Week in Review: Wanyonyi lays down marker
Kenyan's 1:41.70 clocking in 800 meters is fastest in world since 2012
One superb performance in the middle of June, no matter how brilliant, is not a guarantee that a track and field athlete will win a gold medal when the athletics portion of Olympic Games are held in Paris from August 1-11.
However, there is no downplaying the significance of what Emmanuel Wanyonyi accomplished in the final of the men’s 800 meters in the Athletics Kenya Olympic Trials in Nairobi last Saturday.
For it was then that the young Kenyan, who will turn 20 on August 1, ran 1 minute 41.70 seconds in the two-lap race to move to third on the all-time performer list while producing the fastest time in the world since compatriot David Rudisha set the world record of 1:40.91 in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
While Rudisha had entered those Games as a heavy favorite after setting previous world records of 1:41.09 and 1:41.01 in 2010, Wanyonyi was fortunate to be running in the final on Saturday because he had finished a non-qualifying sixth place — in 1:51.76 — in a first-round heat last Friday after tripping and falling in the race.
There was a lot to report on from last week. Therefore, this column is on the long side. If this email appears clipped or truncated in your inbox, you should be able to click on “View entire message” to read it in its entirety.
After filing what turned out to be a successful appeal to be reinstated for the final due to the circumstances of his mishap, Wanyonyi was reported to have spent most of Saturday’ race in the lead.
I have not seen splits for the race. Nor have I seen a video of it from start to finish. But I did come across a video on a runningmagazine.ca post in which Wanyonyi has a one-stride lead over second-place Wycliffe Kinyamal with 130 meters to go before he begins to expand his advantage with about 60 meters left in the race.
While Kinyamal ties up visibly in the final 50 meters of the contest, Wanyonyi does a good job of maintaining his form through the finish line while Koitatoi Kidali finishes third after closing well.
Wanyonyi’s time cut more than a second off his personal best of 1:42.80 that he had set in winning the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, last September, while Kinyamal, Kidali, and Alex Kipngetich recorded personal bests of 1:42.50, 1:42.66, and 1:43.74, respectively, while finishing in second, third, and fourth place.
Kinyamal’s time moved him to 14th on the all-time world performer list and to sixth on the all-time Kenyan list, while Kidali now ranks 24th and ninth, respectively, in those categories.
Wanyonyi’s time is the ninth fastest ever run behind six clockings by the legendary Rudisha and a pair by Kenyan-born Dane Wilson Kipketer, who set world records of 1:41.24 and 1:41.11 in August of 1997.
“We have never seen such a time run on Kenyan soil,” Rudisha was quoted as saying in a World Athletics post. “We have never lost an Olympic gold in the men’s 800m since 2008, and seeing Wanyonyi run today, I think we will have another gold medal.”
To be clear, Kenyans have won the men’s 800 meters in the past four Olympics as Wilfred Bungei placed first in the 2008 Games in Beijing, Rudisha won consecutive titles in 2012 in London and in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, and Emmanuel Korir was victorious in Tokyo in 2021 after those Games had been postponed for a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Korir, who was also victorious in the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, ran in the Kenyan Olympic Trials, but he was eliminated in his qualifying heat.
While Wanyonyi’s performance had a huge Wow factor to it, there are at least two fellow competitors who are expected to offer him a serious challenge in Paris.
The first is 25-year-old Marco Arop of Canada.
He defeated Wanyonyi for the World title in Budapest, Hungary, last August, finished a close second to him — in 1:42.85 — in last year’s Pre Classic, and has posted winning times of 1:43.61 and 1:44.58 in his two outdoor races this season.
The second is 25-year-old Dejamel Sedjati of Algeria.
He was the silver medalist behind Korir in the 2022 World Championships and has displayed a terrific kick in posting winning times of 1:43.51 and 1:43.23 in his two 800-meter races this season. He has also run 2:13.97 for 1,000 meters.
Nonetheless, Wanyonyi was feeling understandably upbeat when a post on his Instagram account included the following text: Full of emotions!
From tripping and falling down at the semis, appealing and reinstated for the finals.
Running such an incredible time of 1:41.70 infront of the home fans was special 🇰🇪
See you in @paris2024
Another world-leading mark: Emmanuel Wanyonyi wasn’t the only athlete to post a yearly world-leading time in the Athletics Kenya Olympic Trials last Saturday.
Ferdinand Omanyala did likewise when he won the men’s 100 in 9.79 seconds while finishing more than three tenths of a second in front of second-place Mark Odhiambo, who ran 10.12.
Omanyala’s time was three hundredths of a second faster than the previous yearly world-leading time of 9.82 that Jamaican Oblique Seville had run in Kingston two weeks earlier when he defeated defending World champion Noah Lyles of the U.S.
It was also the second-fastest time of Omanyala’s career behind the African record of 9.77 that he set in 2021 while finishing a hundredth of a second behind first-place Trayvon Bromell of the U.S. in the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi.
While his performance on Saturday marked the sixth time in his career that the 28-year-old Omanyala has run 9.85 or faster, five of those marks occurred in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, where the elevation of more than 1,650 meters (5,413 feet) aids performances in the sprints, hurdles, and jumps.
In contrast, he has never run faster than 9.97 in his appearances in the Olympic Games in 2021 and in the World Championships in 2022 and ‘23. And based on his post-race comments in a World Athletics post, he seems keenly aware that that trend will need to change for him to distinguish himself as a truly elite sprinter.
“This year, I hope to run 9.8s in the races that matter,” he said.
Solid start: Injury issues led to Faith Kipyegon opening her season in last week’s Athletics Kenya Olympic Trials in Nairobi, but she nonetheless looked good in winning both the women’s 5,000 and 1,500 meters.
In the 5,000 held last Friday, Kipyegon began to pull away from Beatrice Chebet just before the start of the final lap to record a 14:46.28 to 14:52.55 victory over the woman who lowered the world record in the 10,000 to 28:54.14 in the Prefontaine Classic on May 25.
In the 1,500 on Saturday, the world record-holder and two-time defending Olympic champion took an early lead while on her way to a time of 3:53.98 that left her comfortably in front of second-place Nelly Chepchirchir, who placed second in 3:58.46.
The 30-year-old Kipyegon became the first woman to win the 1,500 and 5,000 in the same World Championships last year and she will now try to become the first woman to pull off the same double when the athletics portion of the Olympic Games are held in Paris from August 1-11.
In addition, a victory in the 1,500 would make her the first runner — man or woman — to win three consecutive Olympic titles in that event.
“I wanted to run 3:55 but was surprised with the 3:53,” Kipyegon said in a World Athletics post after her victory in the 1,500 in the Kenyan Trials. “I am excited to be back on track. I thank God I have been able to make the team for both the 5000m and the 1500m events. I’ll go and focus now on speed and endurance ahead of Paris.”
Ethiopian power: The list of men who have run under 26:40 for 10,000 meters on the track grew from 16 to 20 last Friday when four runners from Ethiopia dipped under that barrier in a meet in Nerja, Spain, that served as the qualifying race for the East African country’s Olympic team.
Yomif Kejelcha, 26, won the race in 26:31.01 after passing 23-year-old Berihu Aregawi (26:31.13) in the final 30 meters of the contest. But defending Olympic champion Selemon Barega grabbed the final spot on the Ethiopian Olympic team by finishing third in 26:34.93 and 17-year-old Biniam Mehary set a world U20 (under 20) record of 26:37.93 while finishing fourth in a race in which seven men ran under 27 minutes.
The top four finishers ran the four fastest times in the world this year, while Kejelcha’s effort was the 11th fastest in history and moved him to seventh on the all-time performer list
Aregawi moved to 12th and eighth in those same categories.
Barega and Mehary now rank 12th and 16th, respectively, on the all-time performer list with their efforts.
Running at night in what one report described as calm conditions with a race-time temperature of 21 degrees Celsius (70 Fahrenheit), the eventual top-four finishers came through 5,000 meters in 13:17.
Aregawi, the runner-up in the men’s race in the last two World Athletics Cross Country Championships, moved to the fore after the last pacesetter pulled off the track after 6,000 meters.
Mehary, who had run 12:54.10 for 5,000 meters last month, began to fall out of the lead group during the ninth kilometer and Aregawi and Kejelcha began to open a gap on Barega with a lap to go.
Aregawi managed to keep Kejelcha at bay for most of the last lap, but his taller countryman passed him in the final third of the home straightaway.
Ethiopian Gemechu Dida finished fifth in a personal best of 26:42.65 and compatriot Tadese Worku placed sixth in 26:46.80. Eritrea’s Merhawi Mebrahtu finished seventh in a personal best of 26:55.51.
Ethiopian Hagos Gebrhiwet, who had run the second-fastest 5,000-meter time in history with his 12:36.73 clocking in the Bislett Games in Oslo on May 30, finished ninth in 27:12.89.
An even 20: The number of women who have broken 30 minutes for 10,000 meters on the track rose from 19 to 20 at the conclusion of a race in Nerja, Spain, last Friday that served as the selection event for the Ethiopian Olympic team.
Fotyen Tesfay won the race in a personal best of 29:47.71 while finishing ahead of compatriots Tsigie Gbreselama in second place in 29:49.33 and Ejgayehu Taye in third in a personal best of 29:50.52.
Gebreselama and Taye had run under 30 minutes previously, but the 26-year-old Tesfay cut more than a minute off her previous best of 30:49.48 from last year.
Tesfay’s time moved her to 12th on the all-time performer list while Taye now sits in the No. 14 spot.
Gebreselama is in the No. 13 position based on her winning time of 29:48.34 from The TEN meet in San Juan Capistrano, California, in March.
Ethiopians Letesenbet Gidey and Gudaf Tsegay, winners of the women’s 10,000 in the past two World Championships, did not take part in the race. But that doesn’t mean they will not be running in the Olympic Games in Paris.
Tsegay holds the world record in the women’s 5,000 meters at 14:00.21 and she won that event and finished second in the 1,500 in the 2022 World Championships before winning the 10,000 in last year’s championships.
Gidey has finished second, third, first, and second in the 10,000 in the past four global title races, but she is also the former world record-holder in the 5,000 at 14:06.62 and has run the fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-fastest times in history.
Dynamite debut: In a meet in which jumpers turned in more top-notch performances than any other group of athletes, no one performed better in the European Athletics Championships in Rome than Jordan Alejandro Diaz Fortun of Spain.
Although the 23-year-old triple jumper had defected from Cuba to Spain in June of 2021, he was not eligible to represent Spain at the major-championship level until June 7 of this year. Wasting little time with his new eligibility status, Diaz Fortun came from behind to win the European title with an effort of 18.18 meters (59 feet 7¾ inches) on June 11.
Diaz Fortun’s jump was the third best in the history of the event and made defending Olympic and 2022 World champion Pedro Pichardo of Portugal one of only two men to have ever been beaten in a competition in which they have bounded 18 meters (59-0¾) or farther.
Pichardo, who placed fourth in the 2019 World Championships while competing for his native country of Cuba, bounded a Portuguese record of 18.04 (59-2¼) in the second round of the European Championships. But Diaz Fortun came close to that mark in the fourth round when his 17.96 (58-11¼) effort bettered his Spanish record of 17.87 (58-7½) and he surpassed it with his 18.18 (59-7¾) winner on his next jump.
He passed his sixth attempt in the competition in which Thomas Gogois of France finished third with a personal best of 17.38 (57-0¼).
“I did not really expect this, but the goal is always to keep improving,” Diaz Fortun was quoted as saying in a World Athletics post. “This is what we have been training for and considering what happened in the background of my training, I am very pleased with my result. Seeing Pichardo jumping 18 was a motivation to jump even farther because nobody came to these championships to finish second or third.”
Dynamite debut II: Injuries prevented Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy from opening his season until the European Championships, but he delighted the home crowd in Stadio Olimpico by clearing a yearly world-leading and championship-record height of 2.37 (7-9¼) in the men’s high jump while winning the event by a large margin.
Vladyslav Lavskyy of Ukraine finished second at 2.29 (7-6), a height that tied his personal best, and he was followed by compatriot Oleh Doroshchuk at 2.26 (7-5).
Although the 33-year-old Tamberi came within two centimeters of his national record with his 2.37 clearance, he was not particularly sharp in the early going of the competition.
After clearing 2.22 (7-3¼) on his first attempt, he needed two tries to make 2.26 (7-5) before needing three to get over 2.29 (7-6). He then cleared 2.31 (7-7) on his first attempt and 2.33 (7-7¾) on his second. The defending World champion then cleared 2.35 (7-8) and 2.37 (7-9¼) on his first tries before choosing not to attempt any higher heights after successfully defending his continental title.
“I knew I was in superb shape and I proved it,” defending Olympic co-champion Tamberi was quoted as saying in a European Athletics post. “I didn’t want to be outdone by my teammates who are doing great things, and I made it. There were many doubts about me after withdrawing from Ostrava, but I knew I had trained well and I was in extraordinary form.”
Big return to form: Reigning Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo of Germany topped seven meters (22-11¾) in the women’s long jump for the first time since August of 2022 while winning her second European title and first since 2018.
The 30-year-old Mihambo had won her second consecutive World title in 2022, but she had withdrawn from last year’s championships due to an injury and she entered the European Championships with a season best of 6.95 (22-9¾).
However, she spanned 7.03 (23-0¾) in the qualifying round on June 11 and then won the final on the last day of the meet by leaping a yearly world-leading distance of 7.22 (23-8¼) to finish well ahead of second-place Larissa Iapichino of Italy at 6.94 (22-9¼) and third-place Agate de Sousa of Portugal at 6.91 (22-8).
The jump was the second-longest in Mihambo’s career, behind her winning leap of 7.30 (23-11½) in the 2019 World Championships, and it came in the second round after she had leapt 6.70 (21-11¾) on her first attempt.
After fouling on her third attempt and passing her fourth, Mihambo leaped 7.04 (23-1¼) in the fifth round and 6.54 (21-5½) in the sixth.
“The 7.22m was close to a perfect jump, I hit the board well but the headwind was disturbing so the result could have been even better,” Mihambo was quoted as saying in a World Athletics post. “I knew that I had not yet shown what I had in training. Now the most important thing is to stay healthy.”
A record six: Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway won the men’s 1,500 meters in 3:31.95 in the European Championships on June 12 to become the first man to win six individual titles in the history of the continental championship meet.
His victory came four days after he had won the 5,000 in 13:20.11 and it followed victorious doubles in the European Championships in 2018 and 2022. The meet was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 23-year-old Ingebrigtsen dove across the finish line to win a hotly-contested 1,500 in a yearly world-leading time of 3:29.74 in the Bislett Games in Oslo on May 30. But he had comfortable margins of victory in the European Championships.
First, he finished more than a second in front of second-place George Mills of Great Britain in the 5,000. Then the defending Olympic champion in the 1,500 had a similar margin of victory in that event when his winning time of 3:31.95 left him well clear of second-place Jochem Vermuelen of Belgium (3:33.30) and third-place Pietro Arese of Italy (3:33.34).
“Today it's about winning,” Ingebrigtsen was quoted as saying in a Reuters post. “At the same time, I'm looking for answers in every single question I'm asked. Today I got a lot of good answers.”
Two victories, two national records: Nadia Battocletti of Italy capped a dandy distance double in the European Championships when she won the women’s 10,000 meters in 30:51.32 on June 11 after winning the 5,000 in 14:35.29 four days earlier.
The 24-year-old Battocletti’s time in the 10,000 bettered the previous Italian record of 31:05.57 set by Maura Viceconte in 2000, lowered her previous personal record of 31:06.42 from last year, and left her nearly six seconds in front of second-place Diane Van Es of the Netherlands, who ran a career best of 30:57.24.
In the 5,000, she bettered her previous national record of 14:41.30 from last year and finished more than three seconds in front of silver medalist Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdahl of Norway, who ran 14:38.62.
Battocletti’s victory in the 10,000 came in a race that included 33 runners, some of whom she lapped in the closing stages of the contest.
“It was a really tough race,” she was quoted as saying in an Athletics Weekly post. “There were a lot of girls and this was a problem during the last lap. For that reason I started to go faster with about 600m to go. After talking with my father he said ‘go faster earlier!’ ”
Battocletti won two of Italy’s 11 gold medals as the host country won 24 medals, which topped its previous best of 15 medals won in the 1990 meet. In addition to the 11 gold medals, the Italians won nine silver medals and four bronze.
France had the second highest medal total with 16. Its medal breakdown was four gold, five silver, and seven bronze.
Long time coming: After nearly 48 years, the Polish national record in the women’s 400 meters fell in the European Championships on June 10 when Natalia Kaczmarek won the event in 48.98 seconds while edging Rhasidat Adeleke of Ireland for the title.
The time by the 26-year-old Kaczmarek left her nine hundredths of a second in front of Adeleke’s Irish record of 49.07 and bettered the previous Polish record of 49.29 that was a world record when the late Irena Szewinska ran it in winning the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.
Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands finished third in 50.08 in a race that saw World championship silver medalist Kaczmarek and Adeleke move to third and fourth on the yearly world performer list.
In addition, they now rank sixth and seventh, respectively, on the all-time European performer list.
The win gave Kaczmarek her first continental title after she had finished second in the 400 in the previous European Championships in Munich in 2022.
“Coming to the start, I was dreaming about the Polish record but this 48.98 was something more than my imagination,” Kaczmarek was quoted as saying in a European Athletics post. “I was very well prepared for this championship and wanted to improve on my silver medal from Munich and this is what I managed to achieve tonight.
“So I am very proud about my performance. The run was good - I started pretty fast but the finish was very hard because there was a lot to fight for.”
Moving on up: Alexander Doom of Belgium registered his third personal best of the season when he won the men’s 400 meters in 44.15 seconds in the European Championships on June 10.
The reigning World indoor champion, who is known for his strong homestretch finish, was followed across the line by Charles Dobson of Great Britain in second place in a personal best of 44.38 and Liemarvin Bonevacia of the Netherlands in third in 44.88.
The 27-year-old Doom had lowered his personal best to 44.92 last year before beginning the outdoor season with a winning time of 44.51 in the Diamond League meet in Marrakech, Morocco, on May 19.
He then clocked 44.44 in finishing second to defending Olympic champion Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas (44.39) in the Golden Spike meet in Ostrava, Czech Republic, nine days later.
That was followed by a 44.87 clocking in his semifinal of the European Championships a day before Doom moved to second on the all-time European list and crushed the former Belgian record of 44.43 set by Jonathan Borlee in 2012.
The race for the men’s 400-meter title in the Olympic Games in Paris could be a wide-open affair as no one has to run under 44 seconds this season, but 10 individuals have run between 44.05 and 44.41.
The sub-47 list gets longer: Karsten Warholm of Norway set a meet record of 46.98 seconds in winning his third consecutive title in the men’s 400-meter intermediate hurdles in the European Championships on June 11.
The time by the 28-year-old Warholm gave him a solid margin of victory over the national-record efforts of Italy’s Alessandro Sibilio in second place at 47.50 and Carl Bengtstrom of Sweden in third at 47.94.
It was the record 11th sub-47 clocking of reigning Olympic and World champion Warholm’s career and snapped his first three-race losing streak since 2018.
Victorious ending: Femke Bol of the Netherlands had a hand in two victories on the final two days of the European Championships.
First, she won her second consecutive title in the women’s 400-meter hurdles when she ran a yearly world-leading time of 52.49 seconds in that event on June 11. Then she anchored the Netherlands to a winning time of 3:22.39 in the 4 x 400-meter relay on June 12.
Bol’s win in the 400 hurdles was her second of this season and gave her 14 consecutive victories in the event since she placed second in the World Championships in 2022. It also gave her a record 11 sub-52.50 clockings during her career.
Louise Maraval of France placed second in the 400 hurdles in 54.23, followed by Cathelijn Peeters of the Netherlands in 54.37.
The Netherlands 4 x 400 relay team was comprised of Lieke Klaver, Peeters, Lisanne de Witte, and Bol. The Dutch were followed across the finish line by Ireland in second place in 3:22.71 and Belgium in third in 3:22.95.
Big personal best: Johannes Erm of Estonia topped his previous best in the decathlon by nearly 300 points when he won the combined event with an 8,764-point total in the European Championships on June 11.
The 26-year-old Erm’s score bettered his previous best of 8,484 that he had set in finishing ninth in last year’s World Championships and moved him to second on the yearly world performer list behind the 8,961 points that German Leo Neugebauer of the University of Texas had scored in winning the NCAA title the previous week.
Sander Skothiem of Norway finished second with a national record of 8,635 points, followed by Makenson Gletty of France, who scored a personal best of 8,606.
Kevin Mayer of France, the world record-holder at 9,126 points and a two-time World champion, finished fifth with 8,476 points. However, his score did exceed the Olympic qualifying standard of 8,460.
Erm was 25 points back of first-place Skothiem after totaling 4,541 points on the first day of the competition by running the 100 meters in 10.60 seconds, leaping 7.91 (25-11½) in the long jump, putting the shot 14.99 (49-2¼), clearing 1.99 (6-6¼) in the high jump, and clocking 46.81 in the 400.
After running 14.30 in the 110-meter high hurdles and throwing the discus 44.56 (146-2) in the first two events of the second day, Erm trailed Skothiem and Gletty in the overall standings.
However, he took the lead in the pole vault when his personal best of 5.20 (17-0¾) gave him 972 points in the event, compared to the 790 that Skothiem was awarded for his best of 4.60 (15-1).
Erm then produced another personal best in the javelin with a throw of 62.71 (205-9) before he ran the 1,500 in 4:24.95.
His 8,764-point total moved him to 15th on the all-time performer list and ranks second on the all-time Estonian list behind the 8,815 that Erki Nool scored in finishing second in the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton, Canada.
“It has been two amazing days,” Erm was quoted as saying in an Athletics Weekly post. “I do not remember when I was last time this happy. I love it here. A lot of Estonian fans came here, and every single one counted. All the locals – everyone cheered us on, you could feel it in all events, especially in the 1500m.”
He then added: “I got the yellow (leader’s) bib for the javelin throw and after my final throw, I was already in shock. I had to calm down. Then came the 1500m. I couldn’t rest, my pulse was racing!
“I just loved the big stage. I got four PBs plus the decathlon, but I would say that nothing was perfect, but everything was very, very, very good. Or at least above average. I know that there is room to improve but it is really difficult to put all 10 events together and I just did it, so that is just amazing.”
It’s a start: I’m not sure what to make of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s first race of the season last Saturday.
While the two-time Olympic and five-time World champion in the women’s 100 meters produced the fastest time of the JAAA Olympic French Foray 3 meet in Kingston, her winning time of 11.15 seconds in the seventh — and final — heat of the event was her slowest season opener since she ran 11.51 in 2021 while finishing fourth in a cold, rainy meet in Gateshead, England, in which the wind reading was a negative 3.1 meters-per-second.
Few sprinters have timed their peaks better over the years than the 37-year Fraser-Pryce. However, her performance on Saturday came in her first race since last year’s World Championships when she sustained a leg injury while running the second leg on a Jamaican 4 x 100-meter relay team that clocked 41.21 while finishing second to a U.S. quartet that ran 41.03.
On top of that, injuries prevented Fraser-Pryce from running her first race last year until the Jamaican Championships when she clocked 22.39 in a first-round heat of the 200 before finishing second in the final in 22.26.
She did not compete in the 100 in the Jamaican Championships as she had a bye into the World Championships because she was the defending champion.
Fraser-Pryce did post promising winning times of 10.82 and 10.83 in her first two 100-meter races of last season in Europe in late July, but she finished third in the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, when her 10.77 clocking left well back of gold medalist Sha’Carri Richardson of the U.S., who set a meet record of 10.65, and silver medalist Shericka Jackson of Jamaica, who ran 10.72
Two liners: Mondo Duplantis of Sweden won his third consecutive title in the men’s pole vault in the European Athletics Championships in Rome on June 11. The defending Olympic and two-time defending World champion cleared 5.65 meters (18 feet 6½ inches), 5.82 (19-1¼), 5.92 (19-5¼), 5.97 (19-7), and 6.10 (20-0) on his first attempts before missing three times at a world-record height of 6.25 (20-6). . . . . Angelica Moser tied the Swiss record of 4.78 (15-8¼) in the women’s pole vault when she won the event in the European Championships on June 10. Moser’s winning height added three centimeters to her previous personal best of 4.75 (15-7) that she had first set in finishing fifth in the World Championships last August and then tied in placing fourth in the World Indoor Championships in March. . . . . Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain won her second consecutive title in the women’s 800 meters in the European Championships on June 12, despite competing while battling an illness. The silver medalist in the Olympic Games in 2021 and the last two World Championships ran 1:58.65 after clocking a yearly world-leading time of 1:55.78 in her season opener in the Prefontaine Classic on May 25. . . . . Reigning World champion Mary Moraa of Kenya finished second in the women’s 800 meters in 1:59.35 in the Athletics Kenya Olympic Trials in Nairobi last Saturday. According to a World Athletics post, Moraa took control of the race with about 150 meters remaining, but she was overtaken by Lilian Odira (1:59.27) in the home straightaway after she appeared to ease up in an effort to help her sister, Sarah Moraa — who finished third in 1:59.39 — win the race.
No Olympic Trials for Bromell: Trayvon Bromell, the bronze medalist in the men’s 100 meters in the World Championships in 2015 and 2022, will not compete in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials that start today in Eugene, Oregon.
Bromell, 28, confirmed in a social media post last week that he had “to listen to my body” and would not take part in the meet that will be divided into two four-day segments that run from today through June 24 and from June 27-30.
The sprinter whose personal best of 9.76 seconds in the 100 puts him in a three-way tie for third on the all-time U.S. performer list, had run 9.84 to place second in the 2016 Olympic Trials and 9.80 in the 2021 meet that had been postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, he was unable to re-produce those performances in the Olympics as he placed eighth in the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro and was eliminated in the semifinals in Tokyo in 2021 after entering the meet as a gold-medal contender.
He has dealt with injuries during much of his career and his withdrawal from the Trials is due to an injury he suffered in meet in a Savona, Italy, on May 15 when finished fifth in 10.87 after slowing abruptly during the last third of the race.
No Olympic Trials for Wilson: Britton Wilson, the American record-holder in the women’s 400 meters indoors at 49.48 seconds and the former collegiate outdoor record-holder at 49.13, will not compete in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials that start today in Eugene, Oregon.
The versatile Wilson, who placed fifth in the 400 hurdles in the 2022 World Athletics Championships before running the third leg on the victorious 4 x 400 relay team, announced on social media last week that she needed to take some time off due to a lingering injury.
The 23-year-old Wilson gave up her final year of collegiate eligibility at the University of Arkansas to run professionally this year, but she had not looked sharp in her three 400-meter races. She posted winning times of 51.07 and 50.74 in a pair of meets in the U.S. on April 6 and 13, respectively, before running 51.26 while finishing third in a Diamond League opener in Xiamen, China, on April 20.
She had not raced since then.
Wilson, who has a personal best of 53.08 in the 400 hurdles, set her American indoor record of 49.48 in the 400 in winning the NCAA championships last year before running 49.64 or faster six times during the collegiate outdoor season.
She advanced to the finals of the 400 and 400 hurdles in the NCAA outdoor meet, but finished second in the 400 in 49.64 before placing seventh in the hurdles in 55.92 while running in that event approximately 25 minutes after the finish of the 400.
She placed second in the 400 in 49.79 in the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships in early July, but she finished eighth in 53.87 in her first-round heat of the World Championships in August and medical personnel took her off the track in a wheelchair while she was in obvious pain.
Although she did not give any details about the current injury in her recent post, she revealed in a Zoom call with reporters in December that she had been dealing with stress fractures in both of her shins last season.
Onward to the Olympic Trials: Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura High School in California, who won the girls’ 800 meters in 2:03.99 in the Brooks PR Invitational on June 12 and the mile in 4:37.04 in the New Balance Nationals Outdoors meet on Sunday, has been accepted into the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the women’s 1,500 meters.
Engelhardt, who just finished her junior year of classes at Ventura, is scheduled to run in a first-round heat of the women’s 1,500 on June 27. The heats are scheduled to start at 8:23 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time.
Although Engelhardt’s best time of 4:08.86 in the 1,500 did not meet the automatic qualifying standard of 4:06.00 for the Trials, it was significantly faster than the minimum standard of 4:12.00. And after the entries for the event had been finalized, Engelhardt’s time made her the 34th-fastest entry in a field of 38 runners.
The first-round heats will be used to trim the field to 24 runners for the semifinals on June 28, and the semifinals will pare the field to 12 competitors for the final on June 30.
Awards time: Leo Neugebauer of the University Texas and Parker Valby of Florida have been selected as the men’s and women’s outdoor athletes of the year, respectively, by Track & Field News.
Neugebauer capped his senior season by setting a collegiate record of 8,961 points in the decathlon in the NCAA Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, on June 6.
His score topped his previous collegiate and German record of 8,836 points from last year, was the eighth best in history, and moved him to sixth on the all-time world performer list.
His performance also followed a win in the Texas Relays in late March when he totaled 8,708 points, what was then the third-best score in collegiate history.
NCAA champions Caleb Dean of Texas Tech, Rowan Hamilton of Cal, and Christopher Morales Williams of Georgia were honorable mention selectees.
Dean, a senior, won the 400-meter intermediate hurdles in 47.23 seconds to move to second on the all-time collegiate list in that event.
Hamilton, another senior, was unbeaten during the season in the hammer throw and moved to eighth on the all-time collegiate performer list with his best of 77.18 (253-3) in the NCAA meet.
Sophomore Morales Williams, a Canadian like Hamilton, clocked 44.47 in winning the 400 in the NCAA championships after running a national record and yearly world-leading time of 44.05 to win the SEC title.
Valby, a junior who is expected to turn professional in the near future, won the women’s 5,000 and 10,000 meters in the NCAA championships and lowered the collegiate record in each event during the course of the outdoor season.
She slashed nearly 28 seconds off the previous collegiate record in the 10,000 when she ran 30:50.43 to win the Bryan Clay Invitational at Azusa Pacific University in California on April 11 and she cut nearly 11 seconds off the college best in the 5,000 when she ran 14:52.18 in the NCAA final.
NCAA champions Nickisha Pryce of Arkansas, Doris Lemngole of Alabama, Jaida Ross of Oregon, and Rhema Otabor of Nebraska all received honorable mention after setting collegiate records in their respective events.
Senior Pryce ran a Jamaican record of 48.89 seconds in the 400 while leading Arkansas to an unprecedented 1-2-3-4 finish in the NCAA meet while freshman Lemngole won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:15.24 on the same day.
Ross, a junior, raised the collegiate record in the shot put three times during the season, with her best of 20.01 (65-7¾) moving her to seventh on the all-time U.S. performer list.
Senior Otabor won her second consecutive NCAA title in the javelin with a come-from-behind victory in which she set a collegiate and Bahamian record of 64.19 (210-7) on her fifth throw of the competition.
In memory: Bob Schul, the only American to win the men’s 5,000 meters in the Olympic Games, passed away in Middletown, Ohio, on Sunday. He was 86.
Schul, who suffered greatly from asthma as a young boy, used a big kick to move from fifth place to first in the final 300 meters of the 5,000 in the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo in a race that was contested in the rain and on a muddy cinder track.
Michel Jazy of France had taken the lead from Bill Dellinger of the U.S. at the start of the bell lap and he extended his advantage to close to 10 meters ahead of second-place Harald Norpoth of Germany heading down the backstretch. But Schul was a stride behind Norpoth entering the final turn and he passed the German midway through the curve before setting his sights on Jazy, who kept looking behind him to check the positions of his closest competitors.
Schul lacked the mile speed of Jazy, who would lower the world record in the event to 3:53.6 in 1965, but he sped past the Frenchman with about 70 meters left in the race and crossed the finish line in 13:48.8, well clear of second-place Norpoth (13:49.6), third-place Dellinger (13:49.8), and fourth-place Jazy (13:49.8). Despite the sloppy conditions, Schul ran 54.8 seconds for his last lap and 38.7 for his final 300.
In addition to his Olympic victory, Schul was undefeated outdoors in 1964. Amongst his accomplishments was a U.S. record of 13:38.0 in the 5,000 and a world record of 8:26.4 in the two mile.
The 1964 season was the pinnacle of Schul’s career and his No. 1 ranking in the 5,000 by Track & Field News marked the only time that he was ranked among the top 10 performers in the world.
A sore knee forced him to stop running for four months shortly after his Olympic triumph. Although he managed to lower the U.S. record to 13:10.4 in the three mile in 1965, his knee began acting up again in August of that year and he decided to retire.
He began running again in 1967 to stay fit, but he later finished fifth in the 5,000 in the 1968 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Echo Summit, California.
He coached quite a bit after his career at the world-class level ended and was the head men’s and women’s cross country and track and field coach at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, from 1996-2007.