2016 Rio Track Action Begins Friday – It’s Time To Get Educated *Full Schedule *TV & Streaming *Running Warehouse Prediction Contest

LRC From 1 to 60: We Rank The 2016 US Track and Field Female Olympians In Terms Of Their Gold Medal Chances From Brianna Rollins (big favorite) to Abbey D’Agostino (huge underdog), we’ve got you covered.

LRC From 1 to 60: We Rank The 2016 US Olympic Track and Field Male Olympians In Terms Of Their Gold Medal Chances From Ashton Eaton (big favorite) to Conor McCullough (huge underdog), we’ve got you covered.

Day 1 Preview LRC The Friends And Family Guide To Day 1 Of Track & Field At The 2016 Summer Olympics The Olympics are the one opportunity track and field has every four years to expand its fan base. With that in mind, each day, we’re going to present to you an “LRC Friends and Family Guide” to the action – a quick overview of what to expect that day in track and field. Hopefully, you can share the link or print it out and hand it to your friends and family that are either casual track and field fans or not track and field fans at all. If they know the storylines behind what they are watching, they will enjoy it a whole lot more and you won’t have to drive yourself nuts by starting at square one with them.

Overall Preview LRC The Friends And Family Guide To Track & Field At The 2016 Summer Olympics: Bolt’s Swan Song, Hyperandrogenism & Everything Else You Need To Know To Get Ready For Rio The track and field action in Rio starts tomorrow. Do you not know what’s going on but want to learn? Read this.

Event Previews: Fri 10:10am ET LRC W 10,000 Preview: Tirunesh Dibaba Goes For A Historic 3rd Straight Title In A Clash Of The Titans Against Almaz Ayana & Vivian Cheruiyot; Do Molly Huddle & Emily Infeld Have Any Chance To Medal? The Olympic track and field action starts on Friday and the action will kick off in incredible fashion with a SPECTACULAR women’s 10,000-meter final. Can Tirunesh Dibaba become the 1st woman to win 3 individual golds in the same event? Or will Almaz Ayana mark herself as the new world #1? Can defending world champ Vivian Cheruiyot win her first Olympic gold? Can American Molly Infeld or Molly Huddle medal? Will the American record go down?

Starts Friday: LRC W 1,500 Preview: Kenyan Record Holder Faith Kipyegon Faces WR Holder Genzebe Dibaba; Can An American Medal For The 1st Time In History? EPO was allegedly found at the hotel where Dibaba and her coach were staying in June, but she will still compete in Rio. Also watch for World Indoor champ Sifan Hassan and British sensation Laura Muir. Can Simpson, Rowbury or Martinez medal?

Starts Friday: LRC M 800 Preview: David Rudisha Goes For The Repeat In A Wide-Open Event; Clayton Murphy & Boris Berian Shoot For First U.S. Medals Since 1992 No man has repeated in the 800 at the Olympics since New Zealand’s Peter Snell in 1960 & 1964. Defending world champ Rudisha enters as the world leader and favorite, but he’ll be challenged by Kenyan Trials champ Alfred Kipketer, 2015 Worlds runner-up Adam Kszczot, France’s Pierre-Ambroise Bosse and many more.

Sat 8:25pm ET LRC M 10,000 Preview: Mo Farah Vs. Geoffrey Kamworor In A Rematch Of Epic Proportions Farah could join running immortals Nurmi, Zátopek, Viren, Gebrselassie and Bekele as the only men to win two Olympic 10,000 titles. Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor will try to stop him after coming up just short in Beijing last year. Plus can Galen Rupp medal in part one of his 10k/marathon double?

International Distance News

• After Breaking Kelly Holmes’ British 1,500 Record, Laura Muir Is Looking To Follow That Up With A Medal “I’m honored to have broken the record and I just hope I can do it justice really.”
• Seb Coe Admits The IAAF And IOC Were “Surprised” By CAS’s Ruling That Allowed Caster Semenya To Compete Without Hormone Treatement The IAAF will be talking to CAS about it over the next year, but that will be too late for the women who miss out on a medal in Rio.
• As Jo Pavey Gets Ready For Her Fifth Olympics, She Reflects Back On Her Previous Four Games
• Kenyan Marathon Men Ready To Rumble In Rio Eliud Kipchoge, Stanley Biwott and Wesley Korir did their last hard pre-Olympic workout (a 16K run) on Tuesday.

Olympic Sprint Stuff

• In Bizarre Press Conference, Usain Bolt Gets Rapped To By A Norwegian Journalist And Dances With “Scantly Clad” Samba Dancers (includes video) Bolt revealed that Glen Mills called Bolt’s 19.89 win in London “one of the worst races [he’s] ever run” and talks about having to buy a TV in Rio since there wasn’t one in his room.
  *NBC: Usain Bolt Had Too Much Fun At His Press Conference
  *The Telegraph: Usain Bolt Circus Begins With DJs, Cocktails And A Troupe Of Samba Dancers
• The Wall Street Journal: Usain Bolt’s First Opponent At The Rio Olympics Is Boredom Bolt got to Rio on July 27th for the Jamaican pre-Olympic training camp and his snapchats have shown the lack of action.
• Wayde Van Niekerk Says It’s Been An Amazing Experience Being At The Olympics And Carrying South Africa’s Flag In The Opening Ceremony He’s also happy to have his family with him, adding, “A few years ago – or even last year – we couldn’t afford something like that and now I have 10 family members joining me.”
• Sydney McLaughlin’s High School Will Host A Viewing Party During Her Rio Race There will be food, beer and wine available for purchase. So a step up from most US track meets.
• USATF Q&A With Sprinters Morolake Akinsun (4 X 100) And Ashley Spencer (400H) Spencer said her mom “won’t stop crying” and she tears up anytime someone says “Rio” or “Olympics” or “Ashley.”

Week That Was

LRCWTW: Mikey Brannigan Leads The PR Train In North Carolina, Ryan Gregson Nears His PR And WADA Chief Craig Reedie Gets Criticized

More News From Rio

• What Are The 10 Most Endangered Olympic Records In Rio? Several distance records make the list, including the women’s 800 with Caster Semenya very likely capable of the 1:53 mark.
• NY Times: Rio Security Forces Of 85,000 Take On Battle Against Street Crime Crime has still been a problem, however, with notable examples being an attempted mugging of the chief of security for the opening ceremonies and a stray bullet landing in the equestrian arena’s media tent.
• NY Times: Apparently The Brazil Fans Have Been Extremely Loud, Event At Times When They’re Not Supposed To Be A ping-pong player said she wasn’t used to the cheers during the match, adding that “It was just weird.”
• Brazil Police Arrest Two British Firm Employees For Selling Rio Tickets On The Black Market They were caught with more than 1,000 tickets valued at up to $10 million.

Latest Doping Scandal

Sunday Times And German ARD Tape Record Kenyan Team Manager Asking For $13,000 Bribe And He’d Give Brits 24-Hour Notice Of Out-Of-Competition Doping Tests In Kenya We didn’t need a tape recording to tell us the OOC testing in Kenya wasn’t very effective as Reid Coolsaet had already told the world he was called at 8pm the night before OOC tests in Kenya and told where to report at 6 am. However, the fact the Kenyan Olympic team manager is involved is very disturbing. *AFP Article

General Olympic News

• IAAF Event-By-Event Previews
• LA Mayor Says A Donald Trump Presidential Victory Could Hurt LA’s 2024 Olympic Bid Chances
• Good Read: Washington Post: “By ‘Packaging’ The Olympics, NBC Insults Viewers And The Athletes Themselves” NBC chief marketing officer was quoted saying viewers (especially women) are “… less interested in the result and more interested in the journey. It’s sort of like the ultimate reality show and miniseries wrapped into one.”
• 89 Collegians From 54 Programs Will Represent 27 Countries In Rio The programs producing the most Olympians is Georgia and Texas A&M (6). Arkansas and Texas(5) and Florida State (4) aren’t too far behind.
• What Are The “Best” And “Worst Olympic” Sports? Track only comes in at 5th on this list with volleyball #1 and equestrian on bottom.
• Moroccan Olympic Boxer Arrested In Rio On Charges Of Sexually Assaulting Two Workers At The Olympic Village

Need Something To Read On A Sunday? Read This

9,000+ Words Of Great Journalism Learn About The Life Of Arguably The Most Talented Sprinter In History – Houston McTear McTear did it all in life – from equaling the WR in the 100y during the heats of a HS race and competing for Muhammad Ali‘s track club, to drug addiction and homelessness. If you’ve got 30+ minutes this weekend, this is a great read. A movie about his life is being made, watch the trailer here.

North American Olympic News

• Cool NY Times Video: What Makes Christian Taylor So Good At The Triple Jump?
• Melissa Bishop’s Home Town Is Ready For Rio They’ve saved the signs from 4 years ago, knowing she’d be back.
• Jenn Suhr Watched The Opening Ceremonies From A Western New York Restaurant She’s never been to an opening or closing ceremony. She likes to stay at home and visit her favorite places before going to the Olympics.
• Ray Treacy Thinks Huddle Will Be In Close To AR Shape When 10,000 Gun Goes Off
• Michael Johnson Thinks Bolt Will Beat Gatlin
• Asafa Powell Wants 4 X 100 WR In Rio

Opening Ceremony Recap  Worth A Watch: Video On Kip Keino

• Vanderlei De Lima Showed Up For Opening Ceremony As A Spectator, Was Told An Hour Before He’d Be Lighting The Fame
• Kip Keino Received Historic Olympic Laurel Near End Of Opening Ceremony
• Column: Refugees Remind Us Of What The Olympic Ideal Is Supposed To Be
• Alan Abrahamson Loved The Opening Ceremony: Rio Rises Over Obstacles And Delivers
• 1984 Jamaican Flag-Bearer Bert Cameron Says The Honor Was One Of The “Greatest Moments” Of His Life Carrying the flag was more meaningful than winning 1983 WC gold in the 400.

African Olympic News

• Julius Yego Is Irate As Officials Totally Mess Up His Coach’s Travel Plans They’ve booked it so his coach will only show up 1 day before the prelims and then leave before the final takes place.
• Kenyan Flag-Bearer Finishes 62nd Out Of 64 In Archery
• Colorado Professor Says Caster Semenya Should Be Allowed To Compete With Women But Isn’t Opposed To Separating Sports Between High And Low Testosterone Instead Of Men Vs. Women
• South Sudan Selects 27.61 Women’s 200 Runner For Olympics Apparently Because She’s The Face Of Samsung Commercials You can watch the commercial (which we like) here, but a faster woman was left at home.
• 77% Of The Country Is In Asia But It’s Considered To Be A European Country Yelena Isinbayeva Is Still Whining On Instagram About Her Exclusion From The Olympics She says she’s figured out why she’s banned – she lives in Russia and thinks that’s unfair. We disagree. If she passed valid drug tests, no one would care where she lived.

The 2016 Rio Games Have Opened

• MB: The Official Rio Olympics Opening Ceremonies Thread
• Brazil’s Former Marathon Bronze Medalist Vanderlei De Lima Lights Olympic Cauldron De Lima was famously tackled by an Irish priest while leading the Athens 2004 marathon, but recovered to hold on to bronze.
  *IAAF Article
• Usain Bolt Skipped Opening Ceremony Because He Was Feeling “Too Lazy” However, some have speculated that it’s also because of how frequently he is mobbed for selfies by his fellow Olympians.
• The Telegraph: “As Postcards From A Host Went, This Was Hard To Beat” The Rio Opening Ceremony has been lauded for being an “analogue ceremony in a digital world,” avoiding the extravagance of past Olympics without coming up short.
• Supermodel Wife Of Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen, Does Long Catwalk At Opening Ceremony Her appearance was a simple 500m catwalk, but reports have said it was originally supposed to be something much stranger and potentially controversial.
• USA Today: “Who says you need to spend $100 million to put on an opening ceremony?” Apparently Russia received the “harshest” reception as boos could be heard when they were announced.
• Soccer Legend Pele Pulled Out Of Lighting The Olympian Cauldron Due To Poor Health
• Shirtless Tonga Flagbearer Stole The Show At Olympic Opening Ceremony
• Flagbearer Michael Phelps Leads Team USA At Opening Ceremony
• NY Times: “Gilded Games Begin In Gritty Rio”
• USA Today: “5 Things You Should Know From Olympic Opening Ceremony”
• Signs Of LGBT Acceptance At Opening Ceremony As Crowd Cheers For Two Men On “Kiss Cam”

HUGE Doping News

Must Read Head Of WADA’s Investigation Into Russian Doping Absolutely Rips WADA And IOC  – Says WADA Chief Craig Reedie Never Asked Him Once About The Investigation Former DEA superstar Jack Robertson held nothing back in a Q&A with ProPublica and the BBC: “The action the IOC took has forever set a bar for how the most outrageous doping and cover up and corruption possible will be treated in the future … The people in charge are basically raping their sports and the system for self-interest. Sport is seriously broken.”

Demand Change Sign The Petition Asking For Reedie’s Resignation

MB: ProPublica interview with Jack Robertson – WADA and IOC tried to kill Russian doping investigation and fallout

More Doping News

• IOC Head Thomas Bach Once Again Defends Russia’s Inclusion In Games – 276 Russians May End Up Competing
• Bach Compares Total Russian Doping Ban From Rio To A Nuclear Bomb Explosion
• Bach Does Call For “… a full review of the WADA anti-doping system.”

News From Jamaica

• Usain Bolt Promises Justin Gatlin “… will feel my full wrath” In Rio – Predicts He’ll Run At Least 9.6 In 100 Bolt says he’s in much better shape than he was last year in Beijing. “I’m feeling much more confident now. I’m much more comfortable with where I’m at.”
• Usain Bolt Moves Into Olympic Village, But Maintains Low Profile And yet many Americans will think staying in the village will hurt their performance and opt for hotels instead.
• Who Would Win In A “Super Race” At 400m Between Usain Bolt And David Rudisha?
• Injured Jamaicans Janieve Russell And Elaine Thompson both Do Well In Training In Brazil Thompson is #1 in the world in the 100m and Russell is #3 in the 400H.
• Coach Stephen Francis Backs Medical Exemption For Jamaican Athletes
• 2015 110H Silver Medalist Hansle Parchment Explains Why He’s Not Competing
• Jamaican Coach Says There’s No Way World Jr. 400H Champ Jaheel Hyde Can Fail In Rio If he bombs out in the first round, he gains experience and if he medals, then it’s amazing.