by Larry Eder
Meseret Defar, World Indoor 2010, Doha, Qatar, by PhotoRun.net
Meseret Defar wants to have a go at her own world records. Asafa Powell reminds track fans that elite athletes are only human and to not expect WR every time the big guys run. One of the real injustices that has been done to the sport of track & field is the expectation of records. Not possible all of the time. Our sport continues to be about great competition, like Christian Cantwell winning the World Champs on his final throw, or Blanka Vlasic duking it out with Chaunte Howard. It is all about the competition!
Defar wants to attack her records
MONTE CARLO (MON): World indoor record holder Meseret Defar who was
guest at IAAF World Athletics Gala was quoted as saying that she wants
to attack her own world indoor records at 3000 m and 5000 m. It might
happen in Stuttgart and Stockholm, but needs to be confirmed by the
organizers. The world indoor champion Defar plans to run the 5000 m in
summer as her main event and thinks about marathon only after 2012
London Olympic Games. The longest race of her career is so far half
marathon last fall in Philadelphia. She lost three races out of 12 at
different distances in 2010. Her main rival Tirunesh Dibaba is also
planning 1-2 indoor races in 2011.
Laverne Jones expects a baby
HOUSTON (USA): World indoor 60 m silver winner Laverne Jones-Ferrette of
US Virgin Islands will miss the coming indoor season as she is
pregnant. The baby should be born February/March next year. After some
time she plans to return to the track. Her indoor 60 m time of 6.97 last
February
in Stuttgart was the world’s quickest since 1999.
Alekna plans for fifth olympics
VILNIUS (LTU): Legendary discus thrower Virgilijus Alekna revealed in an
interview for national federation website that he aims to compete at
London 2012 Games. That would be his fifth games, winning in 2000 and
2004, beeing third in 2008 and fifth in 1996. At the time of the games
he will be 40 years old and admits that London will be his last
Olympics. Currently his preparation for 2011 already started, last
season because of injury he was not able to be better than 5th at
Barcelona European Championships. “Because of my injury I knew I am not
able to throw more than 64-65 meters, so was satisfied with 5th in
Barcelona in that situation. Next season will be much more important
with World Championships and when injury-free I want to be ready to
fight with the best,” said Alekna. He plans to have training camps in
Poland in winter and later in Spain.
OTHER NEWS
LONDON (GBR): Pat Butcher´s latest blog at www.globerunner.org – The Return of Liu Xiang.
KINGSTON (JAM): Former 100 m world record holder Asafa Powell is
reminding the track & field public that athletes are human beings
and they cannot deliver a world record ‘everyday’. Writes TrackAlerts.
Powell, who held the 100m world record for two years and eleven months,
June 2005-May 2008, with times of 9.77 and 9.74, said there are times
when repeating past performances doesn’t come easily. “Every-year is not
a world record year,” he said. “There are times when an athlete cannot
easily revisit that mental and physical state he was in when he set that
world record, it takes time and the athlete must be patient. Everyday
will not be Christmas.” He has the biggest ever number of legal sub 10
races in his record (65). Small satisfaction for him during 2010 were
the two world bests at 100 yards during Ostrava Golden Spike, 9.09 in
heats and 9.07 in the finals.
KINGSTON (JAM): Jamaican long jumper Alain Bailey has set his eyes on a
medal at the 2011 IAAF World Championships. Bailey explained his
ambitious 2011 plans in an interview with Caribbeansportsnetwork.com and
also mentioned his aim to medal at the 2012 Olympic Games. The Jamaican
jumped a 835 personal best this year while injured and hopes to become
Jamaica’s first world medalist in the long jump if he can stay injury
free. He is working with On Track Management of Claude Bryan.
LONDON (GBR): Jessica Ennis has been named on the shortlist for BBC’s
Sports personality of the year. Ennis made the top 10 of the prestigious
award following her World indoor and European outdoor titles, becoming
the first ever British athlete to claim the double. Mo Farah was
controversially left off the shortlist. Farah became double European
champion in both the 5000m and 10000m and broke the UK 5000m record
during the season. Based on his performances he had been called an early
favourite to land the award writes athletics-weekly.com.
NEW DELHI (IND): In the wake of India’s impressive performances at the
Commonwealth Games the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has made
efforts to provide a monthly payment to the country’s top 100 athletes.
The AFI plans to devide the athletes into five brackets according to
their performances reports indianexpress.com
RABAT (MAR): African Athletics United facebook informs that Abdeslam
Ahizoune was elected unanimously for a second term as president of the
Moroccan athletics federation during the FRMA general assembly on
Monday. The financial report for 2008-2009 list 74,3 millions dirhams
(8,685 milions $US) for a spending of 55,5 millions dhm (6,49 millions
$US). The number of partners grew from 6 in 2007 to 14 in 2009 in
particular thanks to the Mohamed VI meet (IAAF World Challenge) that
contributed to draw new sponsors.
GLASGOW (GBR): John Scott, chief executive of the Organising Committee
for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, told insidethegames he expects
major superstars such as Jamaican sprint sensation Usain Bolt to be
there in just under four years’ time. This year, Delhi was plagued with
boycotts from a number of the world’s top athletes who missed the Games
for a number of reasons ranging from health and security fears to
hectic sporting schedules. The timing of the Games in 2014 is better
with July 23 until August 3. The European Championships same year in
Zurich will be staged aftewards from August 12 to August 17.
LEIPZIG (GER): World high jump medalist Raul Spank is ready for the
indoor season and plans to qualify for European Indoor Championships in
Paris. He also committed to the German Indoor Championships to be held
in Leipzig during last February weekend, that means only one week before
the European event. Spank said he might compete at nationals also in
triple jump. First competition of the next indoor for Spank should be
the Aviva Match in Glasgow on January 29. In total 550 athletes from 200
clubs will be expected at German Championships.
BARCELONA (ESP): 75 leaders from 45 Member Federations participated in
the 7th biennial European Athletics Chief Executive Officers Conference,
entitled Orchestrating Success – Strategy and Leadership in Athletics
Organisations, which took place in Barcelona, Spain, over the weekend.
The conference opened with an unusual musical session in which all the
delegates played drums and improvised instruments to different rhythms
to create a musical composition metaphorically representing the
conference theme. After the official welcome and introduction by
European Athletics President Hansjorg Wirz, Stuart West, the MBA
Programmes Director at the Loughborough University Business School in
England, presented a talk on building strategy for success. The Member
Federations of Armenia, Ireland, Hungary and France presented case
studies on how they develop their strategies and these were the focus of
a panel discussion featuring West and Professors John Antonakis and
Jean-Philippe Bonardi from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. EA
director Christian Milz covered strengthening revenue streams,
organisational effectiveness, restructuring the competition programme,
expanding participating and engaging young people in the sport.
STOCKHOLM (SWE): New Swedish Athletics national team doctor is Dick
Larsson a 56-years old orthopedic who worked before with top ice-hockey
club Farjestad.
ATHENS (GRE): Greek media are informing that long jump record holder
Nikki Xanthou found after returning home at St. Stephen that she had
unwanted visitors. Thiefs stole both her medals, silver from World
Championships 1997 in Athens and gold from European Indoor Championships
2002 in Vienna.
PORTO NOVO (BEN): Delegation from the African Athletics Confederation
(CAA), led by its president Hamad Kalkaba Malboum was in Benin to sign
the CAA-Benin agreement regarding the organisation of the 2012 Africa
championships in Porto-Novo. Informs African Athletics facebook.
ALBUFEIRA TEAMS
BIRMINGHAM (GBR): Hayley Yelling-Higham will defend her title at the
SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Albufeira, Portugal on
Sunday 12 December 2010 as one of a 36-strong Aviva Great Britain and
Northern Ireland team. UK Athletics website informs. Yelling-Higham, who
dominated the senior women’s race in Dublin 12 months ago, is joined by
McCain Liverpool Cross Challenge and European Trials winner Louise
Damen and former three-time European junior cross country champion
Stephanie Twell. Andy Vernon, winner of the men’s Trial and a former
European Cross Country under-23 silver medallist, heads up the senior
men’s team in Portugal while Nick Goolab and James Wilkinson –
individual junior medallists in Dublin in 2009 – step up to the
under-23 category. Ian Stewart, Aviva GB & NI Team Leader said: “We
won 12 medals in Dublin last year and every athlete returned home with a
medal for the second successive year. We’ve selected a team that
includes a mix of youth and experience for Portugal and we’re optimistic
that we can go out there and win even more medals this time around.
We’ve picked the strongest possible teams with that in mind.” UK is
sending full teams for all six races.
MADRID (ESP): Also Spain as another leading running nation in Europe
will have teams competing in all six races. Leading the 36 strong squad
will be title defender in men´s race Alemayehu Bezabeh (with Ayad
Lamdassem and Jesus Espana). Last edition silver winner Rosa Morato
heads the women selection with Alessandra Aguilar and 1500 m European
track medalists Nuria Fernandez and Natalia Rodriguez. New name in
junior boys team is Mohamed Marhum of Maghreb origin, he hopes to have
Spanish citizen papers on time.
WARSZAWA (POL): Poland is not sending seniors, but full both U23 teams
and two junior individuals Aleksandra Gierat and Artur Olejarz.
DUBLIN (IRL): Another traditional cross country nation Ireland will have
in Albufeira all six teams. Athletes of the international calibre are
world junior champion Ciara Mageean, Shane Quinn, Brendan O’Neill, Sarah
Treacy, Joe Sweeney and Fionnuala Britton.
AMSTERDAM (NED): Michel Butter has after all decided to join the Dutch
cross country team for the European Cross Country Championships on
December 12th. Butter initially declined his position on the team as he
felt the championships were coming too soon but after a good performance
in Tilburg last weekend Butter has accepted the selection.
TALLINN (EST): Add to Estonian team (EME NEWS from November 29) one more junior Anton Basmanov.
STATS
BUDAPEST (HUN): The database of All-Athletics.com is huge. The website
informs that 3778 athletes achieved sub 11 seconds in the men´s 100 m in
2010. You want more? 1726 from them are from North and Central America,
1178 from Europe, 380 from Asia, 225 from Africa, 163 from South
America and 106 from Ocenia. In case you still want more visit
www.all-athletics.com.
