BLAKE
FOR EDMONTON

EDMONTON
(CAN): Third pre-Trials meet was revealed for 100 m world champion Yohan Blake.
After Kingston on May 5 and New York on June 9 he will compete at the Donovan
Bailey Invitational on June 16 at Foote Field in Edmonton. He will run his
third international 100 m of the season, for the moment there are no 200 m
races set for him before Jamaican Trials. Edmonton is third meet of the
National Track League’s (NTL). The series will also make stops in Vancouver
(June 10), Victoria (June 13), Moncton (July 5), Halifax (July 8), and Toronto
(July 11). „I’m very excited to come to Edmonton and race. I’ve heard nothing
but good things about the city and am looking forward to experiencing Canada
for my first time” Blake said. Donovan Bailey, Invitational Ambassador,
Canadian Olympic Hall of Famer and Canadian Olympic 100-meters Champion
commented, “It’s with great pleasure that we welcome Yohan to the Donovan
Bailey Invitational. By bringing in the best talents, building a strong
partnership with the City of Edmonton and developing the business and
entertainment value of track and field, we are setting the stage to be the
premier international track meet in North America. We are honoured to have
Yohan as our first headliner.” Edmonton hosted the 2001 World Championships.

THE
RASMUS WITH OFFICIAL SONG

HELSINKI
(FIN): The Helsinki Olympic Stadium that will host the 21st European Athletics
Championships through 27 June to 1 July is rapidly filling up. With 100 hundred
days to go, 100,000 tickets – a figure nearing the stadium limit – have
been sold or reserved for the event. Informs European Athletics. „Since opening
sales for individual day tickets, trade has significantly increased. At the
moment, the five-day stadium event has over 100,000 tickets sold or reserved,” said
General Secretary Esa Honkalehto. This figure does not include tickets reserved
for media or seats reserved for volunteers and athletes. „Germany, Russia,
Great Britain, Poland and Spain are sending over 100 team members to attend the
summer event. Finland will respond to this challenge by selecting about 60 of
our top athletes from around Finland,” said Antti Pihlakoski, the LOC chief. At
the moment 12 athletes have been selected for the Finnish team, but the final
number will be significantly higher when the registration period ends on 19
June. Finnish rock band The Rasmus have been selected to provide the official
Helsinki European Athletics Championships competition song. With over 3.5
million album sales worldwide, The Rasmus are considered one of Finland’s best
exports. The band will release their new album, self-titled „The Rasmus”, on 18
April 2012.

SOLINSKY
BEHIND THE SCHEDULE

EUGENE
(USA): Runnersworld.com informs that former US 10 000 m record holder Chris Solinsky
did not travel to altitude training with his training group, but remained at
home in southwest Portland, for access to his physical therapist, whom he sees
three times a week. When to open his season is a date that changes
week to week. He may target the 5000 m race at the Payton Jordan Invitational,
hosted by Stanford, on April 29. He says the latest he’ll open will be at the
Prefontaine Classic in Eugene on June 2. This year, the 10K is out of the
question, he says. In the 5000 m he still needs the A qualifier of sub
13:20. Solinsky knows that he’s behind schedule for the Olympic trials.

RESULTS

STELLENBOSCH
(RSA, Mar 20): First Yellow Pages series meet saw national record holder Ruben
Ramolefi winning the steeple in 8:27.50, four seconds behind the olympic
qualifier. Gladwin Mzazi won the 5000 m in 13:24.13 what is fourth fastest by a South
African, but missed also the London norm of 13:20. Peter van der Westhuizen was
the best in the 1500 m in 3:38.61. Pierre de Villiers set a new South
African record 11:24.04 in the men’s 3000 m walk on the track.

CORRECTION

DUDINCE
(SVK): The course record of Yohann Diniz 3:38:45 is not from last year, but
from 2009.