Welcome back to The Blue Line - for a very special edition of your favourite athletics newsletter.
We’ve only been around for a couple of months now, but it’s not a coincidence that in that time Joel got a new girlfriend and Brett broke the national marathon record, is it?
Today’s issue is a short, sharp interval - mostly because we unlocked the cages early this year and let Elise and Fraser off the compound for the break, but they’ll be back in early January for a huge start to 2023 (more on that later).
For now, let’s get into it.
World Athletics, apparently concerned they were losing their grip on “world’s least liked organisation” to the Russian government, have this week published new qualifying standards for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
There’s a lot to unpack, and we won’t get through it all today but essentially many times have come down - the men’s marathon has gone from 2:11:30 for Tokyo to 2:08:10 for Paris, for example. It’s quite a jump - for Tokyo we had Liam Adams, Brett Robinson, and Jack Rayner quality, while as it stands we’ve only had one runner go under 2:09, being Brett last month in Fukuoka (did you hear about that?).
8.5 seconds is cut from the men’s 5000m time (now 13:05.00), while 18 seconds is cut from the women’s (now 14:52.00).
The full list of new qualifying times is here:
Understanding the qualifying process for the Olympics is harder than mastering nuclear fusion energy - but now that we’ve almost got that taken care of, we can return to figuring out how many steeplers we’re likely to send to Paris (hint - not many). No but seriously, many of Australia’s athletes will make the team not based on times, but based on rankings.
You can learn more about world rankings and points at this link. Save this one for Christmas Day when you need to stare at your phone for 48 minutes straight to avoid family conversation.
Dare I say it, the team at LetsRun.com have published a solid article that looks at the impact of the changes on US athletics.
In the spirit of Christmas, we snuck a peek at the annual Naughty & Nice Lists for 2022.
The Naughty List
The Dopers - Diana Kipyokei, Lawrence Cherono, and plenty more. But ICYMI, we’re in the midst of mass sanctions against athletes charged with doping offences/violations in 2022. Kipyokei, who won the 2021 Boston Marathon, has recently been banned for 6 years. US sprinter Randolph Ross also copped a 3 year ban recently for whereabouts failures and fake emails.
Max Siegel - the head of USATF made $3.8m USD in 2021. Not a good look, Maxy. To be clear - making a lot of money doesn’t put you on the Naughty List, but making that much from a sport that doesn’t look after its athletes is…yeah. You’re on the list, Max.
The person who had chips on the track at Lakeside - if like me, you were watching Zatopek from the comfort of your lounge last week, you would have loved seeing the ropes brought into lane 3, and eager running fans crowding the track, eager to catch a stray bead of sweat from the forehead of Jack Rayner as he rounded the bend. It was all going swimmingly until Tim Crosbie gripped the mic like Da Baby and had to remind punters that no food or drinks were to be taken onto the track. Enjoy your fries and Pepsi in the grandstand, you animals.
The Nice List
Jess Hull - Broke the mile national record. Got married. Gotta love her.
Jess Stenson - Gold in the Commonwealth Games marathon! Athlete of the Year. Still one of the nicest people ever, possible future mayor of Adelaide.
Ollie Hoare - Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist. Coffee Club podcast host. Nice guy. Nuff said.
Jack Rayner - Broke 2 records in the 10,000m and 10km, then helped his best mate break the national record in the marathon. Filled in for Brett on For the Kudos. Shaved his mo for charity. High 5’d kids on the finishing straight to win his second Zatopek.
Sorry ignore that, wrong chat group.
The first part of 2023 is looking like a monster - selection trials for World XC will happen in Canberra in mid Jan, followed of course by World XC in mid Feb, and some other rumoured big races taking place around Melbourne. We’ll be on hand to cover it all (well, some of it at least - if you’re allowed to take hot chips on the track). Also, a new pro team based in Melbourne?!
Have a great and safe holiday break, and thanks for your support in 2022. We need more in 2023.