And Mixed Martial Arts, of course.

Another photo op in the Olympic Stadium, this time with Perri Shakes-Drayton and Richard Whitehead (remember how he stormed past everyone on the homestraight?!) - the last piece of the original track was removed yesterday, which marked 500 days to the double-header.

Bad bad bad...

I know Aregawi wasnt very popular in Sweden, since she didnt really speak the language, married another Ethiopian, and then left the country.
This is obvi not gonna help.

Hmf...

Will be interesting to see if this is continiung to explain the Kenya/ethiopia dominance. It already started at the WC last year when several Kenyas were caught...

I think the Ethiopian and Kenyan governing bodies are generally far more corrupt than they used to be. I remember about 10-15 years ago when Wilson Kipketer wanted to transfer nationalities, the Kenyan authorities would not let him and he couldn't compete in the Worlds for several years. Now they seem to be actively auctioning off athletes wholesale to the Middle East while they are still in their teens. I'm sure that the resulting inflow of easy money has lowered ethical standards in every other area as well. Athletes themselves are complaining, but of course this is another area where the corrupt are well protected by political correctness.

Unless I'm forgetting someone, it seems to me that Aregawi is the biggest name to be busted for at least a year. Perhaps a sign that the IAAF are finally getting serious about doping?

Furthermore, The Guardian is reporting that 9 Ethiopians, 5 of them "top athletes", are (or will be) under investigation for having “suspicious” results in doping tests. Presumably this relates to the ABP since a doping test is cut and dried - it's either positive or negative and a positive is more than just "suspicious".

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/201...igation-doping

Of course, we don't know what "top athlete" means. It could be the guys running 13:20/27:45 who we don't know much about because they don't get in the big races, or it could really mean the "big" guys (and/or gals).

Team selection http://www.britishathletics.org.uk/m...ionships-2016/

23 in all have been selected - if anyone else gets an IAAF invite, the team may yet expand.

Amongst the trial winners with qualifying marks, Levine, Pozzi and England declined selection. Certainly a wise choice by Pozzi in my book.

In the end, it turns out that 4519 was enough for Morgan to get a pentathlon invite, so she gets one more crack at Klüft's WJR. (There's also the outdoor hep equivalent of 6542 (!) later in the season, but that one is probably beyond her reach.)

The following with qualifying standards also made the team:

Looks a solid female team, but the men look a tad less impressive with only Greg and James sparking anything in me. Of course it all depends on the quality of the teams everyone else sends in this big year, I guess.

As for Aregawi, last year she didn't seem the force I remember from previous seasons, so perhaps she did a Montsho and got desperate. Either way, I wonder if she's the prelude to the Ethiopian round of "I am doper, get me out of here!"

A decent enough team overall albeit a relatively small one but I was expecting that.

I think the champs being later in March than usual and the travel to US West coast has put some off. The German team selected is even smaller, just 12 names overall. I can see most if not all European teams being quite small.

She's been accused of tax evasion in Sweden and also allegedly hadn't finalised her Swedish divorce (from the marriage of convenience) before marrying her 2nd husband in Ethiopia. Well if you're gonna break some rules...

Gooid point. WHen Rodal won the gold in Atlanta, Kipketer wasnt there. Ofc he might have won anyway but...

Now it seems like they can get new citizenship in a day

Speaking of Rodal (the only Norwegian to win a global championship 800m medal), it was his Olympic record that Rudisha broke 16 years later.

Anyhow, another big name looks set to join the party in Cardiff - the fastest ever half-marathoner, Zersenay Tadese.

And 5-time World half-marathon champion no less. At 34 though, he may be past his best? Funny that he's never done anything significant in the marathon with a best of 2:10 at London from 3 attempts. I see that he is entered for the 2016 Boston marathon though.

He's a rare example of a half-marathon specialist at the highest level. Most of the fast guys use it to improve their 10,000m or marathon performances (though Tadese was the guy who pushed Bekele to a 26:46.31 CR in Berlin 2009).

Rabat replaces New York as a Diamond League host with immediate effect, which brings the series to Africa for the first time.

Slightly off-topic post - during her warm-up before the heptathlon 800m in London 2012, Jess was listening to Unfinished Sympathy on her music player. I chuckled a bit when I found out - by coincidence, that was a song the organisers played during said race (and others, including that 800m race).

Those of you with eagle eyes may have noticed that the Adidas logo has not been removed from the IAAF website since that BBC report broke earlier this year.

As it turns out, the existing contract has not been terminated.

Notable results from the World Challenge meeting in Melbourne (though it hardly deserves to have that status given how few non-Antipodean athletes take part):

Rudisha wins in 1:44.78 from Aussie, Luke Mathews in 1:45.16

Tom Walsh 20.87 in the SP

Christine Day (2nd) and Kaliese Spencer (4th) beaten by Aussie, Morgan Mitchell. Mitchell 52.16; Day 52.68; Spencer 53.12

Eleanor Patterson 1.93 in the HJ

Alana Boyd 4.71 in the PV

Jade Lally, 1st with 59.94

Kathryn Mitchell 64.37 in the Javelin

IAAF report

Elsewhere, Eliza McCartney improved the Oceania PV record to 4.80 when winning the NZL outdoor title. Also reclaimed the WJR.
The women's PV is shaping up to be great this year.

McCartney turns 20 this year, so the WJR has not changed (mind you, she's only 3 weeks too old to be a junior). Still the highest ever clearance by a teenage woman - looks like it could be the year of the pole vault!

Any Brit looking to make the teams for Cardiff 2016 must have the standard by this weekend as UKA will select their team for the elite races on Monday.

In addition, the 'regional' federations (EA etc) will send their own teams (basically composed of athletes that didn't make the UKA team) to the mass race, which they've designated as the Home Countries Half Marathon. EA, for example, will select their team on Tuesday.

Thanks for the correction re Eliza McCartney's age-group status.

Bit worried for Jess Coulson's participation at Cardiff. One of the other criteria is that athletes should show form at a 'relevant' distance (5k upwards) in the couple of months before the selection meeting and she hasn't raced since her DNF in the Frankfurt marathon (where she tore her plantar fascia). Maybe she'll race this weekend?

I guess making the Olympic marathon team is her bigger aim this year though, so mainly I hope to see her do the job in the trials taking place as part of the London marathon.

As far as Portland is concerned, it's all academic now - but Kilty is up to second in the 60m world rankings after lowering his SB to 6.50 in Jablonec nad Nisou.

In the same race, Theo Etienne clocked a 6.56 PB to become the second fastest ever British teen. That makes him the sixth Brit this year to break 6.60, which is unprecedented depth.

Meant to add Porter lowered her 60mH SB to 7.89 in the same meet, so she appears to be in the mix for a medal.

Serita Solomon also ran an SB of 8.02 in that meet, so appear to be coming back into her form she showed last year.

Max Eaves set a PB of 5.64m too