2015 USAs Start Thursday *Schedule, Entries & Results *TV & Streaming

LRC1,500s Previews: Centro, Leo, Then Who In Men’s Race? Women: Jenny Simpson Should Repeat And Rowbury’s A Lock Unless She Doubles But What Other Two Women Qualify? These are going to be two must-watch finals. Will Ben Blankenship‘s amazing 2015 continue or will he go home devastated thanks to Robby Andrews or Kyle Merber? The battle for women’s spots #3 and #4 (thank you, Ms. Simpson) will be incredibly intense on the women’s side.

LRC Don’t Have The 2015 IAAF World Championships Standard? Don’t Worry About It – You Can Still Go To Worlds (Particularly If You Are American) If you are an American athlete dreaming of Beijing (or one of his or her fans) but don’t have the standard, don’t worry about it.Research by LetsRun.com shows men running as slow as 3:39 and women as slow as 4:12 for 1,500 would right now make it into Worlds as the IAAF is going to fill the fields up to 48 for the 800 and 45 for the 1,500 and steeples.

More LRC Previews:*5,000s*10,000s

Complete Coverage In Our 2015 USA Outdoor Special Section

Latest NOP Doping Investigation News

• Daily Mail Reporter Confronts Alberto Salazar At His Home In Portland Salazar still refuses to speak as he pulled in the driveway, then turned his car around and drove away. Article mentions LetsRun and how asking questions about doping “drives Salazar nuts.”
  *MB:Daily Mail reporter confronts AlSal at his Portland home
• Alberto Salazar In Contact With Maker Of Supplement Testoboost To Provide Evidence That He Was Using It With Galen Rupp The maker, Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale, is a a former power lifter who says Salazar even had the supplement tested to make sure it was legal. WADA has expressed concern that maybe it shouldn’t be.
  *MB:Salazar trying to get Testoboost maker on his side …
• Register-Guard: “Doping Allegations Throw Shadow Over USA Champs” Quotes from many athletes and coaches. Nick Symmonds: “I’m glad that all of this is coming to light and I hope the media attention that comes from USAs is enough to finally get a statement from Nike, get a statement from Alberto, get a statement from Galen.”
• Drug Cheat Jon Drummond Commenting And Debating People In The “I’m tired of USATF and IAAF crippling our sport” Facebook Group Drummond: “I do know … you don’t want the truth.”
• Ken Goe: “Mo Farah Is On The Periphery Of The Allegations But The Center Of Attention” Goe hypothesizes the reason Salazar has taken so long to respond is he and Nike lawyers have ” been painstakingly gathering evidence to make sure his response is as air tight as possible.”

Jamaican Champs Are This Weekend

• Usain Bolt Entered In The 100 At Jamaican Trials Even Though He Is Already Qualified For Worlds Yohan Blake is entered in the 100/200.
• RRW:Reconnecting With Her Heritage, Aisha Praught To Represent Jamaica “It’s almost as if I’m a novelty. Distance running (in Jamaica) is not cool. You’ve got all the kids trying to emulate Usain Bolt in the starting blocks.”
  *MB: Aisha Praught to represent Jamaica
• Former World And Olympic 400H Champ Melaine Walker Will Race The 100H Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Veronica Campbell-Brown are doing the 100/200 double. Recently-turned-Jamaican citizen Aisha Praught is in the 1,500.

The Oregon Track Club Speaks On NOP Doping Allegations/ USAs

LRCVin Lananna: “… obviously saddened by all of this but in the end I feel confident it will be sorted out.”TrackTown USA – Vin Lananna discussed the Nike Oregon Project doping allegations for the first time and the successful run of events in Eugene in advance of the 2015 USA Championships.

LRCWorld’s Greatest Athlete Ashton Eaton Doesn’t Even Take Flintstone Vitamins Because Of Doping Problems In Track And Field

LRCOTC’s Charles Jock, Ben Blankenship, Hassan Mead And Mark Rowland Talk USAs, Doping Controversy The Oregon Track Club’s Charles Jock (800), Ben Blankenship (1,500), Hassan Mead (5k/10k) and their coach Mark Rowland are focused on USAs and waiting to see what happens with the NOP doping investigation.
*Coaching Tip From Mark Rowland: “It’s not so much the 2 hours we see them but the 22 that we don’t.”

2015 USAs Start Thursday *Schedule, Entries & Results *TV & Streaming

LRC Don’t Have The 2015 IAAF World Championships Standard? Don’t Worry About It – You Can Still Go To Worlds (Particularly If You Are American) If you are an American athlete dreaming of Beijing (or one of his or her fans) but don’t have the standard, don’t worry about it. Research by LetsRun.com shows men running as slow as 3:39 and women as slow as 4:12 for 1,500 would right now make it into Worlds as the IAAF is going to fill the fields up to 48 for the 800 and 45 for the 1,500 and steeples.
*MB: Leo the Lion doesn’t have the IAAF standard for Worlds but it doesn’t matter – He’ll still go if he’s top 3 at USAs.

LRC2015 USA 5,000 Preview: Can Galen Rupp Win Title #2? Will Molly Huddle And Shannon Rowbury Put On An Epic Battle Once Again?Bernard Lagat has owned Galen Rupp, Rupp has owned Ben True. Will that continue in 2015? After Huddle and possibly Rowbury, which American women will excel – D’Agostino, Hall, Infeld, Mackey, Tully? Which three will end up running Worlds?

LRC 2015 USA 10,000 Preview: Molly Huddle & Galen Rupp Are Heavily Favored, But Who Will Grab The Other Spots? If Huddle and Rupp come through as favorites, the drama will still be big as one of the following three on the women’s side – Shalane Flanagan, Emily Sisson and Emily Infeld – and one of the following three on the men’s side – Ben True, Hassan Mead and Diego Estrada (plus Chris Derrick) – will go home devastated.

List Of 2015 Collegians At The USATF Champs

Sprints / Jumps News

• Recommended Read:Usain Bolt And Ricky Simms Don’t Have The Usual Athlete-Agent Relationship; Bolt Says They’re Family Learn how Simms went from high school gym teacher to agent of the fastest man in the world.
• Need Proof The Sports Gene Is Real?Read IAAF Profile Of High Jumper Vashti Cunningham, Who Is The Favorite For World Youth Champs Her dad was a pro football player, her mom a professional ballerina and her older brother is currently 3rd on the world junior HJ list.
• Canada’s NCAA Champ Andre De Grasse Will Tune Up For World Champs With Next Month’s Pan American Games In Toronto He apparently was “non-committal” on whether he’d turn pro next year or not.
• GB Sprinter Chijindu Ujah Plays Down Tension With Richard Kilty Ahead Of 4 X 100 At Euro Team Champs Kilty made public comments about sprinters skipping the World Relay Champs, but Ujah says they’ve cleared the air.

Olympic News

• 2024: Alan Abrahmson: “Big Decision But Not Difficult – Kill Boston 2024” He says the talk among IOC members is that the bid should be “put out of its misery.” He still thinks Los Angeles 2024 could win.
• 2012: Cost Of London’s Olympic Stadium Soars Over $1.1 Billion It was originally only supposed to cost $440 million, but transforming it to a stadium fit for soccer has dramatically increased the cost.
• 2020: Japan Holding Toilet Design Contest For 2020 Olympics The goal is to make foreigners more comfortable.
• 2024: Paris To Announce 2024 Olympic Bid Next Week
• 2015 Euro Games: European Games Ceremony Cost Over $95M

A Ton Of Nike Oregon Project Doping News After Furor Erupts In UK When It’s Revealed Mo Farah Missed Two Drug Tests

• Alberto Salazar Says Mo Farah Remains Part Of The Nike Oregon Project – Calls Reports Of Rift “Absolutely False”
  *Telegraph: Alberto Salazar Still Calling Shots In Mo Farah’s Career
• Matthew Centrowitz Says He Only Takes Vitamin C And Iron And Has Never Seen Anything Suspicious With Rupp
  *MB: Centro: “I don’t take anything but Vitamin C and Iron”
  *MB: What? Matthew Centrowitz doesn’t drink alchohol and daddy centro is good friends with Alberto?
• Telegraph Is Concerned That Farah Missed Two Drug Tests: The Questions British Athlete And Coach Alberto Salazar Must Answer
• Telegraph Reveals That British Drug Testers Would Have Knocked On Farah’s Door Every 10-15 Minutes For Hour Plus On Day Farah Says He Didn’t Hear Doorbell
• Interesting Read:Mo Farah Is Losing The PR Battle – “From the outside it looks like a 101 course in how not to handle crisis management.” The author says Farah should have most definitely stayed and raced in the UK and signed autographs and not say he heard about the BBC report 3 or 4 days before it broke when in reality it was weeks.
• Mo Farah Hires PR Experts To Tackle Missed Drug Tests Controversy Freud’s, who are “experts in crisis management,” are lending a helping hand.
• Mo Farah Isn’t The Only Brit Missing Drug Tests – There Have Been 224 Cases Of British Athletes Missing Drug Tests In Last Five Years And the #s spiked the year before the Olympics (but so did testing).
• Independent Columnist Is Impressed By Alberto’s Medical Knowledge After Lauren Fleshman’s Allegations: “How Alberto Salazar used his mastery of medical detail to get ahead.”

• Hannah England Writes Newspaper Column Defending Mo Over Missed Tests – “He’s human, we all are, that does not make him a cheat.”
• Hannah England Fears Everything Is “Turning Into A Witch-Hunt Against Mo”
• Kelly Sotherton And Jenny Meadows Defend Mo Farah For Missing Drug Tests It’s hard to know where you’ll be hour-by-hour 3 months in advance.

• Owen Gibson:Missed Drug Tests Happen But Three Strikes And Out Feels About Right Even ardent anti-doper Lynsey Sharp has admitted she’s missed a test as well.
• Ben Snowball:The Rules Are Clear: Three Missed Tests And You’re Out. So why Is Mo Farah Being Dragged Through The Mud, Asks Ben Snowball?
• BBC: BBC Sport’s Tom Fordyce Defends Farah And Says It’s Easy To Miss A Test And Fordyce would know better than most as he volunteered to do “whereabouts” drug testing in 2011 and almost missed a test as a journalist.

Distance Running Legend Ron Clarke Dies At Age 78

• A Legend Has Died: RIP Australian Olympian Ron Clarke During his career Clarke set 17 world records and won 10,000m bronze at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
• The Sydney Morning Herald Article And Video Clarke famously got a gold medal from Emil Zatopek, who thought he “deserved it” after his collapse in the 1968 Olympic 10,000.
• BBC:At Age 19, Clarke Was Chosen To Light The Olympic Flame During The Opening Ceremony For The 1956 Melbourne Olympics
• Guardian:Clarke Was Famous For A Couple Of Race Accidents, Including Collapsing And Almost Dying From Altitude Effects At The 1968 Olympics (He Was 6th In The 10,000) There was also a 1,500 race where he fell and was spiked in the shoulder by John Landy, who stopped to help him up.
• Athletics-Illustrated Interview Clarke From 2014 Possibly the last interview he did.
• MB:RIP Ron Clarke

Portland Track Festival – A Few Fast Races And Some NOP Members Face The Media

Day 2 LRC Evan Jager Runs The Fastest 1,500 By An American-Born Athlete On American Soil With A Huge 3:32.97 PR Evan Jager surprised even himself with a 3:32.97 clocking at the Portland Track Festival as Garrett Heath helped make the race. In other action, Shannon Rowbury nearly ran an 800 PR and then doubled back in the 1,500 just 12 minutes later, Cam Levins got the standard in the 5,000 as Chris Derrick struggled, and Andy Bayer got the standard in the steeple.

LRC Cam Levins Discusses Doping Allegations, Admits To Starting To Take Asthma Medication After Leaving Southern Utah Levins says he’s not on thyroid medication.

LRC Shannon Rowbury On Alberto Salazar Doping Allegations: “I have a clean record. I have never cheated. I never would. I would rather quit the sport than do that.” Rowbury did a ridiculous double that included nearly an 800 PR, but the media members, even some from the UK, weren’t interested in talking to her about that.

LRC Chris Derrick Talks About The Galen Rupp And Alberto Salazar Doping Allegations – “I’m glad that Steve and Kara and Mr. Stiner came forward.” Derrick hopes that there is a good explanation for everything but says it’s good that people came forward with their concerns as the only way we’ll have a clean sport is if people aren’t afraid to speak up when they are concerned.

Ken Goe: Evan Jager gets a record, Shannon Rowbury and Cam Levins get questions at the Portland Track Festival
*Wow: Fiona Benson Becomes Just The 5th Canadian To Go Sub-2 In The 800; 2 Weeks Ago Her PR Was Only 2:08.53 She won in 1:59.94.
MB: Jager runs massive 3:32 1500m pb! (Heath 3:34)
MB: Did German Fernadez really just run a 3:57 1500? Or am I reading this wrong? 

Day 1: Emily Infeld Runs 21-Second PR (15:07) To Beat Shalane Flanagan, Desi Linden And Sara Hall Get 10k Qualifiers And Kara Goucher beat Jordan Hasay as Kara returned to the track for the first time in nearly 2 years and Jordan for the first time outdoors in 2015.
MB: HASAY BEAT BY GOUCHER????

2015 adidas GP *Full Results *TV & Streaming

LRC Ben True Becomes The First American Man To Win A Diamond League 5,000 (updated) An American man had never won a 5,000 on the DL circuit until today when Ben True kicked home to the title. Can he challenge Galen Rupp at USAs?
*MB: BEN MF TRUE!!!!!!

LRC Women’s 1,000:Mary Cain Improves But Still Struggling, Impressive Double For Treniere Moser, And Welcome Back Erin Donohue? Donohue, a 2008 Olympian who has barely run for the last 3 years, got the upset victory.

Rest Of Meet: LRC: David Rudisha Is Back, American Boris Berian Has Turned The US 800 Ranks Upside Down, Usain Bolt Is In Trouble, Ajee Wilson Is Dominant (updated) David Rudisha is back in the 1:43s, America’s best 800 ranks are in flux with former 1:48 man Boris Berian on top, Usain Bolt looks like he’s in trouble, Ajee Wilson is looking like she can win gold in Beijing and Grant Fisher won the HS Dream Mile.

LRC The Oregon Project’s Mary Cain And Treniere Moser Talk About The BBC’s Allegations Against Alberto Salazar Cain wasn’t too talkative (on that subject), but Moser says it “sucks.” The US’s first-ever DL 5,000 winner Ben True also shares his thoughts.

Outside Coverage:
*11-Year-Old Jonah Gorevic Sets Single-Age Mile Record With 4:51.85 Gorevic ran some interesting splits as he went 66.93, 75.87, 76.3, 72.75 to set the record.
*Bring Back The Mile Article On Grant Fisher’s And Christina Aragon’s Dream Mile Victories
*RRW Recap
*USA Athlete Quotes
*NY Times:Usain Bolt And Mary Cain Are Not At Their Fastest In Adidas Grand Prix
*Usain Bolt: “I Pretty Much Gave Up” In Slowest 200m Final Since 2006
*Ex-Giants RB David Wilson Struggles In Pro Debut In Triple Jump
*IAAF:Tori Bowie And Francena McCorory Dominante, Usain Bolt Challenged
*IAAF: Christabel Nettey Breaks LJ MR, Sandra Perkovic Stays Undefeated In Disucs
*IAAF: Confidence Boosting Wins For David Rudisha And Fabiana Murer

• Discussion: BEN MF TRUE!!!!!!
• Boris Berian – 1:43!!! He’s an American for those of you who have never heard of him.
• Centro 1:44 800 is a mistake. Wrong direction.
• Blanka Vlašic (*swoons*)
• Mary Cain Diamond League New York 1k!

Round II – ProPublica, David Esptein And The BBC Strike Again

Epstein: More Athletes Say Track Coach Alberto Salazar Broke Drug Rules Three more former NOP athletes have come forward since the initial story broke detailing what they think was inappropriate prescription drug use by coach Salazar.

• BBC: Salazar Admitted In His Own Autobiography That He Coached Mary SlaneySalazar has reportedly denied he was coaching Slaney when she tested positive.
• UKA Announces Review Into Relationship Between Alberto Salazar And Mo Farah The review will be completed by first week of August.
• Good Read:UK Independent: “How profits replaced passion at the heart of Nike.”
• RunnersWorld: What Does Term “Testosterone Medication” In Nike Lab Report Mean? An author who wrote two books with Salazar spoke to two doctors who found the term to be an “ambiguous notation” and not necessarily testosterone. Others disagreed.
• British Athletics Chairman Ed Warner Says It’s “Business As Usual” With Alberto Salazar Until Their Is A Review Into Drug Allegations Warner contends that Salazar is “innocent until proven guilty.”
  *Warner Reveals How Hard They Worked To Convince Mo Farah To Not Pull Out Of Birmingham GP “I can assure you the man and woman hours expended by UKA to try and persuade him to run were enormous. … we did our damnedest.”
  *Warner Says Salazar Has Been An “Unpaid Consultant” For UKA
• MB:*Epstein: More athletes come forward about Salazar
  *Salazar lied about not coaching Mary Slaney, and the BBC has the goods
  *Alberto Salazar Told Mo Farah He Wasn’t Coaching Mary Slaney When She Tested Positive

A Look At What WADA Sanctions Alberto Salazar Would Be Facing If The ProPublica / BBC Allegations Are Found To Be True

Correction – LRCAlberto Salazar Potentially Faces Lifetime Ban From Sport If Allegations In BBC / ProPublica Investigation Are Found To Be True WADA Has A 10 Year Statute Of Limitations So Alberto Salazar And Galen Rupp Would Face No WADA Ban If They Doped When Rupp Was In High School We reached out to WADA to seek clarifications on what type of punishment Alberto Salazar would face if the allegations are found to be true by USADA. The results are interesting. Salazar can’t be banned by WADA for giving Kara Goucher a prescription drug she didn’t have a prescription for; he could be potentially banned for “a minimum of two years” and “up to four years” for coaching Galen Rupp on how to get an IV drip; and he would get off scot free if he doped Rupp with testosterone in high school due to WADA’s 10-year statute of limitations.

Mini-WTW Reactions From A Variety Of Sources Around The Globe To The Alberto Salazar / Nike Oregon Project Doping Allegations The world has been awash with a wide variety of responses over the last week to the Alberto Salazar doping allegations. We quickly hand out awards for our favorites as we hand out awards for our “Email Of The Week,” “Tweet Of The Week,” “Dumbest Reponse Of The Week,” “Picture Message Of The Week,” and “Message Board Posts Of The Week.”

• Once The Poster Boy Of The 2012 Olympics, Mo Farah Has Become Less And Less Popular In The UK An editorial published last September in Athletics Weekly said, “It is hard to see Mo Farah winning any gold medals in the popularity stakes. … Mo is now so detached from the heart of the sport, we doubt he even reads us.”
• Hannah England Cautions To Wait For Truth Before Passing Judgment On Alberto Salazar And Mo Farah She spent some time with NOP in 2012 and says, “The first thing you notice is that it is far and beyond the most professional set-up I’ve ever seen. It shows what’s possible in terms of facilities when money is no object.”

Not Farah Certified – Mo Farah Flies Home To Portland Without Competing – Fans Get Screwed

• “Emotionally And Physically Drained” Mo Farah Pulls Out Of Birmingham Meet  – Apologizes To Fans Who Bought Tickets To Watch Him Discuss here. 
• British Pros Slam Farah For No-Show Kilty: “I’d have shown up on one leg. It’s a shame for the fans. I think a lot of people have paid to watch him today.”
• Fans Are Irate As Well: “You don’t go to a rugby match and see one of the teams pull out, for this event you’re coming to see individuals compete.”
• Paula Radcliffe And Steve Cram Criticize Farah For No-Show
• Press Irate That UK Athletics Officials Won’t Answer Questions
• The Telegraph Reveals Farah Wasn’t Entirely Truthful At Press Conference: Mo Farah Said At Press Conference He Was Told Of Salazar Allegations “Three To Four Days Ago” When In Reality He Was Sent A Letter On May 6th – Coe Calls On Salazar To Defend Himself
• Daily Mail: Mo Farah Should Have Run The Race, Not Run For Home
• Not Everyone Is Negative: Jenny Meadows Offers Some Support: “None of us think he’s done anything wrong.” But she did add a disclaimer: “Obviously, we want it (his 2012 golds) to be true. We really hope it is.”

Mo Farah Spoke At Saturday’s Press Conference And We Learned A Lot *Discuss

Angry Mo Farah Wants Answers Over Alberto Salazar’s Doping Allegations And Reveals A Lot He said he has never been on thyroid medication, will sit down with Alberto face-to-face, speak with Steve Magness and others in the documentary, and also make his blood values public to show he has nothing to hide. We’d also like him and the entire NOP to release the list of supplements they admit to taking when they are drug tested. The sports “grey area” may need to change.

• More Nike Doping Allegations: Alberto Salazar Told Mo Farah He Wasn’t Coaching Mary Slaney When She Tested Positive
• Ken Goe Gets A Text Of A Liturgical Reading From Alberto And Shares His Thoughts On Doping Allegations Alberto Salazar texted Ken Goe: “An evil report he shall not fear; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. His heart is steadfast; he shall not fear till he looks down upon his foes.”
• Steph Twell Says Many Had Heard NOP Rumors
• Nick Symmonds On Twitter: Coach overnighted a good read to get me ready for tonight’s race! #OvalOffice #ChewRunGum #CleanSport 
• Editorials:Ben Bloom Editorial: Alberto Salazar Scandal Casts Shadow Over Second-Biggest British Athletics Meeting Of Year – Telegraph Bloom says, “No matter how much the powers protest, Britain is heavily involved in this episode.” It’s a great point.
• Amby Burfoot Editorial: No Rush To Judgment On Alberto Amby is one who realizes Nike has a big role to play in this.
• Sticking With Alberto: “It’s the wrong decision for the right reasons.”
• Editorial: Farah’s Smile Remains But He Must Ask Salazar Some Difficult Questions How can Salazar prove to Farah he wasn’t doping Rupp?
• Video Clip:

Big Doping News *Miss The Broadcast? Here’s How To Watch The BBC In The US

LRC Everything You Want To Know About The BBC Nike Oregon Project Doping Documentary If You Didn’t See ItThe show had multiple anti-doping allegations against Alberto Salazar and Galen Rupp, and that the Nike lab advocated for or was aware of testosterone usage by Nike athletes.
*MB: Former American Record Holder George Malley corroborates John Stiner’s allegation that androgel was in the NOP training camp Malley says Salazar admitted it to him in 2013.
*Shoot The Messenger: Alberto Salazar And Galen Rupp Issue Statements Saying They Believe in Clean Sport And Criticize The Journalism Of The “Reporters” Salazar’s response was especially cheeky as he referred to David Epstein and Mark Daly as “reporters.” ProPublica and the BBC are about as respected as it gets in the journalism world. David Epstein is definitely a reporter – his past work helped expose A-Rod and Lance. *Message Board Poster Analyzes Statements Of Rupp And Salazar

Must Read:ProPublica Investigation Alleges Anti-Doping Violations By Alberto Salazar David Epstein, author of Sports Gene, has been working on this piece for a few years. A great read alleging possible anti-doping violations by Alberto Salazar and even Galen Rupp.  Epstein teamed up with BBC reporter Mark Daly to take a look inside the NOP. Steve Magness, Kara Goucher and Adam Goucher all speak on the record –  other former NOP athletes speak without using their names.  The BBC aired a one hour show on doping last night as well. Miss The Broadcast? Here’s How To Watch The BBC In The US

LRCRojo’s Five Quick Thoughts On David Epstein’s Nike Oregon Project Investigation David Epstein‘s piece is a great read, this could be just the beginning as it is time for more people to speak on the record and for Nike to investigate its own house. Plus Matt Centrowitz‘s tweet on this is embarrassing.

Competitor Q&A With David Epstein On Nike Oregon Project Allegations

David Epstein/BBC Investigation Talk On The Message Board
MB: Former Team Members Accuse Famed Coach Alberto Salazar Of Breaking Drug Rules (official thread)
*Impressions of BBC TV Panorama Program on Alberto Salazar/Doping and Adam Goucher Comment: “That’s Almost Child Abuse”
*What is going through Mary Cain’s Parents heads right now?
*Centro not holding back on twitter
*Rupp on Testosterone since high school !
*Are letsrun’s “trolls” still considered trolls… They are ALWAYS right.