Angela Tanui and Tamirat Tola produced the fastest ever times on Dutch soil with their victories at the TCS Amsterdam Marathon, clocking 2:17:57 and 2:03:39 at the World Athletics Elite Platinum Label road race on Sunday (17).
Tanui, who was a late addition to the field after her plans to compete in Boston fell through due to visa issues, bided her time for much of the race before breaking away in the closing stages to win by more than two minutes, covering the second half in a swift 1:07:50.
Running as part of a lead group of six, Tanui covered the first 10km in 33:00. Shortly after, Ethiopia&rsquo;s Shasho Insermu dropped back from the lead pack, leaving Tanui, fellow Kenyan Maureen Chepkemoi and Ethiopia&rsquo;s Haven Hailu, Gabiyanesh Ayele and Worknesh Alemu out in front.
They covered 15km in 49:48 before reaching the half-way point in 1:10:07, suggesting a sub-2:20 finish was possible with a slightly faster second half.
Alemu was the next to drift off the pack, and she trailed the leaders by 24 seconds at the 25km point, which was covered in 1:23:02. Tanui, Hailu, Ayele and Chepkemoi stuck together through 30km (1:39:37), but Tanui then put in a surge and covered the next five-kilometre section in 15:51, giving her an 11-second lead over her opponents at 35km.
She continued to pull away from her pursuers in the closing stages and went on to cross the finish line in 2:17:57, smashing the previous course record of 2:19:26. She also chopped more than two minutes from her previous best of 2:20:08 set earlier this year, and now moves to 10th on the world all-time list.
Chepkemoi came through to take second place in 2:20:18, overtaking Hailu shortly before the finish. Hailu finished one second adrift in third, while Ayele was further behind in fourth (2:21:22). Ruth van der Meijden was the top Dutch finisher, placing sixth in 2:29:55 to secure the national title.
Tola, like Tanui, displayed great patience and waited until the final few kilometres before making his move in the men&rsquo;s race.
The opening pace was relatively swift as a large lead pack covered the first 10km in 29:10 and 15km in 43:58. The pace settled down slightly then, with the half-way point reached in 1:02:11 and 25km in 1:13:49, putting them just outside course record schedule (2:04:06). 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/616c07bf5e459c4bc8b3184a.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 After going through 30km in 1:28:33, some of the runners in the lead pack &ndash; namely Edwin and Abraham Kiptoo and Ethiopia&rsquo;s marathon debutante Amdewerk Walelegn &ndash; started to drift off the pace. Just six men &ndash; Tola, Leul Gebresilase, Eritrea&rsquo;s Hiskel Tewelde and Afewerki Berhane and Kenya&rsquo;s Jonathan Korir and Bernard Koech &ndash; were left in the pack at the 35km point (1:42:59).
Tola then started to win up the pace and, having covered the previous 10km section in 28:53, had a nine-second gap on his opponents at the 40km point with the leading contenders now strung out.
Tola continued to extend his lead and crossed the line in a 2:03:39, winning by 30 seconds from Koech (2:04:09). Tola&rsquo;s winning time took almost half a minute off the previous course record (2:04:06) and elevates him from 23rd to 16th on the world all-time list.
Gebresilase took third in 2:04:12, 20 seconds ahead of Korir. In fifth, Tewelde set an Eritrean record of 2:04:35.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics 
<h3>Leading results</h3>
Women 1 Angela Tanui (KEN) 2:17:57 2 Maureen Chepkemoi (KEN) 2:20:18 3 Haven Hailu (ETH) 2:20:19 4 Gabiyanesh Ayele (ETH) 2:21:22 5 Worknesh Alemu (ETH) 2:26:54 6 Ruth van der Meijden (NED) 2:29:55 7 Bo Ummels (NED) 2:31:51
Men 1 Tamirat Tola (ETH) 2:03:39 2 Bernard Koech (KEN) 2:04:09 3 Leul Gebresilase (ETH) 2:04:12 4 Jonathan Korir (KEN) 2:04:32 5 Hiskel Tewelde (ERI) 2:04:35 6 Moses Kibet (UGA) 2:05:20 7 Afewerki Berhane (ERI) 2:05:22 8 Kenneth Keter (KEN) 2:06:05 9 Bernard Kipyego (KEN) 2:06:32 10 Merhawi Kesete (ERI) 2:06:36

Angela Tanui (2:17:57) and Tamirat Tola (2:03:39) produce the fastest ever times on Dutch soil

Tanui and Tola smash Dutch all-comers’ records in Amsterdam

Elisha Rotich of Kenya produced a strong performance to clinch his first title at the Schneider Electric Paris Marathon on Sunday (17), while Ethiopia&rsquo;s Tigist Memuye won the women&rsquo;s contest at the World Athletics Elite Label road race.
The event&rsquo;s 44th edition went off under perfect conditions. The leading pack, spearheaded by pacemakers Hillary Kipkoech and Cornelius Kangogo, passed 5km in 14:37, suggesting a possible final time of about 2:03:30, way below the course record of 2:05:03 set in 2014 by multiple world and Olympic gold medallist Kenenisa Bekele.
The Kenyan pair maintained a fast and steady pace, passing 10km and 15km in 29:17 and 44:01 respectively, before reaching half way in 1:01:51.
Twenty men were still in contention for victory at 25km, reached in 1:13:19, but the leading pack started to stretch over the next kilometres, suggesting the race of attrition had started to take its toll.
Kipkoech and Kangogo finished their work at the 30km mark, reached in 1:28:20. Joel Kimurer and Edwin Kimuta chose that moment to make their first move, but they didn&rsquo;t manage to escape. Soon after the 35km checkpoint, Hillary Kipsambu and Elisha Rotich ratcheted up the pace, breaking up the group behind them.
Rotich then made a strong move five kilometres from home, and the 31-year-old Kenyan quickly opened an eight-second gap over Kipsambu, Hailemaryam Kiros and Tsegaye Getachew.
Rotich produced an impressive display of strength over the final kilometres to cross the line in 2:04:23, 40 seconds faster than Bekele&rsquo;s previous course record.
Rotich not only improved his personal best by 55 seconds but he also produced the eighth fastest time of the year.
Kiros pushed hard in the waning stages to finish runner-up in 2:04:42 as Kipsambu took third place in 2:04:45.
&ldquo;It was really great to run in Paris,&rdquo; said a smiling Rotich. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m really happy for both the win and the record.&rdquo;
In the women&rsquo;s race, pacemakers Sharon Kemboi and Beatrice Cheserek were asked to set a 2:21 marathon pace. The Kenyan pair hurtled down the &lsquo;Avenue des Champs Elys&eacute;es&rsquo; but nobody followed their pace; by the time they reached 5km in 16:50, they were 47 seconds ahead of the main pack.
The principal contenders never really utilised the pacemakers, but Ethiopia&rsquo;s Tigist Memuye and fellow Yeneshesh Tilahun Dinkesa finally forged ahead six kilometres from the finish line. Memuye upped the tempo again at 41km to break away from her compatriot before going on to win in 2:26:12.
Dinkesa finished just three seconds adrift in second place, while Fantu Jimma completed an Ethiopian sweep in 2:26:22.
Quentin Guillon for World Athletics 
<h3>Leading results</h3>
Women 1 Tigist Memuye (ETH) 2:26:12 2 Yeneshesh Tilahun Dinkesa (ETH) 2:26:15 3 Fantu Jimma (ETH) 2:26:22 4 Waganesh Mekasha (ETH) 2:26:37 5 Janet Ruguru (KEN) 2:27:06
Men 1 Elisha Rotich (KEN) 2:04:23 2 Hailemaryam Kiros (ETH) 2:04:42 3 Hillary Kipsambu (KEN) 2:04:45 4 Barselius Kipyego (KEN) 2:04:49 5 Abayneh Degu (ETH) 2:04:52
&nbsp;
<h2>Debutant Teklu and Tuei reign at Barcelona Half Marathon</h2>
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Haftu Teklu and Kenya&rsquo;s Sandrafelis Chebet Tuei captured commanding titles at the eDreams Mitja Marato Barcelona, a World Athletics Gold Label road race, on Sunday (17).
On a perfect day for running (14C and very slight wind), 26-year-old Teklu triumphed in his first outing over the distance, clocking 59:39, while Tuei improved her career best by more than a minute to win in 1:07:12.
The leading pack in the men&rsquo;s race went through the opening 5km in 14:05, well on schedule to break the 59:44 course record. Paced by Matthew Chekwunui, the heading group included the Kenyan pair of Daniel Kemoi and Abel Sikowo, Israel&rsquo;s Maru Teferi, Eritrea&rsquo;s Aron Kifle, Uganda&rsquo;s last year&rsquo;s runner-up Stephen Kissa and the eventual victor Teklu.
The 10km checkpoint was reached in 28:08 with the only withdrawal of Teferi. Once the pacesetter dropped out it was Teklu who took command of the race but only Kissa managed to live with his rhythm despite slowing down a bit over the third 5km segment covered in 14:16 for a 42:24 15km split. By then Kifle was in third, 22 seconds in arrears, and Sikowo another four seconds adrift.
The leading pair went through 20km in 56:43, putting them on course for a sub-60-minute finish. The experienced Kissa seemed to be the favourite to take the win, but Teklu unleashed an impressive change of speed in the final kilometre to open a huge margin on the Ugandan.
Teklu crossed the line in a course record of 59:39 while a fading Kissa had to settle for second place again, 40 seconds behind the winner. Surprisingly the third spot on the podium went for Ethiopia&rsquo;s Chala Regasa who, coming from behind, overtook Kifle and Sikowo in the closing stages to clock 1:00:38.
The women&rsquo;s event kicked off at a steady 3:12 pace, the heading group comprising the Ethiopians Asnakech Awoke, Tsege Melese and Alemaz Samuel plus the Kenyan trio of Tuei, Brillian Kipkoech and Mercyline Chelangat. That sextet timed 16:02 for the first 5km section. Tuei and Kipkoech led the field at 10km, reached in 31:56, and they maintained that pace through 15km (48:01), although only four women &ndash; Tuei, Kipkoech, Awoke and Alemaz &ndash; remained in contention.
Tuei, the 2015 world U18 steeplechase silver medallist, made her move some 17km into the race to easily break away from the rest. At the tape, the 23-year-old clocked a lifetime best of 1:07:12, her second PB of the month following a 30:45 10km effort in Valencia a fortnight ago. Kipkoech finished runner-up 19 seconds in arrears to secure a Kenyan double and Awoke placed third in 1:07:47.
Emeterio Valiente for World Athletics 
<h3>Leading results</h3>
Women 1 Sandrafelis Tuei (KEN) 1:07:12 2 Brillian Kipkoech (KEN) 1:07:31 3 Asnakech Awoke (ETH) 1:07:47 4 Mercyline Chelangat (KEN) 1:08:27 5 Alemaz Samuel (ETH) 1:08:53
Men 1 Haftu Teklu (ETH) 59:39 2 Stephen Kissa (UGA) 1:00:19 3 Chala Regasa (ETH) 1:00:38 4 Aron Kifle (ERI) 1:00:53 5 Abel Sikowo (KEN) 1:01:44
&nbsp;
<h2>Chepkemoi breaks Roma-Ostia course record</h2>
Kenya&rsquo;s Joyce Tele Chepkemoi won the Huawei Roma Ostia Half Marathon World Athletics Label Race in 1:06:35, beating compatriot Betty Chepkemoi Kibet by just two seconds.
Chepkemoi broke the course record that had been held by Florence Kiplagat, who clocked 1:06:38 in 2012. Runner-up Kibet also improved her PB to 1:06:37, while Gloria Kite completed an all-Kenyan podium, finishing third in 1:07:54.
And on the day his brother Tamirat won the Amsterdam Marathon, Abdera Adisa Tola triumphed in the men&rsquo;s race on his debut at the distance, clocking 59:54.
Chepkemoi, Kibet and Kite set off at a swift pace in the women&rsquo;s race, clocking 16:10 at 5km and 31:57 for 10km. With 42 minutes on the clock, Chepkemoi and Kibet broke away and ran neck and neck until the end. In a dramatic sprint finish, Chepkemoi held off Kibet and crossed the finish line in 1:06:35.
A five-man group formed by Tola, Kenya&rsquo;s Kipkoech Cheruiyot, Maxwell Mbuleli Mathanga from South Africa, Daniele Meucci and 2018 world half marathon silver medallist Abraham Cheroben from Bahrain went through 5km in 14:23, 10km in 28:30 and 15km in 42:51.
Meucci produced the first attack at 15km, but Tola caught up with the 2014 European marathon champion. Meucci and Tola ran neck and neck until 19km when Tola launched a decisive kick to cross the finish line in 59:54 with Meucci 17 seconds adrift in second. Mbuleli finished third in 1:00:17.
Diego Sampaolo for World Athletics 
<h3>Leading results</h3>
Women 1 Joyce Chepkemoi Tele (KEN) 1:06:35 2 Betty Chepkemoi (KEN) 1:06:37 3 Gloria Kite (KEN) 1:07:54 4 Moira Stewartowa (CZE) 1:10:16 5 Rebecca Lonedo (ITA) 1:11:45
Men 1 Abdera Adisa Tola (ETH) 59:54 2 Daniele Meucci (ITA) 1:00:11 3 Mathanga Mbuleli (RSA) 1:00:17 4 Abraham Cheroben (KEN) 1:00:29 5 Lawi Kosgei (KEN) 1:01:21

Course records for Elisha Rotich at the Paris Marathon and Joyce Tele Chepkemoi at the Rome-Ostia Half Marathon

Course records for Rotich in Paris and Chepkemoi in Rome-Ostia

Charlotte Arter and Hugo Milner took top honours at the Cardiff Cross Challenge on Saturday (16) in what was the first Gold standard meeting in the newly launched World Athletics Cross Country Tour.
Many of Britain&rsquo;s top distance runners were met with pleasant conditions at Llandaff Fields in the Welsh capital for the first big domestic cross-country fixture of the season.
Arter and training partner Jenny Nesbitt had chosen different ways to prepare for the start of the cross country season with the former choosing competitive road races and the latter training at altitude in Font Romeu.
The pair were locked in battle after the first large lap in the women&rsquo;s 6.4km race, having already pulled clear of 2014 European cross-country silver medallist Kate Avery, Jess Gibbon, Hannah Irwin and Izzy Fry.
Arter showed her class at the end and appeared on the finish straight of the flat and fast course, winning in 20:11. Nesbitt was next to finish, taking second place in 20:15 ahead of the fast-finishing Jess Gibbon (20:17).
&ldquo;It was a fantastic race,&rdquo; said Arter, who finished seventh at the 2018 and 2019 European Cross Country Championships. &ldquo;Jenny made it such a tough race right from the start and it came down to an exciting sprint finish. I was really happy to get the win to kick start the cross-country season and I&rsquo;m really excited now for the rest of the season.&rdquo;
The men&rsquo;s 9.6km race saw a leading group including UK-based Ethiopian Omar Ahmed, local athlete Jake Smith, 2019 English champion Zakariya Mahamed and Hugo Milner forging clear over the first 3.2km lap.
This was whittled down further, leaving just Ahmed and Milner as they overcame the final mound with Ahmed a touch ahead but unable to overcome Milner&rsquo;s finishing speed as he sprinted to victory in 27:18.
Ahmed was just two seconds back in 27:20 with Smith finishing third in 27:29. Mahamed and Sam Charlton finished in fourth and fifth.
&ldquo;Today was good,&rdquo; said Milner, who represented Britain at the 2017 World Cross Country Championships. &ldquo;I knew it was going to be a tough race with Jake and Omar in the race. It was surprisingly hot which I wasn&rsquo;t expecting for the first cross-country race of the year. I thought I was going to get dropped on the last lap but I just had something left in the tank in the last 200m which was a bit of a surprise because I don&rsquo;t usually win sprint finishes.&rdquo;
The Cardiff Cross Challenge is the first of 14 competitions in the 2021-2022 Cross Country Tour Gold series. The tour, which takes in many of the stops that formed part of the old Cross Country Permit series, will next head to Spain for six high-quality international meetings, before heading on to Italy, Belgium, Portugal and Kenya.
Organisers for World Athletics

Charlotte Arter and Hugo Milner take top honours at Cardiff Cross Challenge

Arter and Milner victorious at Cardiff Cross Challenge

The TCS Amsterdam Marathon men&rsquo;s course record could be challenged on Sunday (17) when the likes of Tamirat Tola, Leul Gebresilase, Ayele Abshero and Amdework Walelegn line up for the World Athletics Elite Platinum Label road race.
Eight women with sub-2:25 PBs, meanwhile, are also set to clash in what looks set to be a highly competitive race in the Dutch capital.
Tola&rsquo;s PB, set in Dubai in 2018, is equal to the Amsterdam course record and Dutch all-comers&rsquo; record (2:04:06). The Ethiopian earned Olympic bronze over 10,000m in 2016 and world silver in the marathon in 2017, having won the Dubai Marathon earlier that year in 2:04:11.
&ldquo;I was preparing for the Tokyo Marathon (before it got cancelled), but I&rsquo;m happy to be here,&rdquo; said Tola. &ldquo;I love the country. It&rsquo;s my first time here, and the weather forecast is perfect for a good performance, so I&rsquo;m hoping to run a personal best on Sunday.&rdquo;
The past nine editions of the Amsterdam Marathon have been won by Kenyan men, but that streak could end on Sunday as the five fastest entrants are from Ethiopia.
Tola&rsquo;s compatriot Gebresilase has the fastest PB of the field. The 29-year-old Ethiopian clocked 2:04:02 on his debut at the distance in Dubai three years ago to finish second, four seconds ahead of Tola. He followed it later in the year with a 2:04:31 victory in Valencia, and he equalled that time earlier this year in Milan.
Abebe Negewo Degefa, Chalu Deso Gelmisa and Ayele Abshero all have sub-2:05 PBs. Degefa, now 37, set his PB of 2:04:51 in Valencia just two years ago. Gelmisa produced a similar clocking of 2:04:53 in Valencia last year, but more recently he raced in Chicago, finishing 29th, and so his legs may not have recovered in just one week. Abshero has a faster PB of 2:04:23, but it was set back in 2012.
But perhaps the strongest Ethiopian entrant is Amdework Walelegn, who&rsquo;ll be making his marathon debut. The 22-year-old took bronze at the 2020 World Half Marathon Championships, having finished second in the U20 race at the World Cross Country Championships just three years prior. He set a half marathon PB of 58:53 when winning in Delhi last year, and he came close to that last month with his 59:10 victory at the Copenhagen Half Marathon.
Kenya is still well represented for this year&rsquo;s race in the form of Laban and Jonathan Korir (no relation).
Laban Korir has competed at the Amsterdam Marathon four times. The 35-year-old, who is a training partner of Eliud Kipchoge, made his marathon debut in the Dutch city back in 2011, clocking 2:06:05 to place second. He improved on that when he returned to Amsterdam in 2016, finishing fourth in 2:05:54. Winner of the 2014 Toronto Marathon, Korir represented Kenya at the 2019 World Championships, where he finished 11th.
Jonathan Korir, another friend and training partner of Kipchoge&rsquo;s, will also be returning to Amsterdam. He set a PB of 2:06:51 during his last outing at this race, which he went on to improve in Berlin in 2019 (2:06:45) and then in Enschede earlier this year (2:06:40). 
<h2>Competitive clash in women&rsquo;s race</h2>
While Kenyan men have dominated recent editions of the Amsterdam Marathon, the women&rsquo;s race has typically gone in Ethiopia&rsquo;s favour over the past decade.
Ethiopian women make up seven of the nine fastest entrants for Sunday&rsquo;s race, but the outcome could be largely dictated by whether Kenya&rsquo;s Angela Tanui makes it to the startline. The 29-year-old, who clocked a PB of 2:20:08 in Ampugnano back in April and is undefeated in three races this year, had been due to compete at the Boston Marathon earlier this week, but was unable to make it to the US due to visa issues. If she succeeds in making it to Amsterdam, she&rsquo;ll start as the favourite.
But if Tanui is unable to make the start line, an Ethiopian victory would appear highly likely as the likes of Besu Sado, Shasho Insermu, Genet Yalew, Gebeyanesh Ayele and Haven Hailu are raring to go.
Sado, a former 1500m specialist who reached the Olympic final in that event in 2016, set her PB of 2:21:03 when finishing fourth in Amsterdam in 2019. She has a best this year of 2:27:06, set in Milan in May, but more recently set a half marathon PB of 1:08:15 in Herzogenaurach.
Insermu also set her PB in Amsterdam, clocking 2:23:28 when finishing second in 2018. She hasn&rsquo;t raced this year, but her last marathon was a victory in Madrid in April 2019. She has previously won marathons in Copenhagen, Cologne, Nagano and Marrakech.
Yalew has contested just three marathons to date and has a best of 2:24:34 so far, but her pedigree suggests that time could be due some revision. She finished fifth at the 2016 World Half Marathon Championships just a couple of months after clocking a PB of 1:06:26.
Ayele set a PB of 2:23:23 this year. She has yet to win a marathon, but has made it on to the podium in four of her nine races to date.
Hailu, meanwhile, is keen to make amends for her DNF two years ago. &ldquo;I love racing in the Netherlands,&rdquo; said the 23-year-old, who set a PB of 2;23:52 earlier this year. &ldquo;Two years ago, I raced the Zwolle Half Marathon and I placed second in a personal best time of 1:09:57. I was also here two years ago for the Amsterdam Marathon, but it didn&rsquo;t quite turn out the way I wanted. I learned from my mistakes and I&rsquo;ve prepared accordingly for Sunday. I&rsquo;m hoping to run a very fast time.&rdquo;
Kenya&rsquo;s Maureen Chepkemoi could also be in contention for a podium finish. She has a 2:24:16 PB from the 2019 Istanbul Marathon and she came close to that with her 2:24:19 victory in Geneva earlier this year.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
<h3> Elite field</h3>
Women Angela Tanui (KEN) 2:20:08 Besu Sado (ETH) 2:21:03 Gebeyanesh Ayele (ETH) 2:23:23 Shasho Insermu (ETH) 2:23:28 Haven Hailu (ETH) 2:23:52 Maureen Chepkemoi (KEN) 2:24:16 Genet Yalew (ETH) 2:24:34 Worknesh Alemu (ETH) 2:24:42 Meseret Gola (ETH) 2:28:30 Ruth van der Meijden (NED) 2:29:30 Nina Lauwaert (BEL) 2:30:24 Eva Wutti (AUT) 2:30:43 Bo Ummels (NED) 2:32:34 Melody Julien (FRA) debut
Men Leul Gebresilase (ETH) 2:04:02 Tamirat Tola (ETH) 2:04:06 Ayele Abshero (ETH) 2:04:23 Abebe Negewo Degefa (ETH) 2:04:51 Chalu Deso Gelmisa (ETH) 2:04:53 Laban Korir (KEN) 2:05:54 Aychew Bantie (ETH) 2:06:23 Jonathan Korir (KEN) 2:06:40 Aweke Ayelew (BRN) 2:07:12 Kenneth Keter (KEN) 2:07:34 Abrar Osman (ERI) 2:07:46 Hiskel Tewelde (ERI) 2:08:49 Shumet Akalnew (ETH) 2:08:50 Merhawi Kesete (ERI) 2:09:06 Mohamed Ziani (MAR) 2:09:29 Jo Fukuda (JPN) 2:09:52 Khalid Choukoud (NED) 2:09:55 Michel Butter (NED) 2:09:58 Aziz Lahbabi (MAR) 2:10:51 Bjorn Koreman (NED) 2:11:07 Bukayaw Malede (ISR) 2:11:22 Amdework Walelegn (ETH) debut Afewerki Berhane (ERI) debut Tesfahun Akalnew (ETH) debut Mustefa Kedir Tebo (ETH) debut Simon Cheprot (KEN) debut

Five sub-2:05 men and eight sub-2:25 women ready to roll in the Dutch capital

Tola, Walelegn, Tanui and Sado set for exciting clashes in Amsterdam

Eighteen months since the last edition of the Schneider Electric Paris Marathon, the World Athletics Elite Label race returns to the French capital on Sunday (17).
The 2020 race was initially postponed before being cancelled, then the 2021 edition was moved to October instead of its usual April slot on the calendar. Having received the green light to go ahead, this year&rsquo;s race will have a mass field of about 35,000 runners, including a high-quality elite line-up.
The men&rsquo;s field features five runners with sub-2:06 PBs. Kenya&rsquo;s Nicholas Kirwa is the fastest in the men&rsquo;s field, courtesy of his 2:05:01 PB set in Milan in May. Compatriot Joel Kemboi Kimurer, who is also racing in Paris this weekend, finished 18 seconds adrift of Kirwa in Milan, recording a 2:05:19 personal best.
Elisha Rotich&rsquo;s career best is one second faster than Kemboi Kimurer&rsquo;s. The 31 year-old Kenyan, who clocked that time when finishing third in Amsterdam two years ago, also competed in Milan this year, finishing 10th in 2:06:44.
Stephen Chebogut also has strong credentials. The Kenyan won the 2015 Eindhoven Marathon in a PB of 2:05:52 and then finished second in Paris in 2017 in 2:06:57. The 36-year-old&rsquo;s only race this year was a 2:22:08 run in the altitude of Eldoret, but his most recent race at sea level was the 2019 Shanghai Marathon, where he ran 2:10:35.
Abdi Fufa carries strong recent form into this weekend&rsquo;s race. The Ethiopian set a PB of 2:05:57 when finishing second in a quality field in Ampugnano in April.
Ashenafi Moges and Moris Munene Gachaga are also ones to watch. Moges set his PB of 2:06:12 two years ago, while the latter recorded his best of 2:06:24 in 2020.
Hassan Chahdi&rsquo;s record of 2:09:11 makes him the fastest Frenchman in the field. Following his 45th place finish in the marathon at the Olympic Games, he clocked 31:12 for 10km three weeks ago, which makes his current shape difficult to gauge. That&rsquo;s not the case for Florian Carvahlo, however, who ran 1:01:05 at the Paris Half Marathon last month. He&rsquo;s now hopeful of improving on his 2:10:22 PB set in Valencia two years ago. 
<h2>Jeptoo returns to Paris</h2>
The women&rsquo;s race also looks set to be a tough contest.
Ten years after her victory on the streets of the French capital, Priscah Jeptoo returns to the Paris Marathon. The Kenyan went on to take the silver medal at the World Championships later in 2011 and then earned a medal of the same colour at the 2012 Olympic Games. She also won the London and New York marathons in 2013, but hasn&rsquo;t made it on to a marathon podium since then.
Her 2:20:14 PB, set back in 2012, makes 37-year-old Jeptoo the fastest woman in the field, but her 2:24:16 clocking from the 2019 Valencia Marathon probably gives a more accurate indication of her current form.
While Jeptoo is the biggest name in the women&rsquo;s field, Ethiopian duo Waganesh Mekasha and Sifan Melaku could start as the slight favourites, based on recent form.
Mekasha, a former track specialist, has a marathon best of 2:22:45 set in Dubai in 2019. She went on to achieve second-place finishes in Dongying and Shanghai later that year, but hasn&rsquo;t raced since. Melaku, meanwhile, last raced in February 2020 when she finished third in Seville in a PB of 2:23:49.
Tigist Memuye also shouldn&rsquo;t be discounted. The 31-year-old Ethiopian clocked a PB of 2:24:23 in Geneva just five months ago; a repeat, or even an improvement, of that performance should put her in contention for a podium finish.
Quentin Guillon for World Athletics

Eighteen months since the last edition of the Schneider Electric Paris Marathon, the World Athletics Elite Label race returns to the French capital 

Close battles expected at Paris Marathon

Two-time Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge is to take on Paris 2024 mass race hopefuls later this month in a running challenge being held to mark 1000 days until the Olympics in the French capital.
In an Olympic Games first, a mass participation marathon is planned for the same day, and following the same route, as the Olympic marathon in 2024 and on 31 October a pursuit-style 5km race will be held on the Champs-Elysee in Paris, with some of those mass participation marathon places up for grabs.
The challenge is to outrun Kipchoge, Kenya&rsquo;s world marathon record-holder who also claimed the world 5000m title in 2003 in a winning time of 12:52.79. While there are not many athletes who can beat the marathon great, the 2000 runners in action on the Champs-Elysee will at least get a head start. 
<blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CVA8R81IKdu/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14">
<div style="padding: 16px;">
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;">&nbsp;</div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 12.5% 0;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;">
<div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);">&nbsp;</div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 8px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);">&nbsp;</div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: auto;">
<div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);">&nbsp;</div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;">&nbsp;</div>
</div>
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CVA8R81IKdu/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Eliud Kipchoge - EGH🇰🇪 (@kipchogeeliud)</a>
</div>
</blockquote>
 With the field split into different groups based on ability, Kipchoge will cover a longer distance and look to catch up with the rest of the runners. Those who manage to hold him off will secure their entry for the Paris 2024 mass participation marathon.
&ldquo;I am delighted to be heading to Paris 1000 days before the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games for a truly exceptional challenge,&rdquo; said Kipchoge.
&ldquo;Open to all, whatever their level, this unique race is a wonderful image of what running is about: it is accessible and open to everyone.
&ldquo;On one of the most beautiful avenues in the world, I challenge you to not let me catch you! I look forward to sharing this moment with you and inspiring you to run, give it your all and push your limits, before we see each other again in 2024.&rdquo;
Further information can be found on the <a href="https://www.paris2024.org/en/mass-participation-marathon-kipchoge/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paris 2024 website</a>.

Two-time Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge is to take on Paris 2024 mass race hopefuls later this month in a running challenge being held to mark 1000 days until the Olympics in the French capital.

Runners to race Kipchoge for Paris 2024 mass marathon places

Some of the UK&rsquo;s leading endurance runners will be in action when the Cardiff Cross Challenge hosts the first Gold standard meeting of the new World Athletics Cross Country Tour on Saturday (16).
The 2018 European 10,000m Cup bronze medallist Charlotte Arter, 2014 European cross country silver medallist Kate Avery, this year&rsquo;s Vitality Big Half winner Jake Smith and multiple Welsh champion Dewi Griffiths are among the athletes set for the event at Llandaff Fields in the Welsh capital, which will again host the first fixture in the British Athletics Cross Challenge Series.
Arter was the winner of the women&rsquo;s race when the Cardiff Cross Challenge was last held in 2019. The Cardiff athlete will return to race over 6400m along with the runner up that year, her training partner Jenny Nesbitt, who won European 10,000m Cup bronze in 2016 and is a European cross country team gold medallist.
Arter has prepared for her season opener with a Welsh record of 15:25 for 5km in Vienna, while 2019 UK Inter-Counties cross country champion Nesbitt has been fine-tuning her winter preparations at altitude in Font Romeu.
Like Nesbitt, Avery competed at the 2019 World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Aarhus and is no stranger to Cardiff, having finished second to Denmark&rsquo;s multiple European U23 champion Anna Moller in 2018.
Izzy Fry is another athlete choosing to start her winter campaign in Cardiff and has previously finished runner up at the English National Cross Country Championships.
They will be joined by Jess Gibbon, who was fourth in Cardiff last time, plus former UK Inter-Counties champion Cari Hughes and Mhairi Maclennan, Philippa Bowden, Hannah Irwin and Imogen Wood.
In the men&rsquo;s race, Smith &ndash; fresh from running as a pacemaker in the London Marathon &ndash; will look to turn his road running pedigree as the UK&rsquo;s third fastest half marathon runner to cross country form over 9600m.
The 23-year-old, who ran his half marathon PB of 1:00:31 at last year&rsquo;s World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, also finished fourth at the Great North Run in September.
Lining up alongside Smith and Griffiths, who has seven Welsh cross country titles to his name, is Kadar Omar Abdullahi, who competed for the Athlete Refugee Team at the 2017 World Championships in London, plus Tokyo Olympian Zak Seddon and Omar Ahmed.
Zakariya Mahamed won the Cross Internacional Juan Muguerza in 2019 and the English National Championships last March as an U20 but will debut in the senior men&rsquo;s event in Cardiff.
Hugo Milner, Jack Gray, Jordan Rowe, Luke Prior and James Hunt will also be among those hoping to feature.
The action in Cardiff starts at 11:30am local time and culminates with the senior men&rsquo;s race at 2:50pm. A live highlights show of the event will be <a href="https://www.vincosport.com/live/145174/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">broadcast by Vinco Sport</a>, with fans in the US and Canada able to watch via <a href="https://cardiff-cross-challenge.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=13970&amp;do=videos&amp;video_id=311205" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Runnerspace</a>.
Alex Donald (Welsh Athletics) for World Athletics

The Cardiff Cross Challenge hosts the first Gold standard meeting of the new World Athletics Cross Country Tour.

Cross Country Tour Gold kicks off in Cardiff

Star Trek may seem like an unlikely starting point for environmental sustainability, but for former Canadian international sprinter Oluseyi Smith, the iconic sci-fi film and television series was the launchpad that led to him embarking on an enterprise of his own to address climate change.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I often tell the story about my own obsession with Star Trek in the 90s with Jean-Luc Picard played by Patrick Stewart. I would watch that show every day when I came back home (from school). It always created this world where humans were living in harmony with the world around them, where energy problems are a thing of the past. It was a great show and a great idea,&rdquo; recalls the now-retired 100m and 200m sprinter.
&ldquo;I understood that we didn&rsquo;t live in that kind of world, but I wanted to be part of it. I think that was part of the reason that I became an engineer, I wanted to do something that would allow us to achieve that. That was always in my mind from about 10 years of age.&rdquo; 
<h2>Off-the-field ambitions of a two-sport Olympian</h2>
Known as &lsquo;Seyi&rsquo;, the sprinter carried his interest in sustainability through a successful athletics career coupled with studying technical engineering and renewable technology in the UK at Loughborough University. As a sprinter, he represented Canada at the 2003 World Youth Championships, 2006 World Junior Championships, 2009 World Championships, 2009 Universiade, 2010 Commonwealth Games and 2012 Olympic Games, before switching to bobsleigh and representing Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
His biggest success was at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, where he was part of Canada&rsquo;s 4x100m team that placed fifth. Three years later, he missed out on Olympic bronze, when Canada were disqualified for a lane violation after initially finishing third. All the while Smith still nurtured environmental ambitions, but it took some pointed words from Barack Obama to spur him into action.
Living in Calgary, he attended a speech by the former US President that resonated with him.
&ldquo;Towards the end, he was telling people: &lsquo;Apathy is going to be the end of all of us.&rsquo; Because it&rsquo;s very easy to sit back and say: &lsquo;The world is going to hell, politicians are corrupt and everyone&rsquo;s an idiot,&rsquo; then you do nothing, sit back and judge. The question is: &lsquo;What will you &ndash; as individuals &ndash; do to try and address the problem, either in your house, your city or your country?&rsquo;
&ldquo;I kind of took that to heart and said: &lsquo;Yes, I don&rsquo;t do anything. I&rsquo;m an athlete. I do my sport. I do my job and I watch Netflix. I&rsquo;m not really giving back.
&ldquo;So, when the opportunity presented itself at the IOC with the Young Leaders Programme to support athletes who want to take up projects as long as they fit in with the UN&rsquo;s SDGs (United Nations&rsquo; Sustainable Development Goals), I said: &lsquo;This is it, I can take that Star Trek and Obama inspiration and that technical background. I can stay in athletics, stay in sport, have a renewables focus, and use my day job all in one.&rsquo;&rdquo; 
<h2>Creating Racing to Zero &ndash; &lsquo;We shouldn&rsquo;t underestimate the impact of grassroots events&rsquo;</h2>
Teaming up with fellow Canadian Olympians Oliver Scholfield (field hockey), Martha McCabe (swimming) and Donna Vakalis (modern pentathlon), Smith founded Racing to Zero with support from the IOC. The innovative programme focuses on grassroots athletics and encouraging sustainable practices, behaviour and education at local level meetings. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61682046ff471158cc702cf4.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 &ldquo;We shouldn&rsquo;t underestimate the impact that grassroot events can have,&rdquo; Smith says. &ldquo;The international side is always the more appealing and glamourous. But the entry level stuff, where the base is, is the biggest bang for the buck. The (Olympic) Games only come around once every four years, yet there are more than 4000 small events every season in Canada alone. We mustn&rsquo;t forget entry level stuff.
&ldquo;I am on the IOC Sustainability Commission and I was a board member of the COC (Canadian Olympic Committee), so I was very aware of what international and national Olympic committees do in this space. But I was also a volunteer starting official at the lowest level events and I could just see this massive gap, so I figured here is where I can provide some value and apply those international best practices to the &lsquo;mom and pop&rsquo; meets at a level that makes sense.&rdquo;
This year, Racing to Zero undertook a three-point plan. Firstly, in educating the fans, athletes, volunteers and coaches around sustainability through online quizzes. Secondly, by working closely with meeting directors to provide objective guidance and advice on how to improve their sustainable practices and finally, providing water fountain facilities on site at meetings to reduce the reliance upon single use plastic water bottles. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61682079ff471158cc702cf7.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> 
<h2>Recognising sport&rsquo;s power to influence change</h2>
Smith recognises that athletics and sport in general has the power to influence wider change. But, he argues that it also has the infrastructure to make an immediate and tangible difference.
&ldquo;We have a platform, but so do artists and politicians. It&rsquo;s more than tweets and likes and speeches. It&rsquo;s results and we are really well suited for that compared to other sectors that are impacting the global issue. We have the umbrella structure internally of IOC (International Olympic Committee), IFs (International Federations), NOCs (National Olympic Committees) and National Sport Federations. We have the structures in place that make it possible to make a measurable impact.&rdquo;
Of course, the size and scale of the sustainability issue is vast, but Smith feels his experience of being an elite athlete holds him in good stead to meet the challenge.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Resilience is required, that&rsquo;s for sure,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;You can send a zillion emails and be ghosted. Athletes are very comfortable being uncomfortable, whether it&rsquo;s a training session and you have to do more reps &ndash; even though you are tired, you do it anyway. I think what probably helps me the most as an athlete is that I trust the process.
&ldquo;Every athlete has been in the situation where you get to a start line and you question: &lsquo;Am I fit? Am I fast enough? Am I going to do a good job here?&rsquo; But, the confidence you have comes from an entire season of having done the right thing with a tried and tested process.
&ldquo;Even though this is a tiny project in the large scheme of things, it could easily be swatted aside by people not paying any attention to me. I trust the process that me and the other three Olympians have done with emails, with contacts, with conversations with other researchers that have given us their data.
&ldquo;What I am doing is not too much different to what other people are doing in their own countries. Even though it may be difficult, I trust that this process works. I&rsquo;m a big fan of process. It worked for me as an athlete. It&rsquo;s why I didn&rsquo;t freak out on the Olympic stage.&rdquo;
That single-minded mentality is why this particular Star Trek fan is prepared to boldly go where no athlete has gone before in nurturing change at the grass roots.
Chris Broadbent for World Athletics

Racing to Zero is Smith's grassroots sustainability project.

How former sprinter Seyi Smith switched racing on the track for 'Racing to Zero'

Dobromir Karamarinov has been elected unopposed as European Athletics President at the 27th European Athletics Congress, a Special Election Congress, which was held at the Hotel Royal Savoy in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Thursday (14).
Karamarinov becomes the sixth European Athletics President after Adriaan Paulen (1970-1976), Arthur Gold (1976-1987), Carl-Olaf Homen (1987-1999), Hansjorg Wirz (1999-2015) and Svein Arne Hansen (2015-2020). Karamarinov has served as interim president since March 2020 after Hansen, who died in June 2020, was unable to fulfil his duties following a stroke.&nbsp;
"Thank you, once again, for your support and for putting your trust in me. Though I was unopposed in today&rsquo;s election, I do not take that support and trust for granted. To me, it is a huge honour to be elected as President, and to continue to serve European Athletics. I aim to do my very best to repay your support and trust," said Karamarinov in his acceptance speech.&nbsp;
Born in Bulgaria in 1958, Karamarinov was first elected to the European Athletics Council in 2007. After serving two terms as a Council Member he was elected as first vice president in 2015 before serving as interim president from March 2020.
Karamarinov was formerly an athletics coach and has a postgraduate degree in sports management. He is also the President of the Bulgarian Athletic Federation as well as the Association of the Balkan Athletic Federations.
In addition to Karamarinov's election as European Athletics President, Jean Gracia (FRA) was elected vice president ahead of Erich Teigamagi (EST) with 30 votes to 19 votes. He will serve alongside Cherry Alexander (GBR) and Libor Varhanik (CZE), both of whom were elected to serve full four-year terms at the 2019 European Athletics Congress in Prague.
The two vacant positions on the European Athletics Council were filled by Juergen Kessing (GER) and Henryk Olszewski (POL) who received 42 and 28 votes respectively ahead of Frank Carreras (GIB) and Luis Figueiredo (POR) with 18 and 10 votes respectively.
European Athletics for World Athletics

Karamarinov becomes the sixth European Athletics President.

Dobromir Karamarinov elected President of European Athletics

Less than a month after the conclusion of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series, top-level action will get under way again this weekend with the Cardiff Cross Challenge, the first Gold standard meeting of the new World Athletics Cross Country Tour.
It marks the start of a six-month stretch of high quality competitions, because just as the 2021-2022 Cross Country Tour nears its conclusion, the World Athletics Indoor Tour will begin, with the first Gold level fixture slated for 28 January in Karlsruhe.
As <a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-challenge-combined-events/news/world-tour-cross-country-combined-events-race-walking" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-cke-saved-href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-challenge-combined-events/news/world-tour-cross-country-combined-events-race-walking">announced last month</a>, the Cross Country Tour has replaced the former Cross Country Permit series. As with the Continental Tour and World Indoor Tour, competitions within the Cross Country Tour have gold, silver or bronze status.
The development of these tours is part of a concerted effort by World Athletics to create a logical long-term global calendar of international events. It will also ensure more top-level competition opportunities and exposure for athletes in all areas of the sport.
Fourteen competitions currently feature on the 2021-2022 Cross Country Tour Gold calendar. The tour takes in many of the stops that formed part of the Cross Country Permit series, including the Cross Internacional de Soria, Cross de Atapuerca, Campaccio and Cinque Mulini. They now sit alongside new additions to the tour, including the CrossCup de Hannut, the Cardiff Cross Challenge and the Cross Country Classic&nbsp;in Eldoret, Kenya.
2021-2022 Cross Country Tour Gold calendar: 16 Oct &ndash; Cardiff Cross Challenge, Cardiff (GBR) 24 Oct &ndash; Cross Internacional Zornoza, Amorebieta (ESP) 31 Oct &ndash; Cross Internacional de Soria, Soria (ESP) 14 Nov &ndash; Cross de Atapuerca, Atapuerca (ESP) 21 Nov &ndash; Cross of Italica, Seville (ESP) 28 Nov &ndash; Cross Internacional de La Constitucion Alcobendas, Alcobendas (ESP) 19 Dec &ndash; Cross Internacional de Venta de Banos, Venta de Banos (ESP) 6 Jan &ndash; Campaccio International Cross Country, San Giorgio su Legnano (ITA) 9 Jan &ndash; Elgoibar Juan Muguerza Cross Country, Elgoibar (ESP) 16 Jan &ndash; Gran Premio Caceres Campo a Traves, Serradilla (ESP) 23 Jan &ndash; CrossCup de Hannut, Hannut (BEL) 30 Jan &ndash; Cinque Mulini, San Vittore Olona (ITA) 6 Feb &ndash; Cross das Amendoeiras em Flor, Albufeira (POR) 12 Feb &ndash; Cross Country Classic, Eldoret (KEN)
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-cross-country-permit/calendar-results?startDate=2021-10-01&amp;endDate=2022-12-31" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-cke-saved-href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-cross-country-permit/calendar-results?endDate=2022-12-31&amp;startDate=2021-10-01">Full Cross Country Tour calendar (including Gold, Silver and Bronze meetings)</a>
Heading into its seventh season, and its second in a three-tier structure, the 2022 World Indoor Tour&nbsp;includes seven Gold standard meetings, all of which are among the top indoor meetings in the world. The Millrose Games and the M&uuml;ller Indoor Grand Prix, both of which were unable to go ahead last year, will be back for 2022. In total, 31 meetings feature in the&nbsp;2022 World Indoor Tour.
2022 World Indoor Tour Gold calendar: 28&nbsp;Jan &ndash; Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe (GER) 29 Jan &ndash; Millrose Games, New York City (USA) 6 Feb &ndash; New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, Boston (USA) 17 Feb &ndash; Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais, Lievin (FRA) 19 Feb &ndash; M&uuml;ller Indoor Grand Prix, Birmingham (GBR) 22 Feb &ndash; Copernicus Cup, Torun (POL) 2 Mar &ndash; Villa de Madrid, Madrid (ESP)
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-tour/calendar-results" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-cke-saved-href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-tour/calendar-results?">Full World Indoor Tour calendar (including Gold, Silver and Bronze meetings)</a>
World Athletics

The first Gold standard meeting of the new World Athletics Cross Country Tour takes place this weekend.

Top-level competition continues with Cross Country Tour and World Indoor Tour

World Athletics is deeply shocked and saddened by the untimely death of Kenya&rsquo;s Agnes Tirop at the age of 25 at her home in Iten.
One of the world&rsquo;s leading distance runners, Tirop broke the women-only world record for 10km last month, clocking 30:01 in Herzogenaurach. She was also the 2015 world cross-country champion, a two-time world medallist over 10,000m, and had placed fourth over 5000m at this year&rsquo;s Olympic Games in Tokyo.
&ldquo;Kenya has lost a jewel,&rdquo; Athletics Kenya said in a statement. &ldquo;She was one of the fastest-rising athletics giants on the international stage thanks to her eye-catching performances on the track.&rdquo;
"Athletics has lost one of its brightest young stars in the most tragic circumstances," said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. "World cross country champion at just 19, Agnes Jebet Tirop burst on to the global scene in 2015 and has been one of the world&rsquo;s best female distance runners over the past six years. This is a terrible blow to the entire athletics community, but especially to her family, her friends and Athletics Kenya and I send them all our most heartfelt condolences."
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta also paid tribute to Tirop.
"It is unsettling, utterly unfortunate and very sad that we've lost a young and promising athlete who, at a young age of 25 years, had brought our country so much glory through her exploits on the global athletics stage including in this year's 2020 Tokyo Olympics where she was part of the Kenyan team," said Kenyatta. "It is even more painful that Agnes, a Kenyan hero by all measures, painfully lost her young life through a criminal act perpetuated by selfish and cowardly people."
Born in Uasin Gishu County, Tirop first came to prominence in 2012 when, aged 16, she notched up a series of podium finishes in national-level cross-country races.
Those performances earned her a place on Kenya&rsquo;s team for the African Cross Country Championships in Cape Town where she secured the silver medal, finishing behind Faith Kipyegon. Later that year, Tirop secured another podium finish at a major event, taking bronze over 5000m at the World U20 Championships in Barcelona. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/991c983d-87e1-4e07-9a55-53a33b636bcf.png" alt="" width="100%" />
 Tirop turned the tables on Kipyegon at the start of 2013, securing a rare victory over her compatriot at the Kenya Cross Country meeting in Kericho. The finish was a lot closer at the World Cross Country Championships two months later, where Kipyegon finished a whisker ahead of Tirop to take gold.
Outdoors that year, Tirop improved her PBs across all track distances and raced on the senior international circuit, performing well in Diamond League races.
She capped her U20 career in 2014 with victory at the African Cross Country Championships in March and then earned another 5000m bronze medal at the World U20 Championships in Oregon.
Tirop joined the senior ranks in 2015, though few could have predicted how soon she&rsquo;d make an impression on the global distance-running scene. She claimed a surprise triumph at the World Cross Country Championships in Guiyang, becoming the second-youngest winner of the senior women&rsquo;s title in the history of the event. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/ac8fbb58-31f6-44a6-900c-a73a9cbb2806.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 She continued to compete across a range of distances and on various surfaces, but shifted her focus to the 10,000m in 2017. After winning the Kenyan trial race at that distance, she took bronze at the World Championships in London in a PB of 31:03.50.
Tirop replicated that feat in 2019, taking another World Championships bronze over 10,000m in a PB performance, this time clocking 30:25.20. Earlier in the year she had set PBs of 14:20.68 for 5000m and 8:27.51 for 3000m. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/613dcd845054d2d43db8b225.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 She raced sparingly in 2020 but reduced her 3000m PB to 8:22.92 at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha. 2021 was another lean racing year for Tirop, but she focused on quality rather than quantity; she finished third at Kenya&rsquo;s Olympic Trials, placed fourth at the Olympic Games over 5000m and then turned to the roads with a 10km world record of 30:01 in Herzogenaurach.
Her most recent race was a second-place finish over 10km in Geneva on 3 October, clocking 30:20.
World Athletics

World record-holder Tirop dies

The World Athletics Continental Tour enjoyed a memorable 2021 season with numerous world, area and national records set across the 12 Gold meetings in the series.
In the second of a two-part series, we look back at this year&rsquo;s highlights from the tour.
&nbsp;
<h2>Turku, 7-8 June</h2>
Marcin Krukowski improved his Polish javelin record to 89.55m and compatriot Wojciech Nowicki won the men&rsquo;s hammer with 80.77m.
Senni Salminen set a Finnish record of 14.51m in the women&rsquo;s triple jump, adding 29 centimetres to her previous best and 22 centimetres to the meeting record. 
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oPC7vc93vc0" width="100%" height="475" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 Sweden&rsquo;s world champion Daniel Stahl won the discus with 68.11m, and Germany&rsquo;s Christin Hussong took the women&rsquo;s javelin with a meeting record of 66.63m.
Other meeting records came through Bahrain&rsquo;s Winfed Yavi, who clocked 9:17.55 in the women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase, and Kenya&rsquo;s 21-year-old Mary Moraa, who won the women&rsquo;s 800m in 1:59.95.
&nbsp;
<h2>Bydgoszcz, 30 June</h2>
Home athlete Anita Wlodarczyk laid down a huge marker ahead of the defence of her Olympic hammer title as she won with 77.93m, her farthest effort since winning the European title in 2018.
Wlodarczyk&rsquo;s flourish followed DeAnna Price&rsquo;s win with 80.31m at the US Olympic Trials.
&ldquo;My message is that I am back and I am ready,&rdquo; said Poland&rsquo;s four-time world champion.
Her international teammate and fellow four-time world champion Pawel Fajdek set a meeting record of 82.77m in the men&rsquo;s hammer. 
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xHOxwnuF8Dc" width="100%" height="475" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 Namibia&rsquo;s 18-year-old Christine Mboma won the women&rsquo;s 400m by almost half the straight in 48.54.
Chris Nilsen of the United States won the men&rsquo;s pole vault with a stadium record of 5.92m.
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Worknesh Mesele ran a meeting record of 1:59.39 in the women&rsquo;s 800m.
&nbsp;
<h2>Szekesfehervar, 5-6 July</h2>
Olympic 100m and 200m champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, only third in the 100m at the Jamaican Olympic Trials two weeks earlier, won the 100m here in 10.71 &ndash; just 0.01 shy of her personal best.
Her 34-year-old compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the world champion, was second in 10.82.
Akani Simbine of South Africa raised his Tokyo 2020 hopes by winning the men&rsquo;s 100m in an African record of 9.84.
Pedro Pablo Pichardo and Hugues Fabrice Zango had a monumental contest in the men&rsquo;s triple jump before the former, competing for Portugal, won with a fourth-round distance of 17.92m. Pichardo had broken Christian Taylor&rsquo;s meeting record of 17.68m with his second-round effort of 17.82m but his rival from Burkina Faso matched it in the third round, setting an African record. 
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/roRxCiDiB4c" width="100%" height="475" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 Six other meeting records fell.
Jamaica&rsquo;s 400m specialist Shericka Jackson continued to impress over 200m, running 21.96 to inflict upon Shaunae Miller-Uibo her first defeat at the distance since the 2017 World Championships, with the Bahamian finishing second in 22.15.
New Zealand&rsquo;s Tom Walsh won the men&rsquo;s shot put with 22.22m.
Femke Bol of the Netherlands won the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles in 52.81 ahead of Shamier Little of the United States, who clocked 52.85.
Two-time world 5000m champion Muktar Edris, who had failed to make Ethiopia&rsquo;s Olympic team, set a personal best and Hungarian all-comers&rsquo; record of 7:30.96 in the men&rsquo;s 3000m.
Lithuania&rsquo;s European bronze medallist Liveta Jasiunaite had produced the first meeting record of the day with her javelin victory of 62.73m.
Turkey&rsquo;s 2016 European champion Yasmani Copello won the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles in 48.35.
Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus won the men&rsquo;s high jump with a world-leading 2.37m.
Puerto Rico&rsquo;s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn won the 100m hurdles in 12.34.
Canada&rsquo;s world and Olympic silver medallist Andre De Grasse won the men&rsquo;s 200m in 19.97 from Kenny Bednarek of the United States, who clocked 19.99.
The men's and women's hammer contests were won by rising Ukrainian talent Mykhaylo Kokhan and Poland&rsquo;s Olympic champion Anita Wlodarczyk.
Kokhan, 20, threw a personal best of 80.78m to defeat Poland&rsquo;s European champion Wojciech Nowicki (80.58m) while Wlodarczyk won with 74.76m.
&nbsp;
<h2>Silesia, 5 September</h2>
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, suitably rested after her 10.60 victory in Lausanne 10 days earlier, won the 100m here in a meeting record of 10.81.
It was a Polish all-comers&rsquo; record for the 34-year-old double Olympic champion, breaking the 10.93 mark set by Ewa Kasprzyk in 1986, and one of six meeting records acclaimed by a crowd of 32,000. 
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CMV2u_gd71k" width="100%" height="475" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 Germany&rsquo;s Johannes Vetter won the men&rsquo;s javelin with 89.60m while Poland&rsquo;s Olympic silver medallist Maria Andrejczyk won the women&rsquo;s event with 61.77m.
Olympic champion and world record-holder Ryan Crouser of the United States won the shot put with 22.39m. Fellow Olympic gold medallist Gianmarco Tamberi was also victorious; the Italian won the high jump with 2.30m.
Home discus thrower Piotr Malachowski, the 2015 world champion and two-time Olympic silver medallist, made an emotional farewell appearance aged 38, finishing fourth with 62.29m as Kristjan Ceh of Slovenia won with 66.65m.
Two weeks after winning the world U20 title over the distance, Ethiopia&rsquo;s Tadese Worku set a meeting record of 7:36.47 to win the 3000m. Morocco&rsquo;s Olympic steeplechase champion Soufiane El-Bakkali was second in a personal best of 7:37.18.
Further meeting records came from Portugal&rsquo;s Auriol Dongmo, who won the shot put with 19.32m, Nigeria&rsquo;s Tobi Amusan, who clocked 12.64 in the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles, Britain&rsquo;s Jemma Reekie, who was timed at 2:35.47 in the 1000m and Kenya&rsquo;s Wycliffe Kinyamal, who won the men&rsquo;s 800m in 1:44.63.
Pawel Fajdek, Olympic hammer bronze medallist, beat fellow Pole and Olympic champion Wojciech Nowicki with a final effort of 79.60m.
&nbsp;
<h2>Zagreb, 13-14 September</h2>
Burundi&rsquo;s Francine Niyonsaba broke the women&rsquo;s 2000m world record in the Croatian capital, clocking 5:21.56.
The Diamond League 5000m champion eclipsed the previous world record of 5:23.75, set indoors by Ethiopia&rsquo;s Genzebe Dibaba in 2017. 
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/X45_JtfFjLc" width="100%" height="475" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 The Olympic men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s discus champions were victorious as Sweden&rsquo;s Daniel Stahl threw 67.79m and Valarie Allman of the United States managed 69.63m to beat home favourite Sandra Perkovic's 66.48m.
The women&rsquo;s 200m saw Namibia&rsquo;s 18-year-old Christine Mboma clock 22.04 to beat Jamaica&rsquo;s Shericka Jackson, who ran 22.30.
Double Olympic shot put champion Ryan Crouser of the United States threw beyond 22 metres with all six efforts, setting a meeting record of 22.84m.
&nbsp;
<h2>Nairobi, 18 September</h2>
Trayvon Bromell of the United States bettered his own world-leading 100m mark at the Kip Keino Classic as he won in 9.76, with home runner Ferdinand Omanyala second in an African record of 9.77.
Bromell had run 9.77 earlier in the year and won the US Olympic trials but failed to reach the Tokyo final. He is now equal sixth on the world all-time list, matching the mark set by fellow US sprinter Christian Coleman in winning the 2019 world title.
Omanyala, 25, the first Kenyan to reach the men's Olympic 100m semi-finals, knocked 0.09 off his previous best, bettering the mark of 9.84 set earlier in the season by South Africa&rsquo;s Akani Simbine. 
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i5J5kdSP6KU" width="100%" height="475" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 Fred Kerley of the United States, the Olympic 100m silver medallist, won over 200m in a personal best of 19.76.
In the women&rsquo;s 200m Namibia&rsquo;s 18-year-old Olympic silver medallist and Diamond League champion Christine Mboma won in 22.39.
Kenya&rsquo;s double Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon won the 1500m in 4:02.40.
Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics

In the second of a two-part series, we look back at this year’s highlights from the tour.

Nominees announced for Male World Athlete of the Year 2021

Prolific athletics photographer Durand dies

Little's road to redemption leads to Eugene

Olympic medallist Bradshaw ready to be a role model as she celebrates body diversity

Exceptional achievement to be celebrated at World Athletics Awards 2021