by Larry Eder
Jenn Suhr, the American record holder in the pole vault, the second highest women’s vaulter in history, the World Champ silver medalist in 2009, is healthy and will be competing in Millrose Games this coming Friday night, January 28. Suhr will also be competing in the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix In Boston on February 5, 2011.
RBR will be heading to Houston tomorrow for the Chevron Houston Marathon and the Aramco Houston Half Marathon (the U.S. half marathon championships). Watch for our coverage on Saturday and Sunday!
MBANDJOCK WITH GREENE
PARIS
(FRA): Triple European sprint medalist Martial Mbandjock will be
coached by Olympic champion Maurice Greene. The last two years the
French sprinter trianed under the guidance of coach John Smith.
Mbandjock now continues to train in Los Angeles where Maurice Greene
will be in charge of guiding his preparations for the IAAF World
championships in Deagu and the London Olympic Games writes La Voix du
Nord.
SUHR READY TO OPEN
YORK (USA): US media are informing that pole vaulter Jenn Suhr is ready
to open her season at Millrose Games and she is happy and healthy. Much
has changed in Jenn Stuczynski’s life since she won a silver medal in
pole vaulting at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. For one thing, she’s no
longer Jenn Stuczynski. The Roberts Wesleyan College graduate married
her coach, Rick Suhr, one year ago and is now Jenn Suhr. Her long, dark
locks are also gone, replaced by a blonde bob. “I’m happy and healthy,”
says Jenn, who turns 29 on Feb. 5.
(AUS): Australian distance icons Craig Mottram and Benita Willis will
spearhead a team of 16 athletes selected to represent Australia at the
2011 IAAF world cross country championships in Punta Umbria, Spain, in
March. Mottram’s selection marks the first time he is representing
Australia since the IAAF Cross Country championships of 2008 in
Edinburgh. Also on the men’s team are Collis Birmingham, Ben St
Lawrence, David McNeill and cross country guns Liam Adams and Clinton
Perrett. Commonwealth Games marathon silver medalist Michael Shelley
decided not to travel to Spain as he will contest next month’s
Beppu-Oita marathon in Japan. 2004 World cross country champion Benita
Willis leads the women’s team along with four-time world cross country
representative Lara Tamsett, national 10,000m champion Eloise Wellings,
dual world cross country teams bronze medallist Anna Thompson (2006,
2008) and world cross country debutante Kaila McKnight. In eight
appearances at the world cross country titles since her debut in 2001,
Willis has never finished outside the top 20 reports Athletics
Australia.
WATTENSCHEID (GER): Shot putter Denise Hinrichs who won silver at
last European Indoor Championships injured her knee and will miss the
rest of the indoor season. The surgery is planned for February 17. She
injured herself at shot put meeting in Nordhausen last weekend.
MANNHEIM (GER): European 100 m winner Verena Sailer will not run
for Germany on Saturday during Aviva Match in Glasgow. It is because of
her back problems. Her replacement will be Leena Gunther.
NEW
YORK (USA): Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, who is one of NBA’s
fastest players, challenged Usain Bolt he can beat him. Both Bolt and
Celtic player Kevin Garnett appeared in a Gatorade commercial which
inspired Rondo to call out to Bolt writes Dime Magazine.
DESSAU (GER): Jumping meeting in Dessau on February 2 announced top
pole vaulters Malte Mohr, Fabian Schulze and Alexander Straub. In
women´s high jump Italian Antonietta di Martino will clash with Ruth
Beitia.
MONTE CARLO (MON): IAAF confirmed the two years doping ban of Spanish
steeple runner Jose Luis Blanco, informs latest IAAF Newsletter. He is
banned for two years until October 26, 2012. That means he will miss
Daegu and London. He will also return the bronze from Barcelona European
Championships which will go for Moldova´s Ion Luchianov.
DAKAR (SEN): CAfrica Sports has secured free-to-air right to the
2011 Samsung Diamond League athletics series in sub-Saharan Africa.
SAN
SEBASTIAN (ESP): European 1500 m champion Nuria Fernandez will return
to competition this Sunday at 56th Cross Internacional de San Sebastian
on January 30. Her main rival will be olympic steeple medalist Kenyan
Eunice Jepkorir.
MOSCOW (RUS): US sprinter Josh Norman who currently leads the world
lists with 6.58 signed for Russian Winter IAAF Indoor Permit on February
6. His main rival should be Trinidad´s top sprinter Marc Burns. Other
names for men´s 60 m include Emanuele di Gregorio of Italy, Jamaican
Oshane Bailey and Nigerian Peter Emelieze.
NEW DELHI (IND): Suresh Kalmadi made it clear that he will not step
down from his post of Indian Olympic Association President following his
resignation as the Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organizing
Committee. Kalmadi had to give up his position with the Commonwealth
Games Organizing Committee because of ongoing investigations into
alleged irregularities in the conduct of the Commonwealth Games. Kalmadi
claims those issues have nothing to do with his position in the Indian
Olympic Association.
LONDON (GBR): More than 33,000 people have applied to train to
become one of the 8,000 London Ambassadors that will help visitors
during the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics writes Insidethegames. The
original target set by London Mayor Boris Johnson was for 25,000
registrations but the programme has attracted unprecedented demand to
become one of the army of guides needed to help visitors.
MILANO (ITA): Olympic 50 km champion and European 20 km silver
medallist Alex Schwazer suffered a serious knee injury while he was
skiing near his home village Racines in Italian Sud Tyrol. “I fell and
soon I felt very acute pain. The left knee was swollen and I went
immediately to the Vipiteno’s hospital. In the next few days I will
undergo a scan visit in Pavia.” There is a high risk it turns out to be a
knee ligament injury which would sideline him for the World
Championships in Daegu and the rest of the season. Last week Schwazer,
who is now caoched by former 20 km world champion Michele Didoni, met
Italian Team Technical Director Francesco Uguagliati and the Carabinieri
team’s staff to map out the 2011 season. Before Daegu Schwazer had
originally planned a 20 km test at the European Walking Cup in Portugal
next May.
PARIS (FRA): French shot putter Gaëtan Bucki told athle.com he
is not surprised with his throw of 20.35 from last weekend. Bucki
confirmed he has been training well for the last few months and is
finally back after three difficult years. Bucki changed his coach to
Eric Lepeuple and claimed he needed some time to adjust to the new
training. Bucki’s main aim is to reach the finals of the European indoor
championships in Paris.
BRECLAV (CZE): Best Czech current jumper Martina Sestakova (formerly
Darmovzalova) is stopping her career due to pregnancy. It is expected
that the 32–years old athlete most probably will not return back to the competitions. She
is expecting her first child in August. Sestakova competed at two World
Championships, two European Indoor Championships, Olympic Games and is
multiple national champion in long jump and triple jump. Her bests are
666 from 2005 and 14.18 from 2009.
NASSAU (BAH) : The Bahamas Association of Athletic
Associations (BAAA) executives officially announced that they have
officially withdrawn from hosting this year’s Carifta Games. President
Mike Sands stated it was with careful consideration and consultation
that the BAAA and The Bahamas withdrew writes The Freeport News.
DUBLIN (IRE): Leading athletics coach John Dooley has picked out
Derval O’Rourke, David Gillick and Robert Heffernan as Ireland’s best
Olympic medal hopes for the 2012 London Olympic Games. Dooley received
the Cork City Sports Athletics Award and named the trio as the big names
for next year’s Olympics writes The Irish Examiner.
(GER): At the jumping meeting in Cottbus on Wednesday French European
Champion Renaud Lavillenie will jump against best Germans (Otto, Straub)
in the pole vault. Also in the field improved French Jerome Clavier,
Italian hero Giuseppe Gibilisco and best Pole Przemyslaw Czerwinski. In
women high jump Spanish record holder Ruth Beitia is the top name. Her
main rivals Russian Barcelona 4th placer Svetlana Shkolina and
Kazakhstan´s Marina Aitova.
KOLN (GER): The men´s high jump
meeting on Wednesday will see African Champion Kabelo Kgosiemang against
Eike Onnen, Italian Giulio Ciotti and Briton Tom Parsons.
TRINEC (CZE): First leg of 7th
Moravia High Jump Tour is highlighted in men category by the duel of
European Champion Aleksandr Shustov with US Jesse Williams. Also in the
field best Czech Jaroslav Baba and Commonwealth Games medalist Trevor
Barry of Bahamas. European junior champion 2009 Sergey Mudrov belongs
also to the favorites. Late addition is Cuban 2005 world medalist Victor
Moya who is returning after injuries to the international level. In
women event Sweden´s Emma Green is opening her season against Jamaican
record holder Sheree Francis and number ones in Norway (Stine Kufaas),
Kazakhstan (Anna Ustinova) and Israel (Danielle Frenkel) with Croatia
(Ana Simic). Follow live-stream on Wednesday atwww.beskydskalatka.com.
RESULTS
(POL, Jan 23): Youth Olympic Games shot put winner Krzysztof Brzozowski
achieved personal best with 6 kg implement worth of 18.13.
BYDGOSZCZ (POL, Jan 23): Pawel Wojciechowski cleared personal best 560 cm in pole vault.
BRISBANE (AUS, Jan 22): Olympic hurdles medalist Sally Pearson achieved 23.66 at 200 m against -1.8 wind.
MEMORIAL SERVICE
(SRB): There will be a Memorial Service for Kenth Andersson in the
Great Hall of the City Hall in Belgrade, Serbia at 12.00 on Thursday,
January 27. Kenth, a three-tim swedish middle distance champion, died
suddenly in Belgrade in the early hours of last Thursday morning, at the
age of 66. His daughter Lynn and son Daniel have given their blessing
for the service while they wait for Kenth’s body to be repatriated, for
burial in Treleborg, western Sweden, where his parents are buried. Lynn
said, “Please go ahead, we all know how much he loved Belgrade. It is
much appreciated”. Thursday’s service will be organised by the Belgrade
Marathon, with whom Kenth worked for 20 years, in conjunction with the
Athletics Federation of Serbia. The speakers will be three of the
original organisers of the Belgrade Marathon – Dejan Nikolić, Bata
Vukelić, with whom Kenth was dining, along with Bata’s wife Snežana,
when he died, and Vesko Grozdanić – and the general secretary of the
national federation, Slobodan Branković. Informs Pat Butcher.
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