by Larry Eder
Jesse Williams, 2011 WC, photo by PhotoRun.net
Nice to see Jodie Williams, Great Britain’s sprint sensation, speaking to support London 2017 in Monaco later this week. The battle for the 2017 WC is very close, perhaps too close to call. We will know the site of London 2017 by the end of this week.
J.
WILLIAMS AND JETER
INDIANAPOLIS
(USA): Jesse Williams and Carmelita Jeter were named the winners of the 2011
Jesse Owens Award by USA Track & Field. This is a first time either
athlete has earned this prestigious distinction. Williams racked up
championship wins in the best year yet of his career as he excelled all year
long from his USA Indoor title in February to his World Championships win in
September. Along the way, Williams had the best performance of the year at the
USA Outdoor Championships when he jumped 237. Williams also claimed the Diamond
League title, in the 31 year history of the Jesse Owens Award, Williams is only
high jumper to ever win this honor. Carmelita Jeter had the season of her life
with a nearly perfect record in the 100m on her way to winning three World
Championships medals in Daegu. Jeter set the tone for her season by running
away from the field at the Prefontaine Classic in a world leading time of
10.70.Throughout the course of the season, Jeter won in Daegu, Stockholm,
London, Brussels, Monaco and Zurich to win the Diamond League title in both the
100m and 200m. This year’s awards will be presented on Saturday, December 3 at
the Jesse Owens Hall of Fame Banquet.
BLAKE
FOUNDATION
KINGSTON
(JAM): World 100m champion Yohan Blake will next month launch his Foundation,
in support of Jamaica’s young boys. He made the announcement at Tuesday’s
forum, Business of Sports – Social Media and Athlete, which was held in
Kingston. Blake explained: „I have my Foundation launching in December and we
will target boys’ homes, why, because girls are more focused than our boys,” he
said for trackalerts. Blake became the youngest athlete to win the world 100
title at August’s 13th IAAF World Championships, held in Daegu, South Korea.
NEW
SPRINTERS FOR J. SMITH
LOS ANGELES
(USA): It is confirmed by coach John Smith that 2008 100m silver Olympic
medalist Trinidadian Richard Thompson and Americans Walter Dix and Ryan Bailey
will join his training group in California. They will join a squad that
already has Daegu gold medalists Carmelita Jeter and Jason Richardson as well as 200m 4th placer
Jaysuma Ndure.
OTHER NEWS
DOHA
(QAT): The architect designing one of Qatar’s main 2022 World Cup stadiums says
installing air conditioning in all the venues is the wrong approach. The senior
principal of Populous, architects of the London 2012 Olympic Stadium and also
lead architects for Doha’s 2020 Olympic bid, John Barrow, says he is trying to
persuade the Gulf state to adopt a better system for long-term use.
Air-conditioned stadiums are planned to beat the searing 50-degree desert heat
of the summer and the same argument is a key factor in Qatar’s bid to
stage the 2017 World Athletics Championships, for which they go head to head
with London in Monaco this Friday writes Insidethegames. It has already been
reported that the IAAF Evaluation Report criticizes the effectiveness of the cooling technology that Doha plans to
install at the Khalfia Stadium, the proposed venue if they are chosen to host
the 2017 World Championships.
LONDON
(GBR):London’s Olympics Stadium will remain in use for athletics beyond next
year’s Games for up to 99 years, claimed UK Athletics chairman Ed Warner
reports Insidethegames. That means that West Ham United, or any other tenant at
the Stadium, will have to comply with any major athletics event that takes
place, with the running track guaranteed to remain for the duration of the
99-year lease period. This means that the use of the Stadium is guaranteed at
any potential World Championships in 2017.
LONDON
(GBR): Ex-Olympic champion Cathy Freeman told the BBC Sport that Britain’s
Jessica Ennis needs to be selfish in order to deal with the pressures of
winning gold in London. Australian Freeman coped with the huge weight of
expectations of winning the 400m gold medal at the Sydney Olympic Games in
2000, while Ennis will carry British hopes in the 2012 heptathlon. „She has to
find a place where she can’t be touched. She knows what she wants and it must
be on her terms.” Freeman was quoted.
DOHA
(QAT): Javelin champion Andreas Thorkildsen continues to back Doha’s world
championships bid and said he enjoys the warmer conditions in Doha. Worries
about competing in Qatar’s scorching temperatures have been overblown and
athletes should not worry, Norway’s double Olympic javelin champion Andreas
Thorkildsen said of the desert nation’s bid to stage the 2017 world
championships according to Aljazeera.
MONACO
(MON):Teenage sprint sensation Jodie Williams will be part of London’s bid to
win the vote for the 2017 World Athletics Championships on Friday. The
18-year-old will address the IAAF council in Monaco to give members the views
of a young athlete who should be at her peak in six years’ time. „Jodie is a
very, very articulate and bright young woman,” said UK Athletics chief
executive Niels de Vos on sportinglife.com. „She knows what she wants to say
and I believe she will give a very powerful message on our behalf.”
MELBOURNE
(AUS): Australia’s premiere distance race, the Zatopek:10, will be contested on
Saturday 10 December 2011 and will also be the official opening of the
Victorian Athletics Centre at Albert Park. The race will incorporate the
Australian 10,000m championships announces Athletics.com.
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