This bumper edition of the Inside Line newsletter covers the last 2 weeks of news from the world of athletics and track and field. We’re delighted to say it’s sponsored by performance skincare company Premax. This week they launched their newest product, the much anticipated recovery cream to sit alongside their existing range of brilliant skin care products.
With sweet almond, shea and cocoa butter, it rehydrates and helps distressed skin recover. The key ingredients of Sour Cherry and Omega 3 and 6 are scientifically proven to improve sleep, lessen muscle soreness, mitigate inflammation, help prevent premature skin ageing, improve bone and joint health and reduce skin irritation.
This is Jakob’s world and we’re just living in it
All hail, The King. Frankly, I’m still recovering from what was an incredible race last night. With 6 laps to go, Jakob looked like he had too much work to do, with Cheptegei pushing the pace and stringing the field out. The manner in which he clawed the leaders back shows a confidence and maturity surpassing any other 20 year old.
I know this piece is only short but we’ll write a full review covering the race in detail and all the other events, including more insight into the race in next week’s newsletter but I couldn’t publish this without mentioning it. Honestly, my voice is still hoarse from shouting Jakob on as he made his move in the final bend to kick away and win in a European record 12:48.45. Some say Cheptegei is still somewhere on the track going backwards…
Sun shines on Doha Diamond League
Just like the weather, with only a matter of weeks to go before the Olympics, races and results finally started to heat up in the Doha Diamond League with a number of world leading times and scores delivered, on a memorable day of sport.
In the 1500m, favourite for Olympic gold, Timothy Cheruiyot, ran a world lead time of 3:30.48, leaving it until the back straight of the final lap to ease past Ethopian Samuel Tefera. Another strong performance from Stewy McSweyn saw him finishing in second in 3:31.57. Realistically though, Cheruiyot looked like he won the race from around 3rd gear and never looked in danger. The post-race picture of him holding his ‘World Lead’ card aloft whilst his competitors lay strewn all over the ground is perhaps an image which speaks a thousand words. Even the formidable Jakob Ingebrigsten is going to his raise his game substantially to challenge the Kenyan.
It was a good day all round for Kenya, after Cheruiyot’s compatriot, Norah Jeruto ran a stunning race to win e 3000m SC in a stunning world lead time of 9:00.67. After going out insanely hard to start with, most onlookers expected her to fade but she showed incredible strength to hold on and take the victory from 20 year old Mekides Abebe.
The 800m failed to disappoint too with the unpredictable but unquestionably talented Commonwealth champion, Wycliffe Kinyamal, running a 1:43.91 to take the victory and becoming the first man to run under 1:44 outdoors this season. He powered to victory ahead of favourite, Ferguson Rotich (1:44.45) and Britain’s 800m champion, Dan Rowden, who opened his season extremely well in 1:44.60.
Arguably the performance of the day goes to Beatrice Chebet after the U20, best known for her cross-country victory, ran a big PB of 8:27.49 to beat off several far more seasoned competitors, including Margaret Kipkemboi and Hellen Obiri.
It was another win for US sensation, Rai Benjamin too after he ran a 47.38, beating Brazilian Alison Dos Santos into 2nd place (47.57 PB). Qatari, Abderrahman Samba looked out of form in the 400mH and slipped to 4th in a 48.26. Benjamin just always looks comfortable and he’s going to take some beating in what is shaping up to be one of the most exciting finals of this year’s Olympics. Benjamin versus Warholm.
In the women’s 100m, experience won the day, with the world champion and multiple Olympic medallist, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, SAFP, (as I’m calling her from now on) winning in a hugely ominous and impressive performance. Dominating from the gun to take the win in 10.84 (1.1 m/s) ahead of another very good showing from Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare (10.90).
One of the other performances of the day has to go to Michael Norman, who remains undefeated in 2021, winning in 44.27. I had predicted a close race between Norman and his nemesis Fred Kerley, who looked in good form after his 100m PB of 9.91, but he looked a tad off the boil and faded in the final 50m to finish 3rd in 44.60.
For a full round-up of all the results, click here.
Sir Mo Returns - European 10,000m Cup
This week saw the return of Sir Mo Farah in his first 10,000m track race since the 2017 world championships. It’s fair to say that on a hot day in Birmingham, it showed. Despite a very quick first 600m and initial promise with Mo tucking into his customary position in the middle of the pack and Jake Smith bravely trying to take the pace on himself, as Jake faded, it very quickly slowed and settled way below the necessary Olympic QT (27:28). At least it did for everyone except Frenchman Morhad Amdouni who pushed hard from the front for several lonely laps. Meanwhile, second fastest in the field, on paper, Bowerman athlete, Marc Scott, was clearly playing a smart tactical game. He knew he just needed to come no less than second to secure his ticket to Tokyo and at no stage did he look he was at all interested in pushing the pace or winning the race outright.
As the race entered the final quarter, Farah’s training partner Bashir Abdi and Spaniard, Carlos Mayo decided to close on Amdouni who was clearly tiring. With this surge, they cut the rest of the field further adrift and even Marc Scott looked like he had began to succumb to the conditions with GB’s Emile Caress closing him down rapidly.
Into the final lap, it looked like Mo Farah was going to take the top British spot whilst still missing out on the Olympic QT by some distance. However, entering the final 100m, Marc Scott managed to find a second-wind to overtake Farah and win the British 10,000m title. For the outright race leaders, it was a similarly exciting finish. With Mayo attempting and failing to kick with 300 to go, Abdi was next to try and at 150m, surged for the line. From somewhere, a place that only a few laps previously, seemed to be non-existent, Amdouni found that extra gear and powered home in the final 100m to take the victory in an impressive 27:23.39 (PB).
In the women’s race, Eilish McColgan put in a blistering last lap of 64 seconds to power to a famous victory. With 600m to go, Teferi’s lead was around 90m but spurred on by teammate Jess Judd, European 5000m silver medalist, McColgan reeled her in, slowly but surely, to claim the win in 31:19.35. Jess Judd also ran quicker than the Olympic standard and achieved a lifelong dream of competing at the Olympics.
You can read the full results from all the races here.
Josh Kerr is fast (...est ever on American Soil) & Centro does 3 x 800m races in 20 minutes
British athlete Josh Kerr once again proved he’s the fastest 1500m runner in America right now with a stunning 3:31.55, the fastest 1500m ever on US soil. Like ever, ever in the history of the existence of the United States of America, which admittedly is only since 1776 but that’s still a really long time. He demolished the field by a monstrous 4 seconds and ran the 7th fastest 1500m time ever by a British athlete. His Brooks Beasts teammate and Sit and Kick co-host David Ribich, in an Instagram Q&A ahead of the event, actually predicted it would happen too. Spooky.
Meanwhile, let’s talk about Centro. The Olympic Champ continues to be a teeny bit sensitive on social media (don’t @ us Centro, we still love you) but in between still managed to run 3 800m races in the space of 20 minutes. So, billed as a workout, he went 1:50.33, 1:49.72 and 1:53.92 with 8 minutes, 8 minutes and 6 minutes recovery, respectively. His post-workout tweet suggested he’s not quite happy with the shape he’s in:
Portland Track Festival
It was a return to winning ways for Craig Engels in the 1500m at the Portland Track Festival as many people’s pick for best looking athlete took the win in an impressive 3:33.64 ahead of two British athletes, Charlie Grice who took second in 3:33.81 and Jake Heyward in 3:33.99.
Donovan Brazier raced outdoors for the first time this season in 800m and despite that unique style, he didn’t quite look at his dominant best as he was pushed very close for the win in 1:45.09 by Mexico’s Tonatiu Lopez (1:45.14).
Many people were interested to see how Galen Rupp would do too, after he stepped into his first track race since 2018. By his standards and despite being in training for the Olympic marathon, he finished in a disappointing fourth (28:00.37). The winner was Pete Julian’s Suguru Osako (27:56.44) who remarkably ran a second 10,000m later that day and took second in that one in 29:04.28. Disappointment too from the Tinman Elite reps with Sydney Gidabuday and Jordan Gusman DNF’ing (that’s now a word) in the 5000m with Lopez Lomong (13:26.11) of the BTC taking first place ahead of David Ribich (13:26.41) of Brooks Beasts who just missed out on the OTQ time. Bizarrely, Grant Fisher (13:19.52 MR) and Woody Kincaid (13:24.64) made it 1-2 for the BTC in the B Race.
In the women’s 800m, it was a stacked field and Gabriela Stafford took the in 1:58.70 ahead of FOUR other women to run 1:59.30 (the previous meet record) - what a race! Sabrina Sutherland’s 1:58.82 took her to second best US woman this year behind Athing Mu’s incredible 1:57.73 which currently sits atop of the whole world. Athing incidentally broke another record this week, she’s now the fastest collegiate woman over 400m in history (49.68).
For the full results, click here.
Hobbs Kessler is a freak of Nature
Okay, so I know we already did a section on the Portland Track Festival but this deserved a section all of its own. Hobbs Kessler is now the fastest US 1500m runner ever recorded under the age of 20 after his astounding 3:34.36 at the Portland Track Festival surpassing Alan Webb’s previous High School record. If that doesn’t blow your mind, get this, he’s still only 18 and still in high school and his time was quick enough to surpass Yared Nuguse NCAA record 3:34.68. Astonishingly, 1500m and miler veteran Nick Willis actually said, “Hobbs could have run faster because he had to do a big surge after 200 and we were already really fast for the first 200 so he didn’t need to do that.”
Watching Hobbs’ incredible progress through High School and into the NCAA is going to be a helluva lot of fun. No doubt speculation will soon start about just how fast he can go after running so quickly at 18. With the third fastest time by an American this year, people will be wondering whether he can realistically make the US Olympic Team? To add to this, Hobbs says he still trains like a Highschooler.
Breaking: Usain Bolt 200m Record Broken
Okay, so the headline was catchy to reel you in, but it’s still partly true. Remember the name: Erriyon Knighton this week broke Usain Bolt’s U18 world best for the 200m. Knighton ran an incredible 20.11 which is phenomenal for any athlete, never mind a 17 year old and it wasn’t a simple field, he beat Trayvon Bromell too. Neat.
Sifan Hassan cruises to a historic 10,000m WR
Does Sifan Hassan have what it takes to become the greatest of all time? She certainly put down a marker as one of all the all time greats as she claimed yet another world record to take her tally to 4 (FOUR!). Just listing her achievements gives you an idea of how mind-bogglingly good she really is: she’s the world record holder in the mile, 5km, one-hour run and the 10,000m. She’s also the reigning world-champion in the 5,000m and 10,000m. For context, her 800m PB is 1:56.81.
The former Ethiopian refugee ran the final kilometere in 2:45.77 to smash the world record by 11 seconds, finishing in a seemingly insurmountable (except by her) time of 29:06.82.
To use the famous quote from the film ‘Gladiator’, “Are you not entertained!?” Well, just in case you’re not, Hassan hadn’t had enough by breaking the world record, she then went on to do a rolling 200s session afterwards. She did 20 reps, with her reps averaging sub 30 post-race. To quote the equally famous, Lloyd Kempson, “I can’t even be arsed anymore.”
Gidey breaks Hassan’s 10,000m world record
In seemingly the same amount of time it took me to write the section on Sifan Hassan breaking the 10,000m world record, Letensbet Gidey went and broke it back, on the same track! For pure nostalgia, I left the bit in about Hassan, plus I think my joke about Gladiator is funny (just me? Okay…).
Anyway, Letesenbet Gidey. Wow. She managed to take 5 second’s off Hassan’s previous record and finish in 29:01. Surely it’s only a matter of time before the 10,000m world record now dips under 29 minutes. Gidey is surely now favourite for Olympic Gold in Tokyo as she holds both 5,000m and 10,000m world records.
I’m sorry, I don’t know whether she did a session after breaking her world record.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is the fastest woman alive
From one amazing woman to another. Had Hassan not broken the record, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s astounding 10.63 in Kingston, Jamaica, would have certainly got more attention. Her run officially makes her the fastest woman alive after the world record holder, Florence Griffith-Joyner, passed away in 1998.
The women’s 100m Olympic title is arguably one of the most open races for years with SAPF, Sha’carri Richardson, Dina Asher-Smith and more all potential winners. Perhaps even more remarkably though is that SAFP is 34 and a mother and she’s still competing and beating all these youngsters. She’s inspirational and fast.
FBK Games serves up a feast of world-class athletics
It wasn’t just Sifan Hassan who impressed at Continental Gold Tour Meet in Hengelo, world-record holder in the Pole Vault, Mondo Duplantis, cleared a world-leading height of 6.10m in an incredible display of his dominance of the discipline. Only Mondo and Sergey Bubka have ever cleared 6.10m outdoors and it further cements his status in the pantheon of athletics greats.
Meanwhile, Jasmin Comacho-Quinn continued to set the fastest pace in the 100m hurdles as she once again ran faster than anyone else in the world with a 12.44 meeting record.
Dina Asher-Smith once again displayed her credentials over the 100m with her first sub-11 second race of the season, particularly as the competition and rivalry continues to heat up in the women’s sprinting. She’ll be running in Florence this week over her preferred distance on the 200m.
Fred Kerley put the disappointment of losing to Michael Norman behind him by taking the win in the 400m, his specialist distance, in 44.74.
You can read the full report on the world athletics website, here.
Paddy Dever walks in Marc Scott’s footsteps to win NCAA 10,000m title
Whilst we’ll report on the full results from the NCAA Championships in next week’s newsletter, we couldn’t publish this newsletter without mentioning the monumental efforts of the UK’s Patrick Dever who surprised many to win the NCAA 10,000m title in some style, kicking away in the final 80m to take the win in 27:41.87, to break the 41 year old NCAA 10,000m record and to repeat of fellow Tulsa alumni Marc Scott who won the event in 2017.
A total of 10 men ran under the previous meeting record with Kiptoo, the 11th placed athlete running 28:03.46, a time that would have won every single NCAA title for the last 40 years. Ouch. Into the last 800m, it was still anyone’s race, with a pack of 10 men battling it out. Cross Country Champion, BYU’s Connor Mantz was first to go, bursting into the lead in the home straight of the penultimate lap to complete a sub-64 second lap. But as they entered the final 100m of the last lap, it was Dever who had the most energy left. Steaming through from the inside to overtake Mantz, Nur and Brandt and run a 47 second PB in the process.
A shout-out too to the incredible Charles Hicks, 19 and running 27:47.63. Brits leading the way. Standard.
Elliot Giles runs Olympic 1500m QT
People will be continuing to talk about Elliot Giles after he dropped another huge PB this week. At the Marseille Meet, he ran a 3:33.80 to take second place and run the Olympic Qualifying Time. In his interview with us, he was adamant that he was an 800 guy, mainly due to his lower mileage. With some specific 1500m training, it’s scary to think how quickly he could go.
Other brilliant performances from Piers Copeland (3:34.62) and Jake Heyward (3:34.63) who both also ran the Olympic Qualifying Time, finishing 6th and 7th respectively.
Elsewhere, Adidas athlete, Josh Lay ran an 800m PB of 1:45.99 to join Elliot Giles, Max Burgin, Jamie Webb, Dan Rowden, Jake Wightman, Charlie Grice, Oliver Dustin, Josh Kerr and Finley McLear as one of TEN British men to run 1:46 this year. Yikes. One more than the USA can muster and only one less than Kenya. The British Champs is going to be some race.
Adidas making more waves in the shoe world
The first signs of the Adios Adizero Pro 2 and the Adizero Prime X have been appearing on the internet and in shops in Australia. This week also saw the first of the much heralded Adidas ‘Super Spike’ the Adidas Ambition so it’s going to be interesting to see if it can compete with its Nike rivals. As you can see below, they also just look tasty. Finally Nico Young can ditch his AdiNicos. If you know, you know.