Here’s the latest in the aches, pains & eligibility departments
ON THE DOMESTIC SCENE, Oregon hurdler Eric Edwards reports he broke his left collarbone in early February and apparently had surgery to fix it.
Michigan’s Erin Finn, though cleared for a sixth season of eligibility indoors, will forgo it to focus on the outdoor season, where she has one season remaining.
Bouncing back from the heel problem which ruined her ’18 campaign, Jordan Hasay is planning to run the Rome–Ostia Half Marathon in early March as part of her Boston buildup.
Emily Infeld had surgery in December to repair a torn labrum and alleviate a build-up of bone on her hip socket and femur head. She may resume running in March but competition is unlikely this year.
Vaulter Sandi Morris went under the knife in the fall and is working her way back. She tweeted in mid-February, “8 step approach for the first time since my ankle surgery! Ahh I’m so happy, it felt great! Ankle is still stiff but it didn’t feel like it inhibited me. Continued physical therapy, onward and upward!”
The Youth Olympic Games gold medalist, Grace Stark will be skipping the indoor season to rehab her hamstring.
Marathoner Kellyn Taylor is bouncing back from a bad case of bruised ribs. A 32:18.54 very-early-season world leader at 10,000 is evidence of her progress.
Sammy Watson, Texas A&M’s reigning NCAA 800 champ, has announced she’s turning pro.
International Wear & Tear
Putter Valerie Adams, expecting her second child in April, reports that she is still training. “Excuse the belly people but I had so much fun throwing my steel balls around yesterday… and at 32 weeks pregnant this was always going to happen,” she Facebooked.
Balázs Baji, the WC bronze medalist in the 110H, injured his knee in training and is done for the rest of indoors.
German vaulter Katharina Bauer has had a defibrillator implanted in her chest to alleviate a heart problem. Before the operation her heart would beat 15,000 times more per day than normal.
Kenenisa Bekele, the 5000 and 10,000 WR holder still trying to make a claim to the marathon, has withdrawn from the Tokyo Marathon with a stress fracture.
Nadine Broersen, the World Indoor pentathlon champ in ’14, will miss the Euro Indoor with a hamstring pull.
Jamaica’s Kemoy Campbell collapsed while rabbiting the Millrose 3000, shocking onlookers as he received emergency medical attention trackside. Results of his medical tests have not been made public.
Former World Indoor dash champ Dwain Chambers has come out of retirement at age 40.
It will be a delayed start this year for Poland’s Paweł Fajdek. The world hammer champ had January surgery to repair a calf injury.
A “busted” plantar fascia forced British miler Charlie Grice to drop out of the Euro Indoor.
Paulina Guba, Poland’s Euro shot champ, ended her indoor season prematurely with a shoulder injury.
France’s Floria Guei, the ’17 Euro Indoor 400 champ, will miss this year with a pregnancy.
Sifan Hassan is moving up in distance. The Dutch winner of the World Indoor 1500 says she will focus on the 5000/10,000 for the next few years: “I have become much better on long distances and I think I can show good things. With the short distances, I have as much energy left as the race is over, and I do not have a very good start: at 1500 meters it’s more on tactics and everyone waits a bit, and things went a bit wrong.”
Czech 1500 star Jakub Holuša is hoping to return this summer after diagnosis of a stress fracture with severe hip inflammation.
Raphael Holzdeppe has pulled the plug on his indoor season after a left leg injury. Says the German, the ’13 WC vault gold medalist, “We decided not to take any risk.”
German multi star Kai Kazmirek has a foot injury and will not be competing in the Euro Indoor heptathlon.
Olympic/World 1500 champ Faith Kipyegon has returned to training after giving birth to a child 8 months ago. “I want to be fit and ready to clinch a national slot and defend my title in Tokyo,” the Kenyan star says.
Vault great Renaud Lavillenie missed some February meets with a hamstring tear.
French sprinter Christophe Lemaitre will skip indoors because of right calf pain.
Aleksandr Lesnoy, Russia’s Euro Cup shot champion, is out after surgery to repair a rupture of his pectoral tendon.
Deca WR holder Kevin Mayer skipped some meets in February after jamming his back while vaulting.
Russian vaulter Timur Morgunov, last year’s surprise Euro silver winner, is skipping indoors to heal from minor injuries.
British hurdler Cindy Ofili is still working her way back from a serious Achilles injury but hopes to compete this indoor season.
Euro high jump champ Mateusz Przybylko of Germany says his entire year is in doubt because of persistent foot pain.
David Rudisha is still struggling with a bad hammy. “Every time I try to push myself to a certain level, I start feeling some pain,” he says. Rudisha’s former coach, Colm O’Connell, says the 800’s WR holder might never race again.
Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson reports that her Achilles is still not 100%. “I’m coping, I’m dealing with it. It’s really hard to treat, but honestly, I’m doing the best that I can,” says the double Olympic sprint champ.
South African sprinter Ncincilili Titi has put his career on hold until doctors can diagnose and treat the mystery ailment that struck him last year.
