Kate Grace Runs 1:58 PB, Advances to the Olympic 800m Final

With less than one week until the AAU Junior Olympic Games, Heathwood Hall's (SC) Aly Conyers is ready to see the results of her season's -- or to some, pandemic -- training finally pay off.

On Saturday, Valarie Allman improved her personal best by three meters in the discus, breaking the American record in the process. Allman’s first round toss of 70.15m in Rathdrum, Idaho bettered Gia Lewis-Smallwood’s 69.17m throw from 2014. 

The third edition of the Big Friendly, dubbed “The Big Friendly 3: Revenge of the Friendly,” went down on Friday night in Portland, Oregon, although the word revenge was not quite fitting as the stars from previous friendlies once again shined.

Two months ago a local Flagstaff runner, Tommy River Puzey was admitted to the ICU with respiratory issues. After several weeks of testing and a lung biopsy, doctors discovered the presence of a very rare and aggressive form of Lymphoma.

Organizers of next year's World Athletics Cross Country Championships, scheduled for March 20, in Bathurst, Australia in New South Wales, are recommending that these championships be postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.  The board of the local organizing committee has made the recommendation to the World Athletics Council as "a result of biosecurity measures and travel restrictions currently in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Australia," according to an official statement released today.  Australian borders are currently closed to foreign visitors to prevent the spread of the virus.

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Until the Diamond League formally returns on Aug. 14 in Monaco, finding track results is an exercise in internet sleuthing and social media stalking. Grassroots meets that are humble in appearance have been heavy on star power as the pandemic has forced athletes to compete at venues that don’t typically house a cast of world and Olympic champions. So bootleg race videos and wind-assisted marks have become the norm in a season that certainly has no precedent.

Kenyan 1500m runner Elijah Manangoi has been provisionally suspended, according to the Athletics Integrity Unit. Manangoi, the 1500m world champion, has a personal best of 3:28.80 in the event. He made one appearance this year, running a 2000m race in Nairobi as part of the Impossible Games.

The rich keep getting richer as yet another distance star is set to join Nike’s Bowerman Track Club: Canadian Gabriela Debues-Stafford—sixth last fall in the 1500m at the World Championships— will transition her training to Portland, Oregon, as she joins Jerry Schumacher’s world class group in the fall.