What a final night of track and field. Emmanuel Wanyonyi put on a masterclass in the men's 800 and was still nearly beaten by Marco Arop as Bryce Hoppel had to console himself with an American record. World record scares in both 4x400s, plus a jump-off in the high jump.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Faith Kipyegon are nearly untouchable in the 5000 and 1500 respectively and they showed that as Grant Fisher picked up medal #2 from Paris. Plus, Georgia Bell and Jess Hull's breakout years ended with Olympic medals.
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Tola, who was only named to the team less than two weeks ago, was sensational as he went 64:51/61:35 go get the win. Americans Conner Mantz (2:08:12, 8th) and Clayton Young (2:08:44, 9th) were fantastic. Kenenisa Bekele was 39th (2:12:44). Eliud Kipchoge was DNF.
Mantz (8th, 2:08:14) and Young (9th, 2:08:44) ran strong and surprisingly fast on a very tough Paris Olympic course.
Chebet edged Italy's Nadia Battocletti by .10 to win a tactical 10k, Benjamin blew away Karsten Warholm in the home straight, and the US women won 4x100 gold but the men faltered at the Olympics again.
Wilson said he was not 100% and credited his teammates for propping him up, while Hoppel is full of confidence and ready for a big PR in the final. We'll be doing out show tonight earlier - 5:30 pm ET as need to sleep for the marathon.
*Friday Aug. 9th Track and Field Morning Session Thread?!!
SML did it again with WR #6, running 50.37 to win the 400 hurdles as Femke Bol got bronze. Letsile Tebogo ripped a 19.46 for 200m gold as a COVID-stricken Noah Lyles was 3rd.
It took 3:56 to make the final in the second heat and there is an NCAA athlete in the final but her name isn't Maia Ramsden. Plus we'll tell you who our "Cole Hocker" is in this race.
Kenneth Rooks is now an American distance legend thanks to a huge gutsy race that results in him winning the sivler medal behind Olympic legend Soufiane El Bakkalli who repeated.
Hall's time ranks him #4 all-time and silver medalist Matthew Hudson-Smith's 43.44 is #5 as an American outkicked a Brit for gold in Paris for the second straight night.
We'll break down the crazy silver medal from Kenneth Rooks and the gutsy run from Quincy Hall. To get our bonus shows as a podcast, join our SC tonight.
We give you the higlights of the semifinals of the men's 110 and 400m hurdles, and the women's 400.
A total of six men fell across three different incidents in the 5k. Four of the six were advanced, but neither Nur nor 2021 silver medalist Moh Ahmed were put in the final.
The top four broke the Olympic record as Josh Kerr took silver, Yared Nuguse bronze, and Jakob Ingebrigtsen was 4th. Hocker and Nuguse (3:27.80) both smashed the American record.
The 4th fastest man in history did not run poorly tonight. In fact, despite serving as the unofficial rabbit for 1425 meters, Jakob Ingebrigtsen ran faster than when he won in Tokyo and only 1.51 seconds slower than when he was running behind rabbits in Monaco, but he lost to three different men who stepped up their games as Cole Hocker had the greatest close ever in a sub-3:29 race. What can Jakob try moving forward to get back on the podium?
Men's 1500m On The Boards:
This show will also be coming out as our regular podcast. Check it out here.
It was the first medal for On ever on the track. Plus, what would Dathan advice Jakob to do in the 1500?
For the most part, the runners' post-race comments were more interesting than the racing on the track, although it should be noted that 3:53 runner Birke Haylom was awful and ended up in the repechage round. Hull has an interesting theory as to how she’s been able to improve so much and Robert Johnson asked Nikki Hiltz some nuanced questions about how Hiltz’s participation in sport as a trans athlete differs from Lia Thomas’.
According to the Ugandan head coach, they have pulled out because they "were unable to recover in time" from the 10,000m on Friday where Cheptegei won and Kiplimo finished 8th.
Keely Hodgkinson executed a brilliant front-run to win 800 gold in a negative-split 1:56.72 while Beatrice Chebet outkicked Faith Kipyegon in the final 100 to win the 5k.
Beatrice Chebet looks like track's newest superstar, Keely Hodgkinson joins the club as well, and oh year WR #9 for Mondo. We break it all down. If you want this as a podcast, join the Supporters Club today.
The men's steeple prelims had some drama as the #3 seed Amos Serem missed a water jump and had to turn around and go back and Geordie Beamish was eliminated. Kenneth Rooks was the only American to move on and he wants to run to win.
The 2016 Olympic champ knows what he's talking about.
It was a DISASTROUS morning for the British vaulters as 2024 world #1 Molly Caudery was the only vautler to no-height and 2021 Olympic bronze medalist Holly Bradshaw also failed to make the 20-person final. US 400m champ Kendall Ellis also didn't run well and will find herself in the repechage round. Speaking of which, many male 400 guys didn't bother to show up for their repechage round as they get ready for the 4 x 400s.
After thinking he lost, Lyles ended a 20-year American drought in the event in the closest men's 100 final since 1980 and the deepest 100 ever as all 8 man broke 10.00. Fred Kerley took bronze, medalling for the second Olympics in a row.
*Eddie Pells AP Recap of Sunday
*WA Recap
2016 Olympic champ Matthew Centrowtiz joins the show 20 minutes in and breaks down the 1500 for you. He ultimately picks Ingebrigtsen FTW. Join the LetsRun.com Supporters Club to get our daily video show as a podcast from Paris.
An EPIC men's 1500 final is all set and 3 Americans will be in it. Hobbs Kessler tells us if he'll go with the pace in the final and Narve Nordas tells us what he meant when he told Josh Kerr "can beat" Ingebrigtsen and why it's important to stay off the Letsrun messageboards if you are an Olympian. Plus learn about how a woman has gone from being homeless to the Olympic final in less than a year thanks to 12 national record.
2 of the 3 Americans have advanced in the steeple and Shericka Jackson has pulled out of 200.
Ewoi ran the 6th fastest time in the world this year to beat Sage Hurta-Klecker (4:19.89, #6 on the US all-time list) and Heather MacLean (4:20.41). Festus Lagat was 2nd in the men's race (3:52.63); Craig Engels was 5th (3:53.99).
Alfred (10.72) buried the field with a great start and drive phase to give tiny St. Lucia its first Olympic medal ever while Richardson, who started poorly, took the silver in 10.87 with the US's Melissa Jefferson 3rd in 10.92.
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More Day 2 MB Talk:
Bol ran 47.9 on her leg to give the Dutch 4x400 gold over the USA.
Noah Lyles was upset in round 1 of the men's 100 as Americans Fred Kerley and Kenny Bednarek had the fastest times of the day with 9.97. If you need a VPN to watch the videos click here.
Cheptegei set an Olympic record of 26:43.14 as the top six all finished within a second and the top 13 all broke 27:00 -- easily the most ever in one race.
What a start to the Olympic Track and Field action.
Faith Kiypegon and Keely Hodgkinson got underway and 5 of the 6 American women advanced in the women's 800 and 5000.
Feldspar plans to revolutionize the running track and they are the proud sponsor of the LetsRun Paris coverage.
All 3 Americans advanced in the 1500 while Sha'Carri Richardson made it through in the 100m prelims.
We have boots on the ground in Paris and Jonathan Gault's first two days in Paris included trips to see Simone Biles, Carlos Alcaraz, and Léon Marchand and offered a reminder of how fans can elevate the Olympic experience. Jonathan writes about the loudest sporting event he's ever attended.
The largest track and field bettor on planet earth, who like all really smart people is a LRC SC member, recently hired Jonathan Gault and Robert Johnson to come up with Olympic odds for every track event at the Paris Olympics. We now have permission to share our odds with his fellow Supporters Club members.
Seb Coe said WA is exploring a joint proposal to have cross country and cyclocross share a course at the 2030 Winter Olympics in France. Plus Coe shares his thoughts on Grand Slam Track.
Hodgkinson recently became the 6th fastest woman in history and leads the world by one second.
A record 11 men have broken 1:43 this year, including three under 1:42. Is Djamel Sedjati the new king of the event or can Emmanuel Wanyonyi or someone else take him down in Paris?
In Tokyo, we had two races for the ages. Will history repeat itself in 2024? McLaughlin-Levrone comes in off a world record at the US Olympic Trials, while Benjamin is 2-0 vs Warholm since losing at Worlds last year.
Jackson pulled up injured in a 200m race earlier this month. Jamaica's 11.03 woman Shashalee Forbes will take her place in the 100m.
*MB: Shericka Jackson out of the 100m
Christina Clemons found herself without a sponsor prior to the Olympic Trials and on her own created a unique partnership with Doritos. She talks about that, missing Paris, and being a mom.
We break down the first distance action in Paris and chat with Drew Hunter.
The 1st women's distance final doesn't take place until day 4 (Monday) but the race should be worth the wait as we are living in the era of the women's distance freak. That is meant as a compliment, because freakish is the only way to describe what women like Faith Kipyegon, Gudaf Tsegay, and Sifan Hassan have been doing in the last five years. It's not just that the trio have run fast -- they have combined to break eight world records in that span -- it is that they have been redefining what is possible for women's distance runners.
Ingebrigtsen is trying to join Seb Coe as the only men to win two Olympic 1500 titles. Americans Cole Hocker and Yared Nuguse both have legit shots at a medal.
Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei has won 3 global 10,000 titles on the track but he's never won the Olympic 10,000. Can he get the job done in his final track Olympics? If not, is Jacob Kiplimo the new king or will it be one of the Ethiopians? Does Grant Fisher have a shot?
From Grant Fisher to Whittni Morgan, Rojo breaks it down for you with 13 of the 33 US Olympians given a less than 1% chance of a medal.
The press normally focuses their attention on the fastest Olympians. We turn ours to the slowest. Who were the slowest people who got in on world rank and how slow were they? Plus did you know there are two US Olympians who wouldn't be Olympians in 2024 if they were British?
Recommended Read Q&A with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian whose 1st women's only track meet ATHLOS NYC will be in NYC on Sept 26 He views women's track like he did women's soccer a few years back - as a huge investment opportunity. Faith Kiypegon and Gabby Thomas will be there and "Grammy Award winning artist Megan Thee Stallion will headline during the evening, D-Nice will DJ and each athlete will get their own walk-on song." First place: $60,000.
Taylor won 2 Olympic gold medals in his career and 4 world titles. He reflects back on his great career, talks about overcoming adversity, eternal optimism, the butterfly effect, and the future.
Supporters Club only: Drew Hunter Podcast On His Resurgence in 2024 and the Future "I just wanted to be a great runner again. That's all I focused on this year. The work was put in this year. " We released this to SC members only along with Christian Taylor. (Don't miss out on being one of the last people to sign up today at 50% off with code GOAT)
Is Lyles the next big US Olympic star or is he the Tyson Gay of 2024? The battle for the fastest man on Earth could come down to the world champion Lyles and the 23-year-old Jamaican Thompson, playing the role of Usain Bolt in 2008, appearing in his first global championship.
Richardson is seeking to become the first American to win the women's Olympic 100 since Gail Devers in 1996. Can St. Lucia's Julien Alfred or any of the Jamaicans stop her?
Oh baby, we can't wait for this one. Kipchoge vs Bekele on an epic course as he seeks a historic 3-peat. Plus how will the field handle one of the toughest courses in professional marathoning history and could the runners be running sub-4 pace after mile 19 as it's so downhill?
Who wins the 2024 men's Olympic marathon?
Where does Eliud Kipchoge finish in the 2024 Olympic marathon?
Where does the top American finish in the 2024 Olympic marathon?
Carlson, previously the distance coach at Tennessee, will replace the legendary Mark Wetmore, whose contract was not renewed this summer after 29 years in charge in Boulder.
*MB Sean Carlson to Colorado Official.
Before today, the Ingebrigtsens were solely known for their athletic process. Now they have a single that is incredibly catchy. Listen/watch by clicking on the youtube embed.
*MB: Ingebrigtsen brothers release incredibly catchy Olympic music video (listen here + full lyrics)
Olympic mania is officially here and Ato Boldon joined us @57:51 to break down the sprint action in Paris. Trust us you don't want to miss this one as Ato was FANTASTIC.
Noah Lyles and Grant Holloway could become legends with Olympic gold in Paris; with a loss, they'd go down as runners who could not win on the sport's biggest stage.
The betting markets make it clear, Noah Lyles is definitely not the favorite for the Olympic 100m. Kishane Thompson Is
The biggest news of all was that Sifan Hassan didn't run. Katelyn Tuohy dominated the 5k and literally popped champagne after she won in 15:07 and Nikki Hiltz had a nice double running 1:59/4:04 in the span of an hour. Whittni Morgan (4:02.59) edged Karissa Schweizer (4:02.79) in the 1500 in the battle of US 5000 Olympians *Dyestat recap
*MB: Katelyn Tuohy is back folks!!!!! Wins Sunset Tour 5k in 15:07!!!
*MB: Nathan Green, get ready: 25-year-old 3:32 guy Justin Kipkoech expected to enroll at Eastern Kentucky this fall
*Dyestat: Hiltz did double duty to get ready for rounds in Paris: "The whole point of rounds is just pushing through it when it’s uncomfortable. Having the 1:59 in your legs definitely was uncomfortable for the whole 1,500." “I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s 3:55 (to make the Olympic Final),” Hiltz said.
On The Roads: Ahmed Muhumed (22:26) and Rachel Smith (25:40) win US 8k road titles Muhumed edged Isai Rodriguez by 1 second with Hillary Bor third while Rachel Smith won by 18 seconds.
Do we have new Olympic favorites in the men's and women's 400? Is Grant Fisher in trouble after getting outkicked by Dominic Lobalu? Plus Niels Laros wins despite losing to Olli Hoare and more. *Race videos
*Lyles is pumped to have run a big pb in front of a big crowd: "I live for the biggest moments, the more eyes the better I perform"
*UA Dark Sky's Edwin Kurgat is pleased to have run a pb for 3rd behind Fisher in London
The 16-year-old Wilson ran a time that would have won the last two world titles while Mu went out in 57.15 but had nothing in the last 100 in a race won in 1:58.19. In other action, unheralded 33-year-old Emmanuel Matadi ran 9.93 to win the 100 (+1.2) and Josh Hoey (1:44.22) beat Clayton Murphy (1:45.01) in the 800 and two-time Olympic and 4-time World champ Christian Taylor jumped for the last time in the men's tripe jump. You can watch the whole meet for free by clicking play above or see these links for certain races:
*M200 Video *M400 video *W800 Video *Full meet replay
2022 London champ Amos Kipruto (2:03:13) and 2023 Berlin runner-up Vincent Ngetich (2:03:13) lead the somewhat shallow men's field where Daniel Ebenyo will debut while Tokyo champ Sutume Kebede (2:15:55) is the women's headliner.
*MB: 2024 Chicago Marathon Elite Field (Amos Kipruto/Vincent Ngetich | Ruth Chepngetich fastest entrants + Daniel Ebenyo debut)
We break down Jakob's 3:26, and Jess Hull's WR, span the globe and then part 2 of our talk with Matthew Centrowitz where he reflects on his amazing career.
Plus how about some love for 16-year-old Rin Kubo who made history by become the first Japanese woman to break 2:00 in the 800 - or did she?
Asinga, who ran 9.89 and 19.97 last year, says he tested positive for the banned substance GW1516 due to a contaminated batch of Gatorade Recovery Gummies that he got from Gatorade at an awards ceremony. The gummies were falsely marked with the NSF Certified for Sport label which would mean they were contaminant free but have since tested positive for G1516. The AIU didn't buy it, banning him for four years & suggesting Asinga or someone close to him doctored evidence to cover up his doping.
From Kara Goucher to Clayton Murphy, Evan Jager to Andrew Wheating, dozens of US Olympians have the Olympic rings on their body. Here are their stories.
The league has signed up Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who has only run 4 Diamond Leagues in her life, to commit to doubling at 4 meets a year. There will be six event groups per sex (no field events) with 48 athletes getting base contracts to double in all four meets (one in LA, other locations TBD). Winners of the combined events scoring will get $100k per meet down to $10k for 8th. The first meet is scheduled for April 2025. What's surprising is the events groups are totally siloed off. So with this format, Michael Johnson would never have faced his 200m rivals Frankie Fredericks or Ato Boldon in the 200 as Johnson would be in the 200/400 group and Boldon/Fredericks in the 100/200 group. So Sydney will never face Marileidy Paulino or Athing Mu in the 400 as they'll be in the 200/400 and 800/1500 groups while she'll be in the 400h/400 group.
Competing against legends Kipchoge Keino and Ron Clarke in the 1964 Olympic final in Tokyo, Schul used a 38.7-second final 300m to win an iconic gold medal. His daughter confirmed his death to LetsRun.
Preparing for the fall XC season or a fall marathon? Stay healthy and run in comfort with new shoes. Browse our new and improved Better Running Shoes site, which has been updated to focus on the best deals so you can get an amazing shoe at an amazing price, or just buy these great deals straight away:
This weekend's Prefontaine Classic marks 10 years since Jonathan Gault's first meet for LetsRun.com. He reflects on what he learned from his first trip to Eugene to cover David Rudisha and Galen Rupp in 2014.
After a decade with LetsRun.com, Jonathan Gault counts down his 10 favorite races he has seen in-person. Usain Bolt, Matthew Centrowitz, and Jakob Ingebrigtsen all make appearances - who claims the #1 spot?
Twenty years after his first Olympic gold and 12 years after his last Olympic appearance, Bekele will return to face Eliud Kipchoge on the sport's biggest stage in Paris.
In just three races, Kiptum turned the marathon world upside down, setting a world record, and running the three fastest second halves ever in a marathon. Jonathan Gault recaps his life and career.
We present to you the LetsRun.com Shoe Awards for 2023. What is the best shoe of 2023, the supershoe of 2023, the newcomer of the year and more?
Kelvin Kiptum, Faith Kipyegon, Keely Hodgkinson and everyone in the OAC are among the stars who experimented with Maurten Bicarb System in 2023 ($65 for 4 doses). The big question: does it work? (paywall lifted)
We think most of you could guess the #1 brand, but the #2 might be a surprise. We break down the most popular brands overall, and for road, trail, and racing.
What links Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the NAU cross country team, and Sebastian Coe? Double threshold training, which is having a moment in 2023. Note, most of this article is behind our SC paywall for 72 hours (until Saturday).
Your latest American stars share their insights.
Keira D'Amato, the new American record holder in the marathon, was joined by Deena Kastor, who held the record for 15 years.
Sisson was the guest on the LetsRun.com Track Talk podcast after she became the first American to go sub 67 in the half marathon on a record-eligible course. Podcast highlights above. Full pod here.
Woody Kincaid joined us after he broke the American record indoors at 5000. He talks above why he left the Bowerman Track Club. Podcast highlights and link to full podcast here.
Coogan's New Balance Boston team had 3 Olympians in 2021 and 2022 could be the biggest year yet for the program with 2 new additions and the TRACK at New Balance coming on March 1st.
Danny Mackey has taken the Brooks Beasts from an unproven club to the Olympic podium in its first decade.
Dathan Ritzenhein is the first of the top pro coaches to sit down and talk about his club heading into the 2022 campaign.
