by Larry EderOurs is a competitive sport. One is only as good as their last competition. The proof is in the results. With athletes from 209 countries competing on a global stage, the term, ” World Champion” comes to an athlete the old-fashioned way: they earn it!
Meet Valeri Vili of New Zealand. Valeri has won twenty-five straight competitions in the shot put, her last lost was 23 September 2007! In many events, say, four, for example, Usain Bolt has a record of 25-0, over the 100 meters, 150 meters,200 meters,and 400 meters! (Note, that Kenenisa has NEVER been defeated over 10,000 meters, since his debut in 2003, and neither has Tirunesh Dibaba, who has run six 10,000m finals without a defeat.)
Alfons Juck must not have had something to do between two and four in the morning. All info from Tilastopaja and All-Athletics, and note, only finals are counted in competitions.
Valerie Vili, New Zealand, gold medalist, Women’s shot put, Berlin WC, August 17, 2009, photo by PhotoRun.net.
EME NEWS (OCT 22, 2009)
Winning streaks: Vili 25 in single event, Bolt 25 in four events
BRATISLAVA (SVK): The biggest current and running winning streak could be registered in single event after the track season 2009 by New Zealand´s shot put world and olympic winner Valerie Vili with 25 , but in terms of all events Usain Bolt has also 25 winning races in a row at four distances. Vili is unbeaten in 25 competitions in a row (including indoor). Her last defeat happened at IAAF World Athletics Final 2007 (Sep 23) to Belarussian Nadezhda Ostapchuk by 5 cm (20.45-20.40). On the second place in terms of number of unbeaten competitions is Kenenisa Bekele at 5000 m with 17 in a row. He lost last time at this distance at London Grand Prix 2006 (July 28) to Bernard Lagat (12:59.22 to 13.00.04). But concerning the time period the longest is Bekele´s 10, 000 m winning streak as he never lost a race in this event starting with his first one in 2003 what was in Hengelo on June 1 and the current number of races is 12. Over 10 unbeaten in a row also by LaShawn Merritt at 400 m with 13 since Weltklasse Zurich Meet on Aug 29, 2008 (Wariner beat him with 43.82 over 44.43). Next to follow is Usain Bolt when we consider only single events with 11 not lost at 100 m and the same 11 at 200 m. He last time lost a 100 m at DNG meet in Stockholm on July 22, 2008 by 0.01 to Asafa Powell (9.88-9.89). His last 200 m defeat happened at Van Damme Memorial 2007 in Brussels (Sep 14). He finished third (20.14) to Wallace Spearmon (19.88) and Xavier Carter (20.04). But counting both events together he is unbeaten in 22 races in a row and when we include all other races (150 m, 400 m) it is 25 in a row. Over 10 unbeaten competitions in a single event by two more female athletes. Cuban triple jump world champion Yargelis Savigne is at 13 in her event (including indoors), her last loss in 2008 at Olympic Games in Beijing (5th). She could have done more, but was send home after World Championships in Berlin by her federation. Sanya Richards is at 10 at 400 m, her last defeat in her first meet of 2009 in Kingston on May 2 (51.12 to Novlene Williams-Mills 50.99). Women´s longest winning streak concerning the time relation is Tirunesh Dibaba at 10 000 m. She as Bekele did never lost a race here starting in Sollentuna on June 28, 2005 with current number of six.
Note: Stats with the help of Tilastopaja and All-Athletics, only finals counting.
Li Yanfeng world leading discus
JINAN (CHN, Oct 22): Second day of Athletics at 11th Chinese National Games was highlighted by new world leading mark of the year in women discus. Double olympic finalist Li Yanfeng improved her career best to 66.40 and surpassed also the number one result in 2009 66.21 by olympic winner Stephanie Trafton-Brown of USA from May. Fifth placer from Berlin World Championships Song Aimin despite life-time best 65.44 was „only“ second. Another top mark was registered in men´s long jump as World junior bronze medalist 2006 Zhang Xiaoyi in his first senior year improved to excellent 827 (+0.4). Silver for Berlin qualifier Li Jinzhie who also improved to 818 (+0.1). As usual great depth in men´s 20 km walk. Berlin silver winner Wang Hao confirmed his favorite role with new personal best 1:18:13. Olympian and world participant Li Jianbo also improved to 1:19:10 as second, third place for Chu Yafei (1:20:27). National record holders won two events. Liu Xiaosheng at 400 m (46.02) and Liu Feiliang with 560 in pole vault (but second Yang Quan improved to same 560). Surprise in men´s 100 m race as only 7th placer from May National Championships Lu Bin improved to 10.25 (-0.4) and won the gold. Only second the favorite Zhang Peimeng (10.31). In women events to note the 400 m win by hurdles record holder Huang Xiaoxiao (52.23) and at 100 m hurdles Liu Jing with 13.15 (-0.7). Results from Tilastopaja.
Lopes-Schliep wants to win in Doha
TORONTO (CAN): Canadian hurdles olympic and world medalist Priscilla Lopes-Schliep is not thinking about having a season off. The 27-years old athlete wants to compete at World Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar in March. Her goal is not small: to get the gold medal. She plans in weeks before similar schedule as this year, with 4-5 meetings before the global event. She still has 7.87 60 m Hurdles best from her NCAA time in 2006.
Powell expects a lighter year
KINGSTON (JAM): Former world record holder and relay world champion Asafa Powell expects 2010 to be a lighter year without major championships. As he said in video-interview at TrackAlerts.com he will still seriously prepare for summer 2010 and expects some tough battles on the circuit with Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay. “As long as I will be healthy enough, I m ready to meet with them,†he said.
OTHER NEWS
KINGSTON (JAM): LIME, the Caribbean’s premier telecommunications company announced a sponsorships package for the staging of the 2010 CARIFTA Games (junior competition for the rgion) valued at close to 200 000 USD. The company has signed a one year contract with the North America Central America & Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) to become the major sponsor of next year’s games, which will be held in Cayman Islands. The sponsorship arrangements include a broadcast media package under which the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) will be making coverage of the games available for media outlets across the region. Writes TrackAlerts.com.
MONTE CARLO (MON): A tender for the title sponsorship rights to the new top-tier IAAF Diamond League series was launched by IAAF . The World Athletics Body IAAF, a shareholder in this league, is responsible for commercialising the Title Sponsorship rights. The tender invites companies to bid for all three years 2010-2012. The deadline for submitting bids is until November 20.
KINGSTON (JAM): Jamaica Observer writes, that Jamaican Government is hoping that repairs to the Mondo track at the National Stadium and Stadium East facilities will begin in November and be completed in time for the annual Gibson Relays in February. Track specialist and Germany-based Regupol, one of three suppliers (the others based in the United States) the government is considering for repairs to the Stadium’s running surface, is promising speedy, cost-effective and professional work. The current Mondo track was laid in 2002 when Jamaica hosted the World Junior Championships in Kingston.
BARCELONA (ESP): The European Athletics Championships Barcelona 2010 is the first global event to be entirely produced in HD format by TVE, which regards the coverage as a super production. “Combining new technology with imagination†is the motto of TVE, host broadcaster of Barcelona 2010, in order to face the challenge of producing the multilateral signal for the European Athletics Championships. The main philosophy of TVE’s production plan represented to the delegates of the main European TV stations is to keep things simple and make athletics as understandable as possible for all TV spectators. The host broadcaster will set up a total of 107 camera positions in the stadium, which gives an idea of how important the Championships are for TVE.
LONDON (GBR): Former discus thrower Robert Weir, Britain’s national event coach for heavy throws, has quit after less than a year in the job. Informs insidethegames.com. Weir, who had been in post for 10 months and worked out of the National Performance Centre at Loughborough, had been the first major appointment of head coach Charles van Commenee’s new regime.
LAUSANNE (SUI): Underlining its commitment to environmental responsibility, European Athletics launched a sustainability webpage, which includes an online “how to” guide for event organisers. Informs European Athletics. The Sustainable Sport and Event Toolkit (SSET) is a state of the art approach that includes a planning framework, guidelines and a growing information database designed to make it possible for any athletics event – in stadium, road, Cross Country or mountain – to easily manage and benefit from its activities in this area. European Athletics is the first development partner of the SSET project, which was intiated by the Lausanne-based International Academy of Sports Science and Technology (AISTS) and the Organising Committee for the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver (VANOC) with support from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
MARSEILLE (FRA): IAAF informs that the Marseille-Cassis road race (20.308 km) will celebrate its 30th anniversary this Sunday. No less than 12,000 participants are going to line-up on the beautiful roads along the Mediterranean Sea. The forecast has announced a clear sky with a temperature around 16C on Sunday morning. Dieudonné Disi who won over the weekend in France (Reims Half-Marathon) in his first participation in the event will be the favourite. He will once again face his runner-up from the recent Paris and Reims races, Michael Tesfay of Eritrea. However, the main opposition might come from Kenyan Matthew Koech, who won the 25km in Berlin in May in the excellent time of 1:13:24. The men’s race record has stood at 59:01 since 2002 and was set by James Kwambai (KEN). The women’s race offers an expected dual between Kenyan Helah Kiprop and Ethiopian Meseret Mengistu. The women’s race record is 1:08:30 held by Susan Chepkmei (KEN) from 2000.
NEW YORK (USA): New addition to New York City Marathon women field is the track olympic winner at 10 000 m Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia. The 37 years old athlete has so far run 15 marathons, her fastest in New York was in 2005 2:25:21 as third.
SYDNEY (AUS): Distance running star Craig Mottram will headline the Australian team to contest the 2009 Chiba Ekiden relay, his first outing since last year’s Great Australian Run and first appearance in the green and gold since the Beijing Olympics and after injury. Informs Athletics Australia. Twenty-nine-year-old Mottram will open the Australian charge at the November 23 meet before handing the traditional Ekiden sash to teammates Tim Rowe, Kane Wille, Sarah Jamieson, Nikki Chapple and Clare Geraghty. Mottram looks towards the 2009/10 Australian domestic season and qualification for next year’s Commonwealth Games. The annual Ekiden event in Chiba, Japan, sees mixed teams of six athletes race over varying distances to cover a full marathon run of 42.195km.
AMSTERDAM (NED): The fastest Dutch sprinter Patrick Van Luijk will fly this Sunday for a training camp to Jamaica. He will join in next three months the training group of Stephen Francis MVP including former world record holder Asafa Powell. Informs Atletiek.nl. The sprinter with bests of 10.25 and 20.52 is supported by his father who lives in Jamaica. Van Luijk will return in February to compete on the indoor circuit with the aim to qualify for World Indoor Championships in March.
DAKAR (SEN): African Confederation decided that for 2010 in its series the title CAA Golden Events (Meetings) will be awarded to Abuja in Nigeria, Brazzaville in Congo and Tangier in Morocco. Silver status was awarded for Khartoum, Reduit (Mauritius), Bamako and Algiers. Bronze meetings will be Tunis, Ouagadaougou and a meet from Southern Region (Namibia or Botswana). Top two African Meetings will be part of IAAF World Challenge, Dakar in Senegal and Rabat in Morocco.
RESULTS
DAEJEON (KOR, Oct 21-22): New Korean 200 m women record was registered at 90th National Sports Festival as Kim Hi Na clocked 23.69 (-0.1) to win. New national junior record in the same distance for boys by Park Bong-Go with 21.06 (-0.2, he still will be a junior next year). National record holder Kim Hyun-Sub won the 20 km walk (1:24:45) and in women´s half-marathon Lim Kyung-Hee achieved 1:12:19. To add to the information of retirement by Lee Bong-Ju his marathon win here on Wednesday with 2:15:25. Informs Tilastopaja.
CALENDAR
Latest changes: New dates for Ras-Al-Khaimah Half-Marathon is February 20 next year. Also Rabat IAAF World Challenge Meet is confirmed on Sunday, June 6.
Special thanks to Alfons Juck, EME News.
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