Chicago Marathon Talk

LRC 2019 Chicago Marathon Elite Field Analysis: Men’s Race Could be Epic w Farah, Rupp & 2:03 Crew; An Extremely Shallow Women’s Race Boston champ Lawrence Cherono & Dubai champ Getaneh Molla join Mo Farah & Galen Rupp in the men’s race. Defending champ Brigid Kosgei is back, but Jordan Hasay is the only other woman faster than 2:22:56. And Amy Cragg is a scratch.

Gender Controversy News

LRC 5 Facts About June Eastwood, Who Will Become the First Transgender Woman To Run An NCAA Division I Cross-Country Race Saturday Eastwood, who ran PRs of 1:55/3:50/14:38 competing as a male for the University of Montana, has undergone a year of testosterone-suppression treatment and is now cleared to compete in the NCAA as a woman.
*MB: First transgender athlete June Eastwood to compete in women’s DI XC this fall, has pbs of 1:55/3:50/14:38

• Bozeman Daily Chronicle: Profile On University Of Montana Transgender Runner June Eastwood Eastwood says she began questioning her gender in fifth or sixth grade.
• Chinese Women’s 400m Runners Go Viral On Social Media “For Looking Like Men” The appearance of the Chinese national 400m champ, Liao Mengxue, and runner-up, Tong Zenghuan, has led to questions over their genders. The Chinese Athletics Association has reportedly responded, declaring that the two runners are female.

Chicago 2019

LRC 2019 Chicago Marathon Elite Field Analysis: The Men’s Race Could Be Epic, Women’s Field Looking Extremely Shallow Defending champ Brigid Kosgei is back, but Jordan Hasay is the only other woman faster than 2:22:56. Boston champ Lawrence Cherono & Dubai champ Getaneh Molla join Mo Farah & Galen Rupp in the men’s race. And Amy Cragg is a scratch.

Chicago Press Release: Past Champions Dickson Chumba And Brigid Kosgei Lead International Field For The 2019 Chicago Marathon Kosgei comes in as the defending champion after winning in 2018 in 2:18:35 and then winning London in 2:18:20. She is joined by Betsy Saina (2:22:56) and Mexico’s Madai Perez (2:22:59). Chumba won Chicago in 2015, but will only be the fourth fastest in the field as Dubai champ Getaneh Molla (2:03:34) and runner-up Herpasa Negasa (2:03:40) lead the way along with previously announced Mo Farah. USA’s Amy Cragg, Chris Derrick and Brogan Austin have all withdrawn.

Doping News

• Jamaican Sprinter On World Champs Squad Reportedly Tests Positive Inside sources say that the sprinter tested positive for a banned diuretic which came from a contaminated cold and flu medication.
• Belarus’ Former 800m World Champ Marina Arzamasova Gets Doping Ban After Testing Positive For A Steroid-Like Substance Arzamasova beat out Canada’s Melissa Bishop for world 800m gold in 2015.
• Canada’s Former 100m WR Holder Donovan Bailey Is Hoping “There’s A Proper Explanation” For Christian Coleman’s Missed Tests Although Bailey claims he never missed tests himself. “I never missed one test, so I personally can’t see why [anyone] would miss three.”
• GB’s Steve Cram Says HIs Reaction To Christian Coleman’s Missed Tests Is “Less Of Surprise, More Of Despair” More than a dirty sport, Cram seems to feel like this points to today’s athletes not taking responsibility for their own careers and leaving too much to agents and/or coaches.
• Former Olympic PV Champ And Current IOC Member Yelena Isinbayeva Calls For IAAF To Lift Russia’s Ban We prefer the statements of another Russian Olympic champion jumper, Maria Lasitskene, who has been very critical of the Russian federation for failing to show “a desire to change.”
• German Javelin Thrower Christina Obergfoll Criticizes Anti-Doping System After Being Awarded 2008 Olympic Silver Medal 11-Years Late She was upgraded from bronze to silver after Russia’s Mariya Abakumova was caught in doping re-tests.
• AIU Announces Re-test Of A Sample From The 2011 World Champs Has Lead To A 2-Year Ban For Ukraine Shot Putter Andriy Semenov Semenov was the Ukraine national champion that year, but did not make the final at Worlds.
• WADA Suspend Accreditation Of New Delhi Laboratory For Up To Six Months They were suspended when WADA found “non-conformities with international standards.”

British Champs *Schedule & Results *TV & Streaming

Adam Gemili Blitzes To GB 200m Title In A Championship Record 20.08 Gemeli broke the meet record despite running into a headwind; Zharnel Hughes was a distant 2nd in 20.25. In the mid-d action, Neil Gourley won a competitive 1,500m in 3:48.36 over Josh Kerr (3:48.51), Jake Wightman (3:48.69) and Charlie Grice (3:48.83) and Shelayna Oskan-Clarke ran 2:02.67 to just beat out Lynsey Sharp (2:02.79). Eilish McColgan dominated the 5,000m in 15:21 over Jessica Judd (15:35) and Jodie Williams took the women’s 200m in 23.06.

What A Race! Ojie Edoburn Shocks Rivals To Win British 100m Title In 10.18 Edoburun ran his time into a -1.9m/s headwind, beating favorites Adam Gemili and Zharnel Hughes who both were also clocked at 10.18. In distance action, Andrew Butchart won the 5,000m in 13:54.29.

Dina Asher-Smith Clocks Championship Record 10.96 To Win British 100m Title This after she ran 11.03 in the semis, running into a two meter per second headwind. Rosie Clarke won the steeplechase in 9:46.66.

Matt Lawton Of The Daily Mail Breaks It

World’s Fastest Man Christian Coleman “Has Missed THREE Drugs Tests'” Potential anti-doping infractions don’t get any bigger than this. Matt Lawton says the world’s fastest human is fighting one of 3 missed test infractions but if his appeal is unsuccessful he’ll face a 1-2 year ban.
*MB: World’s fastest man Christian Coleman faces potential whereabouts failure ban for 3 missed drug tests 

LRC Analysis The World’s Fastest Man May Be Banned From The Olympics And World Championships: Analyzing The Christian Coleman Situation While Coleman is reportedly fighting his whereabouts infraction, 10 of the 11 fastest men in history have now been linked to a some sort of anti-doping infraction.

Noah Lyles Says He’s “Shocked” By Christian Coleman’s Missed Tests Lyles said “you don’t expect anybody to be missing three [tests].”

Sprints And Jumps

• Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Dreaming Of A Sub-22-Second 200m SAFP has always been more of a 100m runner where she is #4 all-time while her 200m PR is 22.09, which is only 41st on the all-time list (26 women have gone sub-22).
• Jenn Suhr Reveals She Used To Be Self-Conscious About Her Height She says she was “a lanky 5 feet 9 inches at the age of 13.”
• USTFCCCA Looks Back 34 Years Ago When Jackie Joyner-Kersee Broke The US Long Jump Record With 7.24m Just A Few Months After Finisher Her NCAA Career She still has the AR, but moved it to 7.49m in 1994.
• World Indoor 60H Champ Andrew Pozzi To Miss British Champs With Injury
• September 7: GB’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson Doing The LJ/150m Double At The Great North CityGames
• RIP Australia’s 1956 Olympic 4 X 100 Champ Norma Fleming, 84

More Kenyan Distance News

• Organizers Reveal Starting Point For Eliud Kipchoge’s Sub-2 Marathon Record Attempt On October 12th The race will start on Vienna’s iconic Imperial Bridge, the Reichsbrücke, which is also the start line for the annual Vienna City Marathon.
• David Rudisha’s Manager Confirms He Will Miss World Champs With Injury The 30-year-old hasn’t raced at all since 2017.
• Boston Marathon Champ Lawrence Cherono Confirmed For Chicago

LRC In-Depth

LRC A Life On Pause: Jarrion Lawson’s Career Hangs In The Balance As He Fights His Four-Year Doping Ban – And The Global Anti-Doping System How do you prove something you ate over a year ago was contaminated with a substance banned for athletes – but not for cattle? That’s what Lawson, who in 2016 joined Jesse Owens as the only men in history to win the 100 meters, 200 meters, and long jump at the NCAA championship and came inches shy of Olympic gold, must do to prove his innocence and save his career.
*MB: Ajee Wilson, Will Claye and a 90 yr old cyclist got cleared after eating contaminated beef – Why not Jarrion Lawson?

2019 Falmouth

LRC Leonard Korir Becomes First American To Win Falmouth Road Race Since 1988 On a hot and humid day in Massachusetts, Korir finally got the victory he so badly wanted after finishing in the top 3 each of the last 4 years. In the women’s race, Sharon Lokedi, the 2018 NCAA 10,000 champ, was the surprise winner and American Sara Hall the even more surprising runner-up.
*MB: 2019 Falmouth Road Race Thread: Edward Cheserek added to elite field
*Toni Reavis’s Falmouth Photos

LRC After A Year Of Ups And Downs, Josh Thompson & Cory McGee Stay Red Hot And Claim 2019 Falmouth Mile Titles Earlier this year, Thompson ran 9:02 for the steeple but now he’s one of America’s best in the 1,500. As for McGee, just weeks ago she was DQed at USAs. But both have been running amazingly of late and it continued tonight at Falmouth.
*MB: Official 2019 Falmouth Mile and Road Race Discussion Thread

Guardian Mile In Cleveland: MB: Nick Willis (3:58.12) and Shannon Oskia (4:27.20) win 2019 Guardian Miles in Cleveland Willis still needs the 2019 WC standard but he’s #45 on the descending order list and they take 45.

More Road Action: Suguru Osako Gets Ready For Japanese Trials With Dominant Half Marathon Win In Dallas, TX (62:23) 80 degrees with 76% humidity.