VLASIC RETURN IN NYC

SPLIT (CRO): Croatian high jump star Blanka Vlasic confirmed on her website that she is now fully healthy, training well and prepares for first competition. Her international season should start at the adidas Grand Prix New York Diamond League meet on May 25. „I do not want think too far ahead. Currently the most important is to finalise my preparation. I want to enjoy every moment, because I can again do what I love – to jump. New begin will happen in New York,” she said on her website.

CHICHEROVA FOR BEIJING, POWELL VS. GATLIN

BEIJING (CHN): Russia’s London 2012 Olympic Games high Jump champion Anna Chicherova will be one of the main stars of the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Beijing on 21 May, organisers announced. Chicherova, now 30, will be returning to China for the first time since she took her first Olympic medal when she finished third at the 2008 Olympic Games. Before that she is scheduled to jump in Tokyo on May 5. Another 2011 World champion from Daegu appearing in Beijing will be the US hurdler Jason Richardson. In what could be one of the top track races of the meeting, Richardson will face his compatriot David Oliver in the 110m Hurdles. Another top American athlete in action in the Chinese capital will be sprinter Carmelita Jeter. The Beijing organisers have also signed up Jamaica’s former men’s 100m World record holders Asafa Powell and the USA’s former Olympic 100m champion, and 2012 bronze medallist Justin Gatlin. Russia’s reigning Olympic and World Hammer Throw champion Tatyana Lysenko is the top name among the women throwers.

SUGUT TO DEFEND

VIENNA (AUT): It was a year ago when the Vienna City Marathon was simply “Su gut!”. Henry Sugut clocked an Austrian allcomers record of 2:06:58 to win the race. Asked if the marathon had been a success the answer in Austrian dialect was simply: “Su gut!”, meaning “So good!”. When the 30th edition of the nation’s biggest and best quality road race will take place this Sunday it could even be better. Kenya’s defending champion will return to the Vienna City Marathon. In total ten runners are on the start list with personal bests of sub 2:10. The women’s field looks strong as well. Half a dozen runners have achieved times of sub 2:28 so far. Adding other events – among them a half marathon with Ethiopia’s superstar Haile Gebrselassie – a record total of 40,957 runners have entered the Vienna City Marathon. Haile Gebrselassie arrived in Vienna and is looking forward to his half marathon on Sunday.

FELIX RETURNS TO DOHA

DOHA (QAT): Doha Diamond League opener informed about more stars for the May 10 meet. Olympic winner Allyson Felix will be the female attraction of the meet, she will run the 400 m. Felix is not only the first reigning IAAF World Female Athlete of the Year competing in Doha, but she also holds the unprecedented record of having won ten races in as many entries in Doha, in an eight-year run.”It is always nice to compete in Doha. I feel very comfortable in Qatar and in many ways it has started to feel like a home away from home. The people are so friendly, they are really supporting me and I can feel their love surrounding me,” she said. Felix’s main rivals will be reigning 400 m World Champion Amantle Montsho from Botswana, as well as former Olympic/World Champion and London Olympics silver medallist, Briton Christine Ohuruogu, Beijing 2008 Olympics silver medallist Shericka Williams from Jamaica and US 4x400m team mate Francena McCorory. Top Qatari star Mutaz Essa Barshim will meet in the high jump World champion Jesse Williams, Olympic bronze medallist and reigning European Champion, Briton Robbie Grabarz, Russia’s 2013 European Indoor Championships winner Sergey Mudrov and current Vice World Champion Aleksey Dmitrik. The name of the younger Barshim, Moamer, the 2012 Asian Junior Champion, is included in the line up as well. In the men 800 m World record holder David Rudisha will meet Kenyan Timothy Kitum again in Doha in what is expected to be a thrilling race with the presence of London 6th place finisher and reigning World Indoor Champion, Ethiopia’s 19-year old Mohamed Aman, adding more quality to this exciting race.

OTHER NEWS

AMSTERDAM (NED): Dutch 800 m Euroindoor semifinalist athlete Thijmen Kupers is suffering from a small Achilles injury and is forced to cut back training in the next few weeks. The talented Dutch youngster is preparing for the European U23 championships and the IAAF World championships in Moscow reports l
osseveter.nl.

ROTTERDAM (NED): At the start of the 33rd edition of the ABN AMRO Rotterdam marathon two Dutch athletes are aiming to break the magical barrier of 2:10. Both Koen Raymaekers and Michel Butter aim to become the first Dutch athlete to break the time. Butter, who recently signed a contract with New Balance, even claimed he one hopes to run 2:07.

BRUSSELS (BEL): Coach Jacques Borlée has announced the competition schedule of his sons Kevin, Jonathan and Dylan Borlée. Early May (Oordeghem on May 1) all three brothers will attack the Belgian 4x400m club record with the help of Arnaud Destatte. After that Kevin Borlée is set to run the IAAF Diamond League meetings of New York and Eugene, while Jonathan is going to Shanghai and Beijing. Both of them will run in Rabat in June and at the European Cup in Dublin before heading to Moscow for the World Championships confirms sporza.be.

OSLO (NOR): Norwegian hurdles record holder Christina Vukicevic is to undergo surgery on her foot. That means she will miss the start of the summer season. In last two months she was suffered with swelling of a nerve, the so-called Morton neuroma. She had a similar operation in 2005.

VOLGOGRAD (RUS): Russian pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva who will open her season at Shanghai Diamond League on May 15 continues in her public appearances. On Sunday she was the honourable guest at World Health Day celebration in Volgograd Lyceum ?5 where she was studying from 1st to 8th grade. Two-time Olympic champion presented for the school museum her pole she had when setting her first world record from July 13, 2003 with 482 cm in Gateshead.

KYIV (UKR): London Olympic 4th placer in women triple jump Hanna Knyazeva informed EME NEWS she will open her competition season at the Diamond League event in Shanghai on May 18. Then she’ll continue her performance at European Clubs’ Cup and two Diamond League stages in Eugene (June 1) and Oslo (June 13). She currently lives and trains in Israel. “After London Olympics my private life changed,” Hanna said. “I was married with Israeli decathlete Anatoliy Minenko (7046 PB) on November 5 and moved to his hometown Tel-Aviv where I joined Alex Marmen’s training group. But Im still continuing collaboration with my Ukrainian coach Anatoliy Golubtsov who leaded me to the final at my first Olympics in London”.

MOSCOW (RUS): Russia will waive visa fees for all athletes and officials participating at this year’s world athletics championships, Moscow organisers said. The whole procedure will be simplified. The principal decision on free visas has already been made, we just need to take care of some formalities and get all the signatures in place,” Alexander Palinsky, who is overseeing preparations for the August 10-18 championships, told reporters. Palinsky added that a decision regarding the issuance of free visas for spectators would be made in the near future.

BRUSSELS (BEL): Kenyan World CC Champion Japhet Korir already confirmed he will run the 5000 m at the Belgacom Memorial Van Damme in September, the second Diamond League final. The youngest ever senior World CC champion already ran on the track after Bydgoszcz when winning the race at Melbourne IAAF World Challenge league opener.

ROMA (ITA): FIDAL website informs that IAAF Council member Anna Riccardi from Italy was appointed one of the technical delegates for the Olympic competition in athletics in Rio de Janeiro 2016. The other two delegates are Jorge Salcedo of Portugal and Australian William Bailey.

BYDGOSZCZ (POL): The traditional EA Premium meet of Bydgoszcz (European Athletics Festival) will not have an EA permit in 2013. It is due to lack of finances. The competition will still be organised with limited resources.

PRETORIA (RSA): World 400 m hurdles medalist LJ Van Zyl got just before the national championships his degree at University in Pretoria. He got Bachelor of Education title.

SOCHI (RUS): Sports journalists from the AIPS-affiliated national associations of 113 countries will gather for the AIPS Congress to be officially opened by Russian Minister for Sport Mr Vitaly Mutko in the 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Olympic City of Sochi next week (April 15 – 19).

BOSTON (USA): Organizers of next Monday’s Boston Marathon announced that four-time USA Olympian Abdi Abdirahman had withdrawn from the race due to the flu. This now leaves only two of the six 2012 American Olympic Marathon athletes–Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher–originally signed by the race in a process which began more than one year ago. Organizers also said that Ukraine’s Tetiana Gamera-Shmyrko had also withdrawn due to illness. Writes RRW.

DUSSELDORF (GER): The 2006 European Champion Jan Fitschen informed he will not run the Dusseldorf Marathon early May. It is because of his achilles problems. He will this spring compete only in 10 km and at half marathon.

LODZ (POL): Top favorite for this Sunday Lodz Marathon is Kenyan Joseph Biwott managed by Zane Branson. His best is 2:09:40 from Amsterdam 2011.

SYDNEY (AUS): When the Australian championships started several top athletes could not compete. Dani Samuels, the 2009 discus world champion, has withdrawn with a foot injury. Reigning Olympic and world 100 metres hurdles gold medallist Sally Pearson is back in training but has yet to resume racing after damaging her hamstring. Sprinter Melissa Breen is out with a calf injury, as is reigning 400 national champion Steve Solomon (back), with discus thrower Benn Harradine (knee) and triple jumper Henry Frayne (hamstring) other prominent absentees. Steve Hooker will also be missing and the 2008 Olympic pole vault champion has yet to commit to the Moscow world titles. With AA’s blessing, Hooker has returned to his US training base. Informs theage.com.au.

COLLEGE STATION (USA): World Record holder and Olympic champion Aries Merritt, believes that the expiry date on his own 12.80 110 m hurdles record is fast approaching, warning that he is still hungry for success despite last year’s all-conquering season. Also, he believes competition in the event and regular races among the top tier will lead to a new world record sooner rather than later. „I think that the World Record will drop below 12.80,” Merritt underlined. „This is a new era and a lot of people are running fast and a lot of people are working hard to break the record – this is the start of something big for sprint hurdling.” Writes Jamaica Gleaner. Merritt is scheduled to open the season this weekend.

EUGENE (USA): In an announcement made on the steps of the Oregon state capitol in Salem, officials from USA Track & Field and Track Town USA said that the 2016 USA Olympic Trials would once again be held at the University of Oregon in Eugene. This will be the sixth time the meet will be held there since 1972. „Eugene set the bar high for what it means to host an Olympic Trials in 2008, and in 2012 they exceeded anyone’s expectations with a truly spectacular, world-class event,” said USATF CEO Max Siegel, who also selected Eugene for the 2015 national championships. „Local and state organizers cater not only to our athletes, but to track fans as well, and they have redefined the fan experience. As our sport continues to grow nationally, we are pleased to return to Track Town in 2016.” Writes Race Results Weekly. The 2016 Trials will once again have a ten-day format, beginning on Friday, July 1, and run through Sunday, July 10. The Trials will start about a week later than they did in 2012 which should improve the odds of dry weather.

LAUSANNE (SUI): AP informs that 2004 Olympic winner in hammer throw Koji Murofushi has had his appeal heard at Courf of Arbitration for Sport. The Japanese athlete got enough votes to win an eight-year IOC mandate but was barred for allegedly breaking campaign rules, including using a tablet computer. The CAS verdict is expected within several weeks.

RIO DE JANEIRO (BRA): The Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB) have signed an unprecedented 60 million USD four-year deal with Brazilian bank Caixa Econômica Federal in what is believed to be the biggest National Paralympic Committee (NPC) sponsorship agreement ever. Informs insidethegames.

DAEGU (KOR): Ethiopian Yemane Adhane with top personal best 2:04:48 from Rotterdam last year will not run at the Daegu City Marathon this Sunday. He felt sick and will not be able to travel for the marathon in the city of 2011 World Championships. The fourth placer from 2009 World Championships in marathon is yet to run his first marathon of the year.

PODEBRADY (CZE): European Athletics Walking Permit circuit continues this Saturday in Czech Republic. One of the oldest events the 81st Podebrady Walking Meet will offer again not only the possibility to achieve standards for top championships, but also a match between Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Slovakia and Ukraine added by men from Sweden and women of Switzerland. Junior teams competing will be Hungary, Italy, Lithuania and Slovakia. In men 20 km also Czech titles will be at stake. Top favorites will be Slovak Olympic top 10 placer Matej Toth, Italian Giorgio Rubino, Norway star Erik Tysse, Colombian Eider Arevalo who is last year junior World Cup winner. Among women Italian favorites Federica Ferrara and Antonella Palmisano with Laura Reynolds of Ireland and top home talent Anezka Drahotova.

KINGSTON (JAM): Jamaica Gleaner informs that declaring a lifelong dream to try her fortunes at the sprint hurdles and the sprints, Olympic and World 400 m hurdles champion Melaine Walker has revealed that her decision to walk away from the MVP Track Club was due mainly to the refusal of head coach Stephen Francis to help her realise her ambitions in that regard. In an interview in which she was very direct about her motivations and her decision to leave the MVP club, Walker says it is her dream to
compete at the 100 m hurdles, an event in which she has run as fast as 12.75 seconds. She set the mark in Sacramento, California, in 2006 at the NCAA Championships. Now at Racers, Walker said she will be finalising her programme with the coaches there as she attempts to take on the 100m hurdles, as well as the 100 m.

LAWRENCE (USA): A pair of 2012 Olympic bronze medalists, three World Champions, four U.S. Champions and seven past Olympians are slated to take to the streets of downtown Lawrence for the third annual Downtown Shot Put and Long Jump Events Kansas Relays officials announced. Highlighting the fields will be both the defending champions in 2012 shot put champion Reese Hoffa and last year’s long jump champion, Janay DeLoach. Shot put is scheduled for April 17 and long jump the next day. Others in shot put will be also top throwers Christian Cantwell, Ryan Whiting, Kurt Roberts, Joe Kovacs, Corty Martin and two international athletes Justin Rhode of Canada and Nedzad Mulabegovic from Croatia. In women long jump Funmi Jimoh, Tori Polk, heptathlete Bettie Wade, Jessie Gaines, Tori Bowie, Jamaican Jovanee Jarrett and Bermuda Olympian Arantxa King.

RESULTS

DOHA (QAT, Apr 10): Olympic high jump medalist Mutaz Essa Barshim delivered the expected gold medal for the host country at the GCC Athletics Championships. He cleared 225 with the usual short approach to win and did not continue. Second his younger brother Moamer Barshim with 216. “There’s always the fear of injury when you do the high-jumps. Once I was sure the gold was mine, there was no point in exerting myself because there are many important events to come,” he said for local media. Saudi Arabia topped the medals table with an overall tally of 8 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze, second Qatar with 7 gold, 7 silver and 6 bronze and third Kuwait with 3 gold, 6 silver and 6 bronze medals.

SYDNEY (AUS, Apr 11): The Australian Championships started with Jeff Riseley making his return to competitive athletics in the heats of the men’s 800 m with 1:50.29. Fastest Alexander Rowe posted 1:47.72. Leading the men’s decathlon is New Zealand guest Nicholas Gerrard with 3979 points, heptathlon has as leader after four events sees also New Zealand athlete Portia Bing with 3362 score.

NOTE

PRAHA (CZE): John Kipsang getting new half marathon PB in Praha is not John Kipsang with former best 61:21 from 1998 but John Kipsang Lotiang born in 1991.

CORRECTION

MOSCOW (RUS): High jumper Aleksandr Shustov did not start coach himself but he started to coach a group of young kids.