May 27, 2014 Homepage Archive

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Archived Homepage For May 27, 2014

World Relays Here To Stay

“Oh yes, relays are fun. And that has been the watchword in the inaugural world relay championships in the Bahamas. … This is a year of innovation in our sport. A relays championship has been on the drawing board for many years. After this weekend, I am convinced that it will become a permanent fixture.”

– Seb Coe talking about the inaugural IAAF World Relay Championships.

Memorial Day – 2013 Bolder Boulder *Results (link fixed)

Denver Post: Mamitu Daska Of Ethiopia Wins 4th Bolder Boulder Title In 6 Years, Shalane Flanagan 2nd, Kastor 4th – US Women 3rd
*A Wobbly Sarah 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 Rrace, 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 Hal,l 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.

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.

The Inaugural IAAF World Relays Were Awesome ResultsLRC Photos Video Highlights Day 1 Recaps M 4 x 8W 4 x 15

LRC (Updated)USA Women Are Golden In 4 X 800!!!

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.

LRCBrenda Martinez was "Absolutely Brilliant"

LRC (Updated)4 X 1,500: Kenya Gets Gold, US Hangs On For Silver After Casey Hands Off In 1st & Torrence Tries To Hang With Kiplagat

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.

USATF Acts Quickly

USATF Reprimands Oiselle Within 12 Hours For Doctoring World Relays Uniform Photos, Can't Resolve Bumbalough DQ Within 3 Months

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.

Sunday Distance Action Outside The Bahamas

Ethiopia’s Yemane Tsegay Wins Ottawa Marathon In Canadian Soil Record Of 2:06:54Tigist Tufa won the women’s race, also in a CR of 2:24:31.
Andy Vernon (29:33) And Gemma Steel (32:53) Win Bupa London 10KChris Thompson and Scott Overall were 2nd and 3rd.
Japan Running News Recap Of Kanto Regional University Track And Field ChampionshipsBrett Larner: “Imagine an NCAA national championship held in a major stadium packed with ear-splitting cheering squads from each university and thousands of enthusiastic fans, average folk who actually care about ‘the sport,’ and you begin to approach the vibe at the Kanto Regionals.”

NCAA Regionals Next Weekend

Non-World Relays Results

Mary Keitany Dominates Ottawa 10K In Comeback Race After Year Off For PregnancyShe set a CR of 31:22 and won by a minute in her first race since the London Olympics. Wilson Kiprop won the men’s race in 28:01 beating David Kogei (28:07) and Geoffrey Mutai (28:09).
Chris O’Hare Wins Bupa Westminster Mile In A Tactical 4:06; Alison Leonard Just Beats Out Master Runner Helen Clitheroe As Both Clock 4:35Roger Bannister was there watching on as David Weir tried and failed to break the 3-minute barrier, but still set a new world best at 3:07.
Olympic Bronze Medalist Thomas Longosiwa Wins Kenya Prisons Services In Record Time Of 13:33.0 He beat out the previous record holder Timothy Kiptoo and 2012 World Half Marathon bronze medalist John Mwangangi.
Alexa Efaimson Breaks Washington State Record By Running 4:37.85 In The 1,600
PA State Champs: Ross Wilson Wins 3,200 Breaking 30-Year-Old MR With 8:56.29 Second and third (Tony Russell and Colin Martin) also went sub-9 and 4th place (Kevin James) was 9:03.

NCAA Preliminary Rounds Are Next Weekend

Men And Women’s Entries For NCAA DI West Preliminary RoundLawi Lalang doubling up 1,500/5K while Edward Cheserek will be doing the 5K/10K as will Kennedy Kithuka and OSU’s 27:36 man Shadrack Kipchirchir.
Men And Women’s Entries For NCAA DI East Preliminary RoundAbbey D’Agostino running only the 5,000.
DII Inspirational Story: Neal Anderson Missed 2012 XC Nationals When He Found Out He Had A Brain Tumor; Now He’ll Close Out His Career At DII Oudoor Nationals He managed an 18-month comeback and ran a 9:27(9:10 altitude converted) steeple at a last chance meet (he has a 9:08 PR) to qualify.

Other Upcoming Distance Action

Monday: Ryan Hall, Shalane Flanagan, Sara Hall And Deena Kastor Highlight Elite Field For Monday’s Boulder Boulder 10K Kenya’s two time defending champ Alan Kiprono and Ethiopia’s three time winner Mamitu Daska lead the international fields. Other top US elites competing include Luke Puskesdra, Jeffrey Eggleston, Brent Vaughn, Bobby Curtis, Ben Bruce, Kellyn Johnson and Mattie Suver.
*Shalane Flanagan Says Boulder Boulder Has Been On Her “Bucket List” And She’s “Just Looking For A Race, A Hard Effort” For a fall marathon as she’s still choosing between Chicago, NYC and Berlin.
Next Weekend: Mary Cain Might Not Run Pre Classic 1,500 Because Alberto Salazar Doesn’t Know If She’s Ready To Race Against Abeba Aregawi And Jenny Simpson Cain hasn’t raced since indoor and Salazar is assessing her fitness before he makes the call. He might put her in the 800 instead.
*MB: Mary Cain May Duck The Competition At Pre
Emily Chebet, Mamitu Daska Aiming for Third Title at Freihofer’s Run for Women

More News From The World Relays

Recommended Read:Seb Coe Talks About The Unique Excitement That Surrounds Relay Races, Making Comedic References To His Children And His Own Relay Running Past “This is a year of innovation in our sport … After this weekend, I am convinced that it will become a permanent fixture.”
IAAF: Should Yohan Blake Be The MVP Of The World Relays? Brenda Martinez gets mention for anchoring both the USA 4 x 1,500 and 4 x 800.
Track And Field News: A Star Meet Is Born In The Bahamas The US got to the Bahamas early to practice handoffs while Yohan Blake said their team barely even practiced, but relied on “street smarts.”
IAAF Work, Rest And Play Interview With Christian Taylor Oly TJ champ’s favorite workout is 3 x 350m. Interesting fact: Taylor longboards a mile and back to practice.
Yohan Blake Says Michael Jackson Was One Of His Heroes And He’s “Learned A Lot” From Him Blake says he cried when he heard about Jackson’s death in 2009 and didn’t train for a week.
Video Clip Of Crash Between Katie Mackey And Australia’s Zoe Buckman In World Relays 4 x 1,500

Athletes On Trial

Oscar Pistorius Begins His Month-Long Psychiatric Hospital Observation To Assess If He Actually Has An Anxiety Disorder As His Defense Team Claims Some have described the conditions as favorable to Pistorius as he isn’t at the facility for 24/7, but only from 9AM-4PM on weekdays.
Asafa Powell Appealing To CAS To Cut His 18-Month Suspension To 3 MonthsSherone Simpson is also appealing her 18-month ban.

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.

Sunday World Relays Photos (Click for Gallery)

Will Leer at World Relays

Other Assorted News

Greg Rutherford’s 8.51m LJ National Record To be Ratified By British Athletics Despite Rival Chris Thomlinson’s Complaints It counts as a NR despite the meet not using a plasticine strip which helps detect fouls, but had he broken the WR, it’s unlikely the IAAF would have ratified it. We talked about why it shouldn’t count in our last Week that Was.
A Lawyers Take On The Jon Drummond USADA/Tyson Gay Lawsuit At a glance, looks like Drummond has little chance of winning.
Sad:High School Coach In Critical Condition After Accidentally Being Hit In The Head With A Shot

Saturday Photos (Click For Gallery)

Upcoming

Solid Distance Action Set For June 8th Mohammed VI D’Athletisme In Morocco: Moahammed Aman Vs. Duane Solomon (800); Silas Kiplagat Vs. Aman Wote & 2012 World Indoor Champ Abdalaati Iguider (1,500) Ethiopian record holder FantuMagiso leads women’s 800, Ezekiel Kemboi vs.Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad in the steeple, Imane Merga vs. Albert Rop and world junior champ Muktar Edris in the 5,000m. Ivan Ukhov vs. Bohdan Bonderenko in the HJ.
IAAF: Top Six Men’s Javelin Throwers From World Championships To Feature In Oslo DL Meet

Saturday World Relays Talk

#USATFDoesItAgain & Lauren Fleshman Speaks Out

LRC USATF Does It Again: Dennis Mitchell, Convicted Doper, Your Head Sprint Coach For World Relays Eight years after USATF accidentally appointed convicted doper Dennis Mitchell (of the “five bottles of beer and sex with his wife at least four times” excuse) to be a USA National Team coach, USATF has done it again, but this time for real with the full backing of the USATF national office.

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.”

Fast Times At HS State Meets

Ricky Faure Wins Wyoming State Meet 800 In 1:48.14 (#10 All-Time)
State Records Go Down At Iowa State Meet: Stephanie Jenks Ran A 9:24 3K To Break Katie Flood’s 9:27 Record From 2010 In the 3,200, Thomas Pollard ran 8:50.43 to break a nearly 30-year-old record, just beating out Chandler Austin‘s 8:51.74. A total of four guys ran under 9:02 at the meet.

NCAA News

Other News

“Average Joe” Wins Colfax Marathon In 2:40:47 The father of 3 does his runs at 4AM with a group of other dads so they can finish in time to send their kids to school.
Philip Hersh: USOC Boss Pulls In $2 Million Over Past Two Years “In an era when some U.S. Olympic athletes have turned to crowd source funding to pay for their training, the top brass at the U.S. Olympic Committee is doing better than ever financially.”

Tyson Gay Drama Continues

Jon Drummond Sues Tyson Gay, USADA for Defamation

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

DII And DIII NCAA Champs Were Over The Weekend D2 ResultsD3 Results

More World Relays Day 2 Coverage

USATF Day 2 Recap: Team USA Claims Golden Baton At IAAF World Relays US take gold in the men’s 4 x 400 and women’s 4 x 400, 4 x 200 and 4 x 800 on day 2.
*Day Two Team USA Quotes
USA Wins The “Golden Baton” (First Place In World Relays Points Total) Team captains Will Leer and Chanelle Price accepted the award. Jamaica was 2nd in the team standings, Kenya 3rd.
Jamaica Gleaner: “Carl Lewis? He Talks A Lot … Jamaica Stars Fire Back At American After Breaking His 4 X 200m WR” Blake had some strong words for Lewis after breaking the record: “He (Lewis) has been talking a lot of smack. Even the other day in India, he said some things about Bolt … We feel like we always have something to prove. We are taking all his records. There is no more for him.”
IAAF: “World Records At The World Relays Are Worlds Apart” An analysis of how different Jamaica men’s 4 x 200 WR was to Kenya’s women’s 4 x 1,500.
Seb Coe Praises World Relays And Says Atmosphere Was Just As Good As London Olympics Coe: “I think we recognise now that for the sport to prosper we’ve got to take it to places where there is a real tradition for something … If you’ve got bedrock interest in a discipline then just go with the grain.”
IAAF On Men 4 X 100: Jamaica Dominates USA doesn’t make final after DQ.
IAAF On Women 4 X 200: USA Wins; Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Anchored Jamaican Team Only 3rd UK was 2nd.
IAAF On Men 4 X 400: US Denies Bahamas A Home Victory
IAAF On Women 4 X 400: USA Gets Comfortable Win As Jamaica Just Beats Nigeria For 2nd
Jamaica Gleaner: Kings Of Sprint Again – Jamaica’s Men Complete 4 X 200m, 4 X 100m Double Jamaica dominated the 4 x 100 in 37.77.
IAAF Work, Rest And Play With Bahamas’ 400 Runner Chris Brown The sprinter is also a big swimmer.

Saturday World Relays

Reuters Saturday Recap: Yohan Blake Leads Jamaica To 4 X 200 World Record

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.

LRC Updated World Relays Start With A Bang As Kenya Holds On For Gold And USA Settles For Bronze In 4 X 800

What a crazy anchor leg it was in the first final at the loud and raucous World Relays.

LRC UpdatedW 1,500: Kenya Crushes World Record, USA Beats Old World Record, Australia Celebrates Bronze

The Kenyans crushed the soft world record and the Americans overcame a violent fall for silver.

More Non-LRC Coverage

Jamaica Wins World Relays 4 X 200 In World Record Time Of 1:18.63 The team of Nickel Ashmeade, Warren Weir, Jermaine Brown and Yohan Blake won the $50,000 plus the WR bonus of $50,000. The US team was DQed for a handoff outside the exchange zone between Curtis Mitchel and Ameer Webb. So much for what Wallace Spearmon predicted about “almost flawless” baton passes.
*Jamaica Gleaner 4 X 200 Article: Yohan Blake Says He Thinks They Could Have Gone Faster
USATF Recap: U.S. Women’s 4 X 100m Relay Runs World-Leading Time To Win Gold At IAAF World Relays The team of Tianna Bartoletta, Alexandra Anderson, Jeneba Tarmoh and Lekeisha Lawson ran 41.88 to beat Jamaica’s 42.28.
*Day One Team USA Quotes
*IAAF report
IAAF Report Of Women’s 4 X 400m Relay Heats
IAAF Report Of Men’s 4 X 400m Relays Heats

USADA Responds To Drummond

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.”

LetsRun.com Founders Named as Two of “The 50 Most Influential People in Running”