GREAT
RUSSIAN WINTER, KANISKINA EXPLAINS

MOSCOW
(RUS): Some 3500 spectators watched so far the best meet of the current indoor
season in Moscow (also first place in rankings of All-Athletics.com).
Interesting to note that walking world and olympic champion Olga Kaniskina, who
did not lost a race since February 2010 did not finish the 3000 m
competition. „It happened to me for first time in my career that I was not
able to finish my race. I gave up some 100 m before the finish line. I was
not feeling well at all, it is hard to describe what happened. Simply not my
day, possibly I started too fast and when Anisya went over me there was no
power to respond,” said Kaniskina.

TRACK
CONNECTIONS

INDIANAPOLIS
(USA): Track connections to Super Bowl. New York Giants Aaron Ross is the
husband of 400 m world champion Sanya Richards-Ross and the game was played in
Indianapolis where also USATF sits.

DINIZ
FOR DUDINCE

MOSCOW
(RUS): European walking champion Yohan Diniz of France plans for spring 20 km
races in Lugano and Dudince. He will also compete at the World Race Walking Cup
in Saransk, but is considering to do this event from full training as main
objective is Olympic Games.

ENNIS
AT AVIVA GP

BIRMINGHAM
(GBR): World Indoor Champion Jessica Ennis has added her name to the star cast
of athletes bound for the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham this month as she
steps up preparations to secure a historic major championships double in
2012. Ennis’ inclusion in the Birmingham meet, where she will compete in both
the 60m hurdles and long jump events, emphasizes its billing as the world’s
premier indoor athletics competition. Former World Record holder Asafa Powell,
5000m World Champion Mo Farah and dual World gold medallist Vivian Cheruiyot
will also feature in a stellar line-up at the NIA. “I’m feeling in really
good shape after the winter, everything has gone well and I feel strong
and ready to get out there and compete. I’d love to repeat the success I had
in Doha and defend my World Indoor title and I will give it my best shot.”
Ennis will compete in the shot put and high jump on Saturday during this
weekends UK Trials – the latter of which she has won three times in her career
– before taking on the 60m hurdles and long jump on Sunday.

CURRENT
COMBINED EVENTS SITUATION

ISTANBUL
(TUR): All six invited combined eventers based on 2011 results confirmed their
participation at World Indoor Championships in Istanbul. For men´s heptathlon
US Ashton Eaton, Cuban Leonel Suarez and Estonian Mikk Pahapill. For women
pentathlon Tatyana Chernova of Russia, Briton Jessica Ennis and German Jennifer
Oeser. Three more will be added based on 2012 indoor results by February 20.
Currently in the qualifying positions Ukrainian Oleksiy Kasyanov (6237),
Belarus Andrey Kravchenko (6205) and Russian Ilya Shkurenyov (5985). In women
situation Russian Yekaterina Bolshova 4745, Dutch Remona Fransen 4553 and
Ukrainian Hanna Melnychenko 4513. US College athletes have better scores but
they will prefer to compete at NCAA Championships in the same time as World
Indoor Championships (US Gunnar Nixon and Canadian Brianne Theisen). Two more
in each event will be invited by IAAF decision. There are still lot of
competitions until February 20 so the situation will most probably change also
in the 2012 rankings.

DEFAR
TO DEBUT IN KARLSRUHE

KARLSRUHE
(GER): Sunday´s IHM Meeting of Karlsruhe confirmed stellar women 3000 m
line-up. World record holder and world indoor champion Meseret Defar after
winning in Boston will clash with Kenyan Sylvia Kibet and home rival and world
medalist Meselech Melkamu. Kibet is also twice World medalist at 5000 m and
current meet record holder with 8:41.24 since 2010. Defar who was regular name
in Stuttgart in the past will have her debut in Karlsruhe.

OTHER NEWS

CHIBA
(JPN): IAAF permit CC race in Chiba, Japan on Sunday has international runners
invited only for women 8 km. Ukrainian marathon record holder Tetyana
Hamera-Shmerko, Belarus Aliaksandra Duliba, US Natasha Le Beaud and Portugal
duo Rafaela Almeida with Carla Martinho. Megumi Kinukawa leads the home cast.

BRUSSELS
(BEL) : Tia Hellebaut is very confident about her comeback to the high jump and
confirmed that her 197 jump in Arnstadt shows she is in very good shape.
Hellebaut failed three times at 200 and told Belgian media that height might
still be out of reach for now. The defending Olympic champion believes she
could win a medal for Belgium at the IAAF World indoor championships in
Istanbul writes sporza.be. Her next meet is in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia on
Wednesday.

BERLIN
(GER): German high jumper Raul Spank is happy with his indoor after jumping 227
in Arnstadt last weekend. Spank is confident more is to come after his training
was slowed down with a minor knee injury. Spank, who previously announced
he would double at the German national championships, also told
leichtathletik.de that he is not going to compete in the triple jump at the
national championships but will focus on the high jump instead.

CLEMSON
(USA): Queen Harrison confirmed she will be attempting to qualify for both the
100m hurdles and the 400m hurdles at the London Olympic Games. With the hope of
making this dream come true, she moved to Clemson to train with her former
coach at Virginia Tech, Lawrence Johnson, and added that she has fully recovered
from the toe injury that cost her part of the 2010 season reports Richmond
Times Dispatch.

TORONTO
(CAN): Canada is planning to launch a bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games
and has already been approached by a number of cities interested in being
the candidate, it has been revealed by Brian MacPherson, the chief executive of
Commonwealth Games Canada writes Insidethegames. Canada has hosted the
competition on four occasions, including in Hamilton in 1930, the first time
the event was staged when it was called the British Empire Games.

LONDON
(GBR): Golden Globe and BAFTA Award-winning actor Clive Owen is to host the
2012 Laureus World Sports Awards. Kenyan long distance athlete Vivian
Cheruiyot, who won the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the World Championships in
Daegu last year, is a leading contender for the Laureus World Sportswoman
of the Year award, with also Carmelita Jeter shortlisted for the award. For the
men’s award Usain Bolt is the only athlete on the list reports Insidethegames.

ORLANDO
(USA): World 100 m bronze medalist Kelly Ann Baptiste will not compete during
the indoor season. Confirmed her agent Cubie Seegobin. She is concentrating on
the olympic summer. Interestingly, she never competed indoors outside USA. Her
60 m best is 7.13 from her NCAA time in 2008.

BIRMINGHAM
(GBR): Relay olympic winner Mark Lewis-Francis competed at Birmingham Games at
the National Indoor Arena and 6.83 to win his opening heat before effectively
calling it a day in the semi-finals. He went slower in 6.87, feeling his
hamstring and also his shoulder, and with there now less than a week
before the Aviva Indoor UK Trials and Championships his participation in
Sheffield is doubtful. „The Birmingham Games were about seeing if I could
do three races in one day and basically I can’t,” said Lewis-Francis – who
suffered a groin injury at the Birmingham Grand Prix this time last year.
UK media are infoming.

HAUGESUND
(NOR): Fifth Norwegian indoor arena with 200 m track was opened in Haugesund.
It is called Deep Ocean Arena.

RESULTS

MELBOURNE
(AUS, Jan 31): Former world champion Jana Pittman tried at 400 m hurdles with
59.13.

NAGOYA
(JPN, Feb 5): Toyota Motors won the 6 stage Meigi Ekiden at 52.6 km from Ogaki
to Nagoya. Final time was 2:30:45.

VADODARA
(IND, Feb 5): Ethiopian Andulam Shiferaw won the International Half Marathon
here in 1:01:02 ahead of Melkebu Ayele 1:01:02 and Kenyan Silas Muturi 1:01:06.
More than 40 000 participants were registered.

MASHAD
(IRI, Feb 3): Two national indoor records by Iran athletes at 20th Fajr Indoor
Competition. Mohammad Rabbani cleared 530 in the pole vault and Mohammad
Arzandeh leaped to 774 in the long jump.

CHICHESTER
(GBR, Feb 5): Benedict Whitby won in a PB 29:37 here just three days after
arriving back from the UKA/London Marathon training camp in Iten, Kenya.
Charlotte Purdue who has been back in training just three weeks after an injury
which kept her out of the European Cross Country Championships, went top of the
women’s rankings with a time of 33:19.

NEW YORK
(USA, Feb 4): At New Balance College meet new US HS record in the 600 m by
Stymar Livingston 1:17:58.

LINCOLN
(USA, Feb 4): New Big 10 heptathlon record by Japheth Cato with 5939 score.

RIGA
(LAT, Feb 3): Elvijs Misans leaped here to exact 8 meters. He equaled so his
indoor/overall best.

GENT
(BEL, Jan 5): Universiade decathlon 4th placer Cedric Nolf convincingly took
the Belgian national heptathlon title with a total of 5669 points, placing
him 5th on the Belgian indoor all time list. Belgian decathlon record holder
Hans Van Alphen sustained a slight abdominal injury and had to pull out
after the 60m.

SAD NEWS

BUDAPEST
(HUN): At age of 60 died former hammer thrower Gabor Tamas, he competed at the
European Champs 1978 (10th) and at the World University Games 1975 (4th) &
1977 (6th). 23 internationals between 1975-82. He broke Gyula Zsivótzky’s
national record (73.76 WR) 14 years later in 1982 to 73.86 and 74.74. On
February before an operation also the death of former discus thrower Marta
Bacskai also aged 60 was registered. As a thrower she was 6th in SP &
DT at the World University Games 1985. 13 internationals between 1983-88.
National records in DT 65.34 (1985), 65.64 & 66.48 (1986). She is the
recent HUN record holder.