by Larry EderWe are down to less than two weeks before the Olympics open and three weeks before the London Olympic Track & Field. First thing to tell everyone: bring umbrella, rain slicker, warm clothes as July was wettest July in two hundred years of recorded British weather history.
Two, be patient, and find ways to walk to places instead of relying on transit, of just about any kind.
Watch for our coverage of the AVIVA London Grand Prix this weekend!
ALSO VCB AND ADAMS IN LUZERN
LUZERN (SUI): After Yohan Blake another top Jamaican sprinter will be competing at the Spitzenleichtathletik meet of Luzern on July 17 (EA Classic). Olympic 200 m winner Veronica Campbell-Brown will run the 200 m. Like for Blake it will be her only one meet remaining before the Games. She is qualified for 100 m, 200 m and relay. Another top name for women shot put is the olympic and world winner Valerie Adams of New Zealand who is in preparation in Magglingen, Switzerland. Her rivals will be European champion Nadine Kleinert of Germany, Russian Irina Tarasova and US Trials winner Jillian Camarena-Williams. In women pole vault European champion Jirina Ptacnikova will compete against 2009 World winner Anna Rogowska and Oceanian record holder Alana Boyd.
VLASIC STILL HOPING
SPLIT (CRO): Croatian high jump star Blanka Vlasic did not write off her participation at London Games. „The situation is better, at this point I have not written off the Olympics. After all, there was no infection. I do not know when I will make the final decision. In any case, I will not rush. Health is important and I do not want gamble with it,” she was quoted by Croatian newspaper Jutarnji List. She had an MRI on her ankle in Mostar and was part of welcome function of Split Olympians at the City Administration this week. Vlasic did not compete so far this year after surgery in winter.
SANTOS CLOCKS 44.85
BARCELONA (ESP, Jul 12): First medal of the day at World Junior Championships was the girls triple jump with many emotions and Ana Peleteiro of Spain took gold with a third jump 14.17 (-1.0). Second was Dovile Dzindzaletaite from Lithuania with the same measure (14.17, +1.6) in fifth jump. Count-back showed 13.96 and 13.73 as second best marks. Third Cuban Liuba Zaldivar 13.90 (+0.3). From discus men one of the big surprises: first gold medal in throws for Jamaica with Fedrick Dacres 62.80m PB from second throw. Silver medal for Wojciech Praczyk of Poland 62.75 (and 62.66). Last on the podium Gerhard de Beer from South Africa 61.57. Pole Vault men was a long competition with a thrilling final where 3 athletes took the same measure but different place of podium due to number of mistakes. Gold for Thiago Braz Da Silva of Brazil 555 (national junior record). Silver for Croatian Ivan Horvat with a very exciting jump at 555 and third Canadian Shawnacy Barber also with 555 but a little bit tired after a series of 16 jumps (also national junior mark). 3000 steeple women was an amazing show by Daisy Jepkemei from Kenya who took gold in another time WJL 9:47.22 improving her best by 9 seconds. With a 3.17-3.15-3.15 every km she left behind all the other girls lap by lap leaving Tejines Gebisa from Ethiopia for second place in 9:50.51 PB. Stella Jepkosgei with 9:50.58 PB was bronze medal winner with an exciting last lap. Superb was 110 m hurdles boys final (junior heighth) with Cuban Jordan O’Farrill winning the race in an astonishing 13.18 (-1.0) new CR. Second place and Australian record for Nicholas Hough 13.27 and another national record 13.29 for third Wilhem Belocian of France (Guadeloupe origin). Luguelin Santos took the expected gold in the 400 m in excellent 44.85 with any kind of troubles. Behind him a close battle by the others with Arman Hall of USA silver in 45.39 PB and then, bronze medal and same time for Aldrich Bailey from USA and Australian Steven Solomon in 45.52. Who waited for British power in 80 0m women could be disappointed by the result: first place for US Ajee Wilson in 2:00.91 PB. Silver medal for Briton Jessica Judd in 2:00.96 PB maybe a little tired after qualifying rounds and unable to run her top race. Manhal El Barhaoui of Morocco won the bronze in 2:03.09. Last final of the day was 1500 m men and favourite Hamza Driouch of Qatar surprised everybody by pushing very fast at 800m. Nobody could keep him as he won in 3:39.04. Second with more than a second Hillary Ngetich from Kenya 3:40.39 PB and third Abdelhabi Labali from Morocco in 3:40.60 closing very fast last 100m. In qualifying rounds to mention Jamaican Javarn Gallimore who took a WJL with 50.45 in his heat of 400 m hurdles; really still impressive Antonique Strachan of Bahamas after winning the 100 m, she run qualifications of 200m in 23.28 only second after Dezerea Bryant of USA best time 23.11. Jamaican Julian Forte with 20.83 (-2.8) was the fastest in boys 200 m semifinals.
LONDON PREVIEW
LONDON (GBR): The two day show of Aviva Grand Prix as part of Samsung Diamond League at Crystal Palace Stadium will begin on Friday with superb 110 m hurdles for men. Heats and finals with world record ambitions.
Event by event preview of first day action
Men
100 m: Showdown between Gay and Powell (not too healthy after Jamaican Trials), but second row waiting with Bledman, Collins, R. Bailey, Rodgers, Frater and return of Chambers to top UK meets. Heats and finals.
5000 m: Mo Farah on home soil.
110mH: Non-DL but still impressive world record field. Liu Xiang with all 3 US Olympic bound runners (Merritt, Richardson, Porter).
400mH: Will Culson remain unbeaten in 2012? Greene as home runner and Americans waiting.
PV: Another unbeaten in 2012 is French Lavillenie, recently showing signs of fatigue.
LJ: Watt and Mokoena in shape, olympic winner Saladino opening his season after injuries.
DT: Old timer Alekna, oly winner Kanter and home favorite Okoye.
Women
200 m: Knight and Solomon vs. French Soumare.
1500 m: Jamal against US armada (Simpson, Uceny, Rowbury) and home runners (Dobriskey, England).
5000 m: Vivian Cheruiyot in her last test before the Games. Non-DL event.
400mH: Another non-DL with world leader Davydova and top Jamaicans Walker and Spencer.
HJ: The best field of the summer. World champ Chicherova, World indoor champ Lowe, olympic winner Hellebaut, Eurowinner Beitia and second Angelsen of Norway.
OTHER NEWS
BERLIN (GER): New experiment will be staged at the ISTAF meeting in Berlin on September 2 (IAAF World Challenge) where the 4x100m relay will be run by a mixed team. The first two positions will be covered by female athletes while the third and fourth athlete will be male according to leichathletik.de. Germany already confirmed its participation. It is expected that USA, Poland, Switzerland and Czech Republic will compete too. German sprinter Marion Wagner will take it as farewell meet. Already 30 000 tickets were sold for the event, which is 20 percent more than last year at the same time.
LUSAKA (ZAM): Zambia will be sending three athletes to the Olympics. Berlin semi-finalist Gerald Phiri will run the 100m and Prince Mumba, who also ran in 2004, the 800m. They set national records of 10.06 and 1:46.14 last year. Chauness Chosha will run in the women’s 100m. National 1500m record holder Tony Wamulwa was originally selected for the 5000m after getting the B standard with 13:26.09 at the Nebiolo meeting in Torino, Italy, last month but fractured his ankle when a bus he was riding on was involved in a traffic accident in the Zambian capital last Saturday.
MORFELDEN (GER): Decathlon world record holder Ashton Eaton will compete on Friday at Combined events test in Morfelden, Germany. He plans to contest 110 m Hurdles, discus and pole vault together with current world champion Trey Hardee. Also German London-bound decathletes will compete Rico Freimuth and Jan Felix Knobel.
OTTAWA (CAN): Athletics Canada announced five additional nominees today to the 2012 Olympic Games team. Daundre Barnaby (400 m), Aaron Brown (200 m), Tremaine Harris (200 m), Kerri-Ann Mitchell (100 m) and Sheila Reid (5000 m) were nominated to the Canadian Olympic Committee for inclusion on the 2012 Olympic Games team. T
his brings the total nominees to the Olympic Games team by Athletics Canada to 45, the largest in recent history.
LAUSANNE (SUI): The IOC has received confirmation from the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee that two female athletes will compete for Saudi Arabia at the London Games this summer. Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani in judo and Sarah Attar for the 800 m race. The athletes, invited by the IOC, were entered by the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee by the official deadline of 9 July.
BRUSSELS (BEL) : Defending Olympic high jump champion Tia Hellebaut told Belgian media she is not in the same shape as four years ago in Beijing but believes she will be ready to jump 2 meters on the day of the final. Hellebaut managed a jump of 194 at the KBC night of athletics last week but admitted she had wanted to jump higher at this point in the season.
BERLIN (GER): German decathlete Jan Felix Knobel is aiming at a top eight place at the London Olympic Games and told leichtathletik.de he is hoping to score over 8300 points. Knobel is selected for the German team along with European champion Pascal Behrenbruch and Rico Freimuth.
BARCELONA (ESP): Jamaica’s middle distance athlete Simoya Campbell is now talking with friends and doing very well, after an early morning scare when she collapsed after competing at the IAAF World junior championships. Several tests carried out at Hospital del Mar in Barcelona showed nothing’s wrong reports trackalerts.com.
LONDON (GBR): Olympian Michael Johnson, will start the day with the Olympic Flame at Stonehenge for sunrise. The 400m gold medallist will carry the Flame from Salisbury Cathedral Green and pass it on to Will Copp. He was selected by Wiltshire County Council for his determination to succeed in everything he puts his mind to despite suffering from Cerebral Palsy.
MONTE CARLO (MON): South Africa’s double amputee Oscar Pistorius will not be forced to lead off in the Olympic 4×400 metres relay, the IAAF told Reuters. South African media had reported that the IAAF would not allow Pistorius to run in anything but the first leg due to concerns over the safety of other athletes because of his prosthetics and the rough and tumble nature of relay changeovers.
LONDON (GBR): Leading Olympic medal contender Mo Farah will sleep under a noisy oxygen-reduced tent right up to the last day of his London 2012 Olympic campaign event to ensure he gets the full benefit of his altitude training. However, it may force him to sleep outside the athletes’ village as the British Olympic Association says it has no room to accommodate the 42kg tents, nor the noise they generate, in its official quarters reports The Telegraph.
MONACO (MON): The Headquarters of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) is preparing for some very special birthday celebrations next week in Monaco, the Mediterranean Principality which has been the home of the sport’s world governing body since October 1993. Last month headquarters staff light-heartedly took part in their first celebration of the Centenary by showing off their athletics ‘prowess’ on the track and in the infield of the Stade Maurice Chevalier in Cannes, France, but next week the celebrations along the coast in Monaco will become more formal though no less fun. On the eve of the Centenary, Monday 16 July, representatives of the 17 founding Member Federations of the IAAF will meet for a special commemorative dinner hosted by IAAF President Lamine Diack and the four Vice-Presidents in the roof top Horizon Restaurant of the Fairmont Hotel, Monte-Carlo. On the day of the Centenary itself, Tuesday 17 July, HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, who is Honorary President of the International Athletic Foundation (IAF) and President of the Fédération Monégasque d’Athlétisme, will lead the Principality of Monaco’s celebration of the IAAF’s birthday. The IAAF is greatly honoured to be given a private garden party at the Palace which will be hosted by their Serene Highnesses Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco.
LONDON (GBR): Britain’s former world triple jump champion Phillips Idowu, who last competed on June 1, denied that his apparent lay-off was due to injury, insisting that he had pulled out of the British Olympic trials and meetings in Oslo and Paris as a precautionary measure ahead of London 2012. The 33-year-old Beijing 2008 silver medallist, who will make his return to competition this weekend at the Samsung Diamond League meeting at Crystal Palace, smiled and shrugged when he was asked how it was that the UK head coach Charles van Commenee, speaking to the press ahead of the trials, had said he could not comment on Idowu’s case due to issues of „medical confidentiality”. Idowu was reported to have injured his foot at the Diamond League meeting in Eugene at the beginning of last month, where he pulled out after taking three jumps. But the current world silver medallist, one of four leading British athletes meeting the press on a Thames pleasure cruiser travelling between Westminster and Tower Bridge, said he withdrew from the event in Oregon as a precaution because of wet conditions. „After Eugene I had been working really hard with a 10-day training programme, I had a day off and then went on a solid five-day programme, so physically there was a lot of fatigue in my system and I didn’t want to jeopardise my chances at the Games by competing when I wasn’t in tip-top form,” he said. Informs insidethegames.
LAKELAND (USA): Theledger.com informs that Crispers announced a one-year endorsement deal with Justin Gatlin, the U.S. Olympic sprinter who won a gold medal in 2004. Gatlin is considered a top Summer Olympic Games prospect this year after winning the men’s 100 meter Olympic trials last month in Eugene finishing with a personal best time of 9.80 seconds. As part of the deal with Crispers, Gatlin will endorse the salad and sandwich chain on a variety of websites and social media, make appearances at Crispers restaurants, and provide autographed promotional items for customers.
RESULTS
CELLE LIGURE (ITA, Jul 12): At 24th Meeting Arcobaleno Jamaican Peter Matthews won the 400 m in 46.77.
TORONTO (CAN, Jul 11): Final meet of Canadian National Track League series saw great hurdles duel with all home specialists (only heptathlete Zelinka was missing). Nikkita Holder won in 12.83 (+1.0) over Angela Whyte 12.90, Phylicia George 12.95, Priscilla Lopes-Schliep 12.95 and Perdita Felicien 12.97. Justyn Warner won the 100 m in fast 10.17 (+0.5), Geoff Harris 1:46.86 in the 800 m, Nate Brannen 3:38.68 in the 1500 m. In the absence of Dylan Armstrong (training camp in Portugal) Justin Rodhe won the shot put with 20.51 m. In women events to add Miana Griffiths won the 100 m in personal best 11.34 (+0.8), Melissa Bishop was the best in the 800 m 2:01.68 and Sultana Frizell achieved 70.00 in hammer.
MANTAA-VILPPULA (FIN, Jul 11): Finnish hammer thrower David Soderberg improved his season best to 77.53 m.
TESSENDERLO (BEL, Jul 9): German London Olympic Marathon bound Susanne Hahn won the 10 km race in 32:12.
CORRECTION
BARCELONA (ESP): Please correct the name of British 800 m runner, it’s Emily Dudgeon, not Pidgeon.
