IAAF’s sellout to Qatar was the first leg of a double which sees the 2021 follow-up take place in Eugene, Oregon, home of NikeWhen Adam Gemili walked towards his blocks in lane seven for his heat of the men’s 200m at the IAAF world championships in Doha on Sunday night, he looked up and waved to friends and family in the grandstand. They wouldn’t have been hard to spot among a crowd estimated at around 1,000 scattered around a stadium built for 40,000.On perhaps the worst weekend for athletics in the sport’s long history, there seemed no end to the ways being found to insult the people who actually do the running, jumping and throwing. All the poisons to have...
The IOC’s decision to keep 2012 Olympics samples for 10 years has led to a steady drip of retrospective failed tests that have given the London Games an unwanted recordTen or so years ago the Evening Standard ran the billboard headline “London Fashion Week Cocaine Shock”. Presumably the twist was that there was someone alive surprised to find it was going on, since the revelation seemed just about as startling as the fact they were playing baccarat in Rick’s place. Over Christmas, the International Weightlifting Federation dropped another bombshell when it announced that five Olympics weightlifters have just been provisionally suspended because some “adverse analytical findings” were discovered when the International Olympic Committee recently retested samples provided in 2012.There were...
Attempts to anoint Wayde van Niekerk were doomed to fail. As for exotic gastric viruses, there is no link to the London Stadium’s wretched foodIt is not uncommon for athletes contractually obliged to address the media to sound like disciplined hostages being paraded by their captors: name, rank, serial number, monosyllables, grunts. When Wayde van Niekerk attended his press conference after winning the 400m on Tuesday night, he sounded more like a hostage with Stockholm Syndrome. “How does it feel to be the most well-known person in track and field?” an American journalist asked.“It’s always an honour … massive responsibility … continue performing … continue winning medals … continue the great legacy … important for each and everyone to build...
The meagre crowds at UK Athletics trials suggest the sport desperately needs a boost. Can the next wave of British stars provide it in London?A tale of two cities. The best of times, and the worst of times.First – Ostrava on a molten Wednesday night for two hours of athletics’ greatest hits. Usain Bolt wins the 100m and spends an hour smiling for selfies; Wayde van Niekerk shatters the 300m world record; David Rudisha suffers a shock 1,000m defeat; Mo Farah gallops away to another 10,000m victory to booming bellows of “Mo! Mo!”. Fireworks off the track and on it. A sellout 30,000 crowd, thirsty and delirious, lapped it up. Related: Dina Asher-Smith limps back into frame for world championships...