by Larry EderAjee Wilson set a recent World Junior Record at the 600 meter distance. The World junior gold medalist recently announced, through a twitter note from Ray Flynn, manager at Flynn Sports, the she had taken Flynn on as manager. Ajee Wilson will be running for adidas.
EME NEWS (JAN 23, 2013)
Bolt returns to Bislett Stadium
MONACO (MON): IAAF announced first competition of 2013 for olympic superstar Usain Bolt. The Jamaican will return to Oslo, Norway and the ExxonMobil Bislett Games on Thursday 13 Junewhere he will compete in the 200 metres. The meeting in Oslo will be the sixth of the 14 meetings that make up the 2013 season of the Samsung Diamond League. “I am looking forward to come back to Oslo and the ExxonMobil Bislett Games this summer,” said Bolt. “I have many good memories from this great city and from the Bislett Stadium. I was really happy with the time of 9.79 in the 100 metres last year – it was a stadium record. I will run the 200m this year and look forward to competing in front of passionate and knowledgeable athletics fans.” Bolt ran the 200 metres at Bislett in 2011 in 19.87 seconds, which is only a few hundredths of a second behind the current stadium record of 19.82, set back in 1996 by Namibia’s former World 200m champion Frank Fredericks. “The aim for 2013 is the IAAF World Championships in Moscow in August. My goal is to win three gold medals and repeat my Olympic Games success. My 200m race at the Bislett stadium on June 13th will be an important stepping stone towards that goal,” said Bolt. “My preparations have been good this fall. I am injury free, working hard and everything is going according to plan. I hope to come to Bislett prepared and ready to run a great race.”
Ethiopians to watch
DUBAI (UAE): Yemane Tsegay is looking to extend Ethiopia’s recent domination of the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon on Friday morning, but with a prize pot of close to a million dollars, and a super-fast course he will have tough opposition in his team-mates and strong group of Kenyans. His expected main rival Moses Mosop is a late cancellation, he had to s
tay in Kenya to deal with family problems. “It’s not really the opponents in the marathon,” Tsegay said after Wednesday’s press conference, “it’s the marathon itself, the distance that’s the problem. I ran well here last year, but so did everyone else (eight of his colleagues beat him). I put that right in Rotterdam, and ran fast (11th all-time). But I think this is a faster course, and I’m in better shape”. Ethiopian Dadi Yami is expected to be in top shape, from Kenyans to see the debut at the distance for Moses Masai. Title defender Ayele Abshero is unfortunately injured. Another top debutant is Ethiopian Wude Ayalew for women race. Tirfi Tsegaye winner from Paris last year and second in Berlin wants to attack sub 2:20 and course record 2:19:31. With the help from Pat Butcher.
Sanchez on French tour
BORDEAUX (FRA): Olympic champion Felix Sanchez returned to Europe and saw snow in Paris as he said on his twitter. But his main goal is to compete at 400 m hurdles indoor. This new venture has the biggest tradition and popularity in France. Sanchez will open on Saturday in Bordeaux, last year he won here in 49.74. Then he will continue to Mondeville on February 2 (last year win in 49.25) and close his European tour in Val de Reuil on February 12 (last year here world best 48.78).
Blake promoted new watch
GENEVE (SUI): World 100 m champion Yohan Blake made a visit to Switzerland. He flew from Jamaica to promote the new watch made by Richard Mille. It is the RM 59-01, Blake’s new timepiece. Richard Mille is known for its sport-specific watches but this one is really special. It’s not only designed for a sprinter but for a sprinter who wears his watch on his right wrist. Beyond the considerable technical prowess, the 59-01 has stylistic cues that refer to the man they call “The Beast.” Aside from the Jamaican yellow and green, the movement itself has so-called “Beast bridges,” which are splayed out to resemble a claw, a nod to Blake’s trademark running style, with his fingers ripping through the air. The RM 59-01 is limited to 50 pieces with a price of 620,000 USD. From the www.hodinkee.com.
Defar for Karlsruhe 3000 m
KARLSRUHE (GER): New star for the „INDOOR MEETING – Weltklasse in Karlsruhe” on February 2 is olympic winner Meseret Defar from Ethiopia. She will run the 3000 m here with the aim to attack the meet record 8:36.87 by Morrocan Meryem Selsouli. Defar is world indoor record holder at 3000 m with 8:23.72 in Stuttgart 2007.
OTHER NEWS
MARRAKECH (MAR): Strong Kenyan group is headlining the 24th Marrakech Marathon this Sunday. Stephen Tum returns as title defender with 2:07:17 personal best. Also in the field Sammy Kibet, Luka Rotich and as debutant Silas Kipruto. From Ethiopians Gezahgn Girma to note with 2:09:16 best. Top women entries are Kenyan Margaret Toroitich with 2:30:18 and debuting Ethiopian Mekasha Waganesh (1:11:11 half best). In total 7000 participants are expected.
GLASGOW (GBR): For the Saturday Glasgow Match men´s high jump should be a clash of European champion Robbie Grabarz who will debut into the season and Russian Daegu world medalist Aleksey Dmitrik who already cleared 231 last weekend. British Yamile Aldama is the favorite of women triple jump (against former world champion Trecia Smith and Russian Alsu Murtazina). Another home top favorite is Holly Bleasdale for women pole vault, US Mary Saxer and Russian Anastasiya Savchenko and German Lisa Ryzih are her main opponents. Women long jump should be a duel of Russian blonde Darya Klishina and US Funmi Jimoh.
OTTAWA (CAN): The Canadian Cross Country team is heading to Mandeville, Jamaica for the 2013 North America, Central America and Carribean (NACAC) Cross Country Championships taking place this Saturday January 26. Leading the way in Jamaica is arguably the best NACAC Canadian Cross Country team comprised of Simon Bairu, Lucas Bruchet, Cameron Levins, Mathew Walters, Kelly Wiebe and Chris Winter.
NEW YORK (USA): The 2011 NCAA Champion and 2010 world junior medalist Robbie Andrews plans to run a fast 1000 m on February 1 in the Armory at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational. “It’s 1000 meters, and the American record is 2:17.8 by David Krummenacker [2:17.86]. I’ve been feeling pretty fit. Training has been going really well. I ran a great 800 last week, 1:51, feeling great. So, if you run a 1:50, then 27, that’s 2:17 right there. So, I feel that if the pace is right, the competition is right, then anything’s possible. Anything under 2:20 would be great,” he said for Race Results Weekly. Back in 2009 he clocked here 2:22.28 over 1000 m in the high school section.
FRANKFURT (GER): Discus olympic winner Robert Harting and heptathlon olympic medalist Lilli Schwarzkopf are German Athletes of the Year 2012. In a vote of readers of leichtathletik.de and magazine Leichtathletik Harting got 35.8 percent of votes, Schwarzkopf even more in women order 41.8 percent. In total 15 000 votes were registered.
LONDON (GBR): British running star Mo Farah will cooperate with Octagon on the commercial side of his career. Loved by fans all over the world who have enjoyed his now iconic ‘Mobot’ pose, Mo’s popularity reaches far and wide; he even became the first person to beat ITV’s “The Cube”. The prize money from The Cube was donated to the Mo Farah Foundation, which was set up by Mo and his wife Tania, to help save lives and support people affected by drought in the Horn of Africa region. Octagon are working in partnership with Ricky Simms and PACE Sport
s Management on Mo’s commercial projects.
BRUSSELS (BEL) : Belgian olympic fourth placer in decathlon Hans Van Alphen is returning from a successful training camp in South Africa and told Belgian media he is looking forward to the European indoor championships in Goteborg. The 31-year old athlete added he has not yet reached his best shape and can still continue to improve his personal bests. He will start the indoor season at the IAAF Permit meeting Flanders indoor where he will be featured in a triathlon.
BRUSSELS (BEL): Belgian decathlete Cedric Nolf is hoping to step up his performances in 2013 and is starting the indoor season with triathlons at both the national University championships and the IAAF Permit indoor meeting Flanders indoor. Nolf does not focus on the European indoor championships but aims at making the national team for the World University Games in Kazan and the IAAF World championships in Moscow.
NEW YORK (USA): Fresh World Junior indoor best holder at 600 m and 2012 World Junior 800m Champion Ajee Wilson has turned Pro. She will be running for adidas and will be represented by Ray Flynn. She will continue to train with Derek Thompson of the Juventus Track Club of Philadelphia. Informs Facebook of National Scholastic Athletics Foundation.
BOSTON (USA): Olympic silver medalist Galen Rupp will compete in the mile run at the 2013 Terrier Invitational, which will be held Jan. 26 at the Boston University Track and Tennis Center. He will be part of an elite field of runners who will all attempt to run a sub-4:00 mile at one of the fastest indoor facilities in the Northeast. A 14-time All-American at Oregon, Rupp’s personal best in the mile is 3:57.10, which he achieved on Feb. 4, 2012, at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston.
OTTAWA (CAN): Athletics Canada announced important changes to its technical leadership structure. Effective immediately Olympic program Head Coach Alex Gardiner and Chief High Performance Officer Martin Goulet have been relieved of their duties. The search for a head coach and director of high performance to lead Athletics Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic programs will officially begin Friday morning.
LAUSANNE (SUI): Gianni Merlo, the respected journalist and keen athletics insider is again bidding for the president of AIPS, the international sports journalists association. The traditional AIPS Congress with elections for the period 2013-2017 will be held in Sochi in April. Merlo is the only candidate for the top post. In total fifty-five nominations have been received for twenty positions on the AIPS Executive Committee.
NEW YORK (USA): Flotrack and the New Balance Armory Track & Field Center announced a partnership providing live coverage for the upcoming New Balance Games and the Armory Collegiate Invitational, both part of the inaugural 2013 Flotrack Pro Live series. As part of the exclusive rights deal, Flotrack will be broadcasting both meets, which will feature some of the best professional, collegiate, and high school athletes in America.
CARLSBAD (USA): Three returning race champions and an international contingent of elite athletes including a South Sudanese 2012 Olympian will lead a sold-out field of 10,000 participants in the 22nd Tri-City Medical Center Carlsbad Marathon & Half Marathon on Sunday, organizers announced. Ethiopia’s Demesse Tefera, the Carlsbad Marathon’s 2011 champion, will toe the start line with countryman Dejene Nigussie and Jonathan Ndambuki of Kenya. On the women’s side, Mary Akor the 2011 marathon champion and podium finisher in the 2012 Tri-City Medical Center Carlsbad Half Marathon, will return to the familiar, seaside course. A prolific racer, Akor won the Trinidad and Tobago International Marathon on Jan. 21, in a time of 2:49:14, just one of her many marathon and half-marathon victories in recent years. Making their half-marathon debuts in Carlsbad are Kenyan Stephen Sambu a 9-Time NCAA All-American and Guor Marial who competed in the 2012 Olympic Marathon under the Olympic flag. Marial, a refugee from the Sudanese civil war, has been living in the U.S. since 2001.
RESULTS
MOSCOW (RUS, Jan 23): At Dyachkov and Ozolin Memorial in jumps Ivan Ilyichev cleared 224 to win men high jump and Brazilian guest Jadel Gregorio registered 16.43 triple jump win. On the women side Yulia Golubchikova won the pole vault with 430 and Yekaterina Khalyutina the long jump with 644 cm (indoor PB).
KINMEN (TPE, Jan 20): Kenyan winners of the 6th Kinmen International Marathon at Kinmen Island were Collins Kibet 2:22:45 and Mary Jemutai 2:39:08.
PRAHA (CZE, Jan 22): From the open meet in Stromovka Hall also to note another improvement of shot putter Ladislav Prasil to 20.51 m.
KOLN (GER, Jan 23): Puertorican record holder Luis Castro won the 6th edition of the High Jump Meeting with music here with 221 indoor personal best. Second German Sven Tarnowski 218. Top four women cleared 184 in the order Dutch Sietske Noorman, Julia Straub, Alexandra Plaza and Katarina Mogenburg.
POTCHESFTROOM (RSA, Jan 23): European champion Pavel Maslak ended his South African training camp with fast 32.57 at the 300 m. Olympic medalist Zuzana Hejnova posted also good quality 37.49 at the same distance.
ATHLONE (IRL, Jan 22): 400 m runner Brian Gregan achieved at the new track here 200 m best of 21.27 and John Travers the same 3:42.52 in the 1500 m.
MOGILYOV (BLR, Jan 18-19): Fast 600 m races here by Anis Ananenka 1:18.63 and Maryna Arzamasava 1:27.28 ahead of Ilona Usovich 1:27.70. World indoor medalist Alina Talay clocked 8.17 at 60 m hurdles. Shot putter Olena Kopets improved to 19.06, for first time achieved 19+ mark. Olha Sudareva leaped to 652 in the long jump and 2008 olympic winner Oksana Menkova got outdoors 68.34 with hammer.
