Kenya&rsquo;s Timothy Kiplagat Ronoh went from pacemaker to winner while Bahrain&rsquo;s Eunice Chumba secured success on her fourth attempt at the ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon, a World Athletics Elite Label road race, on Saturday (17).
Leading the elite field, Ronoh decided to push on when his pacemaking duties were done and eventually crossed the finish line in 2:05:20, winning by more than four minutes ahead of his compatrtiot Felix Kimutai (2:09:32). Ethiopia&rsquo;s Adeledelew Mamo was third, a further 10 seconds back.
Ronoh took the lead group through 10km in 29:34 and passed the half way point in 1:02:48 and 25km in 1:14:30. By 30km he led by more than a minute and continued untroubled to claim the biggest win of his career so far, improving on his previous PB of 2:07:01 that had been set when he finished third last year in Eindhoven.
&ldquo;This is my first time in Abu Dhabi, so to win the race on my debut makes it extra special,&rdquo; said a tired but ecstatic Ronoh. &ldquo;Everything just felt great, we&rsquo;ve been looked after, the course was really good, and the place is really beautiful. This is a great victory for me.&rdquo; 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/639e14949025fbbaf071871c.jpg" alt="Timothy Kiplagat Ronoh wins the 2022 Abu Dhabi Marathon" />
Timothy Kiplagat Ronoh wins the 2022 Abu Dhabi Marathon (&copy; Organisers)
</div>
Chumba, the Tokyo Olympics seventh-place finisher, prevailed in a closer women&rsquo;s race. Holding off Kenya&rsquo;s Angela Tanui, who placed sixth in the World Championships marathon in Oregon and won last year's Amsterdam Marathon in&nbsp;2:17:57, and Ethiopia&rsquo;s 2015 world marathon champion Mare Dibaba, Chumba got the win she had been seeking after finishing second in Abu Dhabi in 2021 and 2018, as well as fourth in 2019.
Running as part of the lead pack that passed 10km in 33:12, Chumba was to the fore as the leaders reached half way in 1:10:15. She had Tanui and Dibaba for company as 30km was passed in 1:39:44, and made her move in the latter stages, eventually winning by 31 seconds ahead of Tanui (2:21:12).
Dibaba was third in 2:21:25, while&nbsp;Rebecca Cheptegei set a Ugandan record of 2:22:47 to finish fourth.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m so happy for this wonderful day. I really wanted to try my best to win this race,&rdquo; said Chumba, who set her PB of 2:20:02 when finishing third in Seoul in April. &ldquo;Last year I was second, today I am the winner. This is my first time to taste victory in this event, on my fourth attempt.
&ldquo;The course was very good, flat and fast. The weather was great, the fans were wonderful. I&rsquo;m happy I could win for them.&rdquo; 
<h3>Leading results</h3>
Women 1 Eunice Chumba (BRN) 2:20:41 2 Angela Tanui (KEN) 2:21:12 3 Mare Dibaba (ETH) 2:21:25 4 Rebecca Cheptegei (UGA) 2:22:47 5 Meseret Dinke (ETH) 2:22:52&nbsp;
Men 1 Timothy Kiplagat Ronoh (KEN) 2:05:20 2 Felix Kimutai (KEN) 2:09:32 3 Adeledelew Mamo (ETH) 2:09:42 4 Zelalem Bacha (BRN) 2:12:29 5 Titus Kipjumba Mbishei (KEN) 2:12:53
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competition/calendar-results/results/7176670" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Results</a>
&nbsp;
<h2>Barsoton and Jisa set course records at Kolkata 25K</h2>
Kenya&rsquo;s Leonard Barsoton and Bahrain&rsquo;s Desi Jisa ran course records to win the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K, a World Athletics Elite Label road race, on Sunday (18).
Barsoton, the 2017 world cross country silver medallist, retained his title with a time of 1:12:49, bettering the course record of 1:13:05 he set in 2019.
It was a tactical race. In the mix right from the start but not the leader of the pack, Barsoton was in fourth place behind Alfred Ngeno, Abdisa Tola and Birhanu Legese. He picked up the pace after the 20km mark and never looked back.
Having run in Kolkata before, he knew the course would include a bridge and then take a circuitous route around Babu in Kolkata Ghat along the banks of the Hooghly river.
While Tola of Ethiopia led the race from around the 15km mark, Commonwealth Games marathon champion Victor Kiplangat of Uganda soon set the pace. By the time the pack reached 23km, Barsoton was well ahead, increasing the gap between him and Legese in second place (1:12:54). Kiplangat appeared to have run out of gas and finished third in 1:12:56.
&ldquo;I know the course and I knew exactly when to pick up the pace,&rdquo; said Barsoton. &ldquo;I had been preparing for the last two months. I had some niggles, but despite that, I am happy to have won here and with a course record. It was a very competitive race, and the others in the field gave me a tough fight.&rdquo; 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/639f0c09e63f5a9b5098c1bf.jpg" alt="Leonard Barsoton wins the 2022 Tata Steel Kolkata 25K" />
Leonard Barsoton wins the 2022 Tata Steel Kolkata 25K (&copy; Procam International)
</div>
In the women&rsquo;s event, Jisa took almost a minute off the previous course record set by Ethiopian Gutemi Shone, clocking 1:21:04 to eclipse the mark of 1:22:09 set in 2019.
Leading the group, Jisa slowed her pace in the 5km stretch between 15-20km, which looked like a tactical move to save her energy for a strong finish. With 5km left, she took complete control.
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Zeineba Yimer (1:21:18) finished second and Uganda&rsquo;s Mercyline Chelangat (1:21:31) third. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/639f0cb7e63f5a9b5098c1c2.jpg" alt="Desi Jisa wins the 2022 Tata Steel Kolkata 25K" />
Desi Jisa wins the 2022 Tata Steel Kolkata 25K (&copy; Procam International)
</div>
&ldquo;I thank Kolkata for such a warm welcome,&rdquo; said Jisa, runner up at the event in 2019. &ldquo;I wanted to win the race and am thrilled to have done it with a course record. Now my target will be to participate in Paris (2024 Olympics), a dream for all.&rdquo;
The top three in both races all finished under the previous course records.
Organisers for World Athletics
<h3> Leading results</h3>
Women 1 Desi Jisa (BRN) 1:21:04 2 Zeineba Yimer (ETH) 1:21:18 3 Mercyline Chelangat (UGA) 1:21:31 4 Obse Abdeta (ETH) 1:21:43 5 Ashete Bekere (ETH) 1:22:12&nbsp;
Men 1 Leonard Barsoton (KEN) 1:12:49 2 Birhanu Legese (ETH) 1:12:54 3 Victor Kiplangat (UGA) 1:12:56 4 Alfred Ngeno (KEN) 1:13:15 5 Abdisa Tola (ETH) 1:14:27
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-label-road-races/calendar-results/7176709/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Results</a>

Timothy Kiplagat Ronoh went from pacemaker to winner while Eunice Chumba secured success on her fourth attempt at the World Athletics Elite Label road race

Ronoh and Chumba win Abu Dhabi Marathon, Barsoton and Jisa run course records in Kolkata

The fifth edition of this World Athletics Championships coach series of the gender leadership podcast features Carole Bam, one of Belgium&rsquo;s leading coaches.
These podcasts are presented by athlete and Athletics Ireland Women in Sport manager Lilly-Ann O'Hora and Vicky Huyton, coach and founder of the Female Coaching Network, as they interview a number of coaches involved with the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, either as a team coach or a personal coach. 
<iframe style="background-color: transparent; display: block; padding: 0; width: 100%; max-width: 700px;" title="Audioboom player" src="https://embeds.audioboom.com/posts/8216068/embed/v4" width="100%" height="300" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" sandbox="allow-downloads allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
 Bam coaches several elite athletes, such as Cynthia Bolingo, Hanne Claes, Belgium&rsquo;s women&rsquo;s 4x400m squad and most recently Anne Zagre. A former international athlete for Cameroon, Bam represented her country in the 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles and the 4x400m at events including the Olympic Games, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
She went to Belgium in her final year as a professional athlete and felt that there was so much potential and many capable athletes. Her vision was to support them to reach their full potential, believing in many athletes when they didn&rsquo;t believe in themselves, which is how she began working with her first athlete Bolingo in 2012.
Previously discussing their coaching relationship in an article for <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/spikes/news/cynthia-bolingo-everything-is-possible" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spikes magazine</a>, Bolingo said: &ldquo;She&rsquo;s not just my coach, not just my friend. Me and Carole &ndash; we&rsquo;re like family. And whatever we achieve, we do it together, against the odds.&rdquo; 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/639dbe0e412720269771fd14.jpg" alt="Coach Carole Bam with Cynthia Bolingo" />
Coach Carole Bam with Cynthia Bolingo (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
Bam&rsquo;s philosophy is centered around the athletes and coaching them as people, before the sport. The coach-athlete relationships are what she cherishes and maintains assiduously, even if other coaches disapprove. On the podcast, Bam reveals that her coaching style is one that many have discouraged, but she says she knows the true value it can offer.
&ldquo;People have commented that my style is &lsquo;like a mom&rsquo; and sometimes when your style is &lsquo;like a mom&rsquo; you cannot make strong and good decisions. I don&rsquo;t agree,&rdquo; she explains.&nbsp;&nbsp; 
<div style="padding: 0px 20px 5px 20px; border: 2px solid #b68cff;">
<h2>Empowering women in athletics</h2>
The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/empoweringwomeninathletics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Empowering Women in Athletics</a> group on Facebook is an extension of the work of the Gender Leadership Taskforce, offering a community for women in athletics and a place where they can share stories and experiences as well as ideas and projects.
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/empoweringwomeninathletics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Find out more and join the discussion on Facebook</a> 
</div>
 Commenting on the high performance environment, Bam says it is one that &ldquo;is not easy and we have to have very clear channels of communication, we have to be close&rdquo;, but knowing her athletes off the track is the biggest asset she has in her coaching toolbox.
Bam understood the high performance environment, yet transitioning from athlete to coach was no easy feat and she says that to reach the top &ldquo;you must start at the bottom and build up&rdquo;. At times, she has felt that she has not been treated respectfully or seriously as a coach, simply because she is a woman. However, with the avid support of her mentor and former coach, Anthony Koffi, she has transformed her coaching, a male ally actively making efforts to address gender inequities in high performance athletics. &nbsp;
This year Bam was part of the Belgium team at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 and the European Championships in Munich, demonstrating how far the young team has come. The depth in the squad has evolved in both experience and performance &ndash; under Bam&rsquo;s guidance the 4x400m team in 2018 were running 3:30 and now in 2022 they have clocked an impressive 3:22. 
Healthy competition among the group is encouraged, yet Bam maintains they can be rivals at times but are also great friends. &ldquo;They know it&rsquo;s for the team,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;If someone runs well, they are happy, this cohesion is really important, however the group understand that they&rsquo;re running for one another.&rdquo;
When speaking about legacy, she says her role is very important for emerging female coaches and athletes in Belgium. 
&ldquo;Sometimes I am very alone as a coach but for me, it&rsquo;s important that I stay,&rdquo; she explains. &lsquo;I am trying to change things and I fight every day that we are able to show that we are more than capable and we can produce results.&rdquo;

Carole Bam is one of Belgium’s leading coaches

Gender leadership podcast: Carole Bam

Global medallists Abby Steiner, Jenna Prandini and Brittany Brown are set to clash in the 300m when the 115th Millrose Games, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting, takes place in New York on 11 February.
Steiner, the NCAA indoor 300m record-holder, had a breakthrough campaign in 2022. The 23-year-old completed her collegiate career at the University of Kentucky with four NCAA titles, setting a US indoor record and outdoor NCAA record in the 200m. She then lowered her PB to win the US 200m title, qualifying for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, where she finished fifth and also formed part of USA&rsquo;s victorious 4x100m and 4x400m teams.
&ldquo;I am beyond excited to be running at this historic meet for the first time in my professional career,&rdquo; said Steiner. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking forward to the atmosphere, fans, and great competition that Millrose always provides!&rdquo;
Steiner ran her NCAA indoor 300m record of 35.80 in December 2021. The US best of 35.71 is held by Quanera Hayes, while the world best of 35.45 was equalled at the Millrose Games in 2018 by Shaunae Miller-Uibo. Both of these marks could come under threat in New York in February.
Among those challenging Steiner in this Millrose Games signature event will be her fellow world 4x100m gold medallist Prandini and 2019 world 200m silver medallist Brown.
Prandini is a three-time NCAA gold medallist for the University of Oregon, as well as a two-time US 200m champion. As well as winning world 4x100m gold in Oregon, she also claimed Olympic 4x100m silver in Tokyo.
Brown claimed her world 200m medal in Doha in 2019 and more recently won the 200m title at the NACAC Championships in The Bahamas.
Also in the women&rsquo;s 300m field at the Millrose Games will be Cynthia Bolingo, Belgium&rsquo;s 2019 European indoor 400m silver medallist.
These are the latest stars announced for the Millrose Games, joining the showdowns in the pole vault between Katie Nageotte, Sandi Morris, and Katerina Stefanidi, and in the shot put, featuring Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs. The men&rsquo;s 3000m, meanwhile, will star Geordie Beamish, Cooper Teare and Josh Kerr.
For further information on the&nbsp;Millrose Games, visit the <a href="https://www.millrosegames.org/news/wpv-23" target="_blank" rel="noopener">event website</a>.
Organisers for World Athletics&nbsp;

Abby Steiner, Jenna Prandini and Brittany Brown are set to clash when the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting takes place in New York on 11 February

Steiner, Prandini and Brown to race Millrose Games 300m

Burundians Rodrigue Kwizera and Francine Niyonsaba will be among the leading contenders at the 42nd Cross Internacional de Venta de Banos, the ninth Gold leg of this season's World Athletics Cross Country Tour, on Sunday (18).
Despite having just 6500 inhabitants, the small Spanish village of Venta de Banos has hosted this top-notch cross country event since 1980.
<h2>Who can stop Kwizera?</h2>
Last year's Cross Country Tour winner Kwizera will briefly interrupt his training stint at the altitude of Sierra Nevada to compete, three weeks after his last outing in Alcobendas where the 23-year-old took a convincing win.
Kwizera, the defending champion over the 10,575m circuit, will be joined by his compatriot Agide Nduwimana, while the only other foreign competitor will be Portugal's reigning European U23 3000m steeplechase silver medallist Etson Barros. The 21-year-old finished in 47th place in his age group at the European Cross Country Championships held last Sunday in Turin.
The Spanish contingent includes Abdessamad Oukhelfen, fresh from a 10th place finish in Turin to help his country to team bronze. The 2019 U23 European cross country bronze medallist will turn 24 years of age on race day and would be happy to celebrate with a podium place.
The rising Spaniard will be joined by Nassim Hassaous, who travelled among the top 10 in Turin until half way, before finishing 25th. A third local athlete will be Adel Mechaal, the 2017 European cross country silver medallist. The 32-year-old was not selected for the Spanish team in Turin but he has proven to be in top form recently, having taken two consecutive wins in the Cantimpalos cross country event on 8 December and also at a low-key 10km road race in Ibiza two days later.
<h2>Winter debut for Niyonsaba</h2>
The women's field is headed by Olympic and world medallist Niyonsaba, who finished fifth at the Tokyo Olympics in the 10,000m with a 30:41.93 clocking. The 29-year-old also has lifetimes bests of 8:19.08 for 3000m and 14:25.34 for 5000m.
Sunday's 7975m event will mark the Burundian's first appearance since August and her third outing on Spanish soil following a 50:37 15km clocking for third place in Valencia in 2021 and a winning 32:01 time last March at a 10km race in Jaen. Niyonsaba has little experience over this surface and the event in Venta de Banos will be the second cross country race of her career.
The Spanish athletes in contention will be Irene Sanchez-Escribano, Isabel Barreiro, Carolina Robles and Marta Garcia. They are all members of the Spanish team that finished fourth in Turin after travelling for much of the race in bronze medal position.
Sanchez-Escribano is a 9:23:94 3000m steeplechase specialist and placed 15th at the European Cross Country Championships, while Barreiro finished 24th in Turin and holds a 15:27.47 5000m career best. Robles made the Tokyo Olympics 3000m steeplechase final and Garcia came 12th in the European Championships 5000m thanks to a lifetime best of 15:23.36.
Watch out too for Turkey's Emine Mechaal, the 2013 European U20 3000m silver medallist, and Spain's Laura Luengo, a consistent cross country specialist who claimed third place in Soria and finished fourth in Alcobendas earlier this season.
Weather forecasters predict a sunny day with the thermometer reaching between 8 and 10&deg;C by the time of the event, although there will be some muddy sections following heavy rain earlier this week.
Emeterio Valiente for World Athletics

The 42nd Cross Internacional de Venta de Banos takes place as the ninth Gold leg of this season's World Athletics Cross Country Tour

Cross Country Tour continues in Venta de Banos

World Athletics is today (16) calling for candidates to nominate for the World Athletics Council and the Athletes&rsquo; Commission.
The World Athletics Congress will gather in Budapest, Hungary, on 17 and 18 August 2023 to elect the World Athletics President, four Vice Presidents and 13 individual Council Members.
The candidacy rules set out the procedures and required conduct of candidates seeking election at Congress and in accordance with these rules the Election Oversight Panel (EOP) has issued the following material in support of the elections:
&bull; A candidate pack containing all relevant information concerning the elections;&nbsp; &bull; A candidate nomination form to be completed by candidates and Member Federations; and &bull; A guidance note to candidates.
This material can be found for download in the <a href="https://worldathletics.org/about-iaaf/documents/2023-elections-appointments" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-cke-saved-href="https://worldathletics.org/about-iaaf/documents/2023-elections-appointments">Library</a> section of the World Athletics website.
Those interested in becoming candidates must first apply to the Vetting Panel by 15 March 2023 and be declared eligible in order to be nominated by their Member Federation&rsquo;s Board. The deadline for receiving nominations is 16 May 2023.
Before applying for vetting and filling in the nomination form, Member Federations and their prospective candidates should have a good understanding of the <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/about-iaaf/documents/book-of-rules" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-cke-saved-href="https://www.worldathletics.org/about-iaaf/documents/book-of-rules">vetting and candidacy rules</a>, and the election process.
All candidates and Member Federation delegates attending Congress should also read the Integrity Code of Conduct because they are subject to it. The Code sets out World Athletics&rsquo; standards of conduct, in accordance with the Constitution approved by Congress. Under the Code, there is no tolerance for corruption and other misconduct by candidates and Member Federation delegates participating in the Congress.
Elections to the World Athletics Athletes&rsquo; Commission will also be held during the first five days of the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23, due to take place from 19-27 August. Six seats will be available for election.
Again, the candidacy rules set out the procedures and required conduct of candidates seeking election to the Athletes&rsquo; Commission and in accordance with these rules, the EOP has issued the following material in support of the elections:
&bull; Candidate pack containing all relevant information concerning the elections; and &bull; Candidate nomination form to be completed by candidates and Member Federations.
This material can also be found for download in the <a href="https://worldathletics.org/about-iaaf/documents/2023-elections-appointments" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-cke-saved-href="https://worldathletics.org/about-iaaf/documents/2023-elections-appointments">Library</a> section of the World Athletics website.
Athletes interested in becoming candidates must first apply to the Vetting Panel before 15 March 2023 and be declared eligible in order to be nominated by their Member Federation. The deadline for receiving nominations is 16 May 2023.
Before applying for vetting and filling in the nomination form, Member Federations and their prospective candidates should have a good understanding of the <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/about-iaaf/documents/book-of-rules" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-cke-saved-href="https://www.worldathletics.org/about-iaaf/documents/book-of-rules">vetting and candidacy rules</a>, and the election process.
The list of candidates will be published on 1 August 2023, which is also the commencement date of the campaign period.
World Athletics

World Athletics is calling for candidates to nominate for the World Athletics Council and the Athletes’ Commission.

Nomination process opens for World Athletics Council Elections and Athletes' Commission Elections 2023

The World Athletics IT Department has an opening for an IT support intern to join the in-house IT support team for a six-month assignment.
As IT Support Intern you will be working as part of the IT support team to:
<ul>
<li>Provide end-user support for Microsoft Windows and Office365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams) to World Athletics staff</li>
<li>Help manage the end-user laptops and mobile phones</li>
<li>Help manage user accounts and permissions across the Office365 and local Microsoft Windows environment</li>
<li>Help maintain the IT asset inventory system</li>
</ul>
This paid-for position is open to EU citizens or those with permission to work in Monaco only. The full job description and details of how to apply can be <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/download/download?filename=cd6621a1-7b92-459b-b34f-062b1d03da48.pdf&amp;urlSlug=it-support-intern" target="_blank" rel="noopener">downloaded here</a>.
Remuneration: &euro;600-900 per month Deadline for applications: 31 January 2023

World Athletics has an internship opportunity to work with the IT team as a support intern based at its headquarters in Monaco.

Vacancy: IT support internship

Competition artefacts generously donated this year by 21 global champions, medallists, and record-breakers have been inducted into the Museum of World Athletics

Ingebrigtsen, Wightman, Holm and Allman, among 21 athletes entering MOWA

Moments after Great Britain&rsquo;s Jake Wightman had upset Norway&rsquo;s Jakob Ingebrigtsen to win the men&rsquo;s 1500m at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 in July, his father and coach Geoff Wightman, who had maintained his professional demeanor while calling his son&rsquo;s race as the in-stadium announcer, addressed the spectators inside Hayward Field:
&ldquo;If you are wondering why I have suddenly appeared on the big screen, it&rsquo;s because the winner of that last race is my son, and I coach him, and he&rsquo;s the new world champion.&rdquo; Geoff had announced many of his son&rsquo;s previous championship races, but this was the first time he was able to proudly declare him as the winner.
Third with a lap to go in the final, Wightman had edged into the lead before entering the final turn and was able to hold off Ingebrigtsen down the homestretch to secure the win with a lifetime best of 3:29.23.
After the race, he thought of his dad, and how often they had pondered what it would be like for one to win and the other to call it. &ldquo;He can be a bit of a robot on the mic sometimes (he said with a laugh). &ldquo;Some people say robot, some say professional. I hope he broke down today&rdquo;. (He did, placing his head down on the desk in front of him).
<h2>'The biggest stage of his life'</h2>
He became the first British runner to win the 1500m at the world championships since Steve Cram finished first at the inaugural edition in Helsinki in 1983. Cram, who called the race for BBC TV, said of Wightman, "He has never been a person who talks about his running - he has always wanted his performances to speak for him. It has just been this incremental improvement all the time. He has produced his fastest run in the biggest race of his life on the biggest stage of his life."
The spikes that Wightman wore in Eugene were put to good use for the rest of this congested season before they were donated to the World Athletics Heritage Collection which is on permanent exhibit in the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA). The shoes will also be on display for five months at the MOWA-Heritage Exhibition in Budapest, Hungary, ahead of next year&rsquo;s World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023.
Representing Scotland (and with his father again providing the stadium commentary), he finished third (3:30.53) in a loaded 1500 metres at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Just as he did in Eugene, he took the lead with 200 metres to go, but this time he was run down in the homestretch by Australia&rsquo;s Olli Hoare (3:30.12) and Kenya&rsquo;s Timothy Cheruiyot (3:30.21).
He then turned his attention to the 800, finishing second (1:44.91) at the European Championships in Munich, winning in Brussels in 1:43.65 to break Tom McKean&rsquo;s 33-year-old Scottish Record of 1:44.95, and finishing third (1:44.10) at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich. Wearing a pair of shoes that were more suitable to running on the streets of New York City, he capped off his season by winning the 5th Avenue Mile for the 3rd time (he also won in 2018 &amp; 2021).
<h2>Over-distance background to success</h2>
He had been a finalist in the 1500 at the previous two global championships, finishing a close 5th at the 2019 Worlds in Doha (less than a half-second out of the medals), and then a disappointing 10th at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo.
&ldquo;Tokyo was tough to come back from&rdquo;, Wightman told Athletics Weekly&rsquo;s Euan Crumley last fall. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m still really gutted when I think about it because it wasn&rsquo;t even as if it was a case of something going wrong on the day; it was more that I wasn&rsquo;t in the shape I needed to be to run my third race (following the heats and the semis) quickly&rdquo;.
His father had already set in motion a plan to solve that problem, saying after the Eugene final, &ldquo;The 1500 has changed (since Matthew Centrowitz&rsquo;s tactical win at the Rio Olympics). &ldquo;It&rsquo;s no good just being the best 800 metre guy at the bell. You&rsquo;ve got to have something at 3000 and 5000. All of (last) winter was directed towards over-distance&rdquo;. The younger Wightman also continued to receive advice from British Olympic sprinter Laura Turner-Alleyne, who was helping him improve his finishing stride in races.
An indication that his revised training was paying off came in early February, when he ran a lifetime best of 7:37.81 for 3000 metres in New York.
His dad further reflected on his son&rsquo;s lead-up to this year&rsquo;s world championships, saying &ldquo;I thought racing wise his notable race this year was at the Rabat Diamond League, which he won over 1500m (3:32.62). This and Oslo (where he set a Scottish Record of 3:50.30 for the mile) were intended to create two hard, fast 1500/miles which he lacked in the first part of the 2021 season, making three rounds in Tokyo quite a jolt. Training wise, he had a very good one-month altitude camp in Flagstaff during May&rdquo;. (The 28-year-old also won his first British title in the 1500 in Manchester at the end of June).
<h2>Family running dynasty</h2>
It was almost a foregone conclusion that Wightman would become interested in running while growing up in Edinburgh, Scotland, since his parents were both accomplished distance runners, dad having bests of 13:42.80 (5000) and 2:13:17 (marathon), and his mother, Susan, who was his first coach, having finished 12th in the women&rsquo;s marathon at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. In addition, his aunt, Angela Tooby (Susan&rsquo;s twin sister), was the silver medallist at the 1988 world cross country championships.
The graduate of Loughborough University got his first taste of success on the international stage in 2013 when he was the surprise winner of the 1500 at the European U20 Championships in Rieti, Italy, a week after turning 19. He would make it to the semi-final round of the 1500 at the 2017 World Championships and then won bronze medals in the 1500 the following year at the Commonwealth Games and European Championships.
Back in training after enjoying a two-week break after Eugene, Wightman plans to compete in both the 800 and 1500 at next year&rsquo;s World Athletics Championships in Budapest, where his father might have two opportunities to once again say, &ldquo;The winner of that last race is my son, and I coach him, and he&rsquo;s the new world champion.&rdquo;
Walt Murphy for World Athletics Heritage

It was one of the biggest surprises of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22

'The winner is my son' - Wightman’s Oregon22 spikes donated to MOWA

Looking back at footage of the men&rsquo;s 1500m final at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22, it is difficult to detect that Jakob Ingebrigtsen was anything other than his customary commanding self until the final 40 metres.
The Norwegian prince of middle distance raised his index finger when he was introduced to the crowd on the start line and looked like the number one contender as he controlled the race from the front, even with defending champion Samuel Tefera in tow.
Only as Ingebrigtsen rounded the final bend did the golden boy start to appear off colour in the blue national bodysuit that, nine months on, he has generously donated to the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA). The bodysuit, along with the Belgrade22 name bib, will be on display for five months at the MOWA-Heritage Exhibition in Budapest, Hungary, ahead of next year&rsquo;s World Athletics Championships.
Ultimately, Ingebrigtsen had to settle for the silver medal as Tefera swept past him and on to victory in 3:33.77, eclipsing the 23-year-old championship record held by fellow-Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie. The following day, after returning home, the runner-up tested positive for Covid.
He had clearly been below par in Belgrade. Four weeks earlier, Ingebrigtsen had taken 0.44 off Tefera&rsquo;s three-year-old world record with a 3:30.60 clocking in Lievin - the first sub 3:31 indoor 1500m in history.
It proved to be the first of two painful defeats in 2022 for the young man who claimed Olympic 1500m gold as a 20-year-old in Tokyo in 2021. Outdoors, at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, Ingebrigtsen found himself on the suffering end of Jake Wightman&rsquo;s razor-sharp tactics in the 1500m final.
<h2>Highly productive year of progress</h2>
Ingebrigtsen proceeded to show his own true class, dispatching the opposition to bag his first world title in the 5000m final in Eugene, then completing a second successive 1500m-5000m double at the European Championships in Munich, and taking the Wanda Diamond League 1500m Trophy in Zurich in 3:29.05, the fastest time in the world in 2022.
A world outdoor title, a world indoor record, a world lead, and five major medals in all added up to another highly productive year of progress for the former teenage prodigy.
Three months on from his 22nd birthday, perhaps it is a blessing disguised in the immediate disappointment of silver that Ingebrigtsen still has the targets of world outdoor and indoor 1500m gold at which to aim in his still-fledgling senior career.
After being named joint European Men&rsquo;s athlete of the year with his good friend Armand Duplantis in October, he confessed: &ldquo;With the 1500m being my main event, I'm not satisfied with two silver medals. I would love to become a world champion in my event.&rdquo;
The Olympic 1500m champion will get the chance to bring his Midas touch to bear on that ambition at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023, which run from 19-27 August &ndash; and at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow in March 2024.
In the meantime, the watching world has the opportunity to catch its breath and appreciate just what the youngest of the Ingebrigtsen running clan has achieved in his tender years.
In medal terms, Jakob has collected Olympic and world outdoor gold, world outdoor and indoor silver, four European track golds outdoors, three indoors and one over the country.
Measured by the clock, he is the fastest European of all-time at 1500m, 2000m and 5000m outdoors, and at 1500m indoors. He is one of only two men to have run a sub-3:30 1500m, sub-7:30 3000m and sub 12:50 5000m, together with Daniel Komen.
<h2>'More than what was reasonable, or realistic'</h2>
Born on 19 September 2000, six days before Haile Gebrselassie&rsquo;s epic 10,000m tussle with Paul Tergat at the Sydney Olympics, Ingebrigtsen was long destined to follow in the footsteps of his elder brothers.
Henrik, 31, won the European 1500m title in 2012. Filip, 29, won in in 2016, with Henrik in third place. Filip also took world outdoor bronze at 1500m in London in 2017, behind Kenyans Elijah Manangoi and Timothy Cheruiyot. Jakob succeeded Filip as European 1500m champion in 2018 and kept the title in the family in 2022.
All three brothers were coached in their hometown, Sandnes, by their father Gjert. Since the start of 2022, Jakob has been guided by Henrik.
&ldquo;I think the most important thing I have learned from my brothers is the mentality of Henrik,&rdquo; Jakob reflected. &ldquo;He always went out hard and just believed in himself more than what was reasonable, or realistic.
&ldquo;If that&rsquo;s your mindset, it also makes you set goals that are difficult to achieve. I believe that&rsquo;s the way to go if you want to be the best. You need to go out hard, set yourself tough goals and do what you can to achieve them.&rdquo;
Jakob was only 16 when he made his major championship debut, running in the heats of the 3000m steeplechase at the World Championships in London in 2017. That summer he claimed European Under 20 titles in the 5000m and the 3000m steeplechase and became the youngest ever sub four minute miler, clocking 3:58.07 at the Diamond League meeting in Eugene and improving to 3:56.29 on home ground at the Bislett Games in Oslo.
<h2>Historic double</h2>
The following year, 2018, he completed his first European 1500m-5000m double &ndash; the first in history &ndash; at the age of 17. Henrik finished fourth in the 1500m final and runner up in the 5000m. It was a stunning double accomplished with a tactical acumen and racing maturity way beyond his tender years.
Jakob&rsquo;s 1500m success came at the age of 17 years 324 days, making him the second youngest ever individual senior European track and field champion in history after Mari Cruz Diaz of Spain, winner of the 10km race walk in 1986 aged 16 years 306 days. Valeriy Borzov and Carolina Kluft were 19 when they won their first European titles.
At global level, even as a teenager of such prodigious talent, Jakob could not quite get the better of his peers at global level. In the 1500m final at the 2018 World Under 20 Championships in Tampere, he finished 0.18 down on Kenya&rsquo;s George Manangoi in the silver medal position &ndash; with Tefera back in fifth place. He also finished third in the 5000m final, snatching bronze ahead of the future Olympic 10,000m and world indoor 3000m champion Selemon Barega of Ethiopia.
After taking 1500m silver and 3000m gold at the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow early in 2019, Ingebrigtsen lined up a double medal shot at that year&rsquo;s World Athletics Championships in Doha. Still a teenager, he made the 5000m final with Henrik and Filip and went for broke down the back-straight on the final lap &ndash; only to fade to fifth in the homestretch.
He got closer to the podium in the 1500m, but still fell frustratingly short of a medal, finishing fourth behind Cheruiyot, Algerian Taoufik Makhloufi and Poland&rsquo;s Marcin Lewandowski.
It was in the post-pandemic outdoor season of 2021, his first as a fully-fledged senior, that the 20-year-old Ingebrigtsen finally conquered the track world.
Two months after smashing the European 5000m record with a stunning 12:48.45 victory at the Florence Diamond League meeting, he decided to concentrate solely on the 1500m at the delayed Tokyo Olympic Games, despite a career record of no wins in 12 races against the formidable Cheruiyot.
When it came to the final, the Kenyan blasted through the first 200m in 27.8 and 400m in 56.2. At 600m, he was 0.3 clear of Ingebrigtsen in 1:24.0. That&rsquo;s how it stayed until the final 200m, when the Norwegian moved into overdrive, overtaking Cheruiyot off the final bend to past to win in 3:38.32, an Olympic and European record.
<h2>Out of Africa for the first time in 30 years</h2>
His second senior global success, the 2022 world 5000m final in Eugene, was an equally momentous affair.
Against a stellar field, which included Ugandan world record holder Jacob Cheptegei, Ingebrigtsen controlled the race from the front &ndash; repelling the challenges of the contenders stacked behind him before pulling clear in the home straight. It was the first success at the distance at the World Championships or Olympics by a male athlete born outside of Africa since Dieter Baumann&rsquo;s victory at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
&ldquo;This is already my third World Championships and my fifth attempt to become a world champion,&rdquo; said Ingebrigtsen, &ldquo;so it&rsquo;s amazing to win this gold and finally become a world champion.&rdquo;
One suspects it will not be his last.
Simon Turnbull for World Athletics Heritage

Norwegian distance runner motivated to win a world indoor title

'I'm not satisfied with two silver medals' - Ingebrigtsen gifts world indoor bodysuit to MOWA

World and Olympic long jump champion Malaika Mihambo will return to the Init Indoor Meeting in Karlsruhe on 27 January for the first World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold fixture of 2023.
The German star has so far only confirmed her participation in the 60m, an event in which she has a PB of 7.22, but meeting director Alain Blondel hinted that Mihambo could make a last-minute decision to line up in her specialist event too, as she did two years ago.
Mihambo is a familiar face at this meeting, having competed there in 2018, 2020 and 2022. Her first appearance at the Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe marked something of a breakthrough for Mihambo, as she beat a world-class field with a then indoor PB of 6.72m, and went on to win her first major senior title later that year.
The 28-year-old is now a two-time world champion, an Olympic champion, and has a full set of medals from the European Championships. She has PBs of 7.30m outdoors and 7.07m indoors, and has jumped beyond seven metres for the past four consecutive seasons.
The Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe, which is now sold out, is the first of seven World Indoor Tour Gold meetings in 2023. In early February the tour heads to Boston, then Torun, New York, Lievin and Madrid before the series final in Birmingham.
&bull; <a href="https://meeting-karlsruhe.de/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More information</a>

World and Olympic long jump champion Malaika Mihambo will return to the Init Indoor Meeting in Karlsruhe on 27 January

Mihambo confirmed for Karlsruhe

The Wanda Diamond League has released the full allocation of scoring disciplines to specific meetings in athletics&rsquo; premier one-day meeting series in 2023.
The world&rsquo;s best athletes will battle it out across 15 meetings and 32 disciplines for the prestigious Diamond Trophy.
Athletes will compete for points at 14 series meetings between May and September, with the most successful qualifying for the Wanda Diamond League Final in Eugene.&nbsp;
Each discipline will be staged at least four and up to eight times on the Road to the Final, giving athletes from across the globe enough opportunities to earn points.
The first 14 meetings in the series will each take place in a two-hour TV world programme and will all stage at least 14 diamond disciplines.
At the end of the regular season, the athletes with the most points in each discipline will qualify for the final, which in 2023 is being held on US soil for the first time in Diamond League history.&nbsp;
The season finale at Eugene&rsquo;s Prefontaine Classic will be the only meeting to stage every single diamond discipline, with all 32 Wanda Diamond League champions to be crowned over the course of two days.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.diamondleague.com/fileadmin/Shared_Storage/DocumentStorage/Website/WDL_2023_Allocation_of_disciplines_08122022.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The full breakdown of which disciplines will take place at which meetings can be viewed here.&nbsp;</a>
The <a href="https://www.diamondleague.com/calendar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">season calendar</a> and the allocation of disciplines remain subject to change according to the global health situation in 2023.
A list of disciplines for each meeting will also be available under the 'programme and results' page on each individual meeting website.
As well as the diamond disciplines, each meeting will also be able to add non-point-scoring events to their programme. These additional disciplines will be published by the individual meetings in due course.
Wanda Diamond League for World Athletics

The Wanda Diamond League has released the full allocation of scoring disciplines to specific meetings in athletics’ premier one-day meeting series in 2023.

Wanda Diamond League releases 2023 diamond disciplines

<h3>The Erasmus+ funded project will analyse federations' decarbonisation efforts</h3>
 World Athletics, the International Biathlon Union, the International Floorball Federation and Swedish Floorball Federation will work together to explore how their respective sports can adopt more practices to mitigate their impact on climate change.
As part of <a href="https://erasmus-games.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the GAMES (Green Approaches in Management for Enhancing Sports) project</a> &ndash; an Erasmus+ funded initiative &ndash; the project coordinators, the Sant&rsquo;Anna School of Advanced Studies, will analyse the climate governance and management models currently used in the three sports and support the development of decarbonisation strategies for each partner.
The GAMES project has five main aims:
&ndash; Raise awareness and increase the adoption of climate change mitigation practices by key sports actors
&ndash; Analyse the current climate change governance and management models adopted in athletics, biathlon and floorball and to develop a path towards decarbonisation for each sport
&ndash; Support athletics, biathlon and floorball with strategic objectives, programmes and operational frameworks aimed at mitigating, neutralising or offsetting greenhouse gas emissions
&ndash; Develop face-to-face and online training modules to improve the knowledge and awareness of sport organisation employees and supporters
&ndash; Leverage the popularity of athletics, biathlon and floorball to broadly increase environmental awareness
Touchline, the London-based sports and sustainability agency and publisher of The Sustainability Report, will support the project as communication and dissemination partner.
Over the project&rsquo;s 30-month period, the GAMES partners will produce a number of deliverables, including sport and the environment webinars, a selection of workshops on decarbonisation and communication, a mid-term report and conference, a survey of sports managers and a final report and conference detailing the findings and achievements of the project, as well as regular updates via the GAMES website and newsletter.
&ldquo;Achieving meaningful change in a battle against climate change, one of the greatest global challenges we face today, will require building innovative partnerships and collaboration across all sports, at all levels," said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. "So we welcomed the opportunity to work with our colleagues at the IBU, IFF and SIBF on this important research initiative.&rdquo; 
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mraoJxPRhAY" width="100%" height="475" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 Olle Dahlin, President of the International Biathlon Union, said: &ldquo;Decarbonisation is a global imperative for us to have a fighting chance to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. As a Sports for Climate Action Framework and Race to Zero signatory, we at the IBU are committed to significantly reducing the emissions caused by our activities. We look forward to learning about and implementing the various decarbonisation best practices that will be uncovered across sports through the GAMES Erasmus+ project."
Tero Kalsta, sales coordinator at the International Floorball Federation, echoed Coe and Dahlin's sentiments.
&ldquo;Since the International Floorball Federation decided to invest more into fighting climate change &ndash; signing the UN Sports for Climate Action network commitment in 2019 &ndash; we have been looking at ways to develop concrete actions,&rdquo; Kalsta said. &ldquo;With this ERASMUS+ project we get three things in one: an evaluation of our current status, new tools and the implementation thereof. Further, I am very impressed by the dedication of all participating parties and am confident we will see great results.&rdquo;
Tiberio Daddi, associate professor at the Sant&rsquo;Anna School of Advanced Studies and a co-ordinator of the project, added: &ldquo;Thanks to GAMES, our research group will be able to apply environmental management approaches to three different sports. This represents a natural evolution from the projects already carried out by Sant&rsquo;Anna on the sustainability of professional and grassroots football.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Sport is one of the industries that is most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and therefore must be part of the solution,&rdquo; said Matthew Campelli, sustainability partner at Touchline. &ldquo;As the GAMES project aims to reduce the carbon impact of three very different sports, there should be valuable lessons and takeaways for the whole industry.&rdquo;

The Erasmus+ funded project will analyse federations' decarbonisation efforts

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