ON YOUR MARKS — December

Now that’s what you call pack running. Wisconsin’s top 6 finished a consecutive 8-9-10-11-12-13 at the Great Lakes Regional. (CAROL CHEN)

WHEN A WORLD RECORD ISN’T: Camille Herron thought she broke her own WR for 100M back in February with a 12:41:11 effort, but a pair of remeasurements of the course found it to be 218m short. Herron, 40, is disputing the findings…

Except for the men’s winner, all of the finishers of the Indianapolis Half-Marathon ran 160m short because of a marshalling error…

WR holder Kevin Mayer says he is planning only one decathlon in ’23, the World Champs…

Robert Hanson has been named director of track and cross country at Stephen F. Austin…

Following the retirement of longtime head Dennis Mitchell (not the ex-sprinter of the same name), Akron named Kendra Reimer-Gonzales its new director of track and cross country…

The WADA Board unanimously reelected President Witold Bańka (Poland) and VP Yang Yang (China) for a final 3-year term…

Emmanuel Korir, the World and Olympic 800 gold medalist, is now thinking World Record. “The WR is not easy; it needs a plan; the 800m is one of the hardest events,” he says. “I think next year, I would like to get to 1:41 if I can maintain the shape we can push to the WR, it can be achieved, nothing is impossible. It just needs a proper plan.”…

USATF and USA Swimming have announced a new joint marketing effort for the Paris Olympics…

Now that the World Champs will be in Tokyo in ’25, will the marathon be back in Sapporo, as it was for the ’21 Olympics? No chance, says Seb Coe. “Tokyo is the city that bid. We will make this work in Tokyo.”…

The Paralympics finally got around to expelling Russia and Belarus, the two principals in the invasion of Ukraine. The vote on Russia was 64–39…

German biologist and anti-doping crusader Werner Franke died at age 82. With his wife Brigitte Berendonk, he helped uncover the systematic sports doping program in East Germany…

Following the NAIA XC Championships, the van carrying members of the Oregon Tech team was rear-ended by a semi on the Interstate. Several of the athletes were treated for possible concussions but all were healthy enough to travel home…

Ben Blankenship has started what he calls the Endless Mileage Project, in which he plants a hazelnut tree for every American man to break the 4:00 mile, and every woman to break 4:30. So far he’s got 692 down at Dorris Ranch Park, in Springfield 3 miles from Hayward Field…

Sara Simeoni, the winner of the ’80 gold in the high jump, has published a book, Une Vita In Alto (“A Life In The High Jump”)…

WADA has imposed a 6-month restriction on analytical testing by the Havana lab due to concerns over its methods…

Barbora Špotáková is auctioning off the final medal of her illustrious javelin career, her ’22 Euro bronze, to raise funds for the Give Kids A Chance Foundation…

Indicted on fraud and money laundering charges in Mississippi: Raymond Ekevwo, a former African Games 100 champ and NCAA Indoor 60 runner-up for Florida, along with four other Nigerian athletes (former LSU jumper Mercy Abire, former South Florida sprinter Toluwani Adebakin, William Carey’s NAIA 100 champ Aniekeme Etim, Alabama’s NCAA-placing long jumper Emmanuel Ineh) along with Zimbabwe’s Ngoni Chadyiwa (anchor for Life University’s NAIA Indoor-winning 4×4), . Both Adebakin and Ineh have already pleaded guilty and are facing up to 10 years in jail)…

Former UCLA decathlete (and Pac-10 champion) David Bunevacz, 53, was sentenced to 17 years in prison and ordered to pay $35 million in restitution for scamming investors out of million by telling them they were financing companies making cannabis vape pens…

In a strange move, former Texas All-America runner Brendan Hebert, 22, ran as a bandit in the Texas 6A high school XC championships, finishing 2nd after leading much of the way. The move drew widespread condemnation from other runners on social media. Said winner Kevin Sanchez, “I didn’t know who he was. I saw him. He’s stupid.”…

Miler Faith Kipyegon recently spoke about a future on the roads: “I will work my way up towards the marathon in future and I will be the greatest. When you stay with marathon runners, you don’t see yourself as a 1500m athlete any more — you see yourself as a marathoner. You follow them on long runs, you follow them on fartleks and you see every day what they do: ‘I need to do this’”…

London’s famous Crystal Palace track has been forced to shut down temporarily after local authorities labeled part of the structure unsafe…

French runner Jimmy Gressier pledged a Euro to charity for every runner he passed in a recent 10K. He managed to get past 2642…

The movie Thorpe is in the works, dramatizing the early years of Olympic legend Jim Thorpe. The focus will be on his time at the Carlisle Industrial Indian School, which isolated Native American children from their families and culture…

Birmingham, England, has been awarded the ’26 European Championships, while Tampere, Finland, will host the ’25 Euro Juniors…

The ’27 World University Games have been awarded to Korea’s Chungcheon region, topping a bid from North Carolina…

Botswana’s Gabarone International Meet has been promoted to the Continental Tour Golden Grand Prix from 2023 to 2025, after a contract with World Athletics…

Sharon Lokedi apparently surprised the AIU with her NYC marathon win. The U.S.-based Kenyan was not on the list of 40 top women that were tested prior to the race; however, she was tested immediately afterwards…

The Czech Olympic Committee has followed the lead of its government and will use the name “Czechia” now, as has been adopted by the United Nations and NATO…

Elite Sports Marketing and Management (based in Pennsylvania) has announced it will field its own team, the Elite Running Team, which will include star Ethiopian clients Selemon Barega and Goytatom Gebreselassie…

Sergey Bubka says he will not run again to be president of Ukraine’s Olympic committee. Instead the pole vault legend will concentrate his efforts on the IOC’s Solidarity Fund to support athletes in war-torn Ukraine…

World Athletics has launched a new program called “Champions for a Better World,” which will address the environmental concerns of athletes. The lone American among the initial group of athletes named to guide the program’s efforts is discus thrower Sam Mattis…

A new book has been published that highlights the history of Jamaican sprinters on the world stage. Fifty Days Afire: Inside Jamaica’s Long Sprint to Freedom was written by Michael A. Grant and Hubert Lawrence…

USATF sent 38 past star athletes and staffers to the Bahamas for its first Legends Reunion & Retreat. The concept was the brainchild of former hurdler Sharrieffa Barksdale, senior manager of alumni relations: “A lot of the athletes had a setback because of COVID-19, but now that the economy is moving forward, I believe there will be so much more coming as we move forward.”…

The American Medical Association has come out against any eligibility rules for transgender athletes and those with DSD (differences in sexual development) that require them to medically alter their natural hormones. The recent statement is primarily in opposition to WA policy…

Just in time for the gift-giving season, watchmaker Coros has released a special Molly Seidel edition of its Pace 2 watch. It comes with a QR code that leads to a 12-week marathon training plan designed by Seidel and her coach, Jon Green. Retail is $249…

Former 400 star Rochelle Stevens resigned from her coaching position at LeMoyne-Owen, citing lack of support from HBCU in Memphis. “It is simply impossible for the track & field program to be successful without essential resources or support from the administration,” she said. “Nevertheless, the team and I persevered without adequate track facilities, transportation, uniforms, equipment or an assistant coach, and I’m proud that 97% of the athletes have improved their best time by two or more seconds.”…

A recent headline that 1 in 4 retired Olympic athletes are diagnosed with osteoarthritis prompted a closer look. While the study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine says that 23.2% or former athletes deal with the malady, it clarifies that the general public has much the same risk. The key difference is that athletes’ issues tend to be in the knees and hips…

The French are gearing up to deal with recent concerns about crime fears at the upcoming Paris Olympics, with what they are calling a “zero-delinquency plan” to crack down heavily on loitering, drug dealing and robberies in all the areas Olympic visitors are expected. An additional 1000 law-enforcement personnel will be hired, with a total of 35,000 to be on the job for the Games…

After 3 years away because of COVID, the Beijing Marathon returned with a field of 30,000. However, due to China’s zero-COVID policy, only Beijing-area runners were allowed to participate…

If you had “Phrygian Caps” in the Guess the Olympic Mascot Pool, you win! The symbols of the Paris Olympics will be red hats in the style of the French Revolution. “Rather than an animal, our mascots represent an ideal,” said Paris ’24 president Tony ). The rollout of the obligatory stuffed animals — or hats, rather — has already begun. ◻︎

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