BENGTSSON IS THE RISING STAR

LAUSANNE (SUI): Swedish pole vault prodigy Angelica Bengtsson is the 2012 winner of the women’s European Athletics Rising Star award. Informs European Athletics. Bengtsson becomes the first Swedish athlete of either gender to be voted as a European Athletics Rising Star and it is an honour that is fully deserved. After winning at the 2009 World Youth Championships, Bengtsson has since dominated her event in the junior ranks and won every title on offer. This summer, she travelled to Barcelona to defend her World Junior Championships title and did so in style with a clearance at 4.50m before just failing at 4.60m, bringing the curtain down on her junior career by finishing 20 centimeters better than anyone else in the Catalan city. Her absolute world junior record of 4.63m was achieved under cover in February 2011 in front of her family and friends in Stockholm and this summer she added a centimeter to her world junior outdoor best when she scaled a Swedish senior record 4.58m at another Swedish venue in Sollentuna. Second is British heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson who is world junior champion in the long jump ahead of European 400 m champion Moa Hjelmer from Sweden. Top five is rounded by Russian walker Yelena Lashmanova and Spanish triple jumper Ana Peleteiro.

KIPCHOGE VS. TADESE

KAVARNA (BUL): IAAF World Half Marathon championships are continuing after first two years break since the event started in 1992. The 20th edition will be held this Saturday in Kavarna, Bulgaria after 2010 in Nanning, China. In this resort city on the Black Sea coast some top names will compete. Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge will run for second time at the distance since his fast debut on September 1 in Lille with 59:25. But the main favorite is four time champion Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea. In the women race US Shalane Flanagan with Turkish double olympic medalist Elvan Abeylegesse returning from maternity leave. Separate men’s and women’s team champions will also be crowned. A maximum of seven athletes may be entered in each race; no more than five will be allowed to start, with three to score. A total prize purse of 245 000 USD will be paid by the IAAF. Individual winners will get 30 000 USD, winning teams 15 000 USD, world record bonus is 50 000 USD. Women race is starting at 8.30 am and men 11 am local time. In 2014 in Copenhagen the event will switch to spring date in March.

RIVALS FOR MAKAU

FRANKFURT (GER): Organisers of the BMW Frankfurt Marathon have released the field of the elite runners. World record holder Patrick Makau is the stand out competitor while in the women’s event defending champion Mamitu Daska returns. Germany’s next major international marathon will be started on 28th October. A capacity field of around 15,000 runners is expected, adding other running events a total of 25,000 athletes will compete. “I followed the marathon on TV – but I can not comment on the race. I can only speak for myself: My training went well. And having seen the Berlin race this has motivated me for Frankfurt,” said Patrick Makau on the phone when talking to Frankfurt’s elite race coordinator Christoph Kopp. In the start list from Ethiopian rivals Yemane Tsegay with 2:04:48, Bazu Worku 2:05:25 and Deressa Chimsa 2:05:42. From Kenyans to note Albert Matebor 2:05:25 and Gilbert Kirwa 2:06:14. Top European is Swedish Mustafa Mohamed (PB 2:12:28). From women field to note Bezunesh Bekele 2:20:30 and from Kenyans Georgina Rono 2:24:33 with Agnes Barsosio 2:25:49.

GATLIN NO INDOORS 2013

PENSACOLA (USA): American sprinter Justin Gatlin is confident about his 2013 season and toldpnj.com he has a lot more left in his tank. Gatlin will resume training in November at the National Training Center track facility in Clermont near Orlando and also confirmed he will skip the indoor track and field season.

FARAH THINKS MARATHON IN 2014

LONDON (GBR): British media are informing that double olympic winner Mo Farah wants to make his marathon debut on the streets of London – but only after he has won more track gold at next year’s world championship. The double Olympic champion has outlined a plan to race the 5000 m and 10 000 m in Moscow next August before a likely switch to road running for the London Marathon in April 2014. The 29-year-old, who has seen plenty of sleepless nights in recent weeks after the birth of his twin daughters Amani and Aisha, pulled out of the Great North Run last month through fatigue but said he will soon start training.

OTHER NEWS

< p style="text-align: justify; ">JOHANNESBURG (RSA): Athletics South Africa announced that it has terminated the employment of its chief executive officer Frik Vermaak, following the recommendations received after a disciplinary hearing. After hearing evidence for two days, Vermaak was found guilty on the charges of gross misconduct, gross dishonesty and poor work performance.

TRENTO (ITA): The road race Giro Internazionale Cittŕ di Trento planned for October 13 will have Kenyan Edwin Soi and Ukrainian multiple European CC Champion Sergiy Lebid competing. Also top Italians are confirmed headed by Daniele Meucci, Andrea Lalli and Patrick Nasti for the 10 km.

BERLIN (GER) : German thrower Nadine Kleinert confirmed she will not yet retire. Kleinert, who managed a 13th place at the London Olympic Games, told German media she cannot retire after such a disappointing performance in London. She also added that several other German throwers have asked her to keep on throwing a little longer.

PARIS (FRA): French up and coming star Aurélie Chaboudez confirmed she is continuing to train in Montpellier under combined events coach Bertrand Valcin and will continue for now with combined events training although she will specialize in the 400m hurdles. Chaboudez will next year compete on a senior level but also confirmed to athle.com the European U23 championships will be her main aim of the season.

BERLIN (GER): Betty Heidler has revealed her ambitious plans for the 2013 season. To German Sports Agency SID she confirmed she is aiming to break the 80m barrier in the hammer throw next year. Her current world record stands at 79.42. Another goal is to win a medal in Moscow at the World Championships.

LAUSANNE (SUI): An outstanding panel of speakers will discuss the latest theories, concepts and approaches to coaching the jumping events at the 2012 Canadian National Jumps Conference in Ottawa 2-4 November reports European Athletics. Among the international group of experts scheduled to appear are Dan Pfaff (CAN), Irving „Boo” Schexnayder (USA) and Nelio Moura (BRA).

LOS ANGELES (USA): Heptathlete Hyleas Fountain confirmed through her twitter she is trying out of the American Bobsled team. Fountain wrote “I am heading to NY to tryout or the USA Bobsled Team. It’s something I have wanted to do for some time but the timing was never right until now. Keep me in ur prayers that I make the Team at the end of October”. She also confirmed she is still training for track and field.

LONDON (GBR): Greece’s Lambis Nikolaou, the stand-in chairman of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission for the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games, has praised the Chinese city in their preparations for the event following their inspection visit reports Insidethegames.

LONDON (GBR): Virgin Media has debuted a new multichannel advertising campaign featuring double Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah. The multimillion-pound promotional push features outdoor, press, digital and mobile elements. Farah is the latest big-name brand ambassador signed up by Virgin Media. The role has previously been held by the likes of Samuel L Jackson, Uma Thurman, Stephen Fry and fellow Olympic champion Usain Bolt writes cable.co.uk.

BIRMINGHAM (GBR): Eliud Kipchoge and Micah Kogo, two of the world’s best distance runners, will both be aiming to succeed Haile Gebrselassie as Bupa Great Birmingham Run champion and hopefully break his course record next month. The Kenyans will come to the city on October 21 highly confident they can run much faster than the half marathon time of one hour two minutes and 28 seconds, in which the legendary Ethiopian crossed the line a year ago. The Bupa Great Birmingham Run is the leading half marathon in the Midlands and will be broadcast live on Channel 5. 2012 will be the biggest ever staging of the event with 18,000 amateur runners taking on the 13.1 mile course. Organizers are informing in a release.

LONDON (GBR): Arsene Wenger’s transfer policy is perhaps the most debated in the Premier League, but even the sight of Olympic legend Michael Johnson at the Arsenal training ground left everyone scratching their heads. Johnson was at the Hertfordshire base ahead of the Gunners’ Champions League clash against Olympiacos confirmed the Daily Mail.

ATHENS (GRE): Costas Panagopoulos is new president of Greek Athletics Federation SEGAS. He was vice-president until now and is replacing after 15-years Vasilis Sevastis. He will remain on the board of the federation to support the new president. Sevastis recieved 91% of votes last weekend at the SEGAS conference but changed his mind unexpectedly.

SELB (GER): The German city of Selb (16 000 inhabitants) will organise a special pole vault competition on October 6 in a ice-hockey stadium with Bjorn Otto as main headliner.

PRAGUE (CZE): The Prague International Marathon organizers are again expanding in Czech Republic with a new race. The main highlight of the future will be a new race in Karlovy Vary taking place on 25th May next year. In the programme half marathon, 10 km as well as a relay race set to take place in the city centre and around Teplé and Ohre kicking off at the popular early evening time slot. It will also be the first time when, after a year of testing, a new RunCzech.com ranking system will be introduced and applied. The ranking results from this year will be published by the end of October.

MINNEAPOLIS (USA): Organizers of the Medtronic TC 10 Mile announced that four Olympians will compete on the roads from Minneapolis to St. Paul come Sunday, October 7, when the event hosts the USA 10 Mile National Championships. Kara Goucher, Abdi Abdirahman, Janet Bawcom, and Julie Culley, all of whom competed for the United States at the Olympic Games in London this past summer, will toe the line battling not only for their respective national titles, but also for a $10,000 „Equalizer Bonus” to the first person across the finish line. Informs Race Results Weekly.

AUCKLAND (NZL): Kiwi distance runner Kim Smith hopes to clinch a lucrative 100 000 USD first prize on offer in Boston this week to help soften the blow of her Olympic disappointment. The Papakura-born athlete wound up 15th in the marathon at the London Games after struggling to cope with the wet conditions and twisty nature of the 42.2km course. Yet in Smith’s first post-Olympic competition, the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) Half-Marathon – the final leg of an innovative three-race series – the Kiwi has every chance of snaring the six-figure jackpot prize. Organised by the BAA to coincide with its 125th anniversary, the Distance Medley Series comprises a 5km, 10km and half-marathon, with scoring based on the cumulative time from those races. After the first two events – which took place in April and June – Smith holds a healthy 16-second advantage over nearest rival Aheza Kiros of Ethiopia and the battle for the US$100,000 would appear a straight battle between the pair. Writes Steve Landells.

KINGSTON (JAM): The Management of sprinting star Usain Bolt has warned persons that they run the risk of prosecution if they continue to use the image and trademark of the two-time Olympic gold medallist to market their products without the proper licence to do so. In a statement published in The Sunday Gleaner, UB Management Limited advised the public that the „use of these marks in the course of trade without a licence from Usain Bolt, or his duly authorised representative, amounts to an infringement of his trade rights.”

MOSCOW (RUS): Working group of Moscow City for the organization of the World Championships next year met and discussed mainly security, transport, design of all parts of Luzhniki area and mainly the project called Spectator. In this sense this week informations about ticket sales will be announced at a press conference.

BERLIN (GER): Some stats related to Berlin Marathon from Ken Nakamura. Geoffrey Mutai and Dennis Kimetto ran 6th and 7th fastest time in history (4th and 5th on standard course, not counting Boston). Record 9 runners have broken 2:05 this year, previous high was 7 in 2011. In other figure 16 runners have broken 2:06 (17 performances), previous high: 13 (17 performances) broken 2:06 in 2011. And the season is still not over. Berlin marathon’s top 10 average is now 2:04:37, replaced Rotterdam as the best. Geoffrey Mutai’s top 5 marathon average is 2:04:30, replaced Haile Gebrselassie as the best. Top 10 average for women in Berlin marathon has improved to 2:20:20, but it is still in third place behind London and Chicago. In the All-Athletics.com marathon rankings Berlin is number 3 in 2012 behind London and Dubai.

HOUSTON (USA): Jamaican 400 m runner Errol Nolan (21, improved this year to 45.25) summarized his goals for the upcoming season fortrackledger.com. “This is my senior year at UH (University of Houston) so I want to finish-up real strong. My goals are to win the NCCA Indoors and Outdoors, and to break a couple of school [UH] and Conference [USA] records.” With his Olympic experience under his belt, Nolan has the 2013 World Championship on his calendar and reveals his desire to compete for a spot on the 2013 Jamaican World Championship team. “I am not counting out anybody this season,” said Nolan. When asked about going sub-45 in the 400m Nolan said, “I feel if I work hard, then my time will drop.”

LONDON (GBR): Latest Pat Butcher blog atwww.globerunner.org: Marathon Conspiracy?

RESULTS

AS (NOR, Sep 29): Norwegian CC Champions at long distance were Orjan Gronnevig 32:52 at 10 km with 1500 m Eurowinner Henrik Ingebrigtsen third 33:18. Women 6 km winner Karoline Grovdal achieved 21:16 ahead of Kirsten Melkevik 22:35.

LIDINGO (SWE, Sep 28-30): The famous Swedish Lidingoloppet race winner was this year Kenyan Lewis Korir with 1:35:26 at 30 km ahead of his team-mate Kiprono Menjo 1:38:54. Sandra Eriksson was the best woman in 1:59:54. Number of finishers went down in comparison to last year. From RRW.

LYNCHBURG (USA, Sep 29): Kenyan Julius Kogo won the 39th Genworth Virginia Ten Miler in 47:48. In the women’s race Hellen Jemutai got a narrow victory over Emily Harrison; both women ran personal bests 55:51 and 55:55. Informs RRW.