#kiprop

[trackandfieldimage]

Flashback⚡️ Beijing World Champs 2015. 1500 meter final. The final 100 meters. The 2017 IAAF World Champs in London starts in a few days! See you there ! 🇬🇧 . . . . . Trackandfieldimage.com . . . #jeffcohenphoto #iaafworldchampionships #iaaf #tracknation #trackandfield #athletics #running #1500meters #kiprop #centrowitz #usatf #milers #run #nikerunning @iaafworldchamps @spikesmag @eurosport @nikonusa (at Beijing, China)

[myshitblogger-blog]

Asbel Kiprop: Former Olympic champion 'traumatised' by failed drugs test

Asbel Kiprop: Former Olympic champion ‘traumatised’ by failed drugs test

[ad_1]

Asbel Kiprop has run the fifth fastest 1500m of all time

Former Olympic 1500m champion Asbel Kiprop says he is “traumatised” after failing a drugs test and will “fight” to prove his innocence.

Kenya’s three-time world champion, 28, tested positive for EPO after an out-of-competition test in November 2017.

Kiprop was tipped off by a doping control officerabout a drugs test, but officials…

View On WordPress

[jffc-in-blog]

Athletics Integrity Unit Confirm Kiprop Positive Test, Reject Allegations

http://bit.ly/2wbeOp3 #AsbelKiprop, #Erythropoietin, #Kiprop, #KipropDoping

[ipl2018live-blog]

Asbel Kiprop denies doping after positive test report

Asbel Kiprop denies doping after positive test report

By: Reuters | London | Published: May 3, 2018 1:19:25 pm

Asbel Kiprop is a three-time World Champion. (Reuters Photo/Representational Image)

Former Olympic and triple world 1,500 metres champion Asbel Kiprop of Kenya said on Wednesday he would “prove he was clean” following British media reports that he had tested positive for…

View On WordPress

[athletics24]

Asbel Kiprop: Standing out a mile Featured by Stuart Weir December 21, 2016 The imposing figure of Asbel Kiprop has been at the forefront of the metric mile internationally for several years, but he spoke with Stuart Weir about his Rio disappointment…

[latestworldnewsnow-blog]

World champ Asbel Kiprop answers critics in Oslo

World champ Asbel Kiprop answers critics in Oslo

World 1,500m champion Asbel Kiprop has finally won a race in this year’s IAAF Diamond League Series. Kiprop broke the duck this season with his fourth Dream Mile victory at the Oslo Diamond League as Jairus Birech claimed a double in men’s 3,000m steeplechase on Thursday night. Commonwealth 1,500m champion Faith Chepng’etich, who is also a former World junior champion, made a return to her…

View On WordPress

[latestworldnewsnow-blog]

Asbel Kiprop sets new stadium record

Asbel Kiprop sets new stadium record

By COPPERFIELD LAGATMore by this Author World 1,500m champion Asbel Kiprop celebrated the arrival a new tartan track at Kipchoge Keino Stadium in style with a brilliant stadium record as the fifth and final Athletics Kenya weekend meeting got underway at the Kipchoge Keino Stadium on Friday. After running a one minute, 45 seconds 800 metres at the Doha Diamond  League meeting last Friday, the…

View On WordPress

[issportisgood]

The Villain and Heroes of Athletics: The Revival of Distance Running (With Minimal Assistance from Mo Farah)

A non-championships year is always bound to result in a degree of flexibility for athletes, the season is open for personal interpretation, as barring those with Commonwealth duties, the need to peak for a major championship becomes non-existent.

Such a year allows athletes to focus on those races which entice them most, whether that involve fast times or financial reward, both determinants tend to produce an exciting variety of racing for the keen athletics fan.

In the world of middle distance running, arguably the two heaviest hitters of this realm made their intentions clear early. With David Rudisha under an injury cloud, Mo Farah announced he would follow through with his marathon debut in London, and Asbel Kiprop indicated that he would chase the 1500m World Record of 3:26.00 in Monaco.

These decision were polar opposites, one athlete decided to chase the one title which had eluded his rangy stride thus far, whilst the other decided that he might as well get paid as much as conceivably possible by capitalising on blind nationalistic pride in an event he was least experienced in.

These polarising season goals offered an interesting perspective on the current state of distance running for those at the very top of the sport. Asbel Kiprop focused on a race for the purists, in one of the most glamorous venues in track and field, he captured the imagination of those that had grown up watching the paced to precision record attempts of men like El Guerrouj, Komen and Bekele. In a non-championship sense, this is the purest form of the sport, transporting one’s self from point A, to point B over an agreed distance as rapidly as possible. Whilst I’m by no means naïve enough to avoid acknowledging that Kiprop stood to earn a significant amount of money from merely attempting such a feat, his attempt excited the athletic community. Here was a man who had achieved the highest heights in the Olympic and World Championship arenas, left with only one accolade to target, the title of “World Record Holder”.

At the other end of this scale was Mo Farah, a man who had shot to fame after a total rebuild of both his physical and psychological capabilities. Farah had transplanted himself in 2011 from a comfortable but largely “also ran” existence in England, where he achieved respectable but ultimately inconsequential results in major championships, to an entirely new training environment in Portland, Oregon, under the guidance of Alberto Salazar. Fast forward to 2014, and a man who many felt was destined for “good, but not great” status, had totally transformed himself, into a double Olympic and World champion, multiple British Record holder and the only man to have ever run under 3:30, 13:00 and 27:00 for 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m respectively. This transformation was as stunning as it was unpredicted, Farah had shot to global prominence and entering 2014 had his selection of any race in any meet in the world.

In 2013 Farah was offered a lucrative deal to run the London Marathon in 2014, the details of which were never officially confirmed, but reports suggested Farah was being offered as much as £750,000 for both London Marathon appearances (AUD$1.3million). This contract involved Farah running half of the 2013 London Marathon as a reconnaissance mission of sorts, investigating the course in a race situation whilst learning the intricacies of the marathon racing trade. The decision was criticised by pundits worldwide, with Farah only appearing the in 2013 race as a sideshow of sorts, whilst earning more than most eventual finishers.

Farah’s full marathon debut rolled around in 2014, with extraordinary hype surrounding the race, a phenomenal field was assembled, with marathon World Record holder Wilson Kipsang touted as a potential scalp for Farah on debut by the notoriously excitable British press. Farah was supplied with his own pacemakers in an attempt to break Steve Jones’ 1985 British record of 2:07:13. He failed, both in being relevant to the ultimate race winner and in breaking Jones’ record, running 2:08:21 for 8th. This ‘failure’ was not entirely Farah’s fault; he was hyped excessively by media outlets and found that the marathon distance presented issues he had never previously had to consider. Whilst this result was understandable, it invited the question – had Farah become bigger than the sport, was this man becoming more of a brand than a racer?

Farah’s London Marathon attempt had an enormous effect on the remainder of his 2014 season, with a return to competition taking longer than first expected, Farah announced he would return for the Commonwealth Games. This turned out to be false, with Farah citing mere days before the games that he was too ill to compete and was lacking in fitness, only to then be declared fit enough to compete a matter of weeks later in the less competitive European Championships, dodging the competition offered by Caleb Ndiku and Isiah Koech.

The remainder of Farah’s 2014 was nothing short of farcical, with his 2014 season consisting of two more races set up entirely for his financial and brand based benefit, a 2 Mile in Birmingham and a Half Marathon in Newcastle. Competing in the 2 Mile in Birmingham ensured that Farah did not compete in Stockholm or Zurich Diamond League meets, with 6 World or Olympic medallists competing in Stockholm, Farah stayed put in Birmingham racing a grand total of zero World or Olympic Medallists, winning by 15 seconds in 8:07, a British Record proving that his fitness was superb and had likely been so for a number of weeks. The Mo Farah show reached almost humorous proportions in Newcastle, with Farah “winning” the Great North Run, the first Brit to do so in 30 years, even if Mike Kigen continually gapped Farah only to drop back whenever the gap became too great, talking to Farah with 800m to go and seeming to cruise in behind Farah for 2nd. The Farah brand has become a frustrating addition to distance racing, for an athlete of such ability to race only when it suited, in conditions that near on assured victory during the 2014 track season, Farah has become a near villainous indicator of why athletics struggles to maintain popularity, with champions such as Farah blatantly dodging competition.

Last night, two of the heroes of 2014 middle distance running took to the track in Marrakech, Morocco, for the Continental Cup and a 1st place prize of $35,000. These athletes are referred to as so due to their year-long dedication to racing each other at all opportunities, producing some of the most exciting races of the year. Asbel Kiprop and Ayanleh Souleiman have proven themselves as fearsome racers and welcome rivals throughout 2014, after a scintillating battle at the African Championships where Souleiman prevailed with a blistering final 300m in 37.7sec, the Continental Cup 1500m was bound to provide a thrilling contest. With the initial pace slow, 800m was reached in a thoroughly amusing 2:15.88 – it was from this point that the race doors were blown wide open, with a titanic struggle for position at the bell, Kiprop made a wild acceleration with 450m to go to position himself properly, with the field battling in a tight group until the final 100m, accelerating rapidly, Souleiman proved victorious once again, completing his final lap in 50.09sec and his final 300m in 36.8sec, both splits indicative of absurd speed and equal daring and confidence. The final 400m being of such ferocity, only 3 recorded performances in 1500m history have involved a faster last lap.

This 1500m contest at the Continental Cup contained all the elements essential to the future popularity of middle distance running. Gone were the identical brand name uniforms, replaced with quirky continent based colourful uniforms. Not a single pacemaker was required, with athletes placed in the unfortunately rare situation of having to race, rather than follow a preordained sacrificial lamb, (or rabbit), spectators were offered a “proper” race, where athletes had to make tactical decisions based on years of experience and brutal speed. This raw contest of athlete versus athlete excites the most basic of sports fan, with a real contest taking place between two men who are at the pinnacle of the sport and represent the sheer savagery of middle distance racing at the highest level, an almost romanticised presentation of speed endurance mixed in with tactical nouse.

If distance running is to gain public popularity or even grace the minor sections of sports media reporting, the world needs more Kiprop’s and Souleiman’s – these two individuals represent the most exciting elements of the sport in 2014, accompanied by the likes of Nijel Amos, Pierre Ambroise-Bosse and Mohammed Aman. Whilst Farah becomes more selective and his bravery of 2012 and 2013 fades to an obscure desire to race only when victory is all but assured, these men from Djibouti, Kenya, France and Ethiopia hold the hopes of middle distance racing in their capable hands. If Farah is to capture the imagination of spectators as he did so in 2013 and 2014, he needs to return to his roots and become a competitor again, not a figurehead for Nike, not a Salazar controlled puppet, but a racer. He could learn a great deal from the elegant likes of David Rudisha, a man who could have travelled the same financially incentivised path as Farah this season, but decided to instead confront potential loss and race the best the world had to offer.