AW review of 2020 – AW

We have a look again on a difficult 12 months which, regardless of main disruption, nonetheless witnessed some standout performances

This 12 months has been a troublesome one in so some ways however regardless of the disruption athletics was nonetheless capable of function, albeit not at all times in essentially the most conventional of kinds.

As 2020 involves an in depth and we prepare for a belated Olympic and Paralympic 12 months, which athletics moments do you bear in mind essentially the most?

Right here we spotlight hyperlinks to AW protection from the previous 12 months as a reminder of a number of the largest information on this planet of the sport.

Have a look by way of the hyperlinks beneath after which inform us which tales actually stood out for you – ship a tweet @AthleticsWeekly, tag us on Instagram or pop a touch upon Facebook.

January

» Rhonex Kipruto broke the world 10km record in Valencia, clocking 26:24, whereas fellow Kenyan Sheila Chepkirui threatened the ladies’s report with 29:46. Julien Wanders improved the European report and Callum Hawkins ran a Scottish finest.

Rhonex Kipruto. Photograph by 10K Valencia Ibercaja

» Britain’s 2011 world 1500m silver medallist Hannah England announced her retirement from competitive athletics.

» A Kenenisa Bekele vs Eliud Kipchoge head-to-head was introduced for the London Marathon.

» Tributes were paid to Maurie Plant following information that the previous agent, crew supervisor and BBC broadcaster had died aged 66.

» Olika Adugna won an historic men’s marathon in Dubai, as an unprecedented 11 runners went sub-2:07, whereas Worknesh Degefa regained the ladies’s title.

» Jake Wightman was among the many record-breakers because the World Athletics Indoor Tour began in Boston, with the European and Commonwealth medallist clocking 2:17.51 to enhance the British indoor 1000m finest.

» The World Indoor Championships, scheduled for March 13-15 in Nanjing, China, was the first major event to be postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

February

» Jemma Reekie broke the British indoor 800m record in Glasgow, clocking 1:57.91 to complete forward of coaching associate Laura Muir.

Jemma Reekie. Photograph by Bobby Gavin

» Mondo Duplantis broke the world pole vault record in Toruń, clearing 6.17m so as to add one centimetre to the mark set by Renaud Lavillenie in Donetsk in 2014.

» Jemma Reekie smashed two more British records in New York, bettering Laura Muir’s UK indoor 1500m and mile marks on the Millrose Video games.

» Perri Shakes-Drayton, the second-fastest Briton of all-time within the girls’s 400m hurdles, announced her retirement.

» Joanna Adams (Coates) joined UK Athletics as CEO.

» Mondo Duplantis improved his own world pole vault record to six.18m in Glasgow.

» Joshua Cheptegei smashed the primary of his 2020 world information, running 12:51 for 5km in Monaco.

» Ababel Yeshaneh broke the world half-marathon record with 64:31 in Ras Al Khaimah.

» Yulimar Rojas leapt 15.43m to enhance Tatyana Lebedeva’s 16-year-old world indoor triple bounce report by 7cm in Madrid.

» Amy Hunt and Guy Learmonth had been among the many winners on the British Indoor Championships.

Amy Hunt. Photograph by Mark Shearman

» Marc Scott broke Mo Farah’s European indoor 5000m record with 13:08.87 in Boston.

» Galen Rupp and Aliphine Tuliamuk claimed victory at the US Olympic marathon trials.

March

» Birhanu Legese and Lonah Chemtai Salpeter gained the elite-only Tokyo Marathon.

» Kenenisa Bekele and Lily Partridge claimed Big Half titles in London.

» Bahrain’s Olympic 3000m steeplechase champion Ruth Jebet was handed a four-year ban.

» The New Steadiness English Schools Cross Country Championships went forward in Liverpool regardless of the rising pandemic.

» The World Half Marathon Championships were postponed because of coronavirus.

» The Boston and London marathons introduced their postponement.

» Tributes were paid to coach Lindsay Dunn following his demise aged 77.

» The Tokyo 2020 Games were postponed to 2021.

April

» Javelin thrower James Campbell’s #6MetreGardenMarathon challenge was among the many innovative events to happen to boost cash for charity.

James Campbell. Photograph by way of Vinco Sport

» The 2021 World Athletics Championships in Oregon was rescheduled for July 15-24, 2022, following the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Video games to 2021 as a result of coronavirus pandemic.

» Occasion organisers launched The 2.6 Challenge for UK charities.

» Tributes had been paid to former UK Athletics performance director Neil Black after his demise aged 60.

» The Paris 2020 European Athletics Championships, which had been scheduled to happen on the Charlety Stadium in August, were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

» The Kobe World Para Athletics Championships were postponed to 2022.

Might

» Mondo Duplantis and Renaud Lavillenie tied in a unique remote garden pole vault clash.

» UK Sport published a summary of findings from its unbiased assessment into UK Athletics.

» Backyard athletics made a comeback with Katerina Stefanidi winning a women’s remote pole vault clash.

» Jakob Ingebrigtsen set a Norwegian 5km record in Stavanger, clocking 13:28 as street race motion returned to the streets of Norway and the screens of athletics followers the world over.

June

» Athletics confirmed solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

» World Athletics launched an updated Olympic qualifying process.

» World Athletics unveiled a new strategic plan for the sport.

» Karsten Warholm stormed to the quickest outdoor 300m hurdles time in history, clocking 33.78 because the Diamond League returned in an exhibition occasion format in Oslo.

Karsten Warholm. Photograph by Eirik Førde/Bislett Alliance

» Many messages and recollections had been shared following information of European Athletics president Svein Arne Hansen’s death aged 74.

» The New York City Marathon was cancelled for 2020.

July

» World Athletics froze the Russia reinstatement processes.

» Kenya’s former marathon world record-holder Wilson Kipsang was banned for four years.

» Diamond League exhibition action resumed at the Weltklasse Zürich meeting, the place Noah Lyles’ 200m ‘world report’ got here up quick.

» Shelby Houlihan and Moh Ahmed smashed the North American 5000m records in Portland.

» Sabrina Verjee and Kim Collison had been among the many athletes to make ultra running history throughout a summer season of ‘FKTs’.

» The Chicago Marathon introduced its 2020 race cancellation.

» World Athletics introduced changes to its shoe rules.

August

» Jake Wightman stormed to second on the UK all-time list with 3:29.47 for 1500m in Monaco.

» Joshua Cheptegei was again in world record-breaking motion in Monaco as he improved the 5000m mark to 12:35.36.

Joshua Cheptegei. Photograph by Etienne Fiacre for Herculis EBS Assembly

» Laura Muir broke the British 1000m best on her Diamond League return in Monaco.

» Sara Symington was appointed as UKA performance director.

September

» Christian Malcolm was confirmed because the new Olympic head coach of UK Athletics.

» Harry Coppell was among the winners at the British Championships in Manchester, the place he broke the UK pole vault report.

» Mo Farah improved Haile Gebrselassie’s world report for the one-hour run at the Van Damme Memorial in Brussels, whereas Sifan Hassan smashed Dire Tune’s girls’s mark.

» In an important 12 months for British middle-distance operating, Daniel Rowden led a British one-two-three in the 800m in Zagreb.

» Peres Jepchirchir smashed the world half-marathon record in Prague.

» Lamine Diack was judged guilty of corruption.

» Mondo Duplantis broke Sergey Bubka’s world outdoor pole vault best with 6.15m in Rome (lead picture).

October

» Brigid Kosgei claimed a runaway win on the elite-only London Marathon.

» Shura Kitata sprang a marathon shock as Eliud Kipchoge suffered a uncommon defeat in London.

Shura Kitata. Photograph by Virgin Cash London Marathon

» Brent Lakatos and Nikita Den Boer battled to wheelchair wins in London.

» Joshua Cheptegei and Letesenbet Gidey each ensured that the one-off NN Valencia World Report Day occasion lived as much as its identify by smashing the global 10,000m and 5000m marks respectively.

» George Gandy, the prolific British endurance operating coach finest recognized for his work with athletes at Loughborough College, died following a heart attack aged 80.

» Brendan Foster was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

» Sifan Hassan smashed the European 10,000m record with 29:36.67 within the rain in Hengelo.

» The 2017 London Marathon winner Daniel Wanjiru was handed a four-year ban.

» Peres Jepchirchir broke the women-only world record in an historic version of the World Half Marathon Championships.

» Jacob Kiplimo was crowned men’s world half-marathon champion.

» It was introduced that Christian Coleman, the world 100m champion, would miss the Tokyo Olympics after being given a two-year ban after lacking three medicine checks.

» Tributes poured in for Chris Smith after the mountain operating worldwide was discovered useless within the Scottish hills.

November

» A 12-year plan for athletics in Britain was launched.

» It was introduced that the 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships have been awarded to Istanbul, Turkey.

» It was confirmed that the next edition of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships is still set for Dublin, regardless of the 2020 occasion having been cancelled as a result of coronavirus pandemic.

» The 2017 world 1500m champion Elijah Manangoi was handed a two-year ban for “whereabouts failures”.

» It was introduced that Kew Gardens in London will host the British Olympic marathon trials subsequent March.

December

» Mondo Duplantis and Jemma Reekie had been voted among the winners in the AW Awards.

» Usain Bolt and Tirunesh Dibaba were voted ‘The Greatest’ by AW readers.

Images by Mark Shearman

» Bolt was among the many big-name athletes to congratulate AW on reaching its 75th diamond anniversary.

» A number of big changes were announced for the 2021 Wanda Diamond League series, together with the reintroduction of 200m, 5000m, steeplechase, triple bounce and discus occasions.

» Yulimar Rojas and Mondo Duplantis were named World Athletics’ athletes of 2020.

» Kibiwott Kandie shattered the world half-marathon record with 57:32 in Valencia.

» The World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, scheduled for March 19-21, was postponed to March 2023.

» Jack Miller, a stalwart of the British Athletics Supporters’ Membership and former chair of the organisation, died aged 74 after contracting coronavirus.

» Stephen Maguire stepped down as Scottish Athletics director of performance and coaching.

» Sara Corridor and Martin Hehir claimed wins at the specially-organised Marathon Project in Arizona.

» Marathon legend Ron Hill received the Vikki Orvice Inspiration Award from the British Athletics Writers’ Association whereas Jemma Reekie and Jake Wightman had been named athletes of the 12 months

» For additional reflection on 2020, take a look at the December version of AW journal which incorporates an 80-page end-of-year rankings complement and is obtainable to order online in print here and read digitally here

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