VCB STATEMENT

ATLANTA (USA): On Track Management the agency of Veronica Campbell-Brown issued following statement: „There are two things that are unmistakable about Veronica Campbell-Brown. On one hand she has had good success on the track and on the other she has always stood for and carried herself with dignity. That she should now be accused of infringing on anti-doping rules is a shock to her, her loyal supporters and many others in not just sports but also the other spheres into which she has extended herself to help. Veronica is not a cheat, she has via hard work and dedication accomplished a record on the track which is absolutely remarkable. Her faith which rest not in device or creed will see her through this dark period. Due to her determination to vigorously pursue the clearing of her name, she will desist from being vocal suffice it to say, while not accepting guilt of willfully taking a banned substance, she wholeheartedly apologizes to her family, Jamaica, her sponsors, the governing body, the world athletics family, her supporters as well as those she worked with in various non-athletic causes for any embarrassment and or hurt this devastating news has caused. She remains an ardent believer in the purity of competition, the beauty of the sport and resolute in the fact that unearned suffering has redemptive qualities.” Agencies are informing the Campbell-Brown could avoid a maximum two-year doping ban because she declared a cream containing a banned diuretic, sources close to Jamaican athletics said on Tuesday. The sources said the banned drug was contained in a cream which Campbell-Brown was using to treat a leg injury and which she declared on her doping control form. The JAAA confirmed for first time that Veronica Campbell-Brown is the athlete who returned an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) during Jamaica Invitational Meet on May 4.

EUROPEAN TEAM NEWS

STOCKHOLM (SWE): World leader and European indoor champion Abeba Aregawi is not competing for Sweden at the European Team Championships this weekend. She is back training at high altitude in Ethiopia to prepare for the second half of the season with the World Championships the top priority.

KYIV (UKR): Ukrainian athletics federation has announced the team for European team championships in Gateshead. Strong women squad is led by triple jump reigning World and European champion Olha Saladukha, javelin throw European champion 2012 Vira Rebryk. 200m European season leader Viktoriya Pyatachenko and 100m European medalist Olesya Povh for individual events as well as star Ukrainian woman 4×100 relay in the best composition with Mariya Remyen, Khrystyna Stuy, Yelizaveta Bryzgina and Nataliya Pohrebniak. In men squad the top names are triple jump European team champion 2010 Viktor Kuznyetsov, high jump European U23 champion Bohdan Bondarenko and Daegu’s finalist in javelin Roman Avramenko.

GATESHEAD (GBR): Four changes to the GB team for the European Athletics Team Championships in Gateshead have been made so far, with Robbie Grabarz, Steve Lewis, Eilish McColgan and Freya Jones having withdrawn from the competition. Olympic bronze medallist Grabarz has opted out as a precautionary measure for a knee injury and will be replaced by Tom Parsons, while pole vaulter Andrew Sutcliffe will fill the place of Steve Lewis who will miss the competition to undergo treatment to a shin injury. Steeplechaser Eilish McColgan has pulled out with a calf niggle so Lennie Waite has stepped up to fill her spot, while Izzy Jeffs will replace Freya Jones in the javelin, with Jones opting to remain in the USA. From Athletics Weekly.

DUBLIN (IRL): With a strap line of „Athletics is coming home”, this weekend sees the first European Athletics Team Championships 1st League to take place in the famous Morton Stadium in Dublin. The first ever International athletics match took place in Dublin in 1876 when Ireland hosted England in Lansdowne Road which is now the country’s international football and rugby stadium. The LOC is led by the experienced EA Council member Liam Hennessy and former EA Communication Manager and current EA Competition Committee member Pierce O’Callaghan who is responsible for promotion, media and marketing. The LOC are confident of filling the stadium over the 2 days due to a very successful promotion among the country’s clubs. The event is being shown on live TV in the host nation as well as Portugal, Finland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Estonia. BMW have provided a fleet of brand new 5 series cars for the competition. Double European Indoor 400m champion David Gillick and former European 400m finalist Joanne Cuddihy have been named as the non playing captains of the host nation.

OTHER NEWS

DAKAR (SEN): African Athletics Confederation informs that following to the cancellation of the African Junior Championships in South Africa, the CAA has officially designated Mauritius to held the 11th African Junior Championships from 29th August to 1st September 2013.

FRANKFURT (GER): Germany announced selection in combined events for the World Championships. For decathlon Pascal Behrenbruch, Rico Freimuth and Michael Schrader. For heptathlon Julia Machtig, Claudia Rath and Kira Beisenbach. In the walking only selected athlete is Christopher Linke for the 50 km. No other athlete also in marathon fulfilled the selection criteria except of marathon runner Irina Mikitenko but she is not planning to compete in Moscow.

LAUSANNE (SUI): European Athletics announced that Czech 400m hurdles star Zuzana Hejnova and upcoming Ukrainian high jumper Bohdan Bondarenko have been voted as European Athletes of the Month for May. In women ranking second Sandra Perkovic and third Anna Chicherova. In men ranking second Aleksandr Menkov and third Robert Harting.

BUHL (GER): The special high jump meet here on Friday will see a special duel in women competition. Top German Ariane Friedrich will jump against Croatian star Blanka Vlasic. In men competition German Matthias Haverney competes with Kabelo Kgosiemang of Botswana and Italian Andrea Bettinelli.

JOHANNESBURG (RSA): South Africa’s Olympic chief says he had a constructive meeting with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) at the weekend, in an effort to explain the administrative takeover of Athletics SA (ASA) and prevent international sanctions. Tubby Reddy, chief executive of the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), confirmed on Monday he had met with IAAF representatives on the sidelines of an Association of National Olympic Committees (Anoc) gathering in Lausanne, Switzerland. The IAAF said earlier this month it would send a delegation to South Africa to meet Sascoc and ASA, suggesting the national athletics federation could be suspended by the global governing body due to outside interference. If ASA wanted to send a team to the global youth championships, ASA administrator Zola Majavu, appointed by the Olympic body in April, would need to assess whether the federation had the budget to send a team.

NAIROBI (KEN): World record holder David Rudisha is facing a three-week layoff with injury. Agencies are informing. He got an knee injury while in USA. „He (Rudisha) was jogging inside Central Park when he realised something was the matter with his knee,” Colm O’Connell, the Irish high school teacher who coaches Rudisha, said on Tuesday. „Two initial investigations were done, first in the USA and also in Germany, and we decided that he takes a three-week rest.” He will definitely miss Kenya’s national championships, which start in Nairobi on Thursday, but his participation in the world championships is not expected to be in doubt, even though he might be forced to sit out Kenya’s world championships trials. Doctors confirmed he does not need an operation, but two to three weeks rest.

JOHANNESBURG (RSA): Supersport.com writes that Caster Semenya hopes to return to competition at the end of next month, according to her agent, Jukka Harkonen, as she enters a race against time to qualify for this year’s IAAF World Championships. The 22-year-old 800 metres specialist was adjusting well after undergoing rehabilitation for a recurring left knee injury, Harkonen said on Tuesday. „She is recovering very well and practice is going well,” he said.

ZURICH (SUI): The European Cup Combined Events First League in Nottwil, Switzerland will have Zurich 2014 feeling. Cooly will be there and team of 4 speakers, including Katherine Merry and Andy Edwards.