Doha, Qatar, (March 2010), photo by PhotoRun.net.

The IAAF Diamond League has it’s first meet tomorrow, Friday, May 14, 2010, in Doha, Qatar.
The first of fourteen major one day meetings, featuring many of the best athletes in our sport! Television sales will give the meetings a strong global audience. In the U.S., at least for now, you will be watching it on www.universalsports.com or one of the universal partners across the U.S.
Doha was hot in March, it will be even warmer there on Friday. There will be some huge performances. Watch the men’s 100 meters, the women’s 400 meters and the men’s shot put. Promises of a fast 5,000 meters, by the athletes, could come true, but the fans should see a great global event! Alfons Juck, provides some predictions on how the meet could go, so read on!

Aspire Sports Complex, Doha, Qatar, March 2010, photo by PhotoRun.net.

That Qatar wants to be a global sports capital is a given. The facilities that we saw in March at the 2010 World Indoor Champs were the best indoor facility that I have ever seen! The stadium across from the Indoor complex will host the IAAF Diamond League meeting tomorrow, and it should be a strong meet!

DOHA NEWS

DOHA (QAT): The winner of each of the 32 Diamond Races
will receive a 40,000 USD cash prize and a spectacular Diamond Trophy
created by Beyer, one of the oldest and most respected jewellers in the world,
which was established in ZÃ¼rich in the 18th century. That is the latest
addition into the diamond race scheme for the new series starting on Friday in
Qatar.

DOHA (QAT): No change. The 5000 m race remains and is
full of top runners. Joseph Ebuya said he wants to run sub 12:50 what would be
his personal best. The CC world champion plans to transform his great shape
also on the track.

DOHA (QAT): Olympic pole vault
champion and Diamond League ambassador Yelena Isinbayeva will most likely not
compete this year. Not at the European championships this summer, other
meetings are also still under question. During some important european dates
she will fulfill her role as ambassador of Youth Olympic Games. She wants to be
back in full shape by the 2011 World championships and 2012 Olympic Games. She
might be back for indoor season 2011 already.

DOHA (QAT): Former world record
holder Asafa Powell believes he can break Usain Bolt’s word record over de
100m. Powell, who is the favourite to win the sprint event in Doha in what is the
first Diamond League meeting of the season. “It’s something that I’m confident
I can go below,” Powell told Press Association Sport about breaking the
world record, â€žI’ve been feeling good so far since the start of the year so I’m
thinking positive”.

DOHA (QAT): Long distances
star Kenenisa Bekele has still not set
a date for a comeback from a calf injury that has plagued him
since January, his agent Jos Hermens said in Doha. Agencies are informing. â€žThe
tear is healed but there remains some residue,” Hermens said. His next
scheduled race is in Oslo on June 4
in expected duel at 5000 m against Bernard
Lagat.

DOHA – short preview – How many
world leads and meet records?

DOHA (QAT): Event by event (15) in one sentence.

Men

100 m: Asafa Powell wants another
sub 10, he should attack also the world lead. But pay attention to Nesta Carter
too. Kimmons and D. Brown late withdrawals.

800 m: One of the greatest
fields of the evening. Rudisha against Mulaudzi against Kiprop against Ismail.
Sub 1:43 possible.

5000 m: Ebuya thinks high, but
the field is very competitive. World lead mor than for sure.

400mH: All three oly medalists
Clement, Batman Jackson and Taylor fighting for sub 48 seconds.

Steeple: All the best Kenyans here,
world lead is clear, can Kemboi be faster as last year?

Triple jump: Cubans already jumped
outdoors and are top names (Girat, Copello, Betanzos).

Shot put: Cantwell is ready.

Women

200 m: Kerron Stewart is the top
name to clock under 22 seconds.

400 m: Best women field in running
events. Sub 50 should be there for first time this year.

1500 m: Jamal is there, but Burka
too. World lead is clear.

100mH: Small Pan-Am games here,
another world leader coming.

High jump: Vlasic returns for fifth
time, in the progression 206 is set.

Pole vault: Rogowska can use her
hour after Isinbayeva is not jumping.

Discus throw: Samuels, Perkovic the
youngsters against some veterans.

Javelin: Spotakova, Abakumova,
Obergfoll – do you need more?

OTHER NEWS

NEW YORK (USA): Come-back of
Swedish hurdles star Susanna Kallur is possible for Bislett Games in Olso on
June 4. If not there, then New York on
June 12. â€žWe hope it will be as soon as possible, but nothing is guaranteed,”
says father Anders Kallur to SVT.

STOCKHOLM (SWE): SwedenÂ´s other
star triple jumper Christian Olsson will start his season at New York Diamond
League meet on June 12. In
the last week he became a proud father.

INDIANAPOLIS (USA): USA track
and field and runnerspace.com have announced the creation of
USARunningCircuit.com. The website is a new multi-media fan site that will
highlight professional road racing on the USA Runningcircuit. The USARC is
a USATF road series featuring USA championships from one mile to the
marathon writes USATF in a press release.

NASSAU (BAH): The Bahamas Association
of Athletic Associations has selected six athletes for the Youth Olympic Games
in Singapore, based on their performances at March’s Carifta Games, in the
Cayman Islands. The athletes are: Stephen Newbold, who set a new record in
the Under-17 Boys 400 hurdles at Carifta, Ryan Ingraham (high jump), Marva
Etienne (100m), Shaune Miller (400m), Lathone Minns (triple jump), and Tynia
Gator (200m). Informs TrackAlert.

CAPE TOWN (RSA): Athletics
South Africa have been criticized for apparent multiple errors in their
calculations of the points system that awarded this year’s Yellow Pages Series
athletes with incentive prize money. The awards were given to the steeplechase
runner Ruben Ramolefi and middle distance runner Lebogang Phalula. But it seems
those awards should have been given to 400m hurdler Cornel Fredericks and 400m
runner Estie Wittstock. Informs iol.co.za.

LOS ANGELES (USA): Former
hurdles great Greg Foster established new names in his group as agent. His latest signed athletes are world leader
over 100 m
Ivory Williams and top hurdler Dexter Faulk.

MANCHESTER (GBR): Marlon Devonish who was planning to attack
his UK 150 metres
best performance has withdrawn from the Powerade CityGames on Sunday. Devonish
who set his mark of 14.88seconds at the CityGames in Newcastle/Gateshead last
September injured himself in training on Tuesday. His replacement will be US
Shawn Crawford the 2004 Olympic 200m champion and silver medallist at the
Beijing Games two years ago. Crawford’s inclusion will see him face face fellow
American Mike Rodgers the world indoor 60m silver medallist and reigning
European 100m and 200m title holder Francis Obikwelu of Portugal. The meeting
on a specially constructed track on the streets of Deansgate, will also
feature Tyson Gay aiming to challenge the world 200m best performance of 19.5.
Gay lines up against Kim Collins who returns to the city where he won the
Commonwealth 100m title eight years ago. Writes David Martin.

RESULTS

TEHRAN (IRI, May 12): Asian
discus record holder Ehsan Hadadi started into the 2010 season at 1st Iranian
National Grand Prix with excellent throw of 66.00 m.

KYIV (UKR, May 12): At
Ukrainian throwing meet Iryna Sekachova achieved 70.25 in hammer, Andriy
Borodkin got 19.87 in
shot put and world junior record holder Vira Rebryk registered solid javelin 61.16 m.

MOSCOW (RUS, May 13): In open
season competition Kseniya Zadorina clocked solid 51.86 in the 400 m, Anna Balakhsina
2:02.90 in the 800 m
and Yelena Sokolova leaped to 640
in long jump.

ST. NIKLAAS (BEL, May 13):
Belgian Elisabeth Davin ran 13.38 here in the 100H with European junior
champion Ann Zagre third in 13.62, the race had +2.3 wind. British Richard
Kilty won the 100m in 10.44, second Mark Findley got 10.56. Tom Goyvaerts
managed 76.16 to win the javelin throw.

LANGENTHAL (SUI, May 13): Swiss Marc Schneeberger clocked solid 33.16
at a meeting here.

FORMIA (GBR, May 11): British
high jumpers delivered solid results, Tom Parsons cleared 226 over Robbie
Grabarz (224).

—

Author

Larry Eder
Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys. Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."
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