TheFinalSprint.com - Track & Field, Marathons, Racing News, Training Advice, Elite Athlete Blogs, Interviews, Podcasts, Videos and More! - TheFinalSprint.com is the Premier Destination for Track & Field, Marathon, Cross Country, Olympic and Road Racing Enthusiasts.

Lead Stories: Friday, December 5, 2008

Switching Roles, Kiprop & Kamel Prevail in Lausanne

Posted September 2nd, 2008 at 8:19 PM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Trying their hands at alternate distances, Olympic 1500m silver medalist Asbel Kiprop and 800m finalist Yusuf Saad Kamel traded places to take impressive victories at the Athletissima Super Grand Prix here tonight.

For Kiprop, the tall Kenyan who chased Rashid Ramzi to the line in Beijing, it wasn’t so much a case of moving down in distance, but more of a move back to where the 19-year-old began his breakout season. Battling with Olympic champion Wilfred Bungei heading off the final turn, he passed his compatriot with about 50 meters to go to take a convincing victory in 1:44.71, a personal best.

Just behind Kiprop, Alfred Kirwa Yego (1:44.77) and then Ugandan Abraham Chepkirwok (1:45.00) overtook Bungei, who faded badly down the homestretch to finish fourth (1:45.31).
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

2008 Beijing Olympic Preview: Women’s 1500 Meters

Posted August 12th, 2008 at 3:30 PM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

Women’s 1500 Meters

The Schedule: heats, Tuesday Aug 19; semifinals, Thursday Aug 21; finals, Saturday Aug 23
The Americans: #5 Shannon Rowbury, #8 Erin Donohue, #9 Christin Wurth-Thomas
The Contenders: #2 Maryam Yusuf Jamal (BRN), #3 Gelete Burka (ETH), #7 Sarah Jamieson (AUS), #14 Daniela Yordanova (BUL)
The Stats: Records, 2008 List, 2007 Worlds, 2004 Olympics
The Medal Picks: T&FN - Jamal, Soboleva, Tomashova;
SI - Jamal, Lishchynska, Burka
The Story: The USA has never won an Olympic medal in this event, but that may change this year. The Stars & Stripes is fielding its strongest trio ever in this event, headlined by Rowbury. She will be a breakout media star if she manages to win gold.
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

TFS News Briefs: 2/20/2008

Posted February 20th, 2008 at 1:56 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Cross Country, Track & Field, TFS News Briefs

IAAF’s Preview Of Melbourne Grand Prix
At the Melbourne Grand Prix, a highly fit Craig Mottram will take on teen Ethiopian sensation Abreham Cherkos Feleke in the 5000m in front of a home crowd. Jeremy Wariner will run his first 400m of the 2008 season. Asafa Powell is still questionable for the 100m.
Read more at: [IAAF]

New Bookshop at Runner’s World
The Runner’s World website has a new feature: the Runner’s World Bookshop. Included among the offering is Runner’s World Guide To Road Racing, which offers “advice from the pros on training for and competing in the four most popular road races–5K, 10K, half-marathon, and marathon.”
Read more at: [Runner’s World]

No Indoor Championshipss For Bekele
Kenenisa Bekele will miss the IAAF World Indoor Athletic Championships. Instead, he will focus on the World Cross-Country Championships where he hopes to redeem himself after a disastrous 2007 race in Mombasa, Kenya. In that race he succumbed to the heat and the humidity and was forced to drop out.
Read more at: [Guardian Unlimited, UK]
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

2008 Track & Field
Previews & Predictions:
Women’s Middle-Distance

Posted January 25th, 2008 at 5:25 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

Maria Mutola recently announced that she will retire at the end of the 2008 season. That’s a shame because she has been the ambassador of women’s 800m running ever since she broke on the world-class middle-distance running scene in 1991 with a time of 1:57.63. Since then she’s run between 1:55.19 and 1:58.98 a staggering 108 times. The only other woman to come even close to running that many world-class times in the 800m has been the great Cuban runner Ana Quirot, who ran between 1:54.44 and 1:58.95 a total of 72 times between 1986 and 1997. The 800m event will truly be diminished when Mutola retires.
Read the rest of this entry »

2 comments, add yours | Permalink

3-Peat for Jamal Highlights First Day in Stuttgart

Posted September 22nd, 2007 at 3:32 PM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Yet another dominating display in the 1500m by Maryam Yusuf Jamal was the highlight of the first day of action at the 5th IAAF/VTB Bank World Athletics Final.

Running in unseasonably warm and pleasant conditions, Jamal proved for the fourth consecutive race since taking the world title in Osaka late last month that at the moment, she is without peer in the metric mile. Biding her time behind early leader Viola Kibiwott, the 23-year-old old took control of the race with just over two laps to go before sprinting from the midway through the final bend en route to a sizable victory in 4: 01.23.

“I’m very satisfied,” said Jamal, after bringing her season to and end. “This year was really big for me. I plan to continue like this next year.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

IAAF World Athletics Final: Women’s 1500m

Posted September 22nd, 2007 at 9:39 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results

Ethiopian-born Maryam Yusuf Jamal, living in Switzerland but representing Bahrain, won the women’s 1500m at the IAAF World Athletics Final in a time of 4:01.23. She ran the last 300m in a dazzling 46.17. Agnes Samaria (NAM) stepped up from her usual 800m to set a national record of 4:05.44. Here are the final results.

1. Maryam Yusuf Jamal (BRN ) 4:01.23
2. Yelena Soboleva (RUS ) 4:05.35
3. Sarah Jamieson (AUS ) 4:05.43
4. Agnes Samaria (NAM ) 4:05.44
5. Viola Kibiwot (KEN ) 4:06.00
6. Btissam Lakhouad (MAR ) 4:06.01
7. Olga Yegorova (RUS ) 4:07.67
8. Yuliya Fomenko (RUS ) 4:08.14
9. Carmen Ddouma-Hussar (CAN ) 4:08.33
10. Iryna Lishchynska (UKR ) 4:13.82
11. Siham Hilali (MAR ) 4:16.51

Comment on this post | Permalink

On the Road & Around the Track:
TFS News Briefs 9/20/07

Posted September 20th, 2007 at 1:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, TFS News Briefs

World Athletics Final Middle- and Long-Distance Preview
In the latest WAF preview there are speculations about who will run the middle- and long-distance events this late in the season and why they will do it. Runners to watch (men): Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (800m), Daniel Kipchirchir Komen (1500m), Craig Mottram (3000m), Paul Kipsiele Koech (3000m SC), Sileshi Sihine (5000m). Women: Janeth Jepkosgei (800m), Maryam Yusuf Jamal and Yelena Soboleva (1500m), Yekaterina Volkova (3000m SC), Meseret Defar (pictured at right, 5000m). Also, an explanation of the WAF points system and the current standings. Read more at: [IAAF WAF2007]

World Marathon Majors Conference Call with Race Directors
Race Directors Dave Bedford (London), Carey Pinkowski (Chicago), Mark Milde (Berlin), Mary Wittenberg (New York City) and Guy Morse (Boston) talk about a range of questions regarding their races and the sport in general. Read the complete transcript at: [Track & Field News]
Read the rest of this entry »

One comment, add yours | Permalink

Weltklasse Zürich Wrapup

Posted September 7th, 2007 at 4:30 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

1500m, Men
Since there was a no rabbits rule in effect, it was a slow, tactical race from the start. Belal Mansoor Ali (BRN) led at 400m, then Suleiman Simotwo (KEN) tried to pick up the pace over the next two laps. He passed 800m in 1:59.19 then 1200m in 2:56.19. Over the final 300m, Mehdi Baala (FRA) poured on his kick, trying to redeem himself for his disqualification in Osaka. He quickly opened a 5m gap and coasted to the finish in 3:38.62. Tarek Boukensa (ALG) overtook several runners in the final few meters to finish 2nd in 3:38.84. Alan Webb (USA) was never a factor in the race and left open the question as to whether or not he can run a smart tactical race at the world-class level. Here are the final results:

1. Mehdi Baala (FRA) 3:38.62
2. Tarek Boukensa (ALG) 3:38.84
3. Daniel Kipchirchir Komen (KEN) 03:38.96
4. Antar Zerguelaine (ALG) 3:39.18
5. Asbel Kiprop (KEN) 3:39.31
6. Christian Obrist (ITA) 3:39.50
7. Alan Webb (USA) 3:39.69
8. Alex Kipchirchir (KEN) 3:39.84
9. Belal Mansoor Ali (BRN) 3:40.21
10. Suleiman Simotwo (KEN) 3:40.52
11. Andy Baddeley (GBR) 3:40.75
12. Arturo Casado (ESP) 3:44.38
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

Lagat’s Second Gold Medal Caps World Championships

Posted September 2nd, 2007 at 4:33 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Special Features, Live Race Coverage

While critics said he had bitten off more than he could chew, Bernard Lagat swallowed up the field of the men’s 5000m final here tonight, becoming the first man to win both the 1500m and 5000m at an IAAF World Championships in Athletics. He also became the first American to win a 5000m world title.

It mattered not his winning time of 13:45.87 was the slowest in the history of these championships. In fact, it was the painfully slow early pace which set the stage for Lagat to use his unmatched closing speed to clinch the title over Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge, the 2003 world champion. In a memorable sprint to the finish, Lagat just edged his former compatriot by 13/100ths of a second, running about 52 seconds for the final lap.
Read the rest of this entry »

One comment, add yours | Permalink

Maryam Yusuf Jamal Wins Women’s 1500m

Posted September 2nd, 2007 at 7:15 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Special Features, Live Race Coverage

The final of the women’s 1500m Run at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics from Osaka, Japan was meant to be a 4 woman race: Maryam Yusuf Jamal (BRN), Yelena Soboleva (RUS), Daniela Yordanova (BUL) and Yelena Soboleva (RUS), all of whom had sub 4 1500m personal bests.

Soboleva took the field through 400m in 1:05.82, a respectable pace. 800m was run in 2:09.57, a quick 63.75 second lap with Soboleva still in the lead. Soboleva still led at 1200m with a time of 3:12.66. The 3rd 400m was 1:03.09. Then Jamal began a drive 300m from the tape. In thew closing meters she began to tie up but the 3 meter lead she had opened up was enough for gold, which she won in 3:58.75, a s season’s best. Soboleva took silver in 3:58.99. Iryna Lishchynska (UKR) took the bronze in 4:00.69, also a season’s best. There were a total of 3 season’s bests, 2 personal bests and a national record (Agnes Samaria of Namibia in 4:07.61) set in this quick final. Here are the final results:

1. Maryam Yusuf Jamal (BRN) 3:58.75
2. Yelena Soboleva (RUS) 3:58.99
3. Iryna Lishchynska (UKR) 4:00.69
4. Daniela Yordanova (BUL) 4:00.82
5. Mariem Alaoui Selsouli (MAR) 4:01.52
6. Viola Kibiwot (KEN) 4:02.10
7. Yuliya Fomenko (RUS) 4:02.46
8. Agnes Samaria (NAM) 4:07.61
9. Nataliya Panteleeva (RUS) 4:07.82
10. Lidia Chojecka (POL) 4:08.64
11. Nataliya Tobias (UKR) 4:10.56
12. Iris Fuentes-Pila (ESP) 4:14.00

Comment on this post | Permalink