– Former Nike Oregon Project strength and conditioning coach Vern Gambetta talking about the “grey” area of doping that exists in the sport, but he feels shouldn’t.
The Chanelle Price show continued (barely) as the Mary Cain show never materialized but Maggie Vessey turned the most heads. In the men's 800, Job Kinyor beat Elijah Greer and Eric Sowinski.
King David is set to return to the circuit after a year+ absence. Is he in shape? Will he win? Plus, fantasy track guys and gals, guess what his agent says he can run a 5k in?
Sorry, Galen Rupp, Leo Manzano and others - to be admitted to the press conference today, you needed an Olympic gold medal. We caught up with Brittney Reese, Ashton Eaton, Renaud Lavillenie, Allyson Felix and Justin Gatlin, who says he wants to race both Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake and supports Dennis Mitchell.
Oops we have so much Pre Coverage (special Pre Section here) we left this off our homepage. Asbel Kiprop is in supreme shape. Can he become just the 9th man ever to break 3:47 or 4th man to break 3:46? How will Americans Will Leer and Matthew Centrowitz fare in this STACKED field which includes Mr. Early Celebration. Plus, in the “B” Mile you’ve got Leo Manzano and a high schooler trying to go sub 4.
Only 3 men have gone sub-26:48 in 7 years and Rupp will try to be #4. Rupp will face a deep field, including Leonard Komon, Sam Chelanga, World bronze medalist Paul Tanui and Olympic 5th placer Bedan Karoki.
*MB Thread
Mary Cain will have her hands full at Pre, where last year she became the first US high schooler to go sub-2:00.
On The Boards: Mary Cain Prediction Thread
IAAF Preview Of Saturday/Sunday Hypo-Meeting Multi Event Meet In GotzisTrey Hardee and Brianne Theisen-Eaton among the favorites.
A story by Xinhua on her retirement was false according to her manager.
Dennis Mitchell Coaching Controversy Gets Picked Up By NY Times “It seems ridiculous that United States track officials would want him anywhere near their delegation, or that any athletes would want Mitchell to coach them, for fear that his doping background might cast a shadow on them. But this is track and field, a sport that has repeatedly failed Public Relations 101, so nothing seems to be too ridiculous to be true.”
*MB Thread
LRC Story That Kicked This Off: USATF Does It Again: Dennis Mitchell, Convicted Doper, Your Head Sprint Coach For World Relays
When In Doubt, Blame The Foreigners:Kenyan Government-Appointed Commission Blames Foreign Agents For Recent Upsurge In Doping Positives Head of task force Professor Moni Wekesa: “We have left our athletes in the hands of foreigners. … Any drugs which we found to have been used by the athletes was only through the influence of the foreign agents.”
Tyler Andrews Won Vermont City Marathon In 2:20:27 It was his second marathon as his first was in Boston, where he ran 2:21:30.
Genzebe Dibaba And Her Coach Jama Aden Talk About Her Summer Goals Of Breaking The 2,000 And 2-Mile Outdoor Records And Her Loss In The Doha DL 3,000 She was expecting between 8:14-8:18 in Doha (she was 8:26). She’s going for a 5,000 PR at Rome DL on June 5th and then will attack the 2,000 WR on June 17th in Ostrava.
This Weekend:Allyson Felix Vs. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce In The 200 Will Be One Of The Pre Classic Sprint HighlightsJustin Gatlin has been announced for the 100.
Threat Of Empty Seats At Glasgow 2014 With Many Tickets Unsold This after the ticket sale site crashed because “so many” people were trying to buy tickets at once.
Great performances all around by the US team with 3 of the 4 legs running the fastest splits on the day. The USA is the best 4 x 800 country in the world.
Kenya won and got the WR as expected but this one had way more drama than expected with Pat Casey handing off in first, David Torrence hanging with Silas Kiplagat and Leo Manzano making it real interesting (for bronze) on the anchor.
LRCDavid Torrence WOW One of the boldest runs we've seen by an American.
Believe it or not, USATF can accomplish something quickly – even on a Sunday with a lawyer involved. It’s beyond time for USATF to show the same sense of urgency for clean and fair sport.
London Olympics take II. This field is absolutely stacked as Duane Solomon attempts to do something only 5 men have done in ten years - go sub-1:42.60.
A stacked field with the possibility of 2 more Americans joining the sub-13:00 club.
Jenny Simpson's pb is 5 years old - will it go down? Will HS phenom Elise Cranny steal the spotlight from Mary Cain? How fast will Aregawi go? Plus don't forget BMart as she tries to go sub 4:00 for the first time and Faith Kiypegon.
Coburn shocked the world a few weeks ago. Can she do it again? Can Jordan Hasay and Shannon Rowbury keep it close against Africa's best in the 2-mile?
Former Nike Strength And Conditioning Coach Vern Gambetta Speaks About Drugs In The Sport “Very honestly, everybody in the sport knows the drug coaches. And it’s not those supported by just one shoe company. Everybody knows it, but nobody will speak out because of fear of libel. It’s going to take some balls, that’s for sure. And the federation [USATF] is complicit. …”
*MB:former NOP strength coach speaks on drugs!
Jill Greer Talks To Runner’s World About Oiselle Reprimand For Nike Logo Photo Shop She says it’s not a USATF rule, but a “professional business intellectual property issue” and declined to comment on the point that USATF reacted to this in less than 12 hours, but has still failed to address the DQ issues from USA Indoors back in February. *MB Thread
Denver Post: Mamitu Daska Of Ethiopia Wins 4th Bolder Boulder Title In 6 Years, Shalane Flanagan 2nd, Kastor 4th – US Women 3rd
*A Wobbly Sara Hall Finished 16th, Secured 3rd Place Team Finish For US “That is the hardest race I’ve ever run, by far. I really wanted to make them (Shalane and Deena) proud.”
*Eritrea’s Afewerki Berhane Wins Men’s Race, Sean Quigley, Not Ryan Hall Or Bobby Curtis, Was Top American In 8th Quigley was on the US #3 team but was 8th and beat Hall, who was 9th. *MB: Hall 9th at Bolder Boulder
*Meyer: Bolder Boulder Is A Special Race On A Special Day Ryan Hall: “Running into this stadium is as emotionally uplifting and energizing as going into the Olympic Stadium.”
Good Read:Recently-Adopted Ethiopian Orphan, Abreham Anderson, Invited To Bolder Boulder Elite Press Conference To Hang With Ethiopian Pros The kid is in Jr. high and started at 7:20 in the mile and ended the season at 5:03. 2024, here we come.
Great Sunday Recap Of World Relays From Alan Abrahamson: Bahamas Rocks, US Rolls “Passion is what track and field needs. Passion is what the Bahamas delivered.” The US men’s short sprint teams were a disaster, but the women were perfect and LaShawn Merritt ruined the hopes of 15,000 raucous fans.
LRC Sunday World Relays Video Highlights The US sprint women did great, the men’s 4 x 100 was a disaster. Video highlights for USA visitors.
Lauren Fleshman Blasts USATF For Selecting Convicted Doper Dennis Mitchell As A Team USA World Relays Coach “It’s like putting someone who has formerly served time for fraud in charge of your bank. Or a convicted child abuser in charge of your day care.”
Either Drummond is telling the truth or this lawsuit was absolutely idiotic. We’re hoping for a full trial with discovery. That should clean up the sport. *Discuss
Russian Olympic Committee President Insists Russian Athletes Did Not Use Xenon Gas During Sochi 2014 He declined to comment on whether Russian athletes used it before Sochi 2014.
UK’s Holly Bleasdale Will Skip 2014 Outdoor Season To Focus On 2015 And 2016 She was injured a year ago and says she still hasn’t got back to her top fitness.
It was a great day one before a loud and festive crowd in Nassau. In non-distance action, the Dennis Mitchell-coached 4 x 200 team was DQed, and the relatively unknown US women got 4 x 100 gold.
What a crazy anchor leg it was in the first final at the loud and raucous World Relays.
The Kenyans crushed the soft world record and the Americans overcame a violent fall for silver.
USADA Says The Lawsuit Filed By Jon Drummond Is “Baseless” A USADA spokesperson said, “Mr. Drummond’s baseless lawsuit against the US Anti-Doping Agency is an effort to circumvent the mandatory arbitration process established to protect the rights of all clean athletes, coaches and the integrity of competition.”
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