ATHLETICS - The African Mirror

Jun

14

2023

Africa’s extraordinary distance running prowess: South Africans dominate the 96th Comrades Marathon

ATHLETICS

SOUTH Africans Tete Dijana and Gerda Steyn shattered records and set new ones and, in the process, showed off Africa's capacity for extraordinary distance running performances at the highly rated 2023 Comrades Marathon on Sunday (June 11). The race on Sunday, June 11, 2023, attracted over 17,000 passionate runners who embarked on the gruelling 87 km challenge. Starting from the iconic Pietermaritzburg City Hall and culminating at the Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium in the coastal city of Durban, more than 2300 international athletes participated in this 96th edition. In a breathtaking display of sheer determination and athleticism, Tete Dijana claimed a…

May

18

2023

By The African Mirror

Kenya’s 10k world record holder Kipruto provisionally suspended

ATHLETICS

KENYAN athlete and 10-km road race world record holder Rhonex Kipruto has been provisionally suspended for an anti-doping violation, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said. Kipruto, who also won a 10,000m bronze medal in the 2019 world championships, broke the 10-km road race world record in 2020. The AIU said on Twitter that Kipruto had been suspended "for the use of a Prohibited Substance/Method (ABP)". ABP refers to the Athlete Biological Passport, which shows discrepancies that can reveal the effects of doping. The AIU added that a notice of the charge has been issued to the 23-year-old runner. Thomson Reuters…

May

11

2023

By STEPHEN GRANGER, BIRD STORY AGENCY

South African steps into world trail running

ATHLETICS

MBULELI Mathanga, winner of this year’s Two Oceans Half Marathon, Johardt van Heerden, multiple winner of the Otter, Whale and Cape Town Trail marathons and Siboniso Soldaka, fastest 3000m steeplechaser in the country this year will represent South Africa - and the continent - at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships. They will be joined by world-class, internationally-based athletes, Toni McCann, Naomi Brand and Meg Mackenzie. While South Africa has participated in both trail and mountain running championships in the past, this will be the country’s first involvement in the newly constituted, combined event. Both disciplines have been formally…

Apr

20

2023

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Going the Extra Mile: How ultra-marathons are bolstering the legacy of running in Africa

ATHLETICS

AFRICAN athletics is often synonymous with sleek, speedy runners dominating the standard marathon. But there's another side to the continent's running culture, one that's been thriving for decades: ultra-marathons. From South Africa's iconic Comrades Marathon to Morocco's gruelling Marathon des Sables, ultras are attracting the biggest names in athletics and bolstering the legacy of African sports. Last weekend (April 15), Cape Town played host to thousands of athletes from South Africa and beyond for the latest edition of the Two Oceans 56km Marathon. According to Sports Network Africa, an African sports site, thousands of eager athletes flocked to the Cape…

Mar

12

2023

By JULIETTE JABKHIRO

Corruption sentence for Papa Massata Diack stands

ATHLETICS

PARIS appeal court upheld a corruption conviction for Papa Massata Diack, son of Lamine Diack, the late former head of the world athletics governing body. Papa Massata, who has denied all wrongdoing, is currently in Senegal, where he fled seven years ago when the French investigation first began. His lawyer said he was unable to attend the trial because he was under legal supervision and could not leave the country. Papa Massata and his father were at the heart of a scandal that involved taking kickbacks from Russian athletes in return for concealing positive drug tests that enabled them to continue…

Feb

01

2023

By The African Mirror

The IOC must protect Russian and all athletes against geopolitics

ATHLETICS, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Ukrainian government are at each other’s throats over the inclusion of Russian and Belarussian athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympics in 18 months. ABBEY MAKOE The IOC has stated its willingness to let athletes from the two countries heavily involved in the Ukraine war participate “under a neutral flag” at the games in France. In the aftermath of the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the IOC recommended that Russian and Belarussian athletes should be “indefinitely suspended” in international competitions. Russia was swiftly barred from participating in the UEFA games and the FIFA…

Nov

10

2022

By The African Mirror

From Bochesa to Cape Town, Ethiopian athlete Tadu Nare comes down the mountain

ATHLETICS

STEPHEN GRANGER IT’S Sunday, 23rd October 2022, and the final SPAR Women's Grand Prix 10km race at Green Point Stadium in Cape Town is underway. Three green-vested athletes, Tadu Nare, Helalia Johannes, and Selam Gebre, form a small lead group through the halfway mark. The rest of the athletes are running for fourth place at best. Johannes, the Namibian winner of the 2019 SPAR Grand Prix title, leads this trio. But not long after, Nare, the smallest of the three, takes command of the race, opening a wide gap between her and the two until she crosses the finish line…

Oct

18

2022

By The African Mirror

Kenyans Kipyokei, Lempus provisionally suspended for doping

ATHLETICS

KENYA'S 2021 Boston Marathon winner Diana Kipyokei and compatriot Betty Wilson Lempus have been provisionally suspended for using the banned substance triamcinolone acetonide, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Friday. Both have also been charged with obstructing the AIU's investigation by providing false information or documentation. "After extensive investigations, the AIU has provisionally suspended two Kenyan marathoners – Diana Kipyokei and Betty Wilson Lempus – and charged them with various breaches of the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules," the body said in a statement. "These alleged anti-doping rule violations stem from probes into the information provided by the athletes to…

Dec

03

2021

By The African Mirror

World athletics ex-boss Lamine Diack dies at 88

ATHLETICS

DIADIE BA LAMINE Diack, the former head of world athletics' governing body who was convicted of corruption last year, died at home in Senegal on Friday at the age of 88, his son told Reuters. Diack led the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) from 1999 to 2015, during which he was later found guilty of running a clique that covered up Russian doping in return for millions of dollars in bribes. A French court sentenced him to four years in prison in 2020, but he was never jailed. He remained under house arrest and was later released on bail.…

Jul

23

2022

By The African Mirror

Lyles retains 200m crown as US sweep podium, Jackson wins women’s title

ATHLETICS

NOAH Lyles retained his 200 metres title as U.S. sprinters secured their second podium sweep while Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce made it a 1-2 finish for Jamaica in the women's event at the World Championships on Thursday. Lyles, bronze medallist at the Tokyo Games, scorched to victory in 19.31 seconds to become the third-fastest athlete of all time over the distance and break four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson's national record. Five days after Fred Kerley led a U.S. 1-2-3 in the 100m, Lyles produced another dominant performance to clinch gold ahead of Tokyo runner-up Kenny Bednarek in 19.77 while…