July 15, 2017 Homepage Archive

Where Your Dreams Become Reality

Archived Homepage For July 15, 2017

Quote Of The Day

“In the 1980s as cable TV opened the media marketplace to a host of new stations and shows, sports became a TV show. And what are TV shows built around? Characters. Outside the soon-retiring Usain Bolt, running has no characters.

Is Nigel Talton the fastest guy out there? No. With PRs of 10.47 in the 100m and 21.66 in the 200m he is a serviceable NCAA D2-level college sprinter. 10.47 would have grabbed sixth place at the D2 100m final this year. But he isn’t Nigel Talton on the track, he’s The Freeze. He’s a character that he has marketed at a professional level.

So let’s not disparage a costume-wearing groundskeeper with fine sprinting form, or a new athletics venture trying out innovative ideas in an attempt to re-animate a moribund sport that has been ill-served by its anachronistic presentation model and crushed by its corrupt officials.

People outside the game are talking. At this stage that’s enough for me.”

– Toni Reavis explaining on Tonireavis.com why he’s happy sports radio hosts in Dallas are mocking the TrackTown Summer Series.

History was made Friday in Madrid *Compiled Results

Isaac Makwala runs 19.77 and 43.92 in Madrid – 1st person EVER to go sub-20/sub-44 on same day!! *IAAF
Compiled Results US results of notes included Erik Sowinski’s 1:45.01 Chrishuna Williams‘ 2:00.03 in the 800s and Bershawn Jackson‘s 48.82.

Rabat DL is Sunday (2-4 pm ET) Schedule & entries & results TV & streaming

LRC 2017 Rabat DL Preview: Rowbury Vs BMart at 1500, Caster Semenya Drops Down To The 400 as Donavan Brazier Looks for Revenge vs. Nijel Amos Americans Brenda Martinez and Shannon Rowbury will square off over 1500 meters, while Stephanie Garcia and Andy Bayer will also go in the steeples which feature the two Olympic champs in Conseslus Kipruto and Ruth Jebet. Plus Donavan Brazier gets a rematch with Nijel Amos in the 800.
*The latest from Rabat including live press conference stream
*IAAF preview of Rabat: 8 Rio champions headline

World Under-18 Champs Continue In Kenya & European U-23 Champs in Poland Live U18 Results / Schedule Event by Event Recaps Live Streaming Info (Blocked In USA) European U-23 Results *U-23 Live Stream

IAAF Day 3: Kenya’s George Manangoi crushes 1500 field, Jamaica’s De’Jour Russell wins 110h in 13.04, Cuba’s Jordan Diaz wins TJ with ridiculous 17.30m Diaz is now 7th in the world in 2017 and he’s just 16. Video of jump.
Winner of boys 1500 at World U18s is the younger brother of 2015 WC silver medallist Elijah Manangoi
Antonio Watson wins WU18 title in 46.59
Spikes Recaps The 1st Half Of The World U18 Championships
With Ethiopia favored, it looks like Kenya may lose boys 800 final for first time since 2009
IAAF Day 2 Recap: Thrilling LJ Showdown Highlights As Cuba Goes 1-2 Maikel Y. Vidal won with a world U18 lead of 7.88m.
Day 2 Morning Recap Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega led the way with 7:55.

Europeans: 21-yr-old Ojie Edoburun (GBR) sprints to European U23 100m title in 10.14
Ireland’s/Villanova’s Penn Relays hero Síofra Cléirigh-Buttner is ready for European U23s We still can’t believe she didn’t make the NCAA final as we thought she’d contend for the title.

Sprints And Jumps

Greg Rutherford’s partner gives birth to his 2nd son – Rex Gregory Mowgli
US Sprinters Clean Up In Lignano, Italy:Phyllis Francis Breaks MR With 50.86 In The 400 As Josephus Lyles Won The Men’s Race In A 45.42 PR Nijel Amos set another 400 best with 45.55 while English Gardner (11.21) and Isiah Young (10.18) won the 100s.
Interesting Read:Olympic Champ Tianna Bartoletta Explains How “It Takes Money To Make Money” As An Elite Track Athlete You might not have considered how much money you have to spend traveling around the world as an elite athlete, but there are probably some dirt poor Kenyans making a living from running who would disagree with her overall conclusion.
Good Read:Be Inspired: British Sprinter James Ellington Targets Shock Return At The 2018 Commonwealth Games After His January Motorcycle Crash Doctors told the 31-year-old he’d be in a wheelchair for 6 weeks, but he was walking in two and now is walking without a limp and wants to start jogging soon.
Tips For Track And Life From Olympic HJ Champ Derek Drouin Drouin’s dating advice: “Spend less time talking about yourself and more about the other person.”

Olympic / Paralympic News

The Guardian:“London Pushes In Right Direction For Paralympic Athletes But Destination Is Some Way Off” The author drives us and anyone who knows a thing about track crazy by using the fact that a Para athlete ran faster than Matt Centrowitz in Rio as an argument for why the Paralympics should be getting more support/attention.
The Olympic Channel Makes Its TV Debut On Saturday Starting on August 28th, the channel will replay the primetime of all 8 original broadcasts of the 1992 Dream Team.
Former Brazilian President Responsible For Rio Olympic Bid Success Found Guilty Of Accepting Bribes Former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will get nine-and-a-half years in prison.

Interesting Distance News

A Lot Of Cheserek Updates From The Register Guard:Healthy Edward Cheserek Seeks Citizenship And A Shoe Contract Cheserek is healthy and working with his agent to get his US citizenship, but the process could take up to 5 years and Cheserek says he’s not interested in competing for Kenya or joining the WCAP program.
*MB:Edward Cheserek Is Working On His US Citizenship, But It May Take 5+ Years
Good Read:Nick Symmonds Writes Letter To His 14-Year-Old Self Symmonds admits to a “secret” that he hated running when he was younger, but says now its “found a way into [his] heart.”
Asbel Kiprop Moving Up To The 5,000 After This Year Kiprop is quoted saying he’s never “done the 5K in my career,” but tilastopaja.org says he ran 13:47 in Kenya last year. He says he wants to do the 1,500/5,000 double at next year’s Commonwealth Games.
Former NFL Wide Receiver Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson’s Daughter Is An 800 Runner The 12-year-old ran 2:14.80 to win the AAU National Club Championships yesterday. She also has a 56.48 PB in the 400 and doubled back in the AAU 1,500 to win in 4:47. *Results
*Chad Johnson Donates $2,200 To Help Baltimore Youth Team Get To USATF Junior Olympic*GoFundMe Page

USA Olympic TV Channel Launches Today at 6:30 am Learn what will be on it. It’s a partnership between the USOC, IOC, and NBC which will have archival Olympic footage, original programming and some live events that otherwise might not have been on TV.

News From Japan / Nike Oregon Project News

Nike Oregon Project’s Suguru Osako runs 27:46 – just misses 27:45 standard – won’t be going to Worlds In the women’s 5000, 16-yr-old Shuri Ogasawara who ran 15:23 at the Japanese champs missed the 15:22 standard. The Japanese will have a male runner in the distances as a steepler ran 8:29.
2014 Youth Olympic 3000 Champ Nozomi Takamatsu, 19, returns to Japan after less than a yr at Nike Oregon Project “It didn’t go well over there. I’m not the type of person who gets depressed, but sometimes I cried and cried. There were times that I thought about quitting athletics.”
*MB: Yet another Salazar fail? 2014 Youth Olympic gold medallist has quit the NOP and returned to Japan
18-yr-old Hyuga Endo Breaks 3000 m Junior National Record with 7:54 clocking
Did you know? Japan has only had 12 men in history run sub-10.10 and 4 have done it this year

A New Nominee For The Positive Doping Test Hall Of Fame?

LRC “Frequent And Passionate” Kissing, Moxylong, And An Indian Chemist: Gil Roberts’ Doping Case Is the Strangest One Of 2017 Over the years, there have been some entertaining stories that have been used to get people off (or at least try) from positive doping tests – from a gay man making out with a female Craigslist encounter to five bottles of beer and sex at least four times with the wife. We’ve got a new doozy for you.
*MB: “Frequent and Passionate” Kissing Results in US 400 Man Gil Roberts Avoiding Doping Suspension.

NCAA News

It’s Official: Chris Solinsky Is The New Florida Distance Coach
*MB: The new distance coach at Florida will be…. Chris Solinsky
Recruiting “Dos And Don’ts” Advice From Former Columbia University Coach Willy Wood Apparently some recruits have accidentally sent Wood an email addressed to a rival coach expressing interest in a rival school. Yeah, don’t do that.
Police Investigating The Death Of Johns Hopkins Sprinter Police found Abigail Bastien‘s body near campus, but said there were no obvious signs of foul play.

The Week That Was

LRCWTW: Women Vs. Men, The Boilermaker Turns 40, Konstanze Klosterhalfen Is Only 20, & Jakob Ingebrigtsen Is Younger Than LetsRun.com

We span the globe to get you up to speed on what's been happening in the track and field world the last two weeks.

Sprint / Field Event News

Oregon’s Deajah Stevens Announces She Is Going Pro Early The nine-time All-American will pass on her final year of eligibility, but will stay in Eugene next year to finish her degree. No word yet on an agent or shoe company. *Discuss
Ashton Eaton Steals The Show Finishing 17th At Prineville’s Splash ‘N’ Dash Quadrathlon Race Eaton didn’t know he was even competing in the swim/bike/kayak/run event until a few days before as his wife and HS coach had signed him up under the pseudonym “Cash Money” without telling him.
Tips For Sport And Life From Lithuania’s Euro Indoor HJ Champ Arine Palsyte She says, “Don’t fall asleep during the good times. Because while you are celebrating, your rivals are working hard to reach their goals.”
The Bahamas’ Olympic 400m Champ Shaunae Miller-Uibo Says Her Favorite Track Memory Is From When She Was 10 Years Old At the Caribbean Union of Teachers Games Miller-Uibo won the 100, 200, was second in the 400 and LJ and second-to-last in the softball throw.
IAAF:With Late Round Heroics In London, Barbora Spotakova Shows She’s Still Very Much A Contender The two-time Olympic champ and WR holder had a few big losses to her younger compatriot Sara Kolak, who beat her to gold in Rio, but in London Spotakova got some revenge with her biggest throw since 2012.
Belgium’s World Discus Silver Medalist Philip Milanov Talks About The Challenge Of Being Both A World Class Athlete And A University Student Milanov says his studies as in digital arts and entertainment “is like a hobby” that keeps him relaxed, but can also be “intense” and time consuming.

Mid-Week Action – Results: Lucerne, SwitzerlandMorton Games Ireland

Friday In Spain:Olympic Champ Ruth Beitia And Olympic Silver Medalist Orlando Ortega Highlight Meeting De Madrid Distance action is highlighted by Erik Sowinski and Mo Amanin the 800 and Ethiopia’s 2008 world indoor 1,500m champ Gelete Burka vs. Azmera Gebru (14:57 5K best) over 3,000m.

Morton Games:Alexa Efraimson Gets Her First International 1,500 Win As Robert Domanic’s Fine 2017 Continues Ole Miss’s Domanic won in 3:55 as Drew Hunter ran 3:56. Efraimson won in 4:06.73.
Discussion:2017 Morton Games Is Today, July 12 (Hunter, Efraimson, Merber, etc) – Live Discussion Thread

Lucerne: World Bronze Medalist Amel Tuka Wins In 1:46.74 Over Erik Sowinski And Matt Centrowitz Sowinski was 2nd (1:47.06) while Centro was a distant 7th (1:49.12). Ethiopia’s Azmera Gebru won the 3,000 in 8:52 with Aisha Praught 3rd (8:53), Emily Infeld 5th (8:55) and Courtney Freichs 6th (8:56). In non-distance action, Germany’s Johanes Vetter threw the second best javelin mark of all-time with 94.44m while Sharika Nelvis ran (12.67) to beat Sally Pearson in the hurdles and Devon Allen won the men’s race in 13.31.
*800 Race Video
*MB:Nijel Amos Runs 45.55 PB
*MB:JULY 11 800m: Eric S. 1:47.0 and Matthew C. 1:49.12 WTH???

Sunday:Rabat DL Provisional Entry Lists

Sad News

RIP:USATF Hall Of Fame Coach Jim Bush Has Died At 90 Years Old Bush guided UCLA to five NCAA track titles and coached 30 Olympians.
*USTFCCCA Tribute
UAE Paralympic Athlete Abdullah Hayayei Dies After A Metal Discus Cage Fell On Him

Distance News

Interesting Read:Cam Levins Opens Up About Doping Allegations, His Decision To Leave NOP And His Relationship With Alberto Salazar Levins had a “pretty good” relationship with Salazar, although not as personal as he has with his former college coach Eric Houle. Levins said the doping allegations were tough, but weren’t why he left the and he has “the utmost faith” that his former teammates are clean.
Drew Windle Has Been Mirroring Dave Wottle’s And Nick Symmonds’ Come-From-Behind Racing Style However, Windle clarifies that’s not his “trademark style or anything,” just what has worked for him lately.
2008 Olympian Amy Begley Finishes Second In W30-39 800m At USATF Masters Championships Begley ran 2:36.79, finishing behind Lisa Edwards (2:35.57). Another highlight: 92-year-old Mary Norckauer, who is running 12 events. She won the W90 800 in 7:31 and still has 11 events to go. *Live Results
Scottish Runner Saves Drowning Woman Who Fell Off Bridge, Then Finishes Run A bystander said, “She could easily have died if he hadn’t taken action. Afterwards, he just put his hat on and jogged off … as if nothing had happened.”
Podcast Q&A: Carrie Tollefson Interviews Former US Marathon Great Dick Beardsley Beardsley talks about his struggle with addiction, his passion for the sport, and moving back to Minnesota to open a bed and breakfast.

Upcoming Distance Action

August 20: Mo Farah’s Last Track Race Will Be At The Birmingham Diamond League “I’m really looking forward to what will be my final track race … I’m sure it will be a day I remember for the rest of my life.”
July 28:Heather Kampf And Ben Blankenship Will Defend Their Titles At the GNC Live Well Liberty Mile Blankenship faces Kyle Merber while Kampf is up against Katie Mackey and Emily Lipari.
August 4:Deepest Women’s Field Yet Announced For 2017 Sir Walter MilerStephanie Garcia, Heather Kampf, Emily Lipari, Nicole Tully, Katie Mackey and more.
August 10:Deep American Fields Set For West Chester Mile And 800 The men’s race has Leo Manzano, Garrett Heath, Cristian Soratos, Kyle Merber and more while the women are lead by Katie Mackey, Emily Lipari, Lauren Johnson and Amanda Eccleston.
September 10:Mary Keitany And Mo Farah Vs. Dathan Ritenhein Headline At Great North Run Half Marathon

Track And Field In The Real World

LRCSports Radio In Dallas Talks Track And Field: "I think the WNBA is laughing at these guys."

The good news is track and field got discussed on the radio as one of the hosts saw The Freeze race at the TrackTown Summer Series meet on TV. The bad news is they ridiculed the idea track could be popular anywhere and the concept of a track league in the US.