News outlets in Honolulu are reporting that Ambese Tolossa, the Ethiopian marathoner who won last December’s Honolulu Marathon, has been disqualified for failing a drug test. The news broke after today’s release of IAAF News which listed Tolossa as having failed an in-competition doping control in Honolulu, and he had already been suspended by his federation for a two year period beginning last February.
Jimmy Muindi, who finished second, was declared the race winner. It was his sixth Honolulu Marathon title.
You can read various reports at these links:
http://starbulletin.com/breaking/breaking.php?id=7314
http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=8549843
http://www.kitv.com/news/16698675/detail.html
You’ve probably heard by now about the embarrassing failure of the timing system at the Honolulu Marathon this past Sunday, December 9th, 2007. According to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin:
“Hundreds – perhaps thousands – of runners [were left] without proof that they completed the grueling 26.2 miles. Others did not receive accurate finishing times … Intense rain caused an electrical short just before the start of the race. Some transponders on tags attached to competitors’ shoes rebooted correctly; others did not. And some remained dead, leading to problems at every checkpoint.”
SAI Timing and Tracking, the company that implemented the timing system at the race, blamed it on themselves and the weather. SAI owner David Simms stated that, “we didn’t have our equipment weatherproofed as well as we should have.” Even worse, there was plenty of bad timing happening elsewhere.
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Eugene Crowned Track Town, USA for Foreseeable Future
Despite sour grapes from some in track hamlets such as Sacramento, Eugene, OR will be getting all the track & field glory for the next few years. Its fable Hayward field – site of next year’s US Olympic Track & Field Trials – is now set to host the 2009 and 2011 US Championships and the 2012 Olympic Trials, allowing it to continue to be called “Track Town, USA.” Read more at: [The Register-Guard, OR]
NY Times Honors Life of Running Pioneer Ted Corbitt
The New York Times has honored running pioneer Ted Corbitt with an article that spotlights the running legend’s lifetime of achievements. Read more at: [New York Times]
Golden League Schedule Announced for 2008
The IAAF has announced the 2008 Golden League schedule. The season will begin on June 1st and end on September 5th. The venues will include Berlin, Oslo, Rome, Paris, Zurich and Brussels. The prize will be $1 million in gold and the events will be 100m, 400m, 1500m, 400m hurdles long jump and javelin (men) and 200m, 800m, 100m hurdles and high jump (women). 2007 winners Sanya Richards (400m) and Yelena Isinbayeva (pole vault) will not be able to repeat in 2008 – at least not in their specialties. Read more at: [Voice of America]
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Organizers of the Honolulu Marathon apologized to runners whose times were not recorded in last Sunday’s race, as has been widely reported in the local media, due to a timing system failure. The exact number of unrecorded finishers is not known, but could be as many as several thousand.
You can read a well-reported story by Mike Tsai in the Honolulu Advertiser.
There are also several video reports here: [ABC Affiliate]
[NBC Affiliate]
Possible ‘Doomdsay’ Scenario for Honolulu Marathon Results
Honolulu Marathon Association president Jim Barahal admitted that hundreds or even thousands of runners may have been given incorrect split and/or finish times. Even worse (and he called it the “doomsday scenario”) up to 3,500 runners may not have been recorded at all. The errors may have been caused by the event’s new timing system. Read more at: [Honolulu Advertiser]
IOC Delays Decision on Jones’ Sydney Medals
The IOC was expected to make a decision on Monday about redistributing Marion Jones’ 5 Sydney medals (3 gold, 2 bronze) but they have decided to delay that decision to study the potential ramifications that it would have on other athletes, like Jones’ relay teammates, who haven’t tested positive for steroids. Read more at: [Coos Bay World]
Norwich Union London Grand Prix Expands to 2 Days
The Norwich Union London Grand Prix, Britain’s largest track meet, is set to become even bigger by expanding to 2 days. Scheduled for July 25th and 26th, 2008, it will be the last major meet before the Beijing Olympics begin 2 weeks later. Read more at: [IAAF]
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Ambesse Tolosa and Alevtina Biktimirova won today’s 35th Honolulu Marathon, despite having to splash through large puddles and being doused by heavy rains several times during the race.
Tolosa, of Ethiopia, won in the slowest time here in 16 years, pulling away from five-time Honolulu champion Jimmy Muindi of Kenya on the famous climb up Diamond Head Avenue in the 39th kilometer. Muindi was unable to respond, battling nausea throughout the race. Tolosa was clocked in 2:17:26 to Muindi’s 2:18:53.
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IOC Meets This Week To Determine Fate of Marion Jones’ Medals
The International Olympic Committee faces a tricky decision this week when they meet in Lausanne, Switzerland to determine the fate of Marion Jones’ 5 Olympic medals from the 2000 Sydney Games. They have to be careful not to strip one drug-tainted athlete of her medals only to award them to another dope-tainted athlete. Read more at: [International Herald Tribune]
Australian 400m Runner Steffenson Under Investigation for Verbal Assault
Australian 400m runner John Steffensen, apparently stilled peeved because he didn’t gain one of the coveted “automatic selection” slots for the Beijing Olympics, verbally assaulted track and field selection panel member Glynis Nunn-Cearns, winner of the 1984 Olympic gold medal in the heptathlon. He is now under investigation and could be charged with misconduct. Read more at: [The Australian]
Dallas White Rock Marathon
James Koskei overcame cold, windy and wet conditions to win the Dallas White Rock Marathon in 2:15:07. He won $35,000 in prize money – $10K for 1st place and $25K for winning the gender challenge, in which he overcame an 18 minute, 35 second head-start that was given to the women. Emily Samoei won the women’s race in 2:35:24. Read more at: [Google News][Complete Results]
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Last August 27th Tatyana Petrova demonstrated that she belongs in the top echelon of world athletics when she earned a silver medal in the 3000m steeplechase at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics. It was a run she made with confidence, and her performance put USD 30,000 in prize money in her bank account.
But on Sunday, she’ll be taking on a completely different challenge, one she admits she may not be entirely ready for: the 35th edition of the Honolulu Marathon.
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Paula Radcliffe “disturbed and disappointed” by Ohuruogu’s admission
British marathon world-record holder Paula Radcliffe, known for her strong stance against doping, has said that she is “disturbed and disappointed” by sprinter Christine Ohuruogu’s recent statements about her failure to make a doping test. Read more at: [Citizen, South Africa]
Winning Streaks of World’s Best Athletes on the Line
With the new year right around the corner, we “trackies” can begin to get excited about the 2008 track & field season. Some of the best athletes in the world will be laying their winning streaks on the line as they begin their ‘08 campaigns that will culminate with the best track meet of them all: the Olympic Games. Among those laying it all on the line are pole vault star Yelena Isinbayeva, steeplechaser Saif Saaeed Shaheen and multi-event queen Carolina Klüft, each of whom has a winning streak of at least 15 competitions. Read more at: [IAAF]
Muggy Honolulu Marathon Expected
The weather forecast for Honolulu this Sunday, December 9th, 2007, looks grim for the 26,286 runners who have registered for the Honolulu Marathon. They can expect scattered showers, a high temperature of 81°F, 70% humidity and north winds of 10 MPH. The only good thing about this forecast is the rain. Read more at: [The Weather Channel]
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The Honolulu Marathon announced that it had opened on-line registration this week, while the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon announced that it had closed theirs.
Honolulu, the third largest marathon in the United States and the sixth largest in the world with 24,575 finishers in 2006, will hold its 35th edition on Sunday, Dec. 9. According to spokesman Pat Bigold, 5,730 athletes had already entered. Registration can be accessed on-line at http://www.honolulumarathon.org.
Chicago, the second largest marathon in the world with 32,995 finishers in 2006, reported that they had reached their entry cap of 45,000 runners, a 5,000 increase over 2006. It will be the 30th edition of the event which has been the venue for the fastest marathon times ever recorded for men and women in the United States: 2:05:42 by Khalid Khannouchi in 1999 and 2:17:18 by Paula Radcliffe in 2002.
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