3000 meters
(includes no-pacemaker championship-type 5k races)
1. Meseret Defar, 68
2. Meselech Melkamu, 42
3. Sylvia Jebiwott Kibet, 38
4. Tirunesh Dibaba, 38
5. Gelete Burka, 35
6. Ejegayehu Dibaba, 32
7. Kim Smith, 28
8. Olga Komiagina, 26
9. Ruth Bisibori Nyangau, 26
10. Grace Momanyi, 21
World Indoor champion Defar is still the best at this distance, but hasn’t yet run against her rival, 5k world-record-breaker Tirunesh Dibaba.
5000 & 10,000 meters
1. Tirunesh Dibaba, 74
2. Gelete Burka, 50
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Politics Rears Its Ugly Head
Political friction between Qatar and Ethioipia has resulted in a boycott by the Ethiopian federation of the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix meet. Indoor world champions Deresse Mekonnen (1500m) and Tariku Bekele (3000m) had been scheduled to run.
More: PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung), Austria
Instead…
of the Ethiopians, look for some superstars at the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix meet. Jeremy Wariner will run the 200m, Allyson Felix will run the 400m and Blanca Vlasic will compete in the heptathlon. Just kidding, she’s sticking to what she knows - the high jump (with Wariner and Felix branching out from their usual events, I couldn’t resist!).
More: IHT
Where In The World Is…
Tuvalu? It’s a tiny island nation in Oceania located northeast of Australia. It boasts a population of 11,992 and a land area of 10 square miles. “So what?” you ask. Well, it is the newest member country of the IAAF, the world’s governing body of track & field, which now has a membership of 213.
More: Afrique en ligne, France
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With the 2008 outdoor track & field season upon us, and all of the recent hoopla about the resurgence of American distance running, it’s time to analyze the current middle and long-distance American records, some of which are in jeopardy of falling this Olympic season. Some of them, on the other hand, are almost assuredly safe.
I calculated the variances between the American and World records in all of the “official” middle and long-distance events: 800m, 1000m, 1500m, Mile, 2000m, 3000m, 3000m Steeplechase, 5000m and 10000m runs. So which American record is the “best” according to this calculation?
Rick Wohlhuter’s American record of 2:13.90 in the 1000m, a mark he set way back on 07/20/74, is the “best” American record when compared to its % variance to the world record. The current world record in the 1000m was set by Kenya’s Noah Ngeny back on 9/05/1999. His time was 2:11.96. Wohlhuter’s mark is just 1.470% off Ngeny’s mark.
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2008 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field: Week 1
The 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field season officially kicks off in fine style this weekend with 38 (count ‘em, 38!) meets throughout the country. The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association has links to all of them on their website. Schedules like this one are truly a track junkie’s dream come true.
Read more at: [USTFCCCA]
ASU Opens Outdoor Season At Home
ASU, the 2008 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Champions, will open their outdoor season at home this weekend at the Baldy Castillo Invitational. Both the men’s team and the women’s team won the NCAA national titles last weekend. The meet will be contested on the Joe Selleh Track at Sun Angel Stadium in Tempe, AZ.
Read more at: [Sun Devils]
Oregon Host First Meet At Revamped Hayward Field
The University of Oregon’s historic Hayward Field has had an $8 Million facelift in preparation for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials, and now the Ducks want to show her off to the world. Folks will get their first look at the freshly-reminted stadium by hosting the Oregon Preview on Saturday, March 22nd, 2008. Over 550 athletes from throughout the Northwest will be competing in the meet.
Read more at: [Go Ducks][Hayward Field]
Image courtesy of GoDucks.com.
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Valencia Boasts 159-Nation Roster
The 12th IAAF World Indoor Championships, to be held in Valencia, Spain from March 7th through March 9th, 2008 will be the biggest ever by a huge margin. The previous largest nation count was 139.
Read more at: [IAAF WIC08]
Mottram Scorches Last 400 of Australian Championships 3000m with 54.0
Craig Mottram sent a loud message to the other World Indoor Championships qualifiers that he is the man to beat by running a 7:48.26 in the Australian Championships 3000m. He scorched the last 400m in 54 seconds to win by nearly 5 ½ seconds.
Read more at: [IAAF]
MastersTrack.com Interview With Speedster Alisa Harvey
Ken Stone over at Masterstrack.com got a chance to interview 42-year-old Alisa Harvey, who has provisionally qualified for the US Olympic Trials, having run a 2:05.75 at the AT&T US Indoor Championships.
Read more at: [Masterstrack.com]
Kenenisa Bekele has decided against defending his world indoor title in the 3000m in Valencia, Spain, early next month, choosing instead to focus on recapturing the world title at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
“He is saving himself for the world cross country,” said Dube Jillo, Technical Director for the Ethiopian Athletics Federation, in a story published on the IAAF website.
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Coe: Track & Field Can’t Survive Another Drug Scandal
Double Olympic gold medalist Sebastian Coe said that another scandal could wreck the sport of track & field, saying, “we cannot have another five years like the one we’ve just been through because I’m not sure the sport would survive that.”
Read more at: [The Age]
Oregon High Schooler Runs 1:52 800m With No Speed Work
Having done no speedwork yet, Elijah Greer, a junior from Oswego High School, ran an outstanding early-season time of 1:52.66 at the University of Washington’s Husky Classic. It is the best prep time of the season.
Read more at: [The Oregonian]
Pistorius May Have New Evidence To Help His Appeal
Oscar Pistorius, the South African 400m sprinter who has been banned by the IAAF, may have new evidence to help him when he appeals the ruling that his two prosthetic legs give him an advantage over runners with two legs.
Read more at: [News24.com, South Africa]
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New Balance Collegiate Invitational Producing Fast Times
The New Balance Collegiate Invitational, being held this weekend at the Armory in New York City, is producing some solid collegiate marks in the build-up to the NCAA Championships.
Read more at: [Google News][Results at Milesplit]
Bekele Going For 300m Indoor WR
Kenenisa Bekele, the current track and field distance king, is going for the 3000m World record in Valencia, Spain today. Stay tuned for the results of the Ethiopian great’s attempt.
Read more at: [IAAF][Google News]
A Peek At the 2008 Track & Field Season
A peek into the future reveals 51 world-class track meets: 6 Golden League meets, 5 Super Grand Prix events, 14 Grand Prix venues, 1 World Athletics Final, 25 Area Permit meets. The best track meet of the year isn’t on the list. It’s going to be held in a town in Eastern China.
Read more at: [IAAF]
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Michael Johnson: I Played No Part in Wariner’s Decision
World-record holder Michael Johnson says he played no role in Jeremy Wariner’s decision to split with long-time coach Clyde Hart. He also said that it won’t affect Wariner’s chances of winning the 400m gold medal in the Beijing Olympics.
Read more at: [Guardian Unlimited]
Defar To Try For 3000m WR in Stuttgart
Coming off a world-best in the unofficial 2-Mile Run in Boston, Meseret Defar is gunning for a world record in the 3000m at the Sparkassen Cup meet in Stuttgart this weekend. She holds the current record of 8:23.72. Her 2-Mile time of 9:10.50 in Boston was equivalent to a 8:29.8 in the 3000m.
Read more at: [IAAF]
IAAF Preview of 101st Millrose Games
The IAAF Valencia ‘08 site (the home of the 2008 Indoor Track & Field Championships) is featuring a preview of the 101st Millrose Games. The meet will be held in New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
Read more at: [IAAF]
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Hayward Field Face lift Almost Finished
The renovation of historic Hayward Field, the site of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials, is nearly complete. Included in the $8 Million face lift are an improved infield and press area, a new hammer cage, dual high-jump and long-jump stations, new sound system and a $1.5 Million scoreboard.
Read more at: [ESPN]
Liu Xiang Elected to Communist Party Advising Council
110m Hurdle world-record holder, world champ and Olympic champ Liu Xiang has been elected to sit on an advisory council to the Chinese Communist Party. Now we’ve got even more reason to cheer U.S. hurdler Terrence Trammell this season as he tries to dethrone Xiang in Beijing.
Read more at: [Guardian Unlimited]
Impressive Wins by Defar, Mottram at Boston Indoor Games
Meseret Defar ran a world-best (it would be a world-record, but the IAAF doesn’t recognize this distance) time of 9:10.50 in the women’s two-mile at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games. Craig Mottram, not to be outdone, ran an all-comer’s (best time ever on U.S. soil, regardless of nationality) record of 7:34.50 in the men’s 3000m, surpassing Haile Gebrselassie’s previous record of 7:35.24 at the same meet in 2004.
Read more at: [IAAF]
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Chris Solinsky ran 7:36.90 - a 15-second PR - on a cold, rainy night in Sheffield, UK. His time, the 8th fastest ever by an American, was good for third place behind Kenenisa Bekele and Craig Mottram at the Norwich Union Grand Prix meeting.
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Today’s Norwich Union British Grand Prix in Sheffield, England, features a tremendous men’s 3000m, a rematch between Kenenisa Bekele and Craig Mottram from last year’s World Cup. In that race Mottram prevailed 7:32.19 to 7:36.25.
Today’s race is by no means a two-man show. Britain’s #1 distance runner, Mo Farah, is also in the […]
Anthony Famiglietti, the U.S. Olympian steeplechaser, already has big wins under his belt this season; winning the U.S.A. 15km Championship in Central Park and another impresive victory at the Mt. Sac Relays.
Famiglietti, Known to his fans as “Fam”, added another “W” at today’s adidas Track Classic; crossing the finish line of the 3,000m men’s race […]
When he crossed the finish line with his arms raised up, almost everybody in the National Indoor Arena asked: “Who’s he?”
Italy’s Cosimo Caliandro was a stunning surprise winner yesterday at the 29th European Indoor Championships, taking the gold medal in the 3000m ahead of pre-race favourites Bob Tahri, Jesus Jesus España, Halil Akkas, Mo Farah, […]
One of Britain’s top medal hopes at these 29th European Indoor Championships, Mo Farah, survived a big scare today when he was tripped and fell during the first heat of the 3000m.
Farah, the reigning European cross country champion, was accidentally tripped from behind by Austria’s Günther Weidlinger in the seventh lap of the 15-lap race. […]
At the last European Indoor Championships in Madrid in 2005, Irishman Alistair Cragg romped to victory in the 3000m, beating his nearest opponent, Briton John Mayock, by more than five seconds.
But here in Birmingham, as the 29th European Indoor Championships opens this morning, he is admittedly not sharp, and will be facing strong challenges […]
Canadian Kevin Sullivan broke his own national record over 3000m at the Tyson Invitational last night in Fayetteville, Ark., edging American Matt Tegenkamp to win the race.
Sullivan, 32, the Canadian record holder for 1500m (3:31.71), clocked 7:40.17 at the Tyson meet, lowering his record by exactly two seconds. Tegankamp was just fractions behind, clocking […]
Middle distance superstar Alan Webb has decided to run in the 3,000 meters at the Tyson Invitational on Friday night, February 9, making for an intriguing distance race at the premier indoor track event of the winter.
Webb was originally scheduled to run in the mile, the race that made him a teenage superstar when he […]
Ethiopia’s Meseret Defar has done it again; setting a new 3,000m indoor world record (8:23:72) at yesterday’s Sparkassen Cup in Stuttgart, Germany.
After falling short of her personal expectations last weekend, Defar emerged victorious in Stuttgart; breaking the previous record that was set last year by more than four seconds.
The race was very competitive as […]
Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba, the 2004 Olympic bronze medalist, put on quite the show; dominating the women’s 3,000m and winning in a time of 8:46:58.
Dibaba, the cousin of two-time Olympic runner Derartu Tulu, was challenged by Sarah Hall (formerly Sarah Bei and wife of Ryan Hall) until the eight minute mark when Dibaba entered her kick. […]
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