by Larry Eder
Carolina Kluft, the three time World Champ in the heptathlon, Athens gold medalist, has spent the last year focusing on the long jump. She also has had her fill of injuries, well, Caroline just was injured in Karlskrona, at the Swedish Folksam GP meet three, where she slipped in the long jump and it was reported that her injury was serious….
Photo courtesy of PhotoRun.net.
EME NEWS (JULY 6, 2009) UPDATE
BOLT IN FIRST SERIOUS 200 m RACE
LAUSANNE (SUI): The 34th Athletissima is expecting full house of 14 000 spectators on Tuesday evening. Usain Bolt runs his first as he says „serious“ 200 m race of the year. It will be also his last before Berlin, next races for him are planned only at 100 m distance. „I am fit, but perhaps not yet 100% of my shape, maybe 80 percent, not quite the same level as last year at the same time. On Tuesday I will think more on my running technique and the whole race. No worries, I‘ll get there on time for Berlin,“ he was quoted before the race. Another top name is Dayron Robles at 110 m hurdles, always a special event here after Liu Xiang clocked the world record at Pontaise in 2006. As Swiss media are informing, he has been offered a special bonus for breaking the world record. Tribune de Geneve writes that this years edition of the meet has a budget of 3.5 million Swiss francs. Athletissima has 29 sponsors and is not feeling the crisis. Last week one of the top sponsors, the UBS bank confirmed the partnership also for 2010. Another big supporter is the city of Lausanne which injects 300 000 francs in annual subsidies, plus the provision of sports facilities.
GALKINA AND ROBLES FOR GOLDEN GALA
ROMA (ITA): Golden Gala is promising on Friday very special women steeple race. That is because the world record holder and olympic winner Gulnara Samitova-Galkina will be running. The 30-years old runner clocked alone world leading 9:13.70 end of June at home and will be ready for a fast time, close to her world record. Another top name confirmed for the meeting is Cuban world record holder Dayron Robles at 110 m hurdles.
KLUFT INJURED
KARLSKRONA (SWE, July 6): Swedish Folksam Grand Prix series continued with third meet in Karlskrona. It was a bad day for former heptathlon global title winner Carolina Kluft. She injured herself in long jump after slipping during the jump and a rupture was diagnosed and the season is most probably finished for her. It is a new injury in comparison to one she suffered on the thigh at Bislett Games last Friday. Russian Olga Kucherenko won with windy 672 (+2.5, legal 659 +0.7). Mona Jabir came close to her Sudan 800 m national record (2:02.42) with 2:02.68 win. Alhaji Jeng cleared 550 to win the pole vault and Jamaican Ricardo Williams was the fastest at 200 m (21.09, +0.5). Robert Kronberg won close 110 m hurdles in 13.77 (+0.1) ahead of British European junior 2007 medalist Gianni Frankis who improved his PB to 13.77.
JAMAICAN SPRINT WINS IN GREECE
PATRAS (GRE, July 6): Jamaican sprinters won the 100 m races at Tofalia Meet in Greece. Former world junior medalist Carrie Russel clocked 11.42 and 20-years Winston Barnes 10.30. In women sprints Romanian junior Andrea Ograzeanu was second and equalled her PB 11.46 and later won the 200 m in life-time best 23.29 what confirms her position as second fastest European junior this year. 2004 100 m olympic winner Yulia Nesterenko of Belarus was third (11.47) and second (23.73). Romanian Alina Militaru won the long jump (658) and Russian Yekaterina Martynova posted very good 4:06.63 at 1500 m. Bulgarian Atanas Rusenov leaped to 797 win in long jump.
BRESSANONE READY
BRESSANONE (ITA): World Youth Championships will start with the opening ceremony on Tuesday. Around 1350 athletes from 180 nations are looking forward to sixth edition starting on Wednesday until Sunday as the baton comes from the czech city of Ostrava which hosted the event back in 2007. Pope Benedict XVI offered his wishes to the organizers and athletes of the WYC immediately after his Angelus prayer.
OTHER NEWS
KAMPALA (UGA): Commonwealth 3000 m steeplechase champion Dorcus Inzikuru has switched her camp to Europe as she steps up her bid to qualify for the World Championships in August, informs The New Vision. Her 18-month-old baby Emmanuelle Munguci was left in the care of her family in Kampala. Inzikuru, who won gold at the Helsinki World Championships 2005, left for Italy last week to join coach Renato Canova. She is not expected back to Uganda until after the World Championships in Berlin. Inzikuru has set herself a target of running below her personal best of 9:15.04.
LUZERN (SUI): Swiss number three meeting, the „Spitzen Leichtathletik Luzern“ (EA Premium Meeting) will be on July 15 broadcasted by Swiss TV live and as an interesting improvement in this section also by Eurosport. Discus olympic winner Gerd Kanter of Estonia is the head-liner. Also many top home athletes like pole vaulter Nicole Buchler, sprinters Marc Schneeberger and Marco Cribari and in discus Daniel Scharer. European leader Naide Gomes of Portugal is the star of women long jump together with US Berlin-bound Funmi Jimoh. Star of men´s 400 m hurdles is the Jamaican champion Isa Phillips.
MOSCOW (RUS): World indoor pole vault champion Yevgeniy Lukyanenko is injured and it is possible that he will pass the summer season. He injured his foot during April training, says his coach Sergey Gripich. His rehabilitation is going on and possibilities are open for later start into the competitions.
NAIROBI (KEN): Kenyan marathon runner Catherine Ndereba won‘t defend her title in Berlin because she doesn‘t think she‘ll be ready for the event. Carole Fuchs informs on her twitter devoted to African Athletics. In the mean-time Ndereba, has entered the Media Maratón Internacional Bogotá in Colombia which is scheduled for August 2 in 2600 m altitude.
ACCRA (GHA): Professor Francis Dodoo, triple jump gold medalist at the 1987 All African Games, has been elected president of Ghana Olympic Committee. Informs Carole Fuchs.
LONDON (GBR): World junior 1500 metres gold medallist Stephanie Twell has withdrawn from the Aviva Great Britain team for the European Under23 Championships later this month in Kaunas. Twell the brightest middle distance prospect to emerge since Paula Radcliffe was a teenager, will instead concentrate on preparing for the World Championships beginning in Berlin on August 15. Writes David Martin.
PARIS (FRA): France is currently having two best European runners in steeple and both of them can challenge the unbeatable Kenyans. Boubdallah Tahri clocked last Friday European record in Metz and olympic silver winner Mahiedinne Mekhissi-Benabaad was in shorter races even better than him. At Areva Paris Golden League they will not meet together in the steeple, Mekhissi will run and observers are thinking he can well attack the 8 minutes barrier. Another possibility to meet together could be at Herculis Monaco Super Grand Prix on July 28. Tahri is undecided whether to run there 3000 m flat or steeple.
TOKYO (JPN): Japan announced World Half Marathon team members for the event in October in Birmingham. Atsushi Sato qualified as best Japanese at Sapporo race last Sunday and will be joined by Yukihiro Kitaoka, Yoshinori Oda, Ryosuke Fukuyama and Tomomi Itakura. The Sapport and Japanese Corporate champion Yurika Nakamura leads the women team and is added by Yukiko Akiba, Remi Nakazato, Ryoko Kizaki and Hiroko Shoi.
SALAMANCA (ESP): The main star of 37th Gran Premio Diputacion (EA Classic Meeting) in Salamanca on Wednesday will be the European champion and in-shape Spanish distance runner Marta Dominguez. In last races she improved the national steeple record and on Saturday in Madrid clocked new PB at 1500 m. Here she will run again the 1500 m. The altitude 806 m is more favorable for sprints. Returning is Angel David Rodriguez who achieved at this meet last year Spanish record 10.14. This year he will face Portugal´s European champion Francis Obikwelu and Nigerian Olusoji Fasuba. European leader German Verena Sailer is scheduled to run the women´s 100 m. Another fresh German champion Jonna Tilgner is entered at 400 m hurdles. Strong German presence is confirmed also in long jump with Nils Winter and Christoph Stolz against Rogerio Bispo of Brazil and home Joan Lino Martinez. Spanish runners Diego Ruiz and Eugenio Barrios are competing at men´s 800 metres. Big tradition here is the men´s high jump, the stadium witnessed the best ever result in 1993 as legendary Javier Sotomayor cleared existing world record 245 cm. This year competing will be US jumpers Dusty Jonas and Jamie Nieto with Cuban Lisvany Perez and improved Spanish Javier Bermejo.
NAIROBI (KEN): Kenyan The Nation writes, that two top athletics agents, Italian Gianni Demadona and German Volker Wagner have been struck off the list of managers to represent Kenyan athletes at international competitions. The two, who represent Gideon Ngatuny and Sammy Kitwara respectively, became the first to bear AK wrath for entering their athletes in meetings in Japan and USA without seeking Athletics Kenya‘s authorisation. Writes The Nation. AK Chairman Isaiah Kiplagat, a member of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) council, wrote to Wagner and Demadona copying his directive to IAAF general secretary Pierre Weiss. Kitwara ran in Atlanta the 10 km and Ngatuny Sapport Half Marathon last weekend.
RESULTS
PORT ELIZABETH (RSA, July 4): Stephen Mokoka had to run hard to retain his South African Half-Marathon title on a flat loop course in 1:01:26 only six seconds ahead of Lindikhaya Mthangayi. It was the first national championships that had time incentives on offer, and it showed in the quality of performances. Mokoka‘s time is the fastest in a South African Half-Marathon Championships since Shadrack Hoff recorded 1:01:11 in 2000. Women‘s winner Annerien van Schalkwyk clocked a huge PB of 1:11:49, the quickest at these championships since Elana Meyer won the 1999 title in 1:10:53. Informs Race Results Weekly.
BATH (GBR, July 4): Combined events global medalist Kelly Sotherton started her summer season with solid 14.44 in shot put following an injury. It was close to her PB 14.66.
CHAMPAIGN (USA, July 3): US Pole Vaulter Darren Niedermeyer improved here to 570 cm. His previous best was 560 indoor and outdoor.
Special thanks to Alfons Juck for EME News.
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