Mo Farah Considers the Roads after 2012, by Alfons Juck, note by Larry Eder

G. MUTAI WINS
CASTELBUONO (ITA, Jul 26): Boston
Marathon winner Geoffrey Mutai from Kenya added his name to the
prestigious list of long-distance stars who won the Giro di Castelbuono,
the oldest road race in Europe which celebrated its 86th edition.This
year the top runners had to run nine laps of a 10 km course over the
ancient streets which starts and finishes in the Piazza Margherita.
Geoffrey Mutai, Gebreegziaber Gebremariam and Matthew Kisorio increased
their pace during the third lap breaking away from the rest of the field
with 9:50 on the clock. At halfway Mutai broke away from Gebremariam
and Kisorio by unleashing a devastating attack on the uphill section of
the course of Via Mario Levante during the sixth lap. Mutai continued to
run a smooth and unchallenged race. Despite the tough course Mutai
increased his lead over the pair formed by Gebremariam and Kisorio to 32
seconds with 22 minutes on the clock and carved out a gap of 48 seconds
during the last lap. His winning time was 29:05. Gebremariam engaged a
neck-to-neck battle for second place and broke away from Kisorio in the
final stages of the race to take runner-up place in 30:13 holding off
the Kenyan by one second. London Marathon champion Emmanuel Mutai
finished sixth in 30:48.

ONE YEAR TO GO LONDON 2012
LONDON
(GBR): Wednesday, July 27, is a particular day in the Olympic calendar.
On the negative side it is the 15th anniversary of the bomb which
killed two and injured many more at the Atlanta Games; but, on the
positive side, it is exactly one year away from the Opening Ceremony of
London 2012. This is the reality of Olympism in particular and life in
general: a mix of the positive and negative, good and bad, happy and
sad. The world of sport is throwing all its promotional strength behind
the week of Olympic Year Minus One. Broadcasters, newspapers and web
publishers are preparing their readers/viewers for a sporting onslaught
ahead while every relevant sports authority is putting a smile on the
face of its work. Writes AIPS website.

FARAH THINKS ROAD
LONDON
(GBR): Mo Farah has revealed that 2012 will be his last season on the
track before he moves up to the marathon. Farah has been in the form of
his life since basing himself in Oregon earlier this year to be coached
by Alberto Salazar, a three-time winner of the New York Marathon. He
will look to finish his track career in the best possible fashion with a
medal at the London Olympics before switching. Farah was quoted in the
Daily Express: “I’ll probably move up to the marathon from 2013. You
have to keep progressing”.

UK DUELS
BIRMINGHAM
(GBR): Some exciting duels ahead of UK Trials this weekend. At 100 m
hurdles European indoor silver medalist Tiffany Ofili-Porter and World
heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis, in the men´s 400 m hurdles Nathan
Woodward and Jack Green are Europe’s top two 400m hurdlers for their
age. The men’s 400m is brimming with talent, with the likes of seasoned
international campaigners Michael Bingham, Conrad Williams, Richard
Buck, Martyn Rooney and Rob Tobin all in the line-up along with European
Under 23 champion Nigel Levine and bronze medallist Luke Lennon-Ford.
Top ranked Briton of the 2011 season Hannah England will be tested by
World silver medalist Lisa Dobriskey and young gun Stacey Smith, who
recorded a new personal best time of 4:06.81 at the Aviva Birmingham
Grand Prix this month. Local man Tom Parsons will be hoping to go one
better than his silver medal at the UK Championships last year. The
Birchfield Harrier tops the British rankings this season with a best of
2.28m – 1cm higher than his rival Samson Oni. The pair have only met
once this year, and it was Oni who came out on top. Britain’s young
discus man of the moment Lawrence Okoye had a glittering future in rugby
union mapped out for him, but chose athletics instead. In a golden
summer so far, the 19-year-old broke the British record with a throw of
67.63m three weeks ago, and followed that up with gold at the European
Under 23 Championships in Ostrava. Abdul Buhari also recently threw a
new personal best, reaching 65.44m to move to third on the UK all-time
list. Carl Myerscough and Brett Morse are not far behind, and not to be
dismissed.

GREAT 800 M FIELD
STOCKHOLM
(SWE): With a field boasting eight runners who have clocked under
1:58.00 this season, the women’s 800m at Friday evening’s DN Galan
meeting in Stockholm, the 11th stop in the Samsung Diamond League
series, promises another thrilling and unpredictable affair. Among the
entrants is Morocco’s Halima Hachlaf, who improved this season to
1:58.27 with her victory in Oslo; Eugene winner Kenia Sinclair in
1:58.29, whose impressive early season also included a win in the New
York 1500m; and Daegu-bound Alysia Montano and Alice Schmidt of the
U.S., who were first and third at the US trials and arrive with 1:58.33
and 1:58.61 season’s bests. The field also includes reigning World
champion Caster Semenya, who currently leads the Diamond Race in the
event. Not to be discounted is U.S. 1500m champion Morgan Uceny, whose
breakout season has included metric mile wins in Lausanne and
Birmingham, a recent 1500m career best of 4:01.51 in Monaco and an 800m
PB three days earlier when she ran 1:58.37 in Lignano. Traditionally
fast Russia will be well represented by Svetlana Klyuka and Yelena
Kofanova, who have run 1:58.03 and 1:58.25 this season. Svetlana Usovich
of Belarus has also shown impressive form; her 1:58.12 season’s best
was just 0.01 shy of her career best. Also fourth placer from Barcelona
Slovak runner Lucia Klocova who was close second in Birmingham is
entered. Informs IAAF.

SALADINO AND DUEL SAVIGNE-SALADUKHA
STOCKHOLM
(SWE): In the men´s long jump at DN-Galan this Friday best home jumper
Michel Torneus will be missed due to an injury, but olympic winner
Irving Saladino of Panama should be back in top shape after Paris Areva
win (840 cm). Also jumping European U23 Champion Aleksandr Menkov, CAC
winner Tyrone Smith, US talent Will Claye and mainly Moroccan record
holder Yahya Berrabah who jumped excellent 837 last Friday in Barcelona.
Also in the field is world leader Mitchell Watt of Australia. In women
triple jump two best in the world currently will clash. World champion
and world leader Yargelis Savigne of Cuba and European champion and
European leader Olha Saladukha.

SUPERB WOMEN 100 M FOR LONDON
LONDON
(GBR): Superb 100 m field is getting ready for the women competition at
the Aviva Grand Prix of London (August 6) in Crystal Palace. World
leader Carmelita Jeter will clash with reigning world champion
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica, Paris DL winner Kelly-Ann Baptiste
of Trinidad and fastest European Ivet Lalova of Bulgaria. For the second
day of two day meet also a great 4×100 m is beeing prepared. USA,
Jamaica, Great Britain, Germany and Netherlands are in the men´s line-up
here.