THE LATEST in the aches, pains & eligibility departments:
Two-time Olympic marathon medalist Bashir Abdi injured his foot last fall and underwent surgery.
Selemon Barega, the Olympic 10,000 champ, will make his marathon debut in Seville on February 23.
Irish long hurdler Thomas Barr, a 3-time World Ranker, has retired at 32.
After running one indoor race for Harvard, 2-time NCAA cross country champ Graham Blanks has signed with New Balance. He will continue to train with coach Alex Gibby.
Femke Bol is skipping most of the indoor season, but will still compete in her hometown meet in Apeldoorn.
Timothy Cheruiyot, longtime 1500 force and winner of the ’19 Worlds, says ’25 will be his last year at the distance: “I will switch to 5000 or 10,000 and then the marathon.”
Tennessee alum Shania Collins, the ’19 USATF 60 champ who later competed for Liberia, has retired at 28.
Auriol Dongmo of Portugal, the ’22 World Indoor champion in the shot, had to miss all of ’24 with injury, but is set to compete this winter.
Steepler Lamecha Girma, who fell badly in the Olympic final, has recovered and will skip indoors to prepare for the outdoor campaign. He was recently married.
Johnny Gregorek has announced his retirement at age 33. He was a World Champs 1500 finalist in ’17, the year he was the U.S. Ranker in the event.
Young Aussie sprinter Gout Gout, who has recently run a national record 20.04 at age 16, has taken himself off any potential NCAA radar, after signing with adidas for a reported $6 million. He says he is moving to Florida to train with Noah Lyles and coach Lance Brauman.
Norway’s Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal withdrew from the European Cross Country Championships, citing illness.
French hurdler Wilfred Happio has been provisionally suspended for whereabouts failures.
Jamaican hurdler Jaheel Hyde, who ran his PR 48.03 in placing 6th at the Eugene Worlds, retired on his 28th birthday in February.
For the first time, veteran high jumper Mariya Lasitskene will be skipping the indoor season, citing minor injuries and psychological fatigue.
Israel’s Hanna Minenko, the ’15 World silver medalist in the triple jump, has retired at age 35.
Finnish vaulter Wilma Murto will skip indoors this year so that she can recover and build for the outdoor campaign.
Hellen Obiri says no Japan for her: “I will not be going to Tokyo for the World Championships. I will of course have other races in the year but the World Championships is not part of my plans. I have always represented my country with pride in major championships, but I feel it’s good to give others a chance.”
Trials winner Fiona O’Keeffe, who dropped out of the Olympic marathon with an injury, has revealed that an MRI after the race showed she had a femoral stress fracture.
London Olympic hammer champ Krisztián Pars has finally made his retirement official, even though he hasn’t competed since ’23.
Nell Rojas, 2:24:51 marathoner, has said that she has been diagnosed with mold disease. She has not raced yet in ’25.
Aliphine Tuliamuk has had hamstring surgery, calling It “a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Wayde van Niekerk has split from coach Lance Brauman and returned to South Africa after four years of training in the United States. He is now being coached by his stepfather.
Javelin thrower Johannes Vetter has returned to training following his latest elbow surgery in July.
Karsten Warholm, recovering from injury, says he will bypass the indoor season to focus on the Worlds in Tokyo. His recovery is going well: “I’m a good month ahead of the ‘best case scenario’.”
The Maternity Ward:
Iryna Gerashchenko, the Olympic high jump bronze medalist, is expecting.
Steeple Olympian Marisa Howard is expecting in July.
Molly Huddle is expecting her second child, due in May.
Rachel Smith, who has left HOKA, is expecting a baby in April.
Elle St. Pierre has announced that she is expecting her second child, due in May.
Doping Suspensions…
6 years – Kibrom Weldemicael (Eritrea, marathon);
4 years – Mohamed Katir (Spain, distance);
3 years – Faith Chepchirchir (Kenya, distance), Ezekiel Kipkorir (Kenya, marathon), Igor Obraztsov (Russia, sprints);
2 years – Beatrice Jelagat (Kenya, marathon). □
