Jonathan Gault Is Finding Plenty To Write About

LRC A Look Back At Duane Solomon’s Career As The 1:42 Man Has Hung Up His Spikes Solomon, a two-time US outdoor champ, was one of America’s best 800 runners of the 2010s. He ran 1:42.82 (#3 all-time US) in the 2012 Olympic final but missed a medal in the deepest 800 in history.

Throwback Thursday #12
LRC I Was Bored, So I Watched The Crazy 2004 Men’s Olympic Marathon You know about Meb‘s silver and the attack on leader Vanderlei de Lima, but do you remember Stefano Baldini‘s incredible 28:59 close in 80+ degree temps that featured a 14:12 5k from 35k to 40k or the Austrian guy in a fuel belt? This remains the only Olympic marathon since 1980 not to feature an African in the top six – and a reminder of how the Olympic marathon, with its hot weather and three-athlete-per-country limit, can produce unexpected results. No one would have predicted a podium of Italy, the United States, and Brazil in 2004. We can only guess what Sapporo has in store …

We’re Down To One US Major This Fall

2020 NYC Marathon Canceled Due To COVID-19 The NYRR considered an elite-only race, but was concerned crowds might still gather and was unsure of its ability to bring in international runners. Of the 2020 US major marathons, only Chicago (October 11) remains scheduled as planned. NYC had been scheduled for November 1.
*NYRR Press Release
*Discuss: MB: NYC Marathon Canceled

• Berlin Marathon Also Officially Announces Cancellation Previously Berlin had said they wouldn’t be able to hold the race as normal on September 27. Now the 2020 edition is officially canceled.
• 2020 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon Cancelled Due To COVID-19; Will Hold Virtual Race Organizers said they will “provide a partial credit” to people who registered.

Nico Young Runs 13:50

MB: Nico Young Goes For Galen Rupp’s 13:37 US HS Record But Comes Up Short – Running 13:50 Young died big time over the last 1,600, which he ran in 4:33, but moves to #4 on the all-time US HS list. Galen Rupp was supposed to rabbit but pulled out with an injury. Someone thought it was a good idea to set the event up with pacers, timers, and a live camera crew but only announce it an hour before it started and to hold it in 79-degree weather instead of waiting a day for it to be 10 degrees cooler. *Race Replay Here

Seb Coe Conflict Of Interest Accusations

• Calls For Parliamentary Inquiry Into Potential Conflict Of Interest With Seb Coe’s Business Links There are accusations that the company where Coe is the executive chairman, CSM Sport and Entertainment, has been profiting with deals with the company that owns World Athletics’ commercial rights.  
• MP John Nicolson Demands The IOC Hold Off Letting Seb Coe Join Until Conflict Of Interest Questions Resolved The IOC said they decided to grant Coe membership when he agreed to take on a more passive position in the company and “forgo any compensation from CSM’s work with the IOC.”
• Seb Coe Rejects Conflict Of Interest Claims Stating “We Abide By The Rules At All Times” Coe stressed that his company never solicited work directly from World Athletics and that he had always abided by the federation’s strict code around conflicts of interests.

More General Coronavirus Stuff

• 193 Athletes Offered Grants From Athlete Welfare Fund To Help Them Through Financial Troubles Caused By Coronavirus Athletes from 58 member federations received $3000 each. Apparently Hicham El Guerrouj was one of the ones to come up with the idea for the fund.  
• World #1 Tennis Player Novak Djokovic Tests Positive For Coronavirus
• MB: Bowdoin College No fall Sports, wow!
• British Boxers To Resume Contact Training As Virus Restrictions Ease

Doping News

• Ethiopian Long Distance Runner Etaferahu Temesgen Wodaj Gets 12-Year Ban For Doping, Tampering With Evidence And Non-Compliance Wodaj tested positive for EPO and then tried to fake a TUE from a doctor that didn’t exist from a clinic that had been shut down for weeks. A tweet from LRC’s Jon Gault gets highlighted.
• AIU Bans Kenyan 2:10 Marathoner Japhet Kipchirchir After Failing A Drug Test
• Russia Says Its Athletes Should Be Allowed To Compete Internationally Even If The Russian Athletics Federation’s $5 Million Doping Fine Isn’t Paid On Time The Russian Athletics Federation was fined $10 million over the Danil Lysenko scandal, half of which is due July 1. World Athletics has said it will not grant a deferral of the payment of the fine.
• WADA Publish Final Version Of Athletes’ Anti-Doping Rights Act The Act will “outline equality of opportunity, fair testing programs, medical treatment, justice, accountability, education, data protection and other areas.”

More Lamine Diack Trial News

• Lamine Diack’s Lawyers Says That He Should Not Be Made Into A “Scapegoat” His lawyer asked judges to, “Resist the temptation to make this case an exemplary case, and Lamine Diack a scapegoat to purify the IAAF.”
• Diack’s Lawyers Argue The 87-Year-Old Will Die In Jail If Sentenced

Running Through Coronavirus

• London Marathon Organizers “Still Have Hope” The Race Will Go On In October Race director Hugh Brasher said he “hopes that the world will have found a way through coronavirus” by October. There will be another update on the event on July 28.
• Runner’s World Asks If You Should Be Running With A Mask? If you’re running solo and away from people, obviously you don’t need to. If you’re running in a more crowded area, maybe it could help.

Last Week Was The One-Year Anniversary Of Gabe Grunewald’s Passing

• Recommended Read: On The One-Year Anniversary Of Gabe Grunewald’s Passing, Her Husband Justin Reflects On Loss, Struggle And Resilience “The biggest thing I learned in the last year is that you can lose everything in one day, but it doesn’t mean everything will be gone forever. As time passed, those empty slots have been refilled. Not in the same way, but in different ways. Gabriele always was and always will be my North Star.”
• RR #2: Chip Gaines Tells The Story About How He Randomly Met Gabe Grunewald And How Even In A Short Time, She Had A Profound Impact On His Life Gaines ended up hosting a marathon to raise money for the Brave Like Gabe Foundation and Grunewald trained him to run it, but the whole friendship only formed because Gaines had randomly “heckled” Justin Grunewald running in Central Park.
• Carrie Tollefson Interview With Elite Runner And Best Friend Of Gabe Grunewald Ladia Albertson-Junkans
• Tollefson Podcast With A Friend Of Gabe Grunewald’s Who Also Had Super-Rare Cancer
• Interview With Cancer Survivor Who Raised Over $10,000 For The Brave Like Gabe Foundation

Since You Can’t Go To A Movie Theater, You Should Consider Watching This New Feature Film At Home While In Covid-19 Quarantine

LRC Sudanese Refugee Turned Olympian Guor Mading Maker’s Incredible Life Story Is Now A Feature Film: “Runner” 8 of his 9 siblings were killed in the Sudanese Civil War but Guor Maker (née Marial) somehow survived and eventually thrived despite the odds and competed in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Marathons. Maker is the subject of a new feature-length documentary that will premiere this weekend in conjunction with World Refugee Day. *Click Here To Find Out How To Watch