Strong Bones Needed
A study out of Britain’s Loughborough University has determined that triple jumpers produce a force of 22 times their body weight on the landing between the hop and step phases…
For numbers geeks: the NCAA women’s 6K course was actually 6018 and the men’s 10K checked in at 10,004m…
The Nike Cross Nationals has added 5 girls and 5 boys— to be selected by committee—to its big meet. Ostensibly this will be a move to add athletes who are otherwise committed to the Foot Locker series or not participating in post-season cross country altogether…
China has reportedly launched a feasibility study into whether Shanghai would be wise to put forth a bid to host the ’32 Olympics…
Haile Gebrselassie’s tenure as the president of the Ethiopian federation was shortlived. The distance legend resigned in November, explaining on Twitter, “Some people are making my work impossible, so it is better to leave.” Fellow distance legend Deerartu Tulu has replaced him on an interim basis…
Recently retired hurdler Dawn Harper Nelson has announced that she is expecting her first child…
Coaching changes: Dutch sprint star Dafne Schippers has left the Rana Reider training group and returned to her previous coach, Bart Bennema; Polish discus standouts Piotr Małachowski and Robert Urbanek have left Witold Suski to train with Estonian Olympic gold medalist Gerd Kanter; British sprinter Nathaneel Mitchell-Blake is joining the Florida-based training group of Lance Brauman…
Can’t Beat That Pub
The Euro Cup 10K will remain in London until at least ’20. This year’s inclusion of the event at the” Night of the 10,000m PBs”—where the athletes run through a pub on the backstretch—was apparently a hit…
The latest school to unveil a new indoor track is South Carolina. The 6-lane banked oval features an 8-lane interior straightaway, as well as another exterior straightaway, with two vault runways and two jump runways. The facility will have seating for 500…
Arkansas has approved funding for a 20,000-square foot track & field performance center which will feature locker rooms, team lounge, training room and a strength & conditioning center. Also in the plans is a renovation of the Tyson Track Center which is slated to host the ’21 NCAA Indoor…
Political tension in the Middle East could affect the ’19 Worlds. IAAF President Sebastian Coe has called on Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE not to boycott because of their political differences with host Qatar.
David Parker, who won the World Junior javelin in ’98 for Britain, has been banned from coaching for 4 years after an investigation into inappropriate relations with one of his throwers…
Danny Harris, the ’84 silver medalist in the 400H, has been sentenced to 5 years of probation for sending inappropriate messages to a 17-year-old while working as a high school assistant coach.
Great Metaphors Gold Medalist
ESPN recently did a story on the lack of doping positives in pro hockey. Asked to comment, PED expert Dr. Charles Yesalis said the NHL testing protocol’s “loopholes are so big, I could drive an M1 Abrams Tank through it, in the total darkness, without night vision on, and not scrape it.”…
The IAAF grabbed a new sponsor in QNB, the largest financial institution in Africa and the Middle East. The firm will back IAAF events through ’22 and get its name on every female’s bib in Doha next fall…
The World Military Cross Country Championships, set for Luanda, Angola, on November 17, were canceled at the last minute even though most of the athletes had already arrived. Lack of government financial support was given as the reason…
Eight-time Olympic medalist Veronica Campbell Brown has been honored in her hometown as the elementary school she attended in Trelawny, Jamaica, has been named for her…
Pete Dolan, the coach at UC Santa Barbara for 32 years, was fired last spring. He has now sued the university, alleging age discrimination, retaliation and breach of contract.
Top Harriers Ever?
A reader poll in Britain’s Athletics Weekly tabbed as the top XC runners of all time Kenenisa Bekele, John Ngugi & Carlos Lopes on the men’s side and Grete Waitz, Tirunesh Dibaba & Gete Wami on the women’s…
Quartermiler Machel Cedenio was held by police in September for 3 days of questioning about a July hit-and-run accident that killed a woman in Tobago. Cedenio was released without being charged and said he was cleared…
In November, sprinter Kyra Jefferson hosted a free speed-clinic for Detroit-area youth that packed in more than 125 youngsters…
Sprinter English Gardner has taken on a volunteer assistant job at Princeton…
More drug retests are on the way, as the IOC has confirmed it will be doublechecking more samples from the ’12 Olympics…
We missed this at the time, but 6-10 prep jumper Garrett Martin of Standley Lake HS in Westminster, Colorado, was drafted as a third baseman by the Baltimore Orioles in the 22nd round of the MLB draft. He had previously committed to play for McLennan JC in Texas. Whichever route he chooses, his jumping career is probably over, as neither McLennan nor the Orioles sponsors a track team. □