August 24, 2020 | LetsRun.com

Track And Field’s Newest World Record Holder Talks To LetsRun.com

LRC Joshua Cheptegei Talks After Breaking The 5,000m World Record Cheptegei says he never doubted he’d break Kenenisa Bekele‘s 5,000 WR and now may go for the 10,000 mark. “I have a surprise. I might run a 10,000 meters very soon,” said Cheptegei. Cheptegei also reveals he’s wanted to be the GOAT since 2014, talks about why Uganda could finally be emerging as a serious distance power and discusses if a sub-12:30 or sub-26:00 are possible. “12:30 Could Be Possible, Maybe Also Sub-26:00? I Don’t Know.”
*MB: Joshua Cheptegei talks to LetsRun.com: “I have a surprise. I might run a 10,000 meters very soon,”

Usain Bolt Is In Quarantine

LRC Report: Usain Bolt Tests Positive For Coronavirus BA report from Jamaica says Bolt reportedly tested positive over the weekend as Jamaica’s daily positive cases have risen to their highest levels ever each of the last 3 days; earlier last week, he attended a surprise birthday party with a number of guests, including English soccer star Raheem Sterling. *MB: Usain Bolt test positive for COVID

Early Access For LRC Supporters Club Members

Joshua Cheptegei 45-Minute Podcast And Video With LetsRun.com The world’s greatest track runner talks about his incredible run in Monaco. Now available as a podcast as well for Supporters Club Members. We’ll be announcing more details on the Supporters Club soon but you can join now.

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

Pre-Stockholm News

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

Make Your Love of LRC Official – Join Our Club

LRC Become a LetsRun.com VIP: The LRC Supporters Club is Here Join our virtual club and get exclusive members only content, private podcasts, exclusive discounts, enhanced forum features, a members only forum, and help us shape the direction of LetsRun.com. Right now all members get 20% off running shoes and a free shirt for just trying us out. Sign up by September 1 to become a founding member and get a free 1:59:40 GOAT t-shirt.

Stockholm DL Was Sunday TV & Streaming Full Results

LRC Members Stockholm Post-Race Video Reaction Show Also available as a podcast in the members only podcast feeds.

LRC Karsten Warholm Just Misses 400m Hurdles World Record, Runs 46.87 After Hitting Final Hurdle Warholm had to settle for the 2nd-best mark in history. He now is the first man to record two sub-47 clockings.
*MB: 400h – WARHOLM 46.87

LRC 2020 Stockholm DL Recap: Brazier & Cheruiyot Keep Rolling As Reekie & Muir Lead Scottish Mid-D Sweep Karsten Warholm scared the 400m hurdles world record as part of a historic 400 hurdles/400 flat double and Donavan Brazier and Timothy Cheruiyot continued their winning ways as the 2020 Diamond League season continued at the BAUHAUS-Galan in Stockholm on Sunday.
*MB: Stockholm DL Live Discussion
*MB: OFFICIAL NBC SPORTSGOLD MADPOSTING THREAD

Athletics Weekly: Stockholm Long Jump Experiment Falls Short Ruswahl Samaai won the LJ, but said he felt he won “based on a format that’s not fair” as he didn’t have the longest jump of the day; only in the final round.
Housemates Jemma Reekie And Laura Muir Lead British Success In Stockholm Muir won the 1,500m in a world-leading 3:57.87 while Reekie took the 800m in 1:59.68. *BBC
World Athletics Recap: Karsten Warholm Dazzles WIth 46.87 Performance In Stockholm
USATF Highlights From Stockholm

More Weekend Results

MB: Cam Levins is BACK BABY!!! Time trial a half in 1:02
Seth DeMoor And Brittany Charboneau Win Pikes Peak Marathon
*MB: Seth demoor wins pikes peak
*MB: Official 2020 Pikes Peak Marathon Thread
Marc Scott Wins 3,000m At Bromley Twilight Invitational In 7:43.38 It was a close race as he just beat out fellow Brit James West (7:43.79) as Amelia Quirk won the women’s race in 8:54.09.
Nozomi Tanaka Runs Japan 1,500m National Record At The Seiko Golden Grand Prix She ran 4:05.27 to smash the 14-year-old record by more than two seconds.
GB’s Dina Asher-Smith Makes Low-Key Return To Action With 17.20 For 150m At Her Home Track For context, she ran 16.70 for 150m at the Great North CityGames back in 2017.

Big Friendly 5 Results Full Broadcast

Josh Kerr Wins Big Friendly 800m In 1:46.69; Ben Blankenship Takes 3,000m In 7:50.13 Kerr won handily over Drew Windle (1:49.63) while Matt Centrowitz was back in 4th (1:50.62). Chanelle Price time trialed an 800m with male pacers in 2:00.12 while Sam Prakel (3:39.05) and Eleanor Fulton (15:40.64) won the men’s 1,500 and women’s 5,000.

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

Under Armour Sunset Tour Pop Up

Results: Cory McGee (2:00.16), Edward Cheserek (13:21.78) And Lauren Paquette (15:10.01) Highlight McGee beat Rebecca Mehra (2:01.09) and Emma Coburn (2:01.10) while Cheserek won over Sam Atkin, Oliver Hoare and Joe Klecker. Kellyn Taylor (15:11.50) was a close second in the women’s 5,000. *Discuss

DyeStat Recap: Late Surges Lead To Personal Bests For Cory McGee And Lauren Paquette, Edward Cheserek Sets Meet Record At Sunset Tour

Distance News

Good Read: TeamUSA.org: Shannon Rowbury Is Turning 2020 Into A “Miracle” Season Rowbury talks about coming back from childbirth and injury, how 2020 was going to be her “Just in Time” season, whether she’ll run the 1500 or 5000 next year and how the team atmosphere has changed under Pete Julian.
RW Q&A With Joshua Cheptegei Talking About His 5,000m WR And What’s Next Cheptegei explains why he stopped his watch after crossing the finish line in Monaco and says he might want to move up to the marathon after the 2024 Olympics.
RRW: Manchester Road Race To Be Held With Limited Field For 2020; No Elite Race The field will be limited to 500 runners, selected from entrants who pay the $20 to run the virtual race based on time, age and sex.
Ababel Yeshaneh’s 64:31 Half Marathon And Mondo Duplantis’ 6.18m Pole Vault World Records Ratified By World Athletics

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.”

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

LRC High 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.