Keflezighi, Hall, Kastor still on the run

UCLA alumnus Meb Keflezighi, the Athens Olympic marathon silver medalist, isn't getting older -- he's getting better.

Keflezighi, 34, was named USA Track and Field's athlete of the week for setting an American record in the men's 20 kilometers en route to winning the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in San Jose on Sunday.

A 19-time U.S. champion, he registered a 20-km split of 57 minutes 52 seconds, which broke the record of 57:54 that Big Bear native Ryan Hall had set in 2006. Keflezighi won the half-marathon in 1 hour 1 minute, cutting his personal-best time by 25 seconds. It was the third-fastest half-marathon time for an American.

Keflezighi and Hall, who train in Mammoth Lakes, will run the New York City marathon on Nov. 1.

One of their training mates, Athens women's marathon bronze medalist Deena Kastor, is scheduled to run the Chicago Marathon on Sunday. Kastor dropped out of the Beijing Olympic marathon after she felt a pop in her right foot -- and it turned out to be a broken bone.  She's on something of a comeback mission at 36.

-- Helene Elliott

Photo: Meb Keflezighi. Credit: Gregory Bull / Associated Press

Teammate gives Caster Semenya perfect score on handling controversy

To those who want to pass judgment on South African runner Caster Semenya simply based on how she looks, the picture above is Exhibit A.

But her teammate, Godfrey Khotso Mokoena, has a different view of Semenya's pose.

"I think she is doing it to show she is physically strong and to emphasize she is mentally strong,'' Mokoena said after winning the world championship silver medal in the men's long jump Saturday night.

It was South Africa's second medal of the meet, following the gold Semenya won in the 800 meters Wednesday. Within seconds of that victory, a firestorm erupted over whether Semenya should be allowed to compete with women, a controversy the international track federation prompted by launching an investigation into the matter.

"I think it's unfair, but these things happen,'' Mokoena said. "One just has to stay positive, which she was.  I give her 10 out of 10 for that.''

Semenya's story has been one of the more widely viewed on the Internet over the last few days, especially after the Italian and Russian runners who finished 5th and 6th in the final said they did not think the 18-year-old Semenya is a woman.

"It hasn't affected us [the South African team] at all,'' Mokoena said, "and I think she is the best thing that has happened to South African track and field right now.''

Mokoena said he saw Semenya celebrating his world medal at the stadium Saturday night.

"She has no problem,'' he said. "She is happy. If I was 18 and won a gold medal, I would be happy too.''

-- Philip Hersh in Berlin

Photo: Caster Semenya in a show of strength after winning the world title at 800 meters. Credit: Olivier Morin / Getty Images

Doping, swimsuit farce and USOC network issues are back

(Clothes make the man: Germany's Paul Biedermann in the soon-to-be banned suit he said was a key factor in beating Michael Phelps at the World Swimming SHAMpionships. Photo: Martin Bureau / Getty Images)

Back from vacation and catching up on new and ongoing stories.  Here are some of them:

1. Watching Universal Sports' live stream of the World Swimming Championships, with picture quality that is clearer than ever, also makes it clearer than ever that the U.S. Olympic Committee should have thrown in with NBC-owned Universal rather than create its own U.S. Olympic Network (referred to hereafter as USON).  Not only did the USOC get on the wrong side of the International Olympic Committee on the network issue, it likely will spend at least $25 million a year -- with no return in the near future, if ever -- on the USON.  That could quickly wipe out the $100 million cash surplus with which the USOC began the 2009-2012 period and be even more telling after 2012, when USOC revenues are expected to be substantially lower than the current quadrennium.

 

2. I asked USON major domo Norm Bellingham, the USOC's chief operating officer, for comment about the financial risk involved (and five other questions), and he politely declined comment on any of them in an effort to "work quietly and effectively with our Olympic partners.''  That clearly referred to problems with the International Olympic Committee, which had blasted the USOC for going forward with the network announcement after being told to hold off.  "Since the announcement of our network, there have been several conversations and exchanges of information between the USOC and the IOC,'' Bellingham told me in an e-mail sent the day before I left on holiday. "Both sides have expressed a determination to reach a solution that is in the best interests of the Olympic movement in the United States and worldwide.''

Chicago financial bump for U.S. Olympic sports? No surprise

EUGENE, Ore. -- It is hardly a surprise that the boss of any U.S. federation governing an Olympic sport would be "actively advocating'' for Chicago to become host of the 2016 Summer Olympics, as USA Track & Field chief executive Doug Logan said Friday he was doing.

After all, an Olympics in the United States always generates higher sponsorship and TV rights revenue for the U.S. Olympic Committee, and the individual federations see some of that increase in their grant allotments from the USOC.

And the sports also find it easier to attract their own sponsorships if the Games are in the United States, which Logan made clear when he also said that USATF's new deal with Nike would include a "significant increase'' if Chicago gets the Games.

The new Nike-USATF deal goes only through 2013, but includes an option to renew through 2017.

Out of nationals decathlon, Oly champ Bryan Clay can focus on Chicago 2016

EUGENE, Ore. -- As you learned first what was possible from my Twitter feed Wednesday, 2008 Olympic decathlon champion Bryan Clay has pulled out of the U.S. Track & Field Championships with a hamstring problem.

According to Clay's agent, Paul Doyle, Clay tried a variety of treatments, including acupuncture and time in a hyperbaric chamber, before making his decision about an hour before the decathlon was to begin with the 100 meters this morning. He had first felt tightness in the hamstring Tuesday.

Clay's withdrawal means he also is out of the August World Championships, for which nationals is the qualifying meet.

"Unfortunately, we need a few more days,'' Doyle said. "He did a few knee lifts this morning and felt immediately he couldn't compete without putting the hamstring in jeopardy.''