by Larry EderThe first day of the USA Outdoor Champs was hot and humid in Des Moines. Missing were Carmelita Jeter and Ryan Bailey, who are both injured and have pulled out of the US championships.
Jeter and R. Bailey out
DES MOINES (USA): Reigning world 100 m champion Carmelita Jeter will not run at the National Championships because of her right thigh injury from Shanghai but will still be eligible to defend her world title. USATF confirmed she will have the right to use the wild card in Moscow. Another scratch is the Olympian male sprinter Ryan Bailey after straining his right hamstring in practice last week. “It’s unfortunate,” said John Parks, who coached Bailey at McKay and remains an adviser. “He’s very frustrated right now. The main thing is for him to get healthy and go to Europe and run in some Diamond League meets.”
Jelimo no for Moscow
NAIROBI (KEN): Sporton.co.ke informs that an hamstring injury has knocked out the reigning World Indoor 800m champion, Pamela Jelimo for at least three month. Her coach Barnabas Korir said Jelimo, the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, will now miss the National Championships and subsequently the World Championships dueAugust 10 to 18 in Moscow.
PARIS (FRA): At the very start of the evening (18.48 hrs local time), onSaturday 6 July, the stadium will only have eyes for the shot put throwing area. Valerie Adams has made it her playing field for several seasons now and she has every intention of continuing that pattern this year. She will be one of the stars of MEETING AREVA. The same is true for Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. The Jamaican, double Olympic Champion in the 100m (2008 and 2012), will be taking the start of the 100m at 20.56 hrs as the clear favourite. Also running Murielle Ahoure, Ivet Lalova and Myriam Soumare. Another Meeting record will also be under threat on Saturday 6 July: that of the women’s high jump. The competition will bring together four of the biggest and most fascinating jumpers in world athletics: Russian Anna Chicherova, Croatian Blanka Vlasic and Swede Emma Green-Tregaro with American Brigetta Barrett for one of her pro competitions in
Europe.
BIRMINGHAM (GBR): The USA and Jamaica’s world class athletes return to Birmingham next week. The city is a firm favourite for the athletes after becoming the base for their training camps last summer. A host of Olympic medallists take to the track and field for the prestigious IAAF Diamond League meet as part of the Sainsbury’s Grand Prix at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium on Sunday 30 June. It promises to be a clash of international titans as the likes of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Carmelita Jeter go head to head over 200m, whilst the rivalry is fierce between teammates as Nesta Carter and Michael Frater battle it out to go sub 10 seconds on the home straight.
OTHER NEWS
DES MOINES (USA): Race Results Weekly informs that start lists for the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships showed a total of 37 men for the 800m, hoping to become one of 28 accepted entrants to take the blue Drake Stadium track for Thursday’s first round of competition. One name at the far bottom of the proposed entries sheet may have caught some by surprise: Duke University decathlete Curtis Beach. Unfortunately, the 22-year-old from New Mexico was one of nine rejected entrants, a disappointment for the former NCAA Indoor heptathlon champion. “I tried to get in the 800m because I thought that would be really cool. But I didn’t have a mark for it; I just submitted last year’s mark [1:47.75] in it and they didn’t accept it,” said Beach, speaking to Race Results Weekly outside of Drake Stadium on Wednesday. Beach, primarily a decathlete, was hoping to gain acceptance into the event after aggravating an elbow injury at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., earlier this month. Because of the injury, Beach had to scratch from the decathlon here in Des Moines.
EUGENE (USA): The University of Oregon’s most decorated female athlete, Jordan Hasay, announced that she has joined the Nike Oregon Project and will be coached by Alberto Salazar. “I am honored to begin my career as a professional athlete with Nike and the Oregon Project. I hope to add to the incredible legacy of such an already distinguished group of athletes,” she said. “We’re thrilled that Jordan is joining the Oregon Project and are looking forward to building off the foundation laid by Maurica Powell & the University of Oregon track program. I have no doubt Jordan will become one of the preeminent American female distance runner at the international level,” coach Salazar was quoted as saying. Jordan will be managed by Ricky Simms and PACE Sports Management, the London based management company who represents the likes of Olympic & World Champions Usain Bolt, Mo Farah, Vivian Cheruiyot and Christine Ohuruogu.
DES MOINES (USA): World Express Athletic Management announced the addition of two world-class student athletes who recently excelled at the NCAA Championships as well as competed at last summer’s Olympic Games in London. Tia Brooks from the Univ of Oklahoma and Isiah Young from Univ. of Mississippi become the 7th Olympians who competed in London to join World Express’s T&F roster. Headlining the World Express group is Olympic Long Jump Champion Brittney Reese along with fellow Olympians Jessica Cosby (Hammer), Brittany Borman (Jav), Chantae McMillan (Hept) and Trinidad’s Rondel Sorrillo (200m). World Express Athletic Management successfully negotiated multi-year sponsorship deals for both Tia Brooks and Isiah Young with Nike.
BRUSSELS (BEL): Management company Golazo announced the start of the next Lotto CrossCup on October 27th&nb
sp;in Gent. The series of cross country meetings in Belgium will this year consist of 8 races as the cross country race of Rotselaar has been newly added.
BRUSSELS (BEL): Last minute changes in the Belgian team for the European Cup in Dublin. 400m hurdler Michael Bultheel has been diagnosed with a stress fracture in his foot and will be replaced by retired athlete Nils Duerinck. Duerinck ran the last official race of his career some weeks ago but now returns to the track in Dublin.
DNIPROPETROVSK (UKR): Javelin throw London Olympic silver medalist Oleksandr Pyatnytsya informed EME News he is going to come back into competition at the Ostrava Golden Spike meeting onJune 27 after having a knee injury and hamstring surgery in November 2012. “I started my throwing practices only a couple weeks ago. Knee still disturbs me but not a lot. I want to be back into competition as soon as possible as I missed it so much. Moreover I want to argue for many skeptics around me that I’m not an invalid and my comeback will be successful. I already threw at trainings over 72m. If even it’s nothing for international level it’s my first victory over the hard injury. I don’t want guess at the future but I’m ready to throw over 75m at competitions. I also want to perform at World Championships but we’ll make final decision depending on my recovery and fitness” said Pyatnytsya.
DUBLIN (IRL): A lingering chest infection has ruled 2006 World indoor champion Derval O’Rourke out of action in her specialist 100m hurdles event at this weekend’s European Athletics Team Championships 1st League. Following on from medical advice, Irish record holder O’Rourke has had to make the tough decision to withdraw from the Irish team. O’Rourke will be replaced in the team by rising sprint talent Sarah Lavin.
LAUSANNE (SUI): Japanese hammer olympic gold medallist Koji Murofushi was the “victim of an overzealous” National Olympic Committee, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) revealed on why it upheld the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to disqualify him from a place on its Athletes’ Commission. The Athens 2004 hammer gold medallist and former world champion had his election blocked after allegedly breaching the IOC’s strict campaign rules ahead of the election at London 2012, where 38-year-old Murofushi also won a bronze medal. However, CAS has now said, that although the athlete is “responsible for a series of breaches”, it was the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) that was to blame for his ban. “Having said this, the panel would like to add that – at least to a significant extent – the candidate was a victim of an overzealous NOC and that his own actions were neither motivated by a desire to cheat nor can they be equated to dishonesty, ” says the statement. Writes insidethegames.
LANGEUX (FRA): French marathon record holder Christelle Daunay will be the main attraction of the 23rd Corrida internationale de Langueux – an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race – on Saturday in French Brittany, while the men’s race could be an Ethiopian battle between Yetwale Kende, Behailu Mamo Ketema and Tesfaye Abera. Informs the IAAF.
BRCKO (BIH): The last five editions of the Vidovdan Road Race have been won by five different Kenyan men. On Saturday Hillary Kipchumba will look to keep that record at the IAAF Bronze Label Road Race in the Bosnian town of Brcko.
He would only need to improve marginally upon that time to break the 28:11 course record, set in 2010 by former World junior 5000m champion Gordon Mugi. But much of the outcome will depend on how he deals with the conditions as temperatures in Brcko on Saturday are expected to reach 33°C. From the IAAF.
DULUTH (USA): With 22 men on its entry list having run under 2:14 in the last four years, 11 of them sub-2:12 and an unprecented sub-2:10 contingent led by former marathon junior world record holder Bazu Worku from Ethiopia, in its final year under the helm of race director Scott Keenan the 37th running of Grandma’s Marathon may, if the weather cooperates, see a serious shot at the historic 2:09:37 set in 1981 by the great Dick Beardsley. Only one athlete among the top 22 hails from a country other than Kenya or Ethiopia, 27-year-old Japanese independent Sho Matsumoto. Writes Brett Larner.
RESULTS
NAIROBI (KEN, Jun 20): Heats in running events started the Kenyan Championships (special trials for Moscow will be held in July). Augustin Choge won 1500 m heat in 3:38.2 ahead of Nicholas Kipchumba 3:38.8. In the second heat Nixon Chepseba 3:43.2. Clement Langat won his 5000 m heat in 13:33.8 with Isiah Koech third13:36.2. Philemon Limo topped the second heat 13:36.5. 2008 Olympic winner Nancy Langat was second in her heat 4:16.8 behind Mercy Cherono 4:16.1. Hellen Obiri won the first heat 4:16.0.
KINGSTON (JAM, Jun 20): Ristananna Tracey and Roxroy Cato were the bright sparks on Thursday’s opening morning of the Jamaican Championships. In the first race of the 2013 Championships, Ristananna ran 55.72, the fastest time of the day, to beat bigger sister Nikita Tracey 56.08, in the women’s 400m hurdles. Nickeisha Wilson, who enjoyed a strong last 50 metres, ran 56.47 in second heat to beat Shevon Stoddart, who led for the most part, 56.53. On the men’s side, Cato recorded the fastest time of 49.56 to take heat one over Javarn Gallimore 49.76, a personal record for the young Racers man. Isa Phillips won heat 2 in 50.13, and although he did so without any pressure, Annsert Whyte took the third and final heat in 49.83, just ahead of Olympic Games finalist Leford Green, who eased down towards the finish, in 49.94. Josef Robertson took the last qualifying spot in 50.51.
CALABAR (NGR, Jun 19): Olympic medalist Blessing Okagbare notched up her fifth consecutive 100m national title at the Nigeria Athletics Championships in 11.25 (-2.5). Second Gloria Asumnu 11.47. Regina George clocked good 51.39 in the 400 m heats. Sarah Nambawa of Uganda was the best in women triple 13.88 (+1.1). Informs Africanathletics website.
SZOMBATHELY (HUN, Jun 19): At the 5th Pal Nemeth Memorial Day Slovak Nikola Lomnicka won women hammer with 67.01 PB and Adriatik Hoxha achieved new Albanian men shot put record 18.90 m.
ISTANBUL (TUR, Jun 15): Sevim Sinmez Serbest achieved new Turkish triple record here 13.95 (+1.1).
HAVANA (CUB, Jun 13-15): Ecuador guests competed well at another open meet. Alex Quinonez won the 200 m in 20.60 (no wind information available) and Diego Ferrin cleared 228 in the high jump. Mabel Gay achieved 14.22 (+0.1) in women triple. Jhoanis Portilla won the men hurdles in 13.49 (+0.1).
