About the same time I am posting this piece, we have found out, that it was not voted on, but by unanimous acclimation! The Four Year ban

RETURN TO 4 YEARS BAN ON THE TABLE

MOSCOW (RUS): The IAAF will vote on whether they should re-implement 4 year bans to drugs offenders tomorrow in Moscow, reports Reuters. The IAAF’s General Secretary, Essar Gabriel, elaborated on the issue saying that they would also introduce other measures such as penalties to the support staff of athletes that are facilitating their illegal drug use. Chairman of the Athlete’s Commission Frank Fredericks said that the IAAF “would like to have life bans” but that the “new compromise is four years”. A decision to introduce 4 year bans may not be accepted by other sports federations when the issue is debated at the WADA conference in November. IAAF council member Abby Hoffman said that an IAAF decision to reintroduce the four year ban could leave them on “an independent road”.

BORZAKOVSKIY IS OUT

MOSCOW (RUS): 800m Athens Olympic champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy and the only previous world medalist in the Moscow field will not compete at home Worlds. Head coach of Russian athletics team Valentin Maslakov told to All Sport news agency: “Yuriy called me today and said that he caught the cold and has a fever last days. He will not able to restore his great shape till championships. That is why Borzakovskiy made final decision to miss Moscow event.”

NEW QUALIFICATION SYSTEM FOR 2015 WORLDS

MOSCOW (RUS): Ahead of the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, the first day of the 49th IAAF Congress played host to the 1st IAAF World Athletics Forum, providing an environment for lively and open debate among Congress delegates about the future of athletics. The forum was chaired by IAAF President Lamine Diack and welcomed seven speakers and 17 panellists, each from a different country, as they provided expert and diverse perspectives and insights from both inside and outside the athletics family. Following that, IAAF General Secretary Essar Gabriel outlined the vision, missions and objectives of the 2013-2016 IAAF Strategic Plan, which picks up the baton from the IAAF Athletics’ World Plan – a ten-year strategy to propel the sport forward, which concluded in December last year. The IAAF Strategic Plan comprises three phases – strategic and organisational review, strategic plan, and action plan – and it begins with the six IAAF core values: universality, leadership, unity, excellence, integrity and solidarity. IAAF Senior Vice President Robert Hersh outlined some of the latest evolutions for future IAAF competitions, of which one of the most significant was the new qualification system for the Olympic Games and World Championships. Effective for the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing, there will be a fixed number of athletes per event with the combined total of 2000 athletes competing. Instead of ‘A’ and ‘B’ standards, there will be a single qualification standard for each event, which aims to fill 75% of the quota for that discipline. The rest of the places will be filled by the top-ranked athletes in each event. The second breakout session, on the subject of ethics in athletics, was chaired by IAAF Vice President Sebastian Coe. In it, Marathon World record-holder Paula Radcliffe spoke about the risks of corruption in athletics; mainly with regards to doping, but also illegal betting and age manipulation.

TRIPLE JUMP WITH LOWEST ENTRIES

MOSCOW (RUS): Men top 5 events based on entries at the World Championships are 100 m 79, marathon 76, 20kmw and 50 kmw each 66, 200 m 64. Top technical pole vault 42. Women top five marathon 75, 20kmw 66, 200 m 56, 100 m 51, 1500 m 43. Top technical: long jump and shot put 32. In combined events 36 men and 34 women, in relays men 4×100 m 23, 4×400 24, women 4×100 19 and 4×400 17 teams. Lowest number of entries interestingly in both men and women triple jump (24 and 21). In women category also the 10 000 m with 21. Top 5 highest number of countries in one event: 100 m men 58, 200 m men 43, 800 m men 41, marathon men 41, marathon women 38.

11 DAEGU WINNERS MISSING

MOSCOW (RUS): Eleven Daegu winners 2011 will not compete in 12 events at the World Championships in Moscow. They are 7 men and 4 women. Yohan Blake at 100 m, David Rudisha at 800 m, Abel Kirui in marathon, Valeriy Borchin and Sergey Bakulin in walks, Pawel Wojciechowski in pole vault and Matthias De Zordo in javelin. Four women Veronica Campbell-Brown in the 200 m, Vivian Cheruyiot from both 5000 m and 10 000 m, Li Yanfeng in discus and Tatyana Chernova in heptathlon. Most of these athletes are not competing due to injuries and subsequent healing process. The rest of individual winners from the championships two years ago is set to compete.

OTHER MOSCOW NEWS

MOSCOW (RUS): Former 200 m World Champion Frank Fredericks thinks that Usain Bolt is yet to reach his peak and that he will break his 100m and 200m World records if he has rivals to push him, reports supersport. He thinks Bolt, who turns 27 on August 21st, still has two years to reach his absolute peak and that the injury to training partner Yohan Blake has hindered his performances this year due to a lack of competition.

ADDIS ABABA (ETH): Abebe Bikila, the Ethiopian Olympic gold medal winning marathon runner, has been honoured by having a Google Doodle designed in memory of his athletic achievements, informs Ethiosports. Bikila won the 1960 Olympic marathon barefoot and the 1964 Olympic marathon in World Record time. Bikila passed away at 41 years of age, he would have celebrated his 81st birthday today.

MOSCOW (RUS): American Long Jumper Brittney Reese wants to win the gold medal with her first jump in the final at the World Championships, reports supersport. Responding to previous remarks that she was the “sixth round knockout queen” she desires to become the “first round knockout queen” this time around. The 26 year old is a clear world leader with the 7.25 she jumped at the Doha Diamond League. She suffered with a hip injury at the US Championships where she fouled all three jumps. She describes her current form as “95% fit”. Reese won gold in Berlin 2009 and Daegu 2011 with 710 and 682 jumps.

MOSCOW (RUS): Men top 5 events based on entries at the World Championships are 100 m 79, marathon 76, 20kmw and 50 kmw each 66, 200 m 64. Top technical pole vault 42. Women top five marathon 75, 20kmw 66, 200 m 56, 100 m 51, 1500 m 43. Top technical: long jump and shot put 32. In combined events 36 men and 34 women, in relays men 4×100 m 23, 4×400 24, women 4×100 19 and 4×400 17 teams. Lowest number of entries interestingly in both men and women triple jump (24 and 21). In women category also the 10 000 m with 21. Top 5 highest number of countries in one event: 100 m men 58, 200 m men 43, 800 m men 41, marathon men 41, marathon wom 38.

MOSCOW (RUS): The IAAF Dinner, held on the eve of the IAAF Congress ahead of the 2013 IAAF World Championships, was stagedon Tuesday at Moscow’s Gostiny Dvor. Located just 150 meters from the Kremlin, the grand structure was built by famed architect Giacomo Quarenghi more than 200 years ago. Surrounded by columns and classic arcs, the granite-paved courtyard houses the largest single-span glass roof in Europe, covering an area of 120,000 square metres. The dinner was hosted by IAAF President Lamine Diack, and he presented an IAAF Plaque of Merit to recipients from each of the six IAAF Area Federations. They included Isaiah Kiplagat, president of Athletics Kenya and IAAF Council member; Du Zhaocai, vice president and general secretary of the Chinese Athletics Association and IAAF Council member; Janez Aljancic, past president of the Athletics Federation of Slovenia; Esther Maynard, immediate past president of the Athletics Association of Barbados; Rod Syme, former ITO from New Zealand; and Argentina’s Eduardo Bernal, past vice president of Consudatle.

MOSCOW (RUS): The 2nd IAAF World Coaches’ Conference will be held in Moscow on Monday 19 August, giving the opportunity for coaches from over 200 national teams assembled for the IAAF World Championships to attend. Held at the Cosmos Hotel in the Russian capital, the World Coaches’ Conference will feature a host of experts from around the world discussing topics of interest in the coaching profession, covering the latest training methodologies, techniques, technology and issues in athletics. Andreas Behm, coach to US sprint hurdler Aries Merritt, will talk about Merritt’s journey to Olympic gold and the World record. Originally from Germany, Behm works at Texas A&M University. Yevgeniy Zagorulko has coached three Russian high jumpers to Olympic gold – Anna Chicherova, Yelena Yelesina and Andrey Silnov. At the World Coaches’ Conference Zagorulko will talk about the longitudinal experience of preparation for the top high jumpers in Russia. Coach of Olympic Javelin champion Keshorn Walcott, Cuba’s Ismael Lopez will discuss the long-term development of throwers, from teens to elite. Other speakers include Germany’s Dietmar Schmidtbleicher on modern strength training for track and field athletes, Ethiopia’s Jillo Dube on the Ethiopian method of training for middle and long distances, and Germany’s Lutz Meissner on the prevention of sport injuries.

MOSCOW (RUS): Jamaica’s chances of lowering the world 4x100m record set to win last year’s London Olympic Games is very slim. It is slim because two instrumental members of that team, Yohan Blake, the world 100m champion, and Michael Frater, are both out with injuries. Nesta Carter and Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man, will be available, but they may not get enough help to lower the 36.84 seconds mark. The question of whether Jamaica can lower the record was put to Bolt after a practice session here on Wednesday,
but after first saying “I can’t answer that” and “I will always do my part”. Writes Trackalerts. To Bolt and Carter options to fill the team are Kemar Bailey-Cole, Nickel Ashmeade and Warren Weir.

MOSCOW (RUS): Jamaica Gleaner writes that Jamaica’s team press liaison at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Moscow, Dennis Gordon, has dismissed reports of Jamaican athletes being targeted by anti-doping authorities as sensational and a misrepresentation of the facts. Reports surfaced that all 44 members of Jamaica’s team had been targeted by officials from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in team-wide drug tests on Monday. However, only 41 members of the team were in camp at that point, and the IAAF Team Manual had advised all teams that every athlete participating in the August 10-18 championships would be tested in an attempt to create biological profiles for their anti-doping efforts. „Those reports are simply not factual. It is mandatory. They are creating profiles for all athletes here, and we fall into that. Every other team will be subjected to similar tests, and what happened in recent times with the adverse findings has nothing to do with this testing. It was mandatory. We knew about it in advance and we complied,” Gordon said.

MADRID (ESP): Spanish Television TVE will finally broadcast the World Championships from Moscow. It is also due to sponsorship of the Carnicas Serrano company from Valencia.

NAIROBI (KEN): Janeth Jepkosgei has medalled in the last three IAAF World Champinships in the women’s 800m, reports All Africa. After a 7th place in the London final Jepkosgei, who is nicknamed the “Eldoret Express”, thought about moving her focus to the 1500m. However, she has decided to stay with the 800m. Moscow will be her fourth successive World Championships. It could also be her fourth successive World Championships in which she finishes in the medals as the 1:58.71 that she ran in Eugene ranks her 4th fastest this year out of the athletes competing in Moscow.

DODOMA (TAN): The Tanzanian team has delayed their departure for Moscow by one week so they can continue their preparations at home, reports IPP Media. The team is made up of two male marathoners, Mohamed Mseduki and Faustine Mussa, who will arrive two days before their event.

KAMPALA (UGA): After Stephen Kiprotich won Olympic Gold in the marathon in London his two coaches were highly sought after, reports New Vision. His main coach Peter Sang was made Sports Minister of the Uasin Gishu County while his assistant coach Richard Metu was hired by the Kenyan national team.

MONACO (MON): The IAAF has launched the IAAF App ahead of the 14th edition of the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Moscow. The App will feature live results, statistics, news, feature articles, medals and placing tables, videos and photos. It will also feature a customised alerts system. Informs the IAAF.

MOSCOW (RUS): Getty Images has been the official picture supplier for the IAAF at every World Championships, informs the IAAF. Moscow will be no different and Steve Rose, the Director of Sport Photography at Getty Images, will oversee 7 photographers, 4 editors, 2 operations staff and an IT expert.

NEW YORK (USA): The USA’s Deena Kastor feels that she can finish in the top 5 positions in Saturday’s women’s marathon at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, informs Race Results Weekly. The 40 year old mother who won the bronze medal in the Athens Olympic marathon has never raced the marathon at a World Championships before. Kastor’s 7th place at the Beach to Beacon 10k saw her run the fastest ever 10k by an American masters athlete, 38.28.2. Although, this time will not be recognised as a record because the course is ineligible. At the World Championships in Osaka in 2007 Kastor finished 6th in the 10,000m. She believes she has a “good shot” at improving on that finishing position on the streets of Moscow, saying that her training has been focused with this goal in mind.

OTHER NEWS

ADDIS ABABA (ETH): Abebe Bikila, the Ethiopian Olympic gold medal winning marathon runner, has been honoured by having a Google Doodle designed in memory of his athletic achievements, informs Ethiosports. Bikila won the 1960 Olympic marathon barefoot and the 1964 Olympic marathon in World Record time. Bikila passed away at 41 years of age, he would have celebrated his 81st birthday today.

MOSCOW (RUS): Puerto Rico’s veteran Track and Field administrator Victor Lopez was elected President of the North American Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC), to serve out the 2013-2015 term left vacant by Jamaican’s Neville “Teddy” McCook, who passed away on February 11, 2013. McCook had been NACAC President since 2007 and IAAF Area Representative from 1999. The NACAC President will have a seat on the IAAF Council.

LAUSANNE (SUI): SportAccord has been asking its members to respond to a very detailed questionnaire to better understand what will be its ambitious future. One of the major platforms of newly-elected President Marius Vizer was the creation of a United World Championships to be organized every four years. The questionnaire canvassed a first edition for 2017. Is this a direct assault on the Olympic juggernaut?. Asks AIPS on its web.

NEW DELHI (IND): Indian Long Jumper Prem Kumar´s 809 jump at the Indian Inter-Railway Athletics Championships will not be ratified as a National Record as there was no Anti-Doping officials present to carry out drug tests, informs the Indian Express.

LONDON (GBR): PA writes that world record holder Jonathan Edwards does not think there is any way back into the British athletics team for Phillips Idowu. The 34-year-old triple jumper announced last month he would be taking a step back from the sport „for the foreseeable future”.

TOKYO (JPN): Japanese marathon runner Yuki Kawauchi has no coach, no sponsor and works five days a week as a school clerk, reports the South China Morning Post. He is a cult hero in Japan and has been dubbed the “strongest citizen runner in history”. He has run 22 long distance races this year; including 6 marathons, 10 half marathons and a 50km race in which he collapsed due to heat stroke. Kawauchi says he will aim for a top 6 place in the Moscow marathon. He finished 18th in Daegu and failed to qualify for London, but has run a personal best of 2:08:14 this year.

RESULTS

URJALA (FIN, Aug 6): Ari Mannio showed his good javelin shape with 82.76 here. He is entered only as an alternative, selected are Tero Pitkamäki, Antti Ruuskanen and Teemu Wirkkala.

SOMERO (FIN, Aug 6): New national pole vault record for Minna Nikkanen with 450 clearance. Unfortunately too late for Moscow participation.