by Larry EderCongrats to Carrie Tollefson and her husband, who are expecting their first child in April! Carrie has always been a tough competitor, and I spent some time talking to her husband about redesigning houses, RBR sends them best wishes. Jillian Schwartz, the pole vaulter, will now be competing for Israel, so congratulations to Jillian as well…..
TWO SPRINT DOUBLES AT SEA GAMES
VIENTIANE (LAO, Dec 16): Indonesian sprinter Suryo Agung Wibowo repeated his double from 2007 at 25th South East Asian Games as he won after 100 m (in 10.17 NR) also the 200 m on Wednesday with 20.85. He missed his national record only by 0.09 s. Also Vietnam national record holder Vu Thi Huong achieved a 100/200 in women category with 23.31 win. She missed her national mark and games record by small 0.01. Fresh Asian Champion Marestella Torres of Philippines produced another sparkling mark as she improved games record and national record to 668 cm. Another two event bests were registered by two Thailand athletes (also national records). Jumrut Rittidet clocked 13.89 at 110 m hurdles and Kreeta Sintawacheewa cleared 521 in pole vault. Solid also the 13.34 100 m hurdles win for Dedeh Erawati of Indonesia. Athletics at the games will be ending on Thursday.
FORRESTER WITH OLYMPIC TORCH
MARKHAM (CAN): Another prominent name from athletics scene will run with olympic torch relay. Canadian 197 cm high jumper Nicole Forrester will have the honor on Thursday near her hometown of Markham, Ontario. The Pan-Am Games 2007 silver winner is currently busy with writing her dissertation and training combined. She wants to compete during indoor season and qualify for World Indoor Championships in Doha.
HRASNOVA IS THIRD
BRATISLAVA (SVK): Hammer throw bronze medalist from World Championships Martina Hrasnova ended third in traditional poll of Slovak Sports Journalists for the Slovak Sports Personality of the Year Award. The results were announced in one of Bratislava theaters during a glittery evening on Wednesday. Hrasnova who is pregnant and will miss the 2010 season achieved 638 points and was beaten only by winners Peter and Pavol Hoschorners who are world champions in wild-water canoeing (972) and Boston Bruins captain, ice-hockey player Zdeno Chara (686). Due to bad weather flights in US are canceled so Hrasnova who is currently in Atlanta was not able to get to Bratislava on time and missed the gala evening.
RYBAKOV IN ARNSTADT
ARNSTADT (GER): High jump world champion Yaroslav Rybakov of Russia confirmed his first meet of the indoor season. He will jump at High Jump meet in Arnstadt, Germany on February 6. As Thuringische Landeszeitung informs he accepted the conditions of the organizers. Also home star Ariane Friedrich is confirmed for the women competition in Arnstadt. Still unclear is whether she will clash there with her main rival Blanka Vlasic of Croatia.
BERNANKE OVER BOLT
NEW YORK (USA): Managing Editor of Time Magazine, Richard Stengel revealed on NBC’s ‘Today’ show, that Usain Bolt, the reigning king of track & field sprints, did not make the cut for his company’s Person of the Year Award. Writes TrackAlerts.com. Bolt would have been the first sports man to win the illustrious award, given mostly to head of states among other top celebrities. Bolt, who was recently over-looked as Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year Award, which went to New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter, this time lost to Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke.
SLESARENKO CHANGES COACHES
MOSCOW (RUS): 2004 High jump olympic winner Yelena Slesarenko confirmed change of the coaches. She is now training under the guidance of experienced Yevgeniy Zagorulko. Her former coach was in 2009 Marina Apanasenko. At Beijing Games she was fourth and went from Boris Gorkov to her first coach Apanasenko. Now again a change after she ended in Berlin only tenth. In the group of coach Zagorulko are currently olympic winner Andrey Silnov, world silver medalist Ana Cicherova and also Aleksandr Shustov with Eduard Malchenko. Slesarenko plans to compete during indoor season 2010.
OTHER NEWS
MANAMA (BRN): Former Soviet olympic shot put medalist (second in Moscow 1980) and today 65-years old Svetlana Krachevskaya has signed with Bahrain to take over as national team coach for throws. Krachevskaya will be in charge of the creation of a new program for Bahrain’s shot put, discuss throw and javelin throw athletes. She will also work on identifying potential athletes in schools. She also coached former World and Olympic champion and current World record holder, compatriot Natalya Lisovskaya. Bahrain Athletics website informs.
MINNESOTA (USA): US runner and 2004 Athens Olympian Carrie Tollefson is pregnant and expecting a child in April. The 32-years old runner leaves open whether she will after the birth return to track. Her best times are 4:06.13 at 1500 m in 2004 and 15:04.07 at 5000 m in the same year.
COTTBUS (GER): Reigning European U23 Champion and World finalist in shot put German Denise Hinrichs questions her indoor season 2010. She will compete in Nordhausen on January 22 at the special shot put meeting but what will happen afterwards remains with questionmark. It is because she cannot train properly at Police Education center in Cottbus due to lack of facilities.
TEL AVIV (ISR): US pole vaulter Jillian Schwartz (30) who competed at one Olympic Games, four world championships and three world indoor championships wants to represent Israel in future. As Israeli media are informing, new immigrant Schwartz arrived in Tel Aviv, where she will pursue her dream of vaulting back into the Olympics with Israel‘s track and field team. After winning gold at this past summer‘s Maccabiah Games and receiving enticing offers from Israeli athletic officials, the 30-year-old Chicago native decided to become an Israeli citizen to have a better shot at the 2012 Games in London. Her best is 472 from 2008 and with 450 she was out in qualification at this years World Championships in Berlin.
DUBLIN (IRL): Former world class runner Sonia O´Sullivan will be in Irish colors again at the next Olympics, not as an athlete but as overall team manager, after being appointed the London 2012 national Chef de Mission. Irish media are informing.
PORT-OF-SPAIN (TRI): Sensational Berlin 400m Hurdles fourth placer Jehue Gordon of Trinidad plans to be high at next years World Junior Championships in Moncton Canada. Gordon, who just missed out on a medal at last summer’s World Championships in Berlin, Germany in August, after coming into the home stretch in second place, eventually crossed the finish line in 48.26 seconds becoming the fastest ever 17-year-old in the event to do so and the second fastest junior of all-time. Now winning the World Junior gold is on the agenda of the Queen’s Royal College student. Writes TrackAlerts.com.
LAUSANNE (SUI): European Champion Clubs Cup group A will be staged in 2010 again in southern part of Europe. The event has been awarded to Vila Real St. Antonio in Portugal on last weekend of May 29-30. Best European clubs will compete here for third time since 2000 (before 2000 and 2008). Only once since 2000 this event was not held either in Spain or Portugal, that was in 2004 in Moscow.
SYDNEY (AUS): Track writer Mike Hurst won a media prize within Australian Sports Commission Media Awards. His article about Caster Semenya in the Daily Telegraph was the winner in category “Best Reporting of an Issue in Australian Sport.â€
KINGSTON (JAM): Asafa Powell will host a concert on December 20 to raise money for charity. A Night On Tracks with Asafa Powell & Friends will be this Sunday, December 20, at the Lime Golf Academy in New Kingston. The line up includes Wayne Marshall, Tarrus Riley, Marcia Griffiths, Nadine Sutherland, Tanya Stephens, Elephant Man, Chino, Laden, I-Octane, Tessanne Chin, Konshens, Alaine, Jah Cure, Cherene Anderson, Freddie McGregor and others. Informs TrackAlerts.com.
LAUSANNE (SUI): All three cities bidding to host the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games have been put forward by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the final round of voting which will take place early in the New Year. The IOC Executive Board last week confirmed Guadalajara, Mexico, Nanjing, China and Poznan, Poland for the vote at its Session in Vancouver on February 10 after each has had the opportunity to present its bid to the full membership. Confirms insidethegames.biz. The inaugurual Summer Youth Olympics will be held in Singapore next year from August 14 to 26 while Innsbruck in Austria will host the first Winter Youth Olympics in 2012.
TORONTO (CAN): A top sports doctor who has worked with Tiger Woods and several top Olympic athletes, including the 1996 100 meters champion Donovan Bailey, is under criminal investigation and faces charges in Canada after police in the United States discovered performance-enhancing drugs in his medical bag. Writes insidethegames.biz. Anthony Galea, 50 and a doctor at the Institute of Sports Medicine & Wellness Centre in Toronto, faces three charges in Canada, his lawyer confirmed.
LAUSANNE (SUI): European Athletics announced that Austrian runner Gunther Weidlinger and Portugal‘s Ana Dulce Felix have been selected as the European Athletes of the Month for November. Weidlinger pulled off a huge surprise to beat Olympic Marathon champion Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya at the Great Australian Run, a 15km road race, in Melbourne. Felix on the other hand was the most consistent of the strong battery of Portuguese Cross Country runners. The 27-year-old, who was the best among European finishers at the World Cross Country Championships, won two European Athletics Cross Country permit races in Tillburg and Roeselaere during the month of November. Spaniard Alemayehu Bezabeh and Iaroslav Musinschi of Moldova followed Weidlinger in the men‘s poll while the Russian duo of Inga Abitova and Lyudmila Petrova were voted likewise in the women‘s polls. November was logically dominated by runners.
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