women run with the men. Both her and London director David Bedford think there should be two separate records, one with men, one without.
*Boston Marathon Fills Up With New, Better System
*Canada Won't Follow IAAF Road Record Rule They say that national records run by women in mixed races will stand.

And The Real Winners From Worlds ...

LRC A Foot Locker Finalist, A Canuck, A DIII Guy And "I am Alan Webb" Win $200,011 World Prediction Contest Powered By Puma The on-the-track (and field) winners have been known for a couple of weeks, but today we announce the winners of our Worlds prediction contest. Ryan Grote, hide your eyes, as a Princeton freshman has taken home top honors. We are still looking for "I am Alan Webb" to come forward to see if he's possibly actually the American record holder. The winners get the new Puma FAAS 550 lightweight trainer and Road Runner Sports gift certificates. Click here to read about our winners who always represent the best of LetsRun.com. Updated for the Historic Princeton Repeat

NYC News

Worth A Read

Track Superfan Picks Apart Philip Hersh's Article On Yohan Blake Philip Hersh, one of the top Olympic writers in America, wrote an article asking the questioning whether Yohan Blake is doping. While we feel the question is a totally legit one to ask (and Blake does a have a drug positive that got him a 3-month ban), Hersh's main argument that Blake may be doping is the sudden improvement of Blake in the 200. The Superfan takes a wider view and looks at Blake's improvement in the 100 and 200 combined and also heavily cites a LetsRun.com article critical of Hersh to question Hersh's intellectual honesty. We no longer question Hersh's intellectual honesty and generally are fans of his work, but think the Track Superfan's article is a good read.

Toni Reavis Blogs About Lack Of Marquee Matchups In Sprints Toni makes comparisons between boxing and track and field. We've always thought that was a decent comparison but hope track and field does not go the way of boxing, where a few guys get rich, but the sport falls even farther off the national radar.

Galen Rupp 26:48!!!

Morgan Uceny To Be World Ranked #1 At 1,500

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Yohan Blake 19.26! (US Only)

Rudisha's 1:41.33 (Rieti Results Here)

Non-Worlds News

Kenyan Benson Barus Wins Virginia Beach Half Marathon In 1:02:22, Ryan Hall 4th In 1:03:02 Hall said, "I think I could run a marathon at that pace but when I'd go to the front and try to go a faster it would feel very uncomfortable. That's a good sign actually."

Usain Bolt And Jamaica Get World Record (International Visitors Click Here, Post-Race Press Conf. Here)

Centro After His Bronze (Much More Here, Watch Race Here)

Simpson Gets Gold (International Visitors Click Here)

Ezekiel Kemboi Wins And Has The Greatest Celebration Ever (International Visitors Click Here)

Men's 800 Final (International Visitors Click Here, Post-Race Interviews Here)

A Scintillating Men's 10,000 Finish (US Visitors Only)

Train Smarter (More In The Training Forum)

Train Smarter (More In The Training Forum)

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