THE LATEST in the aches, pains & eligibility departments (our big annual recruiting feature, Where They Are Going, will be featured in the December issue):
Ethiopian-born 4:00.14 performer Likina Amebaw, after 5 years of trying to get Spanish citizenship, says that she now plans to compete for Qatar in the ’28 Olympics.
Ruth Chepngetich has received a 3-year ban after admitting to using a diuretic following a positive test in March (see “Last Lap”). Her WR marathon from last November will apparently stand despite some indications that other athletes were communicating with her about testosterone in the months before her 2:09:56.
Jamaican teen sprinter Sabrina Dockery has opted not to go the NCAA route. The 11.08 performer has signed with adidas and is training with Lance Brauman. French sprinter Jeff Erius (9.98) is also working with Brauman.
French sprinter Mouhamadou Fall, currently serving a doping suspension until next July, has signed on for the Enhanced Games.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce made her retirement official on social media, posting, “It has been the greatest honor to carry our flag across the world. We may be small, but we are mighty, and I am humbled to have represented the strength of our nation with passion on the global stage.”
Krissy Gear shared that she had been running with a stress fracture this season. She suffered from hip pain since April and a May MRI missed the fracture. Despite this, she finished 4th in the USATF steeple: “It’s validating now to know there actually was something at hand. It wasn’t all in my head, like I started to convince myself.”
Norway’s Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal withdrew from the Berlin Marathon because she found out 2 weeks earlier that she was expecting. “Exciting times to come,” she said.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen had his season tremendously affected by the trial of his father on abuse charges. Said bother Henrik, “That was the deciding factor. That was the price it cost to go through that process. It cost the 2025 season. The total was too much. An athlete can train if he recovers, and if he doesn’t, it goes to hell right away. There was no season for Jakob. Even though he was in the World Championships, there was no season. He showed up for the World Championships but that’s what he did — he showed up.”
The Erriyon Knighton appeal of doping charges finally died when the CAS ruled that he had not established that his rules violation was not intentional. He gets a 4-year ban.
Cory McGee revealed that after 8 months of pregnancy she lost her child. “While I feel some reluctance to share this sad news, I also fear people asking about my son and how we are doing and would rather share my truth than hide. I am broken and sad.”
Sean McGorty has left the Bowerman TC. “I’ve decided it’s time for a change.” He has not publicly revealed his next step.
Former U.S. hurdler Ebony Morrison, now running for Liberia, had a doping positive at the World Relays for the eye medication Dorzolamide, which is classified as a masking agent. Her results from that meet have been annulled, but as it was ruled that she bore no fault, she escaped a suspension.
Former world 400 champion Michael Norman, previously coached by Quincy Watts, is now reportedly working with Edrick Floréal.
Arkansas’s Paityn Noe, still recovering from a summer injury, is expected to race later this fall.
Spanish hurdler Orlando Ortega has retired at 34 because of recurrent injuries.
Benji Richardson, South Africa’s 9.86 sprinter, is in the process of switching his national allegiance to Ireland.
Molly Seidel says that while she will continue to race marathons, her primary focus going forward will be on ultras.
Oblique Seville had toe surgery recently.
Jamaican hurdler Megan Tapper is relocating to Kentucky to train with coach Lonnie Sanders along with Masai Russell and Devynne Charlton.
Marathoner Aliphine Tuliamuk is expecting her second child imminently.
Julius Yego: his injury from Tokyo turned out to be an adductor tear. The javelin thrower says, “I had mixed feelings, fearing I might need surgery, but I thank God that won’t happen.”
Doping Bans…
5 years — Cornelius Kibet (Kenya, marathon);
4 years — Diana Chepkorir (Kenya, distance), Esther Gitahi (Kenya, distance), Erriyon Knight (U.S., 200);
3 years — Ruth Chepngetich (Kenya, marathon);
2 years — Manteo Mitchell (U.S., 400). □
