by Larry Eder
EME NEWS (JUL 26, 2013)
Mo and Jessica
LONDON (GBR): Second day of Sainsbury´s Anniversary Games in the Olympic Stadium will see both biggest home stars in action (Farah and Ennis-Hill), again sold out (60 000) and the man (Bolt) will anchor Racers team in the 4×100 m. Obergfoll can confirm her Diamond Race win 2013.
Event by event preview
Men
Mile (Emsley Carr): Souleiman of Djibouti looks like the clear favorite.
3000 m (non-DL): Big solo of Mo Farah is expected. Maybe Tariku Bekele can be close? Expected pace at 7:40 leve.
Steeple: Non Moscow bound Kenyans B. Kipruto and Birech and interesting to see World youth best holder at 2k Kahsay of Ethiopia. Expected at 8:10 level.
110mH: Nearly full US Moscow Team (Merritt, Wilson, Oliver, only Richardson withdrew) against Ortega (but he had a long break). First heats.
400mH (non-DL): Culson lost in Monaco, Tinsley is back and all-time heroes Sanchez and Jackson.
PV (non-DL): Usual picture. Full London podium back. Lavillenie and both Germans.
LJ: Revenge after great jumping at Universiade. Menkov vs. Rivera.
4×100 m: Racers TC (Forsythe, Bailey-Cole, Weir, Bolt) and behind them all open (Germany, France with Lemaitre and Vicaut, Canada, Australia and of course home team and even Netherlands with Martina).
Women
100 m: In heat one Jeter, Fraser-Pryce, Gardner, in second Baptiste, Ahoure, Okagbare. That should be also the final set-up.
200 m (non-DL): Felix is back, but Strachan is young and Solomon in shape.
400 m (non-DL): Home star Ohuruogu will not have it easy with Americans (McCorory, Hastings).
100mH (non-DL): Pearson returns to site of her success, but Wells, Lewis, Porter are also in good shape. And Ennis-Hill will be the most watched.
LJ (non-DL): Another test for Jessica. De Loach-Soukup is the favorite on paper.
SP: Adams is unbeaten since 2010, should stay so. Meet record possible (20.79).
JT: Obergfoll won all Diamond League´s and can confirm the overall win, attacking Abakumova and Stahl. Meet record possible (66.74 of Obergfoll in 2011).
Bolt: “I know I am clean”
LONDON (GBR): Usain Bolt claimed before London 100 m race that he was always destined to be one of the greatest athletes of all time and that he has been doing phenomenal things since he was a teenager – as he was forced to defend himself following a series of positive drugs tests involving top sprinters. “If you were following me since 2002, you will know that I have been doing phenomenal things since I was 15,” he said. m”I’m confident in myself and the people I work with and I know I’m clean so I am just going to continue running and using my talent to try and improve the sport. I don’t make the rules and I can’t determine how harsh they should be. In life things happen, people make mistakes, mishaps happen, so I can’t really decide what the rules should be. As an athlete, I have to be very careful. I have a great team around me, I work hard and they make sure I stay on the straight and narrow.
Oldest world record celebrates 30 years
CASLAV (CZE): The oldest world record celebrates on Friday 30 years. The 1:53.28 of Jarmila Kratochvilova in the 800 m. “Yes, we will have a small celebration today in our stadium in Caslav,” says Kratochvilova for EME NEWS. “But nothing big, you know Im not that kind of person. Im more looking forwards to Saturday where the whole Czecho-Slovak team competing in Helsinki 1983 is coming together for a special celebration,” adds the current coach of young runners in her home town of Caslav. “Of course I was not thinking the record will last for so long. After I did it I was saying to myself, next year we have Olympic Games there it will be broken,” admits Kratochvilova (62). She also says that she was in top shape in 1983 and if not combining different events she could run even better the 800 m at the World Championships in Helsinki, “but I was thinking only about medals in Helsinki, not about results.” About for how long it will still be the best mark ever Kratochvilova says: “I m following the scene, I was hoping Mutola, later Jelimo, later Semenya, now the young girl from Burundi, that they can come close. But nothing happened. Now I would be more happy when it will last as long as possible. Earlier I was not following it so closely. And you should be aware, I was living in different time. For the record I got 3000 Czecho-Slovak crowns and bought a television but needed to add something as it was not enough.”
Weekend of National Championships
LAUSANNE (SUI): This weekend is truly National Championships weekend in Europe. It is also weekend of last possibility to achieve the standards for the World Championships in Moscow. Deadline for entries is Monday July 29. Russian Champs just ended, sinceWednesday the Ukrainian event is going on (Donetsk), since ThursdayFinland (Vaasa) and Belarus (Grodno). On Friday addede are Latvia (Jekabpils), Switzerland (Luzern) and Lithuania (Siauliai). Then during the weekend continuing with Spain (Alcobendas, Caceres in the 100 m),
Austria (Feldkirch-Gisingen), Estonia (Tallinn), Slovenia (Celje), Italy (Milano), Portugal (Leiria), Hungary (Budapest), Ireland (Dublin-Santry) and Denmark (Aalborg, with young talent Hari). And to add Balkan Championships in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria.
World Athletics Forum
MONACO (MON): New initiative by the IAAF. The world governing body announced that the 1st IAAF World Athletics Forum will be held on the first day of the 49th IAAF Congress in Moscow. The 1st IAAF World Athletics Forum will be chaired by IAAF President Lamine Diack, and aims to create an environment for lively and open debate about the future of Athletics for Congress Delegates and guests. This new IAAF initiative will take place on 7 August 2013 at the Crowne Plaza Convention Centre in Moscow. The forum will kick off with a morning plenary session including an external perspective of the current environment, trends, opportunities and challenges for sport and Athletics, a presentation of the new 2013-2016 IAAF Strategic Plan, and a focus on latest evolutions in IAAF Competitions and building partnerships within and outside the Olympic movement. In the afternoon, breakout sessions on three key themes (Promotion and Development of Athletics, Ethics in Athletics, IAAF Governance,) will take place. After the breakout sessions, a closing plenary session will bring the Forum to an end. Seven speakers and 17 panellists, each from a different country, will provide expert and diverse perspectives and insights from both inside and outside the Athletics Family.
OTHER NEWS
WELLINGTON (NZL): Kim Smith has been forced to withdraw from the World Championships due to injuries in both her foot and achilles, reports 3 News NZ. The US Based 31 year old qualified for the 10 000 m with a 31:46.37 run in April. Smith will try and return from injury to compete in the Boston half marathon on October 13th, the final race in a 3 race series that offers big prize money. Smith won this series last year and is currently leading this year’s edition.
NASSAU (BAH): Bahamian athletics is struggling to pay the expenses for the upcoming World Championships in Moscow, reports the Nassau Guardian. The governing body is yet to buy plane tickets for the championships which are only three weeks away.
PITTSBURGH (USA): The elite field for the 2nd annual Liberty Mile (Aug 9th) has been announced reports bringbackthemile.com. The men’s field is headlined by the Oregon Track Club’s Jordan McNamara, who has run a 3:34.00 1500m this year, and also features the former NCAA indoor mile record holder Miles Batty. The race offers a 4000 USD prize for the winner.
BRISBANE (AUS): Australian pole vault record holder Alana Boyd is out of the world championships due to knee and achilles problems, reports the Ipswich Advertiser. The 29 year old has failed to record a height at her last three meets.
RIO DE JANEIRO (BRA): Pope Francis blessed the Olympic and Paralympic flags with holy water and greeted some of the country’s athletes in Rio de Janeiro as his historic tour of Brazil continued. He blessed the flags during a ceremony in Palacio da Cidade attended by Carlos Nuzman, President of Rio 2016, and Eduardo Paes, the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro. Francis then headed to Varginha, one of Rio’s favela slums and addressed an estimated crowd of more than one million young Roman Catholics on Copacabana beach.
NINOVE (BEL): The Ninove Athletics Meeting on Saturday features some top class athletes. High Jump field is headed by Canada’s Olympic bronze medallist Derek Drouin, who has jumped a 236 PB this year. The long jump features the Zimbabwean Ngoni Makusha, who has an 8.40 best and an 8.04 SB. A strong 3000m will see Mexican Juan Luis Barrios, fresh off a PB of 7:45.12 in Dublin, up against on form Kenyan Cyrus Rutto, who has a 7:46.74 best. Charles Jock is the strongest in the men’s 800 while Caster Semenya makes her final attempt for a world championships qualifying standard against a strong field that includes Canadians Jessica Smith and Diane Cummins and American Chanelle Price. The women’s 400m features a strong French contingent with Gayot (51.54) and Guei (51.58). British trio Danny Talbot, Deji Tobais and David Bolarinwa all go in the 100m. Talbot and Tobias also go in the 200m against top Brazilian Bruno De Barros. The women’s 1500m field is headed by Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay and also features one half of the German Sujew twins, Elina, who has run4:08.82 this season. The men’s 1500m pits US Double indoor champion, Will Leer against home favourite Jeroen D’Hoedt.
LONDON (GBR): The Olympic shot put winner New Zealand’s Valerie Adams has said that she will “never forgive” the Belarus athlete Nadezhda Ostapchuk who initially won the final but later was disqualified after failing a drug test, informs the Press Association Sport. Speaking to the media before she competes in the London Diamond League, a return to the site where she was denied her chance to stand on top of the Olympic podium, Adams said that Ostapchuk has “tainted the sport” and “tainted the event”.
RESULTS
TEL AVIV (ISR, Jul 25): Second day of 19th Maccabiah Games had Maayan Shahaf the national record holder winning the high jump 184 over Czech Magdalena Nova also 184.
MOSCOW (RUS, Jul 25): Relay additions to Russian Championships. St. Peterburg won both male relays in 39.55 and 3:06.16. Women winners Irkutsk region 44.70 and Sverdlovsk (with Olympic winner Mariya Savinova) 3:28.94.
