Here’s the latest in the aches, pains & eligibility departments (our big collegiate-recruiting guide “Where They Are Going” appears here):
10K WR holder Almaz Ayana says she rushed her recovery from her knee surgery last year, causing her to get hurt again in the buildup to Doha. She says she has a clean bill of health now and is preparing for Tokyo.
Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk, the silver medalist in the WC long jump, reveals that as part of her return to training she is undergoing therapy for an intestinal condition.
UCLA’s Robert Brandt missed the NCAA XC with an undisclosed injury.
Chris Brown, who helped the Bahamas to 4×4 medals in ’00, ’08, ’12 (gold) and ’16, says that ’20 will be his last go-round. “Age is nothing,” said the 41-year-old.
French steeplechaser Ophelie Claude-Boxberger has reportedly tested positive for EPO.
Jamaican high school star Sachin Dennis (10.20) is reportedly switching his allegiance to Bahrain against the wishes of his parents. He’s still just 17.
World champ Lelisa Desisa dropped out of the New York Marathon after 7M due to hamstring pain.
British 400 hurdler Jack Green has retired at 28.
Recovering from the hamstring woes that dropped her in the Chicago Marathon, Jordan Hasay is back training at home in California. A post-race MRI showed tears in two of three tendons and Hasay’s team decided no surgery. Now a return MRI shows that the tears have healed. “I will be in the Trials,” she promised. The Atlanta race is set for February 29.
Abraham Kiptum, the former WR holder in the half-marathon, has been suspended for 4 years for biological passport abnormalities.
Jamaican hurdler Ronald Levy had surgery on his shin in early November in the hope it can alleviate pain he has dealt with for more than a year.
Despite an ongoing battle with breast cancer at age 35, Chaunté Lowe is training in hopes of making her fifth Olympic high jump squad.
The ’15 world champion in the discus, Piotr Małachowski says he will retire at the end of ’20, saying, “I still dream about the Olympic gold.”
Spanish 1:45.14 performer Luis Alberto Marco, 33, has announced his retirement.
Many-time steeple medalist Mahiedine Mekhissi only resumed training in September; he had surgery on an Achilles tear in June.
Anyika Onuora, who won bronze in Rio as part of Britain’s 4×4, has retired at age 35.
Alabama soph Noel Rotich dropped out of the NCAA cross with a back injury.
It was one-and-done for Japanese sprinter Hakim Sani Brown at Florida. After a year that saw him place 3rd in three NCAA sprints (60, 100, 200) and join on the Gator’s winning 4×1, the 20-year-old says he is turning pro to focus on his hometown Olympics.
A lower-leg injury at the XC Regionals to key runner Tabor Scholl, an All-America in ’18, dampened Colorado’s chances at nationals.
British 800 star Lynsey Sharp took a 2-week break from running for surgery to remove pre-cancerous cells that turned up in a pap smear.
BYU won the NCAA XC title despite losing ’18 All-America Clayson Shumway to a hip injury all fall.
German putter David Storl has returned to training after a spate of back problems.
Nafi Thiam is reporting that she will not have surgery on the elbow that troubled her javelin throwing last year, saying it just needs rest and strengthening.
German javelin thrower Julian Weber has had surgery to repair a torn tendon in his foot; he says it hampered him all season.
Doping Suspensions:
8½ years—Madiea Ghafoor (Netherlands, 400);
8 years—Sergey Bakulin (Russia, walks), Yekaterina Rhyzona (Russia, walks);
4 years—Anton Bodnar (Kazakhstan, high jump), Vitaliy Butrym (Ukraine, 400), Yuliya Gushchina (Russia, 400), Emma Kariuki (Kenya, marathon), Abraham Kiptum (Kenya), distance), Yulia Olisheva (Ukraine, 400), Aleksandr Petrov (Russia, long jump), Cyrus Rutto (Kenya, distance), Etaferahu Temesgen (Ethiopia, marathon);
2 years—Anna Nazarova (Russia, LJ), Ineta Radēviča (Latvia, long jump), Andriy Semenov (Ukraine, shot). □
