Fast Women: Nia Akins moves on
Diribe Welteji earns a pair of wins, Elise Cranny runs an American record.
Issue 312, sponsored by SOAR Running
Nia Akins leaves the Brooks Beasts mid-season
Rumors had been swirling that Nia Akins was leaving the Brooks Beasts, so it wasn’t shocking to see her line up for Thursday’s 800m race wearing all black, including eye black, without any obvious logos. And shortly after the race, Brooks provided a statement confirming that Akins “made the decision to step away from being a member of the Brooks Beasts Track Club.”
This is big news both because she’s at the top of her game, more or less, and because it happened mid season, which is rare. Akins, 26, just made her first Olympic team, and she won U.S. indoor and outdoor titles in 2023 and the outdoor title in 2024. (The statement appears to suggest she’s the reigning U.S. indoor champion, but she was ill leading up to the indoor championships this year and finished third.)
While there have been quite a few situations in recent years where athletes left their teams but not their sponsors, Akins confirmed on Instagram and through her attire that she is unsponsored now. (And it may be that the way the Beasts’ contracts are written, it would be difficult to make a shift to a different coach while retaining Brooks as a sponsor. Or maybe there’s more to it.)
I’ll be curious to see if we ever get the full story, or perhaps she’ll just communicate it in song form someday. I’m not someone who tries to decode Taylor Swift’s hidden messages to her fans, but Akins’? Absolutely. Since Thursday, she has highlighted her new song, Bridges, which includes the line, “But now I burn bridges down.”
She has also quoted a Bible verse that reads, “God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” And she has also shared Swift’s song, Cassandra, and one could do all sorts of reading into those lyrics. Or maybe she just likes the song.
Whether or not we ever get the full story, it’s clear Akins is doing what she feels is necessary. I hope she ends up somewhere where she can be happy and successful, and that she lands another sponsor soon. I also hope the timing of her Brooks arrangement ending doesn’t put her in a weaker spot when it comes to bargaining with other companies.
Every time a pro runner leaves their team, I’m reminded that there really aren’t that many pro coaches to choose from in the U.S., especially for someone seeking a team environment. And the options are sometimes sponsor-dependent.
I would have loved to see Akins go out and run the best races of her life last week, especially after an Olympic performance that didn’t seem to be reflective of her potential, but that’s not how it worked out. On Thursday, at the Lausanne Diamond League meet, she put herself at the front of the race from the beginning and led with less than 150m to go, but she faded significantly on the homestretch and finished 10th in 2:00.00.
On Sunday, she raced 1,000m at the Silesia Diamond League meet. Because her event was a non-Diamond League race, it didn’t make the TV window, but she finished 10th again, in 2:38.30. Afterwards she said on Instagram that it’s been tough to push herself physically when she’s depleted emotionally, but “eventually it’s gonna click.”
One way to support Akins right now is streaming or downloading her music. She has another new song out, called Visceral Reactions.
Mike Smith’s departure from NAU would have ripple effect
Sarah Lorge Butler broke the news late last night that current NAU coach Mike Smith is considering an offer to become a Nike coach at the end of the 2024–25 academic year. (Runner’s World)
Smith has had a major impact in the NCAA, leading the NAU men to five NCAA cross country titles, and NAU’s women’s program has been on the rise. At last fall’s NCAA cross country championships, they finished second to NC State by one point. And Maggi Congdon had a breakthrough at the Olympic Trials in June, running 4:02.79 for 1500m and advancing to the final.
Smith is even better known for some of the pros he coaches, including Nikki Hiltz, Elly Henes, and his wife, Rachel Smith. According to the article, Smith’s current athletes who aren’t sponsored by Nike would be grandfathered in, and would be able to continue being coached by him, should they choose to do so.
In addition to giving current Nike athletes another coaching option, this would potentially make signing with Nike a more appealing option for new athletes. Smith has had more success coaching men thus far, but I hope that if he makes the move, building up a strong women’s roster would be just as much of a priority.
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Diribe Welteji picks up a pair of Diamond League wins, Elise Cranny sets an American record
The Diamond League circuit resumed on Thursday in Lausanne, and it was interesting to see who bounced back well after the Olympic Games. After finishing fourth in a blazing fast 1500m in Paris, Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji was ready to go. She made her 3,000m win look easy, and she ran a PR of 8:21.50. Kenya’s Janeth Chepngetich took second (8:23.48), and Ethiopia’s Tsigie Gebreselama was third (8:24.40).
Elise Cranny did a nice job of sticking with the lead trio, and with 300m to go, she was still in contention. But when Welteji made her move, Cranny didn’t have that extra gear. She finished fourth in an American record of 8:25.10, surpassing Mary Slaney’s 8:25.83 from September, 1985.
Slaney’s record stood for a long time both because it was a strong one and because the flat 3,000m isn’t run outdoors much anymore. The indoor record Elle St. Pierre ran in March, 8:20.87, is faster. And I assume those are two of the reasons Cranny’s record hasn’t gotten much attention this week. But it’s good to see Cranny looking strong at this point in the year and like the best races of her season might still be ahead of her.
Cranny’s former teammate Karissa Schweizer was also in the race, and she finished seventh in 8:34.96.
In the 800m, a pair of Olympic bronze medalists led the way, with Kenya’s Mary Moraa winning in 1:57.91 and Great Britain’s Georgia Bell taking second in 1:58.53. “Why did 1:56 in London feel easyyy but 1:58 tonight felt tough?” Bell later wrote in an Instagram story. “Lots of weaving and surging.”
It’s going to be interesting to see how the 800m goes the remainder of the season. The event was already missing something with Athing Mu currently out due to injury, and on Wednesday, Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain announced that her season is over, because she developed a small injury.
That opens the door for Moraa, Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma, or someone else to lead the way the remainder of the season. Nia Akins finished 10th, as mentioned above, and Allie Wilson closed out her season by finishing 11th in 2:00.35. (All results from Lausanne)
Three days later, at the Silesia Diamond League meet in Poland, Welteji won again, taking the 1500m in 3:57.08, ahead of Freweyni Hailu (second, 3:57.88), also of Ethiopia, and Bell (third, 3:58.11). The University of Oregon’s Klaudia Kazimierska, who is from Poland, finished sixth in 3:59.95, breaking 4:00 for the first time, on home soil. She became only the third athlete in the U.S. collegiate system to go sub-4:00. (Jenny Simpson and Addy Wiley are the other two.)
Kazimierska finished third in the 1500m at NCAAs in June. At the time, her PR was 4:06.92, but she has been on a tear ever since. Every time I start to think the NCAA will be a little less competitive this year, another athlete steps up.
Also in the 1500m, Cory McGee finished 13th in 4:02.79.
Kenya’s Nelly Chepchirchir, who was eliminated in the 1500m semis at the Olympic Games, won the 1,000m in 2:31.24. Jemma Reekie, who didn’t make it out of the 800m semis in Paris, also had a solid run, taking second in 2:32.56. And Moraa finished third in 2:33.43. (All results from Silesia)
Other News and Links
Olympian and ultrarunner extraordinaire Magda Boulet shared the sobering news last week that she has just completed treatment for cervical cancer.
World Athletics announced last week that Bahrain’s track & field team is facing doping-related sanctions. The announcement follows an investigation into allegations that two athletes used blood transfusions at the 2021 Olympic Games and that the Bahrain Athletics Association (BAA) used a coach who was serving a doping ban. Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi won gold in the steeplechase at the Paris Olympic Games, and Salwa Eid Naser, who previously served a doping ban, won silver in the 400m. Neither athlete was accused of any wrongdoing in this case. Among other things, the BAA will not be allowed to recruit any foreign athletes until 2027. (Most of Bahrain’s successful athletes were born in other countries.) They were allowed a maximum of 10 athletes at the Paris Olympic Games and that limit will also apply to next year’s world championships. But given that they had only four athletes at the 2023 world championships and six at the 2022 world championships, that’s a pretty weak consequence. They will be required to spend $7.3 million on anti-doping measures over four years, and they will be required to establish and fund an academy that will prioritize the development of local talent.
Keira D’Amato, Jess McClain, Rachel Smith, and Erika Kemp are among those scheduled to run the USATF 20K Championships, hosted by the New Haven Road Race, on September 2.
I’m not a Fortune subscriber so I wasn’t able to read this article. But the headline, “U.S. Olympic gold medalist went from $200,000-a-year sponsorship to $12-an-hour internship,” about four-time Olympian Lauryn Williams, is unfortunately not that surprising. (Update: You can read the article, paywall-free, here.)
Elena Hayday, a 2:30 marathoner, has joined Minnesota Distance Elite.
Season two of SPRINT will be released on November 13, and it will follow Gabby Thomas, Julien Alfred, Melissa Jefferson, Twanisha Terry, and Shericka Jackson. Sha’Carri Richardson, who was featured in season one, was notably not mentioned in the announcement.
Olympian Amy Rudolph, who was the head women’s cross country coach at Iowa State, has taken an assistant coaching position at the University of Tennessee.
This has nothing to do with women’s running, but I did enjoy this footage of Yared Nuguse’s tortoise licking his Olympic medal. (And thanks to my editor, Sarah, for pointing out this post featuring Ryan Crouser’s dog.)
Additional Results
Katelyn Tuohy broke up what was otherwise an On Athletics Club sweep in the mile at the Borås Folksam Grand Prix in Sweden. Olivia Markezich led the way in 4:24.06, a 3.7-second PR. New Zealand’s Maia Ramsden took second (4:24.79, a tiny PR and a national record), Sage Hurta-Klecker was third (4:25.60), Tuohy was fourth (4:26.66), and Josette Andrews was fifth in 4:26.98. Taylor Made Elite’s Anna Camp Bennett was sixth (4:27.57) and the other two Americans in the field, Hannah Steelman (11th, 4:31.57) and Sam Bush (12th, 4:31.64), both ran PRs. The race also had a strong NC State presence with Elly Henes setting the pace for three of her former teammates, Tuohy, Steelman, and Bush. (Results | Video)
At Sunday’s Motonet GP Tempere, Sage Hurta-Klecker won the 800m in 1:59.07. (Results)
Taryn Rawlings picked up a couple of wins last week. First she won the 1500m at the British Milers Club Watford Open Graded Meet in 4:08.80. Kaylee Mitchell took second in 4:10.75. Australia’s Catriona Bisset won the 800m in 2:00.92, and Gabbi Jennings was second in 2:01.00. Partially because Jennings doesn’t run the 800m often, her time was a 3.66-second PR. Her Team Boss teammate Cory McGee took fifth in 2:01.72. (Results)
Three days later, Rawlings also won the Monument Mile Classic in Stirling, Scotland, running 4:27.91. Rachel McArthur broke 4:30 for the first time, running 4:29.14 for second, and Taylor Werner took third in a PR of 4:30.57. (Results | Fun post-race photo | Race replay)
In wet and windy conditions, Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw won Northern Ireland’s Antrim Coast Half Marathon for a third time, running 1:05:31. There were also a pair of Americans in the top 10. Jackie Gaughan finished seventh in 1:11:58 and Annie Heffernan was ninth in 1:13:51. (Results)
Kenya’s Ruth Chengetich won the Buenos Aires Half Marathon in 1:05:58. (Results)
Lindsay Flanagan won the Nebraska State Fair Half Marathon by nine minutes, in 1:10:58. Though it was a lower-profile race than the ones she usually runs, she did win $1,000 in prize money. The race was Flanagan’s first one back after she injured her ankle and fractured her fibula in March. (Results)
Dot McMahan won Michigan’s Crim 10 Mile Run in 55:48, running her fastest time on the course at age 47. (Results)
More highlights from the World Masters Athletics Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, continued from last week: Olympian Michelle Rohl won the 55–59 5,000m race walk in a championship record of 25:25.50, and she also took the 1500m in 4:55.87. Sue McDonald added more medals as well, winning the 60–64 400m in a championship record of 63.77 and helping the U.S. to gold, and an American record, in the 4x400m relay. Jeannie Rice won the 75–79 1500m in 6:28.39. Elizabeth Deak won the 65–69 200m in 30.38 and the 400m in 69.98. Ireland’s Anne Gilshinan won the 60–64 1500m in a world record of 4:59.45. Great Britain’s Kathleen Stewart won the 85–89 400m in a world record of 1:39.24 and Chile’s Sara Montecinos won the 70–74 400m in a world record of 1:10.62. (That’s a non-comprehensive list of world records set at this meet.) Off the track, Rohl won the 55–59 10K race walk, Rice won the 75–79 6K cross country race, and Kristine Clark won the 60–64 8K cross country race. (All results)
Podcast Highlights
The Olympic recaps really picked up this past week, and Nikki Hiltz was great on the Ali on the Run Show, where they answered questions about all aspects of the Olympic experience.
I really enjoyed hearing from Great Britain’s Phoebe Gill, 17, on the Fitter, Faster, and Happier podcast. It was fun to hear Gill’s take on the Olympic Games because she didn’t start the season thinking she was going to make an Olympic team this soon, and she didn’t have a lot of international racing experience going in. She had two chaperones throughout the Games, because of her age.
I also enjoyed hearing from another young 800m Olympian, Juliette Whittaker, 20, who was on C Tolle Run. “I was hoping running [1:57] would get me out of cross country, but I don’t know,” she said. (And she did get the tattoo they discussed.)
Dakotah Lindwurm was on (at least) three podcasts last week: The Ali on the Run Show, Citius Mag, and NYRR’s Set the Pace (where she comes on around 18 minutes in). On the first two, she talked about not realizing that a marathon is longer than 42K until she hit that point in the Olympic marathon and wasn’t done. (It’s 42.195K.)
Australia’s Rose Davies talked about running the 5,000m final at the Olympics, where she finished 12th, on For the Kudos. Davies is among the athletes who got Covid in Paris.
Host Katie Asmuth and Mary Denholm had a great conversation about Denholm’s win at the Leadville 100 on The Trail Network Podcast. In her 100-mile debut, Denholm ran the second-fastest time ever on the course, finishing just 16 minutes off of Ann Trason’s 30-year-old course record. Denholm has worked as a lawyer and a coach, and it was interesting to hear how both jobs taught her things she could use on race day.
I caught up on Spotify podcasts last week, too, and I enjoyed hearing Allie Ostrander and Spencer Brown compare running at the high school, college, and pro levels on Every Step of the Way. It will help you understand why some athletes remain in the NCAA for as long as possible. And Molly Huddle provided some good advice for parents who want to raise kids who are happy and successful in their sports on Unexpected Curves.
Additional Episodes: Sabrina Little is always good for providing a dose of perspective, which she did on last week’s episode of I’ll Have Another. And I loved everything she had to say about coaching middle school and high school cross country and track. | Molly Huddle and Alysia Montaño discussed Olympic athletes and motherhood on Keeping Track | Camille Herron discussed her running accomplishments, but also dealing with mental health struggles, bullying, and recently becoming aware of her AuDHD diagnosis, on The Right Room with Hilary Phelps
One final thank you to SOAR for sponsoring Fast Women this month. Thank you, also, to everyone who helps keep this newsletter going via your support on Patreon and Venmo. I hope you all have a great week.
Alison