by Larry Eder
FARAH TO RUN 1500 M INDOORS
GLASGOW
(GBR): World and European 5000m champion Mo Farah will count on the
raucous backing of the Glasgow faithful when he launches his 2012 track
campaign before a packed crowd at Kelvin Hall next month. He will
headline the Aviva International Match in its final year at Kelvin Hall
on Saturday 28 January, aiming to make it the first step in his 2012
journey towards London Olympic gold. And in continuing the theme of
rousing send-offs, the event will also be the last time the Aviva GB
& NI Team competes on home soil ahead of the 2012 Olympic
Games. USA-based Farah, who won 5000m gold and 10,000m silver at the
IAAF World Championships in Daegu in August, will make his Aviva GB
& NI Team debut over the shorter distance of 1500m in Glasgow in his
first appearance at the venue since breaking the British 3000m record
and setting a new personal best time of 7:40.99 at Kelvin Hall in 2009.
GILL WYB WITH 5 KG
NORTH SHORE (NZL, Dec 19): World
youth champion Jacko Gill improved his own world youth shot put best
with 5kg implement at the Millennium Stadium on Auckland’s North Shore,
but has fallen short of knocking over the world under-20 record. Gill,
who turns 17 on Tuesday achieved 24.45m to better his own record by
10cm, which he set at the 2011 World Youth Championships in Lille,
France in July. With senior shot his result was 20.07 m.
OTHER NEWS
BRUSSELS
(BEL) : Belgian athletics celebrated on multiple occasions during the
Belgian Sportgala 2011. European U23 decathlon champion Thomas Van der
Plaetsen again won a prominent sports award by taking home the Rising
Star award, just two weeks after also winning the award for most
prominent Flemish athlete of 2011. Jacques Borlée was voted best coach
of the year for his work with his sons and the 4x400m relay team. That
relay team was awarded the team of the year throphee for the third time
in a row.
AMSTERDAM (NED) : Dutch decathlete Eelco Sintnicolaas told Dutch
online magazine Atletiek Week that he is training well in the build up
to next season. The 2010 European silver medalist has returned from a
week in Finland, where he had custom analyzed his javelin technique, and
now is heading towards South Africa for warm weather training.
Sintnicolaas is hoping to compete at the IAAF World indoor championships
as preparation towards the London Olympic Games.
VALLECANA (ESP): European 1500m champion Nuria Fernandez will not
participate at the San Silvestre Vallecana. Fernandez is still
recovering from a knee injury and is not ready to compete. However, the
race remains high profile with the presence of Gelete Burka, Natalia
Rodriguez and Maryam Jamal reports marca.com.
PARIS (FRA): Sonia O’Sullivan has denounced the extraordinary times
run by Chinese athletes in 1993. In that year Chinese women managed to
break the world records in the 1500m, 3000m and 5000m when competing in
Beijing. No less than 5 Chinese women managed to top the world 3000m
ranking in 1993. O’Sullivan told vo2.frshe still feels robbed by those
performances.
BERLIN (GER): Germany’s discus world champion Robert Harting
admitted in an interview with Bild am Sonntag that he was at a the verge
of a burn out. Harting told the magazine that he is under constant
pressure to maintain his status as world champion and that he is never
without pressure. A break up from his long term girlfriend also was very
difficult for the athlete. He now receives professional help and is
starting to feel better.
VILAMOURA (ESP, 18 dec): José Luis Blanco has won the 5th edition of
the San Silvestre ‘The Sansi’ of Vilamoura. Blanco completed the 5K
course in 14:26, making his victory even more special is that Blanco is
the organizer and creator of the event. José Luis Blanco just last week
was released to compete as his two-year doping ban is currently frozen
until there is more clarity in the case. The Spanish athlete is training
well and hoping to compete in at the London Olympic Games in the
marathon reports marca.com.
MELBOURNE (AUS): IAAF athlete of the year Sally Pearson has
undergone a scan in Melbourne following a race at the Gippsland Gift in
Victoria on the weekend. The scan revealed that Pearson has a minor
quadriceps strain, with no visible tears. Pearson will return to
training in about two weeks time reports Athletics Australia.
MADRID (ESP): The President of the Spanish Athletics Federation
(RFEA), Jose Maria Odriozola is awarded the Olympic order of the Spanish
Olympic Committee. During a gala ceremony Odriozola was named for his
outstanding work with federations, sports and clubs and his prominent
position within the RFEA.
LONDON (GBR): Banned drug cheats will be “fully embraced” in the
team for London 2012 if the British Olympic Association (BOA) loses its
legal case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), chairman Colin
Moynihan told Insidethegames. Moynihan also insisted the BOA bylaw,
introduced in 1992 in order to prevent athletes who have tested positive
for performance-enhancing drugs from representing Team GB at any Games,
has the overwhelming support of British athletes.
LONDON (GBR): Dailymail.co.uk informs
that the Olympic Stadium could have retractable seating installed over
the running track after the London 2012 Games to make it more attractive
to football fans. West Ham, who are favourites to be chosen as the
tenants, are looking at having the retractable seating as part of their
new bid for the stadium. The new tender process for the stadium is due
to be announced next week and West Ham are the favourites to be chosen
as the tenants.
LONDON (GBR): Agencies are informing that five countries have joined
forces in an effort to improve drug testing standards around the world.
The Institute of National Anti-doping Organization has been established
by the United States, Australia, Britain, Canada and Norway.
Twenty-four nations attended the first INADO meeting last month and the
search for a chief executive begins next month as the organization
expands. Leaders of the fledgling advocacy group insist they are not
establishing a rival to the World Anti-Doping Agency, but trying to
ensure nations speak with a unified voice as the WADA code is reviewed.
KINGSTON (JAM): The high point on day two of last month’s Wealth
Auto Show was the presentation of a Hyundai Veloster to sprinter Yohan
Blake by Key Motors. He did not actually drive the car at the moment,
but seemed very happy with having the keys to the sporty-looking
three-seater. Writes Jamaican media. Blake is the latest Jamaican
sprinter to be presented with a car since Jamaica started dominating the
shortest track event in the early to mid-2000s. After his
record-breaking exploits at the Beijing Olympics, Usain Bolt was
presented with a BMW M3 by Puma. And for some time proud Mercedes-Benz
owner, former 100m World record-holder Asafa Powell featured on an
advertising billboard near the Police Commissioner’s office on Hope
Road, St Andrew. —
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