ZELEZNY AND HIS GROUP IN SA

POTCHEFSTROOM (RSA): Legendary olympic winner Jan Zelezny started on tuesday his usual training camp in Potchefstroom, South Africa. But not as athlete as many years before but as coach. His group of javelin throwers is one the highest qualities including world record holder Barbora Spotakova on the women side and trio of talented youngsters Petr Frydrych, Vitezslav Vesely and Jakub Vadlejch on the men side. They will stay in Africa until the second half of April.

 

KANTER DISCUS INDOORS

VAXJO (SWE): The already traditional long throwing indoor meeting World Throwing Indoor Challenge will be held this weekend in large Tipshallen of Vaxjo. All throws (weight throw instead of hammer) for ages from 11 to senior will be held over two days. The main attraction will be discus olympic winner Gerd Kanter of Estonia. He will challenge his own world indoor best 69.51 from 2009. Also to note the participation of Portugal shot put record holder Marco Fortes and German discus thrower Sabine Rumpf.

 

KIRANI - HOW FAST?

COLLEGE STATION (USA): The college US indoor season will climax on Friday and Saturday with NCAA first category championships in Gilliam Indoor Stadium of College Station. World level top marks could be expected mainly from Grenadan long sprint sensation Kirani James who already improved the junior indoor all-time best to 44.80 this season. Jeff Demps can attack the world leading 6.48 in the 60 m, world leads could be expected in men´s and women´s 200 m races. High level is also possible in men´s long jump and women 400 m.

 

GREAT VIEWING FIGURES

LAUSANNE (SUI): Provisional television viewing figures for the recently-concluded 31st European Athletics Indoor Championships are extremely encouraging, says European Athletics President Hansjörg Wirz. Informs European Athletics. Initial feedback from the European Broadcasting Union has seen strong live ratings reported in major television markets United Kingdom and France, along with impressive ratings in Sweden, Netherlands and Czech Republic. An impressive British team performance sparked interest among viewers, with BBC, the public-service broadcaster, registering average audiences of up to 1.53 million and 1.2 million for its live coverage on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. With Renaud Lavillenie turning on the style in the pole vault with a world-leading, national- and championship-record 6.03m effort on Saturday and Teddy Tamgho breaking the triple jump indoor world record with two 17.92-metre marks on Sunday, host broadcaster France Télévisions attracted average audiences of 1.2 million (11.8 percent market share) and 1.3 million (11.1 percent). Swedish Television had an average live audience of 580,000 (37.30 percent market share) on Saturday when Christian Olsson competed in the triple jump qualification. NED 1 in the Netherlands saw an average of up to 724,000 viewers tune in to live coverage on Saturday (25.10 percent market share) and up to 650,000 (19.70 percent) on Sunday. An average audience of up to 357,000 watched live coverage of Saturday's events on CT4 in the Czech Republic, with the market share reaching 20.81 percent as Denisa Rosolová won the women's 400m final in a personal-best time.

 

WILLIAMS REMAINS ON JUNIOR PLAN

BIRMINGHAM (GBR): British world junior sprinting champion Jodie Williams remains consistent in her attitude and said after Paris fourth place she is not planning to compete in Daegu. She has opted against receiving lottery funding to enable her to maintain control of when and where she runs. "I'm back at school this week which is going to be really strange--and I have a lot of work to catch up on," Williams, who even took her maths homework with her to Paris, told reporters. Her coach former sprinter Mike McFarlane said she will run at European Junior Championships instead. But London 2012 remains the goal.

 

FRENKEL WAS A DANCER

JERUSALEM (ISR): Jerusalem Post writes about the fast high jump career of Danielle Frenkel who finished fourth last weekend in Paris and improved in the qualification to 194 cm. What makes Danielle Frenkel's recent accomplishment all the more impressive is the remarkable progress she has shown in such a short period. Just four years ago, the then 19- year-old was still pursuing her dream of becoming a professional dancer after spending years with the Bat Dor Dance Company. The turning point in Frenkel's sporting life arrived two months into her army service as a guide at Yad Vashem. Writes the paper. Israeli high jump coach Anatoly Shafran had tried to lure Frenkel into an athletics career after seeing her jump in a high school competition at the young age of 14. But despite his initial failure, he remained in touch with Danielle and managed to convince her to give sports a serious shot after inviting her to compete in the Israel national championships. After clearing just 169 in 2007, Frenkel improved her personal best by six centimeters in each of the next two years, jumping 181 in 2009. She started her indoor campaign at Moravia High Jump Tour clearing 185 and 190 in Czech Republic what were her only international meetings before Paris.

 

 

 

OTHER NEWS

 

 

PRAGUE (CZE): During the press conference announcing Usain Bolt to compete in Ostrava for the fifth time also Puma Czech Republic announced its partnership with the meeting for the next two years.

 

BELVILLE (RSA): Caster Semenya the reigning World 800 metres champion will step down in distance and compete over 400m at the Yellow Pages Invitation meeting in Cape Town/Belville on Thursday. Not at 3000 m as it was originally announced.

 

PRAGUE (CZE): Best current Czech pole vaulter and world indoor finalist Michal Balner underwent a surgery on his hand this week. After he broke the pole during his jump in Donetsk indoor jumping the remainder of the pole injured his hand heavily. After more examinations at home doctors found out that his thumb was broken on several places and the surgery was needed. He will have another five weeks of rehabilitation, only after that he can start with slow training.

 

BALTIMORE (USA): World Express Athletic Management releases its new and improved website to highlight its athletes and their performances throughout the track season. Fans, meet directors and media outlets are invited to: http://www.worldexpressmgmt.com. Top client of the group is the long jump world champion Brittney Reese.

 

BERLIN (GER) : German hurdler Willi Mathiszik has returned to training with his former coach Peter Schörling. Mathiszik hasn't been able to compete in 2010 and the past indoor season due to an injury but believes returning to his old coach will help him back into competing on an international level. His main goal is to qualify for the IAAF World championships in Daegu later this year.

 

LONDON (GBR): The 2011 BT British Olympic Ball will be held on Friday October 7 announces Insidethegames. The event is Team Great Britain's signature fundraising event in support of its athletes, and is particularly crucial to the team's hopes of improving on their performance at the 2008 games in Beijing as they rely exclusively upon private funding. the British Olympic Association has revealed that it is facing a shortfall of up to 5 million pounds in preparing the team for London 2012.

 

MONACO (MON): Steve Hooker has given an update on his situation in his latest IAAF online diary. Hooker, who decided to skip the indoor season, has been closely following international pole vaulting and thinks the level of pole vaulting will be raised this year to 6-7 athletes jumping at least 580. Although currently not competing, Hooker reveals himself as an excellent follower of the sport in his diary.

 

LONDON (GBR): Police raided a used furniture store in south London on Tuesday in a crackdown against illegal ticket sales ahead of the 2012 Olympics. Police arrested a suspect and seized soccer tickets as it was one of several operations carried out in London and southwest England, leading to a total of five arrests. While the raids weren't directed at fake or unauthorized Olympic ticket sales that go on sale March 15 but are intended to send a message to those planning to fraud the Olympic tickets writes Universal Sports.

 

DUSSELDORF (GER): Organizers of PSD Bank Meeting in Dusseldorf which was held on February 11 this year informed about excellent outcome of the event. Also the survey among the spectators showed high ratings of satisfaction. For example 97 percent of the spectators were satisfied with sporting level of the meeting. Also 96 percent said that the atmosphere in the hall was excellent. A high 85 percent said they will come back next year. The most watched event was the 60 m Hurdles because of Chinese star Liu Xiang, the race itself was won by Czech Petr Svoboda who became later the European gold medalist.

 

CHRISTCHURCH (NZL): The QEII stadium in Christchurch has been closed indefinitely because of damage sustained in the earthquake that hit Christchurch a few weeks ago. The 20.000 capacity venue was built for the 1974 Commonwealth Games is now waiting assessment by structural engineers before any decision about reopening the stadium will be taken. The earthquake hit less than a month after the conclusion of the International Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championships that were held in the QEII stadium writes Insidethegames.

 

PARIS (FRA): A record number of athletes have joined the French athletics association this year. A total of 210 467 athletes are member of a club.

 

REIMS (FRA): French walker Yohann Diniz will attack the world record 50.000 m race walking on a track at his club in Reims on Saturday March 12. The world record belongs to Thierry Toutain who clocked 3:40.57.9 in 1996 and is currently the only outdoor world record held by a French athlete.

 

ARNHEM (NED): The Dutch Olympic Committee NOC*NSF has decided to put forward the Seven Hills race for the IOC Sport and Environment award. The IOC wants to stimulate the use of sustainable venues for sport events. The Seven hills race, that has been organized since 1984 in Nijmegen, pays attention to collection carbage during the race and saving energy when organizing the event, they also aim at making the event a climate neutral event. The IOC will hand out the award during the World Conference on sport and the environment in Qatar on April 30th.

 

LAUSANNE (SUI) : In an interview with European Athletics heptathlon gold medalist Andrei Krauchanka explained he had a dream before the European championships that if he were to win the gold medal in Paris he would have to respond to the attack of a Frenchman in the 1000m, which is exactly what happened in Paris. Krauchanka, besides having tattoos running down his legs symbolizing the 10 decathlon events, also has a car registration number featuring 9000 and his telephone number ends in his personal best decathlon score of 8617.

 

LAUSANNE (SUI): European Athletics will sign a proclamation affirming its support and affinity to Special Olympics Europe Eurasia (SOEE), the Europe mission of Special Olympics International. Under the partnership both organisation will promote their partnership via their communication channels of website, newsletter, publications and during events confirmed European Athletics.

 

LONDON (GBR): The London Assembly has described the total of 14,000 London 2012 tickets that have been reserved for Government officials and politicians as "excessive", and is insisting that all public bodies "show restraint" when bidding for preferential access to tickets, and also publish a register of tickets received writes Insidethegames. They warn that public confidence could be damaged if government bodies buy too many tickets or fail to publicly account for them.

 

LONDON (GBR): The British Olympic Association (BOA) has referred to the IOC to make a decision over the shortfall in BOA's funding for next year's London Olympic Games and whether London 2012 should help close the gap. The BOA needs to find up to 8 million dollar to help it meet its obligations for next year's Games. It was London 2012 Chairman Sebastian Coe, that decided to ask the IOC to get involved because of the pressure he was coming under from the BOA to renegotiate the Joint Marketing Agreement (JMA) between the Organising Committee and the BOA writes insidethegames.

 

NAGOYA (JPN): Brett Larner informs that at a press conference in Nagoya organizers of the 2011 World Championships in Daegu informed about the course for the men's and women's marathons. The women's marathon will take place on the first day of competition, Aug. 27, with the men's race set for the the final day, Sept. 4. Both races will begin at 9 a.m. From a start point in the city center the marathon course will cover two circuits of a 15 km loop before finishing on a 12.195 km loop. Organizing committee director Zo He Nyon commented, "The course is very flat, meaning we can look forward to excellent performances."

 

SYDNEY (AUS): American and world championships silver medalist Chelsea Johnson and Commonwealth Games gold medalist Alana Boyd headline the women's pole vault at next weekend's Sydney Track Classic. Boyd just last weekend sailed over 460 to claim the win claims second on the Australian all-time pole vault list.

 

WARSZAWA (POL): Fresh European champion in pole vault Anna Rogowska donated one of the golden poles to the Kamila Skolimowska Foundation. This foundation is helping young athletes who need help after injuries and health problems.

 

LAUSANNE (SUI): Throughout February many of the top European athletes were putting in their final preparations for the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Paris. Since the championships were held in the first week of March, European Athletics has decided to include the performances at Paris 2011 for the polls for the month of February. A number of European records, national records and personal bests were registered during Paris 2011, national indoor championships and other indoor meetings across the continent. Following this, European Athletics is pleased to announce the nominations for the European Athlete of the Month for February representing 12 countries. The voting will close on Friday 18 March at noon CET.

 

 

 

PUNTA UMBRIA NEWS

 

 

BIRMINGHAM (GBR): Charlotte Purdue the reigning European Junior Cross Country champion will lead the Aviva Great Britain and Northern Ireland women's team at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships on March 20. Purdue after an exemplary season culminating by becoming the youngest winner of the UK senior World Cross Trial in 20 years in Birmingham last weekend is part of a 24-strong competing in Punta Umbria. Andy Vernon who scored a third successive trials win heads the men's squad in Spain at the Championships where Kenya has been preparing to repeat its clean sweep of all of the titles for the last fortnight. UK is sending full teams for all four races.

 

MADRID (ESP): Spain is sending full team to the IAAF World Cross Country championships at home in Punta Umbria. Top names are Ayad Lamdassem, Arturo Casado and Antonio Jimenez on the men's team and European champion Nuria Fernandez and Alesandra Aguilar on the women's team. Men: Ayad Lamdassem, Antonio Jimenez, Youssef Aakaou, Arturo Casado, Carles Castillejo, Ricardo Serrano. Women: Nuria Fernandez, Diana Martin, Gema Barrachina, Jacqueline Martin, Alba Garcia, Alessandra Aguilar. Junior men: Daniel Arce, Gabriel Navarro, Fernando Carro, Karim Achengli, Angel Ronco, Victro Puyuelo. Junior women: Blanca Fernandez, Irene Sanchez-Escribano, Beatriz Caspar, Jose Perez, Sara Ruiz, Patricia Cueto.

 

FRANKFURT (GER): Steeple specialist Steffen Uliczka was selected as the only German runner for the IAAF World CC Championships in Punta Umbria. He competed also at the end of the year at European CC event and achieved a solid 12th position.

 

 

 

SOFIA NEWS

 

 

WARSZAWA (POL): Poland is sending 5 athletes for European Cup Winter Throwing in Sofia. The best is javelin thrower Pawel Rakoczy with 79.73 best.

 

FRANKFURT (GER): Hammer European champion Betty Heidler is the top name in German selection for Sofia. She will travel to Bulgaria as title defender. In shot put European indoor silver winner Christina Schwanitz with Josephine Terlecki are the main names. The senior team - women - SP: Schwanitz, Terlecki, DT: Rumpf, Giesa, HT: Heidler, Klaas, JT: Eisenlauer. Men - SP: Hoppe, Dippl, DT: Munch, Wolf, HT: Rautenkranz

 

 

 

RESULTS

 

 

BRISBANE (AUS, Feb 25): Paul Jenes informs about a missed performance when Mitchell Watt jumped 813 in Brisbane on the 25th Feb. He beat Henry Frayne 7.65m. Frayne who is getting close to 17m in the triple is the nephew of Bruce Frayne 1984 Olympic 400m semi-finalist and has moved to Queensland to be coached by Mitch Watt's coach Gary Bourne.

 

SYDNEY (AUS, Mar 10): William White and Elliott Lang have been first to impress at the Australian Junior Athletics Championships first day where almost 2000 athletes are set to compete across a five day showcase of up and coming Australian track and field talent. They achieved 71.56 and 71.23 in the javelin.

 

 

 

SAD NEWS

 

 

KIROV (RUS): RusAthletics.com informs about the death of former succesfull decathloner Grigoriy Degtyarov at age of 52. In 1984 he scored national record and won in Gotzis. In 1986 Degtyarov won the Goodwill Games and his Russian record 8698 from 1984 is still valid. After his career he worked as coach, was chairman of regional sports commission and worked at the university here. In 2009 he got the honorary citizenship of Kirov.

 

NEW YORK (USA): RRW informs about a sad story. The winner of the women's division of last January's P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon, Sally Meyerhoff, was killed in a cycling accident in Arizona, according to several published reports. Meyerhoff, who was 27 and lived in Maricopa, Ariz., failed to yield at a stop sign and was struck by a pickup truck. Reports say she was killed instantly. With her long red hair, usually in pigtails, and her penchant for wearing running skirts, Meyerhoff stood out in elite fields. Bigger than most runners, Meyerhoff also dabbled in triathlons, and had qualified for last year's Ironman World Championships as an amateur. In college, Meyerhoff ran for Duke University where she won several ECAC titles, including the 5000-meters outdoors in 2004, and the 3000-meters indoors in 2005. She had career best times of 33:03.19 for 10,000m, 1:12:52 for the half-marathon, and 2:35:49 for the marathon.