THE LATEST in the aches, pains & eligibility departments (noting that our annual collection of major collegiate recruiting appears in “Where They Are Going”):
Leah Falland, having injured her plantar fascia steeplechasing over the summer, had a PRP (platelet-rich plasma) injection on her left foot in November. “Since my foot doesn’t seem to be healing itself, more time cross training and PRP was the safest next step for long term health/healing,” she says.
Steepler Stephanie Garcia, a 7-time U.S. Ranker, missed out on the Olympic season with hamstring troubles, but says, “I’ve never been one to sit on the sidelines… I turned to a new dream, obstacle course racing.”
After her 2:41:43 at the Boston Marathon, Jordan Hasay posted, “it’s time to hit reset. You will not see me on the roads for a while until my heart and mind are ready.”
Tianna Madison gave birth to a son this fall, revealing that she had been pregnant when she competed in the OT last summer. “You may think I failed to make my last Olympic team,” the veteran sprinter/hurdler tweeted. “And I did. But Motherhood… much like physics… just didn’t give AF.”
Once again, 2-time Olympic 800 champ David Rudisha is hinting at a comeback. After having an implant removed from his left ankle this fall he says, “At least I will be back doing some running.”
Two-time Euro Indoor 800 champ Selina Rutz-Büchel of Switzerland will miss the ’22 campaign as she is expecting.
Karissa Schweizer revealed that all season, including the Olympics, she had been bothered by right Achilles pain. In October she had surgery. “I’m very fortunate that this surgery was minimally invasive. The recovery process is going well! Just over 4 weeks, and getting stronger every day!”
Molly Seidel ran a PR at the NYC Marathon despite two broken ribs, saying, “It started hurting later in the race, like badly. But I didn’t feel like it was messing up my stride or anything.” She did not reveal how she broke them.
A collapse by Cooper Teare near the finish of the NCAA XC drew plenty of attention. According to Oregon, the NCAA 5000 champ “received medical attention from on-site personnel following the men’s 10K. He was later cleared to return to the team tents.”
Amanda Vestri, Syracuse’s 3rd-placer in the ACC cross, did not run in Tallahassee after an MRI revealed an undisclosed injury.
The Retirement Department…
Sweden’s Angelica Bengtsson, twice a World Ranker and twice a World Junior champ in the vault, has called it quits at 28, posting on her social media feeds, “Today I have chosen to end my career. And you know what? It feels so right in the stomach. I’ve been doing this since I was 6 years old and I have made great sacrifices to get better.”
Amantle Montsho, 38, the World 400 champ in ’11, is retiring. She was a 4-time Olympian for Botswana.
St. Lucia high jumper Levern Spencer, the ’18 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, is done at 37.
Retiring ’09 World discus champ Dani Stevens has had enough at 33, explaining, “As an athlete, it’s often easy to underestimate the work that goes into that commitment physically and mentally. I’ve had my blinkers on for more than a decade so when I came to that decision to retire, I felt weight lift off my shoulders and I realized that I’m ready for a new chapter, new experiences and a new phase of life.” □