PEARSON 11.20 AND 12.85

PERTH (AUS, Mar 31): Olympic silver medallist Sally Pearson has made her
play for the Australian Athletics Tour sprints/hurdles crown in Perth tonight,
with the Commonwealth champion one of many athletes benefitting from perfect
weather conditions on day one of the Go for 2&5 Australian Athletics Tour
Final. She clocked excellent 11.20 (+0.5) to win the 100 m and then world leading
12.85 (+0.6) at 100 m
hurdles. “I don’t know why 11.10 isn’t coming in the 100m, I got out of the
blocks strong and expected a little quicker tonight to be honest. Coming back
to the hurdles was great though, it’s always been my preferred event and
despite good results in flat sprints this domestic season it will be my focus
for world champs,” she was quoted by Athletics Australia. In the men’s 200 m it was Aaron-Rouge
Serret out in front as the Commonwealth Games 100 m finalist clocked 20.87
(+1.2). Jeff Riseley and Lachlan Renshaw blazed the straight in the men’s 800m
to bolster their chances for distance title supremacy. Stopping the clock at
1:47.95, Riseley edged out the national champion Renshaw (second, 1:48.20).
Estonian Maris Magi won the women’s 400 m in a time of 52.90, just ahead of 15-time
national champion Tamsyn Lewis (52.99). Kane Brigg improved hugely to win the
the triple jump (16.97, +1.1). National champions Benn Harradine (62.76) and
Dani Samuels (62.20) have dominated the men’s and women’s discus throw. Russian
Sergey Kucherianu won the men’s pole vault (550). The finals will end on Friday
with expected long jump highlight (Watt vs. Lapierre) and return of Jana
Pittman-Rawlinson at 400 m
hurdles.

GAY VS. POWELL TWICE

LONDON (GBR): After Bolt-Powell in Rome another clash of world´s top sprinters
is announced. Gay vs. Powell will happen even twice on British soil. Former 100 m world record holder
Asafa Powell and the world’s fastest man of 2010, Tyson Gay, will go
head-to-head at both the Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix on 10 July and the Aviva
London Grand Prix on 5-6 August. Athletics fans will hope for a repeat of last
July at the Aviva British Grand Prix in Gateshead,
where the American saw off Powell by just 0.02secs to win in a superb 9.94.
Although a planned rematch at Crystal Palace saw Powell forced to withdraw through injury,
Gay recorded the fastest time in the world of 2010 in front of the London crowd. The
announcement of the double UK showdown marks 100 days to go until the pair race
at the Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix, the first ever Samsung Diamond League meet
to be held in the city and the opening Aviva Series outdoor event of 2011.
Organizers are saying in a release. It was in Gateshead, five years ago, that
Powell set the then world record of 9.77 and his time still stands as the
fastest to be witnessed on UK
soil. But with Gay having clocked 9.78 in London
last summer the Jamaican knows his competition is hot on his heels. Alexander
Stadium did not register yet a sub 10 time. To celebrate Powell and Gay running
at the Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix, Goldfingers, a graffiti performance group
created in Birmingham,
created a wall mural of the pair in action. The mural will be on display in Victoria Square on
Friday 1 April. The head-to-head of Gay vs. Powell is 8:7 in favor of the US sprinter who
won last four clashes. And interestingly in every race this two sprinters
competed together a sub 10 was achieved. From their duels only one was staged
in UK before, the mentioned Gateshead race last year. With the help of Tilastopaja.

BORLEE TWINS PLANS

BRUSSELS (BEL) : The Borlée brothers have revealed
their competition schedule ahead of the World Championships in Daegu. Both
Kevin and Jonathan will run individual schedules and will only be seen together
at the European Team championships and the KBC night in Heusden. Jonathan will
run the Diamond League in Rome (400m), Rabat (200m), Paris Diamond League (400m) and Stockholm (400m).
European 400m champion Kevin will be seen in the Eugene Diamond League (400m),
New York (400m), Lausanne (400m), Madrid (400 m) and London (400m). In the European Team
Championships they will both run the 200m, 400m and the 4x400m. The brothers
are currently on a training camp in Florida.

JAPANESE MARATHON
TEAM

TOKYO (JPN): The Japanese athletics federation,
announced after an delay the line-up for the men’s marathon team forWorld
Championships in Daegu. Brett Larner writes that the team is a strong one,
inexperienced but fresh, with 2010 Asian Games silver medalist Yukihiro Kitaoka
and the 3rd and 4th place finishers from both the 2011 Tokyo Marathon and 2011
Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Yuki Kawauchi, Yoshinori Oda, Hiroyuki Horibata
and Kentaro Nakamoto. All but Kitaoka have personal bests under 2:10 set this
year. No alternate was officially named. Also formally confirmed for the women’s
team was defending World Championships silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki who
secured a place by winning the 2011 Yokohama International Women’s Marathon in a course record 2:23:56. The remaining four
women will be named following next month’s Boston Marathon, with the leading
current contenders being, in order, 2011 Osaka International Women’s Marathon
winner Yukiko Akaba, 2011 Yokohama runner-up Remi Nakazato and 2011 Osaka
runner-up Mai Ito.

OTHER NEWS

PRAGUE (CZE): Rose
Kosgei of Kenya is
looking for a third consecutive victory in the women’s section of Hervis
Prague
half-marathon on Saturday (IAAF Gold Label race). But the one-time world
junior
1500 metres
silver medallist (in 2000) knows she will have the hardest time of the
last
three years; since she will have compatriot and former world junior
cross
country champion, Lydia Cheromei alongside on the start-line. “Lydia is
strong, and is running very well at the moment, so I think it is going
to be
very difficult,” said Kosgei at a press conference. From an entry of 950
for
the inaugural event 12 years ago to 9500 (with over 2000 turned away)
this year
is a success story if its own, and now the organisers would dearly love
to have
a ‘Lucky 13th’ with a men’s sub-60mins. Accordingly they have lined up
three
men who have already done it. Fastest man in the field, Azmeraw Bekele
of Ethiopia put his 59.39 in The Hague three weeks ago into perspective.
Asked to contrast running two marathons in three weeks, with two
half-marathons, he replied, “Our 20k runs in training are as hard as a
half-marathon. With God’s help, I will win the race, and break the
course
record”. That incidentally belongs to Kenyan Nicholas Koech (60.07
2009), who
had to drop out earlier this week with an ankle injury. But compatriots,
Jairus
Chanchima, 59.43 in
Lille 2009, and Titus Kwemboi, 59.51
in Ras Al Khaimah 2010, should be ample substitutes.
Writes Pat Butcher.

LAUSANNE (SUI): French marathon record holder
Christelle Daunay is set to start in the Hervis Prague Half Marathon (IAAF Gold
Label Road Race) on April 2nd. Daunay does not run the half marathon in
preparation of a full marathon as she is only aiming to compete in a marathon
in the autumn. Daunay will focus this year on the 10.000m, 10K and half
marathons. In particular she has the French 10.000m record in her sights writes
European Athletics. The record stands at 31:42.83.

BERLIN (GER): Pole vaulter Tim Lobinger’s adventure
in dancing is over. The German athlete took part in the German television show
let’s dance but was eliminated in the second round of the show.

LONDON (GBR): Officials for London 2012 say London’s subway network
will extend its hours during next year’s Olympic Games.The London tube trains
will run as late as 2 a.m.
during the summer games or an hour later than normal. Extra trains from Olympic
events in east London
will also be added for the busy nighttime hours writes Reuters.

KINGSTON (JAM): One of the light towers of the Kingston national stadium
caught fire on Wednesday night. The extent of the damage could not be
determined yet but the Boys and Girls champs could be affected in ways of
television coverage reports trackalerts.

LAUSANNE (SUI): AIPS is seeking a fresh approach to
sports journalism and new media that can guide International and National
Sports Federations. The New Media policy was unveiled at the recenty-concluded
74th annual AIPS congress in Seoul.

KAWASAKI (JPN): After large areas of Japan’s northern Pacific coast have
been swamped by a devastating tsunami, engulfing entire towns following a major
offshore quake at the beginning of March, many cultural and sport events had to
be cancelled or relocated from the country. However, according to the news
provided by the organizers, the JAAF has decided to hold the Kawasaki Super
Meet as scheduled (8 May). It will be a “charity” event for the victims of the Japan disaster.
The 3rd of the 2011 IAAF World Challenge meetings is also a part of the Hammer
Throw Challenge as the Golden Grand Prix Kawasaki.

DURBAN (RSA): Top paralympian Oscar Pistorius will
compete at the South African Championships to be held on April 8-9 in Durban. He recently improved to sensational
45.61 at 400 m
and could win his first national title among the able-bodied athletes. Depends
whether the world leader LJ Van Zyl will run the flat race. Pistorius plans to
compete in the 400 m
and 4×400 m relay.

NAIROBI (KEN): Kenyan media are informing that the
second NBK/AK Track and Field meeting will be held on Friday and Saturday in
Narok. More than 1000 athletes are expected to compete. From top runners
Richard Mateelong and Edwin Soi are in the line-up.

RESULTS

KINGSTON (JAM, Mar 30): During first day out of four at 101st
Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls’
Jamaican Championships at the National Stadium in the oldest Class 1 boys 200 m heats the fastest was
Julian Forte with 21.49 against strong -4.1 wind. Ramone Bailey won the long
jump (754, 0.0).

CAIRO (EGY, Mar 29): Egyptian thrower Hassan Mahmoud
improved his hammer best here to 74.30 m.