THE LATEST in the aches, pains & eligibility departments:
Miler Pat Casey has retired at 31 and will be coaching in Flagstaff for the Under Armour Dark Sky team.
Kim Conley says that she is now recovered from the plantar fascia and calf problems that kept her out of the Olympic Trials last year.
Ryan Crouser revealed that he was dealing with an elbow injury this indoor season.
South Carolina’s 51.29 performer Stephanie Davis missed the NCAA with an injury. She says she will be “100% and ready for outdoors.”
A stress reaction sidelined Joe Klecker in January, but he is reportedly back to training.
Katie Nageotte competed at the USATF Indoor despite a bone bruise on her foot. She used a short approach to make the team.
As reigning world champion in the hammer, DeAnna Price has a Wild Card to this summer’s edition. “It’s exactly seven months since I had total ankle reconstruction surgery and my complete labrum repair was six months ago,” she said on her return to outdoor competition with a 237-6 (72.39) win.
With two seasons of eligibility remaining, sprinter/jumper Lanae-Tava Thomas has transferred from USC to Texas, effective next season.
Marathoner Jared Ward was recently diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Disease, an autoimmune disorder.
Kara Winger indicates that she is looking to wrap up her javelin career in Eugene this summer. “I have to qualify for Worlds first. But that’s the plan.” The 4-time member of the Worlds squad (and 2-time finalist) will be 36.
The International Front…
Almaz Ayana is set to return to racing at the Madrid Half-Marathon in April. Ethiopia’s OG/WC 10K gold medalist has only raced twice since the ’17 Worlds.
4×4 ace Jonathan Borlée pulled off Belgium’s World Indoor team because of injury.
Vivian Cheruiyot, the ’16 Olympic 5000 champion, has not finished a race since ’19 but says she has not retired: “I am eyeing some of the Marathon Majors, such as Boston, Chicago, and Berlin. There is also the Paris Olympics, so by 2025, I may decide to retire.”
Briton Keely Hodgkinson withdrew from the World Indoor 800 because of a quad problem. “There may be a weakness there that we need to sort out and going into the summer,” she said. “It’s just too big to risk anything at this stage.”
German javelin thrower Andreas Hoffman says the recovery of his elbow has gone well. “The elbow is great. I coped very well with the surgery last year… This year is therefore all about comebacks.”
Top-rated steepler Norah Jeruto (8:53.65) is now eligible to represent Kazakhstan, as is her sister, 8:58.72 performer Daisy Jepkemei. Also signing on for the central Asian nation are Shadrack Koech (27:21 road 10K) and Caroline Chepkoech (30:19 road).
Greek vaulter Emmanouíl Karalís missed the World Indoor after a hamstring injury.
Cuban long jumper Lester Lescay, a 27-2 (8.28) performer, did not return to his nation’s training camp in Spain after competing in Belgrade. According to his Instagram, he is back in Spain, but speculation is he is looking to change nationality.
He won a bronze in the World Indoor heptathlon, but Australian Ash Moloney stopped high jumping early because he was worried about an ongoing knee problem.
Bahamian sprinter Michael Mathieu, who won gold on the ’12 Olympic 4×4, has retired at age 37.
Reigning World Indoor hept champ Kevin Mayer had to miss this year’s edition because of an ongoing Achilles problem.
Mediators negotiated an agreement between EJ Obiena and the Philippine federation to end their legal standoff. He can return to the vault wars, but only after having missed Belgrade.
Romanian 800 recordholder Catalin Tecuceanu (1:44.93) is now eligible to represent Italy.
According to his manager, Wayde van Niekerk is fit and will race in April.
Hurdler Nadine Visser injured a hamstring at the Dutch Indoor.
Kenyan Julius Yego, the World javelin champ in ’15, has recovered from the biceps injury that kept him out of the Tokyo final and will compete in May.
The COVID Ward…
Sprinter Aleia Hobbs got hit by COVID during the indoor season.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen revealed that when he returned home from his silver performance in Belgrade, he tested positive. “Just arrived home in Sandnes, and decided to take a health check after a strange feeling last night,” he posted.
Stewart McSweyn withdrew from the Australian World Indoor team, a move attributed to C19 complications.
Doping suspensions…
4 years — Yekaterina Doseykina (Russia, steeple), Nikolay Sedyuk (Russia, discus);
2½ years — Thando Dlodlo (South Africa, sprints);
2 years — Yelena Lashmanova (Russia, walks). □