Week in Review: Chebet's world record gives Kenya historic first
Country now owns women's bests at every Olympic distance from 1,500 meters to marathon
For the first time in history, runners from one country hold world records in the women’s 1,500 meters, 3,000 steeplechase, 5,000, 10,000, and marathon at the same time.
That became a fact at roughly 4:35 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, last Saturday when Beatrice Chebet of Kenya set a world record of 13:58.06 in the women’s 5,000 in the 50th Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, to give Kenyan runners global bests in all five of the aforementioned events.
About 80 minutes later, Faith Kipyegon strengthened Kenya’s hold on the world record in the women’s 1,500 when she ran 3:48.68 to better her previous global best of 3:49.04 in the final race of the meet at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field.
Kenya’s hold on all five world records might not last long, as Winfred Yavi of Bahrain won the steeplechase in 8:45.25 in the Prefontaine Classic to narrowly miss the world record of 8:44.32 held by Kenyan Beatrice Chepkoech by less than a second. But for now, the East African nation of roughly 57.5 million people can lay claim to being home to four women who hold the current world records in the 1,500, steeplechase, 5,000, 10,000, and marathon between them.
In case you missed it, you can click here for an in-depth report on the Prefontaine Classic from last Saturday.
The 25-year-old Chebet, who had become the first Kenyan woman to hold the world record in the 10,000 when she ran 28:54.14 in last year’s Prefontaine meet, became the second runner from her country to set a world record in the 5,000 when her 13:58.06 clocking bettered the previous best of 14:00.21 set by Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay in the 2023 Prefontaine Classic.
Tsegay’s performance had bettered the previous world record of 14:05.25 that Kipyegon had set a little more than three months earlier. But Chebet spurted away from the Ethiopian with about 160 meters left in the race on Saturday as she covered the final 200 meters of the race in 28.8 seconds, her last 400 in 62.4 and her fifth kilometer in 2:43.94.
Her time topped her previous best of 14:03.69 that she had run in winning the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea meet in Rome on June 6 and it left her three-plus seconds in front of compatriot Agnes Ngetich, who placed second in 14:01.29, and Tsegay, who finished third in 14:04.41.
Margaret Akidor of Kenya placed fourth in a personal best of 14:30.34 in a race that served as Kenya’s qualifying race for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo from Sept. 13-21.
Ngetich’s time demolished her previous best of 14:25.80 that she had set in early May and was the third fastest in history, while Tsegay’s effort was the second fastest of her career and the fifth faster ever.
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“I’m so happy; after running in Rome, I said I have to prepare for a record, because in Rome I was just running to win a race, but after running 14:03, I said that ‘I’m capable of running a world record,’ ” Chebet said in quotes on the meet website. “So, let me go back home, and then come to Eugene. When I was coming here to Eugene, I was coming to prepare to run a world record, and I said ‘I have to try.’ ”
The reigning Olympic champion in the 5,000 and 10,000 added that she received extra motivation because she knew Kipyegon was also going to be shooting for a world record in the 1,500.
“I said ‘If Faith is trying, why not me?’ And today, I’m so happy because I’ve achieved being the first woman to run under 14. I’m so happy for myself.”
The 31-year-old Kipyegon was running in her third race of the season as she had clocked a victorious 2:29.21 for 1,000 meters in a Diamond League meet in Xiamen, China, on April 26, as well as a time of 4:06.42 in a much-hyped exhibition mile on June 26.
Thirteen pacesetters had started that high-tech time trial with Kipyegon in an effort to see if she could become the first woman in history to run a mile in under four minutes. And though her 4:06.42 clocking fell far short of the sub-4 clocking that event-sponsor Nike had described as a moonshot, it was faster than the world record of 4:07.64 which she had set in 2023.
However, it was ineligible for record consideration for a variety of reasons, including the fact that Kipyegon was the only woman who ran the entire distance.
Her race in the Prefontaine Classic met all the requirements for world record consideration and Kipyegon proceeded to set her third global best in the 1,500 during the last three seasons.
She was in second place when pacesetter Sage Hurta Klecker came through the first lap in 61.61 seconds and 800 meters in 2:03.17. And after Hurta Klecker dropped out near the end of the backstretch, Kipyegon entered the home straightaway for the penultimate time with Jessica Hull of Australia and Diribe Welteji of Ethiopia not far behind her.
Welteji had dropped back a little with a lap to go, but Hull stayed very close to Kipyegon until the three-time defending Olympic champion began to edge away from her just before she passed 1,200 meters in 3:04.68.
Kipyegon’s lead had grown to a second over Hull with 200 meters to go and she was two seconds ahead of second-place Welteji with 100 meters left in the race.
Kipyegon was in full flight at that point, and with the crowd urging her on and a look of excitement on her face, she ran her final 100 in 14.1 seconds and her last 300 in 44.00 to trim .36 seconds off the world record of 3:49.04 that she had run in the Meeting de Paris last year.
Welteji finished second in 3:51.44 to move to eighth on the all-time performer list, followed by Olympic silver medalist Hull in 3:52.67, and Olympic bronze medalist Georgia Hunter Bell of Greg Britain in 3:54.76.
“This is the time I was expecting when I was in Paris, I say it’s still possible to run under 3:49, and I’m just so grateful,” Kipyegon said in quotes on the meet website. “I thank God, I thank my management, I thank my coach and all of the support system who have been supporting me through this journey, so it feels amazing.”
Adding my two cents worth: If the powers that be in track and field truly want to see a woman break four minutes in the mile in the future, they need to start including women’s mile races — instead of the 1,500 meters — in two or three Diamond League meets each season.
They should avoid holding any more exhibition events such as the one that was held in Paris on June 26. That event, which was titled Breaking4: Faith Kipyegon vs. the 4-Minute Mile, was described as a moonshot by Nike, the athletic shoe giant with whom Kipyegon is under contract.
While some might argue that even talking about the possibility of a woman breaking four minutes in the mile is good for women’s athletics, it was disappointing to see the 20,000-seat Stade de Charlety filled to less than a tenth of its capacity for Kipyegon’s effort.
In contrast, Hayward Field was just short of a capacity crowd of 12,650 on Saturday and other stadiums in cities such as Oslo and London are usually at capacity or close to it when Diamond League meets are held there.
The crowd at Hayward Field was roaring its full-throated approval during the women’s 1,500 and I suspect the excitement level could have been even higher, if that’s possible, had Kipyegon been gunning for a world record in the mile, rather than in the 1,500.
That’s because the mile distance has a special place in the hearts of track and field fans in the U.S., and it would not surprise me if the same is also true of the fan base in the United Kingdom, which produced the first sub-4 miler in Roger Bannister in 1954, as well as Sebastian Coe, Steve Ovett, and Steve Cram, three runners who combined to hold the world record in the mile from July 17, 1979, until Sept. 5, 1993, while lowering the global best six times during that stretch.
Although the majority of fans in Oslo might prefer the 1,500 over the mile, Bislett Stadium was the site of Coe’s mile world record of 3:48.95 in 1979, as well as global bests of 3:48.8 by Ovett in 1980, and 3:46.32 by Cram in 1985.
In another race at Bislett in 1982, Steve Scott of the U.S. narrowly missed Coe’s world record of 3:47.33 when he ran 3:47.69 in a contest in which John Walker of New Zealand and Ray Flynn of Ireland set national records of 3:49.08 and 3:49.77, respectively, while finishing in second and third place.
About the future: While no one can tell you if or exactly when a woman will break four minutes in the mile, I figure that barring any huge technological improvements in shoe or track technology, it could be 15 or 20 years before the four-minute barrier is seriously challenged.
I have immense respect for everything Kenyan Faith Kipyegon has accomplished during her career, but despite her dominance since 2021, her world record in the mile currently stands at 4:07.64 from 2023 and her world-record clocking of 3:48.68 in the 1,500 in the Prefontaine Classic on Saturday converts to a mile in 4:06.98.
If you’re interested in an historical overview about the men’s pursuit of the four-minute mile, it took just under 21 years from the time that Jack Lovelock of New Zealand lowered the world record in the mile to a hand-held time of 4:07.6 in July of 1933 to when Roger Bannister of Great Britain became history’s first sub-4 miler with his 3:59.4 effort in May of 1954.
Bannister’s historic performance cut two seconds off the world record of 4:01.4 that had been set by Gunder Haag of Sweden in 1945, and Haag and compatriot Arne Andersson had previously combined to lower the global best from 4:06.4 to 4:01.4 during a stretch that ran from July of 1942 through July of 1945.
While World War II began on Sept. 1, 1939 — when military forces from Nazi Germany invaded Poland — and raged over large swaths of Europe until May 7 of 1945, Sweden managed to maintain — for the most part — a policy of neutrality in international relations that it had been engaged in since the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815.
That neutrality enabled athletes such as Haag and Andersson to focus on running and racing during a time when more than 20 countries were fighting in a war that killed an estimated 70-85 million people worldwide when combining military and civilian casualties.
A change in tactics: After being outkicked in three consecutive close losses to Faith Cherotich of Kenya in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, Winfred Yavi of Bahrain took the lead at the second to last water jump in the Prefontaine Classic and never looked back while on her way to recording the third-fastest time in history.
The 25-year-old Yavi had won the Olympic title in Paris last August and followed that with a first-place finish in the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea meet in Rome three and half weeks later in which her time of 8:44.39 came within seven hundredths of a second of the world record of 8:44.32 set by Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya in 2018.
But in her three races since then, Yavi had finished second to Olympic bronze medalist Cherotich by margins of .51, .18, and .16 seconds.
She ran in second or third place for much of the race at Hayward Field on Saturday as Olympic silver medalist Peruth Chemutai of Uganda led the field through the first kilometer in 2:56.61 and the second in 5:55.39. But Yavi moved into the lead approaching the water jump for the second to last time and she never let up on the gas after that as she had a lead of roughly six meters over Cherotich with a lap to go and she expanded it significantly during her final circuit of the track before she finished in 8:45.25.
Yavi put forth such an all-out effort in the homestretch that her legs nearly buckled underneath her with a couple of strides to go, but she finished well clear of second-place Cherotich, who ran 8:48.71, and third-place Chemutai, who clocked 8:51.77. Norah Jeruto of Kazakhstan, the 2022 World champion, finished fourth in 8:59.46 and Sembo Almayew of Ethiopia was fifth in 8:59.90 in the first race ever in which five women ran under nine minutes.
Cherotich’s time was the fifth fastest in history and moved her to fourth on the all-time performer list and Chemutai’s clocking was the eighth fastest ever and the second fastest of her career.
“Honestly, I just wanted to execute whatever I have in my body and I knew I was gonna be first,” Yavi said on the meet website. “The plan was to come, run my own race, and dig in.”
Closing with a rush: Niels Laros of the Netherlands was not the youngest winner of an event in the Prefontaine Classic, but the 20-year-old Dutch runner might have been the most surprising as he came from way back on the final lap of the Bowerman mile to nip Yared Nuguse of the U.S. by a hundredth of a second at the finish line.
Laros’ time of 3:45.94 moved him to seventh on the all-time outdoor performer list, Nuguse’s 3:45.95 was the 15th-fastest outdoor time ever, and third-place Azedinne Habz of France became the 10th-fastest miler in history with his 3:46.65 clocking.
Olympic 1,500 champion Cole Hocker of the U.S. finished fourth in 3:47.43, followed by Reynold Cheruiyot of Kenya in fifth in 3:47.46 and 19-year-old Cam Myers of Australia in sixth in 3:47.50 in a race in which an unprecedented eight men ran under 3:48 and a record 13 bettered 3:50.
The race for first place appeared to be down to Nuguse and Habz when the American went through 1,200 meters in 2:48.3, followed by the French runner at 2:48.6. But Laros, who was in third place in 2:51.4, began to make up some ground on the leading duo going down the backstretch and he really began to reel in Habz midway through the final turn.
Nuguse appeared to be uncatchable at that point, but he too began to slow down after having run 1:51.2 for the first 800.
Laros was still in third place, 1.7 seconds back of Nuguse when the American passed 1,500 meters in 3:30.4. But Laros was gaining rapidly, and when Habz left the inside of lane one open, the Dutch runner went past his fading opponent with about 40 meters to go before he outleaned Nuguse for the win.
Laros’ time crushed his previous best of 3:48.93 from 2023. But he had clocked 3:49.45 in a Diamond League meet in London last year when he fell down early in the race.
“I feel great, you saying ‘winner of the Bowerman mile’ doesn't really sound real to me right now, so I'm just amazed by how the race went,” Laros said in quotes on the meet website. “I talked to my coach yesterday and because it my opening 15-mile of the season, I wasn’t so confident. He said ‘Let's see’, and, I mean, winning here takes a miracle, but then he said ‘But you’re a special boy, so I wouldn’t be surprised,’ and he was right.”
Don’t forget about him: Alison dos Santos of Brazil, the bronze medalist in the men’s 400-meter intermediate hurdles in the past two Olympic Games, snapped a five-race losing streak to reigning Olympic champion Rai Benjamin of the U.S. in the Prefontaine Classic.
Benjamin had won seven consecutive finals entering the meet and he was leading dos Santos over the seventh of 10 hurdles. But the 25-year-old Brazilian had basically pulled even with the American by the eighth barrier and they were neck and neck with each other over the next two hurdles before dos Santos edged away to victory on the run-in to the finish.
His time of 46.65 seconds was a season best and the third best of his career, while Benjamin placed second in 46.71 to extend his streak of sub-47 finals to an unprecedented eight in a row.
Nathaniel Ezekiel of Nigeria, who was running in his first race since winning the NCAA title for Baylor University on June 13, placed third in 47.88, followed by Trevor Bassitt of the U.S. in 48.29.
“I’m just really excited and proud of the race,” dos Santos said in quotes on the meet website. “I know a bunch of things could be better, could be different but I want more, so I'm excited for the next one. I think about every single session that I did before, how hard it was to finish the session and remind myself that I can finish strong.”
Significant victory: After winning her first three 100-meter races of the year while running in the Grand Slam Track league, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden of the U.S. defeated Julien Alfred of St. Lucia for the first time in her career in the Prefontaine Classic.
The 24-year-old Jefferson-Wooden beat reigning Olympic champion Alfred out of the blocks and then kept her at bay during the second half of the race, which is often when Alfred overtakes or pulls away from her fellow competitors.
Jefferson-Wooden’s time of 10.75 left her two hundredths of a second in front of Alfred at 10.77 and the two of them were well clear of Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith of Cote d’Ivoire, who finished third in 10.90.
Defending World champion Sha’Carri Richardson of the U.S., whose training has been set back by an injury, finished ninth in 11.19 after opening her season with a fourth-place time of 11.47 in the Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo in mid-May.
Jefferson-Wooden’s winning time of 10.75 was just off the 10.73-second personal best that she had set in the Grand Slam Track meet in Philadelphia on June 1, but it might very well have been a better effort as it came while running into a breeze of 1.5 meters per second.
The Olympic bronze medalist had an aiding wind of 1.4 meters per second when she ran her yearly world-leading time of 10.73 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
“I’ve been saying it time and time again, I'm here to stay,” Jefferson-Wooden said in quotes on the meet website. “The goal is not just to be in these races, but to go out there and compete, execute, dominate and win. I feel like I started this year off doing a pretty good job of that and I’m just going to keep that train going.”
Medal ahead?: For the second time in five seasons Rudy Winkler set a U.S. record in the men’s hammer throw when he won the event with a best 83.16 meters (272 feet 10 inches) in the Prefontaine Classic.
Now the question is can Winkler win his first medal in a global title meet when the World championships are held in Tokyo from Sept. 13-21?
The 30-year-old placed seventh in the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo after having set a national record of 82.71 (271-4) in the U.S. Trials that year. And he has finished sixth, eighth, and sixth in the three global championship meets since then.
However, this is the first time during his career that he has the longest throw in the world this far into the season.
Winkler trailed reigning Olympic and World champion Ethan Katzberg of Canada after the first two rounds of the competition at Hayward Field with a top mark of 79.37 (260-4). But he took the lead for good when he unleashed his 83.16 (272-10) effort on his third throw and he followed that with a mark of 80.87 (265-4) in the fourth round before fouling on his fifth and sixth attempts.
Katzberg finished second at 81.73 (268-1) and Olympic bronze medalist Myhaylo Kokhan of Ukraine placed third at 79.27 (260-1).
“I’m 30 now; You don't usually peak as a thrower until your late 20s and early 30s,” Winkler said in quotes on the meet website. “I think in 2021 I was throwing it really far, but it was always kind of like ‘what the heck just happened? Why did I throw that far?’ Whereas this year it’s a lot more consistent and my training is lining up with how these meets are going, so I think it’s just experience, confidence and consistency overall.”
Another national record: Camryn Rogers of Canada posted her fifth victory in six meets this season when she won the women’s hammer throw with a national record of 78.88 (258-9) while defeating a pair of former World champions from the U.S. in Brooke Andersen and DeAnna Price.
Andersen, the 2022 World champion, had a best of 76.95 (252-5), with 2019 champion Price at 75.35 (247-2).
Rogers, the defending Olympic and World champion, was in second place after the first three rounds of the competition with a best of 76.04 (249-5). But she took the lead for good with her national-record effort of 78.88 (258-9) in the fourth round and she followed that with throws of 74.92 (245-9) in the fifth round and 76.25 (250-2) in the sixth.
The 26-year-old Rogers moved to fifth on the all-time performer list with her winning effort that topped her previous national record of 78.62 (257-11) that she had set in 2023.
Hot streak continues: Chase Jackson of the U.S. posted her seventh consecutive victory when she won the women’s shot put with a best of 20.94 (68-8) in the Prefontaine Classic.
Competing at a facility that is known for having one of the best shot put circles in the world, the 30-year-old Jackson just missed the national record of 20.95 (68-8¾) that she had set in the winning the Iron Wood Throws Classic in Rathdrum, Idaho, a week earlier.
The competition at Hayward Field was very deep as five women topped 20 meters (65-7½), with two-time defending World indoor champion Sarah Mitton of Canada finishing second at 20.39 (66-10), followed by Jaida Ross of the U.S. at 20.13 (66-0), Olympic silver medalist Maddison-Lee Wesche of New Zealand at 20.06 (65-9), and Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands at 20.03 (65-8).
It was the first competition since the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea, that five or more women had exceeded 20 meters in the event.
Sitting in third place with a best of 19.89 (65-3¼) after the first two rounds, two-time defending World champion Jackson produced her winning put of 20.94 (68-8) on her third effort before registering marks of 19.86 (65-2), 20.34 (66-8¾), and 19.39 (63-7½) after that.
“Based on today, it’s a little disappointing because I think it was one of the best women's shot put competitions in recent history and it didn't get any kind of attention,” Jackson said in quotes of the meet website. “So it was a little irritating, but just seeing that, I could see that 20-high or 21 is what’s gonna win, and it’s gonna be a big competition for medals this year. I can’t be more excited for where we’re at.”
That’s more like it: Joe Kovacs of the U.S. had not had a good season entering the Prefontaine Classic, but the three-time Olympic silver medalist in the men’s shot put left it with the best mark in the world this year at 22.48 (73-9) while winning the first competition ever in which five men topped 22 meters (72-2¼).
After producing a mark of 21.67 (71-1¼) on his first put, the 36-year-old Kovacs hit 22.35 (73-4) on his second effort and his winning 22.48 (73-9) on his third. After a 21.86 (71-8¾) put in the fourth round, he had a 22.04 (72-3¾) effort in the fifth before fouling on his sixth attempt.
Roger Steen of the U.S. finished second at 22.11 (72-6½) and he was followed by Chukwuebuka Enekwechi of Nigeria at 22.10 (72-6¼), Adrian Piperi of the U.S. at 22.09 (72-5¾), and Olympic bronze medalist Rajindra Campbell of Jamaica at 22.04 (72-3¾).
Steen, Enekwechi, and Piperi all set personal bests, and Enekwechi’s mark was also an African record.
Kovacs has won three consecutive Prefontaine titles and five during his career.
“It just feels right when you come here, and I think that's part of the magic,” Kovacs said in quotes on the meet website. “You feel like it’s a premium part of our sport. Everybody in the stands knows what 22 meters is.”
Quick turnaround: Ayden Owens-Delerme of Puerto Rico won the decathlon in the Decastar combined events meet in Talence, France, last weekend after having finished seventh in the Hypomeeting competition in Gotzis, Austria, five weeks earlier.
The 25-year-old Owens-Delerme totaled 8,478 points in Talence while finishing 200-plus points in front of Johannes Erm of Estonia, who placed second with 8,236. Kendrick Thompson of the Bahamas was third with 8,177 points.
Owens-Delerme had a 117-point lead over second-place Thompson after he totaled 4,469 points on the first day of the competition and he really took charge in the first event of the second day when he ran 13.72 seconds to win the 110-meter high hurdles and earn 1,011 points for that performance.
He had started the first day with a time of 10.48 in the 100 before spanning 7.44 (24-5) in the long jump, putting the shot 16.13 (52-11), clearing 1.91 (6-3¼) in the high jump, and running 46.43 in the 400.
After starting the second day with his 13.72 clocking in the high hurdles, he threw the discus 44.38 (145-7), cleared 4.73 (15-6¼) in the pole vault, threw the javelin 55.50 (182-1), and ran 4:29.78 in the 1,500.
In a social media post about his performance, Owens-Delerme wrote the following (translated from Spanish): Decastar Debut. A brutal experience. Thanks Talence, I'll be back! @decastar_officiel
Successful defense: Martha Araujo of Colombia won her second consecutive title in the heptathlon in the Decastar competition when she totaled 6,451 points while turning back the U.S. duo of Taliyah Brooks and Michelle Atherley, who finished second and third, respectively, with scores of 6,365 and 6,283.
Brooks had begun the second day with a 59-point lead over Araujo after totaling 3,850 points in the first four events of the competition and she had a 37-point advantage after spanning 6.33 (20-9¼) in the long jump. But Araujo, who had leaped 6.40 (21-0) in the long jump, was 142 points ahead of Brooks after throwing the javelin 49.44 (162-2) to the American’s 40.14 (131-8).
Araujo then concluded the competition by clocking 2:19.09 in the 800, with Brooks timing 2:15.02.
Araujo had posted marks of 12.97 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, 1.76 (5-9¼) in the high jump, 13.55 (44-5¼) in the shot put, and 24.11 in the 200 while totaling 3,791 points on the first day of the competition.
Briefs: Biniam Mehary led Ethiopia to a sweep of the first three places in the men’s 10,000 meters in the Prefontaine Classic last Saturday when he ran a yearly world-leading time of 26:43.82. The 18-year-old Mehary turned back two seasoned compatriots for the victory as Olympic silver medalist Berihu Aregawi placed second in 26:43.84 and 2021 Olympic champion Selemon Barega finished third in 26:44.13. . . . . . . Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania bounced back from a disappointing second-place finish in the men’s discus in the NCAA championships on June 13 by winning the event with a throw of 70.97 meters (232-10) in the Prefontaine Classic. Alekna, who was awarded an undergraduate degree in psychology from Cal in May, had the top five throws during the competition in which Ralford Mullings of Jamaica placed second at 68.98 (226-3). Mullings had won the NCAA title for Oklahoma State when his personal best of 69.31 (227-4) left him well in front of world record-holder Alekna, who had a best of 66.77 (219-0). . . . . . . Valarie Allman of the U.S. posted her 26th consecutive victory in the women’s discus when she set a pair of meet records during the Prefontaine Classic. The two-time defending Olympic champion set her first meet record with her 69.48 (227-11) effort on her first attempt and she topped that mark three rounds later with a throw of 70.68 (231-10). . . . . . . Olympic champion Tara Davis-Woodhall of the U.S. won her 12th consecutive meet in the women’s long jump in the Prefontaine Classic when she went from third place to first on the final jump of the competition. Her 7.07 (23-2½) effort was the longest outdoor jump in the world this year, gave her a six-centimeter margin of victory over 2021 Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo of Germany, and marked the ninth time in the last 10 meets that she had jumped 7.00 (22-11¾) or farther. . . . . . . Mondo Duplantis of Sweden won his 30th competition in a row in the men’s pole vault when he cleared 6.00 (19-8¾) in the Prefontaine Classic. The two-time defending Olympic and World champion missed three attempts at a world-record height of 6.29 (20-7½) after clearing 6.00 on his second attempt.
Concerning situation: The Times of London reported on July 1 that Grand Slam Track still owes athletes “millions in pounds in payments” for competing in its meets in Kingston, Jamaica; Miramar, Florida, and Philadelphia, earlier this season.
A fourth meet, scheduled to be held at UCLA from Jun 28-29, was canceled due to financial concerns.
According to numerous reports that followed the Times of London post, the only payments that have been received by athletes were for appearance fees for the inaugural meet in Kingston from April 4-6.
Prize money payments have not been made for any of the three meets, and appearance fees are still owed for the meets in Miramar and Philadelphia, as well as for the canceled meet that was scheduled to be held at UCLA’s Drake Stadium.
Michael Johnson, the only man in history to have won the 200 and 400 meters in the same Olympics, launched Grand Slam Track with the goal of creating a professional track league that would award its participants prize money amounts that had been previously unheard of in the sport.
With athletes expected to receive up to $100,000 in prize money for winning their respective event categories in each of four scheduled meets, Olympic gold medalists Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas, Marileidy Paulino, Masai Russell, Quincy Hall, and Cole Hocker signed contracts in which they committed to competing in every meet, barring an injury or something of that nature.
Kenny Bednarek, a two-time Olympic silver medalist in the men’s 200 meters, and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, the bronze medalist in the women’s 100 in the Olympic Games in Paris last summer, were each expected to be awarded a combined $300,000 in prize money after winning the respective short sprints division for each of the three GST meets.
While several reports stated it is not uncommon for there to be a two-month gap between the time when an athlete competes in a meet and when their agents receive their prize money, it has been more than three months since the first Grand Slam meet was held in Kingston during the first weekend of April.
Although Grand Slam Track has yet to release a statement in regards to concerns about the unpaid appearance fees and prize money totaling nearly $9.2 million for all three events, the Times of London reported that Grand Slam Track executive Kyle Merber had sent an email to athlete representatives last week which stated the following: We’d like to provide the following update regarding payments for the athletes who competed in Grand Slam Track events this year. Our plan is to make payments for Kingston prize money before the end of July and the remaining payments due by the end of September, which includes the honouring of Los Angeles appearance fees.”
Looking forward: Noah Lyles of the U.S., the reigning Olympic and World champion in the men’s 100 meters, is scheduled compete against Letsile Tebogo of Botswana in the 200 in the Herculis EBS Diamond League meet in Monaco later today.
Lyles ran a personal best of 9.79 seconds in the 100 in the Olympic final while finishing a miniscule five thousandths of a second in front of silver medalist Kishane Thompson of Jamaica. However, his quest for an Olympic double ended when he finished third in the 200 behind Tebogo and Kenny Bednarek of the U.S. after he had been diagnosed with a case of COVID-19.
While there were plenty of people who contended that Lyles would have been victorious in the 200 had he been healthy, it should be noted that Tebogo won the race in 19.46, a time that Lyles has only bettered one time during his career.
Lyles has raced very little this year.
He won a pair of 60-meter finals indoors and in his only outdoor meet of the season on April 19, he ran a leg on a victorious 4 x 100 relay team that clocked 37.90 before finishing fifth in a heat of the 400 in 45.87 in the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Gainesville, Florida.
He was scheduled to run in the 150 meters in the Atlanta City Games on May 17, but he withdrew from that meet due to what was described as ankle tightness.
Tebogo has not run particularly fast in the 100 or 400 this season, as he has season bests of 10.03 in the 100 and 45.26 in the 200. But he is undefeated in three 200-meter races and ran a yearly world-leading time of 19.76 in the Prefontaine Classic last Saturday while easing up during the final two or three strides of the race.
Today’s 200 in Monaco is scheduled to start at 3:27 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time.