ATHLETICS - The African Mirror

Nov

05

2023

Former steeplechase world champion Jeruto has provisional suspension lifted

ATHLETICS

FORMER steeplechase world champion Norah Jeruto has had her provisional suspension for an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) lifted with immediate effect after the charge was not proven, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Friday. A panel of the Disciplinary Tribunal ruled that the charges were dismissed and no period of ineligibility should be imposed on Jeruto, which means she is free to compete in the Paris Olympics next year. Jeruto, formerly a Kenyan who switched allegiance to Kazakhstan, won the 3,000 metres steeplechase gold at the 2022 world championships in Eugene where she also set a championship record, which…

Oct

17

2023

By The African Mirror

Kenyan marathon runner Ekiru receives 10-year doping ban

ATHLETICS

KENYAN marathon runner Titus Ekiru has been banned for 10 years, by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), for both doping and tampering in a case that involved collusion with a high-ranking doctor in a Kenyan hospital. One of his positive tests, for triamcinolone acetonide, came at the Milan Marathon in May 2021, which he won in a time of two hours, two minutes and 57 seconds, which would currently rank him the seventh-fastest all-time marathon athlete. The ban comes after an investigation found the 31-year-old obstructed the AIU's probe into two adverse analytical findings (AAFs) by using false information and…

Oct

14

2023

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Africa’s magnificent distance runners are fuelled by tech, grit and strategy

ATHLETICS

AFRICA'S running reputation received another boost recently when 23-year-old Kevin Kiptum won the 45th edition of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, setting a new world record for the regular marathon, of 02:00:35. Kiptium's time shaved 34 seconds off Eliud Kipchoge's record of 2:01:09 set in Berlin in 2022. This is despite Kiptum making his international marathon debut just last December, in Valencia, where he clocked an astonishing 2:01:53. While African running stars have for years dominated distance running, new and relatively younger stars are seemingly shattering records more easily, judging from their race splits and post-race assessments. In his…

Oct

13

2023

By The African Mirror

Marathon under 2 hours is closer than ever – scientist shows how Kenya’s Kiptum tests human limits

ATHLETICS

WAR in the Middle East plunged humanity to new lows on Sunday 8 October 2023 that have gripped international attention since. If that were not the case, the world would likely be abuzz with the breathtaking exploits of a 23-year-old Kenyan who changed running history in Chicago on the same day. Kelvin Kiptum, running just his third marathon, finished the 42.195-kilometre race in 2h 00m 35s. This lowered the previous world record set by countryman Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin last year, by a whopping 34 seconds. This is the first time that the world record has been obliterated by more…

Sep

28

2023

By The African Mirror

China to host opening two events in 2024 Diamond League

ATHLETICS

The 2024 Diamond League will begin its 15-stop season with two meets in China, in Xiamen and Shanghai, in April while Brussels will stage the two-day season finale in September, organisers said. Last year's Diamond League was also scheduled to have 15 meets but the Shanghai stop was cancelled after COVID-19 restrictions caused delays in the renovation of the venue. Xiamen will host the opening event on April 20, a week before Shanghai returns to the calendar for the first time since 2019. Meetings in Doha and Rabat are scheduled for the following month before the U.S. stop, the Prefontaine…

Sep

27

2023

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Tigst Assefa redefines women’s marathon running in Berlin

ATHLETICS

ETHIOPIAN runner Tigst Assefa made history at the 2023 BMW Berlin-Marathon, on Sunday (September 24), breaking a previous record by over two minutes. Assefa, who crossed the finish line at the Brandenburg Gate in an incredible time of 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 53 seconds, surprised even herself. "I didn't expect to run this fast, that is to say, to break 2:12, but it is the result of hard work," she stated in an after-race interview with the marathon press team. The previous record was held by Kenyan Brigid Koskei. Koskei broke the record set by Paula Radcliff in 2003,…

Sep

22

2023

By JOEL OMOTTO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Women on top: How female athletes rescued top running nations in the 2023 World Athletics Championships medals table

ATHLETICS

WHILE the USA was the top-ranked country in Hungary, with 29 medals (12 gold, eight silver and nine bronze) and Kenya the most successful African nation, with 10 medals (three gold, as many silver and four bronze), it was the women athletes who brought home most of the medals in both cases. The year's premier athletics event saw America's women bag 14 medals compared to 13 for the men, while Team Kenya had six from their women and four from the men. Kenya would have missed gold completely, had it not been for in-form women runners, in the shape of…

Jul

13

2023

By The African Mirror

Semenya says discrimination verdict was ‘long time coming’

ATHLETICS

THE verdict of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case of Caster Semenya raises "serious questions" about the validity of World Athletics’ requirement that female athletes with high natural testosterone levels take drugs to lower it, the South African athlete said. The ECHR ruled, by a slender majority of four votes to three, on Tuesday that the double Olympic 800m champion's original appeal against World Athletics regulations had not been properly heard by the Swiss Federal Tribunal, criticising the process followed rather than the verdict reached. Semenya, 32, is an athlete with XY chromosomes and differences in…

Jul

05

2023

By The African Mirror

Kenya’s Ekiru facing 10-year ban, says AIU

ATHLETICS

KENYAN athlete Titus Ekiru is facing a 10-year ban for four charges of anti-doping violations, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said. Ekiru has the joint sixth-fastest marathon time of 2:02.57, set en route to winning the Milano City Marathon in 2021. The alleged violations relate to the use of a prohibited substance on two occasions, as well as two cases of tampering with doping control through the submission of falsified medical explanations and documentation. "The 31-year-old's charges stem from AIU investigations into Ekiru's positive in-competition doping tests after marathon victories in the Milano Marathon on 16 May 2021 and the…

Jul

02

2023

By The African Mirror

Ingebrigtsen holds off Girma to win 1,500m at Diamond League in Lausanne

ATHLETICS

OLYMPIC champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen held off Lamecha Girma in a battle of world record holders to win the much-anticipated men's 1,500 metres at the Athletissima Diamond League meet on Friday. The 22-year-old from Norway, who broke the world mark in the seldom-run two-mile event this month in Paris, clocked three minutes 28.72 seconds, less than a second off his personal best despite a chilly evening at Stade Olympique de la Pontaise. "I have had to make some adjustments with my strategy, I have been putting in extra miles in the last couple of weeks," Ingebrigtsen said. "It's all to get myself in…