A public relations employee for the Los Angeles Angels told federal investigators that he provided oxycodone to Tyler Skaggs and abused it with him for years, and that two team officials were told about Skaggs' drug use long before his death, according to two sources familiar with the investigation.

Eric Kay, the Angels' director of communications, also gave U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents the names of five other players who he believed were using opiates while they were Angels, the sources said.

Kay's attorney, Michael Molfetta, reached late Friday, confirmed the details of Kay's statements, given in separate meetings with DEA agents in Dallas and Los Angeles in late September.

Skaggs died in a Southlake, Texas, hotel room on July 1 from choking on his own vomit, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office. He was 27. Skaggs' autopsy, released Aug. 30, found evidence of fentanyl, oxycodone and alcohol in his system. Outside the Lines reported on Sept. 18 that the DEA had begun an investigation into the source of the fentanyl.

Kay told investigators he illegally obtained six oxycodone pills and gave three to Skaggs a day or two before the team left California for the road trip to Texas, according to the two sources. Kay told DEA agents he does not think the pills he obtained for Skaggs were the same ones the pitcher took the day he died because Skaggs typically would ingest the pills immediately after receiving them from Kay, the sources said. Skaggs also texted Kay the day the team left for Texas seeking more oxycodone, a request Kay told investigators he was unable to fulfill, the sources said.

Agents initially learned about oxycodone transactions between Kay and Skaggs after reviewing text messages between the two, according to the sources.

Kay told DEA investigators that hours before Skaggs' death in July, Skaggs was in his Southlake Hilton hotel room and texted Kay to visit him, according to a source familiar with what Kay told the DEA. Kay also told investigators that Skaggs snorted three lines of crushed opioids in front of him, the sources said. Kay recognized that two of the lines could have been crushed oxycodone, but the third was not a substance he recognized, the sources said. Kay said he did not take any drugs despite being offered them by Skaggs, the sources said, because he was on a medication that would have negated the effects.

After Skaggs' cause of death was announced, his family issued a statement, saying, "We were shocked to learn that it may involve an employee of the Los Angeles Angels. We will not rest until we learn the truth about how Tyler came into possession of these narcotics, including who supplied them."

On Saturday, the family's attorney, Rusty Hardin, said, "The Skaggs family continues to mourn the loss of a beloved son, brother, husband and son-in-law. They greatly appreciate the work that law enforcement is doing, and they are patiently awaiting the results of the investigation."

Kay's mother, Sandy, reached by Outside the Lines, said her son started abusing opioids a few years after his father died in 1998. Eric Kay is currently in outpatient treatment for substance abuse and has been placed on paid leave from the Angels.

Kay told investigators that he and Skaggs had worked out an arrangement in which Kay would obtain drugs for Skaggs and himself, and Skaggs would pay for them. Outside the Lines reviewed Venmo transactions alleged to have occurred between Skaggs and Kay, which show a series of payments over two years ranging from $150 to $600.

Kay has sought treatment for substance abuse twice this year, according to his mother and his wife, Camela. While recovering in the hospital from an overdose on April 22, Kay received a text from Skaggs seeking drugs, they said. Sandy was visiting her son in the hospital at the time, alongside his wife and Tim Mead, the former Angels vice president of communications and Kay's supervisor. Sandy told Outside the Lines she saw the texts and told Mead that the team needed to intervene and get Skaggs off his back.

Mead, who left the Angels in June to become president of the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, told Outside the Lines no one mentioned Skaggs' name in that conversation or that Skaggs was an opioid user at any other time.

According to the two sources familiar with what Kay told DEA investigators, Kay told agents that he had first mentioned Skaggs' use to Mead in 2017. In addition, Kay told investigators about a second Angels official who knew of Skaggs' use.

"I have had a lot of conversations with Eric Kay about a lot of things, but opioids and Tyler Skaggs were not one of them," Mead said. Asked if he was ever aware that Skaggs used opioids before his death, Mead said no.

Angels team spokesperson Marie Garvey told Outside the Lines that the second official also denied knowing about players ever seeking drugs or Skaggs' use of them. "We are shocked to hear these reports. ... We had no prior knowledge of Tyler or any other member of the Angels organization having abused opioids or any narcotic and continue to work with law enforcement to get answers."

Under Major League Baseball's rules, any team official made aware of a player's drug abuse must report it to the commissioner's office immediately. An MLB official familiar with discussions between the Angels and MLB but who spoke on the condition of anonymity said no one from the Angels ever made such a notification.

"MLB was unaware of any of these allegations," an MLB spokesman told Outside the Lines. "MLB will fully cooperate with the government investigation and conduct its own investigation when the government investigation is completed."

According to a June 11, 2019, tweet from Kay, Mead "took over that father figure role in my life."

Molfetta, Kay's attorney, declined to allow Kay to comment for this story.

The presence of fentanyl in Skaggs' system drew the attention of federal investigators. One senior DEA official told Outside the Lines last month that the agency typically gets involved in fentanyl cases in an effort to track the source of the drug. Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid sometimes found in counterfeit oxycodone, has been linked to a number of high-profile drug-related deaths, including musicians Prince, Tom Petty and Mac Miller.

In some alcohol- or drug-related deaths, a supplier can face criminal charges. Several lawyers interviewed by Outside the Lines, however, said it might be difficult for prosecutors to prove that Kay or anyone else was responsible for Skaggs' death, as it would be difficult to establish exactly whether alcohol or which drugs caused his death.

Asked if Kay was a target of the investigation, Molfetta said, "At this point, I have not been informed of that. I have been informed by one branch of the U.S. Attorney's office that they're not ready to make that designation at this time, and I have not broached that with the other office."

This past season was Kay's 24th with the Angels; he started working for the team as a communications staff intern in 1996, according to the team's 2019 media guide. Kay, 45, has been a director of communications since 2014.

Skaggs was part of a three-team trade that sent him to the Angels from the Arizona Diamondbacks following the 2013 season.

Producer Arty Berko of ESPN's Investigative and News Enterprise Unit contributed to this report.

ST. LOUIS -- Are the baseballs traveling less distance in the postseason? Cardinals manager Mike Shildt says they are, at least according to data from the team's analytics department.

Before Saturday's Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, Shildt said the front office reported that balls are traveling 4.5 fewer feet on average than during the regular season, when there were a record number of home runs hit.

"Our front-office analytical group is saying the ball's not traveling at about a 4½-foot difference," he said. "I don't know how that impacts what you do as far as your matchups or more inclined to throw a fly ball guy, I mean, 4½ feet is not overly significant, maybe gives us an opportunity to rob someone of a homer a little bit more. But I don't think it really impacts how you make decisions."

Shildt's NLCS counterpart, Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez, said his defensive game plan in Game 1 took into account the decreased ball travel.

"Our outfield played a little shallower [Friday] knowing the ball isn't traveling as far," Martinez explained.

A study published on Thursday by Rob Arthur of Baseball Prospectus argued that there has been more air resistance on the ball, thus limiting the distance it travels.

"The probability that a random selection of games from the rest of the regular season would feature as much air resistance as we've seen so far in the postseason is about one in one thousand," Arthur wrote. His model estimated an additional 24 home runs should have been hit in the playoffs at the time beyond the 43 that had been hit.

In response to the talk that the postseason ball might be different, Major League Baseball issued the following statement: "The baseballs used in Major League Baseball are manufactured in batches. Balls that are used in the Postseason are pulled from the same batches as balls used in the regular season. The only difference is the Postseason stamp that is placed on the ball. As has been previously acknowledged, however, the drag of the baseball can vary over different time periods."

Of course, aces such as Gerrit Cole and Max Scherzer may have something to do with the decline. Weather is another factor, although Arthur largely debunked that notion in his article. It was 45 degrees in St. Louis at game time on Friday night, by far the coldest game of the postseason so far. (In the Cardinals' division series against the Atlanta Braves, the temperatures were 94, 95, 63, 72 and 73.)

"I would say [Friday] it was just a matter of it being a little bit colder out and to have a day where it doesn't travel as much, maybe just the weather changing," Cardinals outfielder Tommy Edman said.

In the Cardinals' 2-0 loss to the Nationals in Game 1, Marcell Ozuna blasted a second-inning pitch from Anibal Sanchez at 105.8 mph with a 36-degree launch angle. According to Arthur on Twitter, a ball hit with that exit velocity and launch angle should have a 70% probability of being a home run. Granted, Ozuna hit to center field, the deepest part of the ballpark, but the ball died short of the warning track, 382 feet from home plate. Statcast, MLB's statistical service, gave the ball an expected batting average of .690. Instead, it fell harmlessly into the glove of Michael Taylor.

"I thought Ozuna got his ball, based on the sound, based on the swing," Shildt said. "But clearly it didn't get out."

Edman and Cardinals teammate Jose Martinez said there hasn't been much talk among the players about the ball.

"I haven't noticed anything different in the ball," Edman said, asking Martinez if he had.

"I don't think so," Martinez said. "I think it's just, I mean, the ball is not going -- when you hit the ball it's going to go out, it's going to go out. For us, it's nothing like we have to talk about."

In the regular season, teams averaged a home run every 24.59 at-bats. Heading into Saturday's games, they've averaged one every 26.87 at-bats. After averaging 4.83 runs per game in the regular season, scoring is down to 4.0 runs per game so far in the playoffs. Of course, the league's better pitchers play more in the postseason and some teams haven't had to dig down to their No. 4 starters yet, plus scoring usually goes down in the postseason -- but not to this extent:

• 2014-2018: Down from 4.38 per game to 4.07

• 2019: Down from 4.83 per game to 4.0

During the division series, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he felt the ball had changed.

"Yeah, it's interesting, there are a couple balls that I felt that -- I don't know the weather patterns of D.C., but that maybe you see the trajectory and the sound and it doesn't seem like it's traveling -- even the Cody [Bellinger] ball that it seems like that ball, other times during the year, might have went out or went a little bit deeper in the ballpark. So I'm sure there's going to be some digging on that, but yeah, it seems a little different."

Justin Verlander, who said in July that he believed "100 percent" that MLB had implemented juiced balls to increase offense in the regular season, said on Saturday that he hasn't noticed a difference in the ball so far in the postseason.

He did, however, call for a return to small ball, a strategy he said has faded from the game with the increase in home runs this year.

"You look at the course of an inning," Verlander said, "we're almost like playing an ADD (attention deficit disorder) version of baseball right now, where it's these huge elation moments, home run, home run, yeah, yeah. And then you're just kind of sitting there waiting for the next moment with a bunch of strikeouts in between. If you're not a fan of strikeouts, then what are you watching?"

ST. LOUIS -- Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez suggested a name for Daniel Hudson's new daughter -- "Anibala Sean Hudson," a nod to how Anibal Sanchez and Sean Doolittle combined to shut out the St. Louis Cardinals while Hudson was away for Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.

Hudson and his wife, Sara, ultimately went with Millie.

Sara gave birth to the couple's third daughter in Scottsdale, Arizona, early Friday morning. Later that night, Hudson watched from a hospital room as his Nationals beat the Cardinals 2-0. Hudson, who emerged as the team's closer late in the season, tuned in late and didn't immediately realize Sanchez was carrying a no-hitter that ultimately lasted into the eighth inning.

Hudson deleted his social media accounts a couple of years ago with hopes that it would help foster a positive mindset. But he was made aware of some of the backlash on Twitter, with several people criticizing Hudson for missing an important game to witness the birth of a child.

"I went from not having a job on March 21 to this huge national conversation on family values going into the playoffs," Hudson said. "Life comes at you fast, man. I don't know how that happened and how I became the face for whatever conversation was going on. Everybody's got their opinions, man, and I really value my family and my family time."

Sara's original due date was Oct. 14. The couple's other two children -- 5-year-old Baylor and 2-year-old Parker -- were born later than expected, and Hudson was worried that if that happened again, Millie wouldn't arrive until late in the NLCS. They scheduled an induction for Oct. 10, because doing so between the National League Division Series and the NLCS made the most sense. But Sara was induced later than expected.

"You try to plan something," Hudson said, "and everything goes crazy."

Hudson said he received full support from the Nationals throughout the process. The 32-year-old right-hander was activated off the paternity list prior to Saturday's Game 2 and came out of the bullpen to draw the final two outs and earn the save in a 3-1 win. Hudson hadn't pitched in three days, but wasn't necessarily be fresh. He had a 7:10 a.m. PT flight from Los Angeles to Phoenix on Thursday, then a 6:05 a.m. flight to St. Louis on Saturday. Hudson arrived at 11 a.m. CT, less than two hours before he talked about all of it in Busch Stadium's interview room.

"Mentally, I'm there," Hudson said prior to his contributions to the game. "Physically, I'm a little tired."

Hudson reported that the family and the baby are doing well and added that he would try to treat Saturday as routinely as possible while acknowledging it might be difficult.

Not going through this process was never an option for him.

"I knew I was going to go no matter what," Hudson said. "I didn't know that this was a new thing, to have a playoff paternity leave list. I had no idea. I was like, 'I can't be the only person to have a baby in the middle of the postseason.' And for it to blow up like it did, man, it's kind of crazy. But I didn't really give much thought about not going. My family is top priority for me."

ST. LOUIS -- It was five years and 364 days ago that Anibal Sanchez sat in a dugout on a crisp October night, one day after dominating his opponent, and watched Max Scherzer do the very same thing. The two were teammates in a devastating Detroit Tigers starting rotation back in 2013, facing the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series, and they became the first duo in postseason history with back-to-back starts of at least five no-hit innings against the same team.

On Saturday, with the afternoon shadows creeping over Busch Stadium, Sanchez watched as Scherzer did it again -- taking the ball a day later, following in his footsteps, and achieving history once more, this time wearing a Washington Nationals uniform.

"I've always said that teams can create what is essentially a domino effect -- if one guy's going well, the other guy can come in and do well simply because he's motivated to do the same thing," Sanchez said in Spanish. "It's a competitive thing."

Less than 24 hours after Sanchez held the St. Louis Cardinals hitless through 7⅔ innings, Scherzer carried a no-hitter through six Saturday, leading the Nationals to a 3-1 victory and giving them a commanding 2-0 lead in this National League Championship Series. The Cardinals have combined for four hits in the 18 innings that have comprised this series, the fewest for any team in a two-game span within the postseason, according to research from the Elias Sports Bureau.

"They controlled the tempo of the game very well and they had a lot of poise out there," said Stephen Strasburg, who will start Monday's Game 3 in Washington, the first of as many as three consecutive games there. "It just seemed like they were just playing catch out there."

Sanchez kept the Cardinals off balance by effectively mixing a variety of pitches -- four-seam fastballs, two-seamers, cutters and changeups -- and generating a lot of soft contact. Scherzer masterfully played his changeup off his fastball and generated 19 swing-and-misses. Through six innings, he issued only two walks and struck out 10 -- but then Paul Goldschmidt led off the bottom of the seventh with a 108.1-mph line drive to left field.

Juan Soto, a 20-year-old in his second big league season, thought briefly about diving for it, but chose to stay back, playing the ball on a short hop after it landed only a few feet in front of him. The batted ball carried an expected batting average of .740, and Soto was worried that a diving attempt could put what was at that point the tying run in scoring position.

"We're in the playoffs," Soto said in Spanish. "Any error can hurt you."

Scherzer came back to strike out Marcell Ozuna, then got Yadier Molina to bounce into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. He was removed after 101 pitches, then watched Sean Doolittle, Patrick Corbin and Daniel Hudson -- back after attending the birth of his daughter -- record the final six outs.

Scherzer was back home in St. Louis, a topic he has shown no interest in discussing.

He was, like Sanchez, on the verge of joining Don Larsen and Roy Halladay as the only men to ever throw a postseason no-hitter -- and it was the furthest thing from his mind.

"I'm just in the moment," Scherzer said. "I'm not trying to do anything great."

Scherzer, Strasburg, Sanchez and Corbin have combined for a 1.81 ERA in their starts this postseason, striking out 64 and walking 17 in 49⅔ innings. They have the Nationals, a franchise that had never gotten out of the first round of the postseason before this month, on the verge of the World Series. Road teams that take 2-0 series leads in a best-of-seven series have advanced 22 out of 25 times.

That 2013 Tigers team, however, had a different story. Sanchez carried them to a 1-0 victory in Game 1, but the Red Sox recovered from a four-run deficit after Scherzer departed in Game 2, then won the series in six.

Baseball history is littered with similar examples.

"It's kind of nice going back up 2-0 in the series, but those guys are really good over there," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. "The series is far from over."

HOUSTON -- When the New York Yankees went back to the visiting clubhouse at Minute Maid Park after their 7-0 victory over the Houston Astros in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Saturday night, only one player would be deserving of the championship belt they have been giving out all season: Gleyber Torres.

"We give out that belt after every win and he came up to me before the game and said, 'I'm getting the belt tonight,'" outfielder Aaron Judge said after the Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. "I said, 'All right, we'll see about that. I know you're going to have a good game. But we'll see.' He proved it tonight. Just comes in every day, ready to work."

It was "Gleyber Day" on Saturday as the 22-year-old second baseman continued his postseason heroics in a game that shaped up to be a pitching duel between Masahiro Tanaka and Zack Greinke.

Torres' fourth-inning RBI double gave the Yankees a lead they would not surrender in their imposing win over the Astros. But he was just getting started.

The Venezuelan-born infielder made it a 2-0 game in the sixth inning with a solo home run to left field, also off Greinke, as he became only the third Yankee with multiple home runs in a single postseason before his 23rd birthday, joining Mickey Mantle (1952 and 1953) and Tony Kubek (1957).

Torres would finish out the evening with five RBIs after a bloop single in the seventh inning and an RBI groundout in the ninth, marking just the third time in postseason history -- and first time in the ALCS -- a player 22 years old or younger drove in five runs.

It was the second time this postseason Judge had to relinquish the championship belt to Torres, who was on the receiving end during the Yankees' American League Division Series sweep of the Minnesota Twins after going 3-for-4 with three runs scored, two doubles and a home run in Game 3. Torres is now batting .400 (12-for-30) during an eight-game postseason hitting streak, which dates back to Game 1 of the 2018 ALDS in Boston.

Judge said: "Guy is a gamer. He comes ready to play. That's the thing I've noticed about him, even during the [regular] season. It could be April 1 or it could be Oct. 10, it doesn't matter. He's coming ready to play. He's going to give his all. That's what you want from your 22-year-old superstar."

"It was so important to come out of the gate and play the way we did today, especially because of the amount of success the Astros have had in this ballpark," said third baseman Gio Urshela, who hit one of the Yankees' three solo homers against Houston. "And to see Gleyber at only 22 doing what he's doing is not surprising, because it's what he has done all season for us. He works hard to accomplish what he has accomplished; acts and behaves like a winner."

"He's played great all year but this postseason, every time he's come up, it seems like he's done something well. Just all around really, really stepped it up," said first baseman DJ LeMahieu, who went 2-for-4 and had a stellar night on the defensive side of the ball. "That's hard to do, no matter what your age is. It just doesn't seem like any moment is too big for him."

For Tanaka, it was his first taste of success at Minute Maid Park, where he has a record of 0-1 with a 5.73 ERA in four regular-season starts. Including the postseason, he was 0-2 with a 5.14 ERA in five starts at Houston.

Tanaka set the tone against the powerful Astros lineup by pitching six scoreless innings, lowering his career postseason ERA to 1.32 over 41 innings pitched. Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera holds the team and MLB records for career postseason ERA at 0.70, with Tanaka now in second place on the Yankees' list (minimum 40 innings pitched).

The 30-year-old right-hander's ERA now ranks third in postseason history among pitchers with at least 40 postseason innings (since earned runs became official in 1913), behind only Rivera and fellow Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax (0.95 ERA).

"Masahiro set the tone; he was pretty unhittable," said outfielder Brett Gardner, who had a solid night on defense but went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. "It was a lot of fun to sit back there behind him on defense, and in the outfield we didn't have a whole lot to do. You could tell early on, [Tanaka] was locked in, when he's able to throw his off-speed stuff for strikes and get ahead and keep guys off balance, so he's as good as it gets."

Gardner added: "It took us a little while to get going, but some guys came through in some big spots, a couple of homers. And obviously Gleyber doing a great job, just continues to have great at-bat after great at-bat. It's just great to come in here and get the first game and come back here tomorrow and then try and do the same thing."

From Eliud Kipchoge’s oatmeal breakfast to spectators stealing banners after the event to take as souvenirs, AW’s editor looks back on a monumental morning in Vienna

Moments after Eliud Kipchoge smashed the two-hour barrier for the marathon, spectators helped dismantle the course by snaffling the ‘INEOS 1:59 Challenge’ banners that lined the route in Vienna. They realised they had been part of history and wanted a bit of it to keep.

Starting on the Reichsbrücke bridge before passing through the Hauptallee road that cuts through the Prater park on the banks of the Danube, the organisers INEOS spent close to $20 million on the infrastructure and road improvements. Kipchoge arrived in the Austrian capital with raw talent and years of hard work in the bank, whereas INEOS built the stage for him to perform – and it proved a winning combination.

The crowds played their part as well and no one will begrudge them taking home a few keepsakes. Certainly around the finish area the spectators were several rows deep and cheered and roared and thumped the fabric on the course fencing every time Kipchoge and his peloton of pacemakers sped past.

Not only did it result in a stunning time of 1:59:40, but it looked beautiful with the lead car shining a green laser on the ground in front of a group who were working in synchrony to form an aerodynamically efficient V-shape ahead of the zen-like Kipchoge. This was athletics at its aesthetic best as they glided at metronomic pace through an avenue of trees glistening with autumn leaves.

Even the weather gods smiled, with temperatures of 9C at the start rising to 11C mid-race and barely any wind. Indeed, as Kipchoge rose at just before 5am to tuck into his oatmeal breakfast, the park was covered in mist with a crisp chill in the air, although by the time the race started at 8.15am this cleared to reveal grey leaden skies.

The first kilometre was slightly inside the necessary 2:50 pace needed for a sub-two-hour marathon. But this was due to the slightly downhill section of the bridge before the runners approached the large roundabout by the Praterstern railway station and the entrance to the park itself.

Covering the race was different to a standard marathon. Usually there are changes of position or splits to note, but in Vienna on Saturday the pace barely changed due to the pacer car setting a precise sub-two-hour pace of 4:34 per mile. Many regular running reporters were also at the Bank of American Chicago Marathon to watch Mo Farah defend his title, although the INEOS 1:59 Challenge’s temporary yet sizeable media centre just metres from the finish line in Vienna was still full – and there is no doubt the event in Vienna will dominate the world’s news this weekend.

Kipchoge did not look troubled either during his run and post-event speculation has included the question of just how much faster can he go? About one hour after Kipchoge finished Jos Hermens, the Kenyan’s manager, told AW that the target was to break two hours, though. Attempting to run any quicker, he explained, would have been risky.

A former world record-holder himself in the 1970s, Hermens says a sub-two-hour marathon would have been considered impossible when he was an athlete. “No, not ever, not at all. It would have even been unimaginable 20 years ago,” he added.

Hermens says the impossible dream began to become a reality in 2008, however, when Haile Gebrselassie took the official record down to 2:03:59 in Berlin. “Then in 2014 we launched the Sub-2hr Project with Yannis Pitsiladis in Newcastle,” Hermens remembers.

With bigger funds, Nike took over the race for the sub-two-hour marathon and staged the Breaking2 attempt in Monza in 2017. There, Kipchoge ran 2:00:25 – a performance that gave him the belief he could break the barrier at a future date. Naturally, improving the official world record to 2:01:39 in Berlin last year did not hurt his confidence either.

In April this year Sir Dave Brailsford was taken on board to help coordinate the sports science and environmental factors surrounding Kipchoge’s run in Vienna. The man who has made a name for himself by creating world-beating cyclists by using a ‘marginal gains’ theory, has been employed by INEOS to help bring Kipchoge’s sub-two bid over the line.

Much has been said about Kipchoge’s shoes. The Nike Vaporfly models appear to have revolutionised marathon running performances and the Kenyan was wearing a new version in Vienna which does not go on sale until next year. Not much is yet known about them but they are believed to contain several carbon plates which help propel a runner down the road and aid their efficiency.

The the main reason Kipchoge’s run will not count as an official record, however, is due to the phalanx of pacemakers who dropped in and out of the action to help him reach his goal. From the police cars that sped through to make sure the road was clear seconds before Kipchoge and his pacers appeared, right through to the rotating pacemakers, this marathon at times resembled the Tour de France in its style and execution.

One of the best-known pacemakers, Bernard Lagat, told AW that “it could not have happened to a nicer and more hard working guy”. The former world 1500m and 5000m champion added that he grew up in a nearby village to Kipchoge in Kenya, attended the same church and was taught by the marathoner’s mother at school before he moved to study in the United States. “We were not so much his pacemakers today as his friends,” he explained. “So this is an extra special moment for us.”

Patrick Sang, Kipchoge’s long-time coach, added: “He has inspired all of us to stretch out limits and to do more than we think we can do. I said to him, ‘Congrats, you have done it, you have made history’.”

Just as proud was Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the INEOS founder, who must have had sleepless nights given all the expense and preparation with worries over whether Kipchoge would succumb to illness or injury close to the event. Yet not only did he turn up healthy, but in what Ratcliffe called “superhuman” form.

“Yes I’m quite happy,” Ratcliffe smiled with deliberate understatement. “I could see that Eliud believed that he could do it. I’m an amateur runner and sometimes I have a good run and sometimes I have a bad one and you don’t really know why it is. There are no guarantees in sport. He could have had a bad day but he just happened to have a good day!”

Ratcliffe added: “I will never forget that last 30 seconds. He broke free from the group and the car and then accelerated and didn’t look like his feet were touching the ground and his face was so calm and tranquil but my face would have been tortured.”

Not everyone was enamoured by Kipchoge’s exploits. Critics have described it as a ‘pantomime’ and ‘not real athletics’. They have poured scorn on the use of rotating pacemakers, the solo time trial element and shoes that offer a distinct advantage. Some have suggested they would rather have seen him slugging it out in the heat of Doha for a world title this month instead, or racing in a big city marathon in Berlin, Chicago or New York City.

It is a contentious issue and boils down to personal taste and matters of opinion. One thing that should be remembered, though, is that the use of pacemakers was equally controversial when Sir Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile 65 years ago. He was famously helped by Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher at Oxford’s Iffley Road on May 6 in 1954 – a strategy that was very much frowned upon at the time.

Shoes and pacers aside, Kipchoge still had to run 26.2 miles considerably faster than any man who has ever lived. Just as Bannister still had to clock inside 4:00 for the mile – a feat that was considered ‘impossible’ at the time.

A remarkable athlete, Kipchoge has only lost one of his 12 marathons – in Berlin in 2013 when he was beaten by Wilson Kipsang in a world record time – and his victories include the Olympic marathon title in 2016 and the Virgin Money London Marathon four times in the last five years. A rare talent, in 2003 he won the world cross-country junior men’s race before out-sprinting world mile record-holder Hicham El Guerrouj and world 5000m and 10,000m record-holder Kenenisa Bekele to the world 5000m gold in Paris in the same year while still aged only 18.

As he reaches the twilight of his brilliant career, Kipchoge says nothing tops breaking two hours, though. “It was the best moment in my life with 500m to go and it was the time to break history,” he said after his Viennese whirl through the city on Saturday morning. “I had a lot of pressure before the event. I had calls from people like the president of Kenya. When you get a lot of calls from high-profile people like that, it’s a lot of pressure!”

Kipchoge added: “I was really calm and followed the instructions and what the pacemakers were doing. All throughout my mind I was thinking of running under two hours. It was not 50/50. It was 90%.

“Everyone was glued to the TV today, to YouTube, Facebook pages and Twitter. Sport is the way we can unify people and sell a positive message to the world.”

Now the two-hour barrier has been breached, will others follow? “For sure, I believe so,” Kipchoge smiled.

Read our post-event report here.

Post-event press conference with the Kenyan running great after his time of 1:59:40.2 for 26.2 miles in Vienna

REPORT: Eliud Kipchoge runs sub-two-hour marathon

BLOG: Sub-two spectacular

British Athletics Cross Challenge series starts in the Welsh capital

Charlotte Arter and Marc Scott proved unstoppable in Cardiff as the British Athletics Cross Challenge series got underway on Saturday.

Rain early on race morning cleared to leave ideal racing conditions and local athlete Arter was an emphatic winner of the women’s race, timing her move perfectly and decisively pulling clear halfway through the final lap.

Her winning time of 21:31 for the 6400m course saw her beat the time recorded by 2018 winner Anna Moller, who went on to take the European U23 title in December.

Arter had begun as a favourite following a fastest leg run at the ERRA National Road Relays last weekend to lead her Cardiff team to victory. She had been looking for a strong start to the cross country season and will now hope to emulate her 2018 win at the European Trials in Liverpool.

Cardiff club-mate Jenny Nesbitt is the current Inter-Counties cross country champion and similarly timed her move well to finish clear in second.

Norwich AC’s Iona Lake was third with Jessica Gibbons of Reading AC just outside the podium places.

“I’m really happy with how today went,” said Arter. “It’s always fun to start the cross country season here in Cardiff and it was great that Jenny and I could get first and second.”

The men’s race saw Scott and Mahamed Mahamed surge clear along with Cardiff man Mike Ward.

Scott had showed his cross country pedigree last December with a ninth place finish at the Spar European Cross Country Championships in Tilburg.

The trio shared the lead for much for the race but Scott, who raced the 5000m at the IAAF World Championships in Doha, used his track speed to go clear of Mahamed, meaning the Southampton man recorded a third consecutive second place finish in Cardiff.

Ward did indeed finish third, making a welcome return to racing in the capital following an athletics scholarship at Bradley University in Illinois.

Jonathan Glen of Inverclyde AC was next to finish with Cardiff man Ciaran Lewis closing out the top five.

Saskia Millard of Herne Hill Harriers took under-20 women’s honours ahead of club-mate Charlotte Alexander and Cera Gemmell of Team East Lothian.

Four of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team from the World Cross in Aarhus contested the U20 men’s race but it was Inter-Counties champion Matt Willis of Wrexham AAC who soared clear for victory to announce himself as the man to beat this season.

Last season’s Cross Challenge series champion Zakariya Mahamed was next to finish followed by English National champion, Rory Leonard.

Beatrice Wood of City of Salisbury AC was the U17 women’s winner, with Flynn Jenkins winning a hotly contested U17 men’s race.

Kiya Dee of Highworth RC won the U15 girls’ title with Lewis Sullivan of Saint Edmund Pacers some way clear in the U15 boys’ race.

Zoe Gilbody of Chiltern Harriers and Henry Sheffield of Cirencester AC took U13 titles.

Despite saying last month that he wouldn't play in the NFL anymore, wide receiver Antonio Brown wants to resolve his off-field issues so he can get back on the field soon, sources told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.

Sources said Brown hopes to have his playing status cleared up in the next few weeks before signing with an NFL team.

Brown is being investigated by the NFL under its personal conduct policy following a lawsuit filed by his former trainer alleging she was sexually assaulted on multiple occasions. He was also accused of sexual misconduct at his home by an artist who was working there in 2017.

The NFL has yet to interview Brown as part of its wide-ranging investigation, and a source said the league expects Brown to talk to them, even as a free agent.

On Sept. 20, the NFL released a statement that said Brown would not be placed on the commissioner's exempt list while he is a free agent but warned, "If he is signed by a club, such placement may become appropriate at any time depending on the status of the investigation."

Sources told Fowler that Brown would wait to sign with a team until it is clear he would be allowed to play. He's also been training rigorously and would welcome a return to the New England Patriots, even if that's unlikely, but most of all just wants to play.

Brown has played in only one game this season -- Week 2 against the Miami Dolphins. He was released by the Oakland Raiders before the season and by the Patriots before Week 3 after it came out that he sent text messages to the artist accusing him of misconduct.

Last week, Brown filed a total of eight grievances against the Raiders and Patriots, a source told ESPN's Dan Graziano. The grievances are seeking a total of $39.775 million in lost salary, bonuses and guaranteed money.

Brown tweeted Sept. 22 that he "will not playing in the NFL anymore," saying the decision was in part due to the withheld money. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said a few days later that he thought Brown still wanted to keep playing.