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[Smallville22]

Athletics - Gay easily advances in 200m in bid for sprint double

Tyson Gay, back on the track hours after his world leading 9.75 seconds in the 100 metres, comfortably advanced through the opening round of the 200 metres at the US world championships trials in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday.
"I am not trying to be Superman," said Gay, who clocked a wind-assisted 20.14 seconds in his bid to run a sprint double at the August 10-18 championships in Moscow.
Although he managed only a couple hours' sleep after his speedy 100 metres win over Olympic bronze medallist Justin Gatlin, Gay told reporters: "After I warmed up this morning I decided to go ahead (and run) because I am healthy. That's the key."
His time was the third fastest behind Isiah Young (20.09) and Curtis Mitchell (20.11). All were wind-assisted.
Gatlin, who is nursing a strained hamstring, chose not to run the 200.
"9.8 on a leg and a half is good enough for me," Gatlin said of his 100 metres time.
The 200m semi-finals and finals are on Sunday, the concluding day of the meeting.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Rollins equals fourth-fastest hurdles time

Brianna Rollins equalled the fourth fastest 100 metres hurdles run as she clocked 12.26 seconds at the US championships.
Finally catching an allowable wind, the 21-year-old U.S. collegiate record holder sent a strong message to Australian Olympic and world champion Sally Pearson with the fastest time since 1992.
Only Bulgarian Yordanka Donkova, whose 1988 world record is 12.21 seconds, and compatriot Ginka Zagorcheva, the former record holder, have run faster. Donkova has done so twice.
"I just feel so overwhelmed, so emotional. It is so amazing," said Rollins, who previous best was 12.39 seconds at the U.S. collegiate championships.
The time, run with an aiding wind of 1.2 seconds, exceeded Pearson's 2011 world championship best of 12.28 seconds and three times world champion Gail Devers' American record of 12.33 seconds.
"Looks like I am bringing my A++ game to worlds this year," Pearson tweeted after the stunning run.
Asked whether she thinks breaking the record is possible, Rollins, whose previous season best was 12.70 seconds, answered: "I don't know. We'll see," "I don't know. We'll see," said the former Clemson University student, whose best before this season was 12.70 seconds.
Lured to athletics as a teenager "because someone told me I was fast," Rollins selected the hurdles "because I thought it was interesting and fun to do."
Runner-up Queen Harrison (12.43 seconds), third-place finisher Nia Ali (12.48) and Beijing Olympic winner Dawn Harper, who has a wild card entry, also made the American team for the Aug 10-18 world championships in Moscow.
There were season-leading performances in the men's 400 metres hurdles and women's high jump finals on a hot and windy day.
Olympic silver medallist Michael Tinsley became the first man to dip under 48 seconds in the 400 hurdles this season, running 47.96 seconds, and Brigetta Barrett, the London high jump runner-up, cleared 2.04 metres (6 feet, 8.25 inches).
Former world champions Kerron Clement (48.06) and Bershawn Jackson (48.09) joined Tinsley on the U.S. team for Moscow.
Teenage sensation Mary Cain, just 17, also made the team, finishing second to teammate Treniere Moser with a gutsy run in a slow women's 1,500 metres.
Beijing gold medallist LaShawn Merritt dominated the men's 400 metres final, winning in 44.21 seconds, but London women's winner Sanya Richards-Ross was a casualty of the cut-throat trials, missing out on a place in the individual 400m.
Running in sneakers to lessen the pain from recent big toe surgery, the American record holder finished sixth in 51.92 seconds. Natasha Hastings won the race in 49.94.
World record holder Ashton Eaton played it safe but still won the decathlon with 8,291 points.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Bad lighting causes Parchment injury in Jamaica

Hansle Parchment was forced out of the Jamaican national championships after he twisted his ankle due to inadequate lighting.
Parchment, who has run the world's leading time this year of 13.05 seconds, trod on a hurdle in the warm-up area shortly before the final, which was won by Andrew Riley.
"He was warming up and twisted his left ankle on one hurdle, which was lying around," Parchment's coach Fitz Coleman told Reuters. "The lighting could have been better at the warm-up track."
The Jamaican championships are doubling as selection trials for the Caribbean country's squad for the world championships in Moscow from Aug 10-18.
The 23-year-old Parchment could still be included for Moscow as the Jamaican athletics' federation rules allow him a wild card selection if he remains in the top three in the world.
"I'm happy to win, but it was really disappointing not to have someone as fast as Parchment in the race because he hurt his ankle during warm-up," Riley said after he clocked 13.33 to win the title ahead of Dwight Thomas (13.45).
"Having limited lights before a big hurdles final in the warm-up area was really not good."
Double Olympic 100 metres champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce made easy progress to Sunday's final of the women's 200 metres with the fastest time in all three semi-finals.
Fraser-Pryce, who holds a wild card entry to the 100 in Russia, cruised to 22.64 seconds in the first semi-final, while Beijing Olympics 100 silver medallist Sherone Simpson won the second in 22.85. Anniesha McLaughlin won the third in 22.88.
In the men's' 200, 2011 world championships finalist Nickel Ashmeade clocked a brisk 20.07 seconds to lead Olympic bronze medallist Warren Weir 20.27 into Sunday's final.
World and Olympic champion Usain Bolt has a wild card entry into the event in Russia.
American collegiate (NCAA) 800 metres champion Natoya Goule became just the second Jamaican female to qualify for the world championships in the event.
Goule lead from start to finish to clock a career best one minute, 59.93 seconds to win the event in the absence of national record holder Kenia Sinclair.
"I was concentrating on making the "A" qualifying standard, so when I came through the first lap in 58.1 seconds I knew I was on target to dip below two minutes for the first time," Goule said.
"That was the pre-race strategy given to me by my coach and it worked."

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Hitchon smashes British record as GB&NI finish third at European Cup

Sophie Hitchon insists she's about to be calmness personified after throwing a new British record and securing the world A qualification standard as GB&NI finished third overall at the European Team Championships.
Hitchon bettered the British hammer record she set on the way to qualifying for the Olympic final last summer by almost a metre in Gateshead as she threw 72.97m with her third attempt for third.
That mark was also almost a metre better than the World Championship A standard of 72m with Hitchon's season's best before the European Team Championships 71.16m thrown in Germany last month.
Germany's Betty Heidler took first place with an effort of 74.31m and Anita Wlodarczyk second with 74.14m with Hitchon one of seven Brits to finish individually in the top three on day two while both the men's and women's 4x400m relay teams were victorious.
That helped Britain maintain their position of third in the overall European Team Championship table from the opening day in Gateshead with Russia taking the victory and Germany second.
And for Hitchon, who is off to the European Under-23 Championships in Finland next month, she admitted her achievements in Gateshead will allow her to breathe easier for the rest of the season.
"It was really good, the field was great with some really good girls in it and I am pleased to have come above my ranking and in the top three," said Hitchon.
"It always feels great to beat people who have a bigger personal best than you; it gives you the confidence going into championships that anything can happen on the day.
"People have bad days and can have three no-throws, for me it is about getting consistency and bringing it when it counts.
"The crowd was amazing, and when I threw it [the British record] I heard my parents screaming and it just felt really good to be in front of a home crowd.
"The European Under-23 Championships are the main aim before the worlds. I have been chasing the World Championship A standard but now I have got it I can relax a bit."
While Hitchon set a new British record, Tiffany Porter claimed Britain's only individual victory on day two after clocking 12.62seconsd in the 100m hurdles - however the men's and women's 4x400m relay teams didn't disappoint.
Eilidh Child, Shana Cox, Meghan Beesley and Christine Ohuruogu clocked 3:28.60 minutes for victory in the women's while the men's quartet of Michael Bingham, Conrad Williams, Rhys Williams and Richard Buck set a new European lead of 3:05.37.
Emelia Gorecka was an impressive second in the women's 5,000m in 15:40.52 while Nathan Douglas, Andrew Osagie, Shara Proctor and Anyika Onuora were all third in the triple jump, 800m, long jump and 200m respectively.
Danny Talbot placed fourth overall in the men's 200m with William Sharman fifth in the 110m hurdles as was Brett Morse in the discus and world silver medallist from 2011 Hannah England in the 1500m.
David Bishop and Sophie McKinna were seventh in the 3000m and shot put respectively, Lee Doran was eighth in the javelin, Isobel Pooley and Andrew Sutcliffe were both ninth in the high jump and pole vault while Rob Mullet was 11th in the 3000m steeplechase.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Russia make it a hat-trick of European team titles

Russia won the European team championships for the third year running on Sunday thanks to a flurry of points in the final three events.
They finished the two-day competition in Gateshead, north east England, on 354.5 points, with Germany (347.5) second and Britain (338) third.
After 37 of the 40 events, Germany held the lead but just three points separated the top three. Dmitriy Tarabin's personal best throw of 85.99 metres for victory in the javelin put the defending champions back in front.
Second place in the men's 4x400 metres relay behind home favourites Britain secured the title for Russia after Germany could only manage to cross the line in fourth.
Mariya Kuchina sweetened victory for the Russians by winning the women's high jump, which had been moved indoors due to the rainy weather, with a personal best of 1.98 metres.
The bottom three countries, Belarus, Greece and Norway were relegated and will be replaced next year by the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Netherlands who were promoted from the first league.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Nelson finally takes victory lap for 2004 gold

American shot putter Adam Nelson took a victory lap for his 2004 Olympic gold medal on Sunday nine years after the Athens Games.
The 37-year-old Nelson, now retired, was elevated to the gold medal in May after original winner Yuriy Bilonog of Ukraine was stripped of the win for a doping violation following the retesting of his 2004 sample.
"Hopefully the message here is it does pay to do it the right way," Nelson said after receiving a wreath and flowers and the playing of the U.S. anthem as he stood on the US championships podium at Des Moines, Iowa.
"It may not pay right away, but over the long term, you have always got your integrity and eventually that will pay off," he said with his wife and two daughters at his side.
A total of five Athens medallists have had their results annulled since last year when the International Olympic Committee target-tested some 100 samples using more modern methods.
The IOC stores samples for eight years to allow for retesting for newly-discovered substances or for substances for which there was no test available at the time.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Gay sets up double Bolt showdown after year's best 200m

Tyson Gay rocketed to the year's fastest 200 metres, clocking 19.74 seconds at the U.S. trials on Sunday to set up a double sprint clash with Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt at August's world championships.
The big victory came two days after Gay ran a world-leading 9.75 seconds to win the 100 metres at the U.S. meeting in Des Moines, Iowa.
"It feels good to do that," said the 2007 triple world champion who has been beset by numerous injuries since then. "I am just happy to be healthy."
Collegian Isiah Young took second place in the 200 at 19.86 with Curtis Mitchell third at 19.99.
The win assured Bolt and Gay, barring injury, will both be in the 100 and 200 metres at the August 10-18 championships in Moscow.
Bolt won the 100 at the Jamaican championships in Kingston this weekend and has a wild card bye in the 200 metres.
Both also will run the 4x100 metres relay for their nations in Moscow.
Jamaican sprinters have dominated the Americans in the past two Olympics and world championships.
Gay, who displaced Bolt as the year's fastest 200 metres runner, would not be drawn into a war of words over whether the U.S. sprinters were ready to end Jamaica's streak.
"It's no secret Usain Bolt is obviously the greatest of all time," Gay said. "He's definitely going to be prepared."
Gay's triumph overshadowed losses by Olympic champions Aries Merritt and Allyson Felix on the final day of the U.S. trials.
World 110 metres hurdle record holder Merritt, coming back from a hamstring injury, finished third behind Ryan Wilson and David Oliver but still made the U.S. team.
Wilson ran 13.08 followed by Oliver at 13.11 and Merritt in 13.23, with only the top three finishers in each event qualifying for the worlds.
"I had to fight because I knew I had to make the team," said Merritt, who had only two workouts before the nationals.
Collegiate champion Kimberlyn Duncan upset Felix in the women's 200, winning in a wind-assisted 21.80 seconds to Felix's 21.85. Jeneba Tarmoh took third.
Olympian Duane Solomon took the men's 800 metres final in a world-leading one minute 43.27 seconds, and London Olympics gold medallist Jenn Suhr dominated the women's pole vault, clearing 4.70 metres (15 feet, 5 inches).

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Weir runs 19.79 to win 200m at Jamaican trial

Olympic bronze medallist Warren Weir ran a scorching 19.79 seconds to win the 200 metres on the final day of the Jamaican trials in the joint 14th fastest time ever on Sunday.
On a day that Tyson Gay clocked 19.74 to win the American title, Weir covered the entire field by 90 metres and powered away before shutting down in the last 10 metres and slapping his chest in an echo of Usain Bolt at the Beijing Olympics.
"Excellent race," Weir, 23, told Reuters. "London was not a fluke and this was a simple statement of things to come in Russia because I'm feeling powerful."
The trials will decide the Jamaican team for the Aug. 10-18 world championships in Moscow.
Double Olympic 100 metres champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce secured her second straight national title in the half-lap sprint in a season's best 22.13.
Veronica Campbell-Brown, who is facing an anti-doping hearing for using a banned diuretic at the Jamaica International Invitational on May 4, has a wild card entry to Moscow by virtue of being reigning world champion.
Novlene Williams-Mills produced a late kick in the home straight to win her fifth straight and seventh overall national 400 metres title in 50.01 seconds ahead of newcomer Stephenie-Ann McPherspon (50.28).
"I have been faced with so many medical stuff this year, training had to start later than I normally would so this victory was so much sweeter that the ones before," Williams-Mills told Reuters.
Javere Bell, 22, posted a personal best 45.08 seconds to win the men's title in a tight race against 18 year-old world junior finalist Javon Francis, who logged 45.24 for second.
"It is good enough for me, it is a new personal best so I can't complain," Bell told Reuters. "I'm just looking forward to going and competing at my best in Moscow," he added.
Danielle Williams, 20, registered a personal best 12.69 seconds to win her first national 100m hurdles title ahead of Andrea Bliss 12.82.
"It is extremely shocking to run this fast. Even though I expected a personal best, I never expected to go so fast," she told Reuters.
"I will try to sharpen up for the world university games and then go even faster for the world championships in Russia."
Williams's older sibling Shermaine was third in 12.93 and they become the first sisters to make a Jamaica athletics team for a global championships.
"I'm very happy for my little sister as she's been working really hard," Shermaine said. "As it relates to me, I'm just glad to make the team after all my injury worries I've had this season."

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Ennis-Hill withdraws from third straight competition

Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill still believes she can regain her world heptathlon title in Moscow this summer despite another injury set back.
Ennis-Hill was due to make her season appearance in Estonia this weekend but for the third straight competition she has withdrawn, citing problems with overcoming an ankle injury.
She will now reset her sights on making the British Championships in Birmingham next month, where she usually competes across a range of events and will hope to defend her high jump and 100m hurdles title.
Ennis-Hill said: “I have been running and putting some force through the ankle, but (coach) Toni (Minichiello) and I feel that doing a heptathlon is not the best option to achieving a full recovery, and day by day it is feeling much more free and comfortable.
“This season’s focus has to still be the heptathlon in Moscow and there are many other options to compete before then.”
Minichiello insisted there would be no problem if Ennis-Hill didn't compete a heptathlon before travelling to Russia.
She won the world title in 2009 but settled for silver two years ago in Daegu behind Russia's Tatyana Chernova.
He said: “Jessica does not need to do a heptathlon before Moscow - but it would have been useful.
“However, given her ankle is making slow but steady progress and things are looking much better we don’t feel it is worth rushing it to compete this weekend in all seven disciplines.
“My job is to get her to Moscow in one piece, and in good shape, and that is my priority.”
Meanwhile, British Athletics have confirmed that promising sprinter Delano Williams is now eligible to compete for Great Britain this summer.
Last year's world junior 200m champion holds dual citizenship for both Turks & Caicos and Great Britain.
He was previously eligible to compete for the British team at the Olympics due to the Caribbean island's status as a British overseas territory, but narrowly missed out on selection.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Whitehead looking to retain title in style

Paralympic gold medallist Richard Whitehead believes more eyes will be on next month's IPC Athletics World Championships than ever before and he is planning on producing a record-breaking performance the increased attention warrants.
Since claiming T42 gold at the London 2012 last summer Whitehead has targeted long-distance success to go with his sprint titles and is currently training to run the length of mainland Britain across approximately 40 days – starting in August.
But it is Lyon in France that the 36-year-old is focused on just now after being selected in Great Britain’s 48-strong squad for the World Championships that gets underway on July 19.
Whitehead enters as the defending 200m champion, having stormed to gold in New Zealand two years ago, and the world record holder after his blistering 24.38 seconds winning time from London 2012.
And the Southwell Club ace insists despite his mammoth long-distance challenge, he is not about to be left behind next month.
"At these World Champs I think you will have more interest in it than last time in New Zealand because of what happened at London 2012,” said Whitehead, speaking at the launch of Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week at Southfield Academy.
"And I think that will bring out more athletes and better performances. World Champs in recent years haven’t been as competitive as a Paralympics but this time around it will be as competitive and you will get more world records at the worlds this summer.
"And although I have been mixing between the 200m and marathon running in my training recently I am used to that and I am want to get in on it all at the World Champs.
"I would like to hold on to my 200m title and I am obviously heading there as the world record holder and the world and Paralympic champion and I want to reinforce that.
"I have been racing regionally instead of internationally recently and my times are very consistent which is really pleasing. At this stage you don’t want to be erratic with times so I am racing quite consistently in what have been tough conditions.
"So hopefully I can go out there and we get some good conditions and I can put in a good time and I can head back for the Anniversary Games and built on that in my first return to the London 2012 track."

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Kenya's Kirui and Kipsang won't go to Moscow

Twice world marathon champion Abel Kirui and Olympic bronze medallist Wilson Kipsang have withdrawn from Kenya's provisional squad for August's World Championships in Moscow.
"Kirui informed us that he is injured, while Wilson told us he has a commitment around that time," said Athletics Kenya Vice-President Paul Mutwii,
Kirui, who has won the last two world titles, in 2009 and 2011, has a stress fracture in his right shin and will be out for six weeks.
Kipsang, the 2012 London marathon champion, will run at a yet-to-be disclosed city marathon around the time of the world championships, Mutwii said.
"We have therefore brought on board Mike Kipyego, who won the Tokyo marathon last year, 2009 world half marathon silver medallist, Bernard Kipyego, and Bernard Koech, and Paris marathon winner Peter Some as a reserve," Mutwii added.
World champion Edna Kiplagat will lead the women's line up, along with London marathon winner Priscah Jeptoo, and Lucy Kabuu. Margaret Akai is the reserve.
Kenya will name the final team for the world championships during trials next month.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Greene upbeat as he continues injury recovery

Dai Greene insists he can bounce back from a disappointing performance at the European Team Championships in time to defend his World Championship title in Moscow this August.
The 400m hurdler will face off against a strong field this Sunday at the Sainsbury's Grand Prix in Birmingham, including Olympic champion Felix Sanchez.
Greene failed to win at the event for the first time in three years last Sunday when Germany’s Silvio Schirrmeister beat him to the line in Gateshead.
It was only his second race this season, the other saw him place fifth at the Diamond League in Rome, as he continues his comeback from a double hernia operation in March.
And while he admits he still needs to improve he is looking forward to a chance to make amends this weekend.
He said: “There’s some very good athletes there, some of the fastest in the world. It’s always been a strong field when we hold the diamond leagues and I’m looking forward to testing myself.
“It’s a really true test and we’ll see what kind of shape people are in when it comes to the World Championships.
“I was disappointed with how I did in Gateshead. I didn’t expect the other chaps to run as well as they did and I was caught napping a bit technically.
“I’m probably six weeks behind schedule, so hopefully by the end of this month my times will start to come down a bit.
“It was just unfortunate timing really when I had to have my operation and it’s delayed the work that we wanted to do but every race should become easier."
Greene’s preparation’s for London 2012 were also frustrated by a winter knee injury and he just missed out on a medal in front of the home crowd.
But the 27-year-old believes that this year he will be able to catch up with the rest of the field and peak when it matters.
“I am confident because I know I have the time to improve. It’s getting easier in training to knock off the sessions,” he added.
“I’ll be a lot more confident going into Moscow knowing that I’ve competed against the best guys and be competing for the medals when it matters.
“I do find it easier to run in races against some of the top guys because I know I’ve got to be at my best.”
Dai Greene will compete at the Sainsbury’s Grand Prix – Birmingham on Sunday 29 June.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Gardener impressed by Shakes-Drayton's leadership qualities

Olympic gold medallist Jason Gardener believes the leadership qualities shown by Perri Shakes-Drayton at the European Team Championships means she is well placed to blow her London 2012 disappointment out of the water this summer.
Shakes-Drayton became one of the poster girls of last year's Games, however the Londoner didn't live up to her billing as she failed to reach the 400m hurdles final despite heading to the capital as the second fastest that year.
But the 24-year-old has set about eradicating that from her memory this season and she has already won the European Indoor and European Team Championships title over 400m.
The latter came last weekend in a new personal best time of 50.50 seconds, a feat made all the more impressive considering she had the added duties of captaining Great Britain in Gateshead.
But Shakes-Drayton passed her first captain's test with flying colours as she led Great Britain to a third-placed finish at the Gateshead International Stadium with a new record points total of 338.
And Gardener, who won 4x100m gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics, believes Shakes-Drayton's ability to lead by example proves she has the mental toughness to bounce back this summer at the World Championships in Moscow.
"Perri perhaps didn't do quite as we had expected in London, or didn't quite do what she expected to do but we saw her true character shine out in Gateshead," said Gardener.
"She went down there as captain and led by example by winning a demanding and gruelling 400m race which is not her favoured event.
"When you are given the honour of captaining your country that is a real special honour and you do have to lead by example. While it was probably quite daunting Perri took it all in her stride and that bodes well for the future.
"It was only a few years ago that she was this newbie, up and coming athlete and no one really knew who she was and now look at her.
"It is easy to forget that she is still young and still has plenty more years ahead of her such is her impact on the sport and the Great British team, which was there for all to see at the weekend.
"Because she has been in the limelight and running world class times the public are expecting so much more from her now and she seems to be having a very mature head on her shoulders.
"And I am really interested in seeing how she progresses going into the World Championships because I feel that if she can get the next two or so years right she can continue to climb the stepping stone and reach that Everest at an Olympics."

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Powell keeps focus to win re-run 100m in Ostrava

Jamaica's Asafa Powell was twice a winner of the 100 metres at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava on Thursday after he sprinted to victory - only to be told the race would be re-run because of a false start.
Powell, a former world record holder, powered across the finish line in 9.97 seconds before realising that Kemar Hyman of the Cayman Islands had been disqualified for jumping out of the blocs too quickly.
After wandering back to the start, Powell then kept his composure to win again, albeit in the slower time of 10.06 with Kim Collins of Saint Kitts and Nevis second in 10.08 and American Mike Rodgers third in 10.16.
Powell, who has struggled with a hamstring injury this season, had been looking to bounce back from the disappointment of a seventh place finish at the Jamaican trials in Kingston last week, where he clocked 10.22.
World record holder Usain Bolt, a regular at the Ostrava meeting in recent years, pulled out of the competition earlier this week, and Powell switched to the 100 metres from a relay he had initially committed too.
In the women's pole vault, world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva won with a leap of 4.78 metres, her best performance of the season but behind the world leading 4.90 of Cuba's Yarisley Silva.
There had been rumours Isinbayeva was considering retirement after she failed to win a third consecutive gold at the London Olympics last year, but she is planning to compete at the Moscow world championships in August.
The men's pole vault was won by France's Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie, who improved the meeting record to 5.92 metres, just behind his world-leading 5.95 from Eugene earlier this month.
Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia improved the season best in the 10,000 metres by clocking 30:26.67 while Czech Vitezslav Vesely won the javelin with a throw of 87.58 metres, just 0.02 off the best of the year by Finn Tero Pitkamaki.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Campbell: Judd has wise head on young shoulders

Former Olympic champion Darren Campbell insists Jessica Judd showed maturity beyond her teenage years as she led the way for Great Britain at the weekend's European Team Championships.
Judd was making her first tentative steps at Gateshead International Stadium on Saturday as she donned the senior Great Britain vest for the first time.
But the 18-year-old didn't so much step on to the main stage but leap as she claimed Great Britain's first victory of the event after coming home in the 800m in 2:00.82 minutes.
Judd's victory is made all the more impressive considering that just three days before making her senior international bow she had only just finished sitting her final A-level exam at King John School.
The teenager not only got the fervent crowd off their feet in the North East and also opened the floodgates as Great Britain went on to finish third – Russia and Germany taking the top two spots.
And it is this desire to sand up and be counted that Campbell, who claimed 4x100m gold at the Athens 2004 Olympics, believes will set her in good stead as she bids to prove that she is no flash in the pan.
"When I was doing my analysis after the European Team Championships and I was looking back at it all the performance that really shone for me was Jessica," said Campbell, a Youth Sport Trust ambassador and speaking at the Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week event at Werneth School.
"With the start that we had on the first day it was really Jessica that raised the spirits in the stadium and really got us off to the perfect start.
"She kind of showed the way forward for the team which is a tremendous thing for someone so young and new to that environment to do.
"She got the team going and everyone seemed to feed off what she did and she played a big part in helping us finish where we did.
"The rest followed on from what she did and for such a young athlete to lead the way is fantastic.
"She has a bright future which everyone will sit up and take note and it will be about how she builds on this and doesn’t let that get to her. But after juggling her A-levels and everything at the weekend I am pretty confident she won’t do that."

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Eight Turks test positive for doping

Eight Turkish athletes, including an Olympic silver medallist hammer thrower, tested positive for banned substances at this month's European Team Championships in Gateshead, Turkish media reports said on Friday.
If confirmed, the test results would be a fresh blow for Turkish athletics after officials said last month 1,500 metres Olympics gold medallist Asli Cakir Alptekin faced a lifetime ban for an anti-doping offence.
Hammer thrower Esref Apak, who won a silver medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004, was among the eight athletes who tested positive, according to Sabah newspaper and other media outlets.
The number of Turkish athletes who have tested positive in doping examinations this year has reached 24, Athletics Federation head Mehmet Terzi told reporters on Friday.
"Unfortunately there is an impression that athletes or coaches are being protected. No athlete or coach is being protected... Our approach to this issue has always been 'zero tolerance'," Terzi added.
"Despite our close monitoring, an athlete can do it if he's determined to do it. Whoever does it must be caught and punished," Terzi, a former medal-winning athlete, said.
Sabah said that including the latest eight, a total of 15 Turkish athletes had tested positive for illegal substances in the last month, potentially harming Istanbul's bid to stage the 2020 Olympics.
Separately, eight weightlifters were left out of the Turkish national squad ahead of this month's Mediterranean Games in the Turkish city of Mersin after testing positive for doping, according to Turkish media reports.
Among those who previously tested positive, Cakir was charged on the basis of abnormal blood values from her biological passport. She had previously been given a two-year ban in 2004 after a positive dope test at the world junior championships.
Double European 100m hurdles champion Nevin Yanit, also faces a ban after "multiple positive findings in both in-competition and out-of-competition tests," the International Association of Athletics Federations said last month.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Former Olympic champion Mimoun dies at 92

Former Olympic champion Alain Mimoun, who won the marathon for France at the Melbourne Games in 1956, has died at the age of 92, the French Athletics Federation said on Friday.
Algeria-born Mimoun was nicknamed "The Zatopek Shadow" following three second-place finishes behind Czech Emil Zatopek at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics.
But he managed to make the most of his rival's rare failure in Melbourne to claim gold.
Around 50 athletics stadiums in France are named after Mimoun, who also won four Mediterranean Games gold medals and 33 national titles during his running years.

 

[Smallville22]

Snooker star Ali Carter diagnosed with cancer

Two-time World Snooker Championship finalist Ali Carter has been diagnosed with testicular cancer.
The popular 33-year-old, nicknamed 'The Captain' as he is a licensed pilot, learned the news last week and will have surgery on Tuesday.
Carter will then undergo chemotherapy after his surgery but he has vowed to return to the snooker tour.
Carter has battled back from illness in the past – in 2003 he was diagnosed with Crohn's disease but recovered to become one the best players on the snooker tour.
"I hope to be back in action soon," he said about his latest battle.
World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn added: "Ali has shown in his battle against Crohn's disease that he is a fighter. We hope for a positive outcome and everyone in snooker is 100 per cent behind him. We look forward to seeing him back on the circuit soon."
Carter has won three ranking events in his career and has been ranked as high as number two in the world.
He reached the World Championship final at the Crucible in both 2008 and 2012 losing to Ronnie O'Sullivan on both occasion.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Blake not ruled out of world 100m title defence

World 100 metres champion Yohan Blake has not been ruled out of defending his title in Moscow in August because of injury, his manager Cubie Seegobin said on Sunday, knocking down media reports that the Jamaican was to undergo surgery.
"There is absolutely no discussions or plans for any surgery and I don't know where that information is coming from," an upset Seegobin told Reuters by telephone from Edmonton, Canada.
"No decision has been made about Yohan missing the world championships," he added.
"The coach has not yet decided on pulling him from the world championships."
The Jamaica Observer on Sunday, quoting an unnamed senior Jamaica athletics official, reported that the sprinter nicknamed "The Beast" would not run in Moscow.
Blake, the Olympic double sprint silver medallist in London last year, sustained the injury at the Utech Classic in Kingston on April 13 and missed the Jamaican trials between June 20 and 23.
The 23-year-old won the world 100m title in Daegu, South Korea, in 2011 following the disqualification of compatriot Usain Bolt for a false start.
He qualifies to run the 100m in Moscow as defending champion, but will not compete in the 200. The championships run from Aug. 10-18.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Back to drawing board for Farah's Moscow rivals

Mo Farah believes his world championship rivals will have to go back to the drawing board after he blasted his way to victory over 5,000 metres at the Birmingham Diamond League meeting on Sunday.
The Olympic 5,000 and 10,000 metres champion was shoulder-to-shoulder with Ethiopia's Yenew Alamirew, fastest man this year over the distance, on the last lap at Alexander Stadium before launching a blistering final attack for victory with 200 to go.
"These guys will go back home and they know they tried to race me over the last lap today and they know they don't want to leave it to the last lap (in Moscow)," said the 30-year-old Briton. Farah has been working with American sprint coach John Smith, whose athletes include former 100 metres world record holder Maurice Greene.
The training paid off as Farah covered the final 200 metres in around 25 seconds. He clocked under 51 seconds for the last lap of a 5,000 in Gateshead last weekend.
"They'll probably sacrifice someone to go hard somewhere. Even today they were talking today amongst each other, the three Ethiopians," he told reporters.
Hagos Gebrhiwet, number two in the world in 2013, and world 10,000 metres champion Ibrahim Jeilan were also in a strong field.
"I looked at the start list and there was no one missing," said Farah. "Everybody was there, all the Ethiopians, all the Kenyans, the guy with the world lead. It's important that I race against these guys.
"I could have had the easy race but I didn't want the easy race. I wanted to test myself, see where I was. Training's one thing but competition's another."