Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge came tantalizingly close to breaking one of the most coveted frontiers left in athletics, running a full marathon in two hours and 24 seconds Saturday. Kipchoge, 32, joined fellow world-class runners Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia and Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea in Nike’s Breaking2 project, an attempt to cover the 26.2 miles (42.2 … Read more
Reigning Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya narrowly failed in his attempt to complete the distance under the two-hour mark on Saturday, finishing in a time of 2hr 00min 24sec. Backed by a small army of scientists and helped by an ever-changing battalion of pacesetters, Kipchoge set out to complete the classic marathon distance … Read more
South Africa’s Akani Simbine surprised a world-class sprint field, including Justin Gatlin, Asafa Powell and Andre De Grasse to claim a season-opening 100m Diamond League victory on Friday. The 23-year-old powered home in a time of 9.99sec to become the first South African man to win a Diamond League 100m, and serve notice that the … Read more
Three elite runners backed by a small army of scientists will on Saturday attempt an audacious assault on the boundaries of the possible by trying to run a marathon in less than two hours. Reigning Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya, Ethiopia’s Lelisa Desisa and Eritrea’s Zersenay Tadese will aim to complete the classic … Read more
They finished second and third in last year’s Olympics 100m final and on Friday Justin Gatlin and Andre De Grasse renew their rivalry in the Diamond League season-opener in Qatar. The sprint race is not the only standout event of the now-traditional Doha curtain-raiser for the league — this year spread over 14 meetings in … Read more
Long jump world record-holder Mike Powell said plans to rewrite world records set before 2005 are “a slap in the face” and vowed on Wednesday to fight the move. European Athletics has proposed that only world records that stand up to strict criteria should be recognised in order to make a clean break with the … Read more
Plans to rewrite world records set before 2005 are “disrespectful, an injustice and a slap in the face”, says former long jumper Mike Powell, who stands to lose his own world record. The proposals by European Athletics are part of attempts to make a clean break with the sport’s doping scandals. If the move is … Read more
Kenya’s Mary Keitany set the fastest time in a women-only marathon as she won a third London Marathon on Sunday in an unofficial 2hrs 17min 01sec. The 35-year-old, who also has three New York Marathon victories, beat Ethiopian track great Tirunesh Dibaba by almost a minute. Keitany went out at breakneck speed, helped by a … Read more
Evergreen American sprinter Justin Gatlin struck gold when he anchored his team to victory at the IAAF World Relays in Nassau, while double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson shone for Jamaica. The battle between Gatlin, the 35-year-old 2004 Olympic 100m champion who has served two doping bans, and Usain Bolt’s self-professed successor Andre de Grasse did … Read more
Evergreen American sprinter Justin Gatlin struck gold when he anchored his team to victory at the IAAF World Relays in Nassau on Saturday, while double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson shone for Jamaica. The battle between Gatlin, the 35-year-old 2004 Olympic 100m champion who has served two doping bans, and Usain Bolt’s self-professed successor Andre de … Read more
Usain Bolt’s absence from the track at the end of the season will be a huge blow to the world of athletics no matter IAAF president Sebastian Coe’s protestations that other athletes are just as deserving as the spotlight. There can be no denying the worth the towering Jamaican has brought to the sport at … Read more
Ethiopian track legend Kenenisa Bekele believes he is in the sort of form to break Eliud Kipchoge’s fastest ever time in the London Marathon on Sunday. Should the 34-year-old — who still holds the 5,000 and 10,000 metres world records — manage that it would be a fitting end to a week that has seen … Read more
British Olympic high jump silver medallist Germaine Mason has died aged 34 after a motorcycle crash in Jamaica. The Jamaica-born athlete, who switched to represent Great Britain in 2006, won silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He was a friend of sprinter Usain Bolt, who was on the scene soon after the crash at 04:20 … Read more
Rio Olympic Games silver medalist and former drug addict Luvo Manyonga of South Africa has his sights set on smashing the 26-year-old long jump world record of American Mike Powell. A leap of 8.95 metres by Powell in Tokyo during 1991 set a benchmark no rival has surpassed. “My dream is to become the first … Read more
British Olympic high jump silver medallist Germaine Mason has died at the age of 34 after a motorcycle crash, police in Jamaica have said. The Jamaica-born athlete, who switched to represent Great Britain in 2006, won silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Mason won Britain’s first athletics medal of the Beijing Games, finishing second behind … Read more
German sportswear giant Adidas sparked a social media outcry Tuesday after sending an email congratulating runners in the Boston Marathon for having “survived” the race. The choice of words jarred as memories remain fresh of the 2013 deadly bombing of the event in the Massachusetts city. “Congrats, you survived the Boston Marathon!” Adidas said in … Read more
Training with Jamaican athletics legend Usain Bolt gave Wayde van Niekerk the self-belief he could break Michael Johnson’s 400 metres world record, he told The Times on Tuesday. The 24-year-old South African duly delivered in perhaps the performance of last year’s athletics at the Olympics in Rio posting a time of 43.03 in the final … Read more
Hundreds of runners took part in Tehran’s first-ever marathon on Friday, but many women were outraged to find they could only run a short distance in a closed-off stadium. While men ran through Iran’s capital in the morning, women were allowed to run just 10 kilometres (six miles) in Azadi stadium in the afternoon — … Read more
Olympic marathon champion Jemima Sumgong has failed an out-of-competition drugs test. The 32-year-old tested positive for the banned substance EPO in a test by athletics governing body the IAAF. Sumgong also won the 2016 London marathon and was due to defend her title later this month. “We can confirm that an anti-doping rule violation case … Read more
Jemima Sumgong, the first Kenyan woman to win Olympic marathon gold when she triumphed at Rio in 2016, has failed an out-of-competition dope test, reports claimed Friday. The 32-year-old, who is also the reigning London Marathon champion, tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO in a test by the International Association of Athletics Federations … Read more