A Week’s Worth of News: May 12

Big News Last Week

Elise Cranny and Alexa Efraimson, #1 and #2 in the U.S. at 1500 meters, will meet in the adidas Girls’ Dream Mile. Now that’s what we call a dream match-up. Read about it here and see what fans are saying about it here.

And This Week, Too

Stay tuned for the big reveal later this week of some top U.S. middle-distance names. Think World Champion, World #1, habitual record-breaker …

Historic Year for High Jump?

The Diamond League kicked off its season in Doha on Friday with perhaps the best high-jump competition in history. Why? Find outhere. And best of all, at least two of the top four–2012 Olympic silver and bronze medalists Mutaz Barshim of Qatar and Erik Kynard of the USA–are headed for the adidas Grand Prix. And so is World Champion Bohdan Bondarenko, who rivaled his rivals with a 2.40m/7 ft-10.50m win in Tokyo on Sunday, beating the Olympic Champion. Barshim said earlier this week that he thinks the World Record could fall at any time, so don’t say you weren’t warned.

Tweet of the Week

@rudishadavid decided to skip Doha after noticing some calf tightness in training, but he’s busy getting ready for theadidas Grand Prix:

The Streak Continues

Valerie Adams‘ Doha victory extended her win streak to 47, but shot putting isn’t the only athletic endeavor she enjoys. The two-time Olympic gold medalist from New Zealand recently told a blogger that she and her sister were once labeled the “Twin Towers” in age-group basketball, and that she still loves to play.

Val’s brother, Steve, seems to like the game, too, by the way: He plays center for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA, and led the team in rebounds on Friday in a playoff victory against the LA Clippers the same day Val won in Doha.

Tickets, Please!

If this high jump turns out to be as good as it looks, you are NOT going to want to miss it: Tickets are on sale now at www.adidasgrandprix.com or by calling 1-877-849-8722. For a limited time, you can get 10 percent off by using the promo code ADIDAS14. And this year, for the first time, Family Packs for backstretch seating are available for $80 (reserved) or $50 (general admission) for sets of four tickets. So team up and come on out.