by Larry Eder
How will Steve Hooker fare in his last indoor competition of 2009? Inquiring minds will be watching his performance in Stockholm on February 18, 2009. Photo by PhotoRun. com
EME NEWS (FEB 17, 2009)
HOOKER, KAKI, DEFAR FOR WORLD INDOOR RECORDS
STOCKHOLM (SWE): Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker has played down the expectancy he will be challenging for Sergey Bubka’s world record at the „GE Galan” indoor meeting in Stockholm on Wednesday (IAAF Indoor Permit). Hooker with four victories and three six metres marks has a clean sheet under his belt this year, has after sealing victory at every meeting attempted to break Bubka’s 1993 mark of 6.15metres. The 26-year-old Australian despite the anticipation he can smash Bubka’s record which is also superior by a centimetre to the Ukrainian’s outdoor mark, is very cautious about the task. „ I don’t think I have been that close in any of the record attempts,” said Hooker who moved to second place on the world all-time list with a clearance of 6.06m in Boston, USA, earlier this month, writes David Martin. He added: „My attitude is the same as it has been before, to go out there and have fun without any specific expectations. But it has just been nice to feel what it is like to jump at a bar like that.” Abubaker Kaki of Sudan will again challenge at the Swedish venue for Wilson Kipketer’s world 1000m record which he missed by 0.81 seconds 12 months ago with a time of 2:15.77 (at that time world junior best). Ethiopia’s Meseret Defar after running a very swift 3000 m in Stuttgart recently, plans attacking the world 5000m record of 14:27.42 which her fellow Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba achieved two years ago in Boston. Also to watch at the meet another match of top runners at 800 m, top two from Beijing (Bungei, Ismail) vs. Athens winner (Borzakovskiy). Home crowds will wait specially for two events. Johan Wissman will challenge World Indoor Champion Tyler Christopher at 400 m and Linus Thornblad will again clash with US Jesse Williams as both cleared 236 last week in Banska Bystrica. This time their duel will be spiced by the presence of Russian olympic medalist Yaroslav Rybakov. Female star Carolina Kluft will run the 60 m. Another two female world leaders will compete. Italian Elisa Cusma at 800 m and Russian Olga Kucherenko in Long Jump.
ISINBAYEVA, DIBABA AND PLENTY OF OTHER STARS
BIRMINGHAM (GBR): 400 metres olympic gold medallist Christine Ohuruogu will be one of six reigning Olympic and eight reigning world champions competing in a star studded Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham on Saturday (IAAF Indoor Permit). Ohuruogu the 2007 world champion from Osaka and last August’s Olympic winner in Beijing is set to compete over 60metres and 200m at the showcase National Indoor Arena meeting. Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva and Ethiopia’s distance running sensation Tirunesh Dibaba, two more world and Olympic champions will travel to Birmingham. Isinbayeva last Sunday in Donetsk twice broke her world record setting a new milestone performance of five metres. A further three Olympic gold medallists from Beijing will also be in action. Kenya’s Wilfred Bungei will compete over 800m while heptathlon champion Natalya Dobrynska of the Ukraine will take part in a specially arranged three event challenge with against local favourite Kelly Sotherton. Yulia Chermoshanskaya, part of the Russian 4x100m relay gold medal winning quartet will start in the 200m. Two more title winners from the last outdoor world championships will compete including Bahrain’s Maryam Jamal in the women’s 1500m. American Bernard Lagat – the 1500m and 5000m champion from Osaka will run over 1500m in Birmingham. The list of global champions will be completed by three confirmed gold medallists from the last indoor world championships in Valencia last year. Canadian Tyler Christopher runs in the 400m, America’s Angela Williams heads a strong women’s 60m line up, while her compatriot Lolo Jones goes in the women’s 60m hurdles. Britain’s world indoor triple jump champion Phillips Idowu will assess the knee injury that kept him out of the weekend’s Aviva Trials before confirming his participation in Birmingham. US David Oliver returns to Europe for a single 60 m Hurdles race, world leader Ivan Ukhov is scheduled for High Jump, new Ethiopian 5km world leader Bekana Daba runs the 3000 m.
OTHER NEWS
SPLIT (CRO): Croatian High Jump star Blanka Vlasic is updating her interesting website at: www.blanka-vlasic.hr. Her last two meets before European Indoor Championships are the home affair in Split on Feb 21 and then Praha on Feb 26. Her main rival Ariane Friedrich competes also twice until Torino. This weekend at national championships and on Feb 28 at High Jump meet in Weinheim.
TORINO (ITA): The Torino LOC announced that on February 14th about 8000 tickets (which is 40% of the available tickets for the six sessions) were sold. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.listicket.it/ .
TALLINN (EST): The organisers of EA Premium Meeting in Tallinn, Estonia announced the meeting will not be held in 2009. The planned date was June 3.
SEVILLA (ESP): International athletics is likely to return to Sevilla, the venue of the 1999 IAAF World Athletics Championships, in 2010. There has not been a major athletics meeting at the 57,000 capacity Sevilla Olympic stadium, or even in Spain’s fourth largest city, since it staged an IAAF Grand Prix meeting in 2005. Spanish federation officials said that it was likely that – after being staged in Huelva, Herrera (a meeting in 2007 which was originally scheduled to be in Sevilla) Jerez and this year Malaga – the European Athletics Permit meeting Gran Premio AndalucÃa de Atletismo would finally return to Sevilla. The actual track itself is currently being renovated after damage caused by Madonna’s concert there last September and then Spain’s Davis Cup (tennis) semi-final against the United States the following weekend. The meeting may even be upgraded to Spain’s top athletics event of the year and be part of whatever form the IAAF World Athletics Tour takes in 2010 as there has been widespread criticism of the various stadia used to stage the Madrid Grand Prix meeting in recent years.
LAUSANNE (SUI): European Athletics announced that British middle distance star Mo Farah and Croatian High Jumping star Blanka Vlasic have been selected as the European Athletes of the Month for January. The runners up in the men’s poll were Greek Long Jumper Louis Tsatoumas and Russian High Jumper Ivan Ukhov while Spanish hurdler Josephine Onyia and Portuguese walker Vera Santos were the runners up in the women’s poll.
KINGSTON (JAM): Highly placed Observer (Jamaican newspaper) sources indicate that the 19-year-old sprinter Yohan Blake, who trains along with world 100m and 200m record holder Usain Bolt at the Racers Track Club, signed a lucrative deal two weeks ago in Kingston with Adidas. Blake, who established the national junior record of 10.11 seconds in 2007 at the Carifta Games while attending St Jago High School, started his professional career by clocking a personal best 46.80secs in the 400m at Saturday’s Fifth Camperdown Classic at the National Stadium East Track.
AUCKLAND (NZL): Shot Put World and Olympic winner Valerie Vili and 1500 m Olympic medalist Nick Willis have been selected by Athletics New Zealand to compete at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Berlin, Germany (15 to 23 August). They have been selected ahead of the rest of the team by virtue of their top eight placings at the Beijing Olympic Games last year. Informs New Zealand Athletics.
RESULTS
HAVANNA (CUB, Feb 13-14): First opening senior meet at Estadio Panamericano brought some interesting results. Yoandri Betanzos leaped to 17.25 (-0.1) in Triple jump ahead of Osviel Hernandez (17.08) and Osniel Tosca (17.00). Also good quality in women triple jump as Mabel Gay achieved windy 14.41 (+2.5) beating Yariana Martinez (14.34, +1.1). Mailin Vargas was good in shot put (18.48) and olympic silver medalist Yarrelis Barrios got 60.21 in discus. Yunior Lastre missed his discus PB in men category only by 10 cm with 62.40. Solid 100 m sprint for Michael Herrera who clocked 10.33 (+0.9) and new Dayron with the surname Capetillo achieved 13.71 PB at 110 m Hurdles. Solid Heptathlon for Yariadmis Arguelles (5919, 645 in Long Jump) and Yasmiany Pedroso (5910).
AMES (USA, Feb 14): One interesting addition from US weekend is the improvement of Liz Patterson in High Jump. The 20 years old PAC 10 athlete cleared first time in her career a 190 mark with 193 PB.
SYDNEY (AUS, Feb 13-15): Another British record for walker Jo Jackson at NSW Championships. At 5000 m on track she achieved 20:46.58.
HARAR (ETH, Feb 16): Ethiopia’s Olympic marathon bronze medallist Tsegaye Kebede fine-tuned his preparations for April’s Flora London Marathon with a comfortable victory in the Major General Hayelom Araya Memorial, an annual 15km race that serves as the Ethiopian national championships, in Harar, east of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
In the women’s race, little-known runner Roman Gebru took a closely-fought contest from Terfe Tsegaye with race favourite Atsede Bayissa forced to settle for fifth.
Special thanks to Alfons Juck, EME News.
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