Quote Of The Day

"I mean for me right now, $8,000 is life changing. That's my yearly salary right now at the print shop, so this is definitely a big positive for me."

- Brett Gotcher - Stanford grad, Flagstaff resident and McMillan elite member - after his big US 20k championship win in New Haven in a stellar time of 58:57. Just one of many great quotes we found today.

World Athletics Final From Greece; September 12-13
*World Athletics Final Provisional Start Lists
*World Athletics Final Distance Preview
*WAthletics Final Jumps Preview *Throws *Hurdles

Pat Butcher On The New Media-Friendly Kenenisa Bekele Butcher does a good job looking back at the history of Ethiopian athletes and media relations.
LRC Boards: Bekele--speak for yourself.

Great NCAA News
DII Montevallo ADDS Men's XC It's not a big school but it's not often a college adds cross-country. LetsRun.com applauds you, Montavello!

College Kids Be Careful
HS and College Runners: Avoid The Flu By Taking Precautions, Tons Of Kids At School Are Getting The Flu
Wash your hands a lot and be smart when sharing public spaces like dining halls, bathrooms and your dirty cross-country houses.

Great LetsRun.com Offer 10% Off AND Free Shipping From RoadRunner Sports Click Here

Links To The Stories We Quote To The Right
*Interesting Deena Kastor Interview From "Take The Magic Step" Deena was injured before her really sub-par NYC Half, but says in this interview she can win Chicago because she gets fit really fast.
*Kenenisa Bekele Thanks 5 Important People In His Success
*Great Interview With Darvis "Doc" Patton, Who Speaks For The First Time After US 4 x 100m Exchange Disqualification Doc is a class act and a smart guy. We agree with him that the British officials were wrong to get the Americans DQed. At the very least, it's bad karma.
*Brett Gotcher's First USA Title Means A Ton To Him And His Coach Greg McMillan
*Dr. Ross Tucker Returns And Offers Intelligent Analysis Of Caster Semanya Situation *London's Telegraph Describes Caster Semenya By The Numbers
*ESPN Hoping To Purchase Olympic TV Rights And Have Much More Live Coverage Once ESPN bought the rights to the MLS and Champions League they started treating soccer like a real sport. Perhaps they will do the same with track.

Olympics Day 15 - Athletics LRC The Week That Was - Week 36 - For the 2nd-straight week, an American broke 13:00-flat in the 5k (isn't it fun to write that?), for the first time in a long time someone almost broke 1:42.00, and Anna Willard staked her claim to the #1 US ranking at 800 meters. Plus, the Golden League concluded with great runs by Bekele, Richards and Bolt, while the Caster Semenya story got crazier and crazier.

Kenyan News
*Brother Colm O'Connell Says David Rudisha Can Break Kipketer's 800m Record And he should know considering he's coached so many of their great runners at St. Patrick's.
*Kenyan Press Blasts Some Kenyan Runners For Not Talking To The Kenyan Press With the exception of Kiprop after his disasters generally the problem is hardly anyone bothers to interview them. By and large were willing to talk to LetsRun.com! Janeth Jepkosgei here, Asbel Kiprop here, and of course a hilarious Ezekiel Kemboi here. (In our week that was we surmised why David Rudisha went out in the semis at Worlds. Then we found out Wejo talked to him here)
*Kenyans Concerned With Athletes Defecting (Smuggled?) To Qatar And Bahrain

LRC Recap: Bolt Does It Again In Brussels

Track & Field First? Bolt Reportedly Receiving US $500,000 To Race In Daegu, South Korea We understand paying a top marathoner a half a mil to run twice a year, but this is rarified air for a 10-second race. Daegu is hosting the 2011 World Championships (we can't get over what a bad idea that is), so the more excitement he brings, the better.

Olympics Day 16 - AthleticsLRC Ritz Speaks USATF held a teleconference with Dathan Ritzenhein Tuesday afternoon and we quickly give you the highlights. We tell you what Ritz had to say about new coach Alberto Salazar and what event Ritz will focus on for 2012. Plus we tell you what Ritz's next race will be. Is an American 10k record run a possibility?

Ian O'Riordan Column:  "Berlin restored a lot of people's faith and interest in the sport ..." But will it all go to waste?

LRC: Dathan Ritzenhein Breaks Bob Kennedy's American 5,000m Record In Zürich Amazed? So are we.

Peter Kamais Runs 27:09 To Win Tilburg 10k In The Netherlands!

London: *Cheruiyot Over Masai - Paula's Record Stands In Hyde Park 5k

US: *
Elite New Haven 20k Entrants New Haven is on Monday, Labor Day. The men's field seems to be deep and even, the women's field is led by returning champion Jill Swope (Steffens) and Magdalena Boulet. *3 Team USA Minnesota Runners Head To New Haven *Elva Dryer Interview *2008 New Haven Results

IAAF Golden league  LRC Recap Bolt Does It Again In Brussels Usain Bolt thrilled a capacity crowd in Brussels on the final leg of the Golden League tour. He ran 19.57, but it was the enormous margin of victory and apparent ease that were so wonderful to watch. We recap almost every event, including a win for Anna Willard, 8:14 for Dan Huling, the oldest world record on the books going down, and 48.83 for Super Sanya as all three Jackpot contenders won.
*Usain Bolt Runs 4th-Fastest 200m In History In Brussels

6 Quotes From Runners, Coaches, Executives And Scientists From Around The World

1. "Our DNA is different than [NBC's]. We serve sports fans. It's hard in our culture to fathom tape-delaying in the same way they have." John Skipper, ESPN’s executive vice president for content, on why ESPN will do a better job televising the 2014 and 2016 olympics should their bid win.

2. "You have to understand that most of our athletes live at or below the poverty level. A lot of people don't know that, but distance runners coming out of college, most of them are pretty poor. So when they can have a day like Brett had today, that changes their world." - Greg McMillan, coach of McMillan Elite, talking about new US champion Brett Gotcher's first US win in New Haven and the impact of the $8,000 paycheck.

3. "The most important thing is putting in the work on every given day. If you can put that together then you shouldn’t be afraid on the starting line. I really don't believe in fear; I believe in putting in the work. Sometimes things happen that are out of your control. Those things you should use to learn from and grow from." - American marathon record holder Deena Kastor speaking one week after her New York City Half Marathon disaster. Deena says she may surprise people and win in Chicago if everything goes perfectly.

4. "Doubt is unhealthy for all concerned - it means the benefit of doubt should go to Semenya (quite rightly), but it leaves a lot of scope for future controversy. For Semenya's rivals, many of whom are already highly suspicious if not straight-out convinced of her ineligibility, it means their doubts remain or even grow." - Ross Tucker, PhD, co-author of Science Of Sport writing about the latest Caster Semenya news reports and rumors.

5.
"My wife has helped me a lot in my career. She gives me psychological and morale support. Sometimes you need to be told that you are the best in the world and that no one will beat you. She has been there for me and given me the support when I have been down." Kenenisa Bekele thanks his wife Danawit Gebregziabher as another unbelievable season comes to a close for the Ethiopian.

6. "In my opinion, I don't feel there is a need for all of that [USATF relay technical meetings and rules]. What happened happened, and it brings these questions, without a doubt ... We shouldn't be having technical meetings or whatever. We're all adults. We've all done this before. We've just gotten it wrong on the wrong day. I think we're so deep into the negative right now that it won't be a positive if we win the next 10 in a row. Even if we win in 2011 it will be, 'Oh they got it right, but let's wait and see what happens next year.'" - Veteran US sprinter Darvis "Doc" Patton talking about the US relay DQ and why USATF technical meetings aren't going to help anything.

Paula Radcliffe To Run World Half Marathon Paula R, the women's marathon WR setter at an amazing 2:15, will suit up for Great Britain on her home soil in Birmingham. The race is October 11 and also will feature Dathan Ritzenhein of the US.

Recommended Read: Addis Fortune Magazine Takes A Close Look At Kenenisa Bekele's Monetary Earnings This is a really fascinating article as it gives you an idea of how money inspires Bekele and the huge monetary difference between being the world's best distance runner and the world's best golfer (or even the world's best sprinter).

Caster Semenya Results Are In ...

12th IAAF World Athletics Championships - Day Three *Too Close To Call: Semenya Results Must Be Given To Independent Agency For Further Investigation We say "tie goes to the runner" and leave her alone.
*Awesome Semenya Quote: "God made me the way I am and I accept myself. I am who I am and I'm proud of myself." Of course, this quote goes along with a fashion "makeover" for the biggest English language magazine in Africa, but we don't blame her for cashing in on her celebrity.
*IAAF: "No Matter What The Gender Results Say, Semenya Can Keep Her Medal."
New:
Caster Semenya's YOU Homepage Makeover Photos
*Excellent Journalist Mike Hurst Weighs In On Caster Semenya's Coach And Doping Past

*Return Of The Road Warriors! Sammy Wanjiru To Race Sammy Kitwara In Sep 13 Rotterdam Half Marathon The 22-year-olds get to duke it out. Yes, they would be redshirt juniors if they were in college in the US.

Sad News: UCSD Pole Vaulter Leon Roach Dies In Vaulting Accident

USA Track and Field National Championships LRC 12:58.56 For Matt Tegenkamp In Brussels It took only 8 days for Matt Tegenkamp and Dathan Ritzenhein to shatter the 13:00 barrier in an awesome 1-2 punch for American distance runners.

Recommended Read: Kenny Moore On Andrew Wheating's "Out Of Nowhere" Quest To Become The Next Great 1,500m Champion Kenny Moore, one of our favorite running authors, wrote a long piece for Runner's World on the improbable rise of Andrew Wheating from soccer player in Vermont discovered by a former Nike exec to Olympian who is only just getting started. To read our review of Moore's "Best Efforts," click here.

IAAF Golden League Brussels David Rudisha Sets African Record 1:42.01 800m In Rieti! 20-year-old Kenyan leads three men under 1:43 and now sits behind only Wilson Kipketer, Seb Coe and Joaquim Cruz on the all-time 800m list.
*David Rudisha, Son Of Olympic 4 x 400m Medalist Daniel Rudisha, Surprises With 1:42.01 The Nation - Kenya
*Boards: Leo Manzano Pr's Again - All 3's 3:33.33
*Results

Deal Of The Day

LRC Worlds Prediction Contest

Recap Our winner was a former high school 800m star and our runner-up shows all that is great about the sport and LetsRun.com. Read all about it.

Latest Photo Albums From PhotoRun.net

  • LRC Zürich Photo Album - Beautiful photos of Yelena Isinbayeva setting the new pole vault world record at 5.06m, Ken Bekele after his 16th-consecutive 5,000m win, and the great Usain Bolt being carted into the stadium (literally, he is in a human-drawn cart reminiscent of Roman Emperors).
  • LRC Rieti Photo Album - This daytime meet produced the fastest 800m run in over 12 years thanks to 20-year-old Kenyan David Rudisha. Plus see pics of Asafa Powell having fun winning thanks to Usain Bolt taking a rest.
  • LRC RNR Va Beach 1/2 Marathon Photo Album - Photos from the team battle in Virginia Beach on Labor Day weekend.
  • LRC Vlašić Vs. Friedrich Photo Album - Currently, the most glamorous event in the world is probably the women's high jump. These photos show the Vlašić/Friedrich battle from Berlin, as the crowd tried to spur the German to victory over the Croatian.

Matt Tegenkamp Gives Credit To Ritz And Americans In Post-Race Interview

Semenya Returns Home To A Celebration

Recommended Reads

One for the Mind: Running Within
One for the Soul: Best Efforts

Bolt On Cover Of Sports Illustrated

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