Meeting AREVA is on Saturday, July 6, 2013. The French Federation is hoping to put 50,000 plus in the Stade de France. Great events featuring French greats and the one and only Usain Bolt! 

BOLT IS BACK, JAMES VS. MERRITT, MEKHISSI FOR ER

PARIS (FRA): In unusual situation next IAAF Diamond League meeting already two days after Athletissima, the Meeting Areva in one of the top European sporting facilities Stade de France. Super star Usain Bolt is back to racing and organisers are hoping only because of him to have +10 000 spectators and attacking the 50 000 barrier (Rome had 52 305). But also French heroes are making the interest huge (Lemaitre, Lavillenie, Mekhissi). So far winning all DL´s in their events Hejnova and Obergfoll going for fourth in a row.

Event by event

Men

200 m: Big man returns and helps to fill the stadium. His last 200 m before Moscow. MR 20.01 is a big possibility. Lemaitre attacking from behind, also Weir is in top shape.

400 m: James vs. Merritt. Both well rested. Sub 44 ? Head-to-head 4:2 for James (Tilastopaja).

1500 m: No Kenyans but in-shape is Souleiman of Djibouti, not to underestimate Wote, Gebremedhin, Iguider or fast finisher B. Lagat. Never Can they attack WL 3:31.13?

Steeple: The race of the evening for Mekhissi who wants to attack the ER. But also Kipsiele (MR holder 8:00.57) and oly winner Kemboi in the field.

110mH: Oliver with WL from Lausanne, but also Merritt, Brathwaite and is shape of Robles increasing?

PV: Lavillenie full of motivation after zero at Athletissima. From Germans only Holzdeppe this time.

LJ: Rutherford vs. three T (Tomlinson, Torneus, Tsatoumas). Mokoena and Makusha can attack too.

DT: Harting will still make it despite German Champs. Kanter, Hadadi and Harradine to attack him.

Women

100 m: Top quartett to meet for first time this year in one race – Shelly-Ann with Baptiste (European debut 2013), US Champ Gardener and in-shape Okagbare. That will be fast.

800 m: Unbeaten world leader Nyionsaba in 3rd race of the season after wins in Shanghai and Eugene.

5000 m: Tirunesh for a fast time, she needs sub 14:40 to be in top 3 Ethiopians for Moscow.

400mH: Hejnova wants to continue in unbeaten streak, top shape from the others by Perri SD and Moline.

HJ: MR holder Vlasic returns to Stade de France, but will face Oly winner Chicherova and World leader Barrett.

TJ: Ibarguen is unbeaten so far 2013 and can increase also her Diamond Race lead. First years 15 meters?

SP: Adams in top shape, but Carter also improved recently.

JT: Obergfoll one of few Germans competing, won previous 3 DL meets. Can go for a perfect score. She is also MR holder 68.01.

AREVA MEETING ACTIVITIES

PARIS (FRA): Meeting Areva prepared around the event several other activities. In the grandstands, some 40 000 clap-banners will be distributed among spectators to cheer on their favourite athletes and put themselves into the shoes of our superheroes, or under their masks at least. Top athletes will be welcomed in superhero line-up. Another special event is 1500 m wheelchair with world class preparing for IPC World Championships in Lyon. At 19.20 hrs, Thomas Ngijol will film the final scene of his movie “Fastlife”. At 19.54 hrs, the winners of the “Win your lane in the 100m at the MEETING AREVA” facebook game will take to the Stade de France track in front of a packed stadium.? Areva and the French Athletics Federation have decided to invite 10 000 young people to the Stade de France on Saturday within the context of the “Everyone at the MEETING AREVA” operation. By teaming up with France Bénévolat (National Voluntary Work campaign), Areva is offering the general public the chance to get involved with an association of their choice. On Thursday a kids clinic was held.

BONDARENKO FOR LONDON

LAUSANNE (SUI): Current high jump star Bohdan Bondarenko will now plan his remaining competitions until World Championships carefully. Informs Kadri Kallas from his management company. He is confirmed for the London Diamond League meet but other competitions are remaining open.

BUBKA WITH IMPRESSIVE WORDS

LAUSANNE (SUI): IOC Presidential candidates had 15-minute speeches in an effort to persuade their International Olympic Committee (IOC) colleagues that theirs were the right feet to step into Jacques Rogge’s Presidential shoes. The fact that the Belgian surgeon’s successor will be only the ninth IOC President in 119 years underlines just how big a deal this is. Writes insidethegames. Sergey Bubka, the youngest Presidential candidate, impressed many with his performance Outside the presentation hall, Ukraine ‚s Bubka, the youngest of the six candidates, was much the most impressive performer. He spoke with impressive and genuine passion about the urgent need for the Movement to reconnect with young people. If they continued to spend so much of their lives in front of computers, he warned, a „dangerous and very scary” situation might develop. Social media, he suggested, was key to addressing this problem. He proposes too a Council of Youth, incorporating „iconic personalities” capable of inspiring young people to better appreciate what sport could offer. „We are very strong today, but we need to invest now for the future.” Bubka also very sagaciously rejected the opportunity to moan about the luck of the draw, which saw him speak last of the six, thereby preventing him from witnessing the performances of any of his rivals. He appeared satisfied with his performance, remarking that he had set 35 pole-vault records and – „I think we set a 36th today.”

TOP TWO WILL QUALIFY FOR SURE

NAIROBI (KEN): Kenyan media are writing that the one-day event,
which will bring together a mix of new talents and elites (Kenyan World Trials) on July 13 will be used to pick the team to the 14th IAAF World Athletics Championships that runs in Moscow. Athletics Kenya vice president David Okeyo said the first two athletes to cross the line will earn automatic slots to national team. “We will use our traditional criteria of a 1-2 finish to pick automatic places in team as long as they have met the qualifying times and the third slot will be decided by a panel of selectors,” Okeyo said. He said those who have not qualified will be accepted in men’s 200m and 400m races to allow them try and push for qualifying standards. AK released names of 132 men and 60 women athletes who have attained the qualifying mark, having already named the marathon team of 10 athletes. Men’s line-up are Bernard Kipyego, Bernard Koech, Michael Kipyego, Nicholas Kipkemboi and Peter Some on reserve. World champion Edna Kiplagat leads women charges that has 2012 Dubai marathon winner Lucy Kabuu, Margaret Akai, Eunice Chepkirui and late entrant Agnes Jeruto Barsosio. The Safaricom-sponsored trials, which will start at 12pm with men’s 10 000 m and javelin, will see AK introduce entertainment sessions before events. Gospel artist Emmy Kosgei and musician Jaguar will entertain the gathering before the kids athletics. “We want to be fair to all athletes. Only Julius Yego of javelin has the Standard ‘A’ mark. All defending champions and Diamond League winners have a wild card but it’s within the discretion of the federation to enter if they feel the athlete is fit for competition,” said Okeyo. He said world 800m record holder David Rudisha is slowly recovering and should he recover well before world championships, he will be in the team. “We hope he will be well to join the team. He is the defending and will have a wild card. His doctors have sent us the scanned X-ray and our doctors here said he would be well,” he said.

OTHER NEWS

GOLD COAST (AUS): In its 35th edition the Gold Coast Airport Marathon makes its debut as an IAAF bronze label event, the first Australian race to earn an IAAF label. Both the women’s and men’s races feature fields worthy of an even higher level, and on both sides course records look likely. Writer Brett Larner. The clear favorite in the women’s race is this year’s London Marathon 3rd-placer Yukiko Akaba. Having been left off the Japanese World Championships team in favor of two empty seats, Akaba told Japan Running News that she came to Gold Coast to go for the 20 year-old 2:29:29 course record. Her biggest challenge may come from 2:26:08 athlete Eri Okubo.. The men will have a tougher time of clearing the record, but the current 2:10:01 mark is in range of at least the top six. With a 2:07:43 best from last year’s Seoul International Marathon Jairus Chanchima from Kenya is the favorite. The other big contender is Japanese Yuki Kawauchi with 2:08:14 best.

LONDON (GBR): The IAAF has denied claims that four unnamed athletes who competed as females at the London 2012 Olympics were found to have the genetic makeup of males. A report on the International Business Times website said the competitors had the XY chromosomes, which genetically define men, rather than the female XX and had their testes removed surgically in order to appear at last summer’s Games. Informs insidethegames. However, the IAAF has told insidethegames that „not one athlete was investigated at London 2012 and found to have had hyperandrogenism” – a medical condition characterised by the excessive production of androgens/testosterone which affects one in every 4500 people.

LAUSANNE (SUI): US hurdler David Payne after finishing 4th in Lausanne is season best 13.30 broke his right femur crossing the finish line. He was taken to the hospital in Lausanne and had surgery right away. He will have to stay in Switzerland for at least another 10 days until he can be transported back to the US. At age of 30 he is Olympic 2008 silver medalist.

LAUSANNE (SUI): Sifan Hassan (20) who again improved in Lausanne her 1500 m best (4:03.73) is still running as Ethiopian. Her Dutch citizenship should be approved after the World Championships in Moscow.

AMSTERDAM (NED): Fast Dafne Schippers after her 11.09 improvement at Athletissima will next week compete at the European U23 Championships in Tampere in three events. The 100 m, long jump and 4×100 m relay. For Moscow World Championships she plans the heptathlon.

MELBOURNE (AUS): Australian athletics has moved an important step closer to the unification of the senior and junior levels of the sport afte
r Little Athletics Australia (LAA), Athletics Australia (AA) and the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) this week signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at aligning LAA and AA.

MELBOURNE (AUS): Athletics Australia has published its Selection Policy for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, after the Australian Commonwealth Games Association Board of Management approved it for release. “The main aim of the Policy is to nominate quality athletes for selection by the Australian Commonwealth Games Association in order to finish as the top nation at the Commonwealth Games on both the medal table and the points table. This will be a challenge because Scotland will be at home for the first time since 1986 and they will be fighting for every place in front of a very patrioticcrowd, and also because England will send a large team as they are almost at home too,” Simon Nathan, Athletics Australia High Performance Director, said. In a positive move for the development of athletes as the 2015 IAAF World Championships and 2016 Rio Olympic Games approach, the policy introduces a new concept that allows for three athletes to be selected with only one requiring the Athletics Australia A-Standard. The Qualification Period for the 10,000m, the marathon, the women’s heptathlon, the men’s decathlon commenced on 1 January 2013, with all other track and field events opening on 1 October 2013. The Qualification Period spans the entire Australian domestic athletics season, concluding for all events (excluding the 10,000m and marathon) at 23:59 Central European Time on 1 June 2014.

VILNIUS (LTU): Lithuania is sending 21 athletes for the European U23 Championships next week in Tampere. 13 men and 8 women, the top medal hope is high jumper Airine Palsyte who achieved 192 this year.

KAZAN (RUS): Italy is sending for the Athletics at Universiade in Kazan 7 men and 5 women. Specialy to mention Stefano La Rosa for the 5000 m, Diego Marani in the 200 m. For the final in women 1500 m is aiming Margherita Magnani.

FELTRE (ITA): New running child. Mother is Federica Dal Ri and father Gabriele De Nard, both top Italian long distance runners. Their daughter Chiara was born on July 2.

CARTAGENA (COL): For the on Friday beginning South American Championships in Colombia the entered figures are 450 athletes from 13 countries.

MORELIA (MEX): The 24th Central American and Caribbean championships are also starting on Friday in Morelia, Mexico. Top stars are olympic winner Felix Sanchez and olympic 400 m medalist Luguelin Santos from Dominican Republic. Biggest team comes from home country Mexico with 92 athletes.

RESULTS

TEL AVIV (ISR, Jul 4): Second day of 77th Israeli Championships saw Ukrainian guest Natalia Gapchuk clearing 186 cm in the high jump and Lev Skorish clearing national youth pole vault record 502 cm.

KRAKOW (POL, Jul 4): Patryk Dobek clocked good quality 46.34 in the 400 m at the Polish Junior Championships. Also in girls 400 m another top mark, Patrycja Wyciskiewicz 52.11 what is national junior record.