by Larry Eder
The IOC is standing by its 2008 ruling about banning athletes who receive a suspension for drug positives of two years or more from the subsequent Olympics. That means LaShawn Merritt, the 2007 World Champ and 2008 Olympic champion at 400 meters will be unable to compete in London, due to his ill advised use of Extenze, a male enhancement product. The afore- mentioned product is considered by many, the reason for his positive tests just under 17 months ago.
While RBR applauds the IOC, USOC, USADA and WADA‘s robust protection of the Olympic brand name in regards to banned substances, the concern is where common sense should come to play. Testing and protocols done with just the hint of peer review, minute numbers used in controls and testing, which may or may not stand up in an international court of law, and the concern that, for the four groups mentioned, to stop the biggest players in the use of banned substances, one must get as dirty as the players to catch cheats must cause some thinking readers just a hint of alarm.
RBR does not have answers, and believes that a vigorous defense of sports is important. RBR’s fear is that, weathly athletes and sports federations will be able to, too soon, develop protocols that can engineer human DNA. Sport has become much too complicated. Putting a line in the sand for the start and a line in the sand for the finish, asking all to line up, and say, Go! looks better and better each day.
EME NEWS (JAN 13, 2011)
Live transmissions from Daegu not planned
FRANKFURT (GER): German public TV stations ARD/ZDF will not show live
the World Championships in Daegu. That was confirmed by the stations and
rights-holders IEC. Discussions are going on about possible summaries
in the evening in Europe. IEC also mentioned that the negotiations
concerning the German territory are not finished. That is the sign they
might discuss it with other stations. German public has as other option
the sports channel Eurosport which broadcasts in German language but
also here the rights situation is not finalised yet. German top athletes
are disappointed. For leichtathletik.de Christian Reif, Betty Heidler
and Christina Obergfoll expressed their negative feelings about the fact
that live transmissions from Daegu in Germany are not possible.
Merritt case
LAUSANNE (SUI): 2009 400 m world champion LaShawn Merritt will not be
able to defend his Olympic 400 metres title at London next year after
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) refused to back down from its
new tough anti-doping stance. The IOC’s ruling Executive Board and
Athletes’ Commission threw their weight behind the rule, which bars any
athlete with a doping suspension of at least six months from competing
in the next Olympics. Informs insidethegames. As title defender from
Berlin he will have the wild card for Daegu World Championships this
year. On the other side USATF asks wild card holders to compete at
national championships but his ban ends after the trials in July. Still a
tricky situation. Euromeetings is not inviting athletes who are harming
the image of the sport, the line goes for bans two years or more. That
would mean Merritt will be invited to top meetings and could compete on
the circuit.
GERMAN MEETINGS
DUSSELDORF (GER): Steeple specialist Paul Kipsiele Koech returns to
6th PSD Bank Meeting in Dusseldorf (EA Indoor Permit) to run the 5000 m.
Last year he clocked impresssive 13:02.95. He will clash on Feb 11 with
US Galen Rupp and Italian Barcelona medalist Daniele Meucci. Very fast
could be also the 1500 m race with Kenyans William Biwott, Geoffrey
Rono, Augustine Choge, Nixon Chepseba against Ethiopian Gebremhdin
Mekonnen, twice world indoor finalist.
CHEMNITZ (GER): European pole vault champion Renaud Lavillenie commited
to jump also in Chemnitz on January 27 after competing the day before
in Cottbus. He will clash with German stars Malte Mohr and Tim Lobinger.
STUTTGART (GER): Chinese top star Liu Xiang plans to compete at 60 m
hurdles in Stuttgart on Feb 5 and Karlsruhe on Feb 13. The Diamond
League in Doha in May and the World Championships in
Daegu, South Korea, are also on his schedule. To prepare for the
upcoming season, Liu went to Los Angeles for a
physical check and a short period of training last week. The results
satisfied Liu and his coach. He last time competed indoors in
Germany in 2007 when he clocked Asian record 7.42 at the 60 m hurdles
distance.
BOLT NEWS
KINGSTON (JAM): Worlds fastest man Usain Bolt recieved a clear view
of the project, well underway at
Marketplace. Bolt stopped in to visit the construction site on his
way from practice. The partnership is a US$1-million investment — a
unique business
and dynamic entertainment partnership between Bolt’s UB Brand and
the KLE Brand. The partnership will result in the roll-out of a
series of high-end
sports bar products called Usain Bolt’s Tracks & Records, which
will have its flagship location in Kingston, Jamaica, but which will
also find a place in major metropolitan areas, such as London,
England, as well as in other regional territories and in North
America. Informs TrackAlerts. Bolt also sent his wishes to Haiti.
“We hope that the recovery process goes smooth and the country to
return to normal operations as soon as possible. I am using this
opportunity to urge people to offer as much assistance as they can.
Caribbean unity is necessary at this time and I am sure that we are
all rallying to support our brothers and sisters in Haiti. Haiti
needs our support. I urge you to continue the efforts. May God
continue to bless the people in Haiti,” Bolt concluded. In other
developments agencies informed about his possible participation at
Golden Gala Rome Samsung Diamond League meet on May 26. “I am still in
negotiations with the organisers for his
participation in Rome,” his agent Ricky Simms told trackalerts.com.
Brussels Diamond League organizer Wilfried Meert said for De Standaard
that Bolt should run on September 16 at Van Damme Memorial. “He has an
agreement in principle with us.
If he remains in one piece, he comes to Brussels,” said Meert. His
only officially confirmed meeting for 2011 so far is Oslo Bislett Games
at 200 m on June 9.
OTHER NEWS
APELDOORN (NED): European decathlon silver medalist Eelco
Sintnicolaas will compete in the international indoor combined
events in Tallinn on February 5th and 6th. Sintnicolaas takes
Tallinn over the CE International match on January 29th and 30th and
the Dutch national combined events championships. Sintnicolaas will
for sure compete at the Dutch national indoor championships, most
likely in the pole vault writes De Stentor.
LAUSANNE (SUI): A European Athletics delegation headed by President
Hansjorg Wirz successfully completed a visit to Finland as part of
preparations for the Helsinki 2012 European Athletics Championships
reports European Athletics. “Helsinki 2012 will be a new dawn for
European Athletics as it is the beginning of the cycle of having a
European championships every two years, and so we are working hard
with the LOC on forward-thinking ideas for these innovative
championships,” said President Wirz.
LAUSANNE (SUI): The International Olympic Committee’s
executive board warned India on Thursday that it could bar the
country from the Olympics unless a spat over Indian sports chiefs is
resolved. Agencies are informing.
NAIROBI (KEN): The first four athletes across the finish line at the
Kenyan national trials will gain automatic selection to the Kenya
team for the World Cross Country Championships in Spain. For the
Africa Cross Country Championships in South Africa no selection
criteria have been finalized yet by Athletics Kenya. The Kenyan
national trials will be held at Uhuru Gardens in Nairobi on February
19 reports The Daily Nation.
LAUSANNE (SUI): Former 200 m world champion and current IOC member Frankie Fredericks has spoken in favour of the hard
line on doping cheats taken by the British Olympic Association
(BOA). As chairman of the IOC athletes’ commission Fredricks was
quoted “I like the BOA rule and if every country could adopt that
it would solve many things; we would know that everyone who competes
at the Olympic Ganes is clean”. Fredericks refused to be drawn over
the ongoing case of LaShawn Merritt. However, the former athlete
also urged the London 2012 Organizing committee to make sure the
Olympic track stays in place after the London Olympic and Paralympic
Games writes sportsfeatures.com.
ATHENS (GRE): Cyprus world medalist high jumper Kyriacos Ioannou is
seeking help from German prominent doctor Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt.
The discomfort in the left heel have urged him to see the expert
specialist. Despite the inadequate preparation for the European Indoor
Championships in Paris he remains positive: “Of course I think I have to
be ready by March but still do
not know if I can manage.”
INDIANAPOLIS (USA): In an interview with New York media hurdler Queen
Harrison confirmed she aims at qualifying for the IAAF World
Championships in both the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles. Harrison
explained that she continues to train in Virginia with her coach
Charles Foster and will make her professional indoor debut at the
Millrose Games in New York. Harrison plans to compete indoors to
build strength for the outdoor season. In 2010 Harrison became the
first athlete to win both the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles at the
NCAA championships.
LONDON (GBR): The IOC has announced the timetable for the bidding
process of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The IOC plans to
circulate the 205 National Olympic Committees before the end of this
month to see if they are interested in putting forward a candidate.
So far there has already been strong interest from several cities,
including Doha, Dubai, Istanbul, Madrid, Rome and Tokyo writes
Insidethegames. National Olympic Committees have until May 16th to
submit the name of a bidding city. Applicant cities will have until
July 29, 2011, to inform the IOC if they propose to hold the Games
outside the normal Olympic Games window, which is between July 15
and August 31.
LONDON (GBR): World heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis has confirmed
to Athletics Weekly she is becoming increasingly aware that the
world indoor record may be within reach. Ennis won the world indoor
pentathlon title last year, breaking the championship record with
4937, the third-best score of all time. One year on from that and
with another good winter under her belt, Ennis is feeling very
confident ahead of the European Indoors in Paris where she aims at
adding another gold medal to her name.”It’s hard to say because
you’ve got to get everything right, but I think if I can keep my
training going the way it is and perform well on the day, it would
be nice to get closer to the world record,” Ennis was quoted. The
world record belongs to Irina Belova who scored 4991 in 1992.
Carolina Kluft has cracked 4900 points three times, but fell short
of the world record each time, her best attempt being in 2007 with
4948, Athletics Weekly adds.
NEW YORK (USA): RRW informs that the
New Balance Games, scheduled at the Armory for Saturday, January 22,
will include six invitational events in addition to the central high
school program, according to Ian Brooks who coordinates elite
athletes for the meeting. In total 14 women will lin up for the invitational mile,
led by former NCAA star Jenny Simpson, the former Jenny Barringer,
who will be making her Armory debut. Others entered in the women’s
mile include Canadian Olympians Carmen Douma-Hussar and Megan
Wright; Ireland’s Ciara Mageean, the reigning IAAF World Junior
Championships silver medallist at 1500m; Serbia’s Marina Muncan, the
2009 World University Games 1500m champion; and Americans Frances
Koons, Lindsay Gallo and Brenda Martinez. In the programme also
800m invitational for women, a new event, led by two of the seven
USA women who broke two-minutes for that distance last year, Maggie
Vessey (1:57.84 PB) and Phoebe Wright (1:58.22).
BUDAPEST (HUN): All-Athletics.com announced the 2010 Middle-distance
Runners of the
Year in the World as well as in the different Areas. It is
interesting to note that nobody kept his/her title from last year.
The rankings of the countries in the track long distances are very
similar to the one of last year. Kenya, however, strengthened the
first position while Ethiopian men were nearly overtaken by the USA.
Kenyan men and Ethiopian women take the number one positions
respectively in the special All-Athletics.com Road Running/Marathon
Countries Rankings. USA and Germany defended their first positions
in the men’s and
women’s countries Throwing Rankings respectively.
PHOENIX (USA): Former Bupa Great North Run champion Kara Goucher will return to
action when competing at the P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona on
Sunday. Goucher who gave birth to her first child Colt last September will
race for the first time since competing at the 2009 World
Championships in Berlin.
LAUSANNE (SUI): Long-distance track and road runner, former world champion and global spokeswoman for
peace, women’s rights, and education, Tegla Loroupe is
among the legends of sport, both high and low profile and sporting
organisations who will gather in Lausanne later this month for the
AIPS-organised World Fair Play Awards.
PERTH (AUS): Star Australian pole vaulter and olympic winner Steve Hooker concedes he has to take a
more cautious approach with his workload if he is to successfully
defend his world championship and Olympic crowns. A hectic 2010 campaign took a heavy toll on Hooker, who was forced
to pull out of Australia’s 2011 domestic season after his dodgy knee
flared up. Australian media are informing.
ROSTOCK (GER): European marathon champion from 2006 Ulrike Maisch gave
birth to a boy. The 33 years old runner plans to return to running.
Father is also a runner, Richard Friedrich.
SEATTLE (USA): At Saturday’s UW Indoor Preview meet at the Dempsey
Indoor the biggest name on the accepted entry list is 2008 Olympic 10
000 m bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan, who is entered in the women’s
3000 meter run, along with the reigning NCAA women’s champion in both
the 5000 and 10000 meter runs outdoors and 2010 Bowerman Award finalist,
Lisa Koll. 2009 World Championships team member Maggie Vessey of New
Balance, who owns a personal best of 1:57.84, is entered in the 800
where she’ll face USA outdoor championships competitor Lauren Johnson
and Oregon’s Zoe Buckman.
TOKYO (JPN): Businnes news: IAAF Marketing partner Dentus has December net sales up at 6.3 % level. Writes Sportscal.
RESULTS
AUCKLAND (NZL, Jan 11): Kim Smith easily broke the record at the
O’Hagans 5 km running 14:59 as third overall. Marathoner (2:16 level)
Scott Winton won in 14:54.
HAIFA (ISR, Jan 9): Ma´ayan Foreman cleared outdoors 185 in jump-off
over Barcelona finalist Danial Frenkel (180) at a local meet. In men´s
contest Niki Palli (215) beat Youth Olympic Games winner Dmitriy Kroyter
(210).
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