HERE’S THIS MONTH’S collection of short takes on generally off-track activities that have gone/will go a long way towards shaping the way the sport is headed.
2027 Wanda Diamond League Schedule
WA has announced the sites and dates for next year’s big 15-meet international circuit.
May
07 Doha, 15 Shanghai, 22 Xiamen, 27 Rome, 30 Rabat;
June
03 Oslo, 06 Stockholm, 25 Paris;
July
03 Eugene, 09 Monaco, 13 Lausanne, 17 London;
August
15 Chorzów, 20 Brussels, 25–26 Zürich.
We’ll print more details once the new year starts. For now, we can note that these are scheduled to be Eugene’s 14 DL events: men—200, 400, Mile, 110H, 400H, SP, DT; women — 800, 1500, Steeple, 100H, LJ, SP, DT.
So Who’s The Next Prez?
The head of World Athletics, that is. Since ’15, Sebastian Coe has guided World Athletics through a period of innovation and modernization, while cleaning up the mess that his predecessor, Lamine Diack, left behind. Next year, the former great middle distance runner will step down and hand over his role to a new name.
So far, 4 candidates have thrown their hats into the ring to run for the presidency. All are currently members of the WA Council: Raúl Chapado (Spain), Antti Pihlakoski (Finland), Ximena Restrepo (Colombia), and Adille Sumariwalla (India). Others still might jump in, as the entry deadline is March 31, 2027.
Like Coe, all are former athletes. Chapado, Restrepo and Sumariwalla are all Olympians, with Restrepo having won the 400 bronze in ’92 (she represented Colombia then, but now is a Chilean citizen). Restrepo was also the NCAA 400 champ while at Nebraska.
The winner of the election will be announced on the eve of the ’27 World Championships in Beijing.
No Mondo Come Winter
The world’s top vaulter will not be competing indoors next year in order to focus more on training and recovery with his eyes on winning a fourth World title in Beijing.
“I am making this decision to give my body the recovery and preparation it needs so that I can perform at my peak when I return to competition,” Mondo Duplantis said in a release.
“My focus will be on training well and preparing for the ’27 outdoor season, which runs from early May to the World Championships in mid-September. I look forward to coming back stronger and meeting everyone again during the 2027 outdoor season.”
His father Greg later added, “You can’t just keep competing, competing and competing without proper preparation. What happened this year cannot happen again.”
LA28 Marathon: How To Qualify?
The qualification process for the marathons at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles has been announced. The eligibility period will run from 01 November 2026 to 30 April 2028, with 70 quota places allocated for each gender. Official entry standards are yet to be confirmed and will be published in December 2026.
Athletes can qualify via entry standard or world ranking, with the target of approximately 40% of athletes qualifying via entry standard. Should more athletes than the quota achieve the entry standard, qualification will be limited to those with the best performance in the qualification period. If this occurs, no athletes will be qualified via World Ranking.
Who’s The Most Famous?
USATF has announced its latest slate of nominees to its Hall Of Fame, the names coming in three categories:
Athletes
Michelle Carter, Ashton Eaton, Deena Kastor, Aries Merritt, Brittney Reese, Sanya Richards-Ross.
Coaches
John Chaplin (Washington State), Barbara Jacket (Prairie View A&M) and Tom Tellez (Houston).
Contributors
Promoter Al Franken, broadcaster Larry Rawson and Nike founder Phil Knight.
Three athletes will be selected, along with one each from the other categories. Voting has been completed and the inductees will be announced in early November.
Walkers Claim Fastest 26-Milers Ever
After several years of confusion, WA has set the two championship walk distances as the half-marathon and marathon, replacing the 20K and the 35/50K.
And official WR claimants are in place after this year’s annual competitions in Takahata, Japan on October 25. Australia’s Rebecca Henderson claimed the women’s standard with her 3:14:52 stroll in “dismal” weather. That eclipsed the 3:15:11 set in August by Italy’s Sofia Fiorini.
The old men’s best of 2:55:28, set by Hayato Katsuki on this course in ’25 fell to Masatora Kawano. No stranger to record territory, having set a 35K standard here in this race in ’24, Kawano strode to a 2:55:14 win.
5 For You, But Only 4 For Me?
The NCAA’s decision to allow a fifth year of eligibility has not gone over well with athletes who weren’t grandfathered in. Athletes graduating high school in ’23 and later are in; those from ’22 and before are out.
Army jumper Bret Wingard, now a senior at West Point, has filed suit in a New York district court seeking an injunction so he can compete in the coming indoor season. The same day he was granted a temporary restraining order. His case is somewhat complicated because he competed at the University of Mount Union for a year before he was admitted to West Point as a frosh.
The Wingard case follows a class-action lawsuit initiated by 76 college basketball players in a California state court. They have been given a preliminary injunction allowing them to play this season; the NCAA is expected to put up a fight.
Kenya Eager For WC Hosting
In a show of support for the ’29 World Championships, Kenyan president William Ruto met with WA head Seb Coe to assure the world that the nation would throw its all behind the event.
“I give my personal commitment and that of the Government of Kenya to deploy all resources possible to ensure that the World Athletics Championships 2029 in Nairobi will be a huge success,” Ruto said.
“All of the required obligations will be met. The Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, is already undergoing major improvements for AFCON 2027, and will be further improved for the World Athletics Championships 2029.”
Said Coe, “I have made no secret of my strong ambition and commitment for the World Championships to be awarded to a city on the continent, but we needed the right host, the right bid, the right circumstances. Nairobi has demonstrated emphatically that this is their moment to supercharge the development of athletics in Kenya and across Africa — leaving a compelling legacy that inspires a continent.”
LA28: Why Does This Sound Kinda Familiar?
With the LA Olympics less than 2 years away, it’s safe to say that the drumbeat of headlines has marked the end of the city’s honeymoon with the looming event.
City officials have raised concerns that the financial safeguards are inadequate. “Bankruptcy cannot be the legacy of these Games,” said one council member, introducing a proposal to establish a “zero-cost principle” to protect the city from any cost overruns.
After waiting months for requested financial documents from LA28, the city went to court in October to subpoena the records. “Angelenos deserve full transparency from LA28 related to all spending and revenue incurred in the process of planning and executing the 2028 Olympic Games,” said city controller Kenneth Mejia.
Another dispute revolves around the Organizing Committee’s pledge to direct 75% of its spending to companies in a 5-county area; the city wants stronger guarantees for companies actually based in LA.
Earlier complaints about ticket prices remain ongoing, with LA28’s 24% surcharge not at all popular with local leaders and fans.
Meanwhile, an LA Times report claimed that the LOC has apparently concealed key contract and financial information in its reports to the city council, in violation of earlier transparency agreements. ◻︎
