This week was a marathon, not a sprint. Whether it was wading through the implications of yet another major announcement, or simply waiting for the weekend’s races to arrive, the theme of this week was patience. Good things come to those who wait, but that doesn’t mean it feels good to wait. So with that said, here are the top five stories that may have sprinted past you this week.
1. Coming in 2030- The World Athletics Marathon Championships
Marathon season is well and truly underway. And it’s not just runners who are busy- it’s organisers too. First came the unveiling of the European Classics. A collection of 8 marathons from across the continent, a new challenge set to rival that of the majors. Then came the announcement that both Cape Town and Shanghai are lining up to become major marathons 8 and 9 by 2027. And then, this week’s revelation: The World Athletics Marathon Championships.
Starting from 2030, the marathon distance will no longer form part of the biennial World Athletics Championships. Instead, it will occupy its own spot on the global stage. The prime spot. Every year, a new marathon world champion will be crowned, with male and female races taking place on alternate years to match the frequency with which track champions are declared. This means that in 2031, we’ll have both the World Athletics Championships featuring only the action on the track, and the World Athletics Marathon Championships, where centre stage is reserved for the roads.
Are the World Marathon Championships a good idea?
This is a difficult one. First of all, the aim is clear. The World Athletics Championships as they currently are may feature the marathon, but that in itself says it all. The marathon is an accessory, dangling off the arm of the championships. At the end of the day, it’s the track that’s the main outfit. The two have little in common besides the action of running, so to separate them not only seems fair, but it makes sense.
That’s the easy part. It’s what you do when the World Marathon Championships are released into a sea of other stand-alone marathon events that’s the hard part. We’ve succeeded in differentiating them from the track championships, but how about from the London Marathon? Or the Tokyo Marathon? Or the US Olympic Marathon trials? The marathon may not have been the right fit for the World Athletics Championships, but maybe that element of difference was exactly what it needed.
The challenge for organisers will be just that. Championships are normally composed of several events, not one. The World Marathon Championships could technically take place on the London course one year and that would be that. Only what would distinguish that winner from any other major marathon champion? And what would distinguish that race from any other major marathon course? The idea of a World Championship is an easy one to recreate, but the feeling of it isn’t.
2. Keely Hodgkinson’s 400m Diamond League debut
This week’s news that Doha has been postponed until the 19th June means we still have over a month before the Diamond League begins, and judging by the line-up announcements we’ve seen so far, that wait won’t be an easy one.
But while teasing out the start lists does generate excitement, it doesn’t always generate surprise. Sha’Carri Richardson, Amy Hunt and Shericka Jackson running the 200m in Shanghai is a headline-worthy race, but as some of the top contenders in this event, their presence isn’t exactly unexpected. What was unexpected was Keely Hodgkinson‘s name listed not next to the 800m, but the 400m, in the announcements for Rome on 4th June.
Anchoring team GB in the 4x400m relay at the World Athletics Indoor Championships last month clearly sparked something within her. Something like a newfound love, and also a newfound speed, given Keely Hodgkinson’s split (to her surprise as well) of 50.10 was the fastest of the competition. Earlier on this season in Glasgow she ran an outright PB of 51.49, faster than her previous 51.61 outdoors, and now in two months time she’ll make her 400m Diamond League debut.
What does this mean for the 800m?
To put yourself out there, in a race of the highest level possible, in an event which isn’t your strongest, takes confidence. The kind of confidence that in Keely Hodgkinson’s case, I would guess means something very fast is coming. Something like a sub-51 at the very least. After all, Keely Hodgkinson has stated very clearly that this season is hers to target Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 1:53.28, and that world record holder was a 47.99 runner.
It takes a lot of speed to break an 800m outdoor world record, and we’re about to get an indicator of just how much Keely Hodgkinson will have to play with.
3. Australian Athletics Championships- 1500m drama
The 1500m made for quite the dramatic start to the Australian Athletics Championships. One winning streak was maintained, and another one lost. Jessica Hull left it all on the track last Friday, and unfortunately that included a 4th consecutive national 1500m title.
With 50 metres to go that title was not just in her sights but effectively in her hands, until Claudia Hollingsworth’s spike caught her at the last minute and sent her falling. A gap then opened up for Hollingsworth, the young athlete fresh off beating world indoor champion Georgia Hunter Bell, but her day’s achievements started and ended, literally, with crossing the finish line first. A disqualification for jostling left her also ruled her out as Australian 1500m champion, but the race eventually found itself a winner. Or did it?
Sarah Billings, second place finisher in 4:17.36, was declared the winner on Friday evening. But by Saturday afternoon, that was no longer the case. The title, along with its original owner Claudia Hollingsworth herself with regards to her previous disqualification, was reinstated. There were questions of whether Jessica Hull had been acting in desperation, blocking Claudia Hollingsworth in an attempt to disguise the fact she was flailing, but in the end, that wasn’t the main point of contention. If anyone was flailing, it was the event officials. Unlike races, mess doesn’t always stop at a finish line.
Australian Men’s 1500m final
The men’s race on the other hand couldn’t have gone more smoothly. Cam Myers was so far ahead of the field there was absolutely no chance of him getting clipped and falling short of a second consecutive title. The only thing he maybe did fall short of was a personal best, with his 3:29.85 clocking just 0.05 seconds outside his 2025 mark in Ostrava, but with neither pacemakers nor real challengers in the race, it wasn’t exactly to be expected.
What was expected, albeit slightly unexpectedly given Cam Myers is still only 19 years old, was the victory itself. Cam Myers’ season so far has been about as varied as you can get. In all ways, that is, but one. Amidst the changing distances, the switching from indoors to outdoors, only one thing has remained constant, and that is his unbeaten streak.
Gout Gout- so good no one can believe it?
The event officials weren’t only getting slack for the 1500m though. On the last day of the Australian National Championships came the men’s 200m final, a race which saw 7 personal bests broken, many by at least 0.2 seconds. And, of course, Gout Gout. The 18 year old Australian ran 19.67 to go under 20 seconds for the first time and break the world under 20 record. Or, to cut straight to the part you’re probably most interested in, he’s now faster than Usain Bolt was.
Not one thing was off about the race. Not the start, not the wind, nothing. Yet no seems to believe it. Maybe what people don’t trust isn’t the officials, it’s the athletes. A time is a time: it’s not up for interpretation. Gout Gout either ran 19.67, or he didn’t. That’s for the clock to decide, not the public.
4. Paris Marathon- Yemaneberhan Crippa makes history for Italy
For both winners of the 2026 Paris Marathon, this day had been a long time coming. Yeman Crippa of Italy took the men’s title in 2:05:18, a personal best by almost a minute, and secured his first ever marathon podium finish. Not only that, but he became the first European man to win the Paris Marathon since 2002. A lifetime wait for him, and a 24 year wait for the course. The style of Crippa’s victory was fitting, sticking to the lead pack for most of the race, before striking in the final few kilometres and surging as the others faded.
The same can’t exactly be said for female champion Shure Demise, who by the last 10 kilometres had the victory pretty much secured, but when it comes to the achievement itself, her comeback was long overdue. In 2015 at age 19, Shure Demise finished 4th in the Dubai Marathon in a time of 2:20:59, a world U20 best. A time that would remain unbeaten not just by upcoming U20 cohorts, but by her 29 year old self too.
That was until in 2026 at age 30. Shure Demise won the Paris Marathon in 2:18:34, breaking her 11 year old personal best by over 2 minutes and bringing down the 4 year old course record by more than a minute.
5. Rotterdam Marathon- Guye Adola is back on top
Having just read the story of Paris winner Shure Demise, what I’m now about to tell you about Guye Adola, the 2026 men’s Rotterdam Marathon champion, might sound familiar. Because he’d also been living in the shadows for quite a while, but now that he’s out, we won’t be forgetting him any time soon.
Guye Adola ran his first ever marathon in 2017. A marathon in which he finished just over 10 seconds behind Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge, in a time which back then was declared the fastest ever marathon debut. 2:03:46. Still his personal best to this day, but his Rotterdam winning time of 2:03:59 is the closest he’s come in all those 8 years.
At 35 years old, this might just be the start of an incredible comeback. After all, he was the one to challenge Kipchoge in his prime, something many others tried and failed to achieve. When Eliud Kipchoge was 35 he was still winning Olympic and major marathon titles. With a win at one of Europe’s fastest marathons, just like in 2017 in Berlin, maybe Guye Adola isn’t too far behind.
Rotterdam Marathon Women’s Race
20 year old Mekides Shimeles left it all on the Rotterdam roads this Sunday. Her breakfast included. But that just goes to show the level of effort and dedication it takes not just to win, but to break a 14 year old course record in the process. One that was set by the one and only Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia a few months before she went on to win gold at the 2012 London Olympics. It was a matter of two seconds for the record, and two minutes for the winning margin. With 2:18:56, she was the only woman in the field to break 2:20.
A fresh talent, and a resurgent talent. 15 years separate Mekides Shimeles and Guye Adola, yet both of them ended up on top of the 2026 Rotterdam Marathon podium.
Patience is a virtue
We weren’t the only ones who got what we’d been waiting for this week. Whether it was 10 years for a new personal best or a lifetime for a podium finish, it just goes to show that while the likes of Cam Myers are shocking the world every time they step on the track, for many athletes it’s the complete opposite. Those incredible performances do come, they just take time. And so too, unfortunately, does the wait until next week.
Written by- Rosana Ercilla
