IAAF TO RETURN TO 4 YEARS SANCTION

MOSCOW (RUS): On Thursday morning during the second day’s working session of the 49th IAAF Congress, the following statement on Anti-Doping issued by the IAAF Council was approved by acclamation. It says among other: “The IAAF Council would like to take the opportunity offered by the gathering of the World Athletics Family in Moscow on the occasion of the 49th IAAF Congress to reiterate the IAAF’s long standing and unwavering commitment against doping in Athletics. The IAAF has an ethical obligation to the overwhelming majority of athletes and officials who believe in clean sport. As a leader in this fight the IAAF has built and delivers a programme that is well resourced, far reaching, sophisticated and increasingly able to detect and remove from the sport those who breach our anti-doping rules. The IAAF began out of competition testing in 1989 and blood testing in 2001 and almost all of the key procedures in anti-doping currently in use have been originated by our sport. The IAAF will carry on investing in education, controls and sanctions, applying the most sophisticated methods in pursuit of its goal, and using every means at its disposal to expose the cheats. The new WADA Code, which will come into force on 1 January 2015, will reflect our firm commitment to have tougher penalties and the IAAF will return to 4 year sanctions for serious doping offences.” Informs the IAAF.

SUCCESSFUL CONGRESS

MOSCOW (RUS): “Our two days of IAAF Congress was an absolute success,” said President Lamine Diack at the post-congress press conference. “Yesterday we had a forum on a series of issues and the delegates were able to discuss many of the challenges and issues that face us. This morning it was the beginning of the Congress and we dealt a lot with the future of our sport, and the various actions necessary to ensure a good future for athletics.” IAAF Vice President Sergey Bubka echoed Diack’s excitement ahead of the competition. “We have established an excellent relationship with the All Russia Athletics Federation and the city of Moscow, and since January we have worked very closely with each other,” said Bubka, who is also chairman of the Coordination Commission for the championships. “We’re happy to hear positive feedback already from athletes and officials. The stadium is ready to present the championships to the world, informing them of the great achievements of track and field athletes.” Writes the IAAF.

TWO DIFFERENT WORLD RECORDS IN WOMEN ROAD RACES

MOSCOW (RUS): IAAF Congress also approved the change (effective from November 2013) in Combined Events. Decathlon (same order as men’s Decathlon) to replace the current Octathlon for Youth Boys to better provide for the transition of young male athletes in Combined Events. Two types of World Records for Women in Road Races were approved: a World Record for performances achieved in mixed gender races and a World Record for performances achieved in single gender races. Other changes are that The Medley Relay (currently 100-200-300-400m) may be run with the legs in a different order. In pole vault an athlete may place padding around the box for additional protection during any of his trials. The placement of such equipment shall be done within the time allowed for the athlete’s trial and shall be removed by the athlete immediately after his trial is completed. Women’s 4x1500m Relay was added (in line with the introduction of the IAAF World Relays) into official world record events. The best legal performance as at 31 Dec 2014 shall be the initial World record mark.

TEAM NEWS

NORWAY: Sprint record holder Jaisuma Saidy-Ndure after a light injury will not run the 100 m in Moscow. Still hopes to be ready for the 200 m.

JAMAICA: Two-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has been selected captain of Jamaica’s World Championships team.

BAHAMAS: Talented sprinter and world junior and youth champion Shaunae Miller will only run the 200 m in Moscow.

FRANCE: French hurdler Alice Decaux was not traveling to Moscow after a positive doping test. Informs L´Équipe web. And adds that the information is not confirmed by French federation.

AUSTRALIA: The Olympic champion Sally Pearson hasn’t come to Moscow to defend anything. The 2011 world crown she resoundingly won in Daegu will always be hers, and the 2013 IAAF World Championships offer nothing but a new adventure worth tackling head on. “I’ve come here with the attitude that I am not defending anything, I am the world champion and no one can take that away from me. I am here to see if I can do it again, and hopefully I can, but I will always have Daegu and always have a world title which is very special,” Pearson said.

BAHRAIN: The Olympic silver medallist and two time World Champion in the women’s 1500m, Maryam Jamal, had withdrawn from the World Championships, informs the Gulf Daily News. The Bahrain Athletics Association said that the withdrawal was caused by an injury. Bahrain will now have nine competitors at the championships.

AUSTRALIA: The team is featuring 19 debutants, the Australian Flame team includes a crucial mix of youth and experience as it enters a new Olympic and Paralympic cycle, and with proven champions missing in 2013 it gives the athletics community an exciting look ahead to what the team could include on the road to Rio.

KENYA: Kenyan marathoner Valentine Kipketer failed to travel with the rest of the Kenyan squad to Moscow, however another flight was arranged and she will now arrive in Moscow on time, reports Daily Nation. The marathoner missed her flight after sleeping in at the hotel that the team were forced to stay at when their flight was postponed due to a fire at the airport. She remains hopeful despite the fact she will have only a short amount of time to ward off any jet lag and that she has not managed to train since last weekend. Women marathon is the first medal event on Saturday.

OTHER MOSCOW NEWS

MOSCOW (RUS): Novlene Williams-Mills was diagnosed with breast cancer a little over a month before the London Olympic Games. In London, Williams-Mills won a bronze medal in the 4x400m relay and finished 5th in the 400m final. The 31 year old has had four surgeries since; including the removal of a lump and a double mastectomy. Her last surgery was in January. She was hesitant about making her issues known but was encouraged by her family to tell her story. She has still not got the all clear and still needs regular check-ups. While she struggled mentally in London she says that it will be physical preparation that she will be lacking in Moscow. Although her best time this year, 50.01, ranks her as the 8th fastest in the world. Informs supersport.

MOSCOW (RUS): South African 400m hurdler LJ Van Zyl said that the last time he was satisfied with a race was when he took bronze at the worlds in 2011. Van Zyl says that his speed is good but that he keeps on fading towards the end of races. He has been working to fix this in his training leading up to Moscow. While Van Zyl thought about quitting because of injury problems last year he still has ambitions to continue with the sport saying “I need an Olympic medal”. Informs supersport.

MOSCOW (RUS): American David Oliver says that he has no “problems or issues” before he competes in the 110m hurdles in Moscow. Oliver is the events World leader this year with a 13.03 clocking. The Beijing bronze medallist suffered with a calf injury in 2011 and 2012. This year he has stayed out of the weight room to lessen the strain on his calf, losing eight pounds of weight in the process. Asked about what his goals were for Moscow, Oliver replied “it is all about the gold medal”. Informs Spikes Mag.

MOSCOW (RUS): Olympic Champion and World Record holder in the 110 m hurdles, Aries Merrit has said that it is a “little strange” that no one has run under 13 seconds yet this year , informs Reuters. Merrit missed the start of the outdoor track season because of a hamstring injury. Last year the 13 second barrier was breached twelve times, eight by Merrit. Despite his injury problems this season the 28 year old said “I’m ready f
or the race of my life”. He describes both his fitness and training as “great”.

MOSCOW (RUS): Seiko has been the official timer for the IAAF World Championships since the 1987 IAAF World Championships in Rome, informs WatchPro. New Seiko equipment in Moscow will include three sided, full colour LED panels for displaying event information to the crowd and starting blocks that have the speaker situated at the front rather than the back to be closer to the athletes’ ears. The blocks will also have foot pads that are 8cm longer than Seiko’s conventional models to allow for more forceful push backs.

MOSCOW (RUS): The 14th edition of the IAAF World Championships, Moscow 2013 will be the fourth occasion that the IAAF has employed an Injuries and Illnesses Surveillance Study at the biennial World Championships, which is the pinnacle of the IAAF World Athletics Series. The forthcoming study, which is in line with the IOC Medical Commission’s efforts, was first put into place during the 11th edition of the IAAF World Championships in Osaka 2007 and repeated in Berlin 2009 and Daegu 2011.

OTHER NEWS

MOSCOW (RUS): IAAF Vice President legendary Sergey Bubka said about his priorities in IOC Presidency bid for L´Équipe: „It is investing into the future. We need to be more active towards young people. They are attracted by other things: Internet, social networks, sport is not their priority. We must attract them, provide them with the Olympic values. We need to be more active, do not lose the current young generation.”

MOSCOW (RUS): 2004 Olympic 800 m winner Yuriy Borzakovskiy confirmed he will not compete this season anymore. „The season is over for me. But still count with me, I’m not finishing the career. Some people are proposing to me to work for the national federation, but I still want to run. At least until Rio 2016,” said Borzakovskiy for All-Sport news agency.

STOCKHOLM (SWE): 1500m world’s number one, Abeba Aregawi, from Stockholm club, Hammarby IF, will run 800m at DN Galan at 22 August in her hunt for one more Swedish record. She’ll face tough opposition from two Americans – Brenda Martinez, currently 4th in the world, and Olympic finalist, Alysia Montano. So it goes without saying that Abeba Aregawi will have strong competition to help her improve her own Swedish record of 1.59.20 which she set in Hengelo on 8 June.

MUTTERSTADT (GER): US shot put Moscow favorite Reese Hoffa will have the last warm-up meet before the Championships on Saturday August 10 in Mutterstadt, Germany.

MELBOURNE (AUS): Australian javelin thrower Jarrod Bannister has been banned for 20 months after missing three out of competition drugs tests. He is the reigning Commonwealth champion and this ban will mean that he will be unable to defend his title, informsinsideathletics.co.au.

RESULTS

WIPPERFURTH (GER, Aug 8): Katharina Bauer cleared here new pole vault best 445 cm.

CORRECTION

NEW DELHI (IND): The report from Indian Express was incorrect. Prem Kumar’s urine sample was since collected by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) and will be ratified in due course.