6 Most Highly Anticipated Outdoor Track Debuts

6 Most Highly Anticipated Outdoor Track Debuts

With the end of the indoor track season, it's time to get pumped for outdoor track, which means highly anticipated debuts for a number of athletes who eithe

Mar 26, 2016 by Taylor Dutch
6 Most Highly Anticipated Outdoor Track Debuts
With the end of the indoor track season, it's time to get pumped for outdoor track, which means highly anticipated debuts for a number of athletes who either decided to keep a low profile during the winter months or who are out for redemption on the oval office. Here are the athletes that we can't wait to see return to competition this outdoor season. 

6. Asbel Kiprop

The World Champion has yet to run a 1500m since the Zurich Diamond League meeting when he ran 3:35 for the win on Sept. 3, 2015, just four days after winning the World Championship final in Beijing. The three-time World Champion has competed in several races in his native Kenya, most recently a 1:47 800m on March 18. But he has yet to throw down a 1500m in 2016. Last year, Kiprop stunned audiences when he notched the third-fastest 1500m all time and a new personal best of 3:26.69 at the famously fast Monaco Diamond League meeting.



In 2015, he opened up in Eldoret with a 3:36 and ran to a fourth-place finish one week later at the Prefontaine Classic. Could we see an even faster Kiprop in the Olympic year? 

5. Kara Goucher

After a gutsy, yet devastating fourth-place finish at the Olympic Marathon Trials in February, Kara Goucher told fans that she was preparing to return with the hope of making Team USA on the track. The two-time Olympian suffered from injury early on in 2015, but managed to put together two impressive half marathon victories in Monterey and San Antonio, ultimately culminating with her best marathon performance in two years. Goucher completed the Trials with a 2:30:23 finishing time, which missed out on the Olympic team by just over a minute. When asked about her comeback, Goucher told reporters that sharing her experience as a former member of the Nike Oregon Project was what helped her get back to fitness

“People as, ‘how did you come back?’ Letting go of that shit is how I came back. I lost 200 pounds of fucking baggage I’ve been carrying around. They can’t touch me anymore. I don’t care,” Goucher said. 



Goucher was of course referring to her testimony in the BBC documentary that explored accusations of NOP coach Alberto Salazar and athlete Galen Rupp breaking anti-doping rules. 

If letting go of that “baggage” helped Goucher run her best marathon in two years, there’s no telling how strong she’ll be on the track. 

4. Galen Rupp

It’s a known fact that track fans already love to watch Rupp race, no matter the stakes. But this year will be even more interesting as Rupp has been vocal about the fact that he is open to competing on the track as well as the marathon at the Olympic Games. When asked after his Trials win if the marathon and 10K double would be possible in Rio, Rupp said “it’s definitely possible.” Eight days separate the marathon and 10K on the Rio schedule, which could prove doable should Rupp decide to pursue both. 



He attempted to qualify for World Indoors in the 3K at the USATF Indoor Championships, which was less than month after winning the Olympic Marathon Trials in his debut at the distance. He finished eighth overall in the race and did not make the team, but still finished with a season’s best of 7:48. Last year, Rupp opened his outdoor season with a 5K, 3K double at the Prefontaine Classic at Oregon, his alma mater, which could very well be the same place he opens up in 2016. 

3. Almaz Ayana 

The 5K World Champion from Ethiopia has yet to race in 2016 after a season that included total domination over 1500m world record-holder Genzebe Dibaba at the World Championships in Beijing. Dibaba was vocal about her intent to complete the 1500m, 5K double crown at the World Championships, but Ayana put an end to that dream by dropping Dibaba with four and a half laps to go to take the 5K world title in 14:26.83, a new championship record. Ayana also notched a personal best of 14:14 in the 5K at the Diamond League meeting in Shanghai last year, which is just three seconds slower than the 5K world record of 14:11 held by Dibaba’s sister Tirunesh. 

2. Usain Bolt

The six-time Olympic gold medalist is known to stay away from the indoor track, which makes track fans wait with even more anticipation for his outdoor debut. The world record-holder is returning from an exciting season that saw another triple sweep at the World Outdoor Championships in Beijing.



Bolt claimed the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay wins after a slow start to the 2015 season that made critics question whether he would be in top form at Worlds. But the Jamaican champion proved yet again that he can always be counted upon to perform in championship scenarios. 2016 will also be his final Olympic Games, which makes every race leading up to Rio even more special. 

1. Tirunesh Dibaba

The three-time Olympic Champion and nine-time World Champion will make her much anticipated return to competition after giving birth to her son in March of 2015. Mark Wetmore, Dibaba’s agent told LetsRun.com in January that the Ethiopian phenom would attempt to claim a third straight Olympic title in the 10K in Rio this summer. It’s a feat that has never been accomplished by any man or woman in the history of track and field. 
null
The last time the world record-holder toed the line of a race was at the 2014 Great Manchester 10K where she won by over a minute. Prior to Great Manchester, Dibaba finished third at the 2014 London Marathon where she made her debut in 2:20, one of the fastest debuts ever. In the past two years, her younger sister Genzebe has been crushing the competition with three World Championship titles and a world record in the 1500m. Not only will it be exciting to see Tirunesh make her return, but also the sheer possibility of a sibling showdown would be a race for the record books.