by Alfonz Juck
Ronald Kwemoi wins Bowerman Mile, photo by PhotoRun.net
PREFONTAINE FLASH-BACK
EUGENE (USA): Asbel Kiprop blamed his subpar showing in the Bowerman Mile at the Eugene Diamond League on a recent bout of flu, informs LetsRun. “I knew I had flu so following that kind of pace for the first lap, my chest would be full, my lungs would be full. And I opted to run right from the back so I could control [my breathing],” said Kiprop, who added he was only at “40-45 percent” fitness on Saturday.
EUGENE (USA): Jakob Ingebrigtsen has said he is prioritising the European U20 Championships in Grosseto over the World U18 Championships in Nairobi, informs LetsRun. His next race will be the Dream Mile in the Oslo Bislett Games where he is aiming to improve his world age-16 best of 3:58.07.
EUGENE (USA): Mo Farah believes he can challenge his 10,000m PB of 26:46.57 in Ostrava on 28 June but he is ruling out a challenge on Kenenisa Bekele’s world record, informs LetsRun. “I’ve always said that medals is more important for me than anything else because no one ever will take that away from me. If it’s a record, then records are there to be broken,” he said. His next race will be over 3000m at the Racers Grand Prix in Kingston on 10 June.
EUGENE (USA): Mo Farah has said he will probably retire before the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, informs the Japan Times. “It’s too far. I miss my family. My kids are growing up fast. I’m away six months of the year training and it makes me sad not to see them growing up,” he said.
EUGENE (USA): Genzebe Dibaba blamed poor pacemaking for failing to break sister Tirunesh Dibaba’s world 5000m record of 14:11.15, informs the Oregon Register. “I’m happy that I won but I’m not happy about the time. The pace was real slow and I’m not happy with how we started. I was determined I would do it today because I had taken my time to train for this particular race,” she said.
EUGENE (USA): Christian Taylor credits Will Claye for pushing him to an 18m-plus jump, informs L’Equipe. “It was great to jump like this in front of my audience! This contest is what I dreamed of for a year now. I’m happy to be on this side this time because at the last contest with two jumpers over 18 meters, I was second! The performance of Will Claye, that’s why I jump 18.11 m today (Saturday). I hope he keeps pushing me to the World Championships. “
EUGENE (USA): Mariya Lasitskene said she didn’t experience any animosity from her rivals and media on her return to international competition, informs Sport Express. “The rivals treated me very kindly, I performed in a comfortable competitive atmosphere. In the sector, a real sports struggle unfolded. I felt great and, in general, everything was fine. And local journalists treated me very friendly, I did not feel any negative from them,” he said.
EUGENE (USA): Russian head jumps coach Anton Nazarov has said Darya Klishina is unlikely to compete domestically this season, infoms Sport Express. “In Russia, Klishina is unlikely to perform this summer. She has a season of international starts. Maybe, of course, something will change, but according to the individual plan, she will not compete in Russia,” she said. Klishina jumped 6.70m in Eugene on Friday.
