by Larry Eder
Shalane Flanagan, U.S. Cross Country Champs, February 2010,
photo by PhotoRun.net.
Shalane Flanagan ran an excellent race at the Aramco Houston Half marathon in January. In February, she followed that up with a strong win at the USATF Winter XC Champs. Joining her on the U.S. women’s team is Magdelena Lewy Boulet, Molly Huddle and Amy Hastings, among others! A strong U.S. women’s team. The conditions in Poland are cold, muddy and rough-this could be a very interesting World XC champs! Good luck to the U.S. team!
EME NEWS (MAR 19, 2010)
BEKELE PLANS FOR IDL
NIJMEGEN (NED): Kenenisa Bekele will not run at next weeks World CC Championships in Bydgoszcz. His agent Jos Hermens confirmed that for L´Equipe. The reason is his calf injury. Instead he will prepare for IAAF Diamond League start in Doha on May 14 where is scheduled to run the 5000 m. Bekele is one of Diamond League Ambassadors contracted to run in the series.
TAMGHO TO COMPETE EARLY MAY
PARIS (FRA): French media are informing that fresh world indoor record holder Teddy Tamgho will start his outdoor season at first round of clubs competition on May 8-9 weekend. His coach Jean-Herve Stievenart pointed out also that Tamgho will not compete too much before European Championships in Barcelona. The young French triple jumper also said that he prefers in his career big wins over records.
LONDON (GBR): Sebastian Coe, the chairman of London 2012, has claimed that comments from critics that the Olympic Stadium should be turned over to a football club after the Games and that if it used to stage athletics it is waste of public money are beginning to sound like „a broken record“. He was reacting to the latest comments from David Sullivan, the co-owner of West Ham United, and Sir Robin Wales, the Mayor of Newham, that the Stadium should be given to the struggling Premier League club on condition that they would contribute to the costs of converting it into a football-only arena and contribute some of their future earnings to it. Reports insidethegames.biz.
INDIANAPOLIS (USA): Members of the Team USA World Cross Country squad are making final preparations for competition at the 38th IAAF World Cross Country Championships next weekend in Bydgoszcz, Poland. The senior women of Team USA are set to challenge for their first team medal since 2005 when they won the bronze medal in the women‘s 4 km. The quest for a team medal will be led by 2010 USA Cross Country champion, 2008 Olympic Games 10,000m bronze medalist and American record holder Shalane Flanagan who is also considered an individual medal contender. Joining Flanagan will be four-time World Cross Country team member Renee Metivier Baillie, 2008 Olympic Marathoner Magdalena Lewy Boulet, 2009 USA Women‘s 10 km Champion Molly Huddle, 2009 USA Cross Country Champion Emily Brown and Amy Hastings, third-place finisher from the USA Cross Country Championships in Spokane. Leading the U.S. senior men‘s team will be 2010 USA Cross Country Championships runner-up Patrick Smyth. Smyth will team with three-time U.S. squad member Ryan Vail who represented Team USA first as a junior in St. Galmier, France in 2005 and returning as the top Team USA senior men‘s finisher in Amman, Jordan last year where he finished 33rd. Joining Smyth and Vail will be two-time USA Cross Country team members Scott Bauhs and Bobby Curtis with Ben Bruce and Bobby Mack. Writes USATF.
ROMA (ITA): Italy is sending 10 runners to Bydgoszcz. Full team only junior boys. In the senior category Martin Dematteis and Kaddour Slimani will run the men race and Elena Romagnolo the women one. Two female juniors running are Federica Bevilacqua and Anna Ceoloni.
LISBON (POR): Ana Dulce Felix withdrew from World CC team to Poland and will be replaced by Vanessa Fernandes.
OBERHOF (GER): Popular German pole vaulter Tim Lobinger will compete in a special contest. The WOK World Championships at the Oberhof ice-track. Plenty of German top personalities are competing in Wok what is a pan with convex bottom used for frying in Chinese cooking.
BERLIN (GER): Frankfurt Marathon winner Gilbert Kirwa is the top name for this years 30th BIG 25 Berlin. He will run the 25 km in the German capital on May 9. Kirwa is so far unbeaten in marathon after two races in Vienna and Frankfurt. It is expected that around 10 000 runners will compete. Kirwa runs this weekend the Seoul Marathon.
DUDINCE (SVK): Norways Berlin 50 km silver medalist Trond Nymark is the main entry for next weekends EA Walking Permit meet in Dudince, Slovakia. The “Dudinska patdesiatka†will have also top walkers from Poland for the 50 km in Rafal Fedaczynski and Rafal Augustyn. Ireland´s top 20 km walker world and olympic top 8 placer Robert Heffernan should make his debut at the distance. Best Slovak walker Matej Toth will contest at the 29th edition of the event on March 27 the 20 km.
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