Here’s the latest in the aches, pains & eligibility departments
After missing the Collegiate Record in the 100H by just 0.01 at the NCAA, Jamaican Janeek Brown has turned pro early and will skip her last two years at Arkansas.
Olympic 1500 champion Matthew Centrowitz was bothered by first a hamstring strain, then a shin injury, over the winter.
Justin Gatlin says that he currently expects the ’20 season to be his last. He will be 38 at the Tokyo Olympics. He worked through a hamstring problem this spring.
U.S. steeple king Evan Jager was sidelined over the winter with a stress fracture in his left foot, the talus, to be specific. He has abandoned his hope of contending for an eighth straight USATF title.
Just a month out from USATF, Brenda Martinez had an emergency appendectomy and could not run for two weeks. As of July 17 she had not entered the meet.
Add Boise State steeplechaser Allie Ostrander to the list of collegians going pro early (see Last Lap).
Internationally…
An injury stopped German decathlete Rico Freimuth after three events at Götzis. He is done for the season.
British sprinter Adam Gemili is sidelined after tweaking a hamstring at the World Relays in May.
In a revealing post on social media, Kiwi putter Jacko Gill said, “I wish I had lived up to my potential, but I had a testicle removed in 2011 which affected me emotionally as well as physically.”
Poland’s Anna Jagaciak-Michalska, a World and Olympic finalist in the triple jump, has retired at age 29.
Olympic 400 champ Kirani James is still undergoing treatment for the Graves Disease that derailed his career, but he says he hopes to race this season.
Eunice Kirwa, who won the silver in the Rio Olympic marathon, has been provisionally suspended for 4 years after a May blood test turned up EPO.
When Olympic javelin champ Sara Kolak won in Ostrava, it was her first competition in 22 months after dealing with an elbow surgery.
Miler Elijah Manangoi says he has been struggling with a hamstring injury.
French hurdler Pascal Martinot-Lagarde has missed several meets due to an injury to his left adductor.
Jamaican hurdler Andrew Riley strained his hamstring at the World Relays but reports that he is healthy again.
Sergey Shubenkov, last year’s world No. 1 in the 110H, may miss the Russian championships as he is still not healed from his crash at the Rabat DL.
Javelin great Barbora Špotáková has been dealing with minor Achilles problems this season.
Nafi Thiam injured an elbow in her world-leading Götzis heptathlon win.
Michel Tornéus, Sweden’s former Euro Indoor long jump champ, will retire at the end of the season,
WR holder Wayde van Niekerk (see Last Lap) reports a bone bruise in his knee, “pushing myself a bit too hard in training.” He may have to skip the Diamond League season.
Johannes Vetter may not return to the javelin wars until August after straining a muscle at the Bislett Games.
It will not be 4 hammer wins in a row in Doha for WR holder Anita Włodarczyk, who had to undergo arthroscopic surgery on her left knee.
Doping bans:
12 years—Kseniya Savina (Russia, 800);
8 years—Olha Zemlyak (Russia, 400);
4 years—Artyom Leonenko (Russia, 1500), Ali Messaoudi (Algeria, steeple), Glory Nathanial Onome (Nigeria, 400H), Maria Ponomareva (Russia, walks), Olesya Povh (Ukraine, sprints);
3 years—Natalya Ducó (Chile, shot);
2 years—Natalya Khokhlova (Russia, 1500);
1 year—Meraf Bahta (Sweden, distances), Zhongze Guo (China, 400). □
