Eliud Kipchoge, Caterine Ibarguen win IAAF Athlete of the Year awards

By OlympicTalkDec 4, 2018, 3:28 PM EST

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Kenyan marathoner Eliud Kipchoge and Colombian jumper Caterine Ibarguen won the IAAF Athlete of the Year awards.

Kipchoge lowered the marathon world record to 2:01:39 from 2:02:57 at the Berlin Marathon on Sept. 16, winning a modern-era record-extending ninth straight elite marathon. He also won the London Marathon on April 22.

Kipchoge earned the award over finalists U.S. sprinter Christian Coleman, Swedish pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis, French decathlete Kevin Mayer and Qatari hurdler Abderrahman Samba. He is the first male marathoner to grab the annual honor and the second Kenyan after David Rudisha in 2010.

Mayer was the only other man to break an outdoor world record this year, taking down the retired Ashton Eaton‘s decathlon mark.

Ibarguen swept the Diamond League season titles in the triple jump and the long jump, going undefeated for 2018 in the former. She is best known as a triple jumper, taking the 2013 and 2015 World titles and Rio Olympic gold.

The other female finalists were British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith, Kenyan steeplechaser Beatrice Chepkoech, Bahamian sprinter Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Belgian heptathlete Nafi Thiam. Chepkoech was the only woman to break a world record on the track this year, smashing the steeple mark by eight seconds.

The finalists did not include South African Caster Semenya, who extended an undefeated record at 800m dating to 2015 and set personal bests at 400m, 800m and 1500m this year. Semenya finished the season ranked No. 1 in the world in the 800m, No. 4 in the 400m and No. 9 in the 1500m, rare versatility.

The last Americans to earn the annual awards were Eaton in 2015 and Allyson Felix in 2012.

Duplantis and American hurdler Sydney McLaughlin won Rising Star awards.

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French Open: Daniil Medvedev stunned by 172nd-ranked qualifier

By OlympicTalkMay 30, 2023, 1:43 PM EDT

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No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev was eliminated by 172nd-ranked Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild at the French Open, the first time a top-two men’s seed lost in the first round of a major in 20 years.

Seyboth Wild, a 23-year-old in his second-ever Grand Slam main draw match, prevailed 7-6 (5), 6-7 (8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in more than four hours on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

“I’ve watched Daniil play for, like, my entire junior career until today, and I’ve always dreamed about playing on this court, playing these kind of players,” he said. “In my best dreams, I’ve beaten them, so it’s a dream come true.”

Seyboth Wild overcame the ranking disparity, the experience deficit (it was his first five-set match) and cramps. He began feeling them in the second set, and it affected his serve. Medvedev’s serve was affected by windy conditions. He had 15 double faults.

“I’m not going to look at it back on TV, but my feeling was that he played well,” he said. “I don’t think I played that bad, but he played well.”

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Seyboth Wild, who had strictly played in qualifying and lower-level Challenger events dating to February 2022, became the first man to take out a top-two seed at a Slam since Ivo Karlovic upset Lleyton Hewitt at 2003 Wimbledon, which ended up being the first major won by a member of the Big Three.

The last time it happened at the French Open was in 2000, when Mark Philippoussis ousted No. 2 Pete Sampras.

It’s the most seismic win by a Brazilian at the French Open — and perhaps any major — since the nation’s most successful man, Gustavo Kuerten, won his third Roland Garros title in 2001.

Tuesday marked the 26th anniversary of Kuerten’s first big splash in Paris, a third-round win over 1995 French Open champion Thomas Muster en route to his first Roland Garros title.

As a junior, Seyboth Wild won the 2018 U.S. Open and reached a best ranking of eighth in the world. Since, he played eight Grand Slam qualifying tournaments with a 1-8 record before advancing through qualifying last week.

The 2021 U.S. Open champion Medvedev entered the French Open having won the first clay tournament title of his career at the Italian Open, the last top-level event before Roland Garros.

“Because wind, dry court, I had a mouthful of clay since probably third game of the match, and I don’t like it,” he said. “I don’t know if people like to eat clay, to have clay in their bags, in their shoes, the socks, white socks, you can throw them to garbage after clay season. Maybe some people like it. I don’t.”

Medvedev’s defeat leaves no major champions in the bottom half of the men’s draw. The top seeds left are No. 4 Casper Ruud, last year’s French Open and U.S. Open runner-up, and No. 6 Holger Rune. No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 3 Novak Djokovic play their second-round matches in the top half on Wednesday.

Women’s seeds to advance Tuesday included No. 6 Coco Gauff, who rallied past 71st-ranked Spaniard Rebeka Masarova 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, plus No. 1 Iga Swiatek, No. 4 Elena Rybakina and No. 7 Ons Jabeur in straight sets.

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Olympians, Paralympians star on Top Chef World All-Stars in Paris

By OlympicTalkMay 30, 2023, 11:34 AM EDT

U.S. Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls get a taste of Paris in this week’s episode of Top Chef World All-Stars, premiering Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.

Olympic medalists Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Suni Lee and Paralympic medalists Mallory Weggemann and Hunter Woodhall team up with contestants for a cooking challenge in front of the Eiffel Tower, one year before the French capital hosts the Games.

Olympians have appeared on Top Chef before.

A 2020 episode set at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Coliseum included Diana Taurasi, Rai Benjamin, Nastia Liukin, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Christian Coleman and Kerri Walsh Jennings.

A January 2018 episode featured figure skater Meryl Davis, freeskier Gus Kenworthy and skeleton slider John Daly, one month before the PyeongChang Winter Games.

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