2017 New York International Field Released

MB: Defending Champs Lead The Way In New York’s International Field Including Ghebreslassie, the men’s field features 6 sub 2:08 guys including Desisa and Kamworor. Including Keitany, the women’s field features, three sub-2:20 women and five sub-2:22s.

RIP David Torrence – November 26, 1985 – August 28, 2017

LRC Remembering David Torrence: Olympian, US Champion, US And Peruvian National Record Holder And Legendary Downhill Miler Torrence has died unexpectedly way too young at age 31.
*MB: David Torrence is Dead: RIP / Appreciation Thread

LRC “A Beautiful, Genuine Soul”: The Running World Shares Its Tributes To David Torrence He will be missed.

• Kyle Merber Taking Steps To Honor David Torrence At Hoka One One Long Island Mile
• USATF Statement On David Torrence
• Steve Magness Writes About The Flooding In His Native Houston And David Torrence’s Death And Sees Hope
  
• Good Read: FloTrack’s Taylor Dutch Writes Tribute To Her Friend And Fellow Cal Berkeley Alum David Torrence 
• FloTrack Video Tribute
  
• MB: David Torrence Memorial Downhill Mile
• MB: This was David Torrence

Zurich Weltklasse 2017 Photo Gallery

Road News: Bekele Joins Berlin

• Kenenisa Bekele Joins Eliud Kipchoge And Wilson Kipsang In 2017 Berlin Marathon Field The race now has three of five fastest men of all time.
  *MB: Bekele added to 2017 Berlin field
  *Wilson Kipsang Says His Berlin Preparation Is “The Sharpest Ever” “I am doing everything right so as to be in top shape and try and win the race. The world record will then have to fall in just by itself.”
• September 10: Mo Farah Will Defend His Great North Run Half Marathon Title Farah will be going for his fourth consecutive win.
• Kevin Castille (4:24) And Renee Tolan (5:25) Win USATF Masters 1 Mile Road Championships On the age-graded tables, Castille was still the best while Sabra Harvey was the top graded woman with a 6:07 at age 68.
• Shalane Flanagan, Meb Keflezighi, Jared Ward, Abdi Abdirahman And Kellyn Taylor Lead American Field For 2017 New York City Marathon Other top Americans include Shadrack Biwott, Christo Landry, Neely Gracey, Stephanie Bruce and Aliphine Tuliamuk.

2017 World University Games In The Books *Live Results, Start Lists, Schedule

• Hurdler Balasz Baji Of Hungary And Czech Long Jumper Radek Juska Highlight The Final Two Days Of World University Games Worlds bronze medalist Baji dominated the 110H in 13.35 while Juska leaped 8.02m to win a close LJ (after setting an 8.31m NR in the rounds). Other top performances were Ukraine’s Oksana Okuneva clearing 1.97m to win the HJ and Mexico’s Jesus Lopez taking the 800 in 1:46.06.
• GB’s Jonny Davies Gets His Second WUG Medal With 5,000m Silver Davies bounced back from his 1,500 bronze to finish second to France’s Francois Barrer, who won in 14:00.86.
• Poland’s Malwina Kopron Breaks Betty Heidler’s WUG Championship Hammer Record With 76.85m Victory

ISTAF Berlin – Semenya Gets 600m Record *Results

Caster Semenya Breaks 20-Year-Old 600m World Best At ISTAF Berlin Meet Semenya ran 1:21.77 to break the previous mark by almost a second. Ajee Wilson also got under the previous world best, running 1:22.39 for second with Francine Niyonsaba third. *Race Video
*MB: Congrats! Caster Semenya ran 1:21.77 to break 600 m WR held by 1:22.63 Ana Guevara (Mexico) set in 1997

IAAF Meet Recap: Kenya’s Norah Tanui Breaks Meet Steeplechase Record With 9:03.70 As Gesa Krause Gets German NR In 9:11.85 Colleen Quigley was 3rd (9:15.97). Other top action included Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen taking the 1,500 in 3:58.92, Sam Kendricks staying perfect in the PV by beating Worlds medalists Piotr Liesk and Renaud Lavillenie, and Aries Merritt (13.17) and Christina Manning (12.54) taking the sprint hurdles.
*MB: 3:58.92 for Klosterhalfen in Berlin today
*MB: What happened to Courtney Frerichs in Berlin? Frerichs didn’t finish, but had tweeted before the race that she was only pacing.

On The Boards: Mayweather Vs. McGregor

• McGregor goes home devastated!
• Did Colin McGregor make more $$$ losing a fight than Mo Farah in his entire career?
• Mcgregor vs. Mayweather: Who would win in a no holes barred match?
• Why doesn’t Mayweather fight McGregor in a MMA fight?
• Is boxing staged to the same extent as professional wrestling?

More Sprint Stuff

• Good Read: It Was A Long Road Back To The Top For Sally Pearson After Her Italian Nightmare After breaking her wrist at the 2015 Rome DL, Pearson barely raced in 2016, but now she’s the World and Diamond League champion.
• GB’s Adam Gemili Motivated To Win More Medals After Getting 4 X 100 Gold At London 2017 “It’s a great little motivation for the winter months having achieved that (gold) and working to achieve that again and have that same feeling.”
• US 400m Champ And 4 X 400 Gold Medalist Quanera Hayes Looks Back On The First Time She Raced Her Idol Allyson Felix Hayes first lined up against Felix at 2015 USAs and a blown-up photo of the two on the home straight hangs at Hayes’ grandparents’ house.

Saturday / Sunday Action

• Video Interview With Dathan Ritzenhein Ahead Of Crim 10 Mile In Flint, Michigan This will be Ritz’s first race in the Hansons-Brooks singlet.
  *Michigan Live Article/Video Interview
• Sunday: Eight World Champions Top The Bill At The ISTAF Berlin Meet Caster Semenya may be going for the 20-year-old WR after requesting they run the 600m instead of the 800. Other world champions include Phyllis Francis, Ramil Guliyev, Dafne Schippers and Sam Kendricks vs. Renaud Lavillenie.

General State Of The Sport News

• Good Read #1: The Telegraph: “Seb Coe Is Right To Run With New Ideas For Change” Sports writer Ben Bloom: “Give things a go. … Try – and potentially fail. Because … surviving in this whizz-bang celebrity era without Bolt and Farah is going to be incredibly difficult. Athletics must be prepared to gamble.”
• GR #2: Alan Abrahamson Gives Props To London 2017 Mascot, Hero The Hedgehog Abrahamson gives some analysis and thinks Hero should be track and field’s official brand ambassador. He says, “Don’t laugh at any of this. Mascots are big stuff.” Includes a video highlight reel.
• Rieti Track Meet Cancelled For The Second Year In A Row Last year it was cancelled in the wake of the deadly earthquake that hit central Italy, but this year it was financial issues as a number of sponsors pulled out.
• InsideTheGames: New Analysis Details How IOC Used Money Earned During 2013-2016 Olympic Cycle Of the $5.6 billion in revenue, apparently 7.2% went to the USOC.
  *David Owen: “The IOC Likes To Say It Redistributes 90% Of Revenues, But Does It? And Who To?” Owen has some questions about the IOC’s expenditures and gives his best guess at how the IOC is spending its billions.

Marathon News

• Good Listen: Podcast Q&A With Jared Ward (Starts @ 13:30 Mark) Ward says he was impressed with the way Mo Farah and Usain Bolt lost at Worlds.
• Brianne Theisen-Eaton Is Running The Chicago Marathon Theisen-Eaton says before this she hadn’t run more than 1,200m, but now has gotten up to a 13-mile run which “absolutely killed” her.
• The Japan Times: Experts Say Tokyo Summer Temperatures Will Raise Heatstroke Risk At 2020 Olympic Marathon The Olympic marathon is often hot, but experts are saying it will be worse than the past and have asked organizers to change the route to pass in the shade of buildings.
• Runner’s World: “My Race Attire Is Not An Invitation For Rape” Woman writes blog post in response to a stranger’s lewd comment her race photos.

Africa To Bid To Host The 2025 World Championships The bid is expected to come from one of six nations – Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt or Morocco.

Usain Bolt Updates

Assorted Distance News

• GB’s Anthony Whiteman Goes Sub-1:50 To Break World M45 800m Record Whiteman ran 1:49.86 to break his own record by .66 and become the oldest man to ever go under 1:50.
• Mo Farah “Wouldn’t Change Any Part” Of His Career After Ending With A Win In Birmingham Farah gave his singlet to countryman Andrew Butchart after the race and told him it was “his time to shine.”
• The Denver Post: British Runner Ian Sharman Wins Leadville 100 For The Fourth Time
• 2020 Tokyo Olympic Marathon To Start And Finish At The Olympic Stadium And Follow The Tokyo Marathon Course The last time the Olympic marathon finished in the stadium was in the Bird’s Nest at the 2008 Beijing Games.
• Runner Fights Off Attacker On The Trails In Eugene, Oregon The woman was brought to the ground by an attacker hiding in the brush, but she fought him off, possibly breaking his nose before escaping.

Upcoming Action: Caster Semenya Going For A WR?

• Sunday: Caster Semenya Leads List Of Eight World Champions Competing In The ISTAF Meet At Berlin’s Olympic Stadium Semenya specifically requested that the meet run the 600 instead of the 800 and she may go for the 20-year-old WR of 1:22.63 while facing world silver medalist Francine Niyonsaba. Other world champions include Phyllis Francis, Ramil Guliyev, Dafne Schippers and Sam Kendricks vs. Renaud Lavillenie.
• The World University Games Begin Today In Taipei GB is sending distance runners Jess Judd and Adelle Tracey while three-time world hammer champ Pawell Fajdek highlights the throws. *Live Results/Schedule/Start Lists *Entries
• August 29: Zagreb Meeting Preview: World Discus Champ Sandra Perkovic Leads “Parade Of Stars” An interesting 100m features 200 world champ Ramil Guliyev against Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake and and Adam Gemili while Dawn Harper Nelson faces Queen Harrison, Christina Manning and Kristi Castlin in the 100H.
• February: Indoor Track Returns To Georgia The meet will feature competition from the youth level all the way through NCAA and the pros.

Doping News

• Justin Gatlin Issues “Official Apology” To Fans Who Booed Him At Worlds Gatlin admitted that it “hurt” when he was booed by the London fans and reminds people that he wrote apology letters to the IAAF back in 2010.
• CAS Upholds Life Bans For Papa Massata Diack And Two Former Russian Officials They were all banned for covering up Liliya Shobukhova‘s doping and blackmailing her for it.
  *IAAF Statement On CAS Ruling Upholding Bans On Three Former Officials
• Shalane Flanagan Officially Gets Her 2008 Olympic Silver Medal Upgrade After Turkish Distance Runner Elvan Abeylegesse’s Doping Positive Flanagan decided to “celebrate in private” rather than receive her medal during any formal ceremony. *2nd Article

Truly Random

• Usain Bolt To Open 15 Of His Tracks & Records Fast Food Restaurants In The UK
• Just 3 Or 4 Journalists Showed Up To Hear People Complain About The IAAF Not Adding The Women’s 50k Racewalk Earlier
• What Was The Best Throws Country In 2017? Poland. The good news for US fans is America was #1 in the shot.

Good Reads

• Recommended Read Tianna Bartoletta Writes Great Blog Stating She’s Upset She Was Booted Off 4 X 100 Team
• LetsRun Visitor Writes About U.S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program For ESPN’s “The Undefeated” Article quotes Rojo and has this great quote from Andy Bayer: “I think our country was built by immigration. Welcoming new citizens is what the nation has been about. At times I’ve gotten frustrated because I didn’t want to lose to them, but when I step back and see how we should be as a people, it’s a lot different.”
  *MB: Check out an article I wrote on the WCAP 
• Sarcastic British Fans Are Happy They Will Have A Dual Meet With US Next Year: “Less chance of finishing fourth I suppose.”
• British Journalist Wonders If Mo Farah Should Do A Podcast With Someone Like LetsRun (Like Evan Jager) About Doping Instead Of Getting Annoyed By Questions

Post-Worlds Reaction – Ireland Didn’t Win Any Medals And Britain Only Won 2 Individual Medals

• Pat Butcher Is Far From Impressed From Britain’s Success In Relays As He Thinks Relays Are A Joke “Athletics is an individual sport; one man or woman (more or less) against the rest, and the best one wins.” On that front, GBR was awful as Farah was the only Brit to medal individually.
• Cathal Dennehy Says World Champs Were One Of Worst Ever For Ireland They only put one non-walker in the top 20 of any events.
• Sonia O’Sullivan Is Very Upset That Ireland Didn’t Wear Green Warmups At Worlds – Say They Looked More Like The New Zealand All Blacks We agree.

Kiwi Coach Is Satisfied: NZ Coach Pleased With Worlds Performance: “I’d say it was six or seven out of ten.” The article also says the Robertson twins “probably” will be moving to the marathon.