by Larry EderPer an exclusive story at www.insidethegames.biz, London and Beijing will be dueling for the World Champs in 2015! So either the 2012 London facility or the Bird’s Nest, the 2008 home of the Beijing Olympics!
EME NEWS (MAR 16, 2010)
IAAF COUNCIL
DOHA (QAT): The selection of Barcelona as host of the 2012 World Junior Championships and a detailed progress report by the Local Organizing Committee of the World Championships in Athletics – Daegu 2011 highlighted the concluding day of the IAAF Council Meeting in Doha. The 14th edition of the World Junior Championships will be held in Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium which hosted the Games in 1992 and which will also host the 2010 European Championships. “We are extremely pleased with the progress being made,†President Lamine Diack said about Daegu preparations. The second phase of the LOC’s promotional campaign, ‘Creating Championships Mood’ began in January of this year, with several key components planned for the upcoming months. Noteworthy too will be construction of the Athletics Promotion Centre, whose groundbreaking was celebrated on 28 January. The 27,000 sq/m facility will house an Athletics Academy and various training facilities and will be a legacy for athletics in Korea. The 5000-seat venue is expected to be completed by 2011. The LOC also reported that designs for other refurbishments of Daegu Stadium have been finalized. The stadium’s giant screens will be replaced by May of this year, in time for the 6th Colorful Daegu Pre-Championships Meeting, an IAAF World Challenge Meeting, on 19 May. Additionally, resurfacing of the track is expected to be completed by December 2010. Two of the final test events have been announced and will take place in Spring 2011. The 3rd Daegu International Marathon on 10 April 2011 will serve as the test event for the road races, while the 7th Colorful Daegu Pre-Championships Meeting in May 2011 will serve as the test event for the events on the track and field.
IAAF WORLD CHALLENGE
DOHA (QAT): RusAthletics.com informs that Znamensky Memorial the oldest and one of the best one day meetings in Russia was granted IAAF World Challenge Status. That means the series will be enlarged to 14 meetings. Znamensky was in the past part of IAAF Grand Prix and in recent years EA Premium Meeting. In last years it was held in Zhukovskiy near Moscow. The decision is connected to promotion of IAAF World Championships which will be held in Moscow in 2013. IAAF World Challenge already started on March 4 in Melbourne, next meeting is in Dakar, Senegal on April 24. Initially the date of Znamensky in 2010 was set for June 6 but this will need to change as on June 6 is already one “challenge†meeting in Rabat, Morocco. Another change in IAAF World Challenge is the venue in Brazil, due to promotion of olympic city the Grande Premio Brasil will not be held in Belem as in recent years but in Rio de Janeiro on May 23. Belem will stage continental permit meet on May 16.
CLAY REACTION
ATLANTA (USA): Fresh world indoor heptathlon champion Bryan Clay was happy to see his young colleague Ashton Eaton improving the heptathlon world indoor record. “ I‘m very happy for Ashton. He is an incredibly talented up and coming athlete. If he continues to develop in the outdoor events, the US will be vying for a sweep of the medals in 2012,“ he said for EME NEWS.
CONTINENT MEDALS
DOHA (QAT): Europe got the most medals at World Indoors in Doha (30), but in quality department the best was North and Central America with 12 golds. The continent based mainly on US success achieved 12-5-10 medals ahead of Europe 7-13-10, Africa 4-4-4, Oceania 2-1-1, Asia 1-0-0 and South America 1-0-0. In number of countries by continent getting medals Europe leads with 12 ahead of North and Central America (7), Africa (5), Oceania (2) and Asia with South America by 1. In number of countries by continent in top 8 Europe has 25 countries, Africa 14, North America 9, Asia 4 and Oceania and South America 2.
RUSSIAN PREGNANCIES: GALKINA AND CHICHEROVA
MOSCOW (RUS): Russian athletics and also European Championships in Barcelona will be without top two contenders. Because of pregnancies not competing this summer will be olympic gold medalist and steeple world record holder Gulnara Samitova-Galkina and world and olympic high jump medalist Anna Chicherova. Informs All-Sport quoting Russian head-coach Valentin Maslakov. Both are planning to return in 2011.
OTHER NEWS
LONDON (GBR): Great Britain may have won four medals at the World Indoor Championships in Doha but UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee was unhappy with how many of the 36 strong team under-performed. Dwain Chambers in the 60 meters and pentathlete Jessica Ennis claimed gold medals, Jenny Meadows won the 800m silver while the men‘s 4x400m relay squad came away with bronze. But van Commenee with only four other athletes making individual finals held an inquest with staff coaches at Doha airport and will speak individually to athletes in the coming weeks. Writes David Martin.
LONDON (GBR): London‘s Olympic Stadium is set to go head-to-head with Beijing‘s Birds Nest, which hosted the 2008 Games, for the right to stage the 2015 World Athletics Championships, EME NEWS already reported. As insidethegames.biz points out, under the original plans, the 80,000-capacity stadium will be reduced to a 25,000 athletics stadium after the 2012 Games. If that proposal goes ahead – and London‘s bid is successful – then an extra 12,000 seats would be added for the World Championships. It will be the third time London has bid to host the World Championships in less than 15 years. In 1997 it put forward Wembley to host the 2003 edition but had to withdraw when plans for the stadium to include an athletics track were controversially dropped. They were then subsequently awarded the 2005 World Championships when Prime Minister Tony Blair promised to build a stadium specially for the event at Pickett‘s Lock. But the event was taken away from London and awarded to Helsinki after the Government reneged on its promise, a decision that threatened to undermine London‘s bid for the 2012 Olympics.
SYDNEY (AUS): Athletics Australia informs, that world indoor champion in pole vault Steve Hooker will take on the sprinters at Easter when he makes his surprise debut in the Stawell Gift. He hopes to be given a 7m handicap for the 129th edition of the celebrated professional footrace. He clocked in Perth this year his 100 m PB 10.82. The Gift Carnival will take place at Central Park in Stawell from April 2-5, with the heats of the feature race on Easter Saturday and the semi-finals and final on Easter Monday.
NAIROBI (KEN): For the second World Indoor Championships in row Kenya failed to win a gold medal. Disappointed Athletics Kenya (AK) chairman, Isaiah Kiplagat admitted it was time to change the selection method for the biennial closed circuit running global event. Writes East Standard.
TOKYO (JPN): Asian Games Marathon team was announced on Tuesday by Japan Athletics Federation JAAF. The team was selected from the top finishers in Fukuoka Marathon, Tokyo Marathon and Lake Biwa Marathon for men and Yokohama Women‘s Marathon, Osaka Ladies Marathon and Nagoya Women‘s Marathon for women. On the men side Tomoyuki Sato with Yukihiro Kitaoka and on the women Kiyoko Shimahira and Yuri Kano. 16th Asian Games will be held in November in Guangzhou, China.
BANSKA BYSTRICA (SVK): Best Slovak walker and twice top ten placer in Berlin Matej Toth said he is not aiming for a double in Barcelona later in summer. “I will concentrate on 20 km race as there is not enough time for a double with 50 km during European Championships,†he said. There are three days between 20 km and 50 km. In his plan the only 50 km race of the year should happen at IAAF World Cup in Mexico in May. Toth is already qualified to Chihuahua based on last years performances. He already had one training camp at Grand Canaria in February. His first 20 km will be next weekend in Dudince at EA Permit event.
MCLEAN (USA): Austrian track agent Robert Wagner of Wagner Athletics Management (WAM) will be joining Octagon and working with former hurdles great Renaldo Nehemiah in Athletics Representation, commencing the April 1st, 2010. Wagner will share the title of Co-Director of Athletics.
LONDON (GBR): Mo Farah and Hayley Yelling-Higham will lead British teams to IAAF World CC Championships in Bydgoszcz on March 28. Farah is joined on the British team by National winner Andy Vernon, who has been in very good form on the boards and on the country this year, as well as Mike Skinner, who won the trials for the European Cross Country Championships last November. At the age of 19, European junior cross-country bronze medallist James Wilkinson, who was seventh at the trials, has also been included in the senior team. European cross-country champion Hayley Yelling-Higham leads a strong British team. Even though the 36-year-old missed the Nationals and Inter Counties with illness, Yelling-Higham was the first Brit home at the Bupa Great Edinburgh International Cross Country event in January. Inter-Counties and Scottish winner Freya Murray has been in superb form and the 26-year-old, who made the top ten in Dublin, has also been included along with world junior 1500m champion Steph Twell, who won the National last month. Senior men: Mo Farah, Mike Skinner, James Wilkinson, Andy Vernon, senior women: Faye Fullerton, Freya Murray, Stevie Stockton, Stephanie Twell, Hayley Yelling. Also both junior teams were named.
RESULTS
HUANGSHAN (CHN, Mar 16): World championships bronze medalist Liu Hong won national women 20 km walk title in 1:30:29. Interesting to note junior winner Zhao Jing clocking 1:32:59. In men´s 50 km world leading 3:47:53 for Berlin 25th placer Li Lei. Second Du Yunpeng achieved life-time best 3:51:37.
PRETORIA (RSA, Mar 12): 2007 world champion Betty Heidler achieved in a competition during her training camp in South Africa very solid 75.27 m. It is her best ever start to a season. Second Kathrin Klaas even improved her personal best to 74.53. In men´s hammer Jens Rautenkranz of Germany achieved 76.65. All three will be competing this weekend at European Cup Winter Throwing in France.
SAO CAETANO (BRA, Mar 14): Second Brazilian discus record during this winter for Odair de Oliveira Juliao achieving 61.60 m at a throwing meet.
BUENOS AIRES (ARG, Mar 13): South American hammer record holder Jennifer Dahlgren achieved at a local meet good 72.66, just 28 cm shy of her continental record from 2007. South American champion German Lauro improved in discus to 62.49 m.
REIMS (FRA, Mar 13): European walking champion Yohan Diniz improved French one hour track record to 15 395 m. Former mark of Thierry Toutain was 15 167 m from 1993.
WINDSOR (CAN, Mar 11-12): Sam Effah showed excellent shape at Canadian University Championships. In heats of 60 m he improved his best to good quality 6.57 and confirmed with 6.59 in winning the final. Next day his winning time at 300 m was 33.76.
NEW YORK (USA, Mar 14): Two excellent sprint junior marks for girls at National Scholastic meet. 17 years old Ashton Purvis clocked 23.22 at 200 m and only 15 years old Kendall Baisden posted impressive 53.23 at 400 m.
BRIDGETOWN (BAR, Mar 10): 15-years old Akela Jones cleared national youth record 185 in high jump.
RIGA (LAT, Mar 6): This too old for EME NEWS, but as it is world lead, worth to report. National record holder and Olympian Igor Sokolovs achieved 79.09, his third best mark of the career.
