Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2023 i AW - Athletics Weekly Magazine

NOVEMBER 2023 AW Editorial Director Top-level sport is hard. It's meant to be. When you're trying to be one of the best, it takes a level of physical and mental investment which the majority of us would struggle to fully comprehend. The supposed reward for all of this work is the chance to compete across the world, in the great arenas and at the finest championships, raising your public profile in the process – especially when it comes to the Olympics. There might even be some money in it, too. Yet, speak to some of the figures at the heart of it all, trying to hold their own or to even get a taste of life at the very sharp end and it becomes clear there is a substantial cost…

MY GREATEST RACE DONOVAN BAILEY The world champion shook off an untimely injury and then first-night nerves to wipe away the legacy of Ben Johnson and deliver the Olympic 100m title for Canada, claiming the world record in the process After winning the World Championships in 1995, the pressure was off for me. My entire goal was to make sure that I was prepared for the Olympic 100m final. Every single race, every single practice, was essentially trying to perfect that race. On the circuit, not once did I care about the result or about the time. It was only about execution, only about getting out of the blocks, being consistent, standing up tall, driving in the middle of the track, so I could get to top speed, and then figuring…

DUPLANTIS DOMINANT Mondo Duplantis is no stranger to breaking the men's pole vault world record. He had done it for the sixth time in his career when took the mark up to 6.22m during an indoor meeting in February. In his last outdoor meeting of the year, the Diamond League final in Eugene, the Swede cleared 6.23m at Hayward Field. KIPYEGON MILES BETTER Having set world records for the 1500m and 5000m within the space of a week in June, Faith Kipyegon then set her sights on breaking the mark for the mile at the Monaco Diamond League meeting in July. Charging ahead of the pacing lights she crossed the line in 4:07.64, destroying the mark of 4:12.33 set by Sifan Hassan on the same track four years previously. TREMENDOUS…

SPOTLIGHT FORWARD THINKING Athletics embodies a form of human evolution – the quest to run faster, throw further and jump higher. But to those deeply rooted in the sport, much of its meaning is derived from far more than simply winning. There is an emerging openness among athletes who are sharing exactly what it is that makes track and field important to them – and the answer is not always medals and international vests. Inclusivity, community and enjoyment are also emerging as common reasons for committing years of their lives to the sport and some athletes have even taken it upon themselves to make their mark in a different way. Joe Fuggle, Ethan Akanni, and Lewis Church have all stepped outside of the track and field bubble as they try to…

After missing out on selection for the World Championships in Budapest, George Mills had a choice to make – feel sorry for himself or get back to work. He opted for the latter. Having finished third in the 1500m at the British trials, he had to look on as Neil Gourley and Elliot Giles joined eventual champion Josh Kerr on the team. The day after receiving the news, Mills travelled to St Moritz at 6am. The work began immediately. “You had world-class guys over 1500m [at the trials] and I was gutted not to make the team,” Mills says. “I didn't feel like myself for a little bit of time after but there's a fork in the road at that point so you go two ways. One is that you…

SPOTLIGHT 1984 OLYMPIC MARATHON Santa Monica, California, August 5, 1984, 7:50am: It is a grey morning at Santa Monica City College's stadium, a somewhat grandiose name for the sets of bleachers that stand on either side of the maroon track encircling a patchy grass field. The bleachers are full, save for a section set aside for Olympic officials and dignitaries, which is largely empty. Across the street, more spectators pack the top two levels of a parking garage. Flag bearers in white skirts and coats, one for each of the 27 countries represented in the first women's Olympic marathon, line up on the track, facing the infield. A total of 50 athletes mill about behind them. A half-hearted breeze ripples the flags. A celebratory, excited buzz runs through the crowd. “For…

OVERSEAS CHINA Asian Games, Hangzhou, September 29-October 5 Men: 100 (2.4): 1 Xie Zhenye 9.97; 2 P Bunson THA 10.02; 3 M Azeem Fahmi MAS 10.11. 200 (-0.2): 1 K Ueyama JPN 20.60; 2 A Mohammed KSA 20.63; 3 Yang ChunHan TPE 20.74. 400: 1 Y Al-Masrahi KSA 45.55; 2 K Sato JPN 45.57; 3 Y Abbas BRN 45.65. 800: 1 E Ali̇s Kzwani KSA 1:48.05; 2 M Afsal IND 1:48.43; 3 H Al-Farisi OMA 1:48.51. 1500: 1 M Al-Garni QAT 3:38.36; 2 A Saroj IND 3:38.94; 3 J Johnson IND 3:39.74. 5000: 1 B Balew BRN 13:17.40; 2 A Sable IND 13:21.09; 3 D Fikadu BRN 13:25.63. 10,000: 1 Balew BRN 28:13.62; 2 K Kumar IND 28:15.38; 3 G Singh IND 28:17.21. Mar: 1 He Jie 2:13:02; 2 Han…

DIGEST OCTOBER 57.40 The world half-marathon all-time list was given a major rewrite in Valencia last month. Kenya's Kibiwott Kandie (who has a PB of 57:32) won the men's race in a worldleading 57:40 ahead of Ethiopians Yomif Kejelcha and Hagos Gebrhiwet, who both clocked 57:41 to go joint third on the all-time lists and went well inside the previous national record of 58:32. Another of their compatriots, Selemon Barega, ran 57:50 to beceom the sixth-fastest man ever over the distance. Altogether 15 athletes bettered the one hourbarrier, including Carlos Mayo who was 13th in a Spanish record of 59:39 and Samuel Barata who broke the Portuguese record with 59:40 in 14th. In the women's race, Samantha Harrison clocked a PB of 67:10 to move to third place on the UK…

This has been a year to remember for multi-eventer Thea Brown. Having set a UK junior 60m hurdles record (8.39i) in February, 2023 just got better. After an impressive summer, she was named as one of the captains of Team England for the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago, where she also bagged three silver medals (in the 100m hurdles, high jump and 4x100m). The young heptathlete returned with a heightened determination and in September produced a heptathlon PB of 5274 points to put her fourth in the alltime UK under-17 rankings, surpassing world champion Katarina JohnsonThompson's PB at the same age. How did you get into athletics? And why heptathlon? You could have so easily made life easier for yourself and just picked one event! As a young…

INTERVIEW LAURA MUIR Snorkelling with turtles, dolphins leaping over the boat…Laura Muir's endofseason holiday to Hawaii was a slice of heaven for the qualified vet and self-confessed wildlife obsessive. You could be for forgiven for thinking that, after a gruelling summer on the international circuit, the last thing most athletes might want to do would be to spend their break with other athletes. But that's precisely what the Olympic 1500m silver medallist did. With the 2023 campaign coming to a close at the Diamond League final in Oregon, it afforded the opportunity to reset on America's island state. She did so in the company of British team-mates Dina Asher-Smith, Jazmin Sawyers and Morgan Lake, as well as Irish sprint hurdler Sarah Lavin. Shop talk was off the table as the friends…

INSIGHT VERITY OCKENDEN More athletes than you might think find taking their end-of-season break a difficult task. There are those who dream of a carefree week spent passed out under a palm tree somewhere sunny but there also those who spend hours trying to convince their coach that they really, really don't need to rest at all, subsequently cramming all of their allocated time off with as many replacement activities as possible. This is a time of year during which, for me, a coach's objective guidance prior to starting that break is fundamental, even if the instruction to rest appears a relatively simple one. Once the general decisions (such as how much time you need) have been made, theoretically it shouldn't be too difficult to do nothing, particularly when you're feeling…

SPOTLIGHT SRI CHINMOY 3100 Long distance races and challenges are abundant in the world of running. You might be aware of some of the multi-day events like the Spine Race along the Pennine Way, for example, the Dragon's Back down the spine of Wales from the north to south coast or the renowned Barkley Marathons in the USA. Six-day and 24-hour events are now more prevalent, while the Back Yard Ultra World Championships, where competitors run themselves into oblivion in a last-person standing situation, were recently staged. The Sri Chinmoy Transcendence 3100, however, makes them all seem like a minor picnic. And yes, in case you were wondering, the 3100 signifies the number of miles runners need to cover. What is the 3100-mile race? In simple terms, it is an opportunity…

NOVEMBER 11 • Cardiff Cross Challenge cardiffcrosschallenge.co.uk ● Asian Half Marathon Championships Dubai worldathletics.org NOVEMBER 12 ● Athens Authentic Marathon athensauthenticsmarathon.gr • B. A. A Half Marathon Boston baa.org NOVEMBER 18 ● SEAA London Cross Country Championships Parliament Hill seaa.org.uk ● MCCCA Women's 5 mile and Men's 7 mile XC Championship Halesowen midland-athletics.co.uk ● NECAA XC Relay Championships Peterlee necaa.co.uk ● Eastern Athletic Association Cross Country Championships Incor. Masters and Intercounties Cambridge easternaa.com NOVEMBER 19 • Hong Kong Half Marathon hkmarathon.com NOVEMBER 25 • British Athletics Cross Challenge Liverpool ukathletics.org ● Northern Athletics November Indoor Open Sheffield northernathletics.co.uk NOVEMBER 26 • Shanghai Marathon worldathletics.org • Florence Marathon firenzemarathon.it NOVEMBER 27-DECEMBER 2 • Pacific Games Honiara worldathletics.org DECEMBER 2 ● Scottish District XC Championships Various scottishathletics.org.uk DECEMBER 3 • Maraton Valencia…

DIGEST KATHARINE MERRY It might be hard to believe, but it's already that time of year when athletes are once again getting back into the first throes of their winter training. I've been watching a few updates on social media recently which have made me smile. I sent a message offering my thoughts and prayers to Andrew Pozzi after I saw a picture of him doubled over after a session. He's being coached by Colin Jackson now and had clearly been put through his paces. I do not miss that! I always found it horrible coming back after my end-of-season break. It was the recurring realisation of how long something takes to achieve and how quick it is to lose. As soon as you take two to three weeks off, your…

AWARDS INTERNATIONAL BRITISH JUNIOR / U20 PARA MOUNTAIN/TRAIL/ULTRA Another remarkable year of athletics is drawing to a close, leaving behind it a trail of amazing performances and huge talking points. World titles have been won and lost, while more world records have tumbled across the sport. Now is the chance for you to decide whose efforts deserve further celebration. Over the following pages you will find our shortlists to choose from for a wide variety of honours. There is no physical award for the winners, but the real prize comes in being recognised by the incredibly knowledgeable AW readership. Who gets your vote? The winners will be published in the December issue of AW. CAST YOUR VOTES AT: athleticsweekly.com INTERNATIONAL ATHLETE OF THE YEAR MEN NEERAJ CHOPRA After missing out on gold in Eugene last…

INTERVIEW MATT HUDSON-SMITH He came so close. With 40 metres of the men's 400m final at the World Championships to go, Matthew Hudson-Smith was out in front. But, as he attempted to engage the gear which would give him the closing speed to secure gold, it simply wasn't there and a late surge from Jamaica's Antonio Watson meant he had to settle for silver. It was a frustrating climax to a frustrating year. An at times crippling battle with Achilles tendinitis meant races had to be kept to a minimum, training was disrupted and the run-in to Budapest consisted of a catch-up programme of running, pool work and almost relentless physio. Adding to the exasperation was the fact that, when Hudson-Smith was good, he was very, very good. In the semi-final…

MARATHON VALENCIA A World Marathon Major in all but name, Valencia is one of the fastest of them all. Four of the top 20 times in male marathon running history have come round the streets of the Ciudad del Running, with the women claiming three of their own. The fastest man in Valencia's history now holds the title of the fastest of all-time. Just 11 months ago Kelvin Kiptum's 2:01:53 was seen as an explosive introduction to the marathon but one in isolation. His subsequent demolition job of Eliud Kipchoge's world record in Chicago has revealed it as the first stop in a record-breaking sequence. But there's another who all too well knows that feeling, albeit over a shorter distance. The 2023 Valencia Marathon on December 3 will witness the marathon…

UNIVERSAL CREDIT Q: As we hit winter training, is there one aspect or exercise you can recommend which will have a big impact for athletes across a range of events? Are there universal building blocks when it comes to training?” DANIEL SEXTON Athletics is a diverse sport and the physiological requirements vary considerably. The 100m sprinter uses a very different energy system compared to the 10,000m runner, for example. Then there are huge technical differences between the short sprint events, the hurdles, the jumps and the throws – indeed within each discipline – so it would seem that finding just one exercise or indeed universal building blocks would be improbable. Pre-conditioning – the master key? However, it is possible to utilise fundamental building block exercises which have transference across all…

ANTEPES Antepes.com MUSCLE RUNNER £176.00 Designed as much as a training aid as it is a daily training shoe, the Muscle Runner is a carbonplated model that encourages a lighter foot strike to add more bounce to your push-off. The sculpted plate results in a shoe which has the feel of a track spike, with a full-length high-tech foam midsole. The heel cushioning is absent and again prompts that mid-to-forefoot gait, while the upper is a soft, Merino wool construction which has a great fit and feel. Using the shoe for drills, sprints and dynamic bounding should help develop a faster cadence and bring multiple gains to your training. NEW BALANCE sportsshoes.com FRESH FOAM X 1080V13 £160.00 With a more plush, softer and springier feel, the latest version of New…

How up to date is your athletics knowledge? Put it to the test with our topical teasers 1 Why was the women's 20km race walking world record annulled at the Pan American Games in October? 2 Which event will Britain's Laura Muir be targeting when she competes at next year's World Indoor Championships in Glasgow? 3 What are London Marathon introducing for the event to help work towards their bid to be Net Zero by 2023? 4 Which athlete recently released her explosive autobiography, The Race to be Myself? 5 Can you name the three Ingebrigtsen brothers who hit the headlines last month with the allegations they made against their father and former coach Gjert? 6 Who are these four faces? 7 What is the difference in height between the hurdles in the men's and women's…

DIP FINISH A Mongolian marathon runner nicknamed Ziggy who used to race for Morpeth Harriers in the North East of England is on the verge of becoming the first athlete to tackle the classic 26.2 miles distance at six Olympic Games. Ser-Od Bat-Ochir has the incredible record of representing his country at every global championship marathon since 2003 and now wants to cap his great career with an appearance at the Paris Games next year. The 42-year-old spent a spell in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympics living with his brother-in-law in Gateshead and it was there that his Morpeth Harriers clubmates gave him his nickname. He came to the UK largely to avoid the harsh Mongolian winters but he has since moved to Japan to prepare for recent…