KOZMUS
AND RATEJ

LJUBLJANA
(SLO): Slovenian Athletes of the Year 2011 are hammer world bronze medalist
Primoz Kozmus and javelin record holder and Daegu 7th placer Martina Ratej. It
was announced during a special celebration evening hosted by Slovenian
Athletics Federation. Second was mountain runner Mitja Kosovelj and third high
jumper Rozle Prezelj. In women ranking second place for triple jumper Snezana
Rodic and third pole vaulter Tina Sutej. Coaches of the year are Marjan Ogorevc
(Kozmus) and Andrej Hajnsek (Ratej). Best club of 2011 is Mass Ljubljana.

RADCLIFFE
TO BE SELECTED

LONDON
(GBR): Daily Mail informs that marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe
will have the honour of being the first British athlete chosen to compete in
next year’s London Games. Chief coach Charles van Commenee confirmed that
Radcliffe is certain to be chosen when the selection of marathon runners is
made early next month. It will be her fifth games after Atlanta, Sydney (on the
track) and Athens and Beijing (on the road).

BUBKA
CONGRATULATES LONDON

MONTE
CARLO (MON): Legendary pole vaulter and IAAF Vice President Sergey Bubka
congratulated London which has been awarded the right to host 2017 IAAF World
Championships. „There was a long road for London to this victory with two
previous unsuccessful bids. Today, the time is right. They truly deserve to
stage the IAAF World Championships. I congratulate London and the whole
bid team led by my colleague Seb Coe for a well done job. Today’s victory
as well as Beijing 2015 shows us what Olympic legacy really means. Thanks to
Olympics our sport received two fascinating venues in two fascinating cities
used for the greatest athletics event. I’m sure that 2017 IAAF World
Championships at the 2012 Olympic Stadium will give a powerful boost to
athletics in the UK.”

ELECTION
DETAILS FROM JAMAICA

KINGSTON
(JAM): TrackAlerts informs that it took a vote-off at executive meeting to
decide on Dr. Warren Blake’s presidency of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative
Association (JAAA), at least for the next year. Under the JAAA constitution, if
the President dies, a successor would have to be identified at least 10
days before an Annual General Meeting (AGM) is called and in this case, one is
set for the 29th of November. This means, on Monday night, directed by the
constitution, any member of the council could have offered himself or herself
for the top post as unlike other associations the first vice president doesn’t
automatically take the reins. 1976 Olympic 200m champion Donald Quarrie, a council
member, nominated Dr. Blake and Judith Ewart put up Grace Jackson, the 1988
Seoul Olympic 200m silver medalist and first vice president for seven years. In
the end, the 15 (voting) members who were in attendance at the meeting voted
and Dr. Blake came out on top – 12 votes to 3. The co-opted members, all of
whom were in attendance, are without voting powers. This is now settled until
the next voting AGM set for November 2012, as it was agreed that no challenge
would be forthcoming on November 29. The constitution states if there were to
be a challenge, a resolution would have to be passed. Quarrie was the
lone nominee to replace Dr. Blake as second vice president. Grace Jackson is so
1st Vice President. In the Management Committee from former top athletes
Bertland Cameron and new co-opted member is former sprinter Juliet Cuthbert.

VELENJE NEWS

PRAGUE
(CZE): Czech Athletics Federation named four athletes for the European CC
Championships on December 11 in Velenje, Slovenia. Milan Kocourek will compete
in the men´s race. In the U23 races Lucie Sekanova and Jakub Bajza and in the
junior boys race Petr Kaminski.

BRUSSEL
(BEL): Belgian Jeroen D’Hoedt is unlikely to run at the Lotto Cross Cup race in
Roeselare on November 27. The race is a selection race for the Belgian team
at the European Cross Country championships in December where D’Hoedt was
hoping to win a medal in the U23 race according to Het Nieuwsblad.

DARMSTADT
(GER): The course of the Darmstadt cross country race on Sunday November 20 has
been changed. After 26 years the race moves to southern Darmstadt where,
according to organizers, the infrastructure is much better. This weekend’s race
is a selection race for Germany’s team at the European cross country
championships

OTHER NEWS

MANCHESTER
(GBR): The British favourite 10k running event, the Bupa Great Manchester Run,
will celebrate its tenth staging on Sunday May 20th 2012 when 40,000 runners
descend on the streets of the city. First held in May 2003 as a legacy
event following the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the Bupa Great Manchester Run has
developed into a weekend festival of running, including mini and junior
events and the Great CityGames, where Deansgate is transformed into a sprint
track to host the fastest runners on the planet.  Organised by Nova International in
partnership with Manchester City Council, over a quarter of a million
people have entered the event since 10,000 people first took to the streets in
2003  Approximately 25,000 runners of all
abilities have already entered for 2012. Organizers are informing in a release.

WILLEMSTAD
(NED): Sprinter Brian Mariano has visited Dutch Prime Minister Gerrit Schotte
to discuss the 2012 season. Mariano confirmed that he wants to race over 60m at
the IAAF World indoor championships and is also preparing to compete in
Helsinki at the European championships before heading to London for the Olympic
Games. Schotte also discussed with Mariano the fact that he now runs under the
Dutch flag reports versgeperst.com.

PRETORIA
(RSA): Former 1500m world record holder Sydney Maree has been convicted to five
years in a South African prison. Maree, who ran for the United States
because of the Apartheid regime in South Africa, reportedly laundered money.
Maree had disappeared earlier this year but his family now knows that he is
staying in a Pretoria prison and is healthy. A group of family,
friends and consultants are claiming that Maree has been convicted without
proper charges and a trial reports losseveter.nl.

SCARBOROUGH
(TRI): World Championships women’s 100m bronze medalist Kelly Ann Baptiste,
said in an interview with trackalerts that the Junior Carifta Games have
defined her career. “Making my first team has had the biggest impact on my
career in terms of where I saw myself, where I wanted to be, it
defined my career. I was not exposed to that level of athletics until I went
to the Carifta Games.” Baptiste also said that she is preparing for the Olympic
Games in the same way as other years and hopes to win a medal when in
London.

SAN
DIEGO (USA): Competitor Group (CGI) announced that the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon
Series will officially add a half-marathon in Dublin, Ireland to its
schedule of events in 2012. CGI has reached a partnership with Athletics
Ireland to launch the inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll Dublin Half Marathon, which is
expected to attract more than 10,000 participants and is currently scheduled
for Monday, August 6, 2012.

KAMPALA
(UGA): Former steeple world champion Dorcus Inzikuru is plotting another return
to the big stage after getting injured and canceling her comeback earlier this
year. “I am returning stronger than you have seen me in recent years,” Inzikuru
said in an interview with Daily Monitor. Inzikuru added that she wants to win
international medals again and wants to compete in the London Olympic Games.

LONDON
(GBR): Colin Moynihan has declared the British Olympic Association (BOA) will
“vigorously defend” its selection policy in the face of a challenge from
the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The matter will be taken before the Court
of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in order to secure clarification over the BOA’s
position of a lifetime ban for drug cheats. WADA wrote to the BOA last
month requesting the matter be taken before CAS, a suggestion that was
ignored. A second letter arrived from WADA in the last 48 hours outlining
a legal position that is strongly disputed by the BOA, which has now
agreed to seek a judgement from CAS according to Scotsman.com.

LONDON
(GBR): New book about Usain Bolt will be published next week in Britain. The
Story of the World’s Fastest Man is the title. This book shows, the 6ft 5in
tall Bolt is by no means an overnight sensation. His almost freak-like talents
have been carefully honed and nurtured over almost a decade, ever since he
took the 200 meters gold medal at the 2002 World Junior Championships, which
made him the competition’s youngest-ever gold medallist at 16. Award-winning
athletics writer Steven Downes, a former editor of Athletics Weekly, has
followed the Jamaican since his global debut.

MONTEVIDEO
(URU): Uruguay´s fastest sprinter Heber Viera retired at age of 32. An
emotional tribute was staged last weekend for him. His national records are
from 1999 (10.15 at 100 m) and 2002 (20.46 at 200 m). He competed at Olympic
Games and World Championships and won several South American and Ibero-American
medals and titles.

ACCRA
(GHA): US sports equipment maker Saucony will provide kits for Ghana’s national
team at the 2012 African Championships and Olympic Games.