Some fun races to look forward at Friday’s Herculis Monaco Meeting, numero 10 of the 12 Samsung Diamond League 2011 meetings!

BOLT AND MANY MORE HIGLIGHTS

MONACO (MON): Samsung Diamond League continues with
10th meet of the season Herculis in Monaco. Superb Mediterranean
weather could help excellent fields to attack world leads and meet records.
Debut by Usain Bolt in the Municipality as runner (he was there for World
Athletics Gala in 2008 and 2009) is the highlight.

Event by event preview

men

100 m: Usain Bolt in his third and last 100 m before Daegu. Other
five with sub 10 this year waiting on him (Europeans Lemaitre, Ndure, US
Rodgers, Jamaicans Carter and Frater). Meet record is 9.82.

800 m: David Rudisha and another solo expected.

1500 m: The only non-DL event but superb quality with Silas Kiplagat
with fresh WL from Nairobi
returning to the place where he last year clocked 2010 WL. Kaki running his
first big 1500 m.
First years sub 3:30 possible.

5000 m: Top field of the year, WL very possible, Ethiopians fighting for
Daegu qualification, but Bernard Lagat and Mo Farah are the names to watch. Or
Solinsky or Kenyans? Meet record for sure (13:06.36 Aouita, 1989).

Steeple: Three K: Kipruto, Kemboi, Koech. First years sub 8 or will they
watch each other?

400H: Van Zyl is back, US Daegu bound trio there and best European
Greene. Van Zyl loves it here.

PV: Return of Hooker. Lavillenie and Mohr others to watch.

TJ: Idowu against revelation of last weekend El-Sheryf. Meet record
17.42 should go.

SP: Armstrong vs. Cantwell. Another meet record 21.46 should be broken.

women

200 m: Felix in her first race since US Trials.

400 m: Montsho wants to continue in her winning streak.

1500 m: All the best here, first sub 4 of the year is real (Burka, Jamal
and mainly Uceny having nice unbeaten streak).

100mH: Pearson to prove her position against Wells, Carruthers and
Harper who runs for first time since Eugene.

HJ: Vlasic in a solo without Russians.

LJ: Reese vs. Klishina, that is the duel.

DT: DR leader Barrios is the name to watch.

JT: Obergfoll vs. Spotakova, this time without Abakumova who has
national champs. Meet record 67.20 under threat.

HOOKER IS NOT THINKING HIGH

MONACO (MON): World and Olympic champion Steve Hooker
believes the pole vault competition is wide open this year, as he prepares to
compete for the first time on Friday at Herculis since winning Commonwealth
gold in New Delhi
last October. Hooker has spent the last month in London, finalising his training for the
season while also keeping one eye on preparations for the Olympics. And while
he is modest about his own expectations from his first competition in 2011, the
29-year-old is also well aware that none of his rivals have dominated the event
in his absence. European champion Renaud Lavillenie (FRA) currently leads the
Diamond Race and has been the most consistent of the leading pack, having won in
Paris, Lausanne and Rome but also having fallen foul to a no height in New
York.Former world champion Brad Walker (USA) cleared the world’s leading mark
of 5.84m last month, but has yet to win a Samsung Diamond League event. Walker,
Lavillenie and Hooker will be joined in Monaco tomorrow night by Malte Mohr
(GER) and Romain Mesnil (FRA). Hooker said: “[The move to London] It’s worked
really well, we are based in South London and I’m happy with how everything has
gone over the past couple of weeks, but I’m just looking forward to competition
really. I’ve got pretty limited expectations, the main goal is to get the swing
of being in a competition again – it’s been nine months. I’m not thinking about
jumping high, I’m thinking about entering the competition at a low height to
try and jump a lot of heights. That’s the goal, have as many jumps as I can and
get back into the swing of competition.” Informs Athletics Australia.

WORLD JUNIOR RECORD AT THE START

TALLIN (EST, Jul 21): First session of 21st European Junior
Championships was highlighted by world junior record in the 10 000 m track walking by
Russian Yelena Lashmanova 42:59.48. Former mark by another Russian Vera
Sokolova 43:11.34 at the European Junior Championships 2005 in Kaunas. Best road mark is 41:57 by Chinese
Gao Hongmiao in 1993. There are also not ratified faster times 42:49.7 by Gao
Hongmiao in 1992 on the track and 41:52 by Tatyana Mineyeva in 2009 on the
road. Russian success was completed with all medal places, second Svetlana
Vasilyeva 44:52.98 and third Anna Yermina 46:49.00. Sweden´s Elias Hakansson
was the best in boys hammer qualification 74.03, British favorite Jodie
Williams was the fastest in the girls 100 m (11.55, -0.7) and Hungarian record holder
Marcell Deak-Nagy was the best in the 400 m heats (47.05). Best in shot put boys
qualification the Polish favorite Kryzsztof Brzozowski (19.55).

FAST HEAT TIMES

CHEBOKSARY (RUS, Jul 21): Fastest heat times during first
session of the first day at Russian National Championships in the men´s 100 m 10.52 by Aleksandr
Brednev (0.0) and Anton Yurtayev (+0.1). In the 400 m 47.15 by Konstantin
Svechkar. Higher quality as usual in women heats. Yulia Gushchina clocked 11.30
(0.0) and in the 400 m
sub 52 by Antonina Krivoshapka in race 4 (51.77) and Yelena Migunova in race 1
(51.97). In pole vault qualification major name to fail was Viktor Chistyakov
who no-heighted at 540 cm.

OTHER NEWS

FRANKFURT (GER) : German high jumper Ariane Friedrich is the godmother
of a new born Sumatran tiger at the Frankfurt
zoo. Friedrich called it a great honor to be the godmother of one of the two
cups that were recently born.

BERLIN (GER): German 60m vice champion Martin Keller
has withdrawn from this weekend’s German national championships and will end
the 2011 season. Keller has been held back by injuries and want to start
preparation for next year’s European championships and Olympic Games.

GOTHA (GER): European U23 shot put champion David Storl is aiming to throw
21.50 when competing at the German meeting in Gotha on August 13th. The meeting record, set
by Ralf Bartels in 2005, currently stands at 21.17. Bartels, as well as Olympic
champion Tomasz Majewski will also compete. Nadine Kleinert is set to compete
in the women’s shot put.

KINGSTON (JAM): Jamaican long jump champion Jovanee
Jarrett has resumed training three weeks after she dislocated her shoulder at
the Jamaican national championships. Jarrett landed badly in the pit causing
her to injure her shoulder writes trackalerts.

LONDON (GBR): Celebrations to mark ‘One Year to Go’ until the start of
London 2012 Olympic Games will include the unveiling of the Olympic medals at a
special event in Trafalgar Square. The guest of honour at the event due to be
broadcast Wednesday July 27 will be International Olympic Committee (IOC)
President Jacques Rogge, who will join London Mayor Boris Johnson, in
officially inviting the world to compete at the Games reports Insidethegames.

MADRID (ESP): Madrid’s
bid to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics was officially given the go-ahead
by the City Council, despite opposition from two smaller parties who claimed
that Spain’s
current economic crisis meant that the plan should be dropped writes
Insidethegames.

LONDON (GBR): Sebastian Coe has welcomed the
qualification of South African amputee Oscar Pistorius and described his
participation as a ‘fascinating’ prospect for the London 2012 Olympic Games
when interviewed by AFP.

OTTAWA (CAN): The Panamerican Junior Athletics
Championships begin tomorrow in Miramar,
Florida at the Ansin Sports
Complex. Fifty-Seven junior aged athletes from Canada will take to the
international stage looking for personal best and podium performances. Aaron
Brown of Toronto,
Ont., is looking to continue his strong year in the 100-metres. In the men’s
400-metres Tremaine Harris of Markham,
Ont., takes to the track with a podium finish in his sights.

BIRMINGHAM (GBR): Newly-crowned British record holder
Chris Tomlinson will renew his long jump rivalry with Commonwealth Games silver
medallist Greg Rutherford at the star-studded Aviva UK Trials and Championships
next weekend. The pair will meet at the Birmingham Alexander Stadium on 29-31
July as the West Midlands hosts the third Aviva Series event of the year, this
time featuring the best British athletes battling it out to secure a place on
the Aviva Great Britain and Northern Ireland team bound for the IAAF World
Championships in Daegu. Away from the pit, Tom Parsons battles it out to add
outdoor honours to the indoor title he won in Sheffield
in February, while Holly Bleasdale, Steve Lewis and Max Eaves will all
participate in competitive pole vault battles. Organizers are informing in a
release.

RESULTS

RIO DE JANEIRO (BRA, Jul 20): Qatari high jump world junior
champion Mutaz Barshim won the high jump at the 5th World Military Games with
229 meet record. Silver for 2005 world champion Yuri Krimarenko of Ukraine (223)
ahead of Dmytro Demyanyuk (220). Ari Mannio achieved 82.48 to win the javelin
for Finland.
Doris Changeiywo and Lineth Chepkurui scored Kenyan double at 10 000 m (33:38.93 and
33:39.13) ahead of Kareema Jasim of Bahrain (33:45.34). Solid 800 m was won by Mariya
Arzamasava of Belarus
in 2:01.39 ahead of Margarita Matsko of Kazakhstan 2:01.83 and Kenyan Hellen
Obiri 2:01.86. Home gold for Raphael Fernandes with 50.50 at 400 m hurdles. Fastest
semifinal time in the men´s 100
m for Moroccan record holder Aziz Ouhadi (10.29, +1.6).
European champion Marcin Lewandowski of Poland won his semifinal at 800 m with 1:50.00.

PATRA (GRE, Jul 20): At Tofaleia meet which was also Greek Grand Prix
Final fast 400 m
hurdles won by Cuban Yasmani Copello 49.76 ahead of Minas Alozidis of Cyprus
49.91 and former European champion Periklis Iakovakis 50.76. Mihail
Stamatoyannis achieved 20.17
in the men´s shot put and Antonia Stergiou attacked not
succesfully Daegu standard 193 after clearing 187 in the women high jump.