byLarry Eder
Tadese for Birmingam
BIRMINGHAM (GBR): Zersenay Tadese winner of a fifth, half marathon World Championship title last weekend will take part in the Bupa Great Birmingham Run on October 21. Organizers are informing. The 30-year-old Eritrean world record holder over the 13.1 mile distance, confirmed he will return to the Midland’s capital, where he claimed his fourth global gold medal success three years ago. Tadese cannot afford to rest on his laurels as the Kenyan pair, Micah Kogo and Eliud Kipchoge, also sub one-hour performers, are in the line-up and equally determined to follow in Gebrselassie’s footsteps.
Iordan a rapper
MOSCOW (RUS): European javelin silver medalist Valeriy Iordan shared his plans for a new season with Russian media. “My main competition will be the Universiade and the Moscow IAAF World Championships”. Now the 20-years old athlete is one of contender to become ‘Breakthrough of the Year’ in Russian Athletics. Interesting to know that Iordan writes songs (mostly rap) during his free time and is going to release has first mini-album ‘The Ocean” next winter. “I will probably write an unofficial soundtrack for the World Athletics Championships in Moscow and shoot a music video to promote this event,” the gifted thrower declared.
OTHER NEWS
AMSTERDAM (NED): Dutch heptathlete Yvonne Van Langen has announced on her website she is ending her career as a combined eventer. Van Langen is not ending her career as she is hoping to compete in her best individual events the hurdles, sprints and long jump. The tall Dutch athlete trained as a professional athlete for five years but has decided she will now only continue on a national level.
LAUSANNE (SUI): Croatian high jumper Blanca Vlasic, who missed the 2012 European Athletics Championships and the Olympic Games through injury, is still having problems with an injury she sustained last year, but is determined to continue her career for as long as possible: “Now in October I still have not recovered from the operation I had in January,” she told the Croatian media this week writes European Athletics. “This is the most difficult period of my career. It’s just one big nightmare,” she added.
LAUSANNE (SUI): In an interview in his hometown of Rouen French steeple chaser Mekhissi Benabbad said he has his eyes on winning an Olympic gold medal. “I am double Olympic silver medallist, double European champion, bronze medallist at the worlds. Five medals, that’s not bad at the age of 27. But I am not stopping there. I won’t stop until I am Olympic champion. I hope it will happen in 2016 in Rio” he was quoted on European Athletics.
KUALA LUMPUR (MAL): Malaysian athletics official Karim Ibrahim has been hit with a six-year ban after he was found guilty of being involved in two doping cases, according to Reuters. The Malaysian Star reported that in one case Ibrahim told relay runner Mohd Yunus Lasaleh to take pills from a Bulgarian doctor which the official claimed were vitamins, only for the athlete to test positive for methandienone at the South East Asian Games last November.
MELBOURNE (AUS): Olympic gold medalist Sally Pearson won The Don award at the Sport Australia Hall of Fame dinner in Melbourne as her Olympic 100m hurdles gold medal run was judged Australia’s most inspiring sports performance of the year. Pearson, who caused a stir on the awards red carpet in a stylish low-cut dress, added her bid to break the long-standing women’s 100m hurdles world record is on track.
KINGSTON (JAM): After once again missing out on a medal at the London Olympic Games, Jamaican 400m hurdler Kaliese Spencer has rejected criticism around her returns at major championships. While doing promotional work in Kingston Spencer stated she is very happy about winning the Samsung Diamond League and will be ready to medal at next year’s IAAF World championships in Moscow reports the Jamaican Gleaner.
MELBOURNE (AUS): A coveted automatic selection to the Australian Flame for the 2013 IAAF World Championships is up for grabs this weekend, as the country’s best long distance runners descend on Victoria for the 2012 Medibank Melbourne Marathon on Sunday. Doubling as the Australian Marathon Championships, the event will also feature a state-versus-state team competition whereby two teams of six men and six women will compete for national bragging rights. Writes Athletics Australia.
ST. JULIANS (MLT): The European Athletics Convention started on Thursday with One Day Meetings forum where possibilities to improve the European Premium and Classic Meeting were discussed. On Friday Head Coaches forum was staged with speaking about 2012 season and views for future seasons and also date for the 2016 European Championships in Amsterdam in connection with the Olympic Games later in August in Rio de Janeiro. Euromeetings also held its General Assembly with Velenje from Slovenia (EA Classic) becoming a new member. Taking part are nearly 300 athletics administrators, organisers from all the 50 European Athletics member countries.
RESULTS
SANTIAGO (CHI, Oct 10): In short time third improvement of South American junior shot put record (6 kg) by JoaquÃn Ballivian, this time with 20.19 m.
