2019 Chicago Marathon Is Sunday

LRC Men’s Preview: Galen Rupp Returns to Face Mo Farah & Boston Champ Lawrence Cherono How will Rupp do in his first race since last year’s Chicago and in his first since Alberto Salazar‘s ban? Should defending champ Mo Farah be considered the favorite or should that honor go to Boston champ Lawrence Cherono?

MB Talk

• Official 2019 Chicago Marathon Discussion Thread 
• Mo is going to get into a cat fight with Rupp on Sunday
• Does Rupp toe the line on Sunday?
• OFFICIAL Chicago Marathon Weather Thread
• Neil Black to leave as UK Athletics performance director at month’s end, after fulfilling support of Sir Mo Farah in Chicago 

Eliud Kipchoge’s Sub-2 Hour Marathon Attempt Is Saturday (Friday Night In US) In Vienna

• LRC Watch Live: INEOS 1:59 Challenge Broadcast Info The event will start sometime between 11 PM and 3 AM ET.
• Eliud Kipchoge Chooses 41-Member Pacing Squad For Sub-Two Hour Marathon Attempt Some of the bigger names include Matt Centrowitz and world 5,000m silver medalist Selemon Barega.
• In Case You Weren’t Aware, No Matter How Fast Kipchoge Runs On Saturday, It Won’t Be A World Record Among reasons it won’t count is because pacers will swap in and out, Kipchoge will be handed his drinks (not taking them from a station) and he’s the only competitor in the race.
• MB: What if Kipchoge completely bombs at the sub2 event?
• MB: Eliud Kipchoge Gets Private Jet Treatment for INEOS 1:59
• MB: Are these the 1:59 spring shoes?

More Post-Doha Stuff

• Good Read: IAAF: Mutaz Barshim, Conseslus Kipruto And Muktar Edris – Champions Who Find A Way To Win “One characteristic of champions is that they often find a way to win, even when they shouldn’t.”
• AP: Next Up, Tokyo: Track Leaves Qatar Still Looking For A Star They write that track’s effort to “replace the mile-wide void left by Usain Bolt‘s absence” is still a “work in progress.”
• IAAF: After Dominating In Doha, German LJer Malaika Mihambo Targets Tokyo Triumph But before Tokyo, a 4-week vacation to Thailand.
• European Athletics President Svein Hansen Congratulates Euro World Medalists Europe had ten gold medalists plus four European records and 34 national records.
• The IAAF Calls Doha 2019 “The Highest Quality World Championships Of All Time” That is “in terms of the quality and depth of performances produced by the athletes.” They even break it down statistically using the IAAF’s competition performance rankings.
• Four Doha Moments Announced For Short List For International Fair Play Award Pretty clear choice with Braima Suncar Dabo helping Jonathan Busby across the finish line in the heats of the men’s 5,000m.
• The IAAF Looks At How Athlete Refugee Team Did In Doha All six athletes competed in distance events.

Other International Doping News

• Indian Sprinter Nirmala Sheora Banned For 4-Years And Stripped Of Her Two Titles From The 2017 Asian Championships
• Scottish Hammer Thrower Mark Dry Cleared Of Anti-Doping Violation Dry had been suspended after he lied about why he missed an out-of-competition test. However, the panel removed his suspension because it was his first missed test so he wouldn’t have been banned for it either way.
• Canadian Government Increasing Their Funding Of WADA By Nearly 60% In 2021
• Accreditation Of Athens Laboratory Suspended By WADA It was suspended for up to 6-months for “lack of institutional support and investment.”

More Salazar News

• Ritzenhein Finally Posts About Salazar Ban And Says It Was Justified “I stand behind the findings of the panel. These findings are important to continue to promote clean running in our sport. I hope these conclusions provide some reassurance to clean runners everywhere.”
• Sifan Hassan: “If they want to test me they can test me every single day.” Hassan said she was “angry” that people are now suspicious of her performances because of Salazar’s ban.
• Breaking: UK Athletics Performance Directory Leaving Job ASAP In Wake Of Alberto Salazar Doping Ban
  *The Telegraph: UK Athletics Head Neil Black To Step Down Over Handling Of Alberto Salazar Scandal Ben Bloom writes that the “decision was effectively taken out of his hands” and that he “jumped before he could be pushed.”
• David Walsh Pens Open Letter To Nike CEO Mark Parker In The Times – Why Have You Invested Millions In Drug Cheats Like Alberto Salazar? Walsh writes, “I see Nike as the Russia of the West.”
• Kara Goucher on Alberto Salazar’s Ban: “I Feel at Peace” – Women’s Running
  *MB: Kara Goucher Speaks Out About Alberto and NOP!
• MB: Jessica Hull not leaving her coach or NOP She said on Instagram, “I am exactly where I need to be and I’m surrounded by the best people in every possible way, here’s to 2020!”
• Front Page Of Sports In Sunday’s NY Times: “For Salazar Whistle-Blowers, A Long Wait For A Satisfying Outcome” Being a whistleblower has taken an emotional, mental and even economic toll on Kara Goucher, Steve Magness and Danny Mackey, with Mackey saying the stress led to panic attacks and the breakup of his marriage.
• BBC Kara Goucher Calls for NOP To Be Shut Down And For All NOP Blood Samples To Be Retested, Including Her Own
• Daily Mail: It’s Ugly At Nike, They’re Heading For A Monumental Fall “There was a time, long before their visceral hatred of adidas fuelled a desire to become the biggest, brashest sports brand of all, when Nike had something resembling a soul.”
• The Oregonian: “Pursuing Alberto Salazar, USADA Found Itself Fighting Nike” One of the reasons the USADA investigation took so long is because Nike and Dr. Jeffrey Brown “dragged their feet, ignored subpoenas and … deadlines.” Article includes quotes from Adam Goucher, Nick Symmonds and Travis Tygart.
• Ken Goe: “Running Icon Alberto Salazar’s Fall From Grace Stirs Strong Emotions Across Track And Field” Galen Rupp and Luke Puskedra both spoke up in Salazar’s defense.
• British Milers Not Concerned About Racing Against Current And Former NOP Athletes Jake Wightman said, “All the guys that are part of it now, and especially Pete Julian, are completely fine. That’s the way I see it. It’s a new generation of athletes.”
• MB: Why isn’t Steve Magness Banned

More Sunday At Worlds

• Nia Ali, Mom Of 2, Wins 100m Hurdles Gold In 12.34 Pretty impressive for someone previously regarded as the 3rd-fastest hurdler in the US. And dad of kid #2 is Andre De Grasse.
• Team USA Wins Men’s 4 X 400 In 2:56.69, The Fastest Time In The Last 11 Years Jamaica and Belgium took silver and bronze. *Video
• Team USA Dominate Women’s 4 X 400 With 3:18.92 The team included 400H stars Dalilah Muhammad and Sydney McLaughlin, who helped the US win easily over Poland and Jamaica. *Video
• Mississippi State’s NCAA Champ Anderson Peters Throws 86.89m To Become Grenada’s Second-Ever World Champion Peters went undefeated this season with wins at Worlds, NCAAs, SECs and Pan Am Games.
• Germany’s Malaika Mihambo Wins LJ Gold With 7.30m She was just one centimeter short of the all-time top ten list.

Other Running News

• Sad News: 33-Year-Old Ultrarunner Dies By Lightning Strike During 50k Trail Race In Kansas Thomas Stanley was less than a quarter mile from the finish when he was hit by lightning. He is survived by his wife and three young children.
• 9-Year-Old Takes Wrong Turn During 5k And Ends Up Winning 10k

Thursday In Doha

IAAF Recap: Salwa Eid Naser Wins 400m In 48.14 To Become The Third-Fastest All-Time Olympic champ Shaunae Miller-Uibo was runner-up in 48.37 while Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson took bronze (49.47).
*MB: Naser wins 400 m in 48:14 (Video of Race)!!!!!!!!

LRC After Historic Women’s 1,500 Semis, Everything Is Set Up For An Incredible Final We can’t wait for the final, which will include Shelby Houlihan, Laura Muir, Olympic champ Faith Kipyegon and world champ Sifan Hassan. Former world champ Jenny Simpson believes she’s as fit as she’s ever been.

LRC Men’s 1,500 Prelims Go Mostly According To Form As Centro Sounds Confident: “I ran 3:52 at the Pre Classic, and I’m in worlds better shape than then.” The Olympic champ sounds confident, the 2012 Olympic champ explains why he didn’t race the last two years and another guy talks about how he’s gone from working for Postmates to the World Championships semis in less than a year.

• Katarina Johnson-Thompson Takes World Hepathlon Gold And Breaks Jessica Ennis-Hill’s British Record Johnson-Thompson has had a reputation for choking at major championships, but definitely not this time. She scored 6981 to beat Ennis-Hill’s record by 26 points. Olympic champ Nafissatou Thiam won silver.
• Four-Way Battle Ends With Germany’s 21-Year-Old Niklas Kaul Becoming The Youngest World Decathlon Champion In History Defending champ and WR holder Kevin Mayer withdrew after no-heighting in the PV.
• China’s Gong Lijiao Defends Her World Title In The Shot Put With 19.55m
• MB: Ingebrigtsen’s shove their way to victory
• Friday: Five Things To Watch On Day Eight Of Doha World Champs Men’s steeple, women’s 400H, men’s HJ, women’s discus and men’s 400.

Previous Doha Coverage

LRC Grant Holloway Closes Out Epic 2019 Season With His First World 110M Hurdles Title In his 48th race of the year, Holloway won his 1st world title – the perfect cap to an amazing year which also saw him break the NCAA record and lead Florida to an NCAA team title.
*MB: Drama in men’s 110h: IAAF, Give Holloway the gold but re-run the hurdles for everyone else (save McLeod)!!!

LRC Women’s 5,000 Prelims: Karissa Schweizer Rips 14:52 To Become 7th-Fastest American Ever She had never even broken 15:00 before and didn’t even have the biggest PR of the night as two other athletes PR by more than 10 seconds.
*MB: Karissa Schweizer runs 14:52 – 7th all time in US history – IN THE HEATS

LRC Women’s 1,500 Prelims: The Big Names And All Three Americans Cruise To The Final After the heats, Shelby Houlihan said she wants gold, Faith Kipyegon talked about her struggles in 2019 and Sifan Hassan declined to speak to the media.

LRC Nikki Hiltz Talks About What It’s Like To Be Gay In Qatar After Advancing To 1,500 Semis At Worlds Nikki Hiltz is openly gay and competing in a country where homosexuality is illegal. She advanced to the semifinals with ease on Wednesday.

LRC Podcast: Doha Worlds Halfway Point: Alberto Salazar Has Left The Building, Kenenisa Bekele Is Back, And Donavan Brazier Is Sublime Subscribe today on itunes.

LRC 2019 Worlds Men’s 1,500 Preview: Can Timothy Cheruiyot Complete Near-Perfect Two-Year Run With His First Gold Medal? Cheruiyot has been almost unbeatable on the circuit but has never claimed a gold at any international championship. Can he change that in Doha?

More News From Doha

• IAAF: Four Things To Watch Out For On Day 7 In Doha The only track final is the women’s 400m, which should be a battle between Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Salwa Eid Naser.
• 40-Second SAFP Video: “I’m 32, I’m a mom and here I am breaking barriers.”
• USATF Recap: Grant Holloway Gold Highlights Team USATF On Day 6 *Day 5 *Day 4 *Day 3 *Day 2 *Day 1
• Ashton Eaton And Brianne Theisen-Eaton Donate 2016 World Indoor Champs Kit To IAAF Heritage Collection In Doha
• Video Interview With LJ Champ Tajay Gayle: “Words can’t explain how I feel.”

More Worlds Monday

LRC Halimah Nakaayi Of Uganda Stuns Ajee’ Wilson, Raevyn Rogers Gets Silver – Doha Women’s 800m Recap Halimah Nakaayi got the surprise win as Raevyn Rogers and Ajee’ Wilson went silver and bronze for the US.
*MB: Upset city!! Team USA takes home 2 800 medals but gold goes to Uganda’s Halimah Nakaayui.

LRC Beatrice Chepkoech Delivers: World Record Holder Doesn’t Beat Herself, Wins Steeplechase World Title As Emma Coburn Gets Silver The world record holder got a much deserved gold as Emma Coburn PRed to get silver.
*MB: Beatrice Chepkoech dominates and wins much deserve gold, Coburn PRs and gets silver 

The Media And Athletes Bash Doha Worlds

• The Telegraph: “Poor Doha Champs Attendances A ‘Disaster’ For Qatar’s Chances Of Hosting The Olympics” A former IOC marketing director said, “At the end of the day, what’s the point of building big stadiums for the people in the country – it’s an empty cathedral.”
  *More Telegraph Headlines: World’s Best Athletes Should Not Be The Ones To Suffer From Sport’s Desire To Sell Its Soul To The Middle East
  *Doha World Championships Highlighting Difficulty In Grafting International Sport On To A Culture With No Interest In It
• Doha Organizers Respond To Criticism Over Attendance They are blaming the start of the working week in Qatar and TV schedules for the poor attendance numbers.
• Decathlon WR Holder Kevin Mayer Calls Doha Worlds A “Disaster” “We have to leave reason aside and more concentrate on the passion, because if not I would have boycotted these Championships. We haven’t really prioritised athletes when organising the Championships here. It makes it difficult.”
• PA Media: “IAAF Under Fire For Doha Decision As Crowds Fail To Show For Worlds”

More Doha Coverage

• Jamaica Observer: Tajay Gayle Wins Historic World Long Jump Gold With National Record 8.69m It was the #10 all-time best mark and the farthest jump in a decade.
• Athletics Weekly: “Strong And Beautiful DeAnna Price Wins Hammer Gold With 77.54m Price broke into tears of joy after becoming the first American woman to win a world outdoor throws title.
• Reuters: Yellow Hair And Hot Time Have Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce In Spotlight Fraser-Pryce ran the fastest-ever time in a heat of the women’s 100m with 10.80 on Saturday.
• The Telegraph: Christian Coleman Proves Himself As Fastest Man On Planet – But He Is Hardly A Champion To Cherish
• IAAF: Five Things To Watch Out For On Sunday In Doha Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce vs. Elaine Thompson and Dina Asher-Smith in the 100m plus Noah Lyles in the 200m highlight sprint action.
• Blow To Ireland As Mark English (800m) And Thomas Barr (400H) Fail To Make Finals
• USATF: Double Gold And A New WR On Four-Medal Night For Team USA The WR came from USA’s mixed 4 x 400m relay (3:12.42).
• The Telegraph: In The Post-Usain Bolt Era, There Is No Quick Fix In Sport’s Restless Search For Its Next Transcendent Figure Oliver Brown writes that “This notion of Bolt as the last line of defense against the sanctity of athletics no longer applies.”

Day 1 Distance Prelim Recaps

LRC With One Shoe, Paul Chelimo Makes 5K Final, Calls Out LetsRun Doubters Chelimo looked very good despite only having one shoe the final mile.
*MB: Paul Chelimo calls out LetsRun: “LetsRun you never believe in me. Today I showed you. Wait for the final and you will see. “ 

LRC Women’s Steeple Prelims: Everything Goes According To Form As Coburn And Frerichs Cruise Through Courtney Frerichs enjoyed the easiest 9:18 of her career and Emma Coburn raved about the Doha setup, “The air conditioning works … I was very, very impressed with it. I think it’s gonna lead to some fast races. The track felt good, the crowd was loud. So it was a really good experience.”

LRC Women’s 800 Prelims: Ajee And Raevyn Cruise But 3 Of Top 6 Seeds Go Home Devastated, Including Hanna Green The women’s 800 heats were full of surprises but Ajee Wilson and Raevyn Rogers looked supreme.

Athlete Videos (More Here)

LRC Worlds Previews

LRC The Casual Track Fan’s Guide To The 2019 World Track And Field Championships: 6 Story Lines To Follow At Worlds Are you someone who used to be really into track and field but no longer is or maybe the kind of person who doesn’t pay attention to athletics until the World Champs? Then this is the preview for you. If you are a casual sports fan, we imagine you’ll like it as well.

LRC Who Are The Most Popular (And Least Popular) Favorites For Worlds? Here Are The Running Warehouse Prediction Contest Vote Totals Noah Lyles (99.1%) and Ajee Wilson (95.%) lead the way while Grant Holloway (37.2%) and Katerina Stefanidi (32.2%) are the least popular.

• LRC Men’s Steeplechase Preview: Will Kenya’s 31-Year Streak Of Dominance Come To An End? There have been few constants in the world since 1988 other than the fact that ever global track championship, a Kenyan-born man has won the men’s steeplechase title. 23 in a row. That streak could very well end in Doha.
• LRC Men’s 800 Preview: Donavan Brazier Chases America’s First Gold Since Dave Wottle In 1972 Can Donavan Brazier end America’s 47-year gold medal drought in the men’s 800?
• LRC Women’s 10K Preview: Sifan Hassan Chases First World Outdoor Title Under Alberto Salazar‘s tutelage, Hassan has put together a year for the ages in 2019; can she end it with a gold medal at Worlds against Hellen Obiri?
• LRC Men’s 5K Preview: With No Clear Favorite, Could Jakob Ingebrigtsen Earn Europe’s First Men’s 5K Medal In 20 Years? Due to USATF’s foolish policy, a 12:58 American won’t be in this race. And a lot of the guys who could have won this race – Mo Farah, Joshua Cheptegei, Yomif Kejelcha – aren’t running it. Who will step up in their absence? Might it be Canada’s Mo Ahmed?
• LRC Women’s Steeple Preview: USA & Kenya Duke It Out In A Grudge Match Two years ago, Americans Emma Coburn and Courtney Frerichs shocked the world in London. Now the Kenyans, led by WR holder Beatrice Chepkoech, are out for revenge.

Weekend Road Action

• MB: Downhill Sub-2 Hour Marathon Attempt Fails After 59:30 First Half
• Kenya’s Evans Kiplagat Chebet Smashes Buenos Aires Marathon CR With 2:05:02 Victory Reuben Kipyego was a close second in 2:05:19. Rodah Tanui won the women’s race in 2:25:46.
• MB: Futsum Zienasellassie (29:35.49) Beats Donn Cabral (29:38.58) To Win At The Cow Harbor 10k Ann-Marie Blaney won the women’s race in 33:42.37; Natosha Rogers was second in 34:05.45.
• Evaline Chirchir Wins Dam tot Damloop 10 Miler In 50:32, One Second Off The 31-Year-Old Course Record She beat Irene Cheptai by 3 seconds and also won the women vs. men challenge as the men’s winner, Solomon Berihu (45:49), wasn’t able to make up the 6:04 head start given to the women.
• Ethiopia’s Aychew Bantie (2:08:51) And Marta Lema Megra Runs (2:24:21) Win At The Hengshui Lake Marathon