by Larry EderApparently, the legal support for Justin Gatlin has finally gotten around to fighting the first positive test he had, which involved a drug for attention deficit disorder. A judge in Pensacola will hear a motion, utilizing the American with Disabilities Act, claiming that the 2001 positive violated the aforementioned act. The hearing is Monday, June 23.
The day that we can have an Olympic Trials and watch the meet without 2/3 of the media at the event only chattering away about how a) dirty track is b) the next alleged scandal, c) how all the athletes seem upset to speak just about drugs each and every press conference, I will be happy.
Justin Gatlin is using technicalities to get back into the competition. In truth, they should have fought the 2001 ban when it happened, because it was silly. But, since his second positive has resulted in such a negative pall being thrown on Gatlin, I am not sure what he will achieve by this.
EME NEWS (JUNE 21, 2008)
Slesarenko to begin in Eberstadt
MOSCOW (RUS): Reigning Olympic winner in High Jump Yelena Slesarenko of Russia finally announced her opening competition of the season. It will be next Saturday the special High Jump meet in Eberstadt, Germany. She confirmed that for All-Sport Agency. She also said that until the Russian Championships in mid-July she plans to compete at three more meetings, on July 5 in Madrid at IAAF Grand Prix meet, on July 8 in Sollentuna, Sweden and on July 11 in Rome at Golden Gala. “In Eberstadt I want finally win, in past years I was not able to fulfill this goal. We needed to do more training work so that is why I m starting into the season so late. I was not following too closely what the others are jumping, my husband is doing that,” she was quoted. Her first duel of the summer with world leader Blanka Vlasic will most probably happen in Rome.
Tirlea in question
BUCURESTI (ROM): After Triple jump world medalist Marian Oprea is struggling with knee injury and will miss Olympic Games the Romanian athletics is worried about another top Olympic competitor. Former 400 m Hurdles European champion Ionela Tirlea after a medical treatment in Paris had to stop all kind of training for at least for one week. She is now in her town Valcea to wait until she can resume with training. Her coach is happy that it is only a week stop, because it was possible to be a month stop, and it would have meant no Olympic Games.
Gatlin gets a hearing
PENSACOLA (USA): It is not over yet. A federal judge set a hearing for banned Olympic and world 100 m champion Justin Gatlin who seeks a temporary injunction to allow him to compete in next week’s U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene. Informs Pensacola News Journal. The hearing is set for Monday. The June 9 complaint alleges that penalizing Gatlin for the 2001 doping violation violates the Americans with Disability Act. The complaint names the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, USA Track and Field, the U.S. Olympic Committee and the International Association of Athletics Federations as defendants.
Waiting for Radcliffe until the last moment
LONDON (GBR): UK Athletics performance director Dave Collins remains open minded that Paula Radcliffe will be fit enough to compete at the Olympic Games, writes David Martin. The 34-year-old world marathon record holder is attempting to recover from the stress fracture to her left thigh which is threatening her participation in Beijing. It is almost a month ago since Radcliffe revealed she is determined to overturn medical advice which claims the injury would make it “impossible” for her to compete over the distance.
Radcliffe since learning of the problem she faces, has returned to altitude training base of Font Romeu in the French Pyrenees in her bid to make a fourth succesive Olympic appearance. “We’ll take it as far as we can to the wire,” said Collins about the date July 20 when he declares the final team to the British Olympic Association.
Satisfied Sebrle
PRAGUE (CZE): Decathlon world record holder Roman Sebrle admitted satisfaction after beeing named the World best sportsman by Wall Street Journal. “It is always a great feeling to hear and read something like that. I do not want say something whether it is right or no or about criteria. It is the opinion of the selectors. I admire all other sports personalities too. I like very much football for example, I played this game before I started with athletics. But as a keen golfer for me somebody very special is Tiger Woods. But it is good for our sport to have the number one and specially in an Olympic year.” During this week he qualified for Olympics in Kladno and soon begins his main preparation period for Beijing where he is to defend his gold from Athens. His season was stopped by injuries, first during World Indoor Championships and then during South African training camp.
LATEST RESULTS
PODOLSK (RUS, June 20): Moscow City Championships started with hammer throwing in Podolsk. Former world record holder Gulfiya Khanafeyeva improved her season best to 74.01, second Yelena Konevtsova achieved 72.26. In the men competition high quality 79.95 for Igor Vinichenko, he missed his best from winter only by 5 cm.
PORT OF SPAIN (TRI, June 20): World 2003 medalist Darrel Brown clocked the fastest 100 m round one time 10.23 during first day of Trinidad National Championships. Other favorites also won their heats, but with slower times. Aaron Armstrong achieved 10.29, Mark Burns 10.50 and Richard Thompson 10.53. Jamaican star Asafa Powell will run on Saturday in semis with no possibility to advance into the final as a guest. It will be his first 100 m since February (10.04 in Melbourne) and only second overall this year. NCAA Champion Kelly-Ann Baptiste was the fastest woman in the 100 m first round with 11.36. Long jump talent Rhonda Watkins will not compete due to injury. Informs Trinidad Express.
HOF (GER, June 20): At special Pole Vault meeting in Germany Poland´s Monika Pyrek won and cleared new meet record 462 cm. German´s Kristina Gadschiew and Martina Strutz improved their bests to 452 and were second and fourth. Between them Russian Anastasiya Shvedova as third also 452 cm. Richard Spiegelburg won the men event with 561 cm. Next three jumped 551 cm in order Lukasz Michalski of Poland, Australian six-metres jumper Paul Burgess and Netherland´s Wout Van Wengerden (PB).
HAVANNA (CUB, June 19-20): The second wave of Cuban athletes is continuing with local competition programme and again incredible hand sprint times were registered at Pedro Marrero Stadium. For example Virgen Benavides clocked 10.8 at 100 m or Yenima Arencibia 12.6 at 100 m Hurdles. On the men side Michael Herrera got 10.0 at 100 m and Ignacio Morales 13.1 at 110 m Hurdles. Junior David Arzola clocked with junior hurdles 13.0. Cuba´s women team achieved 3:29.4 at 4×400 m (week before even faster 3:28.6). In jumps as usual good triple jump with Alexis Copello 17.05 and Mabel Gay 14.39 ahead of junior Dailenis Alcantara 14.13. Throwers competed at Estadio Panamericano. Alexis Paumier achieved excellent 20.59 in Shot Put, Jorge Fernandez improved to 63.31 in discus. In women events Yaniuvis Lopez registered PB 18.60 in Shot Put.
COLUMBUS (USA, June 20): The star of first day of US Junior Championships (top two qualify to Bydgoszcz) was the Florida sprinter Terrell Wilks. He was the fastest in the heats (10.25, +1.7) and then improved his best and Jesse Owens stadium record in the finals to 10.19 (+1.1). He came to the meet with 10.26 and semifinal participation at last weekend´s NCAA championships in Des Moines. Antonio Sales will travel with him to Poland (10.33) as he beat by 0.01 third Ryan Bailey (10.34). Only Antigua´s Daniel Bailey (10.12) is faster this year from possible opponents in Poland. Another faster US sprinter Jeffery Demps (10.17) was not competing here, still to see is the shape of Jamaican favorite Yohan Blake in having a better picture of the situation for World Junior Championships. Jeneba Tarmoh clocked also excellent PB 11.21 to win the women sprint (+1.3) and Victoria Jordan qualified also with 11.38 beating Shayla Mahan (11.39). The fastest junior in the world Bianca Knight is not competing as she will try to qualify to Olympic Games at senior trials. Thus she will be missed in Bydgoszcz. Booker Nunley won the junior 110 m Hurdles with meet record 13.40 (-1.0). Son of former succesfull runner Matt Centrowitz won the slow 5000 m (14:44.67) and Karlee McQuillan registered meet record in women javelin (52.24). Top 400 m Hurdlers clocked solid heat times – Jeshua Anderson 50.19 and last year world youth champion William Wynne 50.76.
GREENSBORO (USA, June 20): Dentarius Locke from Tampa, Florida clocked the fastest 100 m heat with 10.43 (+1.7) during Nike Outdoor Nationals of youth athletes. In the finals against -0.6 breeze he was beaten (10.60) by Hunter Furr from North Carolina who got 10.56.
PRINCE ALBERT (CAN, June 14): Pole vaulter Kelsie Hendry tied her best and set a new Canadian record of 4.55m in a local meet in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan last Saturday. She had already cleared that height in Provo on May 24, but Athletics Canada refused to validate the mark, because she was the only jumper and the event wasn’t on the original schedule, Prince Albert Daily Herald informs.
OTHER NEWS
TORONTO (CAN): Following Australia and New Zealand, Canada is the third country to announce that its athletics team will skip the Olympic Games opening ceremony. The Summer Olympics open on August 8, but athletics doesn’t start before the 15th. The Canadian team, which will hold its training camp in Singapore, is to be kept out of Beijing until the very last moment. “Not just because of the pollution, but because of the environment of training,” said Canadian head coach Les Gramantik. “There’s only one track that you train at in Beijing, it’s a relatively long distance and the traffic is always crazy. It’s just more peaceful in Singapore.” – inform Canadian media
NAIROBI (KEN): The Nation writes that Athletics Kenya has written to the country’s immigration authorities seeking to know the status of Iten-based Italian track coach Renato Canova who criticised the association’s pre-Olympics training regime on Wednesday. AK chairman Isaiah Kiplagat said he was not aware that Canova – who has been in Kenya since 1998 – was a registered coach of the International Association of Athletics federations (IAAF) and questioned his presence in Kenya.
TORONTO (CAN): After Perdita Felicien, Dana Ellis is the second athlete to ask for a medical exemption from the Canadian Olympic Trials to be held in Windsor, Ontario from July 3-6. The pole vaulter, who placed 6th at the 2004 Olympics and the 2005 World Championships, suffers from a partial tear of her right Achilles. She cleared 4.45m last April but the mark was achieved prior the Canadian Olympic qualifying period, informs CBC Sports.
WELLINGTON (NZL): US-based marathoner Liza Hunter-Galvan has won her appeal against Athletics New Zealand for omitting her from the New Zealand’s team for Beijing Olympics, but she is not selected yet. The Sports Tribunal has sent the matter back to Athletics New Zealand for reconsideration. 38 year old Hunter Galvan achived a personal best of 2:30:40 finishing fifth in Amsterdam last October, but the federation didn’t select her due to lack of consistency at previous major championships. Another marathoner, Michael Aish wasn’t included in the selection either but he didn’t appeal, informs New Zealand’s media.
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