THE LATEST in the aches, pains & eligibility departments:
Former world 800 champ Pierre-Ambroise Bosse announced his retirement at the end of last year because of chronic injuries. Turns out he also missed three drug tests from September ’22 to June ’23. The French Anti-Doping Agency has banned him for 16 months, retired or not.
Prep sprinter Mia Brahe-Pedersen will miss the rest of the season after tearing a muscle in practice.
Sprinter Brittany Brown has made public her struggles with endometriosis, a chronic inflammatory disease of the uterus that affects 10% of American women.
Twice an Olympic 5K finalist, Britain’s Andrew Butchart will miss the season because of Achilles surgery: “After what’s been too long running with severe pain I’m having to pull the trigger and call it for this summer. I have known I had a [Haglund’s deformity] in my left heel but it’s so big now it’s ripping the tendon when I run. I thought I could maybe push through this pain but I’m not able to do the training required to be at the level I can be. I’ll undergo surgery end of this month, shaving the bone and reattaching the torn tendon.”
The Olympic season is over for Emma Coburn after she DNFed the steeple at the Shanghai DL: “I broke my ankle on the water jump…” tweeted the veteran star. “At first I thought I just sprained it, even though the pain was pretty intense. When I got home, images showed torn ligaments, damaged cartilage and a fracture in my medial malleolus.” Coburn underwent surgery and hopes to start jogging again in 6 weeks. “There has been a *lot* of heartbreak in the last couple of years for me, but damn, I love this sport and nothing heals a broken hear like working hard and getting back. See ya out there later this year.”
Steepler Val Constien has returned to racing after having had ACL surgery.
Canadian marathoner Malindi Elmore pulled out of Boston with a hamstring injury.
British high jump Olympian Tom Gale will miss the season after a blood clot was found in his lung. He also had knee surgery this winter.
Kate Grace will be returning to racing this month after nearly three years away. She covered 600 in 1:30 before stepping off the track in a recent 800 at BYU.
Sara Hall had some IT band issues prior to Boston but took some time off and says the issue resolved itself.
Geoffrey Kamworor withdrew from the London Marathon with persistent hip flexor irritation.
Aussie vaulter Kurtis Marschall sprained an ankle after landing on his pole. X-rays show no bone damage and he will only be out for a few weeks.
Christine Mboma has returned to competition after more than a year away while she brought her testosterone levels in line with WA guidelines. The Olympic 200 silver medalist from Namibia placed last at the Kip Keino Classic, saying she pulled a thigh muscle in the race and cruised in to protect it.
Just Kwaou-Mathey, the French hurdler who won World Indoor bronze, will miss the Games with an Achilles tendon injury.
Colorado alum Rachel McArthur returned to racing at the Colonial Relays. “First race since surgery and first pain-free race in 3 years,” she posted.
Alicia Monson will miss the remainder of the ’24 season after tearing her meniscus in training (see “Last Lap”). “
Australia’s Ash Moloney, the decathlon bronze medalist in ’21, has been troubled by a knee injury.
Finnish vaulter Wilma Murto says she is recovering well from the Achilles injury that hit her at World Indoors. “It’s been roughly 6 weeks since the injury. We have been able to proceed according to the desired schedule…we’re on our own and the rehabilitation has progressed well.”
The queen of the triple jump, Yulimar Rojas, won’t be in Paris. While training in Spain, she suffered an Achilles injury. She said, “I had an intense pain during the descent of a jump, which was diagnosed as an injury to my left Achilles tendon. My heart is broken and I feel so much sadness that I want to apologize for not being able to represent my country in Paris 2024.”
Abderrahmane Samba says he is past his injury problems. Still No. 5 ever in the 400H with his 46.98 from ’18, he won the Asian Games last October at 48.04 and says, “I’m now fit and healthy and I’m motivated to build on that performance.”
Jonathan Simms, who led preps in the 400 nationwide last year with his 45.12 as a sophomore, is injured and will miss the Texas state meet.
Rachel Smith limped off the course of the USATF road mile, but no word on if it’s serious.
Michigan’s Savannah Sutherland has started her outdoor campaign with her ankle heavily taped. She apparently fell down some steps and twisted it two weeks before her 54.86 in Florida. She reports it hurts during warmups.
Olympic and world champion Massimo Stano fractured his foot at the Race Walking Team Championships and the rest of his season is in doubt.
With Zerfe Wondemagegn having a 5-year ban resulting from positive tests for testosterone and EPO at out-of-competition tests last August and September, her 4th place in the Budapest steeple and her 5th in the DL Final have been invalidated.
Doping Bans…
5 years — Sara Benfares (Germany, distance), Agnes Mutua (Kenya, distance), Zerfe Wondemagegn (Ethiopia, steeple);
3 years — Celestine Chepchirchir (Kenya, marathon), Marius Kimutai (Bahrain, distance);
2 years, 6 months — Nikolay Chavin (Russia, steeple);
2 years — Kennedy Cheboror (Kenya, marathon), Ekaterina Poistogova Guliyev (Russia/Turkey, 800); Masaki Toyoda (Japan, hurdles);
1 year — Pierre-Ambroise Bosse (France, 800);
9 months — Mouhamadou Fall (France, 800). □