March 24, 2020 Homepage Archive

Where Your Dreams Become Reality

Archived Homepage For March 24, 2020

Quote Of The Day

“In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community.”

– IOC official statement postponing the Olympics to 2021.

MB: Olympics are officially delayed for up to one year

The Olympics Are Officially Postponed Until 2021

LRC 6 Big Questions In The Wake Of IOC’s Decision To Postpone Olympics To 2021 What happens to Eugene 2021? What happens to people with Olympic qualifiers from 2019? Which athletes gain from the postponement and which ones are hurt by it? And a proposal for what to do with the 2020 US Champs.
*MB: Olympics are officially delayed for up to one year

World Athletics Was Already In Discussion With Oregon21 About Rescheduling The 2021 Championships In Eugene
No Plan To Change Olympic Marathon Location From Sapporo, Even With Delay Of Games
The Tokyo Games Will Still Be Called “Tokyo 2020”
World Athletics Welcomes Olympic Postponement – Says It Will Continue To Do Whatever It Can To Preserve And Create A 2020 Outdoor Season of One-Day Meeting Starting And Ending Later Than Usual Also considering Eugene 2022.
The Telegraph:What does this mean for the Olympic Games and what happens now? The IOC has about $824 million in reserves in case a Games is lost and had spent about $23 million on insurance to cover most of the investment.
The Telegraph:“Olympics Postponement Is No Disaster, It Is Delayed Pleasure”

Other Assorted Coronavirus News

NY Times: “With The Boston Marathon Postponed, Des Linden Hits The Couch” Two weeks after the Olympic Trials, Linden already put in a 100-mile week and was recovering well in her bid to run Boston 52 days after the Trials. But coronavirus has messed up those plans and Linden says she is “hunkering down” with “a pile of books and a cord of wood.”
Runner’s World:Everything You Need To Know About Spitting During The Coronavirus Outbreak Yes, spit can transfer the disease. Yes, keeping a six-foot buffer on a run can help. If you are hit with spit, wash with soap and water.
MB:Covid quarantine – some french guy ran a marathon on his 7m balcony…. impossible??? Elisha Nochomovitz said, “It was about launching a bit of a crazy challenge and bringing a bit of humour, to de-dramatise the confinement situation.” It took him 6 hours and 48 minutes.
Quarantined? Milesplit Gives Their Favorite Movies Featuring Runners Without Limits and Prefontaine top the list.
Ken Goe: Coronavirus Pandemic Is Causing College Coaches To Operate Without A Road Map Some coaches are starting to worry that even the beginning of the XC season could be affected.
European Athletics Board To Decide Next Steps On Coronavirus Response They will discuss the impact on various European Athletics events scheduled for 2020 and beyond.
IOC Member Prince Albert Tests Positive For Coronavirus

Oregon Meet Hosting

Ken Goe:It’s Unclear How Soon Hayward Field Will Be Ready For Competition The PAC-12 meet was cancelled and they moved the Oregon HS champs (set for May 28-30) as they weren’t sure the stadium would be ready. Now the question is, assuming the meet happens, will Hayward be ready for the June 6-7 Pre Classic?
Organizers Makes Statement That The 2020 Portland Track Festival And Stumptown Twilight Remain On The Schedule The Portland Track Festival starts May 30th, Stumptown is June 12th.
University Of Oregon Decides Not To Host Oregon High School Championships At Hayward Field If the championships scheduled for the end of May even still happen, they’ll be moved to Mt. Hood Community College and Western Oregon University.
With Qualifying Meets Disappearing, Portland Track Will Step Into The Void If Needed Portland Track president Michael Bergmann says they are ready to add more meets to the schedule if people need them to hit the standards for the Olympics Trials.

Mike Smith Lifts The Veil On Galen Rupp’s Training

LRC Mike Smith Q&A Part II: On Choosing To Coach Galen Rupp, “Defending The Process,” & Rupp’s Human Side Smith said that he was careful not to let preconceived notions cloud his judgment when deciding whether to work with Rupp. “The second we abandon our critical thinking or our process with this stuff … I worry about that.”
*MB: Mike Smith Part II: Smith explains why he agreed to work with Galen Rupp

LRC Mike Smith Q&A, Part I: On Galen Rupp’s Commitment, Restructuring His Training & That 24 X 400 Workout
*MB: Mike Smith lifts the veil on Galen Rupp’s training and talks about what makes him great

More LRC Exclusives

Our Weekly Podcast LRC Coronavirus Shuts Down Racing, But Not The Running World Podcast Listen to the best track and field running podcast on the planet and find out how much Wejo got paid to pace Paula R to her WR, who will do better under their new coach – Tom Brady or Galen Rupp, and learn how Covid-19 will impact the marathons. Could it actually result in Scott Fauble or Jared Ward winning a major?

Our Weekly Recap WTW The 2020 Boston Marathon Is Going To Be HOT, Caster Semenya Vs. Luke Wilson, And Will The Coronavirus Result In Eliud Kipchoge Debuting In New York This Fall? This week we take a look at Covid-19’s impact on the running world and wonder how hot it will be Boston and wonder if it might actually result in Eliud Kipchoge debuting in New York this fall. Plus what do actor Luke Wilson‘s HS track exploits tell us about Caster Semenya‘s Olympic 200 dreams?

More Races Cancelled/Postponed

Drake Relays Postponed Indefinitely Due To Coronavirus Pandemic They say that they are going to work to reschedule the event, but there is no timetable for that decision. Just last week, they had made a statement saying the meet was still on.
No Finisher At The Barkley Marathons Again This Year (Also, No Race) The notoriously difficult ultramarathon in Tennessee was cancelled due to the coronavirus. A runner hasn’t finished the race since 2017.
2020 Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Cancelled; Free Virtual Race Planned The event will be offering free refunds (unlike some other races), but encourages runners to donate their entry to the race charity.
UK Race Organizer Ask Runners To Compete Virtually In Bid To Save Business They have called off 19 races and people aren’t signing up for their Junes or later races either.
USATF’s Latest Coronavirus Statement All USATF Championships are cancelled for the next 30 days as well as the 2020 USATF Masters 10 km Championships set for April 26th.
Parkruns Cancelled Across UK Through The End Of March
*Their Headline From Two Days Earlier: Parkrun Numbers Stay Healthy As Runners Remain Undeterred By Coronavirus
CNN:They’ve Trained For Months, Then Their Marathons Got Cancelled Runners not only lose months of hard training, but take a financial hit via the lost money spent on travel and entry fees when the race refuses to refund them.

Noah Lyles Talks After 2020 Olympics Are Moved To 2021

LRC With Olympics Postponed, Sprint Star Noah Lyles Gets a Taste of Cross Country Training Perhaps no one has the potential to gain more from the 2020 Olympics than Lyles, but he’s relieved that the Olympics have been moved to 2021 as he’s been forced to dodge dog walkers while trying to train in a local park. *MB: Sprint star Noah Lyles talks about 2020 Olympic postponement – “Actually seeing it delayed gives me a bit of security.”

Distance News

Recommended Read:Meet Jon Green, The 25-Year-Old First Time Coach Behind Molly Seidel’s Monstrous Marathon Debut Green and Seidel started off teammates and friends, but when Seidel left their club team, Green offered to send her some workouts, with no plans on making it permanent. He didn’t have prior coaching experience, wasn’t certified and only got into the post-race press conference at the Trials on a loophole.
USATF Q&A With Emma Coburn Get to know some random facts about Coburn like pets, her favorite recipe and what she wanted to be when she grew up.

To Help You Through The Pro Racing Drought

LRC Looking For Some Running Content To Watch? On Running’s Chasing Tokyo Series May Be Just For You The series starts in 2019 and follows the On Zap Endurance team through the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials. Yes, we had a major sporting event less than 3 weeks ago!

Drug News: The Battle Against The Coronavirus Is Going To Hurt The War On Doping

Ethiopia’s African Games 10,000m Champ Berehanu Tsegu Gets 4-Year EPO Ban Tsegu tested positive in an out-of-competition test at the Copenhagen Half Marathon in September 2019.
AP:Olympic Doping Tests Continue, But At A Lesser Rate USADA CEO Travis Tygart said their testing is “focused only upon mission critical testing of those sports still competing and as needed for those preparing for Tokyo.”
MB:Friend: ‘The biggest winner of coronavirus outbreak will be dopers as they’ll be able to dope with impunity now, right?’

The Latest Coronavirus Running-Related News

Eliud Kipchoge’s Training Camp Has Shut Down To Covid-19. He Explains What He’s Doing Now In Isolation At Home
UK Athletics Chairman Says Olympics Should Be Postponed As He’s Worried About The Stress That Non-Knowing Puts On Them “With facilities closing down, their ability to get themselves in the best possible shape is compromised at best. That is creating intense pressure. And I think that intense pressure is what people have to understand is there and release it.”
MB: USA Swimming Asks Fr 2020 Olympics To Be Postponed 1 Year To Protect “Mental Health And Wellness” Of Athletes
Jamaican Track Federation States The Obvious – They DOn’t Have The Financial Resources To Compensate Pro Tracksters For Lost Income Due To Covid-19

IOC – Please, Do NOT Panic And Cancel Prematurely

Virus? What Virus? Tokyo Olympics Organisers Under Scrutiny Over Their Unwillingness To Either Postpone Or Cancel The Summer Games In Response To The Coronavirus Pandemic Sweeping The World. We’re glad they haven’t panicked. There is no reason to prematurely act when it seems likely the coronavirus will be very much on the downswing worldwide long before the Olympics. Today, less than 2 months after the Wuhan quarantine was enacted, there were zero new cases in Wuhan.
Seb Coe Says No Decision On Olympics Needs To Be Made Now But Admits “Anything Is Possible” We agree with Coe – there is zero reason to make a decision until the end of April. It would be very uplifting to have the world unite in July after so much sadness.
Sport Ireland CEO And Former Olympic Medalist John Treacy Calls For Tokyo 2020 To Be Postponed Treacy points out that for athletes who haven’t already qualified, they might not have a chance to and it’s hard to plan their peak. He calls the situation “ridiculous.”
Under What Grounds Could The Olympics Be Cancelled? The IOC can withdraw the organisation of the Games from the host city “if the safety of the participants is seriously threatened.”
Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister Claims Olympics Are “Cursed” Every 40 Years He’s got a good point as the 1940 Games were cancelled, 1980 games were boycotted and now Covid-19.
Olympic Flame Officially Passed To Tokyo 2020 In Athens Swimming Olympian Naoko Imoto received the flame on behalf of Tokyo 2020 at a shortened ceremony in Athens.

European News

Apparently Two-Time Olympic HJ Champ Blanka Vlasic Isn’t Retired Yet She hasn’t competed at all since winning Olympic bronze in 2016 due to Achilles tendon problems, but says she still wants to make a comeback, although it won’t be for Tokyo 2020.
European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen Hospitalized With Stroke He’s in the intensive care unit at a local hospital.
*Seb Coe Expresses Concern For His Longtime Colleague And Friend, Svien Arne Hansen
Greek Javelin Thrower Loannis Kyriaziz Gets 4-Year Doping Ban Slovenian javelin thrower Martina Ratej also got a provisional suspension based on re-testing from the 2012 London Olympics where she finished 7th.
European Athletics Looks Back At The Inaugural European Indoor Championships In 1970 They were held in Vienna in March.
Dina Asher-Smith Wins British Ethnic Diversity Sports Award

Doping News

UK Anti-Doping Criticizes UK Athletics Over Handling Of Alberto Salazar Report UKAD is unhappy that UKA hasn’t complied with repeated requests to hand over the entire 2105 internal review into its relationship with Salazar. UKA has only handed over a summary and has so far refused to give the full report.
*The Telegraph: UKAD Demands Full Copy Of UKA Salazar Report
MB:US Anti-Doping Official John Gleaves Caught Doping With Multiple Drugs Considering the 36-year-old is a professor and doping researcher, it’s amazing he screwed up enough to fail a drug test at the US cycling track champs.

How Are Athletes Coping?

Ken Goe:While Wary Of The Coronavirus, Pete Julian’s Elite Runners Continue To Train For The Olympics Julian said they’ll have to find a way to “sharpen these athletes in practice” since they won’t have many racing opportunities.
Training Under Lockdown, Italian Athletes Aiming To Keep Upbeat And Focused Gyms and indoor tracks are closed, but elite athletes still have access to outdoor tracks and have started doing their weight routines outside on the track or in their homes.
Video:Paul Chelimo Jokes He’s Using Soap And A Bathtub As A Makeshift Treadmill
*MB: VIDEO: PAUL CHELIMO DOESN’T HAVE A TREADMILL SO HE’S TRAINING IN A BATH TUB

More Calls For Olympic Cancellation

Renato Conova Calls For The Postponement Of The Olympics “Personally, I don’t see how Olympics can start at the end of July … I want only to say that, every solution we can adopt, we can’t solve the problem in short time.”
GB’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson Criticizes IOC For Olympic Preparation Advice “The IOC advice ‘encourages athletes to continue to prepare for the Olympic Games as best they can’ with the Olympics only four months away, but the government legislation is enforcing isolation at home with tracks, gyms and public spaces closed. I feel under pressure to train and keep the same routine which is impossible.”
Polish Discus Thrower And Two-Time Olympic Silver Medalist Piotr Malachowski Calls For Olympic Postponement “If these games get postponed and will take place this year in November or December, this will definitely be much better for athletes. They’ll be able to prepare.”

UKA Athletics Report About Alberto Salazar Is Released

More Administrative News

Q&A With NCAA President Mark Emmert On The Decision To Cancel The Winter/Track NCAA Seasons He talks about why they made the decisions they did and what alternatives they considered.
Pole vaulters Olivia Gruver and Chris Nilsen are named TFN’s NCAA indoor athletes of the year
Ajee Wilson and Ryan Crouser win indoor AOY for pros

The Latest Covid-19 Related News

Des Moines Register: Drake Relays Director Blake Boldon Is Still Optimistic The 2020 Drake Relays Can Be Held Despite Postponement “What I know is that the Olympics are currently planned the U.S. Olympic trials are currently planned along with many national championships around the world with the hope of preparing athletes for international competition. So, while that hope still exists, I have confidence that there are athletes that are training at more than 250 Division I schools across the country with the hope of competing. And if we are able to provide that opportunity, it will be a tremendously exciting and historic day at the Drake Relays.”
NCAA Athletes Unlikely To Receive Extra Year Of Indoor Eligibility Seniors in the spring sports are expected to get an extra year of outdoors.
*USTFCCCA Calling For Winter/Spring Eligibility For NCAA Athletes They also don’t want these students’ scholarships to count against a school’s limit.
Ciarán ó Lionáird: An Open Letter To Runners During The Covid-19 Pandemic His free training tip: “Through my career, I learned that healthy repetition is the greatest single determinant of long term success in endurance running. Find what works, then do it again, and again, and n.”
Athletics Australia Cancels All Competitions Until May 1st
Dyestat Profile Of Rebecca Mehra – The 2:02/4:08 Runner Who Went Viral – After Buying Groceries For An 80-Year-Old Couple Scared Of Covid-19
And A Good Non-Coronavirus Story RRRunning Store Manager Reflects On Her 36 Years In The Business At Lincoln Running Company “We have seen so much change at the store, it’s crazy. It used to be we’d come in, we’d open the doors, people bought shoes. And they’d train, show up at a race, eat a banana and head home. Now, we are always having social events for our customers. Today’s runner is more of a social one.”