August 22, 2020 Homepage Archive

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Archived Homepage For August 22, 2020

Quote Of The Day

“It’s not an easy thing for me to say but I was finding it quite hard to see a difference between what was emerging and human trafficking. [Something is wrong] when you have a system where two federations could effectively shake hands behind closed doors and an athlete, with very little guarantee on either side of the protocol around that transfer, could suddenly end up competing for a completely different country. … Some of them were barely older than anything that would in any country constitute adulthood and in some occasions barely at the age of consent. And that’s when I looked at this and thought we also have a responsibility here in the safeguarding space.”

– Seb Coe talking about why World Athletics cracked down on and tightened rules for athletes switching allegiance between countries.

Stockholm DL Sunday (10 AM – Noon ET) TV & StreamingSchedule & Results

LRC 2020 Stockholm DL Preview: Cheruiyot-Ingebrigtsen Rematch, Brazier Vs. Burgin In 800, & Obiri Vs. Muir In Women’s 1,500 And Warholm In 400H Another great Diamond League match-up. Meet is Sunday 10 – noon Eastern.

World Athletics Preview: Spotlight On Karsten Warholm And Mondo Duplantis As DL Resumes In Stockholm
GB’s Heptathlon World Champ Katarina Johnson-Thompson Competing In Innovative Long Jump At The Stockholm DL Instead of the winner being decided by the best mark from six rounds, the top three jumpers after five rounds will contest a one-jump final. Not everyone is a fan of the change though as Tianna Bartoletta called it a “gimmick” and said, “It’s not innovation but it is a mess.”
Jamaican Coach Kerry Lee Ricketts Criticizes Excessive Changes To Diamond League Format Rickets who coaches world TJ silver medalist Shanieka Ricketts said, “What [they] need to do is leave the thing as it is. Because all of these things (changes) are hurting the sport and hurting track and field and the athletes.”
Full Stockholm Press Conference Video *Highlights

High School News

Justin Robinson Named USATF Athlete Of The Week After Running The Third-Fastest 400m Ever (44.91) By A High Schooler At The American Track League VII Meet Robinson already had the #2 performance ever by a high school athlete via the 44.84 he ran last year.
Sad News:Texas High School Cross-Country Runner Dies Suddenly At Practice 17-year-old Dylan Dorrell died from a cardiac-related incident after finishing a cool down after a tempo workout.

US Distance News

Podcast Interview With Kara Goucher In this hour long interview Goucher talks about the ups and downs through her entire career from high school to pro and the Alberto Salazar doping scandal.
MB:Former NXN Champ Brie Oakley Shares Her Story In this video blog, Oakley talks about struggling with an eating disorder and stress reaction in college.
MB:Julie Culley has resigned as Georgetown Director of Track and Field/XC
Podcast Interview With World Mountain Running Champion Joseph Gray Talking about the kneeling debate, Gray said he thinks, “We should all kneel in disrespect of [the national anthem] …because the guy who wrote our anthem was a bigot.”
Peachtree Road Race Cancelled; Will Be Run Virtually It was initially moved from its July 4th date to Thanksgiving.

Admin News

Jamaican Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) President Warren Blake Stepping Down At The End Of His Second Term Blake said he believes in term limits and so will not seek re-election for the position he has held since 2011.
Former Olympic Cyclist Sara Symington Appointed British Athletics Performance Director Symington held coaching roles within British Cycling and British Triathlon before working as a performance advisor at UK Sport.
Source Claims Irish Sports Politician Was A “High Profile Fall Guy” At Rio 2016 Hickey remains on self suspension as an IOC member. He was cleared of wrongdoing in a Rio 2016 ticket scandal by the Irish government, but his case in Brazil remains in limbo.

More Recent Results

World Athletics Weekly Round-Up:Sam Kendricks Clears 5.81m In Germany Kendricks didn’t get to vault in Monaco as his poles hadn’t arrived. There was also a world lead in the mile from Katharina Trost (4:29.35). Elsewhere in Minsk, Belarusian HJer Maksim Nedasekau cleared a world leading 2.33m.
AW Weekly Round-Up GB’s Holly Bradshaw cleared 4.70m in the PV before attempting and failing at a UK outdoor record of 4.82m. Competing as a guest at the Austrian Championships, Christian Taylor jumped 17.13m for victory in the TJ.
75-Year-Old Breaks 6 Minutes For The Mile, Breaking Age Group American Record Lynn Rathjen ran 5:59.18, breaking the previous record by more than 17 seconds.
Ukraine’s Alina Shukh Scores A World Heptathlon Lead Of 6386 Points

Event Comebacks And Cancellations

Props To Them: Athletics Ireland Agrees To Stage National Championships Over Two Successive Weekends This Month The championships were at risk of losing their 147-year streak, but the streak will remain unbroken.
*Previously: Government Covid Restrictions Threaten Irish National Championships’ 147-Year Streak Apparently Ireland has the longest unbroken run of track championships anywhere in the world, not even missing a year during WWI and WWII.
The Rescheduled Paris Marathon Cancelled Due To Coronavirus The race had been postponed until November, but now it’s completely cancelled.
Parkrun Is Planning On Returning In The UK With A Ban On High Fives And Spitting And Potentially Longer Courses The weekly worldwide mass participation race series is hoping on returning soon.

Monaco Lived Up To The Hype TV & StreamingResults

LRC Joshua Cheptegei Runs 12:35.36 To Break 5,000-Meter World Record In Monaco Move over, Kenenisa Bekele. The world record now belongs to Joshua Cheptegei.

LRC Full Meet Recap Rest Of Monaco: A Crazy Fast 1,500, Brazier & Hoppel 1-2 In 800, Kipyegon Scares WR, & Hassan Drops Out What a meet. A European record for Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the 1,500, a near world record for Faith Kipyegon in the women’s 1k, a 1-2 finish by Americans Donavan Brazier and Bryce Hoppel in the 800, and much more.

VIP OnlyMonaco Joshua Cheptegei 12:35.36 Video Recap ShowWhat a track meet!

Monaco On The Boards:

Get Hyped For London 2020

2020 London Marathon Elite Fields Released
LRC Breaking Down The 2020 London Marathon Field Which Features 3 Of The 4 Fastest Men Ever The 2020 London Marathon field is out and it’s amazing as usual. We tell you who is in, who is out and along the way we wonder when Galen Rupp will next race as he’s not in the race although the London field does include Americans Jared Ward, Molly Seidel and Sara Hall.
*MB: London Marathon elite fields 2020
*Official Press Release

Saturday Night

Under Armour Sunset Tour Pop Up Event Set For August 22 Edward Cheserek, Joe Klecker and Oliver Hoare lead the men’s 5,000 while the women’s race has Dani Jones, Alicia Monson, Stephanie Bruce, Kellyn Taylor and Kim Conley. Emma Coburn, Cory McGee and Brenda Martinez will face off in the 800m.

Olympic Related News

Tokyo 2020 Could Lose A Fifth Of Its Volunteers Due To Coronavirus Impact
Fascist Statue Removed From Outside Amsterdam Olympic Stadium There was actually a lengthy investigation to determine if the statue was doing a fascist gesture or not, but it was determined that it was. The statue is now on display inside the stadium and can be seen on tours.
Canada Unveils Tokyo 2020 Uniforms
Tokyo 2020 Expected To Maintain Original Torch Relay Schedule Organizers considered major changes to cut costs, but apparently it was determined that a reduction in the length of the relay would have little impact on the cost.
Tokyo 2020 Staff Member Tests Positive For COVID-19
Renovated Helsinki Olympic Stadium To Re-Open Today The stadium has been closed for renovations since 2016. The renovation “is claimed to have respected the original architecture of the venue.”
Senate Passes Powerful Olympic Reform Legislation The legislation was introduced in reaction to the Larry Nassar scandal and gives Congress power to dissolve the USOPC board of directors.
Olympic Flame Could Be Placed On Display Near National Stadium In Tokyo In September The Olympic Flame was removed from public display to an undisclosed location in April to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Upcoming

August 23: Stockholm DL Entries: Muir Kipyegon, Obiri in W1500, Brazier VS Burgin in M800, Ungebritsens in M1500
August 29: More Details On The Drake Blue Oval Showcase Full fields haven’t been released, but Dawn Harper-Nelson and 2017 world 200m champ Shakima Wimbley have been announced. The meet will include the USATF Road 1 Mile Championship.
*Original Release: Drake to Host Blue Oval Showcase Presented by Mediacom
August 23:Japan’s Best Throwers Set To Star In Tokyo’s Golden Grand Prix
September 13:German Javelin Champ Johannes Vetter Poised To Challenge Meet Record At The ISTAF Berlin Meet Vetter has the current world lead at 91.49m and the meet record is 91.30m.

GB Mid-D News

GB’s Jake Wightman Reflects On His 3:29.47 In Monaco; Wants To Start Coming “Home With Some Silverware” From Major Championships “To be able to run under 3:30 is just mind blowing. To see a two rather than a three after the three minutes was just mad.”
Laura Muir Says She’s Enjoying A Year Without The Weight Of Chasing Medals “It’s quite nice in a way that we don’t have a major championships looming over us. We can just go out and stay relaxed and try different things in races. And just enjoy it, and run well.”
Laura Muir On Training Partner (And Now Housemate) Jemma Reekie: “We are creepily similar.”
Laura Muir After 1000m National Record In Monaco: “It’s Great To Be Back”

The 1995 Weltklasse Zürich Was Special

LRC 25 Years Later: A Look Back At One Of The Greatest Nights In Distance Running History At the 1995 Weltklasse Zürich meet, Moses Kiptanui became the first man under 8:00 in the steeplechase and Haile Gebrselassie took over 10 seconds off the 5,000m world record. It was the Golden Age of one of Europe’s finest meets. A quarter century later, those who were there reflect on the famous night.
*MB: Sub-8 and 12:44.39 at 1995 Weltklasse Zürich: A look back at one of the greatest nights in distance running history 25 yrs later

World Athletics: On Its 25th Anniversary, Remembering Kiptanui’s Historic Sub-Eight-Minute Steeplechase

Sprints And Jumps

Three-Time Olympic Medalist Carmelita Jeter Joins Coach Staff At The University Of Alabama She has coached the last two years at Missouri State University.
GB Sprinter Dina Asher-Smith Might Not Race At All In 2020 As She Doesn’t Want To Risk Getting Coronavirus “I’m not in the mood for racing for racing’s sake this year. The stakes are a bit too high.”
Retired GB LJer Greg Rutherford Found A Lump On His Testicle During Lockdown It was just a cyst, but he is encouraging men to check themselves: “If you’re a bloke, grab them and make sure nothing’s wrong.”
Kevin Young Selected As USATF Throwback Athlete Of The Week For His Still-Standing 46.78 400H WR From The 1992 Olympics
GB Sprinter Adam Gemili Says Watching His Grandmother Battle Dementia Before She Died Puts Olympic Goals In Perspective
*Adam Gemili Hopes Athletes Are Allowed To Take A Knee At Next Year’s Olympics
1983 World TJ Silver Medalist Willie Banks Donates The Singlet And Bib He Wore When Breaking The WR In 1985 To The World Athletics Heritage Collection

We’ve Brought John Kellogg Out Of Retirement – Our Summer Training Program Is Back

LRCHigh Schoolers And College Runners- Train Smarter This Summer With The LetsRun.com Summer Training Program If you aren’t sure what you should be doing for summer training and want to be your best this fall, sign up for our summer training program. Get a daily training schedule, interact with our team, and be your best this fall.

Seb Coe Speaks

Seb Coe Says Some Alliegance Switches Were Akin To Human Trafficking Last year, World Athletics tightened the rules on switching allegiance between countries and the sport is definitely better off for it.
Seb Coe Concedes That There Is “No Certainties” That Tokyo 2020 Will Go Ahead Next Summer “I have to say having the Olympic Games behind closed doors isn’t something that fills me full of unalloyed joy, but, you know, it may be that we have to accept that.”
Seb Coe Says Sport “May Have To Think Out Of The Box” If The Olympics Are Cancelled He suggested that other events could be organized in place of the Games.

Mid-Week Results From Gyulai Memorial In Hungary *Results

LRC Donavan Brazier Keeps Win Streak Alive, Runs 1:15.07 For 600m In Hungary Brazier had to come from way down in the last 100 to win the race and run down Puerto Rico’s Wesley Vázquez.
*MB: Donny Braz to Take Down a 34 Year Old World’s 600m Best?

World Athletics Gyulai Memorial Recap: Noah Lyles Wins 100/200 Double In 10.05 And 20.13 In the 110H, Orlando Ortega ran 13.21 to beat out Grant Holloway by .01, Hugues Fabrice Zango (17.43m) upset Christian Taylor (17.34m) in the TJ and Daniel Stahl won the discus (67.31m).
Ukraine’s Yuliya Levchenko Clears World Leading 2.00m At The Irena Szewinska Memorial In Poland She won over her teammate and rival Yaroslava Mahuchik.
*WA Recap:Australia’s Matthew Ramsden Wins 2000m In 4:55.44 Over Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski (4:57.09) Benin’s Noelie Yarigo got an upset win in the 800m, running 2:00.11 to beat Sofia Ennaoui (2:0026) and Laura Muir (2:00.34). GB got distance wins from Jemma Reekie in the 1500 (4:09.01) and Eliot Giles in the men’s 800m (1:45.18). Sam Kendricks beat Piotr Lisek on countback in the PV with 5.80m.

LetsThrow.com

Kenyan Olympic Javelin Silver Medalist Julius Yego Says He’s Sceptical Of Competing This Year, But Still Has His Eyes On Tokyo 2020 Success Yego says he hasn’t been able to train well with COVID-19: “For track athletes, it’s easier because they can get a road and run, but for a technical sport like javelin, you need to do more – it has been difficult.”
Jumps/Throws: Former WR Holder Bob Beamon And Olympic Champ Ryan Crouser Headline Induction Class For Texas Track And Field Hall Of Fame
Video Interview With Two-Time Shot Put World Champion Joe Kovacs
GB Shot Putter Sophie McKinna Reconsiders And Accepts British Athletics Funding Offer McKinna originally declined the funding because she wanted to continue working as a custody detention officer at a police investigation center.
RIP Hungary’s Three-Time Olympic Javelin Medalist Gergely Kulcsar, 86

More From Cheptegei

LRC VIP Joshua Cheptegei Video Chat With LetsRun.com Cheptegei spoke to us Tuesday afternoon for 45 minutes about his shocking run. LRC Supporter’s Club members can watch the interview now. Join the LRC Supporters Club to get bonus content, enhanced access, and huge savings on running shoes. We’ll edit the zoom and release it as a podcast next week.

LRC How Joshua Cheptegei Became The World’s Fastest Distance Runner – A Look Back At His Career After 5,000m World Record He first made noise on the senior level by having the biggest blowup we’ve ever seen in a race. Since then he’s won 2 world titles and broken 4 world records.

World Athletics: “After World 5,000m Record, Joshua Cheptegei Is On Track To Achieve Global Domination” “My ambition is to dominate the track for the next five or six years.”
Joshua Cheptegei:“This record is a special moment for me and I like to thank Kenenisa for his inspiration.” On Instagram, Cheptegei replied to Bekele, saying, “You are forever my all time role model and idol. Your career inspires me the most. I am forever grateful to emulate and follow your footsteps.”

Assorted Distance News

Beers, Bomb Suits And Blue Jeans: The 13 Weirdest Mile Run Records Known To Man Anthony Famiglietti has two of the records, but it isn’t the fastest mile in Death Valley wearing a Darth Vader suit.
AIU Announces Sanction For Ukrainian Olympic Marathoner Vitaliy Shafar Shafar got a ban of 3 years and 7 months for a Athlete Biological Passport violation, but it started back in 2017 so he can compete again at the end of this month.
Paula Radcliffe Looks Back And Reflects On The Athens 2004 Olympic Marathon Radcliffe famously DNFed this race after being the huge favorite, but admits if it hadn’t been the Olympics, she never would have taken the starting line. Includes podcast and written article.
Short Interview Catching Up With Emma Coburn Coburn explains how she ended up as Christian Taylor‘s vice president for the Athletics Association.

Music City Distance Carnival Results Live Stream

16-Year-Old Rheinhardt Harrison Runs 4:01.34 At Music City Distance Carnival He broke Edward Cheserek‘s sophomore class record (Harrison is a rising junior) and finished 7th in the race which was won by Harvard grad Kieran Tuntivate in a Thailand NR of 3:57.87.

MB: Music City Distance Carnival Discussion Thread The best times of the night came in the 1,500m where Aussie Oliver Hoare (3:34.63) and Cory McGee (4:03.64) were the winners. McGee just beat Emma Coburn by .18. Michael Saruni won the 800m in 1:46.13. and Ce’Aira Brown took the women’s race in 2:00.31.

LetsRun.com Founders Named as Two of “The 50 Most Influential People in Running”