Berlin: Assefa chases a record nobody trusts
David Monti on the women's marathon world record: ratified, and in his opinion dirty. Tigst Assefa goes after it in Berlin on Sunday, while saying she just wants a personal best.
Read the whole week in one goAssefa won Berlin on a torn Achilles
The week's biggest
AIU provisionally suspends Samba-Mayela and Rajabov
The Athletics Integrity Unit has provisionally suspended French hurdler Cyrena Samba-Mayela for whereabouts failures, the missed-test rule that requires athletes to say where they are for testing. Separately, the AIU provisionally suspended Doston Rajabov of Uzbekistan for presence and use of prohibited substances, listing a DCHMT metabolite, a drostanolone metabolite and octodrine.
The AIU has provisionally suspended Doston Rajabov (Uzbekistan) for Presence/Use of a Prohibited Substance
Races and results
Berlin hypes Assefa at the world record, she says she wants a PR
Berlin is selling Sunday as Tigst Assefa's shot at Ruth Chepngetich's 2:09:56 world record, but Jonathan Gault notes Assefa herself only says she wants to better her 2:11:53. World Athletics lists Geay, Adola, Kitata and Molla among the men's favorites.
Although it was ratified, it is my own opinion that it was dirty. How are clean athletes ever going to break it?
How they train
"Zone 2 is a psyop" post gets shredded by Holmer and Bitter
A runner posting as @skinnyboyriot said zone 2 cardio is a psyop, that he pushed every run at or faster than threshold, and got down to a 4:34 mile. Zach Bitter asked why anyone should believe 4:34 was his ceiling, or that the approach got him there.
My grandma runs 4:34/mile pace.