The 2011 Florida Relays will be held this coming weekend, April 2-5, spells the opening of the Track & Field Relay season! This month we will have the Texas Relays, Kansas Relays, Penn Relays and Drake Relays, to name the big ones! Also this weekend, is the Carlsbad 5,000 meters in Carlsbad, CA.

Image via Wikipedia

MYERS FOR FLORIDA RELAYS

GAINESVILLE (USA):
Another top US
athlete is scheduled for 67th Florida Relays this weekend. It is one of the top
female sprinters Marshevet Myers. She confirms that on her blog and adds she
will run the 4×100 and the 4×200 m relays with Lauryn Williams, Natasha
Hastings and Bianca Knight. Her first individual races at 100 m are planned for Texas
Relays in April and Jamaica Invitational early May in Kingston.

KOGO AND MIKITENKO

BRUNSSUM (NED): Kenyan athletes highlight the 10K Parelloop in Brunssum
on April 3rd. Micah Kogo, Mark Kiptoo and Mike Kigen are the favourites for the
win. Micah Kogo returns to Brunssum after setting the world road 10K record in
2009 with 27:01. Mark Kiptoo (27:14) and Mike Kigen (27:28) are in the race to
closely challenge Kogo. In the women’s race German marathon runner Irina
Mikitenko holds a PB of 32:02 and is the favourite over Kenyans Naomi Maiyo
(32:28), Tabitha Wambui (32:49) and Joan Rotich (33:00). For Mikitenko the race
is a preparation before London Marathon.

RIO DATE CHANGED TO MAY 26

SAO PAULO (BRA): Brazilian athletics confederation CBAt
informs about the change of the date of its premier one day meeting the Grande
Premio Internacional Brasil Caixa de Atletismo. It will be held on May 26 in Estadio Olimpico Joao
Havelange on May 26 in
Rio de Janeiro.
Initially the date was May 22. Now it will be the final event of Brazilian
Tour. The circuit will start on May 11 in Fortaleza
and continue on May 15 in
Belem, May 18 in Uberlandia
and May 22 in
Sao Paulo
before coming to the 2016 olympic city. Top home athletes are expected to
compete, mainly long jump olympic winner Maurren Maggi and pole vault world
indoor champion Fabiana Murer. In Rio for men´s long jump another olympic
winner Irving Saladino of Panama
was mentioned.

OTHER NEWS

BRUSSELS (BEL) : Both Belgian athletes Kristof Van
Malderen (1500m) and Thomas Van der Plaetsen (Decathlon) came down with the
measles and were submitted in the hospital in the last week. The athletes most
likely picked the disease up when in Paris
for the European indoor championships. Both athletes have now left the hospital
but will miss several weeks of training report Belgian media.

LAUSANNE (SUI): European athletics has introduced the mascots
for the European junior championships in Tallinn
later this year. Citi, Alti and Forti each have their specific talent and
received their names following a nation wide search in Estonia.

BLOOMINGTON (USA): Canadian high jumper Derek
Drouin sustained a foot injury while competing in the high jump last weekend at
the Big Ten/SEC Challenge. The injury will require surgery and will cause
Drouin to sit out the 2011 outdoor season. While recovery and rehab will take
time, Indiana’s
medical staff expects Drouin to make a complete recovery. Drouin will seek a
medical hardship redshirt for this outdoor season and return to competition
once his rehab is complete. He cleared in March 233 to win the NCAA Indoor
title and equalled national indoor record.

LAUSANNE (SUI): Italy’s
Andrea Lalli is the first top name to announce his participation in the 15th
edition of the European Cup 10.000m in Oslo
on June 4th. Lalli is the former European junior and U23 cross country champion
and just last weekend made his debut in the half marathon where he clocked
62:32. His main goal is to qualify for the 10.000m at the IAAF World
Championships in Daegu.

LONDON (GBR):Tottenham Hotspur have taken the first step towards
launching a legal challenge to the decision to give the 2012 Olympic Stadium to
Premier League rivals West Ham United after the conclusion of the London
Olympics. The Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) confirmed that the club have
warned that they could take them to court over the controversial decision
reports Insidethegames.

TOKYO (JPN): Ken Nakamura informs that Tokyo
marathon donated 10 000 000 yen to earthquake/tsunami victims. Olympic marathon
winner 2000 Naoko Takahashi donated 1000 shoes to earthquake/tsumai victims.
The shoes were originally destined to Africa,
but diverted to Iwate prefecture.

LONDON (GBR): 1984 Olympic javelin champion Tessa
Sanderson has revealed that her exclusion from the vote on the future of the
London 2012 Olympic Stadium earlier this year played a big role in her decision
to resign from the Board of the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) writes
Insidethegames.

LONDON (GBR): London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe and
IOC Athletes’ Commission chairman Frank Fredericks have laid down the final
piece of turf on the Olympic Stadium’s field of play and in doing so marked the
completion of construction on the flagship venue. The construction started on
the 836 million dollar Olympic Stadium just under three years ago in May 2008
and has been completed on time and under budget writes Insidethegames.

CARLSBAD (USA): Americans Christin
Wurth-Thomas and Jen Rhines, as well
as Ethiopian Aheza Kiros are the favourites for the 26th edition of the
Carlsbad “World’s Fastest 5k” on April 3rd. Kiros, the 2009 champion and
2010
runner-up to world record-holder Meseret Defar of Ethiopia, has a 5000 m
personal best of
14:56.33 on the track from 2009, and has run 15:26 at Carlsbad. Also in
the
race is Pauline Korikwiang of Kenya,
who was just recently seventh at the IAAF World Cross Country
Championships and
holds a PR of 14:45.98, Russian European indoor silver winner at 3000 m
Olesya Syreva of Russia and Eloise Wellings of Australia.

FRANKFURT (GER): European Athletics announced the list of candidates for
the upcoming election of the new European Athletics Clubs Working Group to take
place in Frankfurt on 3 April on the occasion
of the European Athletics Clubs Conference. Eleven candidates have been
proposed by their national federation for election. Also around the conference
the venue for European Champion Clubs Cup A Group meet should be proposed. The
place for B Group is already known, Belgrade
on May 28.

OSLO (NOR): One of the fastest European sprinters Jaysuma Saidy Ndure of
Norway is back in the elite group of competitors supported by Norwegian Athletics
Federation. Informs the federation website. “We’ve had a good dialogue and come
up with good solutions for collaboration. We are pleased, we want to have the
best on the team,” says coach Ronny Nilsson. Ndure is currently training in USA under the
guidance of coach John Smith. His first top meet could be the Bislett Games on
June 9 as part of Samsung Diamond League. That could be the 200 m with Jamaican star
Usain Bolt.

KINGSTON (JAM): Track Alerts informs that, Team Jamaica
Bickle, the organization formed primarily to support Jamaican athletes at the
Penn Relays, each year, are to honor the country’s track and field icon and
five time Olympian, Donald Quarrie, C.D. According to a release from the
organizers, “the tribute will take place at TJB’s annual Pre Penn Relay
Carnival Reception, on Tuesday April 12 at Sullivan Hall in New York.”

JOHANNESBURG (RSA): Axed Athletics South Africa (ASA)
members and other sports administrators are calling on Parliament to nullify
the suspensions of the federation’s president, Leonard Chuene, his board and
other office-bearers. They want them to be reinstated immediately. Informs
South African media. They also want Parliament to investigate the processes
followed in suspending Chuene and his board and what they allege are links
between the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) and the
National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund.

LOS ANGELES (USA): Beijing javelin Olympian
Mike Hazle makes his DJ debut on Frisky Radio at 1pm Pacific Standard Time.
Frisky Radio is an independent online electronic dance music radio station.
Since 2001 friskyRadio has been on the forefront of underground dance music on
the Internet. Frisky features exclusive mix’s from over 130 DJ’s all over the
world. Mike Hazle joins the Frisky line up and the show will be rebroadcast
over the next few weeks. Hazle has a best of 82.21 from 2008 and is also Berlin
World Championships participant.

MANAUS (BRA): Brazilian Athletics Confederation
(CBAt) confirmed two years suspension for one of its best walkers Jose
Alessandro Bagio (29). The Beijing Olympian tested positive for steroid
norandosterone in two tests in September 2010. First was out of competition and
second at the Brazilian Trophy meet in Sao
Paulo on September 10 when second in the 10 000 m race (41:02.24).

LISBON (POR): Portugal Athletics Federation already
selected three men for the 50
km race at European Cup Race Walking to be held in Olhao
on May 21. They are Jorge Costa, Pedro Martins and national record holder
Antonio Pereira. Others will be named after the Rio Maior Grande Premio de
Marcha event on April 9.

PONTEVEDRA (ESP): For this Saturday´s Trofeo Iberico in the track 10 000 m Portugal sends
10 male and 7 female runners. Specially the women group is strong with Jessica
Augusto and Dulce Felix. Augusto is bronze winner from Barcelona 2010 and has a
best of 31:19.15 from Ostrava
last year. On the men side Rui Silva, Luis Pinto, Nuno Costa and Jose Rocha
will run in Pontevedra, Spain. The A-standards for Daegu
are the target 27:40 and 31:45. As EME NEWS already reported Kenyan world
champion Vivian Cheruiyot along with Commonwealth Games winner Grace Momanyi
are scheduled to take part too.

RESULTS

CHENGDU (CHN, Mar 30): 16-years old Lin Qing leaped to
good 773 (0.0) in the long jump at national youth meeting, informs Tilastopaja.

SAD NEWS

LONDON (GBR): Mark Butler informs that Martin
Webster, the most important figure in televised athletics in the UK for more
than 20 years, passed away on March 27 after a long illness. He was 56. Martin
was the BBC’s Executive Producer at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and 2008
Olympics and also masterminded the corporation’s coverage of two decades of
athletics across 10 World Championships up to Berlin 2009 for which the BBC won
a British Academy Award – as they did for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester where “Webby”
was the athletics producer. He was the TV chief at all the major athletics
events staged in the UK including the 2003 World Indoor Championships, three
World Cross Country Championships and the London Marathon up to 2010, his last
assignment. His services were in demand internationally, and among many other
roles in athletics and other sports, it was Webster who was responsible for the
host track coverage at the Sydney Olympic Games. We have him to thank for the
images of “Magic Monday” – September 25, 2000 – one of the greatest days in the
history of the sport and featuring epic wins by Cathy Freeman, Michael Johnson,
Gabriela Szabo and Haile Gebrselassie.

MONTE CARLO (MON): IAAF informs that Takashi Shimokawara,
one of the legends of Japanese and world masters athletics, was a victim of the
recent tsunami which devastated large areas of Japan. The current World record
holder in the World Masters Athletics’ M100 age category in the Shot Put,
Discus Throw and Javelin Throw SP, DT and JT, Takashi Shimokawara was found
dead in Kamaishi city, Iwate prefecture, an area seriously struck by the force
of the tsunami.