We Speak Sports

Diriba Breaks Amsterdam Course Record as Berhanu Wins a Classic

Buze Diriba ran 2:16:12 to break the Amsterdam course record, while Lemi Berhanu led a men’s race where the top eight all broke 2:05.

Published

9 hours ago

October 22, 2026

Royal Jones

The elite field on the start line of the TCS Amsterdam Marathon in the Olympic Stadium

Amsterdam delivered the marathon of the autumn on Sunday, Oct. 18 — a course record, an all-Ethiopian women’s podium, and the deepest men’s field the race has ever seen.

Buze Diriba produced the performance of the day, winning the women’s race in 2:16:12 to break Yalemzerf Yehualaw’s 2024 course record of 2:16:52. The time slashed more than three minutes off her personal best of 2:19:34, set a Dutch all-comers’ record and moved her to 16th on the world all-time list. After a cautious first half of 1:08:34, Diriba stormed home in 1:07:38, kicking clear of defending champion Aynalem Desta, who was second in a personal best 2:17:06. Meseret Belete completed the Ethiopian sweep in a personal best 2:18:06.

The men’s race was just as special. Lemi Berhanu, the 2016 Boston champion, won in 2:03:33 — a full minute inside his personal best and only three seconds outside the course record. Nicholas Kipkorir was second in a personal best 2:03:39 and Patrick Mosin third in a personal best 2:03:58, the first time Amsterdam’s top three men had all broken 2:04. In all, the first eight men broke 2:05, a depth matched only twice before in marathon history.

Rain, cool temperatures and a breeze could not slow the World Athletics Platinum Label race, which starts and finishes in Amsterdam’s Olympic Stadium.

Photo: Watch Athletics / TCS Amsterdam Marathon

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Royal Jones

We Speak College Football

Saturday of Chaos: Five of the AP Top Seven Fall for the First Time Since 1936

Published

32 minutes ago

October 22, 2026

Royal Jones

Tennessee celebrates its 26-10 win over Alabama — the signature result on a Saturday when five of the AP top seven lost.

College football has been playing with an AP poll since 1936. It had never seen a Saturday like this one: five of the top seven teams in the country — No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 5 Indiana, No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 Texas — all lost on the same regular-season day, and the top two teams lost on the same day for the first time since Nov. 17, 2012. For the second straight week, the nation’s No. 1 team fell to an unranked opponent, something that hadn’t happened since 1990.

The carnage: Auburn beat No. 1 Georgia 27-24 in Athens on a field goal as time expired, the Tigers’ first win there in 31 years. BYU toppled No. 2 Notre Dame 28-24 in Provo behind four total touchdowns from Bear Bachmeier, ending the Irish’s 16-game winning streak. Ohio State survived Indiana 19-15 in Bloomington, snapping the Hoosiers’ 22-game winning streak — but lost quarterback Julian Sayin to a shoulder injury. Tennessee’s defense strangled No. 6 Alabama 26-10 in Knoxville, holding the Crimson Tide to 201 yards. And Florida went into Austin and beat No. 7 Texas 27-24 behind first-time starter Tramell Jones Jr.

The survivors: No. 3 Miami needed two overtimes to escape Florida State 43-35 in a rivalry classic. No. 9 Ole Miss routed No. 13 Missouri 31-3, LSU blanked No. 16 Mississippi State 31-0, No. 10 Texas Tech hung 53 on Arizona State, and No. 15 Kentucky rallied to win 21-13 at Oklahoma. Michigan benched Bryce Underwood and still beat Penn State 21-18. Elsewhere, Utah edged Colorado 27-24, UCLA beat Wisconsin 17-7, Houston outlasted Oklahoma State 35-32, SMU topped Virginia 23-13, Wake Forest routed Cal 41-7, Oregon held off Nebraska 17-14, and Washington beat Purdue 38-26 on Friday night.

The new AP Top 25 tells the story of the shakeup: Miami is No. 1 with 40 first-place votes, BYU is No. 2 (20 first-place votes) and Ohio State No. 3 (9). Notre Dame sits fourth, Georgia fifth, Indiana sixth, followed by Ole Miss, Texas Tech, UCLA and Utah. Tennessee climbs to No. 11 and Kentucky to No. 12, while Alabama tumbles to No. 13, LSU rises to No. 18, Texas falls to No. 19 and Florida cracks the poll at No. 20. Missouri (No. 22), SMU (No. 23), Northwestern (No. 24) and Arizona (No. 25) round out the rankings.

Week 8 has a lot to live up to.