ROGGE
ABOUT COE

LONDON
(GBR): International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge has praised
London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe as a fantastic Organising Committee
leader but admitted that it is beyond his capacity to make the double 1500 meters
Olympic champion an IOC member. Britain currently has four IOC members i with
Executive Board member Sir Craig Reedie, Athletes’ Commission member Adam
Pengilly, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Sir Philip Craven
and the Princess Royal all currently serving. The large British contingent
means that Coe’s most likely route into the organisation is to be elected
President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) – a role
that brings with it automatic IOC membership. Current IAAF President Lamine
Diack is currently serving his last four-year term in the role and Coe, along
with Ukraine’s 1988 Olympic pole vault champion Sergey Bubka, are tipped as the
two most likely candidates to replace the Senegalese when he steps down in 2015
as both are currently vice-presidents at the IAAF. Should Coe become IAAF
President in 2015, he would become an IOC member under a new President as
Rogge will step down in the summer of 2013 when he completes his final term in
the role. Informs insidethegames.

A.
KIRUI FOR BARCELONA HM

BARCELONA
(ESP): Double world champion in marathon Kenyan Abel Kirui is the star of the
22nd Half Marathon of Barcelona which will be held on February 26. Also running
Peter Kamais who at age of 35 is well known face in Spain, winner of Bombers
race in 2006 and 2007.

NAMES
OF BIWAKO

LAKE
BIWA (JPN): Brett Larner informs on his blog that the organizers of the Lake
Biwa Mainichi Marathon, the last chance for Japanese men to make the London
Olympics marathon team, have announced the complete field for this year’s race.
Coming on Mar. 4 just a week after the Tokyo Marathon, Biwako, as the race
is known in Japan, has managed to put together a strong international
field, both at the front end and further back at the level where people will be
trying to meet their countries’ Olympic qualification times. The clear
favorites in the first category are 2:06 Kenyan Nicholas Manza and 2:07
Ethiopian Bekana Daba, but with Japan based Kenyans Gideon Ngatuny and Samuel
Ndungu on the list to make their debuts the lead pack could be deeper than
usual. Biwako has always been good to Spanish marathoners, and with sub-28
runner Ayad Lamdassem entered for an apparent debut it is possible that this
year could see another one factor into the race. Among the contenders for the
Japanese Olympic team on the entry list, the favorites include half-marathon
national record holder Atsushi Sato, 2011 World Championships marathon team
members Hiroyuki Horibata, Kentaro Nakamoto and Yukihiro Kitaoka. Foreign
competition that should be running against the Japanese Olympic hopefuls
includes 2:08 Moroccan Abdellah Taghrafet, 2:09 runners Henryk Szost,
Abdellatif Meftah of France, Australian Lee Troop and Italian Ruggero Pertile.

GENZEBE
VS. MESERET

BIRMINGHAM
(GBR): Fresh world leader and 5th best perfomer ever Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia
will run on Saturday in Birmingham her event, the 1500 m. Her main rival will
be former olympic winner and world champion Meseret Defar and home star Hannah
England. Also in the field Poland´s Angelika Cichocka who improved her best in
Karlsruhe also.

HELLEBAUT
IN BELGIUM

EAUBONNE
(FRA): Val d´Oise meet will be strictly held on Thursday with women events and
called Femina. Belgian olympic winner Tia Hellebaut is entered for high jump,
world champion Olha Saladukha in triple jump (against Slovak Dana Veldakova),
Cuban Yarisley Silva in the pole vault. US Kristi Castlin is the top name for
60 m hurdles and European indoor champion 2011 Olesya Povkh of Ukraine in the
60 m (against returning Myriam Soumare and Laverne Jones-Ferrette). Moroccan
Siham Hilali runs the 3000 m and Ukrainian Lilya Lobanova the 1000 m.

OTHER NEWS

KINGSTON
(JAM): The National Stadium East facility, which has been resurfaced at a cost
of $42 million, was officially reopened for competition by Natalie
Neita-Headley, minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister.
The newly laid surface is part of the government mandate through its agency,
the Sports Development Foundation (SDF), to improve sporting facilities
islandwide. Dr Warren Blake, president of the Jamaica Athletic Administrative
Association (JAAA) and chairman of the SDF, said this is an effort to provide
the tools that will enable the athletes to train safely and perform at the
highest level. Informs Jamaica Observer.

ROME
(ITA): Rome is pulling out of the race for the 2020 Olympics, according to an
Italian press report. According to the report, in the respected Corriere della
Sera, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti took the decision after careful
evaluation of the costs and benefits involved. Monti is now expected to meet
Mario Pescante, President of the Organising Committee and grand old man of the
Olympic Movement in Italy, to formalise the decision. Bidders must lodge required
guarantees with the International Olympic Committee by February 15. Rome’s
decision will leave a field consisting of Baku, Doha, Istanbul, Madrid and
Tokyo. Writes insidethegames.

APELDOORN
(NED) : The Dutch combined events championships are going to be contested at a very
high level this weekend. Dutch athlete of the year Eelco Sintnicolaas is hoping
to rank himself among the world’s top 3 heptathletes in the hope of qualifying
for the IAAF World indoor championships in Istanbul. He will face opposition
from compatriot Pelle Rietveld. Also the women’s field looks very promising.
Rising star Dafne Schippers takes on Remona Fransen and Yvonne Van
Langen-Wisse. Schippers is already qualified for the world indoor championships
in the 60m and is contesting the championships as preparation for the outdoor
season writes losseveter.nl.

PARIS
(FRA): European indoor long jump silver medalist Kafétien Gomis is not going to
compete indoors. The French jumper was set back in December with a slight
hamstring injury and does not feel ready to compete. Gomis also explained to
athle.com that he considers it possible to win a medal at this year’s
Olympic Games.

JOHANNESBURG
(RSA): SA media are informing that World 400 meters hurdles bronze medallist LJ
van Zyl hopes his future wife will accompany him to London this year as a fellow
member of the South Africa Olympics team. Van Zyl plans to marry road runner
Irvette van Blerk on Sept. 29, seven weeks after the Olympic 400 meters hurdles
final. In the meantime, Van Blerk is trying to qualify for London in the women’s
marathon. „This has been my best year in terms of base work, I started in
November and I’m already doing better this year at the same exercises compared
to when I broke the South African record last February,” Van Zyl said. „My
season is so long and I’ve had too many races before which has led to tired
legs. So I’ll be concentrating on training until April and will then compete in
the Yellow Pages Series (the domestic South African circuit). We have three
other fine hurdlers in South Africa, so the competition will be good,” added
Van Zyl.

LAUSANNE
(SUI): Ukraine’s triple jump world champion Olha Saladuha is determined to
defend her continental crown at the 2012 European Athletics Championships,
which will be held in Helsinki between 27 June to 1 July. Saladuha won at the
previous edition two years ago in Barcelona before going on to win at the World
Championships in Daegu, South Korea, last summer. “I’m looking forward to the
European Athletics Championships. It’s really important for me to defend my
title in Helsinki. Very important, I will be there,” Saladuha told
European Athletics.

LONDON (GBR):
UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee said money will be found to
support unfunded athletes who produce exceptional performances in the run-up to
the London Olympics. The announcement follows a start to the year marked
by a number of notable breakthroughs by athletes outside the Lottery
programme such as high jumper Robbie Grabarz and 800m runner Joe Thomas
according to The Telegraph.

FRANKFURT
(GER): No action against 400 m runner Janin Lindenberg because of three missed
tests. The national anti-doping agency NADA informed here there was no breach
of the rules.

TOKYO
(JPN): The New York Road Runners announced that Kento Otsu and Yuta Shitara of
2012 Hakone Ekiden course record setters Toyo University will run the Mar. 18
NYC Half Marathon as part of this year’s elite field. In New York they will
face a field including the winner of January’s U.S.A. Olympic marathon
trials, Meb Keflezighi, and 2009 World Half Marathon bronze medalist Dathan
Ritzenhein. Informs Brett Larner.

ONTARIO
(USA): Tommie Smith, a Lemoore High graduate and 1968 Olympic gold
medalist in the 200 m, will be inducted into the California Sports Hall of Fame
April 1 at Ontario. Joining him in the Class of 2012 will be Anthony Muńoz
(NFL), Ted Hendricks (NFL), John Carlos (track and field), Rick Barry (NBA) and
Marcel Dionne (NHL). Informs Fresnobee.com.

RESULTS

NANJING
(CHN, Feb 14): During second day of Chinese National GP meet good triple
jumping. Asian Games bronze winner Cao Shuo achieved 17.00 in the men
competition and 2009 World finalist Xie Limei 14.21 in the women. Informs
Tilastopaja.

POMBAL
(POR, Feb 12): During Portugal Club Championships Marco Fortes achieved new
national shot put record 20.91 (previous records 20.77 indoor and 20.89
outdoor). In a first decision, the throw was considered not valid, but the
athlete protested and the throw was measured. At the end of the event, the
video was observed and the jury considered that there was no fault and the
throw was announced as valid.

BADALONA
(ESP, Feb 12): Old timer Jesus Angel Garcia (42) won the Catalunyan 20 km walk
championships in 1:29:34. Women winner Beatriz Pascual 1:34:20.