GHRIBI IS OUT

TUNIS (TUN): Tunisia steeplechaser Habiba Ghribi won’t take part to the World Championships due to a knee injury that required small surgery. She won silver at London Olympics and Daegu World championships. Her last race of the year was the steeple in Doha in May.

RECORD NUMBER OF COUNTRIES

MOSCOW (RUS): The IAAF World Championships Moscow 2013, which will take place in the Russian capital from 10 to 18 August 2013, is set to be the biggest ever IAAF championship. With the deadline for the Final Entries now closed, no fewer than 206 IAAF Member Federations have confirmed their participation. The previous highest number of nations present at an IAAF World Championships was 200 at both Seville 1999 and Berlin 2009. With a total of 1974 athletes having been entered (1106 men and 868 women), the record of participants is also on course to be broken as the previously most attended Championships in terms of athletes was Berlin 2009 with 1895. Informs IAAF.

MONDO FOR MOSCOW

MOSCOW (RUS): The relationship with the IAAF and Italian athletics track manufacturer Mondo will continue at the Word Championships in Moscow. Mondo tracks have been used at the majority of IAAF World Championships and at every Olympic Games since 1976. The head of Mondo’s Sport Division Andrea Vallauri stated that the “pre-fabricated” nature of the Mondo tracks sets them apart from their competitors. This pre-fabrication results in better uniformity of the track surface. Mondo tracks have two layers; the top is for grip, the bottom for shock absorption. The Mondo track at Luzhniki stadium was laid down last Autumn over a duration of 4 weeks. Informs the IAAF.

HARTING FOR WARSZAWA

WARSZAWA (POL): Discus world and olympic winner Robert Harting will be one of the stars of 4th Kamila Skolimowska Memorial to be held on August 25 in Warszawa. He will face the world leader and one of his main rivals Piotr Malachowski. Other Polish throwing stars agreed to compete to honour their team colleague who unexpectedly died in February 2009. Tomasz Majewski in shot put and Anita Wlodarczyk in hammer throw. Other top athletes will be announced in due time.

IAAF DIAMOND LEAGUE NEWS

STOCKHOLM (SWE): Com Hem has agreed with the DN Galan to become the main sponsor of the DN Galan, IAAF Diamond League meet to be staged on August 22. From both organizations it is clear that they go into partnership with very positive expectations. Com Hem is one of the leading providers of TV, broadband and telephony. About 37 percent, nearly 1.78 million, of Swedish households are connected to Com Hem’s network and have access to the widest range of channels.

BRUSSELS (BEL): This year three Borlée brothers will be lining up in the same event at the Belgacom Memorial Van Damme. Kévin, Jonathan and Dylan will all compete in the 400m. At the World Championships the three brothers are in the Belgian team for the 4 x 400m. At the Belgacom Memorial Van Damme they will all three participate in the individual event. That is a unique fact in Athletics history : never before three brothers competed in the same event at a Grand Prix-, Golden League- or Diamond League meeting.

OTHER NEWS

BERLIN (GER): Already 36 000 tickets have been sold for the 72nd edition of ISTAF meet in Berlin on September 1 (IAAF World Challenge). The organisers hope for 55 000 spectators.

BRATISLAVA (SVK): Slovak Radio and Television (RTVS) is one of the last stations in Europe to agree to broadcast the World Championships in Moscow. Slovakia was not broadcasting Daegu 2011 but is back for this years edition. But due to lack of funds the commentators will be at home in Slovakia.

TONBRIDGE (GBR): Olympic champion Sally Pearson has been declared the new Australian Flame Team Captain, with eight-time national javelin champion Kim Mickle bestowed the honour of vice-captain. Announced by Head Coach Eric Hollingsworth at the first team meeting for the Australian Flame in Tonbridge, the duo will replace the outgoing Steve Hooker and be charged with uniting a team of what are normally individual athletes. “I am so excited to be offered this opportunity. I have had a few days to think about it now and it is a huge honour that is very humbling,” Pearson said. Informs Athletics Australia.

PRETORIA (RSA): The High Performance centre at the University of Pretoria has received a donation from an anonymous donor towards the development of an athletics academy, reports Sport 24. Athletes selected to the academy will receive a full scholarship which includes coaching, sports science, psychology, nutrition, massage therapy, accommodation, meals and schooling. The academy will focus on track events.

CALGARY (USA): Former top American sprinter Lauren Williams has finished 3rd at the US National push championships, informskentucky.com. She will now head to the team’s headquarters in Lake Placid.

LONDON (GBR): Jessica Ennis Hill will be out for 12 to 15 weeks due to the achilles injury that forced her to withdraw from the upcoming World Championships, reports the BBC. The Olympic Heptathlon champion has had the injury all season and will now take the necessary time to fully recuperate.

BRUSSELS (BEL): The Brussels Marathon and Half Marathon has had nearly 5,000 people register to participate in the event. The race, which will happen on the 6th of October attracted a record number of 12,500 participants last year and looks set to beat that record in this year’s edition.

ANN ARBOR (USA): New Zealand Olympian Nick Willis is hosting a mile race on August 4th at his training base in Ann Arbor, informs the Michigan Daily. The race, which will start just outside the University of Michigan’s campus, was set up by Willis to give him an opportunity to run a top level race before he leaves to compete in the World Championships in Moscow. One of his goals for the race is to run the fastest mile ever run in Michigan. That honour is currently held by one of his heroes Canadian Kevin Sullivan at 3:55.

RESULTS

COPENHAGEN (DEN, Aug 1): Seven weeks after having suffered a hamstring at the nationals in Des Moines American top sprinter Walter Dix returned to the track at Thursday’s Copenhagen Athletics Games with 10.14 (+0.9) and was beaten by Jamaican Jacques Harvey who clocked 10.12. “10,14 after my injury is pretty good, I think. Hopefully I will get better every week from now,” Dix said after the race. Next race for the 27-year-old American will be the 200m at Saturday’s Flanders Cup in Gent. Harvey was fast in heats 10.06 (+1.2) what was not only his PB but also Danish All-comers record. Dix achieved 10.19 in heats (+0.9). In the men’s 400m, Denmark’s N
ick Ekelund-Arenander beat Richard Strachan comfortably in a time of 46.15 to 46.58. Briton Muhammed Mukhtar clocked 1:47.56 to win the Wilson Kipketer Tribute 800 m. In the hurdles US Fred Townsend 13.64 (0.0) and Briton Niall Flannery 50.27. Canadian Dylan Armstrong achieved 20.73 in the shot put. Russian Vera Rudakova won women 400 m hurdles 56.72. Interesting long jump won by Russian Yekaterina Levitskaya with 670 (+1.1) PB ahead of Swedish Erica Jarder 660 (+1.6).

JENA (GER, Aug 1): Last test of German javelin throwers before Moscow. Thomas Rohler achieved 79.42 and second Bernhard Seifert 78.87.