THE LATEST in the aches, pains & eligibility departments:
A cannabis offense has led to a 1-month ban for triple jumper James Carter and erased his USATF Indoor win.
Lindsay Flanagan pulled out of Boston, explaining, “I knew something was wrong after experiencing such intense pain during the NYC Half that I was unsure I would finish. I got an MRI immediately after which showed a partial tear in my high hamstring.”
Olympian Chari Hawkins says no heptathlon for ’25, though she may return in the future. “I’m not going to be competing for the World Championships. My nervous system needs a little break.” She then turned her focus to the marathon and ran 4:14:30 in London.
Sinclaire Johnson pulled out of a pair of late-April events “with a little flareup of knee tendinitis.”
Des Linden retired from the marathon after her 17th-place finish at Boston in 2:26:19. Reportedly she will focus on ultras in the future.
In her return from knee surgery Alicia Monson reports that she is training “cautiously optimistic to keep the slow steady build going.”
Dalilah Muhammad has announced that she will retire at the end of this season (see “Last Lap”).
Rio Olympics 800 bronze medalist Clayton Murphy has retired. “I poured everything I had into this sport, and I’m walking away with pride, gratitude, and a heart full of memories,” he wrote on Instagram. “A decade on the global stage is more than most pros will ever get to experience and I’m so grateful for what every year has taught me.”
Kellyn Taylor canceled Boston plans after a terrible month of training: “My Achilles flared up out of nowhere. Took some time to take care of it but then I got sick…unfortunately it was a month-long sickness and not a 24hr one. Achilles flared back up from the sickness, inflammation. Then as everything started to get a little better my other leg decided to give out, likely due to compensation from the Achilles. Really just the perfect storm of crap.”
Parker Valby has been reportedly dealing with “a little bit of an injury” over the spring.
On The International Front…
Abeba Aregawi hopes to compete in the WC at age 35. However, the former list-leading 1500 runner notified the Swedish federation of her return to competition on February 12, and won’t be allowed to officially compete and meet a qualifying standard until August 12, 6 months later. Thus her recent 66:36 half-marathon will not count for a national record.
Minor injuries kept Kenenisa Bekele, 42, from the London Marathon. He explained, “A series of small niggles have prevented me from getting in the training block I require to be at my best.”
Bingtian Su, the Asian Recordholder in the 100 at 9.83, says he’s done: “I’d said I would run until I couldn’t run any more, and I did it. Now I really can’t run anymore.”
Jamaica’s Akeem Blake says of his DNF in the GST Miami half-lap, “Unfortunately couldn’t finish the 200m as strong due to some health concerns.”
Ruth Chepngetich withdrew from London, saying, “I’m not in the right place mentally or physically to race my best.”
Rushelle Clayton pulled up in the 400 at the GST opener in Kingston.
European decathlon champion Johannes Erm had surgery on the meniscus of his right knee and expected to return to training a few weeks later.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has confirmed that she will retire after the ’25 season (see “Last Lap”).
Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey has given birth to a son.
Lamecha Girma, who suffered a concussion in a terrible fall in the Olympic steeple, is delaying his return to competition because of recurrent symptoms. “He’s not normal yet,” his agent told LetsRun. “He’s able to train and he’s put in good workout sessions, but at such a point, a combination of intensity and other things, he feels some dizziness and some things.”
Blisters ended the attempt by Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal to break Ingrid Kristiansen’s Norwegian Record at the Hamburg marathon.
Sondre Guttormsen strained his calf warming up for the Xiamen vault and had to miss the Shanghai DL.
Brit Keely Hodgkinson is back to track training after her winter hamstring injury: “Eight weeks after my hamstring tear we did our first track session back in spikes. Lots of rehab later and with much more to progress, happy to be back.”
Peres Jepchirchir missed the London Marathon with an ankle injury.
German decathlete Kai Kazmirek, the bronze medalist at the ’17 Worlds, is retiring at age 34.
Nina Kennedy of Australia will miss 3 months of competition following hamstring surgery. The Olympic vault champion still plans to be in Tokyo.
Albert Korir, the ’21 NYC Marathon winner, missed Boston after twisting an ankle in training.
Brianna Lyston, the NCAA Indoor 60 runner-up for LSU, has turned pro. Tiger coach Dennis Shaver said of the Jamaican, “She hasn’t run at all this outdoor season because she was slightly injured at the NCAA Indoors… I think it’s in her best interest to move on and seek out another environment, another coach.”
Germany’s Olympic champ Yemisi Ogunleye withdrew from the Shanghai shot: “I’m currently recovering from an illness and need to give my body the time it needs to fully heal, no rushing, no stressing.”
Spain’s Alex Pintado, who broke the Euro Junior 3000 record this winter, underwent surgery after a bad fall. He posted, “The diagnosis: the tendons of three toes were severed, with the tibialis anterior tendon practically hanging by a thread. All because of a stone with very bad intentions.”
Olympic walk champ Daniel Pintado is having hip surgery. The Ecuadorian still hopes to compete in Tokyo.
Calf pain kept French hurdler Cyrena Samba-Mayela from competing in the Miami Grand Slam.
Marc Scott withdrew from the London Marathon with a knee injury.
Doping Bans…
10 years—Alex Wilson (Switzerland, sprints);
4 years — Hamid Ben Daoud (Spain, marathon), Abdelaziz Merzougui (Spain, marathon);
3 years — Belinda Chemutai (Kenya, distances);
2 years — Emmanuel Kipchumba (Kenya, marathon), Brian Kipsang (Kenya, marathon);
1 month — James Carter (U.S., triple jump). □
