THE LATEST in the aches, pains & eligibility departments, starting with domestic items:
Tianna Bartoletta says that her recent ankle injury turned out to be “just a bone bruise and a really angry deltoid ligament.”
Amanda Bingson had a rough time in Des Moines. One of her warmup throws failed to clear the cage, and bounced back on her, breaking a toe.
Shot putter Tia Brooks-Wannemacher, who has suffered from back problems in recent years, announced at the USATF meet that it would be the last of her career.
Sam Chelanga, former NCAA 5/10/XC champ for Liberty, has announced that he is retiring from competitive running to concentrate on his military career.
Christian Coleman decided not to race in London after feeling a hamstring strain while warming up.
Brooks Beast Hannah Fields (2:00.53/4:05.50 PRs) shared on Instagram that she took a step back from competition this spring as she works her way through treatment for an eating disorder.
2-time NCAA long jump champ Kate Hall has announced that she will bypass her senior year at Georgia to train for the Worlds and Olympics in her home state of Maine. She expects to turn pro.
Steepler Dan Huling, 11 times a U.S. ranker (topped by a No. 1 in ’10) has retired at 35.
Erik Kynard injured his left foot in taking 2nd in the USATF high jump.
Gia Lewis-Smallwood recovered from a pinched nerve in her neck just in time to place 4th in the USATF discus.
Sydney McLaughlin withdrew from her USATF hurdles after feeling tightness in her quad while warming up. She is still taking online classes with Kentucky and has said she’s not sure where she will be moving yet. She has yet to sign any big shoe deal.
Molly Seidel had hip pain while competing in the USATF 10,000. MRI showed a gap in her pelvis where a fracture had healed badly. In July she had a bone marrow transplant to stimulate proper healing in the area.
X-rays showed no fracture after Ashley Spencer fell in the USATF 400H and suffered a swollen knee for weeks afterwards.
Ben True has assured his fans that his absence from the USATF meet was not injury-related: “I’m still racing! I was at my sister’s wedding that weekend… Family first!” he tweeted.
Arkansas sprinter Marqueze Washington finished 7th in the USATF 200 despite pulling up with a hamstring injury. He expects to be back in action later this summer.
And On The International Front…
While attempting a World Record at the Gyulai Memorial Mutaz Barshim sprained his ankle, causing ligament damage. After surgery, doctors estimated it would take 3-4 months before the HJ star can begin training again.
Although he still has 2 years of collegiate eligibility, Auburn 400 star, Jamaican Akeem Bloomfield, has turned pro.
Bohdan Bondarenko the ’13 World champ in the high jump, will likely not compete this season because of a slow recovery from winter knee surgery.
Brazil’s Olympic PV champ Thiago Braz has been troubled by an injured foot this summer.
Jamaica’s veteran sprinter Veronica Campbell-Brown has ended her season in order to begin training for ’19, when she’ll be 37.
Russia’s Anna Chicherova is now eligible to compete again after a 2-year doping suspension, but the ’12 Olympic high jump champ has been told she will have to pay back her prize money to the IAAF first. Though she said in January that she has retired, she now says she’s hoping for an installment plan.
Javier Culson, 2-time World 400H runner-up from Puerto Rico, has retired.
At the Canadian Championships Andre De Grasse, felt a slight “grab” in his right hamstring; one that caused enough concern that he ended his season.
World 50K walk champ Yohann Diniz has been sidelined by a pelvic stress fracture.
Continuing back problems will force Olympic high jump champ Derek Drouin to sit out the ’18 season.
This year’s world leader in the long jump, Juan Miguel Echevarría, scratched from London with an injury.
German decathlete Rico Freimuth, having ended his season because of lack of motivation, will be playing for a German soccer club but still plans on going after the ’20 Olympic decathlon.
Bahamian quartermiler Steven Gardiner may return to competition in August depending on how quickly he recovers from his left hamstring strain.
German javelin thrower Lars Hamann had already injured his elbow before falling over a mat in the weightroom, injuring his right foot and killing his hopes of an ’18 season.
Zuzana Hejnová, the Czech 400H star, is currently dealing with a knee injury.
Former World Indoor 60 champ Richard Kilty had Achilles surgery in July.
Long jumper Darya Klishina is taking a pass on the ’18 season to focus on her business studies in the U.S.
German distance runner Konstanze Klosterhalfen missed the first half of her season with a knee injury but hopes to run either the 1500 or 5000 at the European Championships.
Kyle Langford, 4th in the World Champs 800 last year, pulled out of the British Champs because of thoracic spinal problems.
Planning ahead: 2-time World champ Mariya Lasitskene says she will probably go on maternity leave after the ’20 Olympics.
Renaud Lavillenie says he is having some knee issues but that hasn’t changed his competition plans.
Christoph Lemaitre, the ’16 bronze medalist at 200, tore a hamstring at the Paris DL.
World Indoor shot champ Anita Márton of Hungary will probably skip the European Championships to focus on recovering from an injured quad.
Laura Muir experienced some Achilles pain after her mile at the London DL and abandoned plans for an 800/1500 double at the Euros, where she’ll now just go for the longer race.
South African sprint sensation Clarence Munyai, who delivered a 19.69(A) in March, has ended his season because of slow recovery from an April hamstring injury.
Christine Ohuruogu, the ’08 Olympic 400 champ, has retired at age 34, citing “niggling injuries” that have limited her training this season, combined with the demands of law school.
Finland’s Tero Pitkämäki suffered a torn ACL in his second meet of the season. The 4-time World/OG javelin medalist, now 35, will decide over the winter whether he will come back for ’19.
Valeriy Pronkin, who won silver in the London ’17 hammer, for Russia has cancelled his season because of shoulder pain.
A shoulder injury has caused 6-time Russian champion javelin thrower Vera Rebrik to cancel the rest of her season.
Yulimar Rojas will likely miss the rest of the ’18 season. The triple jump world champ has a right ankle injury.
Citing Achilles troubles, Jamaican sprint star Elaine Thompson ended her season after the London DL.
Bosnia’s Amel Tuka, the ’15 WC 800 medalist, is currently out with injury.
Germany’s Lena Urbaniak, who made the finals of the World Indoor shot, has ended her season because of right hip and back problems.
French sprinter Jimmy Vicaut missed the World Cup because of an adductor pain that started at the French Championships.
Warren Weir, ’12 bronze medalist in the 200, suffered a grade 2 hamstring tear in April, causing him to end his track season. However, he has opted to play rugby sevens on the Jamaican national team at the Central American & Caribbean Games. □
