BIG RUNNING NEWS: We don’t know what the combo WR is for the shot & half-marathon, but John Godina has a chance. The 4-time world champion putter, now 47, has been training as a distance runner, with an eye toward breaking his wife’s family record of 1:58. He recently posted that his weight was down to 229, same as his discus PR…
Texas multi-eventers Wolf Mahler and Ashtin Zamzow got married in January. She’ll go by Ashtin Mahler…
Prep shot leader Dylan Targgart (65-6) will miss the New Balance Indoor because of his basketball season…
With the postponement of the World Indoor, international statistician Peter Matthews notes this is the first undercover season since ’61 that British athletes have not had an international championship or dual meet to represent their country…
The American sub-4:00 milers club continues to grow, with 11 new additions in the early days of the ’20 campaign…
The Liévin meet featured a women’s 2000 steeple—an event rarely run indoors. The winning time of 5:47.79 by Maruša Mišmaš of Slovenia is a world indoor best (and 5 seconds faster than the outdoor best, but this one was done without a water jump). Mišmaš was a WC finalist in the steeple outdoors…
And a new world indoor best in the discus came out of the ISTAF meet in Berlin. Shanice Craft threw 210-1 (64.03), breaking Nadine Muller’s 209-7 (63.89) from the same meet last year…
Caster Semenya remains in play, winning a 300 race in Johannesburg. Banned by WA from competing in anything from the 400 to the mile, the 29-year-old says, “I am here to stay. Track & field, you will still see my face. That is all I can say for now.” Her 36.78—at altitude—was far shy of Shaunae Miller-Uibo’s world best of 34.41 set last summer…
Someone’s not happy with Britain’s anti-doping agency. The organization was hit with over 11,000 malicious e-mails in the last three months of ’19. Many of them were phishing emails; none of the attacks were successful…
The IOC is dealing with its own attacks, as its Twitter accounts were hacked by a group named OurMine, which left behind a statement: “Everything is hackable.” The group also left behind an e-mail address and an offer to help with Internet security…
A $5 million alumni gift will help SMU build a new 1000-seat soccer and track facility…
Nebraska has expanded its stadium project, with the new version—costing some $16.5 million—big enough to host Conference and Regional meets, with 2500 permanent seats and 1500 flex seats…
Banned from track for 4 years, Kenyan miler Asbel Kiprop says he’s going to switch to motorsports. He explained, “I’m ready to begin again in a sport that doesn’t have a doping conspiracy.”…
A filmmaker who has spent 3 years following Mondo Duplantis, Brennan Robideaux, is planning to have his documentary complete after the Olympics. Called Born To Fly, the film’s trailer has been released as part of a fundraising effort on Kickstarter…
Sold at a recent auction for a stunning $8.8 million to a then-unknown buyer, the historic manuscript in which Baron Pierre de Coubertin outlined his idea for a modern Olympics has now been donated to the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. Turns out it was bought by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, a Putin ally who, it has been speculated, gave the manuscript to help smooth the way for a Russian return to the Games.
Rabbit makes good: Ethiopian teen Zerfe Wondemagegn has been working as a pacer on the Euro circuit, but has managed to finish a couple of those 3000 races, even after going through 2K on schedule. In Val-de-Reuil she set a PR of 8:45.84, placing 4th after her pacesetting duties…
The good news is that Wake County North Carolina, approved public funding to build a $193 million multi-sports facility that includes a 200-meter track. The bad news is that in the latest plan, the track has been removed from the proposal…
David Rudisha says to not bet on him just yet to win a third-straight Olympic 800 gold, explaining, “I have just started training. So, I cannot say that I will make it to the Olympic Games. It’s too early. Let me assess my body response first.”…
The Oregon House has passed legislation extending a hotel tax—the move will generate additional funding for the ’21 World Championships, helping making up for a $20 million shortfall from what the state had pledged to the event…
British long jumper Lorraine Ugen is now being coached by ’04 gold medalist Dwight Phillips…
The Penn Relays will now be presented by Toyota, as the auto giant has signed on as the exclusive presenting sponsor…
One reason Kibiwott Kandie upset 2-time champion Geoffrey Kamworor at the Kenyan XC Championships is that Kamworor, leading the last three laps, was sent the wrong way by officials at the final turn.
All-time hurdle great Greg Foster, 61, has successfully undergone heart transplant surgery…
The day that UK Athletics announced its new CEO, Joanna Adams, the chairman of the organization resigned. Chris Clark said the position was taking too much of his time…
The USATF Foundation has awarded grants of up to $2000 each to 22 youth clubs around the nation…
A human rights group, the Africa Alliance For Health, Research & Economic Development, has petitioned WADA and the AIU asking for all doping bans to be lifted, saying that the “misery and painful punitive actions” against athletes are unfair because of “serious doubts” in the doping test program…
Double amputee Blake Leeper, who placed 5th in the USATF 400 last year, has appealed to CAS for an expedited hearing on whether he has the right to run in the Olympic Trials. In ’08 Oscar Pistorius won such an appeal, using the same legal team, but new WA guidelines put the burden of proof on the athlete to show the prosthetic blades are not an unfair advantage. Leeper showed amazing second-half speed in Des Moines last year…
Not all athletes want financial support. British shot putter Sophie McKinna, 11th at Doha last year, turned down $19,000 in training support from her nation’s world-class program. Said the police officer, “I don’t think I could be a full-time athlete; it would drive me insane to be worrying about it all the time.” ◻︎
