by Larry Eder
Blanka Vlasic, photo by PhotoRun.net
Santos for first indoor season
SANTO DOMINGO (DOM): Olympic 400 m silver medalist Luguelin Santos from Dominican Republic plans his first indoor meetings season. The still 19-years old talent (will be 20 in November this year) competed so far only at one event indoors, at World Indoors in Istanbul with heats and semifinal races (47.07 and 46.83). But his agent Kris Mychasiw and coach Jose Ludwig Rubio confirmed three races at meetings in Canada and Europe. He will start on January 31 in Saskatoon (200 or 400 m), then on February 10 in Gent (against Jonathan Borlee), 16 in Birmingham, both 400 m races. Also a possibility is for Stockholm on February 21. His target should be a fast time, definitely Dominican Republic indoor record 45.96 by Carlos Santa from 2005.
Vlasic no indoors
SPLIT (CRO): Former World champion in high jump popular Blanka Vlasic postponed her return to competitions for the summer season. She confirmed that on her website. “In recent months, my foot is much better. Trainings have gone to a higher level and my skills have sharply increased. I registered some training results at the highest level. All this indicated that I will be able to jump in the indoor season starting with Split on January 29 and ending with European Indoor Championships in Goteborg,” she said. But recent trainings showed to Vlasic she still needs more time to achieve the expected level and will not rush with her return.
Spiegelburg no indoors
LEVERKUSEN (GER): Top German pole vaulter Silke Spiegelburg announced she will not compete during the indoor season 2013. She will concentrate on her studies (Health Economics) instead and wants to be ready for summer and mainly World Championships in Moscow.
Fernandez retirement
MADRID (ESP): Former European walking champion Francisco “Paquillo” Fernandez (35) announced his retirement and stated lost of motivation as the main reason. Initially he planned to try to get to his fourth Olympic Games in 2016. He was also involved in Operation Galgo and his subsequent ban ended in February 2012.
Russian coaches about doping
MOSCOW (RUS): Leading Russian coaches agreed a memorandum about increasing the fight against the doping. They agreed on that at a special working seminar of 120 leading coaches at level of All-Russian Athletics Federation. Among the speakers at the meeting federation president Valentin Balakhnichev, representatives of Ministry for Sports Natalya Zhelanova and RUSADA Anna Antselovich.
Williams to open in Czech Republic
HUSTOPECE (CZE): 2011 High jump world champion Jesse Williams will start his international season in Czech Republic at 9th Moravia High Jump Tour. At both meets of the series in Hustopece on January 26 and Trinec on January 29 he will clash with olympic winner and current world number one Russian Ivan Ukhov. Among his opponents also 2007 World champion Donald Thomas from Bahamas, European medalist Mickael Hanany of France, Olympic 7th placer Ukrainian Bohdan Bondarenko, Italian champion talented Gianmarco Tamberi and best Czech Jaroslav Baba.
OTHER NEWS
PARIS (FRA): The triple jump world indoor record holder Teddy Tamgho will not compete in winter, but should be ready for summer. Confirms his coach legendary long jumper Ivan Pedroso for L´Équipe. Tamgho trains currently at INSEP in Paris. “Over the past two years, despite the injury, we worked a lot technically. But he must first regain his confidence and regularly jump at 17.40 or 17.50 m level.”
MUMBAI (IND): Times of India are reporting that defending men’s champion Laban Moiben of Kenya, last year’s runner-up Raji Assefa of Ethiopia and third-placed John Kyui of Kenya have all confirmed to run in the USD 350 000 prize money 10th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon to be held on January 20. Also making a historic return to Mumbai would be South African Hendrick Ramaala, the winner of the inaugural event in 2004. The women’s field will be led by Lishan Dula, an Ethiopian who now represents Bahrain and has a personal best of 2:26.56, clocked in the 2011 Rotterdam Marathon. Lishan will face tough competition from Ethiopians Aberume Mekuria, winner of the 2012 Eindhoven Marathon, and Yeshimebet Tadse, third place finisher at the 2012 LA Marathon.
TALLINN (EST): Estonian high jump record holder Anna Iljustsenko due to some health reasons started the training for winter season later than planned. Her main goal is European Indoor Championships in Goteborg. “It would not make sense to start the season early,” she said. She was scheduled to open at Moravia High Jump Tour in Czech Republic but postponed her season begin to Tartu on February 5.
KINGSTON (JAM): Jamaica Observer informs that after a below-par 2012 season that saw her fail to win an individual medal at the London Olympic Games, Jamaican sprinter Kerron Stewart is keen on upping the ante ahead of this summer’s World Athletics Championships in Moscow. Stewart, who was speaking after the sponsorship announcement deal between her alma mater, John Mills Primary and Junior High, and hydration entity, Hi-Lyte Sport, said her main goal this season is to do her best and possibly win her first major individual gold medal. The powerful sprinter who was scheduled to return to her training base in Alabama, United States later in the week said although pre-season training has been tough, the preparation has been “coming along really well”.
KARLSRUHE (GER): The organisers of the 29th INDOOR MEETING of Karlsruhe (IAAF Indoor Permit) confirmed for women 60 m home European Champion 2010 Verena Sailer and European Champion 2012 Ivet Lalova of Bulgaria. Already before other top German athletes confirmed their attendance, Bjorn Otto, Raphael Holzdeppe, Christian Reif and Arne Gabius. Top pole vault star will be French olympic gold medalist Renaud Lavillenie, who will open his indoor season on Friday in Clermont-Ferrand.
DAEGU (KOR): The Daegu IAAF World Challenge meeting initially planned for May 16 this year will not be held in 2013.
LONDON (GBR): London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe has claimed the legacy story of the Olympics and Paralympics in the UK has got off to a promising start in the immediate aftermath of the Games. A new BBC Radio 5 live poll has found that around one in five people have been inspired to play sport by London 2012 with one of the legacy targets of the Games to increase the number of people playing sport around Britain. Of those polled, 56 per cent also felt there is too much media coverage of football and not enough of other sports while just 35 per cent had noticed an increase in non-football stories since the Games ended almost six months ago.
BUDAPEST (HUN): All-Athletics.com announced the Race Walkers of the Year 2012 in the World Australian Jared Tallent and Russian Yelena Lashmanova. Top walkers in Africa are South African Marc Mundell and Kenyan Grace Wanjiru, in Asia Chinese Wang Zhen and Liu Hong, in North and Central America Guatemala athletes Erick Barrondo with Jamy Franco, in South America Colombians Eider Arevalo with Anabelly Orjuela. Remaining top male in Europe in Russian Sergey Kirdyapkin and top female in Oceania Claire Woods-Tallent.
ITEN (KEN): Kenyan born Dutch representative Lornah Kiplagat, the former world half marathon record holder is one of the most decorated female runners from the athletics heartland of Keiyo-Marakwet County. But the tradition is soon set to change with the construction of a synthetic 400-metre tartan track at the soon-to-be-launched, women-only Lornah Kiplagat Sports Academy near Iten. Sports minister Ababu Namwamba will on Saturday morning preside over the ground breaking ceremony of the all-weather tartan track, which is situated along Eldoret-Iten highway. Great Britain’s Olympic champion M
o Farah, who has already pitched pre-season camp at Kiplagat’s High Altitude Training Centre, will also be at the launch. Also launching on Saturday is the Lorna Kiplagat Sports Academy – an exclusive women’s pre-university institution that will cost about Sh1 billion upon its completion. The track project – which will produce the first tartan track outside Nairobi after similar ones at the Nyayo National Stadium and Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani – will be completed in four months. Informs The Nation.
GLASGOW (GBR): A change in drug rules at Commonwealth Games England could see Dwain Chambers cleared to compete at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Chambers’ last appearance at a Commonwealth Games was in Manchester in 2002 and saw him suffer with cramp in the final of the 100m. In 2003 he received a two-year ban for taking performance-enhancing drugs and he later admitted that the cramp was a side effect of those drugs. The 34-year-old was allowed to compete for Team GB at the London 2012 Olympic Games after the British Olympic Association lost its legal battle to keep its lifetime ban on former drug cheats. Informs Athletics Weekly.
BIRMINGHAM (GBR): The Telegraph reports this week that BT is in advanced negotiations with UK Athletics for a major new sponsorship deal. BT is launching its own dedicated sports channel this summer and is said to be close to finalising a multi-million-pound deal with UKA.
LONDON (GBR): Kingston.ac.uk informs that red wine could give athletes and players a boost in the sports arena by increasing the amount of performance-enhancing hormone testosterone in their bodies, according to researchers from London’s Kingston University.
DUBLIN (IRL): Ireland´s long-awaited first international-class indoor arena is on track to open at Athlone Institute of Technology. The ambitious project – a six-lane 200m track with seating for 1,000-plus – is the brainchild of Athlone IT’s president Ciaran O Cathain, who has since also become president of Athletics Ireland (AAI). The opener of the new facility is planned for January 26 and 27 with AAI Indoor Games and some international athletes. Irish Independent informs.
FALUN (SWE): Agencies are reporting that the Swedish 100 m hurdler Susanna Kallur on Thursday disclosed she was expecting a baby, but still aimed for a comeback even though a stress fracture forced her to skip the 2013 season. “It is a good way to heal my body,” Kallur told broadcaster SVT. She said the baby was due at the end of June and that she aimed for a comeback in 2014.
NAIROBI (KEN): Parliament has ended Kenya’s 10 year wait for a national sports legislation after it passed the Sports Bill with amendments. The Bill now awaits President’s Kibaki signature to make it law. The bill was first drafted in 2002 by key sports stakeholders in a bid to re-organise sports management in the country but several sports ministers have come and gone without fulfilling their promise to have Parliament adopt the crucial legislation. The Bill will harness sports for development, encourage and promote sports and recreation; provide for the establishment of sports institutions, facilities, administration and management of sports in the country.
RESULTS
WIICHITA (USA, Jan 10): Jamaican Remona Burchell clocked fast 7.34 PB at 60 m beating another Jamaican Jury Levy 7.36 at the Herm Wilson Invitational.
TIBERIAS MARATHON (updated)
TIBERIAS (ISR, Jan 10): Kenyan sensation Dominic Ondoro won the 36th Tiberias Winner Marathon in fast 2:08:00. In his marathon debut missed the course record from last year achieved by French Patrick Tambwe only by 30 seconds (2:07:30). He also missed 100 000 USD bonus for that, now he will get 20 000 USD for his win. Record participation of more than 2000 runners from 22 countries was registered. Top six got under 2:10 and most of them with with personal bests. Second Ethiopian Deribe Robi 2:08:10 PB, third Kenyan co-favorite Francis Kibiwott 2:08:31, fourth and fifth Ethiopians Dereje Tadesse 2:08:46 PB and Sisay Lemma 2:09:08 PB and sixth Kenyan Julius Muriuki 2:09:08 PB. French Abraham Kiprotich was 11th in 2:12:29. The weather was better than expected with around 10 degrees and also in some parts strong winds. Women course record of 2:34:17 remained as Ethiopian winner Ashete Dido was timed with 2:40:22 (4000 USD first place). She was followed by other Ethiopians Letay Negash 2:40:39 and Zenebu Haftu 2:41:09. Israeli Champions are Asrat Mamo as 24th (2:22:28) and Ricki Salem as 12th (2:54:31). Updated from David Eiger.
