THE LATEST in the aches, pains & eligibility departments:
With 3 nationalities to choose from — born in the USA, his father’s Surinamese heritage and his mother’s Zambian background — prep sprint sensation Issam Asinga has chosen Suriname for his international career.
Hillary Bor broke his foot in the Rabat DL steeplechase. He said, “Unfortunately, I landed awkwardly on my last water jump and it turned out I broke my foot. The good news is, I don’t need any surgery and will be out for 4–6 weeks.”
There will be no USATF for Donavan Brazier. Coach Pete Julian told LetsRun in late June, “racing is unlikely this summer as Donavan won’t race until he’s back to 100% health. We know how good [he] is, and our target is on Paris.”
Sprinter Hannah Cunliffe has officially changed her nationality and will now be representing Italy.
Washington heptathlete Ida Eikeng, the NCAA runner-up last year, was among the favorites this year but had to drop out when she hurt her ankle in high jump warmups.
South Dakota’s Gen Hirata hurt a foot while vaulting at the Summit League. A scan showed three stress fractures. Yet she insisted on competing at NCAAs, her last meet of the year. She gutted out a 3rd-place finish.
Amanda Moll, the holder of the indoor HSR in the pole vault, has jumped sparingly since slipping off her pole at the Texas Relays. She’s reportedly been working through a mental block since then.
BYU’s Ashton Riner, the ’22 NCAA javelin champ, struggled with various arm injuries this spring.
After 12 straight years in the U.S. 100 rankings Mike Rodgers, has announced his retirement at age 38 after a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes. He said on Instagram, “I was wondering why I was tired warming up, wasn’t finishing practice, even my coach said I wasn’t right! I lost 48 pounds in 2 weeks! But this has been ongoing for the past last couple years and I never went to see and basically thugged it out to the point to where I almost killed myself.”
Auburn javelin thrower Keyshawn Strachan has revealed that it was a grade one UCL sprain in his right arm that sidelined his first NCAA season after throwing a collegiate leader 276-5 (84.27) at the Texas Relays. “I knew I could have won my first NCAA national title. It was tough for me, but I’ve been getting the therapy and treatment to help me get over it.” He is hoping to compete in the Bahamian nationals in July.
Britton Wilson has contracted with manager Emanuel Hudson’s HSI agency and decided to forgo the final year of her NCAA eligibility. At the NCAA meet she noted that she had stress reactions in both shins but one was worse than the other. She described the ongoing pain as “annoying.”
Internationally…
Doha high jump silver medalist Mikhail Akimenko of Russia will miss the season because of recent ankle surgery.
Silver medalist in the ’19 WC hammer, France’s Quentin Bigot had surgery on a herniated disc in his back and says he’s prepared to miss the ’23 season to be ready for the Olympics.
Former world discus champion and Olympic bronze medalist Denia Caballero deserted from the Cuban team after a meet in Spain. That will likely leave her out of international championships until she manages to have her nationality officially switched.
Zoey Clark, who ran on Britain’s silver-winning 4×4 squad in ’17, is out for the rest of the year with back problems.
Former Cuban triple jumper Andy Díaz was granted Italian citizenship in February.
Spain’s 54.34 hurdler Sara Gallego has to miss ’23 because of an ankle injury.
Laura García-Caro, who finished 6th in the World Champs 35K walk for Spain last summer, has not been able to compete this year due to long-COVID symptoms
German javelin thrower Andreas Hoffman is done for the season after tearing the interior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Latvian heptathlete Laura Ikauniece is out for the season after knee surgery.
In what has become a frustration to his fans and fodder for his critics, Olympic 100 champ Marcel Jacobs pulled out of yet another competition, the Euro Team Champs, citing injury.
High jump star Mariya Lasitskene is dealing with a calf injury.
Former Moroccan marathoner Majida Maayouf (2:21:01 PR) is now a Spanish citizen.
Long jumper Aleksandr Menkov, a 5-time World Ranker who was No. 1 in ’13, plans to retire at the end of the year. “I still have speed, but the pain in my leg makes it impossible to push off properly,” says the 32-year-old Russian.
Ana Peleteiro, the Olympic triple jump bronze medalist, returned to competition in June, 6 months after giving birth to a daughter.
British hurdler Andrew Pozzi is out for the season with a stress fracture.
Luguelin Santos, (see “Last Lap”) the ’12 silver medalist at 400, has been provisionally suspended after admitting to falsifying a passport as a minor.
Barbora Špotáková, who we thought had retired after last year’s Diamond League Final, competed in Ostrava in June in something of a surprise, saying, “I want to say goodbye to my career in front of the Czech fans, thank them for their favor and support throughout my career.” She finished 6th. The double Olympic champion in the javelin, 41, says that this time she’s serious about retiring.
Chinese sprinter Bingtian Su will miss the ’23 campaign to recover from multiple maladies. “The accumulated injuries over the years and the decline in physical conditions after the pandemic hampered my preparations this year. To prolong my career, I have to give up this year’s competitions, take a rest and make adjustments.”
Elaine Thompson-Herah says she has been troubled by Achilles, shin and knee injuries this season.
German hurdler Gregor Traber (PR 13.21) has retired at age 30.
Daniyil Tsyplakov, Russia’s ’15 European champion in the high jump, has retired at age 30 after his third meniscus operation. “There was no point in jumping anymore, it was no longer possible to achieve high results,” said his coach/father.
Doping Suspensions & Bans…
In early June the AIU announced the suspension (meaning pending bans) for no fewer than 20 Kenyans. Prime among them: sub-10 sprinter Samuel Imeta (steroids), World Junior 3000 silver medalist Zena Jemutai (corticosteroid) and African 800 champion Jarinter Mwasya (EPO).
Jamaican 400 star Christopher Taylor has been provisionally suspended for “Evading, Refusing or Failing to Submit to Sample Collection.”
Bans handed down:
4 years — Amaury Golitin (France, sprints);
3 years — El Hassan Al Abbassi (Bahrain, marathon);
4 months — Rushelle Burton (Jamaica, hurdles), Tamara Clark (U.S., sprints). □