As she reflects on a breakthrough year, capped with two Olympic silver medals, the deeply religious Marileidy Paulino would be inclined to describe her 2021 season as a miracle. But hard work, discipline and determination comprise the recipe for this late comer to athletics.
The second youngest of six siblings in her household &ndash; she has five other siblings on her father&rsquo;s side &ndash; Paulino grew up an active girl in Don Gregorio, a one-hour drive west from Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. With no sporting background in the family, Paulino did not participate in organised sport until the age of 18, when she started to practise handball. As she was offered a monthly salary to join the Air Force as a track and field athlete, she changed to her definitive sport a year later.
At first, when she started training under coach Heriberto Garcia in a baseball field, she didn&rsquo;t take the sport too seriously. In 2015 she missed a local meet for army athletes on her 19th birthday. &ldquo;It was my birthday and I did not want to celebrate competing,&rdquo; she reasons.
But early in 2016, she joined the training group of Cuban coach Yaseen Perez, who had recently arrived in the country. She made her competitive debut in March 2016 with respectable times of 12.01 and 24.67 for 100m and 200m, which she improved to 11.89 and 24.54 two weeks later at the Military Games. This performance opened the door for her first international experiences in Colombia and Cuba, where she improved to 11.61 and 23.81. 
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 &ldquo;I was very excited to board a plane for the first time,&rdquo; she recalls of those competitions. &ldquo;I was really motivated to see that my talent was rewarded with an international trip. I donned the national uniform for the first time. It&rsquo;s beautiful and a great honour to represent my country. The track in Colombia was amazing.&rdquo;
She ended the season by reaching the 100m and 200m finals at the NACAC U23 Championships. &ldquo;Back then, my love for the sport was not that deep,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I did not know much about the sport.&rdquo;
In 2017 she attempted the 400m for the first time. She was scheduled to run the 100m and 200m double as usual at the National Military Games, but a team member withdrew from the 400m. Paulino gave it a try and led through 370m before dropping to third at the finish with 56.30. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t like the distance at all and did not think I would run it again.&rdquo;
She ended her season at the World University Games in Taipei, where she missed making the 200m final by one place and before her 4x100m relay squad was disqualified.
&ldquo;I hate long trips,&rdquo; she recalls. &ldquo;It took us a day and half. I can&rsquo;t sleep on planes. The food was very different. I only ate rice and eggs. But I was happy to see my compatriot Luguelin Santos&rsquo; win (400m) and listen to our national anthem.&rdquo;
At the start of 2018, Paulino tried racing indoors for the first time. Although she didn&rsquo;t particularly enjoy her two competitions in New York, she set national records for 60m (7.45) and 200m (23.82).
Outdoors, she improved the national 200m record to 22.87 in the heats at the Central American and Caribbean Games, but had to settle for fourth in both sprint events. Only 0.01 separated her from the bronze in the 100m where she ran a marginally wind-assisted 11.33, having set a PB of 11.39 in the semifinal. She found some consolation with the 4x100m bronze medal.
The following year didn&rsquo;t result in any personal bests, but consistency was crucial.
&ldquo;2019 gave me a lot of confidence,&rdquo; says Paulino, who reached the 200m final at the Pan-American Games. &ldquo;The cold and humid weather affected me a lot at the Pan American Games in Lima. After warm-up, my body got cold and couldn&rsquo;t perform at my best.&rdquo;
She also made her World Championships debut in Doha. &ldquo;The World Championships was an incredible experience. This time, it was too hot. Warming up at 2pm was almost unbearable. I had the opportunity to meet some of the world&rsquo;s best, including world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith and Elaine Thompson.&rdquo;
Paulino closed the season by taking 200m silver at the World Military Games in China, her first individual medal at an international meet. &ldquo;It was emotional. I was very happy. I kept my consistency for seven months.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61efe29480400397b992035f.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
&nbsp;
<h2>Turning point</h2>
With many international competitions cancelled during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, Paulino had just one race in 2020. But it proved to be something of a turning point.
With no specific training, she raced over 400m in Santo Domingo and took half a second off the national record with 51.88.
&ldquo;I was not training for the event; I just tried a 400m off the back of my 200m preparation and realised I had the potential to be a good 400m runner,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Training for 400m is very different and more demanding but I managed well.&rdquo;
Paulino stayed in Cuba to train for four months, then returned home and followed the training programme that had been set by her coach, who stayed in Cuba. She would start training at 6am at the local baseball stadium and would finish by 8am, before the baseball players arrived.
The next goal was to achieve the Olympic standard, which she achieved with her 2021 season&rsquo;s debut as she reduced her own national record to 50.31
She impressed on her European debut as an instrumental member of Dominican Republic&rsquo;s silver-winning mixed 4x400m squad at the World Athletics Relays in Silesia, qualifying her team for the Tokyo Olympics.
After a few races in Europe, Paulino felt her old spikes made her uncomfortable. She tried a new pair and rushed to a meeting in Huelva, Spain, to help training partner Anabel Medina reach the Olympic qualifying time.
&ldquo;That was the sole intention,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t give it my all, so I was surprised to see the time: 49.99 &ndash; my first time under 50 seconds.&rdquo;
She was ready to be a serious contender in Tokyo.
Before the individual 400m in Tokyo, she and her teammates proved the silver medal in Poland was no fluke. Running the second leg in the mixed 4x400m final, Paulino put her team in the lead halfway through and anchor Alexander Ogando pipped USA&rsquo;s Vernon Norwood at the line for the silver medal. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61efe2ba80400397b9920362.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 &ldquo;Many thought running the relay would negatively affect my performance in the individual event, but we knew we had a chance and it would be a great motivation for the individual 400m,&rdquo; says Paulino, who produced a 48.7 split in the final. &ldquo;That was a historic performance by the team. We won a medal and beat the US quartet. I am so proud of them.&rdquo;
Buoyed by her relay success, Paulino carried that momentum through to the individual 400m, winning her heat (50.06) and semifinal (49.38).
&ldquo;I felt fresh every time I stepped on the track,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Running sub-49-second pace so comfortably in the semifinal before slowing down towards the finish gave me the confidence I would fight for a medal.&rdquo;
In the final, she was one of four women in medal contention with 100 metres to go. &ldquo;At that point, I felt like I had extra gear and sprinted towards the line,&rdquo; she recalls. &ldquo;I accelerated my arm movements and that helped me move my legs faster.&rdquo;
After she crossed the finish line in second place in 49.20, her fifth national 400m record of the year, she held up her left spike with a phrase written on it: &lsquo;Silence. God is my hope&rsquo;.
It took a while for the result to sink in. &ldquo;My first realisation was at the medal presentation when Luisin Mejia (IOC member from the Dominican Republic) presented the medals. When I saw the flag, I knew it was for real.&rdquo; Paulino also received phone calls from the country&rsquo;s President and First Lady.
In order to stay fully focused while in Tokyo, Paulino disconnected herself from social media three days prior to her arrival in Japan until the end of the Games. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know what was happening in my country and how people were reacting. I only stayed in contact with my family,&rdquo; she says. 
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 Paulino&rsquo;s two Olympic medals opened the door to her Wanda Diamond League debut and she suitably rose to the occasion, winning in Lausanne (50.40) and Paris (50.12) before ending the season with a second-place finish in 49.96 at the Diamond League final in Zurich.
She was given a hero&rsquo;s welcome at home when she returned from Europe. A caravan took her from Santo Domingo airport to her hometown of Don Gregorio. &ldquo;It was great to see the love of so many people,&rdquo; says Paulino, who was given an apartment in Santo Domingo from the national government. &ldquo;I was really tired from the trip, jetlagged. They hosted me in another event in my hometown the following day. At first, I couldn&rsquo;t go unnoticed to do my shopping. Things have calmed down now.&rdquo; 
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&nbsp;
<h2>Guidance from Perez</h2>
Perez, her coach, has been instrumental in Paulino&rsquo;s success. &ldquo;When we started working together, I saw in her a strong woman physically,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Her movements were wide and not fluid, so we needed to work on her technique. We decided to focus on 100m and 200m to begin with, but from the start she always had good natural endurance.&rdquo;
&ldquo;For any sprinter, the 100m is the event in which you learn how to run. My work was initially focused on teaching her how to run before deciding on her speciality. At first I thought the 200m would be her event, but then I saw her potential for 400m. Other seasoned coaches also advised me that she would be a better fit for that event.
&ldquo;(Before her 51.88 run in 2020) she was not totally convinced she could be a contender in the 400m,&rdquo; added Perez. &ldquo;That race paved the way for the results we have achieved so far.&rdquo;
Off the track, Paulino is just like many other people her age. She enjoys spending time at the beach, by the river or in the countryside. She also loves dancing and spending time with loved ones, trading jokes and enjoying good food and wine.
But when she sets foot on a track, she is fiercely determined. Indeed, beyond her obvious talent, Perez believes Paulino&rsquo;s success is thanks to her discipline, her ambitions and her drive to meet her goals. &ldquo;She loves to set objectives, and she&rsquo;ll often surpass our own goals for training,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;This is an advantage; I never need to push her.&rdquo;
As Paulino started to get more serious in athletics, her respect grew for two compatriots: two-time Olympic 400m hurdles champion Felix Sanchez and 2012 Olympic 400m silver medallist Luguelin Santos. The latter raced alongside Paulino in the heats of the mixed 4x400m in Tokyo. &ldquo;He is a warrior,&rdquo; Paulino says of Santos. &ldquo;I love his fighting spirit on the track.
&ldquo;Felix is a national hero. I see him on a regular basis. I am not in his training group, but he gives me motivation every time we interact. He is a great person. He was proud and cried of happiness when we won those medals in Tokyo.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61efe2f180400397b9920368.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Having become the first woman from the Dominican Republic to earn an individual Olympic medal in athletics, Paulino now knows what it feels like to be considered a national hero. But she doesn&rsquo;t let it get in the way of the goals she has set for 2022.
&ldquo;I want to perform well at the World Championships and in the Diamond League,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I also count on my team to be in the mix for the medals again in the mixed relay.&rdquo;
&ldquo;We plan to run fewer 400m races this year and will focus on the first half of the race and work on her speed,&rdquo; added Perez. &ldquo;She will run a few 200s and even some 100s. The goal is to stay at the same level. We do not want to rush anything and we work towards Paris 2024. If she runs 48 seconds, it is welcome, but that&rsquo;s not the goal.&rdquo;
Whatever the ultimate goal, Paulino appears to have immeasurable potential in her new discipline.
Javier Clavelo Robinson for World Athletics

The remarkable rise of the one-lap sprinter from the Dominican Republic

Marileidy Paulino, from 400m newcomer to Olympic silver medallist in one year

World half marathon bronze medallist Yalemzerf Yehualaw opened her 2022 season in spectacular style by claiming victory at the Total Energies Great Ethiopian Run 10km, taking 38 seconds off her own race record with 31:17.
Her winning time is the fastest 10km ever recorded at altitude, with Addis Ababa standing 2350m above sea level. Gemechu Dida won a close men's race in 28:24, just five seconds shy of the long-standing race record.
Yehualaw, who set the previous event record of 31:55 in 2019, came into the race eager to impress after having to withdraw from the Valencia 10km just two weeks ago. Today she ran a smart race, making her break from long-time leader Girmawit Gebregziabiher, the 2018 world U20 5000m bronze medallist, just past the 7.5km mark after cresting the hill near the National Palace.
At the 9km turn at Urael Church, Yehuawlaw accelerated dramatically and pulled clear of her rival, cruising to the finish line to win by 12 seconds from Gebregziabiher, who clocked 31:29. Double world U20 medallist Melknat Wedu, still just 17 years of age, finished third in 31:45.
The men&rsquo;s race was much closer, with six athletes still in contention in the final 500 metres. In the end it was Dida who took a surprise victory over former Dubai Marathon champion Getaneh Molla with Boki Diriba finishing third as two seconds separated the podium finishers.
The highest-placed non-Ethiopian athlete was Kenya&rsquo;s Cornelius Kibet Kemboi, who finished sixth in 28:39. A total of 17,600 runners finished the mass race.
Organisers for World Athletics
<h2>Leading results</h2>
Women 1 Yalemzerf Yehualaw (ETH) 31:17 2 Girmawit Gebrzihair (ETH) 31:29 3 Melknat Wedu (ETH) 31:45 4 Gete Alemayehu (ETH) 32:06 5 Bosena Mulate (ETH) 32:17 6 Hawi Feyisa (ETH) 32:18 7 Birtukan Wolde (ETH) 32:22 8 Anchinalu Desse (ETH) 32:38 9 Mebrat Gidey (ETH) 32:42 10 Ayenaddis Teshome (ETH) 32:49
Men 1 Gemechu Dida (ETH) 28:24 2 Getaneh Molla (ETH) 28:25 3 Boki Diriba (ETH) 28:26 4 Moges Tuemay (ETH) 28:31 5 Getachew Masresha (ETH) 28:33 6 Cornelius Kibet Kemboi (KEN) 28:39 7 Teresa Ggnakola (ETH) 28:43 8 Solomon Berihun (ETH) 28:55 9 Ashenafi Kiros (ETH) 28:59 10 Antenayehu Dagnachew (ETH) 29:05

World half marathon bronze medallist clocks 31:17, taking 38 seconds off the race record

Yehualaw breaks race record at Great Ethiopian Run

World Athletics is deeply saddened to hear that Benjamin Kogo, who claimed Olympic 3000m steeplechase silver for Kenya at the 1968 Games in Mexico City, has died at the age of 77.
Kogo&rsquo;s achievements sparked the start of Kenya&rsquo;s great success in the steeplechase, as he became the first athlete to contest the event for his country at the Olympics when racing at the 1964 Games in Tokyo. There, he finished fifth in his heat in 8:51.0.
Four years later he progressed to not only make the final, but reach the podium. With a time of 8:51.56, Kogo secured silver behind his compatriot Amos Biwott and Kenyan athletes would go on to win 10 of the following 13 Olympic men&rsquo;s finals in the discipline.
Kogo had led the field during the early stages of that tactical 1968 final and was joined by the USA&rsquo;s George Young at the bell. Kogo was ahead off the final water jump but as he powered away, his lesser-known compatriot Biwott stormed past to take the title.
As well as his Olympic silver medal, Kogo won gold at the inaugural African Games in 1965 and claimed bronze at the 1966 Commonwealth Games. His PB of 8:31.6 was set in Paris in 1967.
He retired in 1972 after a hip injury meant he was unable to qualify for that year&rsquo;s Olympics.
World Athletics

Benjamin Kogo, 1944-2022

Kenya's 1968 Olympic steeplechase silver medallist Kogo dies

Ireland&rsquo;s Ciara Mageean and Britain's&nbsp;Scott Lincoln were among the winners as the season&rsquo;s World Athletics Indoor Tour action got started at the BoXX United Manchester World Indoor Tour meeting on Saturday (22).
A number of qualifying marks for the World Athletics Indoor Championships were achieved during the Silver level meeting&nbsp;at Manchester Regional Arena in the UK, as athletes target the global event in Belgrade in March.
In an exciting 3000m race, European indoor 1500m bronze medallist Mageean chased down and then pipped Albania&rsquo;s long-time leader Luiza Gega by three tenths of a second, winning in an indoor PB of 8:47.23 after a storming last lap.
Verity Ockenden finished third in 8:51.17 as the top seven athletes all broke nine minutes. 
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 The men&rsquo;s 3000m was won by Qatar&rsquo;s Mohamad Al Garni in 7:52.68 from Italy&rsquo;s Yassin Bouih in 7:53.66, with Osian Perrin running&nbsp;7:54.41 to improve his own UK U20 indoor 3000m record and finish fourth. Romania&rsquo;s Claudia Bobocea secured a six-second win in the women&rsquo;s 1500m in 4:06.24.
There were some promising performances by Britain's top shot putters, with Lincoln improving to an indoor PB of 20.73m to win the men&rsquo;s event and Sophie McKinna throwing 18.53m, a centimetre off her indoor best, in the final round of the women's contest to triumph ahead of her fellow 2019 world finalist Chase Ealey of the USA, who threw 18.49m.
Britain&rsquo;s European indoor fourth-place finisher Andrew Robertson ran 6.60 and his compatriot Amy Hunt a 7.21 PB to win the 60m finals.
The World Indoor Tour now moves on to the&nbsp;Czech Republic for the Bronze level&nbsp;Kladno Indoor meeting on 27 January, before the first Gold level event of the season, the INIT Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe in Germany, the day after.
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-tour/calendar-results/7172608/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a> 
<h2>Fast sprints in the US</h2>
Over in the United States, US sprinter Marybeth Sant-Price ran a PB of 7.08 at the Red Raider Open in Lubbock on Friday (21) for the fastest women&rsquo;s 60m in the world so far this year. In another race, Saint Lucia&rsquo;s 20-year-old Julien Alfred matched her national record with 7.10. In the 60m hurdles, Alia Armstrong was 0.01 off her PB with 7.96 and Eric Edwards clocked 7.65.
Also in Lubbock, 16-year-old US sprinter and American football player Nyckoles Harbor achieved a world U18 200m best, storming to a time of 20.79 at the Texas Tech Under Armour High School Classic. It improves on the 20.95 run by Brian Herron in 2017.
At the Larry Wieczorek Invitational in Iowa, Jamaica&rsquo;s 19-year-old Ackera Nugent, who won the world U20 100m hurdles title in Nairobi in August, improved her 60m hurdles best by 0.01 to 7.90, while&nbsp;Olin Hacker clocked the quickest indoor mile so far in 2022 with an outright PB of&nbsp;3:56.66. At the Carolina Challenge in Columbia, Anavia Battle ran&nbsp;22.76 for 200m.

Ireland’s Ciara Mageean and Britain's Scott Lincoln were among the winners.

World Indoor Tour kicks off in Manchester

Kenya&rsquo;s Hellen Obiri started her year with a win at the Northern Ireland International Cross Country, a World Athletics Cross Country Tour Silver event, in Dundonald on Saturday (22).
Untroubled throughout, the world cross country champion ran 26:44 to secure a 20-second triumph in the women&rsquo;s 8km race, with Northern Ireland&rsquo;s Hannah Irwin winning the domestic battle behind her to finish runner-up, three seconds ahead of Scotland&rsquo;s Mhairi Maclennan.
&ldquo;It is my first time running cross country here. The course was good, it was challenging, but I am used to doing a lot of cross country. It is a sign of my preparation towards my outdoor season,&rdquo; Obiri told BBC Sport NI.
Looking to the months ahead, the two-time world and Commonwealth 5000m champion added: &ldquo;In 2022 we have a lot of competitions. We have the Commonwealth Games, we have the World Championships and we have some Diamond Leagues and road races. I will talk with my manager and coach to see what is best for me in the 2022 season.&rdquo;
Obiri's win in&nbsp;Dundonald came on the same day that the&nbsp;Kenyan Cross Country Championships took place, with <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/news/report/kenyan-cross-country-championships-chepkemoi-chebolei" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joyce Chepkemoi and Samuel Chebolei claiming the national titles in Eldoret</a>.
Finishing fourth in Dundonald, on the outskirts of Belfast, was England&rsquo;s Eleanor Bolton, while European U20 cross country champion Megan Keith finished fifth for Scotland.
In the men&rsquo;s 10km race it was England&rsquo;s Zak Mahamed who was victorious, as he ran 29:49 to claim a seven-second win ahead of Italy&rsquo;s Iliass Aouani.
Mahamed, Aouani and Scotland&rsquo;s Stuart McCallum had broken away midway through the race, but McCallum dropped back on the penultimate lap, leaving Mahamed and Aouani to battle for the win.
Behind McCallum, who ran 30:03, Hugo Milner finished fourth and Jack Millar fifth.
The 4km women&rsquo;s U20 race was won by Scotland&rsquo;s Hannah Ryding, while victory in the 6km men&rsquo;s U20 race was claimed by England&rsquo;s Sam Mills. 
<h3>Leading results</h3>
Women's 8km 1 Hellen Obiri (KEN) 26:44 2&nbsp;Hannah Irwin (GBR) 27:04 3&nbsp;Mhairi Maclennan (GBR) 27:07 4&nbsp;Eleanor Bolton (GBR) 27:21 5 Megan Keith (GBR) 27:25
Men's 10km 1&nbsp;Zak Mahamed (GBR) 29:49 2&nbsp;Iliass Aouani (ITA) 29:56 3&nbsp;Stuart McCallum (GBR) 30:03 4&nbsp;Hugo Milner (GBR)&nbsp;30:14 5 Jack Millar (GBR) 30:26

Hellen Obiri started her year with a win at the Northern Ireland International Cross Country.

Obiri claims cross country win in Dundonald

Racing on one of the toughest and most exciting courses ever designed for a cross country meeting in Kenya, Joyce Chepkemoi and Samuel Chebolei became the national champions, securing victory in Lobo Village in Eldoret on Saturday (22).
Representing the Kenya Defence Forces, Chepkemoi was greatly surprised by her&nbsp;senior women&rsquo;s 10km&nbsp;win at the Kenyan Cross Country Championships, having finished seventh at the last national event.
World marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich had been the first to make a surge around one kilometre into the race, making sure that the field was already in single file as they plunged into the muddy section.
By the 3km mark, there was a group of five runners remaining in the leading pack.
Chepkemoi went on to claim the title in&nbsp;34:00.00 ahead of Margaret Chelimo, who clocked 34:01.8 representing the Kenya Police, and Celliphine Chespol, who ran 34:23.3 representing the Kenya Prison Service.
"The course was tough, especially the muddy section," said Chepkemoi.
&ldquo;After the&nbsp;Memorial Agnes Tirop World Cross Country Tour&nbsp;that will happen here, is when I will decide on my next step.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Chelimo, who finished fourth at the Olympic trials in both the 5000m and the 10,000m races and narrowly missed out on representing her country in Tokyo, said it is still too early for her to decide which distance she will be focusing on, to make sure she secures a spot on the Kenyan team for the World Athletics Championships in Oregon this year.
There were some major upsets in the senior men&rsquo;s 10km race as relatively new names dominated the closing stages after Daniel Simiu Ebenyo &ndash; who was seen as the pre-race favourite following his recent 26:58 10km win in Valencia &ndash; dropped out mid-race. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61ec191a0012043342e2b037.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Often, the senior titles are claimed by athletes representing the Police, the Kenya Defence Forces or the Prison Service. But the top three places in the men&rsquo;s race&nbsp;this time around&nbsp;went to runners from the general public.
North Rift&rsquo;s Chebolei, the younger brother of world 1500m finalist Ronald Kwemoi, broke away from his nearest competitor during the final 2km lap to create a gap that would earn him a win in a comfortable margin. Clocking 29:28.9, he finished ahead of Kennedy Kiprop of Western in 29:35.2 and Vincent Kiprotich of Central Rift in 30:02.6.
In the men&rsquo;s U20 race, Benson Kiplangat from South Rift waited until the last two laps before taking it to the front and dominating. The reigning world U20 5000m champion crossed the finish line of the 8km race in 24:08.00 ahead of Samuel Kibathi of Central in 24:16.9 and Raymond Kipkorir of South Rift in 24:21.40.
World U20 3000m steeplechase bronze medallist Faith Cherotich, also from South Rift, won the women&rsquo;s U20 race in 20:28.4 ahead of her teammate Purity Chepkirui, the world U20 1500m champion, in 20:34.8 and Central Rift&rsquo;s Grace Loibach in 21:07.0.
The U18 events were dominated by runners from the North Rift, with the name of the world marathon record-holder Brigid Kosgei getting mentioned as her sister, Pamela Kosgei, won the girls&rsquo; race in 18:19.4. Maurine Jepkoech followed in 18:34.6 before South Rift&rsquo;s Evaline Chepkoech took third place in 18:43.2.
Also from the North Rift, Charles Rotich won the boys&rsquo; race in 18:05.2. Raphael Dapash of South Rift came second in 18:10.00 before another North Rift athlete, Vincent Maiyo, completed the podium in 18:18.4.
Justin Lagat for World Athletics

Joyce Chepkemoi and Samuel Chebolei became national champions in Lobo Village in Eldoret.

New course produces new champions as Chepkemoi and Chebolei claim Kenyan cross country titles

Sri Lanka Athletics celebrates its centenary this weekend, having joined the International Amateur Athletics Federation on 18 January 1922, making it one of the oldest federations in Asia. But the origins of athletics in the country can be traced back a further 64 years.
The first athletics meeting is recorded as having taken place from 9-11 June 1868 in Kandy at the picturesque setting of the Rifle Esplanade by the Kandy Lake which, as the name implies, was more usually employed for military training.
Contemporary accounts are sketchy, but it is believed that the meeting was inspired by the growth of athletics clubs back in the colonial motherland England and the concept of the meeting had no problem gaining the patronage of the Governor of Ceylon, Hercules Robinson, who had been an active sportsman in his earlier years in the military.
Robinson certainly had a genuine interest in athletics, and it is notable that 10 years after he had moved on to become Governor of New South Wales, Robinson became the patron &ndash; the president in current vocabulary &ndash; when the Sydney University Athletics Club was established in 1878, making it one of the oldest clubs in Australia.
The events contested in that meeting in Kandy are not fully known, but they would have inevitably included participants from what were called the &lsquo;ABC&rsquo; &ndash; athletics, boating and cricket &ndash; clubs in the area which had been set up by the predominantly British planters and colonial armed forces based at the local garrison. 
<h2>Colonial ties</h2>
Athletics meetings then slowly grew popular with the colonial population as the sport gained a wider appeal in many countries.
Milestones before the turn of the century included the first school inter-house athletics meeting at Trinity College, Kandy, in August 1883 and the Ceylon Amateur Athletics Association &ndash; which became affiliated to the Amateur Athletic Association of England &ndash; was created in May 1896.
The &shy;first inter-schools athletics meeting was held at Havelock racecourse in Colombo on 24 May 1906, with the competition grandly named the &lsquo;Empire Games Schools Championships&rsquo;.
Athletics meetings were almost exclusively organised for the expatriate community and to the exclusion of the local population prior to World War I. However, as sports activities resumed in Ceylon after the Great War, the doors finally opened wider.
The first National Athletics Championships was held on 23-24 September 1921 at Ceylonese&nbsp;Rugby and&nbsp;Football Club Grounds in Colombo and these championships provided the catalyst for the Ceylon AAA to formally affiliate to what was then the IAAF less than four months later. 
<h2>Van Geyzel the first Olympian</h2>
With Ceylon still under British colonial rule, there was no chance for it to enter teams under its own flag at the Olympics but high jumper Carl van Geyzel, who was also a top-class cricketer and later became the Ceylon AAA president from 1952-66, represented Great Britain at the 1928 Olympics Games.
Although Geyzel was far from his best in Amsterdam and he failed to make the final, his 1925 personal best of 1.90m was to remain the Ceylon national record well for more than 25 years.
Just five months after independence, Ceylon athletes finally competed under their own flag at the London 1948 Olympic Games and the occasion was marked by Duncan White winning the silver medal in the 400m hurdles.
White was still at school when he competed in the 1938 British Empire Games and made the 220 yards hurdles semifinals. A decade later in London, despite only having returned to training for the event for about three months after having been a serving officer in the Ceylon Light Infantry between 1942 and 1947 and fighting in World War II, he took the silver medal with 51.8, having led until the seventh hurdle.
Two years later, White was to get Ceylon&rsquo;s only gold medal at the 1950 British Empire Games when he won the 400m hurdles in a Games record of 52.8.
However, White&rsquo;s impressive feats did not precipitate an upsurge in athletics achievements. 
<h2>Difficult decades</h2>
At the inaugural Asian Games in 1951, with White having retired from competitive athletics, Ceylon took a solitary silver medal thanks to M A Akbar in the pole vault.
On a continental level over the next four decades, Ceylon &ndash; which changed its name to Sri Lanka in 1972 upon becoming a republic &ndash; had sporadic success, with occasional bright spots such as&nbsp;Nagalingam Ethirveerasingham&nbsp;winning the 1958 Asian Games title, the country&rsquo;s first in any sport at the Games with a leap of 2.03m.
Lucien Rosa, running barefoot, took a memorable 5000m and 10,000m double at the 1970 Asian Games in Bangkok and his personal best in the longer event of 29:18.0 in 1975 remains the Sri Lankan record to this day, more than 46 years later.&nbsp;Wickramesinghe Wimaladasa&nbsp;won the 400m four years later in Tehran but medals, particularly those of a golden hue, remained few and far between.
The advent of the South Asian Federation Games in 1984, and some radical restructuring of many sports federations in the wake of a dismal 1982 Asian Games in Delhi when the country failed to win a medal in any sport, gave Sri Lankan athletes improved opportunities on a regional level, with athletes winning five of the country&rsquo;s seven gold medals &ndash; all in the sprints &ndash; across all sports at the first edition of these Games.
At the 1991 South Asian Federation Games on home soil in the country&rsquo;s capital Colombo, Sri Lankan athletes took no less than 15 athletics titles.
Notable athletes of the 1990s include 1998 Asian Games and Championships 400m winner Sugath Thilakaratne, whose time of 44.61 when winning the latter title in Fukuoka, Japan, moved him up to second on the Asian all-time list and he still is sixth on the continental charts. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61ebf4f47e3e6a7ba2c3dd27.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> 
<h2>Sprinting to the fore</h2>
At the same championships,&nbsp;Damayanthi Darsha&nbsp;came to the fore.
Having been just 17 when she competed at the 1992 Olympic Games, as the youngest Sri Lankan athlete ever to have represented her country at the Olympics, she matured into a formidable sprinter and won 200m and 400m gold medals at the Asian Games in Bangkok and the longer sprint in Fukuoka.
Darsha was the Sri Lankan flag bearer during the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, and she went on to win three further Asian Championships titles in 2000 and 2005 &ndash; taking the 200m and 400m gold medals at the former and 200m at the latter.
However, the most successful Sri Lankan athlete of the last 50 years has been, without doubt, the sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe.
Jayasinghe, who hailed from a poor family and joined the army at 16 in order to further her athletics career, broke through at the age of 19 when she won the 1994 Asian Games 200m silver medal.
The following year, she took gold over the same distance at the Asian Championships and in 1997 she won her first of three medals on the global stage when she finished second over 200m at the 1997 World Athletics Championships. 
<h2>Jayasinghe ends Olympic medal drought</h2>
Further success was to follow in 2000 when she won the 200m silver medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games &ndash; having initially been third across the line but promoted by a place after the doping disqualification of the disgraced Marion Jones &ndash; the first South Asian athlete to stand on an Olympic podium since Duncan White.
She was Sri Lanka&rsquo;s flag bearer at the 2004 Olympic Games but injuries, which were to plague her for much of the next two years, hindered any chance of further success. However, 100m and 200m gold medals at the 2007 Asian Championships foretold that she was close to being back to her best form and a month later she was to finish third in the World Athletics Championships 200m. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61ebf4cc7e3e6a7ba2c3dd24.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> 
After a career lasting almost two decades and having been her country&rsquo;s flag bearer again at the 2008 Olympic Games, Jayasinghe brought the curtain down on her career and announced her retirement on 5 February 2009.
Presently, the best Sri Lankan athletes look someway short of emulating Jayasinghe, but encouragingly there were a spate of national records in 2021.
Among them, US collegian Ushan Thiwanka Perera moved the men&rsquo;s high jump record up to 2.30m, while in the women&rsquo;s events Gayanthika Artigala&nbsp;ran 4:09.12 for the 1500m and long jumper&nbsp;Sarangi Silva&nbsp;reached 6.48m at the national championships in October.
Further improvements could see this trio flying the flag for Sri Lanka at this summer&rsquo;s World Athletics Championships in Oregon and, perhaps, being in contention for medals at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games that follow.
Phil Minshull for World Athletics Heritage

Sri Lanka Athletics celebrates its centenary this weekend.

White and Jayasinghe highlight 100 years of the Sri Lankan athletics federation

The World Athletics Doping Review Board has agreed that the applications of 22 Russian athletes have met the exceptional eligibility criteria to compete in international competition as neutral athletes in 2022 under Eligibility Rule 3.2 while the Russian national federation (RusAF) remains suspended.
These 22 athletes have met the exceptional eligibility criteria for 2022:
Name of athlete and date of eligibility, with events in brackets Dina Aleksandrova (800m, 1500m, 5000m)&nbsp;27.1.22 Svetlana Aplachkina (1500m, 3000m, 5000m) 31.1.22 Yelizaveta Bondarenko (pole vault) 28.1.22 Aleksandr Buyanovskiy (400m) 3.2.22 Vera Chalaya (400m hurdles, 400m) 28.1.22 Timofey Chalyy (400m hurdles, 400m) 28.1.22 Alexey Fyodorov (triple jump) 27.1.22 Ilya Ivanyuk (high jump) 25.1.22 Polina Knoroz (pole vault) 5.2.22 Mariya Kochanova (high jump) 27.1.22 Aleksandr Komarov (decathlon, heptathlon) 27.1.22 Kseniya Labygina (60m hurdles) 28.1.22 Mariya Lasitskene (high jump) 28.1.22 Artyom Makarenko (combined events, 60m hurdles, 110m hurdles) 3.2.22 Polina Miller (400m) 27.1.22 Vasiliy Mizinov (race walking) 28.1.22 Valeriy Pronkin (hammer) 28.1.22 Anzhelika Sidorova (pole vault) 28.1.22 Oleg Spiridonov (60m hurdles, 110m hurdles) 27.1.22 Natalya Spiridonova (long jump, high jump) 7.2.22 Yaroslav Tkalich (sprints, 400m or less) 27.1.22 Anna Tropina (3000m steeplechase, 1500m, 5000m, cross country) 28.1.22 
<h3>Further requirements for ANA athletes</h3>
Further to the World Athletics Council decision on 1 December 2021 to approve amendments to the Authorised Neutral Athlete (ANA) programme for 2022 on the recommendation of the Russian Taskforce, the Doping Review Board (DRB) reviewed and revised the process and the criteria for ANA applications.
Athletes will need to follow the procedures set out in the guidance documents and all applications must be forwarded to World Athletics through RusAF.
Applications must be submitted no later than four weeks before the entry deadline for the international competition for which eligibility is sought and the Doping Review Board may require an applicant to undergo additional testing prior to granting him or her ANA status.
The Russian Federation (RusAF) may choose which 20 athletes (in total, not per competition) will be granted eligibility to compete (as ANAs) in the following international competitions:
(a) the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championship to be held in Muscat, OMA, in March 2022; (b) the World Athletics Indoor Championships to be held in Belgrade, SRB, in March 2022; (c) the World Athletics Championships to be held in Oregon, USA, in July 2022; (d) the European Championships to be held in Munich, GER, in August 2022; (e) the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships to be held in Yangzhou, CHN, in November 2022. (f) the European Cross Country Championships to be held in Turin, ITA, in December 2022.
The 20 selected ANAs must be chosen from athletes in the International Registered Testing Pool in priority to any other athletes. No changes may be made to the 20 designated ANAs, for any reason, once they have been nominated by RusAF.
In addition, the ANA quota of 20 will be automatically reduced by 25% for each separate failure to comply with the ANA requirements (whether of additional testing or otherwise).
There is no cap on the number of Russian athletes who may compete (if invited, and if they have been granted ANA status) in international competitions that are not listed above. And no cap applies to the World Athletics U20 Championships to be held in Cali, COL, in August 2022.
The DRB has today requested RusAF to provide a &lsquo;long list&rsquo; identifying to the best of RusAF&rsquo;s knowledge and after careful consideration, those athletes (a maximum of 50) from which RusAF expects to choose its quota of 20 ANAs for major championships.
To ensure that the &lsquo;long list&rsquo; of ANA athletes continue to undergo adequate testing throughout the season (after they are granted ANA status) RusAF is required to:
Confirm to the AIU two weeks before the date of each competition throughout the season at which a &lsquo;long list&rsquo; ANA athlete intends to compete that:
&bull; for athletes seeking to compete in a senior World Championships or Area Championships event, in the 10 months prior to the competition, the athlete has undergone at least three no notice out-of-competition tests, including (if they compete in any middle distance event from 800m upwards, a long distance event, a combined event or a race walk event) at least one ABP and one EPO test, all such tests to be conducted no less than three weeks apart; and, &bull;&nbsp;for athletes seeking to compete in any other competition, that in the 12 months prior to the competition, the athlete has undergone at least three no notice out-of-competition tests, all such tests to be conducted no less than three weeks apart.&nbsp;
Should RusAF wish, in an exceptional case, to choose an athlete to make up their quota of 20 ANAs who is not on their &lsquo;long list&rsquo;, RusAF must advise the DRB as soon as possible, but in any event, no less than six weeks before the first day of competition. Furthermore, at the time the athlete is named as a quota athlete, the DRB may require the athlete to undergo additional testing prior to competition.
The DRB also requires that to ensure that out-of-competition tests are carried out over a sufficient interval, a period of at least six months must have elapsed between the first and last out-of-competition tests on which the athlete relies. Should an applicant fail to meet that requirement, the DRB may direct the athlete to undergo additional testing prior to competition as a condition of granting ANA status.
World Athletics

The applications of 22 Russian athletes have met the exceptional eligibility criteria.

World Athletics approves the applications of 22 Russians to compete internationally as neutral athletes

Organisers of the ORLEN Copernicus Cup have announced a host of global stars who&rsquo;ll compete at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Torun on 22 February.
Following on from the announcement in December that Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega will take on world and Olympic steeplechase silver medallist Lamecha Girma over 3000m, organisers confirmed at a press conference today that Olympic 100m hurdles bronze medallist Megan Tapper, Olympic pole vault bronze medallist Thiago Braz and Olympic relay medallists Roniesha McGregor, Iga Baumgart-Witan and Natalia Kaczmarek will all compete in the Polish city next month.
So too will four athletes who struck gold in Torun last year when the city hosted the European Indoor Championships: Swiss sprinter Ajla del Ponte, Ukrainian long jumper Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk, French sprint hurdler Wilhem Belocian and Czech shot putter Tomas Stanek.
Other medallists from those championships will return to Torun, including Finnish sprinter Lotta Kemppinen, Swedish long jumper Khaddi Sagnia, Polish middle-distance runner Marcin Lewandowski, Polish shot putter Michal Haratyk, French pole vaulter Valentin Lavillenie, and Croatian shot putter Filip Mihaljevic.
But that&rsquo;s not all. World bronze medallist Orlando Ortega, world indoor champion Adam Kszczot, 2021 world indoor leader Elliot Giles, world bronze medallist Piotr Lisek and Polish sprint hurdles champion Damian Czykier are all also on the bill.
The ORLEN Copernicus Cup is the sixth World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting of 2022. There are seven Gold level meetings across the series, starting with Karlsruhe on 28 January and culminating in Madrid on 2 March.
Organisers for World Athletics

A host of global stars will be in action at the Copernicus Cup on 22 February

World and Olympic stars confirmed for Torun

The World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22 has come just at the right time for Serbian sprinter Ivana Ilic.
The 19-year-old enjoyed a highly successful 2021 campaign, during which she set national U20 records for 60m (7.46), 100m (11.38) and 200m (23.62). In the 100m, her specialist event, she took silver at the European U20 Championships in Tallinn &ndash; Serbia&rsquo;s first continental medal in a sprinting event &ndash; and then went on to place fifth at the World Athletics U20 Championships Nairobi 21, just 0.03 shy of the bronze medal.
&ldquo;Even though half a year has passed since that race (the European U20 Championships 100m final), I still replay every step of it in my head,&rdquo; says Ilic. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m still in that race; I had gold in my hands until the final 20 metres.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61eab2b95a5417977ab15d94.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> Serbian sprinter Ivana Ilic (&copy; Roger Sedres)
&nbsp;
She is still tremendously proud of her achievement, though, in what was a close final. Just 0.07 separated the athletes in second, third, fourth and fifth.
&ldquo;The silver medal was a huge validation for me, as well as proof that every day of my training, every drop of sweat, was worth all the efforts and self-sacrifice,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Just thinking about that race makes my heart start beating again with the same strength that enabled me to bring Serbia that medal.&rdquo;
In Tallinn, Ilic finished third in her semifinal and advanced to the final as a time qualifier, yet produced a sparkling run in the final to take silver from an outside lane. In Nairobi one month later, it was a slightly different story; she advanced to the final as third fastest overall, but narrowly missed out on a medal in a close finish, placing fifth.
Nevertheless, Ilic&rsquo;s first taste of the global championships was a valuable experience as she turns her attention to 2022, her first season as a senior athlete. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61eab29c5a5417977ab15d91.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> Ivana Ilic in action at the World U20 Championships in Nairobi (&copy; Dan Vernon)
&nbsp;
&ldquo;A fantastic season is behind me with national U20 records for 60m, 100m, and 200m as well as international successes,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I will forever remember the 2021 season as one that brought me a lot of happiness and experience, helping me to continue the path I am already on.
&ldquo;I started my preparations for 2022 a long time ago and I&rsquo;m targeting the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade,&rdquo; she adds. &ldquo;Like many other athletes in Serbia, I dream about winning medals on home soil. Every day is dedicated to that task and mission.&rdquo;
Ilic opened her 2022 season in Belgrade in mid-January, clocking a lifetime best of 7.45 over 60m. For context, she started 2021 with a time of 7.71 and reduced her time to 7.46 as the season progressed. With a few more races, she expects to go even faster and would ideally like to achieve the World Indoor Championships qualifying mark of 7.30 &ndash; which would also break the national indoor record of 7.31, held by world indoor long jump champion Ivana Spanovic.
But even if she falls slightly shy of that target, the host nation can send one unqualified athlete in every discipline at the World Indoor Championships, opening a door for the likes of Ilic.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m aware that the path to a medal will be extremely difficult, but at the same time I know what I want, and I work on that every single day,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;When you believe, anything is possible. If my thoughts were different, I would have given up long time ago.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61eab2625a5417977ab15d8e.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> Ivana Ilic in action at the World U20 Championships in Nairobi (&copy; Dan Vernon)
&nbsp;
Ilic, who was born in Gornji Milanovac in June 2002, started training in athletics back in 2013. Dragan Dukanac, a former international middle-distance runner for Yugoslavia, started coaching Ilic in 2016 and soon after she became one of the leading age-group sprinters in Serbia.
Now living in the Serbian district of Sumadija and competing as a member of the Cacak CAAK Club, Ilic has her sights firmly set on becoming not just the leading sprinter in Serbia, but one of the best in the world.
&ldquo;At the beginning, we all have idols, people we look up to, and we try to copy someone else,&rdquo; says Ilic, whose 100m PB of 11.38 is just 0.04 shy of the senior national record. &ldquo;But in the end, we create our own recipes for how to reach our goals. Without working hard, without discipline, courage and passion, results will not be seen.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have passion &ndash; I have lava boiling inside me and that is a feeling that will stick with me for as long as my dream does not come true, until I bring Serbia a medal that will make it proud forever.&rdquo;
LOC for World Athletics
 Tickets for the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22 can be purchased at <a href="https://new.tickets.rs/tour/world_athletics_indoor_championships_59" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tickets.rs</a> 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61eab2e35a5417977ab15d97.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />

National U20 record-holder embarks on her first senior season

Teenage talent Ilic hopeful of Belgrade call-up

Among athletics fans in his home country, Greek long jumper Miltiadis Tentoglou is known as &lsquo;the golden one&rsquo;.
It&rsquo;s easy to see why, too.
Back in 2018, aged just 20 at the time, he struck gold at the European Championships in Berlin, becoming the youngest Greek man to win a continental title. It was the first of three successive European titles for Tentoglou as he followed it with indoor crowns in 2019 and 2021.
Later in 2021, Tentoglou achieved the biggest victory of his career so far when winning gold at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. His last-round leap of 8.41m was just enough to sneak the title on countback, overtaking long-time leader Juan Miguel Echevarria.
The 23-year-old now starts the 2022 season as No.1 in the world long jump rankings and his first big test of the year will be at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22 on 18-20 March. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/610776067f42eff73a3cbc01.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 &ldquo;My only competition in Belgrade so far was the Balkan Indoor Championships in 2017 when I placed fourth, jumping 7.48m,&rdquo; says Tentoglou. &ldquo;I have not been in Serbia since then but this year I&rsquo;m planning to compete at the &lsquo;Belgrade Indoor Meeting&rsquo; (a World Indoor Tour silver meeting on 7 March) and stay in Belgrade after the event to prepare for the World Athletics Indoor Championships.
&ldquo;I am aware that the Serbian organisers are doing their best to prepare the best possible competition for us, and I hope that spectators will be able to support us live during the championships.&rdquo;
As with any athlete after winning an Olympic gold, there will be more expectation placed on Tentoglou&rsquo;s shoulders each time he takes to the runway in 2022, but he is determined not to let it get to him.
&ldquo;I am as always focused on my results and I am doing my best at every competition to give all I can and get the best results,&rdquo; says Tentoglou, who was encouraged to take up athletics after a jumps coach spotted him doing some parkour exercises on the streets of his hometown.
&ldquo;I am aware that the expectations might be high now but I do not pay attention to what others think or what they say. My coach and I are trying all the time to improve my technique and not to talk about the expectations and favourites since we just want to jump as far as possible. Winning a medal is always on my mind at every competition.&rdquo;

World No.1 long jumper wants to win first world indoor title

Olympic and European long jump champion Tentoglou targets another title in Belgrade

With just two months to go until the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade22 and preparations in full swing for the event, representatives of World Athletics recently visited the Serbian capital.
The 13-person delegation visited the Stark Arena, which will host the action from 18-20 March. After a detailed analysis of the Arena, the talks continued at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
Almost 900 athletes from 137 countries plan to attend the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22, four years since the last edition took place.
The pandemic forced the postponement of the 2020 championships, but preparations are on track for the 2022 edition, to be held in Serbia for the first time.
Following a site visit to Belgrade this week, World Athletics said:
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re impressed with the work of the local organising committee in their planning and preparation for this event,&rdquo; said World Athletics Competition Manager Luca Verrascina. &ldquo;Ticket sales have started well and we remain hopeful that we will have a full house of spectators at one of our World Athletics Series events for the first time since 2019.
&ldquo;Our athletes are excited for the indoor athletics season and we expect to see many of the stars of the Tokyo Olympic Games competing in the arena in Belgrade in March at what we are confident will be an outstanding event.
&ldquo;We are very satisfied with the advancement of the organisational programme. Space requirements for competition are very close to being fulfilled and the proposed timelines should allow us to work in &lsquo;championship mode&rsquo; from the test event on 7 March.
&ldquo;We staged also a seminar for local officials on all matters and issues that could potentially arise during an event like the World Indoor Championships,&rdquo; added Verrascina. &ldquo;More than 50 officials joined the event and the participation was active and productive. We also recognised the great integration between the areas and this is a key factor from competition point of view.&rdquo;

Peter Snell and Cooks Gardens jointly honoured with the Heritage Plaque

60th anniversary of Snell’s first mile world record

Global stars converge on Karlsruhe for World Indoor Tour Gold opener

Job vacancy: AIU Database Specialist Coordinator

World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meetings ready for lift-off