2019 World XC Is Going To Be Amazing *Entry Lists *Schedule, TV & Streaming

MB: Boots are on the ground at World XC – The course is LIVING UP TO THE HYPE AND GETTING RAVE REVIEWS 

LRC Goes To World XC Day 1 In Denmark: Bikes, A Strip Club, & The Little Mermaid We recap everything that LRC’s Weldon Johnson & Jonathan Gault got up to on Wednesday in beautiful Copenhagen.

LRC World Cross-Country Preview Podcast #1: Boots On The Ground In Denmark, Kelsey Bruce Mania We preview Geoffrey Kamworor’s chances of repeating, whether Hellen Obiri should be the heavy favorite and more tidbits from Denmark.

LRC Meet Kelsey Bruce, The LetsRun.com Entrant At The 2019 World Cross-Country Championships This week, we’re doing something that the athletics federations of Belgium, Finland and the Netherlands couldn’t manage. We’re sending an athlete to the World Cross-Country Championships. Meet Kelsey Bruce. The former DII runner has chopped her marathon PR from 2:48 to 2:31 in less than three years, and is pumped to race the world’s best.
*MB: Meet Kelsey Bruce: We’re sending the former DII runner, who has improved from 2:48 to 2:31 in the marathon, to 2019 World XC

LRC 2019 World XC Team USA Preview: Could Both American Squads Medal Together For The First Time Since 1985? The last time both the US men and women’s team medaled at World XC was 1985 when not a single woman from Africa even competed in the meet. This year, does Team USA have a shot at doing it? We break it down for you.

Outside World XC Coverage

• Recommended Read: Deena Kastor Looks Back At Her World XC Experiences, Including The Time A Bee Flew Into Her Mouth And Stung The Back Of Her Throat Her throat began to close up and she ended up passing out and falling to the ground hard. But the fall woke her and she got back up and finished 12th. Amazing.
• RRW: USA Champion Shadrack Kipchirchir Focused on Team Medal at World Cross “Most important thing is to win as a team, to podium as a team. We’re going to go for a win, but the worst-case scenario we’ll go for the bronze.”
• Meet GB World XC Captain Jessica Piaseck Talking about GB’s team she said, “I think we can take advantage of the course and be right up there with the best in the world.”
• Recommended Read: Irish Running Great Sonia O’Sullivan Looks Back On Some Special Memories She Has From World XC She also laments the fact that so many European countries aren’t sending a team or, like Ireland, aren’t sending a full team.
• Steve Cram And Paula Radcliffe Are Concerned The World XC Course In Denmark Is Going Too Far With Obstacles They don’t want XC turned into a “gimmicky” obstacle race for the sake of marketing. Radcliffe says, “It’s still got to be about who’s the best runner.”
  *BBC: World XC Champs: Mud, Sweat And Running On A Museum The course goes back to XC’s roots with obstacles like sandpits, water holes, mud pits and running over the grass-covered roof of a museum.
• JRN Quick Rundown Of Japan’s 22 Athlete Roster For World XC Good to see them sending full teams for the senior men’s and both junior races. They didn’t send a full women’s team, but they have enough to score as long as no one DNFs.
• NZ is sending its largest team in 28 years to World XC – Here’s why
• Country-By-Country List Of Where You Can Watch The World XC Championships
• IAAF: How To Follow And Watch World XC Champs
• Jakob Ingebrigtsen Confirms He’ll Race The Under-20 Race At World XC Championships “I would not start at the World Cross-Country Championships if I did not think that I could fight for the title.”

USATF Champs And Qualifying News

• USATF Release The Qualifying Standards For The 2019 US Championships
• USATF Activist Becca Gillepsy Peter Explains Why She Thinks The USATF Pole Vault Qualifying Standards “Don’t Make Sense” She thinks the men’s competition has the “potential to be a massive shitshow.”
• T&F News Believes USATF “Is Still In The Process Of Figuring Out How IT Will Manage [Olympic] Team Selection” We hope they’re right and that they aren’t final with the current system, but with USATF’s history we’re far from confident about that.

Masters News: World Masters Indoor Champs

• Team USATF Masters Collect 14 Medals On Day Two Of World Masters Champs A highlight was a W455 WR from Neringa Jakstiene (W55) in the LJ with 5.22m.
• Team USA Kicks Off World Masters Indoor Champs With 15 Medals On Day One
• Athletics Weekly: GB Gains Golden 400m Treble, Evaun Williams Sets World Weight Record At World Masters Indoor Champs
• Athletics Weekly: GB Picks Up Four 60m Masters World Indoor Titles Jason Carty was a highlight with a 7.01 national record in the M45 category.
• Deena Kastor Named USATF Athlete Of The Week After Breaking The Masters 8k Record With 27:12 At The Shamrock Shuffle In Chicago

Previous World XC News

• Athletics Weekly: Why Aarhus Can Save The World Cross We aren’t the only ones super-pumped about the event.
• Organizer Of 2019 World XC Criticizes European Countries For Not Sending More Entrants “European participation is up – true. I am not particularly impressed, though,” said Jakob Larsen. Germany, Netherlands and Turkey are sending only 1 or 2 athletes while Belgium is sending zero.
• Want To Race It? MB: We Are Looking For A US Pro That Isn’t Scared To Take On The World’s Best – We’ll Fly You To World XC If all pros took this event seriously, it would be the marquee event in distance running save the Olympics. So if you want to race, we may send you there. Email us.
• If Only Every American Felt This Way Hellen Obiri Is Thrilled To Be Competing At Her 1st World XC Champs “I am so happy that I made the team to compete in my first ever World Cross-Country Championships. It was my dream to compete at the World Cross and since it’s the only international medal that I am missing, I am looking forward to winning gold, that will be one of my greatest achievement in my career.”
• IAAF: A Look Back At 5 Dramatic Moments In World XC History From the time when the entire Ethiopian men’s team kicked a lap too early to the time Sonia O’Sullivan and Paula Radcliffe were sent the wrong way with 400m remaining, the IAAF has you covered.
  *MB: WTF: Did this really happen? In 1981, the entire Ethiopian xc team kicked a lap too early at Worlds? Virgin won title
• Sifan Hassan pulls out of World XC, The article says she’s training in Ethiopia, not Portland.
• IAAF Facts And Figures PDF On 2019 World XC Champs

It Was A Slow Weekend In Terms Of Action, But Here’s What Happened

• Ethiopia’s Askale Merachi (2:24:11) Shatters Course Record To Win LA Marathon As 3 Women Break 2:30 No one had broken 2:30 since 2014.
• Elisha Barno (2:11:46) Catches Fading John Korir (Wesley’s Brother) With 150m Left To Win Closest Race In LA Marathon History Juan Luis Barrios was third in 2:11:59.
• Olympic Marathon Silver Medalist Priscah Jeptoo Returns To Action After 2-Year Maternity Break With Impressive 1:08:26 Win At Stramilano Half The men’s half was won by Vincent Rerimoi in 1:00:10 as steeplechaser Jairus Birech ran 60:32.
• Deena Kastor Breaks Masters 8k Record At Chicago’s Shamrock Shuffle With 27:12 (5:29 Pace) Olivia Pratt (26:26) and Joe Moore (23:18) won the overall races.
• Laura Weightman Produces Another 10k PR As She Ran 31:40 Over 10km In The Netherlands To Move To #4 All-Time For GBR. Kenya’s Evaline Chirchir won in 31:17.
• Interesting Read: 153 Runners Recently Ran A Race Across The World’s Largest Lake – Welcome To The Baikal Ice Marathon In Siberia The New York Times news service profiles this crazy race which was won in 3:05 :05 this year.
• Sergey Polikarpov Breaks M60 3,000m World Record With A 9:43.11
• NCAA Weekend Recap: Grant Holloway Opens Up Outdoors (7.97m LJ) As Several Throwers Impress *All NCAA Results

An Update On The Confusion / Controversy Surrounding The 2020 Olympic Selection System

LRC One Week Later: How Will USATF Select The 2020 Olympic Team? No One Really Seems To Know We have a little good news to report. Amid confusion, USA Track and Field is refusing to confirm the statement they gave us last week that put US distance fans into a tizzy. And USATF tells us they are appealing to the IAAF to give the top 5 at the US Olympic Marathon Trials the marathon standard.
*MB: A Little Good News: USATF is appealing to get top 5 at US Olympic Marathon Trials the standard.

Collegiate News *USTFCCCA Weekend NCAA Coverage

• May 29-30: 2019 Stanford Invitational Entry Lists Fields include Molly Huddle, Emily Sisson in the 10,000, Andy Bayer, Morgan McDonald in the 5,000, Jessica Hull, Weini Kelati, Ednah Kurgat in the 5,000 and Brianna Rollins vs. Kristi Castlin in the 100.
• USTFCCCA: Old Guard Still Standing In Collegiate Outdoor Record Book There are 14 all-time bests (out of 42 total) that were set more than 20 years ago and three that are 40 years old.
• Ken Goe: Success Indoors By UO Women Raises Outdoor Expectations Coach Robert Johnson thought they could be fifth, but they pulled off a surprise 3rd.
• NCAA Athletes Of Last Week Were Houston’s 4 X 100 Relay And Stanford’s Mackenzie Little Collegiate record holder Houston ran 38.82 while Little opened her season with 194 feet, 2 inches in the javelin.

Semenya Decision Delayed

LRC CAS Delays Caster Semenya Case For At Least A Month In a guest post for LRC, Amby Burfoot gives some background on the case and references studies demonstrating the over-representation of DSD (Differences of Sexual Development) athletes in the women’s 800.

• United Nations Backs Caster Semenya In CAS Case A South African politician called Semenya’s case “a struggle for all women in the world against discrimination, sexism, and patriarchy.”
• Caster Semenya “Optimistic” Of Victory In CAS Appeal Against IAAF Rules
• Video Interview With Caster Semenya Talking About Meeting Nelson Mandela
• CAS Delays Decision On Caster Semenya Until Late April They were supposed to announce their decision on March 26, but they say that the IAAF and Semenya have filed additional submissions and materials. The IAAF rule says that hyperandrogenous athletes need to keep their testosterone below a certain level for 6 months, but they have now created a “special transitional period” so that affected athletes could still compete at Worlds if they lower their levels within one week of the CAS decision (assuming CAS rules in favor of the IAAF).

Our Weekly Recap

LRC WTW: USATF Defies The IAAF And Ruins The Olympic Trials, Fast Halves And The Perfect Solution To The DL 5,000 Situation What a ridiculous week for US distance fans. We pick ourselves off the mat and offer common sense solutions to keep the crown jewel of US track and field – the Olympic Trials – exciting and to save the Diamond League 5,000. Along the way we wonder if Brigid Kosgei is now the favorite for next month’s London Marathon.

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