Here’s the latest in the aches, pains & eligibility departments, and a lot has happened in the run-up to Doha:
Trinidadian sprinter Michelle Lee Ahye has been provisionally suspended, reportedly for three whereabouts violations.
Habitam Alemu, who ranked No. 5 in the world last year in the 800, has been left off the Ethiopian team because of an unspecified injury; she hasn’t raced since Pre.
Former 800 world champ Maryna Arzamasova of Belarus has been provisionally banned by the AIU after testing positive.
A severe knee injury struck Hungarian hurdler Balázs Baji in February. He has finally returned to training this summer, but does not plan to race this season.
Sprinter Ronnie Baker, a disappointing 5th in the USATF 100, ended his season early to deal with persistent injuries.
French hurdle champion Wilhelm Belocian has resumed training after a July thigh injury.
Troubled by a small Achilles tear plus a hamstring problem, Canada’s Melissa Bishop-Nriagu, 4th-placer in the Rio 800, has ended her season.
Belgium’s Cynthia Bolingo, a silver medalist in the Euro Indoor 400, will miss Doha with an Achilles injury.
Norway’s 3-time javelin champ Sigrid Borge has ended her season with an elbow injury.
Kemoy Campbell, the Jamaican distance runner who fell to the track when his heart stopped in the Millrose Games, has been forced to retire from competition on the advice of his doctors.
Slovenian high jumper Maruša Černjul had surgery on a broken arm in August but will compete in Doha.
Christian Coleman faced a suspension for whereabouts violations before USADA dropped the case (see Last Lap).
Amy Cragg has withdrawn from the Chicago Marathon, citing a need for more training to properly prepare.
India’s World Junior 400 champ Hima Das, a 50.79 performer, had to withdraw from the Worlds with a back injury.
Chris Derrick fractured his fibula (see Last Lap). He will miss 6-8 weeks and a run in the Chicago Marathon, but still hopes to compete in the OT marathon.
Brazilian discus thrower Andressa de Morais has been knocked out of our Top 10 chart after being provisionally suspended following a positive test.
Genzebe Dibaba will miss Doha because of plantar fasciitis and a partial rupture of the tendon in her right foot. The Ethiopian superstar first felt the injury when she hobbled to the finish in the Weltklasse 1500.
Polish 1500 runner Sofia Ennaoui has withdrawn from the Doha squad with Achilles problems.
Justin Gatlin, who eased up in Zagreb after a mid-race hamstring spasm, reports that he is healthy and uninjured.
LSU vaulter Lisa Gunnarsson will miss competing in Doha for her native Sweden because of a stress fracture in a foot.
Finnish javelin thrower Oliver Helander, selected for the Doha team, is dealing with an ongoing shoulder injury.
South African sprinter Carina Horn has been provisionally suspended on a doping charge.
An Achilles tendon injury has taken Bruno Hortelano off the Spanish 4×4 squad.
Drew Hunter withdrew from the U.S. 5K team, citing a worsening foot injury that began with plantar fasciitis and now involves a fractured cuboid bone.
Former World bronze medalist Laura Ikauniece of Latvia will stay home from Doha to nurse a small injury and prepare for the Olympic heptathlon.
Tilde Johansson, Sweden’s European Junior 100H champion, has a slight thigh injury but still plans to compete in Doha.
Off Germany’s team because of Achilles problems is
Marie-Laurence Jungfleisch, the Euro HJ bronze medalist.
Though she set a Hungarian steeplechase record of 9:26.59 in August Zita Kácser is still struggling to recover from an attack by stray dogs while at a foreign training camp last January. She’ll miss Doha because of that and an ankle injury.
Kevin Kranz, who had been expected to run on Germany’s 4×1, has ended his season because of a bout with mono.
The IAAF has ruled 400 runner Blake Leeper ineligible to compete in Doha while an advisory group analyzes the effect of his new prosthetic legs. Showing amazing late-race speed, he was 5th at USATF, where he ran 44.38 in the semis.
Reigning world 1500 champ Elijah Manangoi is still dealing with a recurring ankle injury and has withdrawn from the Doha team.
Kiwi vault star Eliza McCartney will miss Doha with a bad hamstring.
A broken finger will keep Russia’s up-and-coming Timur Morgunov from vaulting in Doha.
Polish javelin thrower Cyprian Mrzygłód, the Euro U23 champion, has ended his season with an elbow injury.
Laura Muir has been sidelined by a torn calf muscle and hasn’t raced since late July. The British star is still optimistic about her Doha 1500 prospects.
Former World Youth champion Patrick Müller has retired at age 23. The German hit a best of 66-1 (20.14) with the big shot.
Ohio State thrower Sade Olatoye has transferred her allegiance from the U.S. to Nigeria just in time for the Worlds.
An unspecified illness kept Allie Ostrander from steepling at the Pan-Am Games.
Euro TJ champ Paraskeví Papahrístou of Greece will miss Doha with an injury.
Citing a flareup of chronic foot problems, Dathan Ritzenhein has withdrawn from the Chicago Marathon to focus on this winter’s Olympic Trials.
Kiwi distance runners Jake and Zane Robertson are skipping Doha to concentrate on their Olympic buildup.
WR holder David Rudisha has said that after 2 years without injury, he is considering resuming training with an eye toward defending his Olympic 800 gold, although he was in a bad traffic accident this summer.
Florida’s star Japanese sprinter Abdul Hakim Sani Brown took a month off to deal with back and hamstring problems but is now back. After a 10.05 in Madrid, he said, “My condition is gradually getting better.”
Carolin Schäfer, who took silver in the heptathlon in the last Worlds, has pulled off Germany’s team because of continuing knee problems.
Defending World 200 champ Dafne Schippers is still dealing with the aftereffects of a back injury that originally came from falling down stairs. She says, “Acceleration and starting is not yet possible” and is considering dropping the 100 to concentrate on the 200 and 4×1 in Doha.
Niger’s Amina Seyni ran 49.19 in July, but is entered only in the Doha 200, leading to speculation that because of the new IAAF testosterone regulations, she is no longer eligible in the longer dash.
Indian high jumper Tejaswin Shankar is skipping Doha because it is off-season and he is not in jumping shape.
Serbian long jumper Ivana Španović pulled up with a season-ending right Achilles injury in Berlin.
The former world Junior champ, Russian javelin thrower Ekaterina Starygina has ended her season after leg surgery.
Bone stress issues have ended Doha hopes for Australia’s Dani Stevens, the former world champ who won the discus silver in ’17. The Aussie is planning to “rehab, reset and rebuild for Tokyo.”
A back injury has quashed the Doha hopes of German shot putter David Storl. Persistent pain has made training impossible, so the ’11 and ’13 winner says he plans to recover before focusing on Tokyo.
Hurdler Alina Talay of Belarus was not named to the European team for the U.S. dual because of an unknown injury, and then didn’t enter Doha.
Botswana’s Baboloki Thebe, the 44.02 performer who was 4th in the 400 at the last Worlds, will be staying home to rehab an injury.
Gregor Traber, a 13.21 hurdler, has withdrawn from the German team because of back pain.
Swedish long jumper Michel Tornéus, 4th placer in the London Olympics, has retired at 33.
After running a PR 2:26:50 in the Rotterdam Marathon, Aliphine Tuliamuk got a stress fracture in her femur. She returned to running in September.
A back injury has knocked 9.96 sprinter CJ Ujah off the British 4×1; he ran on the gold medal squad in ’17.
Wayde van Niekerk, still rehabbing, will miss defending his WC 400 title (see Last Lap).
Johannes Vetter reports that he is back in throwing shape after sorting through a variety of minor injuries this summer. “There is still a lot of room for improvement,” says the German javelin star.
Jamaican sprinter Briana Williams is serving a provisional suspension after a positive diuretic test at the Jamaican championships (see Last Lap).
Edward Zakayo, the African 5000 champ, was sick afterwards, affecting his preparation for the Kenyan Trials.
Zokwakhana Zazini, the top South African 400 hurdler, will miss Worlds with a bone bruise in his right foot.
Doping bans:
8 years—Sergey Bakulin (Russia, walks), Salome Biwott (Kenya, marathon), Yekaterina Medvedeva (Russia, walks);
4 years—Kemi Adekoya (Bahrain, 400), Hossein Keyhani (Iran, steeple), Viktoriya Sakhno (Ukraine, hammer);
2 years—Sanjivani Jadhav (India, 10,000), Boniface Mweresa (Kenya, 400);
20 months—Levi Cadogan (Barbados, 100);
1 year—Hlib Piskunov (Ukraine, hammer). □
