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Lead Stories: Wednesday, December 3, 2008

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.
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Top Triple-Threat Sprinters of All Time (Women)

Posted December 2nd, 2007 at 8:30 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Drugs In Sports

Jarmila Kratochvílová Yesterday we took a look at the top male triple-threat sprinters of all time. I had been curious to find out whether or not any man has ever run a world class time in all of the following events: 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m. No man has ever done so. What about the women?

I turns out that one woman in track history has run a world-class time in all four events. Jarmila Kratochvílová (CZE) has run a time of 11.09 in the 100m, 21.97 in the 200m, 47.99 in the 400m, and – of course – her long-standing world-record time of 1:53.28 in the 800m. A caveat must be added to any mention of an achievement of this sort: although she never tested positive, rumors of her doping have persisted ever since she stormed onto the world-class running scene in the early 1980s. According to Wikipedia, “doctors administered banned substances, such as nandrolone, norandrosterone and stanozolol, through the 1980s to Czechoslovakian athletes in a wide variety of sports including track and field athletics.”
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Kenyan woman makes history at IAAF World Championships

Posted August 28th, 2007 at 2:47 PM by David Monti

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

It was at the second IAAF World Championships in Athletics in 1987 when Kenya first put a man on the top step of the podium at 800m in either a world championships or an Olympic Games. Tonight, 20 years later, a Kenyan woman has finally duplicated that feat, joining legends Billy Konchellah, Paul Ruto, Paul Ereng and William Tanui as world or Olympic 800m champions.

Janeth Jepkosgei, the Commonwealth Games champion who ran the fastest-ever time in a world championships semi-final on Sunday, saved more than enough for tonight’s final, leading wire-to-wire in 1:56.04, a new Kenyan record.

“I’m so happy about it,” said Jepkosgei who is from the village of Kapsabet but now lives in Eldoret. “I was not really expecting it.”
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Despite attempted coup Bekele retains 10,000m throne

Posted August 27th, 2007 at 8:57 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

kenenisa bekele winning 10,000m gold medal at 2007 iaaf world championships in athletics The prince saw an opportunity to take the throne, but in the end the king’s reign would continue, at least for another two years.

That was the basic scenario which played out in tonight’s much-anticipated men’s 10,000m final which capped an exciting evening of middle and long distance running at the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics at Nagai Stadium.

Sileshi Sihine, the Ethiopian who took the silver medal behind compatriot Kenenisa Bekele at both the 2004 Olympic Games and the 2005 World Championships, saw a chance to move up to the top step of the podium when Bekele fell to third place late in the race and appeared to be struggling.

A fast pace set by world cross country champion Zersenay Tadesse of Eritrea followed by an attack with three laps to go by Kenyan Martin Irungu Mathathi, set the stage for Sihine’s bid for victory. He shot ahead, opening a big gap and it looked like a gold medal move.
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Defar returns, Gebrselassie to chase hour run world record in Ostrava

Posted June 26th, 2007 at 11:10 AM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

On the track where Kenenisa Bekele succeeded Haile Gebrselassie as the 10,000m world record holder, the fabled Ethiopian and his younger compatriot Meseret Defar are poised to take center stage when the European international season resumes on Wednesday at the 46th Golden Spike Grand Prix in this sprawling eastern Czech city.

Just 12 days after her staggering 14:16.63 world record in Oslo, Defar returns to action again in the 5000. Although the 23-year-old Olympic champion hasn’t promised to take her record down even further, she hasn’t fully dismissed the possibility either.