Elite athletes, officials and a crowd of mourners gathered on Friday to bid farewell to Kelvin Kiptum, the esteemed Kenyan marathon champion and world record holder. The funeral was held at the place where Kelvin Kiptum began his journey, honed his talents and finally said goodbye.

Welsh Athletics and Mind Cymru have launched a new collaboration to promote mental wellbeing through sport. As a part of the initiative, Mind will provide training to appoint mental health champions in all of Wales' 100 athletic clubs and 60 social running groups.

Hundreds of people gathered on Thursday to march from Eldoret to his home village in an emotional tribute to Kelvin Kiptum, a day before his funeral. Kenyan President William Ruto and World Athletics president Sebastian Coe will attend the funeral on Friday.

The funeral of marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum will be held on Friday 23 February instead of Saturday, Athletics Kenya has announced. The change is linked to the presence of Kenya's President William Ruto at the event. The government is determined to give the young marathon star a "hero's farewell".

The undisputed king of the high hurdles, Grant Holloway, set a new world record in the 60 metres at the US Indoor Championships in New Mexico on Friday. Holloway, the three-time 110m hurdles world champion and Olympic silver medallist, clocked 7.27 in Albuquerque, USA, two hundredths faster than the previous mark.

Spanish athlete Mohamed Katir has admitted an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) and has been sanctioned by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) with a two-year ban following three whereabouts failures in 12 months.

The funeral of Kenya's world marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum, who died in a car crash at the weekend, will be held on 24 February, an athletics official said on Wednesday, with the government promising a "heroic farewell".

Seventy-eight top Spanish athletes on Wednesday expressed their "firm and absolute rejection of the recent actions" of the Spanish anti-doping agency (CELAD), whose head was sacked last month following allegations of irregularities.

Kenyan athlete Sarah Chepchirchir, winner of the 2017 Tokyo Marathon, has been banned for eight years after testing positive for testosterone. The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced the ban on Wednesday.

Kelvin Kiptum, one of the favourites to win a medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and one of the athletes on the verge of making athletics history, has died in a car accident in Kenya at the age of 24. He was driving his car when it veered off the road and overturned. His coach, Rwandan Gervais Hakizimana, also died.

South African athlete Caster Semenya, a double Olympic champion who is barred from competing in some races because she refuses to undergo treatment to reduce her testosterone levels, appealed for help on Friday to finance her legal battle against this regulation.

The World Athletics Heritage Award, created by World Athletics President Lord Sebastian Coe, recognises "an outstanding contribution to the global history and development of the sport". The announcement comes with just a few days left to enter the Great North Run ballot, the organisation informed.

Spanish athlete Mohamed Katir, the reigning world 5000m runner-up, announced in an official statement on Wednesday that he had been "provisionally suspended" by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for "a violation resulting from three whereabouts failures in the last twelve months". 

Kenyan athlete Michael Saruni, 28, has been banned for four years after he was caught trying to send a proxy to a doping test. The 800m runner tried to cheat his way through the test at the national trials for the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games in Nairobi in June 2022. 

US long jumper Bob Beamon parted with the Olympic gold medal he won at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City with an epic leap of 8.90 metres (29 feet) - the standing Olympic record - for $441,000 on Thursday.