Alysia Montano and Nick Symmonds were the focus of last nights cheers as the 800 meter finals rocked the 21,000 fans in Hayward Field and 6,000 at the Expo. Montano ran from the front, and Symmonds gutted out a 27.06 last 200 meters, both taking wins in races that were polar opposites.

Sanya Richards, after her superb 400 meter victory, has decided to run the 200 meters at the US Olympic Trials next weekend.

Yelena Isinbayeva is postponing the beginning of her 2012 season. Sounds like an issue of fitness and not an injury. She will probably open her season at Monaco, on July 20. 

ISINBAEVA
POSTPONES SEASON BEGIN

VOLGOGRAD
(RUS): Pole vault world record holder Yelena Isinbaeva postpones her season
begin 2012. She was initially planning to open in Reims on July 4. „Moday
morning after discussing it with my coach Yevgeniy Trofimov, I have
decided to delay the start of our my outdoor season, therefore unfortunately I will
not compete in Reims on July 4th. I would first of all like to apologize
to the organization in Reims and the fans that were planning to be there and
watch me perform at the competition next week. I am sorry that I will
not be there, but my coach and I have decided that I need to work on
my technique and some specific trainings before I begin competing this
summer. My training has been going well, but I still need a bit more
time to make sure I am ready for this summer and ultimately the London
Olympic Games in August,” she said in a statement. According to the plans
her next meets could be Sotteville on July 10 or Monaco on July 20.

SANYA
CONFIRMS DOUBLE

EUGENE
(USA): Sanya Richards-Ross will double at the US Olympic Trials. Her management
confirmed she will also run the 200 m. The 2009 World champion won the 400 m
here with world leading 49.28. She is also a world leader in the 200 m
with 22.09 from New York Diamond League meet. But she will face a strong
group of sprinters headed by 100 m trials winner Carmelita Jeter, second
fastest in the world NCAA Champion Kimberlyn Duncan and 100 m dead heaters
Allyson Felix with Jeneba Tarmoh.

SYMMONDS
AND MONTANO WINNING THE 800 M

EUGENE
(USA, Jun 25): Soggy conditions didn’t hold local favorite Nick Symmonds as he
defended his Olympic Trials title, and Alysia Montano earned her first Trials
title as 13 athletes earned a spot on Team USA for the Olympic Games in
front of a crowd of 21,626 fans at Hayward Field. Following the same
script that saw him lead an historic Oregon-area sweep of the top three spots
at the 2008 Trials, Symmonds used a 27.09 last 200 to defend his title
with a stellar 1:43.92. The only man closing quicker than Symmonds was
ageless Khadevis Robinson, who was seventh at the 600 mark and sprinted the
last 200 in 26.83 to take the second spot on the London squad with a 1:44.64.
That put him .01 ahead of former USC star Duane Solomon, who used a big
personal best to claim the final Olympic berth at 1:44.65. Ryan Martin with
1:44.90 PB was first non-qualifier and Daegu participant Charles Jock who was
leading after 400 m (49.86) faded to last. Playing catch-me-if-you-can for the
umpteenth time in her career, Montano sped through the first 400 of the women’s
800m in 55.87 and had to hold off a late charge by Geena Gall and Alice
Schmidt to pick up her fourth U.S. title in 1:59.08. Gall was the fastest in
the field over the final furlong to place second at 1:59.24, with Schmidt
clocking 1:59.46. Molly Beckwith (1:59.68) and Phoebe Wright (1:59.72) went
also sub 2 minutes. Jamie Nieto finished fourth in the high jump at the 2004
Olympics in Athens, and Monday the 35-year-old made his second team with a first-attempt
clearance at 228m. Kansas State’s NCAA champion Erik Kynard also made that
height on his first try, as did Arizona’s Nick Ross, but World Champion Jesse
Williams needed three attempts and ended up fourth overall. Fortunately for
Williams, and unfortunately for Ross, the Arizonan does not have the Olympic A standard,
so Williams will have a spot on the Olympic team. Young guns ruled the day
in the men’s javelin, with the biggest surprise coming from Texas A&M’s Sam
Humphreys. The NCAA runner-up at Des Moines two weeks ago, Humphreys added more
than two meters to his lifetime best in the second round with a massive
81.86 m winner that saw him move to fifth on the all-time U.S. collegiate list.
Oregon’s Sam Crouser waited until his final attempt to bust the 80-meter
barrier, moving to second with an 80.80m and Craig Kinsley matched his
third-place finish from 2011 with a 79.92. Kinsley and the two men who
finished in fourth and fifth, Sean Furey and Cyrus Hostetler, will make up the
London squad by virtue of having previously achieved the Olympic A standard
of 82.00 m. Only one person in the women’s triple jump field had even the
Olympic B standard of 14.10m, and poor conditions virtually guaranteed that no
one else would meet the standard. D as defending national champion Amanda Smock
won with a leap of 13.94 m. Heat two of the men’s 3,000m steeplechase was
significantly faster than the first section, producing the five fastest times
to advance to the final. Dan Huling won that heat in 8:29.00. In the
preliminary round of the women’s steeplechase none of the top three finishers
from the ’08 Trials were entered so it fell to last year’s U.S. and NCAA
champion Emma Coburn of Colorado to lead the way with a solid 9:43.19 in
heat one for the fastest time of the day. Surprisingly good performances came from
the soggy qualifying round in the men’s discus, led by a 64.80m toss by
Lance Brooks in the first round. Only 11 men cleared a height in pole
vault qualifying, which was briefly suspended due to inclement weather.
Defending Trials champion Derek Miles was one of the survivors clearing 530 and
this year’s World Indoor bronze medalist, Brad Walker, made it through with a 540.
NCAA indoor champ and American Junior record holder Andrew Irwin of Arkansas
was the biggest casualty, failing to clear a height. NCAA champion Abbey
D’Agostino of Dartmouth was the fastest qualifier for the women’s 5,000m final,
winning the first heat in 15:41.14 ahead of Julie Culley’s 15:41.29. The top
five times heading to the final came from that first section. Liz Maloy and American
Record holder Molly Huddle finished together at the front of heat two, with
Maloy getting the win in 15:46.00. Amy Hastings, the 10K winner on Friday, just
missed advancing. American Record holder and 2007 World champion Bernard Lagat
finished side-by-side with Lopez Lomong in the second section of the men’s 5000
m, Lomong getting the nod by .02 at 13:42.81. U.S. mile record holder Alan Webb
faded badly in that heat to finish at 14:01.25. Based on USATF report.

NDURE
FOR SURE 100 M

HELSINKI
(FIN): One of the medal favorites for the coming European Championships
Norway´s record holder Jaysuma Saidy Ndure will for sure run the 100 m. His
final decision about the longer sprint will be made later. Ndure of Gambian
origin clocked this season so far 10.15 and 20.34. But the national records of
the US based sprinter are 9.99 and 19.89. He was 4th placer last year at World
Championships in the 200 m.

OTHER NEWS

FRANKFURT
(GER): German Olympic Sports Federation confirmed first five track and field
athletes for London team. For marathon Irina Mikitenko with Susanne Hahn, in
the walks Andre Hohne with Christopher Linke and Helsinki-bound Sabrina
Mockenhaupt for the 10 000 m. The rest of the athletics team will be confirmed
on July 4.

LAGOS
(NGR): Nigeria selected 44 athletes and six coaches to represent the country at
the 18th African Championships scheduled to begin on Wednesday at the Stade d’Lamitie
in Port Novo, Benin Republic. The athletes selected for the trip to
neighbouring Benin Republic for the 2012 edition of the African Championships
include; Men’s 100m, 200m, 4x100m runners; Obinna Metu, Ogho Oghene Egwero,
Stanley Azie, Ike Patrick Chinedu, Seye Ogunlewe, Peter Emelieze and Durotoye
Adetoyi. For the 400m and 4x400m; Abiola Onakoya, Segun Ogunkole, Isah Salihu,
Saul Weigopwa, Tobi Ogunmola, Noah Akwu and Godday James. NCAA Champion Amaechi
Morton is selected for the 400 m hurdles and strong jumpers Stanley Gbagbeke
and Tosin Oke. On the women side Blessing Okagbare for 100 m, 200 m and 4×100 m
(she is also entered in the long jump). With Gloria Asumnu and Lawretta Ozoh
they will be tough to beat in the relay. Individually the biggest threat will
come from Murielle Ahoure of Ivory Coast. The 400m, 4x400m relay have Regina
George, Omolara Omotosho, Bukola Abogunloko, Endurance Abinuwa, Idara Out and
Margaret Etim. Also to note Seun Adigun in the 100 m hurdles and Ajoke Odumosu
in the 400 m hurdles.

GABORONE
(BOT): Botswana will send a team of at least 20 athletes to represent the
country at the Africa Championships. The headliner is current world 400 m
champion Amantle Montsho. Strong also Nijel Amos for the 800 m and men´s 4×400
m hoping to clock fast time to secure olympic selection. They are currently on
the 19th position. One of the team’s core members sprinter Yatea Kambepera, has
been sidelined with an injury for at least four weeks.

RESULTS

HYDERABAD
(IND, Jun 25): In a race which everyone looked with some anticipation,
reigning Asian Games champion and former world championship semi-finalist Joseph
G. Abraham suffered a blow as he finished second in a slow time which
shattered his hope to book a ticket to London Olympics next month. Having
clocked 50.60 secs in Sunday’s semi-finals Abraham, the national record-holder
with 49.51, aiming to clock the ‘B’ standard of 49.80s on Monday evening.
However when the race begun at G.M.C. Balayogi Stadium, the venue of numerous
international meetings earlier, the Kerala athlete lagged behind defending
champion Satinder Singh of Punjab. He did try to catch-up with Satinder on the
eighth hurdle but fatigue played its role as Joseph fails to maintain the tempo
thereafter, finishing second in 50.39s against Satinder’s 49.99 personal best
for front position. Youth Olympic Games silver medallist Durgesh Kumar Pal of
Maharashtra was third in 50.80.

BRIDGETOWN
(BAR, Jun 22-24): At National Championships 2009 World gold medalist Ryan
Brathwaite clocked 13.39 (-0.8) at the 110 m hurdles. Second Greggmar Swift
improved to 13.52. Ramon Gittens won the 100 m in 10.32 (-0.5).

HAVANA
(CUB, Jun 22): Another open meet saw Yanet Cruz getting 59.63 in women javelin
ahead of Yusbely Parra 59.33, new national record for Venezuela. Lesyani Mayor
cleared 192 in the high jump and Arnie Giralt windy 17.34 (+2.2) in the triple
jump. Also windy 14.39 (+2.1) for women triple jump winner Yosleidy Ribalta.
Roberto Skyers posted hand-timed 10.0 in the 100 m and new U17 national record
for Sahily Diago in girls 800 m with fast 2:00.9.

CALI
(COL, Jun 24): During second day of South American GP meet Lucy Jaramillo won
the 400 m hurdles in 56.50, new national record for Ecuador. Brazilian
Jefferson Sabino got 16.90 in the triple jump. Junior Diego Palomeque posted
20.99 (-1.2) in the 200 m.