Yelena Isinbayeva, 2009 Zurich, photo by PhotoRun.net

Yelena Isinbayeva will be jumping outdoors this weekend, and her first meet will be in Heusden, Belgium on July 16 (this coming Saturday).

And, congrats to the New Balance Training Center, for announcing its schedule of a record 105 events for the 2011-2012 Indoor season.

Image via Wikipedia

MADRID TO BID FOR 2020 GAMES

MADRID (ESP): Madrid officially announced that it will bid for the 2020
Olympics and Paralympics, hoping to replicate Pyeongchang’s perseverance in
winning on a third consecutive attempt, the city’s Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón
said. Informs insidethegames.  Madrid is the second city to confirm that they will bid
for 2020 joining Rome in a race that is also
expected to feature Istanbul and Tokyo and possibly Doha and
Durban. Informs
insidethegames.

COMBINED EVENTS HIGH LEVEL START

OSTRAVA (CZE, Jul 14): The 8th European U23
Championships started in Ostrava
with top marks by decathletes. Austrian Dominik Distelberger sprinted to
personal best 10.54 (+1.6) and Belgian world junior champion Thomas Van der
Plaetsen 768 (+1.3) in the long jump, both best marks in the history of this
event in the decathlon. In the shot put German Jan-Felix Knobel was the best
(15.43) and leading after three events is Belarus Eduard Mikhan with 2584 ahead
of Knobel 2530 and Serbian Mihail Dudas 2529. German David Storl was easily the
best in shot put qualification 19.71. Fastest times in sprint heats, Romanian
Andrea Ograzeanu at 100 m
(11.55), Ukrainian Hana Titimets at 400 m hurdles (56.22) and Briton Nathan
Woodward at 400 m
hurdles (50.85). Czech fans were happy to see Eva Krchova leading the
qualifiers into the steeple final with PB of 9:55.99 (she is the fifth ever
Czech with under 10 minutes).

DIX, ARMSTRONG AND NATIONAL
JAVELIN RECORD

TORONTO (CAN, Jul 13): Canadian National Track League
ended with the final meet in Toronto.
US champion Walter Dix won the 100
m in 10.18 (-2.0) clearly beating Jamaican Lerone Clarke
10.33 and Sam Effah 10.38. Canadian top current athlete Dylan Armstrong
demonstrated his shape in shot put with 21.23 win. Scott Russell improved his
own Canadian javelin record to 84.81 by 40 cm. Fast 12.87 against -1.2 for Phylicia
George at 100 m
hurdles and beating Perdita Felicien 12.88. Bryan Barnett won the 200m (20.86,
0.0) and Krysha Bailey leaped to 653 (+1.9) in the long jump. Kenyan Silas
Kisorio won the 1500 m
in 3:39.32.

YELENA IN ITALY

LIGNANO (ITA): The International meet of Lignano next Tuesday in Italy
(July 19) will not only see US and Jamaican relays competing at 4×100 m. Also
pole vault star Yelena Isinbayeva is confirmed for this event. It will be her
second this summer after Heusden on Saturday and Luzern afterwards of July 21.

BLAKE IN BARCELONA

BARCELONA (ESP): Latest addition into the Barcelona EA Premium meet on
July 22 at Montjuic stadium is fast Jamaican and Daegu-bound for 100 m Yohan Blake. It will be
his first race since Jamaican Trials.

MASAI OUT OF THE TRIALS

NAIROBI (KEN): The world championships medalist 2009
Moses Masai has pulled out of the national championship, citing a hip injury
that has dogged his career for the last two years. Informs The Nation. Masai,
who was fourth at the Beijing Olympics over the 10,000m distance, confirmed he
will not try to improve on the bronze medal he won in Berlin in 2009. However, he has singled out
former world junior 10,000m champion Josephat Bett and World Half Marathon
champion Wilson Kiprop to triumph during the trials. Kiprop will be running for
the Kenya Prisons team. Trials are starting on Thursday, but first finals are
on the programme on Friday.

OTHER NEWS

BOSTON (USA): RRW informs that the Boston Athletic Association reported
today that the B.A.A. Half-Marathon, scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 9, in Boston, had reached its 7000 runner limit in
under four hours (3:50 to be exact).  Entry
had only begun this week.

CASTELBUONO (ITA): Some of Italy’s
best distance runners will join the male winners of the Boston,
London and New
York City Marathons at the Giro Podistico Internazionale Di Castelbuono on July
26, organizers reported. Ruggero Pertile, the 2010 Turin Marathon champion, is
the top Italian athlete entered, and he will use the 10 km race as a tune-up for
the IAAF World Championships Marathon in Daegu. 
“It is always beautiful to run in Castelbuono,” Pertile said through a
media release.  The other Italians
entered in the invitation-only event are Giovanni Ruggiero, Stefano La Rosa, Ahmed El Mazoury, Denis
Curzi, Stefano Scaini and Yuri Floriani. 
Geoffrey Mutai, who won the Boston Marathon; Emmanuel Mutai, the
London champion; and Gebre Gebremariam, the New York City champion
headline the event.  USA
half-marathon record holder Ryan Hall is also running for the first time.
Informs RRW.

LAGO MAGGIORE (ITA):  The
inaugural Lago Maggiore Marathon, scheduled for Sunday, October 16, in Northern
Italy, has joined the AIMS family of “International
Marathons.”  Race organizer, Sport
PRO-MOTION, said they recently obtained that distinction from the Association
of International Marathons and Distance Races. Based on information from RRW.

NEW YORK (USA):  The most active indoor track in the United States, the New
Balance Track
& Field Center at
the Armory in New York City,
has set their 2011/2012 event schedule. 
“We have an Armory all-time high 105 dates filled, including some
exceptional new events,” said Armory Foundation president Dr. Norb Sander
through a news release.  Key events will
include the New Balance Indoor Nationals, the USA high school indoor
championships; the New Balance Games; the New Balance Collegiate Invitational;
The Big East Indoor Championships; and the revamped Millrose Games which take
place on Saturday, February 11.  By Race
Results Weekly.

LJUBLJANA (SLO): The US
400 m
hurdler Brent LaRue (24) recieved citizenship of Slovenia. He is married to a
Slovenian and lives in the country. He improved this year to 49.77 and 45.77 at
the flat race. He hopes to compete at London 2012 Games for his new country.