THE LATEST in the aches, pains & eligibility departments:
THE LATEST in the aches, pains & eligibility departments:
Texas sprinter Yaseen Abdalla will represent Sudan internationally.
Ohio prep star Justin Braun scratched out of State with a quad injury. In his previous meet he had run 45.65 at 400.
Even after winning the NCAA 400H title Sean Burrell is taking a pass on the USATF meet, reportedly because of concerns about whether he is prepared.
Matthew Centrowitz had ACL surgery in late May and will miss the entire season. “Back in December I got an MRI showing a small tear in my meniscus,” he says. “Tried to put off surgery for as long as possible thinking it could heal without going under. 6+ months later it seemed inevitable as a second MRI showed it could be ACL instead of just meniscus.”
Favored for the USATF 10,000 title, Elise Cranny pulled out of the race, saying “I haven’t been feeling myself in training.”
Craig Engels says he will not be competing at USATF. “Got a little beat up this season at the end of camp and missed too much training to attempt racing.”
Allyson Felix will be focusing on the USATF 400, having scratched the 200.
Heptathlete Chari Hawkins has gone public about her battles with anxiety and depression, saying her worst moments came after not making the Olympic team last year. “I didn’t want to be here anymore. It was really hard, and it was also confusing. It was a nightmare.” She shared that she is now working with a therapist.
Dylan Jacobs hurt his ankle in his 10,000m fall at NCAAs, but recovered enough to compete in the 5000 two days later.
High jumper Erik Kynard has accepted a 6-month suspension from USADA for intravenous infusion of a saline solution. Not that it matters—he retired last year.
Jarrion Lawson has had surgery after rupturing his patella tendon. He wrote, “Shock and unbelief were my immediate thoughts and reactions. I had never had an injury of this magnitude. Not one that required surgical repair. I’ve had muscles/tendons bother me, but 99% of the time I’ve been able to still perform at a high level.”
One dash only for Noah Lyles, who scratched out of the USATF 100 to focus on the 200.
Athing Mu missed Prefontaine while recovering from a bout with COVID, but obviously bounced back fast to run a world-leader in Rome.
Molly Seidel withdrew from the NYC Mini 10K. She has been prescribed Adderal to treat her ADHD, and is awaiting the TUE (therapeutic use exemption) process.
Jenny Simpson, who has not raced since last fall, will not compete at the USATF meet, though she has not indicated a reason why.
After 2 Olympic medals and 11 World Rankings in the pole vault, Jenn Suhr has retired at age 40.
Sprinter Abby Steiner has scratched from the 100, but will run the USATF 200.
Gabby Thomas pulled out of the NYC GP: “I did something funny to my leg during a sprint, met with my medical team, and they decided that it’s not worth the risk with US nationals being just two weeks away.” For the USATF meet, she will focus on the 200.
Nonah Waldron, the prep indoor leader in the hurdles, was hurt in a fall at State and missed the post-season nationals.
Kendall Williams was standing 3rd in the Götzis heptathlon when she bruised her foot “pretty bad” in the long jump. “Coach and I decided it was best to pull out of the final two events rather than risk further injury ahead of World Championships.”
The International Front…
High jumper Anna Chicherova is dealing with a knee injury that may keep her out of the Russian Champs in August.
Canada’s Gabriela DeBues-Stafford has been diagnosed with a stress fracture to her sacrum, and will not compete at Worlds. “Bone injuries don’t just happen overnight — our best theory is that it was just the perfect storm — partly mechanical/strength related, partly some underfueling, not enough consistent sleep/recovery, and also lots of stress,” she posted.
The Olympic steeple 6th placer, Canadian Matt Hughes has retired at age 32, after tearing his flexor hallucis ligament and requiring surgery. “I always told myself I was going to leave the sport on my own terms, making the decision for myself when I felt I was no longer competitive. But it didn’t happen the way I planned and after two-thirds of my life spent in the sport I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Things rarely do.”
Sprinter Marcell Jacobs pulled out of Rome’s Golden Gala with an injury, but now has resumed training.
Polish 800 star Joanna Jóźwik will not compete this year because of Achilles troubles combined with illness.
Richard Kilty will be getting surgery on his Achilles after a June injury. The British sprinter will miss the remainder of the season.
Kenyan miler Asbel Kiprop continues to make headlines, even while serving a doping ban. After reports that he suffered multiple cuts to his head during a bar brawl, he claims the cuts actually came from a motorcycle crash he was in.
French sprinter Christophe Lemaitre pulled up with a minor injury in mid-June but has resumed training.
Laura Muir of Britain says that she is still dealing with training setbacks that followed her back injury that caused her to miss the indoor season: “Maybe I am not where I would normally be right now, because we are training really hard for the summer. We have back-to-back champs, so we are getting on with a lot of hard training now, so I am in the best possible shape come July.”
Norwegian hurdler Isabelle Pedersen has retired at 30. The former World Junior 100H champion said that her training has been hurt by flu and coronavirus.
Kenyan sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala is recovering from an abdominal strain.
Pole Renata Pliś, who was 4th in the Euro 1500 in ’15, has retired at age 37.
Lynsey Sharp, working to come back from childbirth, has canceled her hopes to race at the Commonwealth Games because of an injury setback.
The WC vault gold medalist in ’15, Cuba’s Yarisley Silva has retired at age 35.
Spain’s Jorge Ureña, the ’19 Euro Indoor heptathlon champ, is done for the season because of an ankle injury.
Javelin ace Johannes Vetter admits to having problems with his right foot, shoulder and hamstring: “We have to find the adjusting screws in the technology, [so] we can continue to work and at the same time become physically fit.”
Karsten Warholm is traveling to Germany for treatment of his hamstring injury.
Canadian hurdler Sage Watson has been forced to end her season by a nagging back injury.
Anita Włodarczyk will miss the remainder of the season after sustaining a severe hamstring injury in a battle with a car thief (see “Last Lap”).
The Maternity Ward…
Abbey Cooper shared the unfortunate news that she will be missing the USATF meet so that she can recover from two lost pregnancies. “Ultimately body, mind, and spirit are still healing — I needed to honor that.”
5th in the OT steeple last year, Marisa Howard is having a baby this summer.
Gwen Jorgensen has announced that she is pregnant with child No. 2.
Spanish triple jumper Ana Peleteiro is done for the season, having announced that she is expecting her first child, with partner/fellow tripler Benjamin Compaoré of France.
Marathoner Becky Wade has not competed this year; she gave birth in December.
Doping suspensions…
4 years — Sabina Allen (Jamaica, triple jump), Rajender Singh (India, javelin);
6 months — Erik Kynard (U.S., high jump). □