by Larry Eder
Sanya Richards-Ross now, SR then, winning her first World Championship 400m!
photo by PhotoRun.net.
Our sports is ALL ABOUT WHO LINES UP. It is all about the competition. The Payton Jordan distance events last weekend were examples of that! Each race had proven stars and newcomers and the competition played its part. The Diamond League will make it or break it depending on how many times they get the global studs to compete. Bolt, Gay, Richards-Ross, Felix, Powell, and company. Get a few more runs like the one Solinsky did
last weekend, and distance races might actually show up on a major network in
the U.S.
Last weekend, I stayed up, in my little cocoon in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, until three am that Sunday morning, getting texts from geeks far and wide, some in Palo Alto, some in Jamaica. I followed the 10,000 meters by Rupp and Solinsky via text, one split after another, from three different people. The tension was like listening to a sports event on the radio. Afterwards, I watched the videos to fill in the missing parts. The race was like a great story! Tension! Rupp pushing the pace, breaking over 20 other competitors, but, three were still with him. It was only afterwards, in speaking to Chris Solinsky, that I found out he was having cramping issues midway through the race, and challenged himself, one lap at a time, to go on. The beauty of various media formats is that we learn more and more, after time. There is the excitement of first seeing an event, there is the fascination of getting a behind the scenes look and their is the joy of real geeks, playing the event, again and again, in one’s cranium.
People were excited about the meets and performances last weekend! Each meet had superb sports performances, yet none were on US TV. Neither ESPN 2 nor ESPN sports center could find ten seconds to cover either Solinsky’s 10,000 meter AR or Bolt’s blinding 19.56!
Recently Dick Patrick wrote how print and printer writers are an endangered species. I am not so sure. The truth is, Track & Field has not shown it can play hardball in the big, bad world of global sports marketing. I think cable TV and regular TV will be evolved or shut down long before print goes away. Digital TV such as Flotrack, Runners Space, Milesplit are providing an outlet for millions of track fans, who have strong HHI and strong demographics. Not so far down the line when you will have 10-20 race highlights to choose from on your iphone (for .99) or watch the entire meet on your I-pad. The day your print title mails, an update on your iphone comes with links for the top races of the week, plus video interviews and tips. Your magazine in print is more coffee table photos and deep thinking articles.
Ironically, the major networks continue to make themselves irrelevant, as they search for sports audiences to over saturate with poorly done sports coverage. Digital and specialty print are giving our sport coverage we never received on TV, for many reasons, many of them due to the daily ways we, as sport insiders, shoot ourselves in the foot .
LAUSANNE (SUI): Trackandfieldnews.com informs that the Official
Timekeeper of the Olympic Games, OMEGA, will be also the Official Timekeeper of
the IAAF Diamond League in its 2010 inaugural season, which officially begins
in Doha, Qatar, May 14. OMEGA has served as Official Timekeeper at 24 Olympic
Games since 1932 and extended its agreement with the International Olympic
Committee through 2020.
R-R
VS. FELIX
LONDON (GBR): Reigning 200 m
and 400 m
World champions Sanya Richards-Ross
and Allyson Felix will clash at 400 m at Crystal Palace for
the Aviva London Grand Prix on August 14. The American pair have only
competed against each other over the one-lap race on five occasions, the first
of which came in London in 2007. The current score is 4:1 in favor of
Richards-Ross. The only different result came at DN Galan of Stockholm in the
same year four days after when Felix clocked 49.70 over her rival (49.72). Then
other wins for current 400 world champion followed in Stockholm 2008, Rome 2009
and Zurich 2009. No other race was so close as the 2007 Swedish one.
MULAUDZI
VS. RUDISHA
DOHA (QAT): More new names for Diamond League opener on May 14 are world 1500m
champion Maryam Jamal of Bahrain, Poland’s World Pole Vault champion Anna
Rogowska and reigning World 800m champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi of South Africa who
should clash with world leader David Rudisha of Kenya. EME NEWS already
reported that and Olympic Shot Put champion Tomasz Majewski will clash with
world champion Christian Cantwell.
POWELL
EXPLAINING
KINGSTON (JAM): Former world record holder in the 100 m Asafa Powell who has
his next two races planed for Doha on May 14 and Ostrava on May 27 said for
IAAF: “Off the track, I am working hard to get my (Asafa Powell)
foundation up to another level. Hopefully by the end of the year we can have
some strong funds and a lot more support. The people I am working
with are doing a pretty good job and we helped some kids earlier this
year, which was the first big project for us. Next year it should get a lot
bigger. The aim of the foundation is to help youngsters. I was talking to
one of my friends the other day and the argument about we don’t get a lot
of support from the country itself came up. A lot of the athletes don’t
really have much to begin with so my foundation is to really help them with
gear, proper training facilities and things like that.” He also revealed more
about his non-entry at recent Penn Relays: „Why I did not take part in the
Penn Relays …. There has been a lot of talks as to why Asafa did not run
at Penn Relays. But I just want to make it clear that there are good
reasons why I did not run … It wasn’t because of injuries nor anything
to do with the JAAA, nothing to do with Jamaica. It’s just some stuff that my
manager, coach and other people are working on … that’s all I can say
now.”
OHURUOGU VS. S. WILLIAMS,
EBUYA ADDED
OSTRAVA (CZE): Top two from Olympic Games 2008 women 400 m race will clash at 49th
Ostrava Golden Spike meet on May 27 (IAAF World Challenge). Briton Christine
Ohuruogu will face Jamaican Shericka Williams. The 2007 World champion will
have here her first European 400 race of the year and will return as winner of
Ostrava from 2008. Williams is to debut in the Czech city. Before that they
will already clash one time, at Diamond League opener in Doha. After that
Ohuruogu is also scheduled to race on the Manchester streets over 150 meters. „Ostrava
will be my first 400m in Europe this year and I am looking forward to
return to the meet that I last won in 2008. I will run the 400m in
Doha and the 150m in Manchester. Winter training has gone very well. This year
my aim will be the European Championships,” said the Briton. Williams who has
interestingly better top ten marks average and is silver winner from Berlin
2009 added: „I’m excited to finally come to Ostrava. It is one of the
last big meets on the circuit that I have not been to yet. I am
looking forward to running fast this season and Ostrava is one of the meets I am
most excited about.” Meet record comes back from 1983 when Tatiana Kocembova
achieved 49.67. That is the only sub 50 time in the history of the meet,
organizers are hoping that may change. In head-to-head stats by Tilastopaja
Ohuruogu leads over Williams 8:6. Another high quality addition to Ostrava
fields headed by Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Blanka Vlasic is the fresh world
cross-country champion Joseph Ebuya of Kenya. The winner from Bydgoszcz and
Bekele beater from Edinburgh early this year returns to Ostrava for the third
time, but for first time as top name to run Emil Zatopek Memorial at 3000 m. „I like
Ostrava. I was 2nd there in the 3000m in 2006. I had the best cross
country season of my life this winter and I hope to transfer this form to
track in the summer. I want to run a fast time in Ostrava and I know
there will be a lot of strong runners in the race. I want to improve
my personal best.” He will face World indoor champion Bernard Lagat among others.
Ebuya was 2nd in Ostrava 2006 at 3000
m (7:38.12) and 5th at 5000 m in 2007 (13:09.01).
Special story happened in his 2006 race when he started to celebrate his win 200 m from the finish, then
he realised his mistake, and still was able to end second. His best mark is
currently 7:34.62 from 2008.
TOP
HURDLES RACES PLANNED
PONCE (PUR): Puerto-Rican Area Permit meet Ponce
Grand Prix on Saturday will have excellent hurdles line-ups. Even world leading
marks may be under attack. Two Beijing medalists will clash for first time this
year at 110 m
hurdles, David Oliver with David Payne. Jamaican record holder Dwight Thomas
will be there too with another top US hurdler Dexter Faulk. Oliver leads the
yearly lists with 13.24. Very special also the 400 m hurdles. Trinidad´s
super talent Yehue Gordon will run against former greats Felix Sanchez and
Danny McFarlane of Jamaica. But the top favorite might be world medalist Javier
Culson, the biggest local star. Best time of the season is so far 48.16. In
women´s 100 m
hurdles, US Danielle Carruthers and Jamaican Vonette Dixon are the top names.
In the 400 m
hurdles Beijing silver medalist Sheena Tosta is to compete in her first one lap
hurdles race of the year.
FARQUHAR AND PORTER
OSAKA (JPN): New Zealand javelin champion Stuart Farquhar has headed to Japan
determined to make his mark at the Osaka Grand Prix this Saturday (IAAF World
Challenge). New Zealand media are informing. A win there would help
him force his way into top European events, including a couple of IAAF
Diamond League events in his buildup to the New Delhi Commonwealth Games.
Farquhar, 28, has the third best throw in the world this year to date, having
smashed his own personal best with a wind-assisted heave of 85.35 metres at
Porritt Stadium back in February. He will face Russian Ilya Korotkov, US Chris
Hill and Ukrainian Roman Avramenko. Latest addition into 110 m hurdles is third placer
from US Indoor Championships this year Jeff Porter, who improved last summer to
13.37. Bahamian Shamar Sands and Chinese Shi Dong-peng are other top names
after former world record holder Liu Xiang pulled out of the race.
OTHER NEWS
KAVARNA (BUL): Total prize purse of 55 000 USD will be
available on Saturday at 2nd International Kavarna Marathon. The event will
incorporate also Balkan and Bulgarian Championships. Top 3 will recieve
7000-4000-3000 USD. Around 400 runners from 30 countries are expected. Kavarna
is also bidding to stage IAAF World Half-marathon championships 2012 in a race with a very
strong other bidder, New York. Top names are Greek Vasilios Zabelis, Bulgarian
Khristo Stefanov, Kenyan representing Finland Obed Kipkirui, other Kenyans
Julius Kimeu, Simon Tanui. Moroccan Ahmed Nasef clocked 2:16:49 in Utrecht this
spring. In women race Kenyan Joyce Kandie and Bulgarian Milka Mikhailova should
be observed.
RIO DE JANEIRO (BRA): After receiving a report, FIFA’s
secretary general Jerome Valcke, has pointed out that preparations for the 2014
World Cup in Brazil have been late. And its all among official monitoring Rio
de Janeiro’s early preparations for the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics. Rio
claimed that hosting the World Cup two years before the Olympics would ensure
that everything would be ready in time for the Games. Valcke said for insidethegames.biz: „We
trust the Brazilians because they are developing at an extraordinary rate.”
HAMBURG (GER): European indoor long jump record holder
Sebastian Bayer may miss this summers’ European championships. Bayer had
surgery on his foot but due to complications he is now facing a gap
in his training that will be difficult to close before the German
championships on July 17th and 18th. The German championships are the
last chance for German athletes to qualify for the European championships
confirms leichtathletik.de.
PARIS (FRA): French sprint sensation Christophe Lemaitre
aims at winning two medals at the European Championships in Barcelona, just one
year after winning the European junior 100m in Novi Sad. Lemaitre opened his
season running 10.09 in
a local meeting in France and believes that with more competition and the
right conditions he will be able to break the 10.00 barrier soon. Lemaitre
confirmed in an interview with athle.com
that he is scheduled to compete in the Diamond League meetings in Paris and
Rome before heading to Barcelona to compete in the 100m and the 4x100m relay.
His main focus this year will be on the 100m and not the 200m.
DULUTH (USA): USATF has
awarded the 2012 and 2013 USA Half Marathon Championships to Duluth, Minnesota
and the Grandma’s Marathon-Duluth, inc. The men’s and women’s national
half-marathon title races will be run in conjunction with the Garry Bjorklund
Half Marathon on June 16, 2012 and June 22, 2013. Duluth has a strong
history of hosting national championship events, including the 2003 and 2004
USA Women’s Half Marathon Championships as well as the 1987, 1990 and 1994 USA
Women’s Marathon Championships.
DOPING
NEWS
VIENNA (AUT): Law commission of Austrian Anti-Doping Agency NADA opened on May
3 an investigation into the case of former world class 800 m runner Stephanie
Graf-Zitny. The reason is that she at least in one occassion took blood from
the company Humanplasma while she was still an active athlete. A hearing
will be staged within 8 weeks. Austrian Athletics Federation OLV supported this
move.
ATHENS (GRE): Former European Champion at 100 m and olympic medalist
Katerina Thanou said in Sunday´s programme of one of Greek Televisions that her
retirement from athletics is final. Already before Olympic Games in Beijing
when she was not allowed to compete her decision was made. She stopped any
training after summer of 2008.
KINGSTON (JAM): Jamaica Observer writes, that an athlete from Jamaican
national team in Doha at World Indoor Championships returned an adverse
analytical finding of „A” sample, according to highly placed Observer sources.
No other information is available, representatives of JAAA did not confirm it
for Jamaica Observer.
RESULTS
RANCHI (IND, May 4): During last day of Federation Cup new meet record in women
10 000 m.
Preeja Sreedharan clocked solid 32:56.58.
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