Browsing: Athletics

Athletes will have Olympic qualification in mind when they head to the Meeting Internacional Arona in Tenerife on 12-13 June.

The Canary Islands competition made its debut as part of the World Athletics Challenge – Combined Events in 2019 and this 10th edition also gives athletes the opportunity to achieve standards for the Games in Tokyo ahead of the qualification period for combined events ending on 29 June.

Nana Djimou and Zheng in heptathlon

Among those seeking the 6420-point heptathlon standard for Tokyo will be France’s Antoinette Nana Djimou and China’s Zheng Ninali.

Three-time Olympian Nana Djimou finished fourth at the London 2012 Olympics and also has three top eight places at the World Athletics Championships – in 2009, 2011 and 2013 – to her name. She will be looking to get close to her PB of 6576 points achieved at the 2012 Games to secure her spot at another global competition.

Competing as Nina Schultz, Zheng secured silver for Canada at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and now representing China will be looking to build on the 6153 PB score she set in Xi’an in April.

Joining them in Arona will be Switzerland’s 2019 European U23 champion Geraldine Ruckstuhl and Spain’s 2017 world U18 champion Maria Vicente, who scored 6304 points to win at the Multistars event in Lana in April, plus Britain’s Holly Mills, Switzerland’s Caroline Agnou and Austria’s Sarah Lagger.

Sintnicolaas seeks decathlon standard

The decathlon qualifying mark for Tokyo is 8350 points and among the athletes aiming for that will be two-time world fifth-placer Eelco Sintnicolaas of the Netherlands. Having originally planned to return to decathlon action in April, Sintnicolaas decided to push that back a couple of months and will now hope to rediscover the sort of form which saw him achieve his 8539-point Dutch record in Götzis in 2017.

Norway’s Martin Roe returns as the 2019 champion, his national record of 8228 points having been set in Florence in 2018, while the entry list also features Venezuela’s 2019 South American Championships winner Georni Jaramillo and Spain’s Jorge Urena, who won European indoor heptathlon gold in 2019 and silver earlier this year, plus Czech Republic’s Adam Helcelet and Japan’s Keisuke Ushiro.

The meeting will also feature U20 and U18 competition.

World Athletics

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In what may be the most impressive victory of his short but brilliant career, 20-year-old Jakob Ingebrigtsen upset an exceptional 5000m field, including both the world champion and world record-holder, at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Florence on Thursday (10).

The Norwegian wunderkind took a whopping 13 and a half seconds off his personal best to stop the clock in 12:48.45, a European record and his first sub-13 minute performance, having burned off the world’s most highly-credentialed 5000m runners over the last 200m of the race.

Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet finished second in 12:49.02, ahead of Canada’s Mohammed Ahmed (12:50.12), but world record-holder Joshua Cheptegei paid for his early aggression, fading to sixth in 12:54.69.

“I’ve been doing a lot of good training but it’s just crazy to run this fast in an actual race and also take down the best runners in the world – that’s a lot of fun,’’ Ingebrigtsen said.

“I felt like I saved a lot of energy earlier in the race and I believe the guy that wanted to win the race the most, he won at the end, and that was me.”

The European 1500m and 5000m champion, Ingebrigtsen has targeted the 1500m for the Tokyo Olympic Games as the schedule does not allow for the double, and said this result would not alter his plans.

“I do a lot of training, so I know I’m able to run fast. At the same time, my main focus is not the 5km but most of my training is for the 5km, so for me to able to run fast in the 1500m, I know that I’m also able to run fast in the 5km.”

Hassan rebounds with strong 1500m win

Few athletes have ever had a more eventful week on the track than Sifan Hassan, who set a world 10,000m record on Sunday, lost it to her Ethiopian rival Letesenbet Gidey on Tuesday and rebounded to defeat an Olympic-strength 1500m field in Florence on Thursday.

Coming into the meeting, Hassan claimed that her endurance was better than her speed but when Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon challenged her on the final bend, the Dutch world champion found just enough strength to fight her off and claim the victory in a world-leading 3:53.63.

Kipyegon set a Kenyan record of 3:53.91 but it was still not enough. Laura Muir, in third, also set a near-PB of 3:55.59 in what was easily the fastest race of the year.

“I am so happy and I am so tired,’’ Hassan said afterwards.

“It was an amazing race. I thought Faith was going to beat me in the last 400m because I haven’t been working on speed and I just came from 10,000m so I don’t know where my speed came from, it surprised me.”

Regardless of this result she is not tempted to try to repeat the 1500m-10,000m double she achieved at the 2019 world championships, saying she wanted the fresh challenge of the 5000m-10,000m combination in Tokyo.

Another world champion who showed impressive speed was 200m title-holder Dina Asher-Smith, who was utterly dominant in her favoured event and would have cracked the 22-second barrier if there had been just a smidgen more following wind.

She was well-satisfied with the 22.06 clocking, with a slight tailwind, and believes she is in a good place with the Olympic Games just six weeks away.

“My team and I know I’m in good shape and I’m happy to come out and run that today, but I know I can go quicker so I’m excited to be able to go again,’’ she said.

The highly-credentialed Ivory Coast sprinter Marie-Josee Ta Lou set a season’s best of 22.58 but was some five metres in arrears.

Hurdles meeting records for McLeod and Camacho-Quinn

There were more fast times in the sprint hurdles as Olympic champion Omar McLeod and in-form Puerto Rican Jasmine Camacho-Quinn set meeting records. Camacho-Quinn clocked 12.38 to take down a 41-year-old record, while McLeod set a world-leading time of 13.01 in an equally convincing display.

European indoor 400m champion Femke Bol confirmed her good form with a Dutch record of 53.44 in the women’s 400m hurdles, which ranks her third fastest in the world this year, behind American pacesetter Sydney McLaughlin (52.83).

Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali established early season superiority in the 3000m steeplechase, clocking a world lead of 8:08.54 to defeat Bikila Tadese Takele of Ethiopia (8:10.56) and countryman Mohamed Tindouft (8:11.65). By contrast, the reigning world champion Conseslus Kipruto struggled to stay with the pace and dropped out midway through the race.

In the field, dual Olympic and world discus champion Sandra Perkovic rediscovered her top form to launch the plate 68.31m, her best throw for almost three years.

That was in the second round of the competition, but under the ‘final three’ format, she still had to register the best throw in the last round to claim the victory, which she did with a throw of 66.90m to down her great rival, the reigning world champion Yaime Perez (65.37m in the final round, after a best of 66.82m in the first round).

“I’m back,” an emotional Perkovic declared afterwards.

The 30-year-old Croatian has been searching for this rhythm all season and said this competition, likely to be her last before the Olympic Games, would give her the confidence she needed to contend for a third consecutive Olympic title.

New Zealand’s 2017 world champion Tom Walsh temporarily put aside his grief at the unexpected death of his agent Andy Stubbs last weekend to claim victory in the men’s shot put under the final three format. Walsh was third placed (21.43m) going into the winner-take-all final round but saved his best for last with a throw of 21.47m which Armin Sinancevic (20.93) and Leonardo Fabbri (19.82) could not match.

World pole vault champion Anzhelika Sidorova, competing as a neutral athlete, made an impressive return to international competition, clearing 4.91m to win the women’s pole vault, and a first-time clearance at 2.33m gave fellow neutral athlete Ilya Ivanyuk victory in the high jump on countback from Brandon Starc and Gianmarco Tamberi, who also cleared 2.33m. In a close competition, world champion Mutaz Essa Barshim was bumped off the podium, finishing in fifth place with a best height of 2.30m.

Nicole Jeffery for World Athletics

Photos by Diamond League AG

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Middle-distance runners Abel Kipsang, Jemma Reekie and Collins Kipruto were among the athletes to break a meeting record at the Meeting de Marseille – a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze competition – in the south of France on Wednesday (9).

Kipsang had opened his 2021 campaign with a string of victories in Kenya, then earlier this month clocked a 1500m PB of 3:33.99 in Montreuil. After a runner-up finish in Hengelo last weekend, the 24-year-old Kenyan returned to winning ways in France.

The pacemaker brought the field through 800m in 1:52.95 with Kipsang sitting in fourth place. He moved into the lead about 250 metres later, while 800m specialist Elliot Giles navigated his way through the field into fourth place.

Giles moved into second place with 200 metres to go, but Kipsang then moved up a gear and sprinted away from his opponents, going on to win by about 10 metres in a lifetime best of 3:32.68, taking almost two seconds off the meeting record.

Giles was rewarded with a PB of 3:33.80 with Spain’s Ignacio Fontes just 0.04 behind. The top nine athletes all finished inside the Olympic qualifying standard of 3:35.00.

Kipsang’s compatriot Collins Kipruto employed a similarly impressive finishing kick to win the men’s 800m.

After the first lap was covered in a swift 49.95, it looked as though European indoor champion Patryk Dobek was on his way to victory. But coming off the final bend, Kipruto moved from third to first and stopped the clock at 1:43.95, taking almost half a second off his PB.

France’s Benjamin Robert came through to take second, clocking a PB of 1:44.53, while Dobek wound up third in 1:44.80.

Reekie produced arguably the most dominant performance of the meeting. The double European U23 champion sprinted away from the field on the second lap of the women’s 800m to win in 1:58.41, the second-fastest outdoor performance of her career to date and a two-second improvement on the previous meeting record held by her training partner, European 1500m champion Laura Muir. Germany’s Christina Hering was second in 2:00.15.

Two other meeting records fell in the sprints.

Following her 11.04 PB in Hengelo last weekend, Britain’s world and Olympic 4x100m medallist Daryll Neita proved her breakthrough wasn’t a one-off, winning the 100m in Marseille in 11.08. The -1.6m/s headwind suggests Neita is just a race or two away from breaking the 11-second barrier. World 200m finalist Gina Bass of The Gambia was second in 11.21.

Poland’s in-form Natalia Kaczmarek won the women’s 400m in a meeting record of 51.16, beating Laviai Nielsen (51.42) and Floria Guei (51.57).

Elsewhere, Slovenia’s Neja Filipic bounded out to a PB of 14.31m to win the women’s triple jump, and recent European Team Championships winner Asier Martinez of Spain won the 110m hurdles in 13.36 (-1.0m/s), just 0.02 shy of his recent PB.

Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

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There was inspiration aplenty to be found in the venue for today’s Wanda Diamond League press conference, the splendidly decorated main salon of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, with its soaring painted ceiling and marble statues.

But when it came down to athletics, the assembled world champions and world record-breakers confessed that it was their competitors who gave them the most motivation to create their own masterpieces.

World 10,000m champion Sifan Hassan could have been deflated by the news overnight that her two-day-old world record of 29:06.82 had been vanquished by her Ethiopian rival, the world silver medallist Letesenbet Gidey, who soared to 29:01.03 at the Ethiopian Olympic trial held in Hengelo last night.

But Hassan said she relished the challenge, insisting that the developing rivalry between the two women was good for the event, good for the sport, and good for her.

She revealed that her manager had told her after her triumph in Hengelo on Sunday that Gidey would “go for the world record” at the same venue two days later.

“It makes me happy,” she said of Gidey’s performance.

“I want the 10,000m to be an event that people want to watch. I want it to be an event that’s exciting.

“Letesenbet is a very good athlete, she’s a very nice athlete and I really like her. She’s really sweet. People think I am not happy (about losing the world record) but I am really happy about it because I want distance to be more exciting.”

“I’m not surprised, and I’m actually happy about it!”@SifanHassan on losing her 10,000m world record just two days after getting it. #FlorenceDL #DiamondLeague pic.twitter.com/GwBppBKWGP

— Wanda Diamond League (@Diamond_League) June 9, 2021

Hassan said she hoped their respective performances would make the Olympic women’s 10,000m final one of the showpiece events of the Games.

“I am happy she ran faster than me because it will make me work harder for the Olympics and I will enter the event more excited. Congratulations to her.”

For similar reasons, Hassan is stepping down to the 1500m in Florence tomorrow, racing what she describes as her “favourite” event, even though she intends to do the 5000m-10,000m double in Tokyo.

She has not raced the 1500m since her triumph at the World Championships in Doha in 2019, and she is excited by the challenge of taking on the Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon and the European champion Laura Muir over the metric mile.

“I am really in good shape for my endurance but my speed is not yet quite good,” she said.

“I haven’t really raced the 1500 for two years but I am really happy to be here and take the opportunity, no matter what happens.”

World 5000m record-holder Joshua Cheptegei is similarly delighted by the impressive field assembled for his event, with seven sub-13 minute men assembled, alongside the young European champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and the Gateshead Diamond League winner Mohammed Katir of Spain.

Cheptegei is having his first hit-out over the distance since he set the world record of 12:35.36 at the Monaco Diamond League meeting last September, and said he felt his form had improved since his season debut over 3000m at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava last month.

“I come here with new energy and new momentum,” he said.

“I am pretty sure the body is much better than in Ostrava and I can target a time of 12:40, or better.”

World 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith was asked for her reaction to dual Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s sizzling 10.63 clocking in Jamaica last week, the fastest women’s 100m time in more than 30 years, and said she was inspired by such a performance.

“Shelly-Ann is absolutely amazing and I sent her a message saying it was amazing. The run itself was phenomenal. My coach sent me a video and said, ‘Look at her leg speed. That’ is what I’m talking about. You need to move your legs like that’. Obviously I am a competitive and I am always going to back myself but you can’t ignore the fact that Shelly-Ann is an amazing athlete.”

Asher-Smith said she was “still getting back into the swing of things” after taking a year out of top-flight competition during the pandemic last year but was confident that she would arrive at the Tokyo Olympics ready to race at her peak.

High jumpers Mutaz Essar Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi already have a well-established mutual admiration club and hope their friendly rivalry will take them to greater heights tomorrow.

Asked what advice they would give each other, Tamberi, the Italian favourite, addressed his friend and said: “I don’t have anything to teach to this guy because he’s the best high jumper ever, but it doesn’t mean you are unbeatable, remember.”

World champion Barshim is still searching for his best form this year, with a best of 2.30m so far this season, but hopes his meeting with Tamberi and this year’s world leader Ilya Ivanyuk (2.37m) will help him find it.

“With a strong field you are going to perform much better,” Barshim said.

“There’s pressure, but I love that pressure – it only makes me better.”

World long jump champion Malaika Mihambo is also determined to step up a level in Florence after a subdued start to the season by her standards.

She takes on a high-quality field including fellow seven-metre jumpers Chantel Malone and Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova, two-time world triple jump champion Caterine Ibarguen, world indoor champion Ivana Spanovic and world silver medallist Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk.

“It’s the challenge that gives you the power to give your 100 percent,” she said.

Nicole Jeffery for World Athletics

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In a country that loves its throwing, Marcin Krukowski and Wojciech Nowicki put on an exhibition for local fans on the second evening of the Paavo Nurmi Games – a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting – in Turku, Finland, on Tuesday (8).

In cool, damp conditions, Krukowski signalled his intent in the second round of the men’s javelin with a throw that looked to sail beyond 90 metres, but it was ruled a foul after his hand slipped over the line as he landed on the rain-soaked track.

But minutes later he launched the spear 89.55m to add almost a metre and a half to his Polish record, enough to hand him a comfortable win over 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott (82.84m) of Trinidad and Tobago and Rocco van Rooyen of South Africa (82.55m), along with moving him to 22nd on the world all-time list.

“I can throw further, I can add some metres,” said Krukowsi. “I didn’t feel I hit the javelin hard, it was a smooth and nice throw. Moving forward it’s about not doing stupid things. I got a small injury in my knee so I lost some timing recently but now I’m getting it back and I feel strong and confident.”

His goal for the Tokyo Games?

“A gold medal,” said Krukowski. “It’s the Olympics and anything can happen.”

His Polish compatriot Nowicki took an impressive win in the men’s hammer with a series of outstanding consistency, going beyond 79 metres on five of his six throws. His biggest, 80.77m, was a season’s best that came in the fifth round and gave him the win by more than a metre from France’s Quentin Bigot, who threw a PB of 79.70m.

“I felt good, the weather was good, the circle was good so I tried to make a good result,” said Nowicki, who will remain in Finland ahead of his next competition in Espoo. “For me this circle is a little better when it’s wet. Today I didn’t imagine I would throw 80 metres; when I woke up I felt 78, 79, but I was happy and I hope to do the same at the Olympic Games.”

Hammer winner Wojciech Nowicki at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Turku

Four-time world champion Pawel Fajdek had a night he will be keen to forget, fouling his first five attempts before salvaging third place in the last round with a throw of 78.29m. Sweden’s Ragnar Carlsson set a PB of 76.87m in fourth.

Finland’s Senni Salminen drew the biggest cheer of the night when soaring out to a national record of 14.51m (0.4m/s) in the third round of the women’s triple jump, also smashing the meeting record by 22 centimetres in the process and adding 29 centimetres to her previous best. That handed her victory by a wide margin over Jamaica’s Kimberly Williams (14.29m), with Finland’s Kristina Makela third with 14.26m.

“I knew I was in good shape but 14.51, it’s big,” said Salminen, who fell to her knees in ecstatic celebration once she saw the distance. “I was about to cry during my last jump when I got a standing ovation. The crowd was amazing.”

Finland very nearly had another home win in the final race of the evening as Annimari Korte took second in the 100m hurdles in 12.91, edged by Hungary’s Luca Kozak who clocked 12.90 (0.7 m/s). Belgium’s Anne Zagre was third with 13.13.

There was an impressive home win in the men’s 3000m steeplechase as Finland’s Topi Raitanen came from behind over the last barrier to take victory in 8:19.57, just a second outside the meeting record, ahead of Denmark’s Ole Hesselbjerg (8:20.42). Sweden’s Emil Blomberg was third in 8:21.38.

Kenya’s Cornelius Tuwei outkicked compatriot Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich to win the men’s 800m, 1:44.42 to 1:44.59, with Poland’s Mateusz Borkowski third in a PB of 1:44.85.

Poland’s Malwina Kopron coped with conditions best in the women’s hammer, with a thunderstorm raging during the competition and a soaked circle proving tricky for throwers. She opened with a season’s best of 75.40m which proved more than enough for victory, a mark she was unable to improve in subsequent attempts. France’s Alexandra Tavernier was next best with 72.80m with two-time Olympic champion Anita Wlodarczyk third with 72.42m.

France’s Mouhamadou Fall rose to the occasion in the men’s 100m, getting the better of USA’s Mike Rodgers to win in 10.26 (0.1m/s), with Rodgers clocking 10.33 and Switzerland’s Silvan Wicki third in 10.36.

Britain’s Imani Lansiquot came from behind to edge victory in the women’s 100m, overtaking Finland’s Lotta Kemppinen to win in 11.40 (-0.7m/s) to 11.41. Italy’s Vittoria Fontana was third in 11.46.

There was another British win in the 110m hurdles as David King set a PB of 13.37 to take victory, with Poland’s Damian Czykier next best in 13.50 and Norway’s Vladimir Vukicevic third in 13.59.

“I haven’t run quicker than 13.50 since 2017 and I’m so happy,” said King. “In Hengelo [where King clocked 13.57] I had some good signs but tonight I started well and finished well, it all came together.”

Ukraine’s Vladyslav Mazur took the men’s long jump with a best of 7.90m, with Finland’s Kristian Pulli second with 7.82m and Colombia’s Arnovis Dalmero third with 7.75m. In the women’s pole vault Elina Lampela gave the 2,500-strong crowd reason for celebration as she cleared 4.41m to take victory ahead of Fanny Smets of Belgium (4.31m) and Switzerland’s Andrina Hodel (4.31m).

Kamila Licwinko of Poland and Australia’s Eleanor Patterson took a joint-win in the women’s high jump, which was staged during a torrential downpour. Licwinko had the better record at 1.88m and Patterson the better record at 1.85m, and they were equal at other heights up to and including their best clearance of 1.93m. Because they had the same number of overall failures, they shared the spoils, with Ukraine’s Yuliya Levchenko third with a season’s best of 1.91m.

Barr breaks meeting record, Stahl and Hussong dominate throws

Ireland’s Thomas Barr and Sweden’s Daniel Stahl produced the standout performances on the first evening of action in Turku.

Barr clocked 48.39 to edge a thrilling race with Estonia’s Rasmus Magi in the 400m hurdles, the Irishman clocking his fastest ever time outside a championship and his quickest since winning a European bronze medal in 2018. Magi led until the final barrier before being passed by Barr on the run to the line, but the Estonian was rewarded with a big season’s best of 48.58, with Dutch athlete Nick Smidt third in 49.64.

Thomas Barr on his way to winning the 400m hurdles at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Turku

“I wasn’t expecting that,” said Barr after taking more than a second off the meeting record. “I thought if everything went right, 48-mid was where I was at but I’ve felt my rhythm come back quickly and I felt really strong over the last few hurdles. It was a brilliant race.”

Barr finished fourth in the 2016 Olympic final and he’s hopeful he can again challenge for a podium position in Tokyo.

“Normally I’m still only warming up at this time of year,” he said. “Considering how compressed this season was, I didn’t have much room for error so I’m back on the horse just in time. Since Rio the 400m hurdles has gotten a lot harder, but in an Olympic final, or in any major championship final, anything can happen, so if I’m there or thereabouts, I’ll be ready to mop up the spillage.”

Stahl proved a class apart in the men’s discus, the world champion – who spent his summers in Turku through his childhood – giving himself more happy memories of the Finnish town when launching a throw of 68.11m to in the fourth round, good enough for a comfortable win over rival Andrius Gudzius of Lithuania (66.88m) and Lukas Weisshaidinger (66.77m).

“It was pretty good, I’m pretty happy with the 68-metre throw,” said Stahl. “I was a little bit tight and I felt a little slow in the first three rounds but then I hit it better.”

Daniel Stahl in action in the discus in Turku

Stahl has a long list of competitions in the weeks before the Olympics in Tokyo, where he hopes to emulate his success at the 2019 World Championships.

“I just need to compete more and get that feeling, there’s nothing better,” he said. “I’m really excited now about Tokyo. Everyone is going to get the vaccine and I’m going to get my second one in a couple of weeks so it feels great. Since I started in 2011 my coach and I said we’d target the Olympic Games in 2020 and now that it’s going ahead in 2021, I’m really, really happy about it.”

Christin Hussong continued her fine run of form in the women’s javelin, the German putting the competition to bed in the second round with a meeting record of 66.63m. That was enough to hand her victory with ease, with Latvia’s Lina Muze next best with 61.34m and Madara Palameika third with 60.04m.

Christin Hussong in action in the javelin at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Turku

“It was a really good throw for me,” said Hussong. “I’ve thrown over 66 metres five times now (this year) and I think my technique is better than last year – that’s the reason why. I’m really happy with that.”

Asked about her hopes for the Tokyo Olympics, Hussong said she has a straightforward mission. “My goal is a medal. Which medal, we’ll have to see. There are a lot of girls throwing over 65, 66.”

Two more meeting records fell on the first day of action in Turku.

Bahrain’s Winfed Yavi was a clear winner of the women’s 3000m steeplechase, coasting to victory in a meeting record of 9:17.55 ahead of Ireland’s Michelle Finn, who smashed her PB by nine seconds to run an automatic Olympic qualifier of 9:29.25. Kenya’s Fancy Cherono took third with 9:33.49.

Kenya’s Mary Moraa was a class apart in the women’s 800m, the 21-year-old kicking to victory in 1:59.95, the first sub-two-minute clocking of her career and the first witnessed in Turku.

“My aim was to run under two minutes but I was not expecting it,” said Moraa. “We have national trials next week and I’m confident, I’m very happy and strong and God-willing, I will make the Olympics.”

In the men’s triple jump Portugal’s Tiago Pereira saved his best for last, jumping 16.91m to take the win in his final attempt, which demoted Tobia Bocchi to second, though the Italian was delighted to set a PB of 16.73m. Sweden’s Jesper Hellstrom took third with 16.40m.

Hungary’s Anasztazia Nguyen edged victory in the women’s long jump, her third-round effort of 6.51m giving her the win ahead of Britain’s Abigail Irozuru (6.50m), with Finland’s Maria Huntington third with 6.32m.

Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

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Seven refugee athletes will compete in athletics at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, part of a squad of 29 announced today (8) by the International Olympic Committee.

Competing under the Olympic flag as the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, the athletes will take part in 12 sports at the postponed Olympic Games from 23 July to 8 August, with athletics represented by the largest squad.

The team includes Rose Nathike Lokonyen, the team’s flag-bearer at the 2016 Games in Rio, and Anjelina Nadai Lohalith, another veteran of the 10-member 2016 team. Originally from South Sudan, the two live and train at the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation camp in Ngong, Kenya. Lokonyen will compete in the 800m and Lohalith in the 1500m.

Loroupe, a former marathon world record-holder, three -time world champion and 2000 Olympian, will reprise her role as team’s Chef de Mission.

Heading the men’s squad is Tachlowini Gabriyesos, the 23-year-old Eritrean native who clocked 2:10:55 at the Hahula Galilee Marathon on 14 March to become the first refugee athlete to better an Olympic qualifying standard. His run in Sapporo will mark the third marathon appearance for Gabriyesos, who trains with the Emek Hefer Club in Tel Aviv.

Jamal Abdelmaji Eisa Mohammed, a Sudanese refugee who has trained with the Alley Runners Club in Tel Aviv since 2014, will compete in the 5000m. Mohammed, 27, competed on the World Athletics Refugee Team (ART) at the 2019 World Cross Country Championships and 2019 World Championships. More recently, he represented the ART at the European 10,000m Cup in Birmingham last weekend, finishing fifth in the B race in 28:52.64. He set his 5000m lifetime best of 13:54.28 in 2019.

Paulo Amotun Lokoro, another South Sudanese refugee based at the camp in Ngong, will also be making his second Olympic appearance, again competing in the 1500m. Lokoro, 29, improved his personal best to 3:47.03 in 2019, and competed on the World Athletics ART at the 2018 World Half Marathon Championships and 2019 World Championships.

Dorian Keletela, a Congolese refugee based in Portugal, will compete in the 100m. Keletela, 22, competed in the 60m at the European Indoor Championships in March, the first refugee athlete to compete at those championships. Keletela has a 10.46 lifetime best set in 2020.

James Nyang Chiengjiek, another member of the squad in Rio who will compete in the 800m in Tokyo, rounds out the squad. He’ll be moving up from the 400m event he contested at the last Olympic Games.

Three coaches will be part of the athletics delegation: Francis Obikwelu, the 2004 Olympic silver medallist in the 100m; veteran middle distance coach Joseph Domongole from Kenya; and Alemayehu Gebrmeskel from Israel, who will coach the distance events.

The athletes were selected from a group of 55 refugee athletes currently supported by the IOC through the Olympic Scholarships for Refugee Athletes programme. At the Opening Ceremonies on 23 July, the team will be the second delegation to enter the stadium, sending a powerful message of inclusion, solidarity and hope to the world while bringing further awareness to the plight of more than 80 million people who are currently displaced worldwide.

IOC President Thomas Bach announces the IOC Refugee Olympic Team for Tokyo 2020

“Congratulations to all of you,” IOC President Thomas Bach said, addressing the athletes.

“When you, the IOC Refugee Olympic Team and the athletes from the National Olympic Committees from all over the globe, finally come together in Tokyo on 23 July, it will send a powerful message of solidarity, resilience and hope to the world. You are an integral part of our Olympic community, and we welcome you with open arms.”

UNHCR High Commissioner Filippo Grandi also offered his congratulations.

“I am thrilled to congratulate each of the athletes who have been named in the Refugee Olympic Team Tokyo 2020,” he said.

“Surviving war, persecution and the anxiety of exile already makes them extraordinary people, but the fact that they now also excel as athletes on the world stage fills me with immense pride. It shows what is possible when refugees are given the opportunity to make the most of their potential.”

The full delegation will meet for the first time as a team at the Aspire Academy in Doha on 12 and 13 July before flying to Japan on 14 July. During the Games, the team will be hosted by Waseda University, which will provide accommodation and training facilities, before the athletes move to the Olympic Village for their respective competitions.

The IOC Refugee Olympic Team will compete in Tokyo under the French acronym EOR, which stands for Equipe Olympique des Réfugiés. In all other competitions, refugee athletes compete as part of the World Athletics Athlete Refugee Team (ART).

Bob Ramsak for World Athletics

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