2011 Samsung DL: Doha Preview, by Alfons Juck, note by Larry Eder

ALLYSON FELIX: “I just really love coming here. “The people are
friendly, I love the culture, and it’s always warm here. Being from
California, I love the sunshine. It’s a great place to open your season
where you can count on that great warm weather.” Felix said she’s not
starting with a particular time in mind, but said that a sub-50-second
performance was not out of the realm of possibility.

RENAUD LAVILLENIE: French European champion expressed cautious optimism
for his outdoor season opener. “My first goal is of course the World
Championships in Daegu but a big goal is of course the Diamond League,”
the 24-year-old said. “I won it last year and I want to win it again. Of
course another new national record is a goal too. I took three weeks of
holidays and after that I came back to training. Preparation has been
going well and I’m looking forward to the competition.”

TEDDY TAMGHO: “Yes I’m confident,” he said, “but I have to stay focused
on my work and train hard to jump further than 17.92, or 17.98 which
I’ve jumped outdoors.” “(The World record) is not a question for me
because I know that when I jump that, it will happen. I’m just letting
the time fly. With my coach we are working to do 18 metres. I f I can
beat the World record, I’m going to do it. But distances aren’t his
primary concern. First, I want to win all my competitions. Then I’m
going to focus on my marks and distances.”

ANDREAS THORKILDSEN: “In the first competition it’s always difficult to
tell what the whole season will be like,” he said. “Hopefully I’ll be
ready for something big. I’ve done well in practice. Depending on the
conditions, it would be nice to throw a ninety-metre plus.”

ASBEL KIPROP: Said that when he will not break 3:30 this season he will quit the 1500 m and move to 5000 m.

WITHDRAWALS: German pole vaulter and World junior champion 2008 Raphael
Holzdeppe did not come due to hamstring injury. Also not coming Russians
high jump olympic winner Andrey Silnov and steeple European champion
Yulia Zarudneva.

RUSSIAN NEWS


ISINBAYEVA: Head-coach Valentin Maslakov said pole vault world record
holder Yelena Isinbayeva will be competing at the national championships
in July in Cheboksary. That will happen for first time in last five
years. This year there are no exceptions for her currently planned and
she must go through the qualification process. That is top two from
nationals and one athlete selected by coaches per event.

SAVINOVA: Barcelona 800 m winner Mariya Savinova plans to run the
Bislett Games in Oslo on June 9 as her first main race of the year. She
also revealed she wants to qualify in 4×400 m relay to World
Championships in Daegu.

KANISKINA: Reigning world, olympic and European winner Olga Kaniskina
after two wins at IAAF Race Walking Challenge events will have now a
break and continue with training for World Championships. As title
defender she has a wild card and must not go through the qualification
process. “Now we will be back in training, with Borchin and Kirdyapkin
we will not compete at European Cup. Next competition will be in Daegu
and after that the series finals in La Coruna,” she said.

Gay to open on the street

MANCHESTER (GBR): Finally the first meet of 2011 for US sprint star
Tyson Gay is confirmed. 2007 double world champion will return
to compete at the Powerade ION4 Great CityGames in Manchester on May
15. The world’s fastest 100m sprinter last summer, will race over 150m
on a specially constructed track at the innovative street meeting,
taking place for the third successive occasion on Deansgate in front of
the BBC cameras. Gay, with his season still to gather momentum, isn’t
setting himself any targets – particularly challenging the world 150m
best of 14.35sec which Bolt achieved at the inaugural meeting. “I’m just
looking forward to coming back to Manchester and I want to perform as
well as I did last year, but my primary goal is to just get my first
competition of the year in the books,” said the quiet man of world
sprinting. Last year en route to his victory he passed through 150 m in
14.41. Marlon Devonish, who set a British record of 14.88sec when
runner-up behind Bolt in 2009 and European 200m silver medalist
Christian Malcolm, lead the domestic challenge. Portugal’s former
Olympic 100m silver medalist Francis Obikwelu, a surprise winner of this
year’s European Indoor 60m title, will also be in the field. Organizers are informing in a release.

All top ones named

NAIROBI (KEN): Boston Marathon winner and the fastest ever marathoner
Geoffrey Mutai, has been named in the star-studded Kenyan marathon team
to IAAF World Championships in Daegu. He will lead a strong team of 10
marathoners who include Moses Mosop, who finished runner up in Boston
last month and London Marathon winner Emmanuel Mutai. In the team
released by Athletics Kenya (AK) on Wednesday, Boston Marathon women
winner Caroline Kilel and London Marathon women winner Mary Keitany have
also been included in the women team for the global championships. “We
have decided to initially pick a team of 10 marathoners each for the men
and women team, but the number would be slashed to five marathoners in
each category,” said AK Chairman Isaiah Kiplagat. Informs East Standard.
Others named in the team are Rotterdam Marathon winner Vincent Kipruto
and Paris Marathon winner Benjamin Kiptoo and their women counterparts
Priscah Jeptoo and Philes Ongori who won Paris women Marathon and
Rotterdam women marathon respectively. “We will need written
confirmation from their agents by May 10 and explanations to those not
willing to honour the call,” said Kiplagat.

OTHER NEWS


BERLIN (GER): Half a dozen world records were broken at the BIG 25
Berlin so far. It was a year ago, when Germany’s oldest big city road
race had its greatest day regarding winning times. Both 25 k world
records were smashed. It remains a unique achievement in road running
that the men’s and the women’s marks were improved in one race. While
Kenya’s Sammy Kosgei clocked 1:11:50 his fellow countrywoman Mary
Keitany finished with the first sub 1:20 time ever (1:19:53). When the
31st edition will be started this Sunday fast times can again be
expected. Adding a 10 k and a 5×5 k relay event around 10,000 runners
are expected to take part in the BIG 25 Berlin. Kenyan favorite is 33
year-old William Kipsang, who celebrated his biggest win so far in 2008.
The Kenyan took the Rotterdam Marathon with 2:05:49. While he also won
the marathons in Amsterdam (2003) and Seoul (2005) he will race the 25 k
distance for the first time on Sunday. Eliud Kiptanui made an
astonishing breakthrough when he won the Prague Marathon a year ago with
a course record of 2:05:39. He recently finished fourth in the
Rotterdam Marathon with 2:09:04, suffering of stomach problems during
the race. Tujuba Beyu is the most likely runner to spoil the Kenyan
party in Berlin. The Ethiopian has been entered with a half marathon
best of 59:43 minutes. 
The women’s race will feature a former winner of the BIG 25 Berlin:
Filomena Chepchirchir had taken the race in 2007 with 1:25:38. A year
later the Kenyan was second, although improving to 1:24:55. 29 year-old
Filomena Chepchirchir showed fine form a couple of weeks ago. She won
the Den Hague half marathon in a personal best of 69:06. Organizers are informing in a release.
 
BAD LANGENSALZA (GER): Special long jump meeting in Germany on July 2
offers European gold medalist Christian Reif and current world leader
and world medalist Mitchell Watt from Australia. Also entered is
European indoor champion Sebastian Bayer.

BIRMINGHAM (GBR): Great Britain’s Olympic 400 m champion Christine
Ohuruogu will renew her fierce rivalry with current World champion Sanya
Richards-Ross at both the Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix and Aviva London
Grand Prix this summer. In an epic rematch of the most recent Olympic
and World 400m finals, the pair will go head to head first at
Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium on 10 July, before making their way to
the capital to match up at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre on
5-6 August. The decorated 400m duo first met at Crystal Palace back in
2005 and have amassed a staggering nine major championship gold medals
between them.
 
NEW YORK (USA):  The two fastest men in history at 10 km on the road,
Kenyans Leonard Patrick Komon and Micah Kogo, will go head-to-head at
the UAE Healthy Kidney 10K on Saturday, May 14, in Central Park to
compete for a $25,000 first-place prize, the biggest winner’s purse at
any 10K race in the world, it was announced today by New York Road
Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg. Pushing Komon and Kogo in New
York will be fellow Kenyan stars Moses Masai and Simon Ndirangu.
Leading the challenge from the rising stars will be American Bobby
Curtis who recently became the seventh-fastest American of all time at
10,000 meters when he ran 27:24.67 to finish second at the Payton Jordan
Invitational last weekend.  Fresh Australian 10 km record holder Ben
St. Lawrence will also run.

NEW YORK (USA): A trio of reigning World Champions highlight the latest
roster of top athletes heading to New York for the 2011 adidas Grand
Prix on June 11, organizers announced. Allyson Felix, three-time World
Champion at 200 meters; Kerron Clement, two-time champion in the
400-meter hurdles; and Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, the surprise 2009 victor at
800 meters, will all be making their return to Icahn Stadium.  Felix
will be challenged by Sherone Simpson of Jamaica and US runners Shalonda
Solomon and Bianca Knight. Clement´s opponents include Javier Culson
and Bershawn Jackson. Mulaudzi who was suffering with an injury, will
face 21-year-old sensation Abubaker Kaki of Sudan.

OTTAWA (CAN): New series, The National Track League (NTL) is excited to
confirm that Perdita Felicien, the 2007 World Championship silver
medallist and two-time Olympian, will compete in three of five 2011 NTL
meets.

KINGSTON (JAM): Back to competing at Jamaican Invitational in Kingston
on Saturday will be 400 m runner Ricardo Chambers. The world and olympic
semifinalist improved last year to 44.54. He is coming back from injury
as is coming back from surgery the national record holder Jermaine
Gonzales. Chambers needs to test where he is in his training. Writes
Racers TC Blog. “I am not chasing any time,” says Ricardo. “I just want
to focus and execute and see where I am.” Great field will be assembled
in women 100 m with Carmelita Jeter, Kerron Stewart, Sherone Simpson,
Marshevet Myers and Kelly Baptiste. In the 200 m Veronica Campbell-Brown
is the top name, among her rivals most probably Shelly-Ann
Fraser-Pryce.

MONTE CARLO (MON): The IAAF announced that 201 of the 212
IAAF Member Federations have declared their intention to participate
at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu. As always there will be a
huge prize purse on offer, with the IAAF
paying a grand total of US$7,336,000, distributed as in past years
for top 8 individuals and relays. The IAAF World Marathon Cup which is
incorporated into the IAAF
World Championships offers an additional total prize purse of
US$142,000 for top 6 teams. Also 100 000 USD bonus for world record
will be offered.

RESULTS


NOUMEA (FRA, May 4): Injured fingers on his right hand prevented
Auckland shot-put sensation Jacko Gill from breaking his world junior
(under-20) record in Noumea on Wednesday. Gill, 16, injured the fingers
in training last week and had to compete through pain and was
understandably down on his best effort with the six-kilogram junior
shot. In spite of the injury, caused by the shot rolling over his
fingers, he still managed a best of 20.96, compared with his world best
21.34m. NZ media are writing.

BUENOS AIRES (ARG, May 4): South American record holder Jenny Dahlgren
achieved at South American GP meet 70.69 in hammer throw. Youth Olympic
Games winner Braian Toledo got with senior javelin 75.22. Solid marks by
another Argentinian thrower German Lauro (19.80 shot and 62.77 discus).
Andres Silva of Uruguay won the 400 m hurdles in 50.76.

SAD NEWS


LOS ANGELES (USA): Runblogrun informs that Tom Sturak, one of the first
running promotions managers and agents in athletics, a man who first
worked at Nike and then, Reebok, passed away, peacefully, in his sleep
on the evening of Friday, April 29.