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[Smallville22]

Athletics - Relieved Pearson delivers timely return to form

The relief was clear on Sally Pearson's face when the 100 metres hurdles world and Olympic champion crossed the line at the Olympic stadium in London on Saturday for her first Diamond League victory of the season.
Pearson, who powered to the Olympic title on the same track last year, has been struggling with her form since returning in June from a hamstring tear and with the world championships next month the strain had been starting to show.
But on Saturday in front of a 60,000 crowd some of the Olympic magic returned for the Australian and after reaching the first hurdle just in front, she accelerated away from the field to win in a season's best time of 12.65 seconds, allowing herself a smile and a small whoop of delight at the finish.
"It was relief, it really was. You can understand how frustrating it's been for me. It's hard when you're Olympic and world champion and getting absolutely smashed in races," Pearson, who had been the dominant athlete in the event in recent years, told reporters.
"Everyone told me to be patient and believe in myself and that's what I've done. I haven't shied away and I've come here and worked hard every single competition.
"I got halfway through the race and thought: 'Just take it easy, you're in the lead, let's just get over the finish line and have a confidence boost for the world championships' the 26-year-old said.
"I came out with a win today, not so much a fast time but definitely a win and that just shows that I do like the big occasions," added Pearson who now has three weeks before the hurdles heats at the world championships in Moscow to hone her speed.
On paper, American Brianna Rollins is Pearson's main rival for the title after the 21-year-old equalled the fourth fastest 100 metres hurdles ever run with her 12.26 second run the U.S. world championship trials last month.
"It's a shame she hasn't come out to race with us girls who are always on the tour but people have their own way of preparing for a major championships," said Pearson, whose own personal best time is 12.28 set in Daegu at the 2011 world championships.
"She's never been to one so it'll be interesting to see how she goes. Obviously she can run fast but at the same time my goal this time is just to focus on what I have to do and hopefully come out with a win again at the worlds."
Asked what time she thought would be needed to win in Moscow, Pearson replied: "I don't care if I run 13 seconds as long as I cross the finish line first. That's definitely how I'll be taking it into the world championships."

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Farah among three Brit winners at London Anniversary Games

Mo Farah stormed to victory in the men’s 3000m while Christine Ohuruogu won the women’s 400m and Katarina Johnson-Thompson triumphed in the long jump at the London 2012 Anniversary Games in the Olympic Stadium.
Olympic 10,000m and 5,000m champion Farah, who delighted the crowd with a ‘Mobot’ prior to the race, did not run the main part of the seven-and-a-half-lap race in record-breaking fashion despite the use of a pacemaker.
However he pulled away with his trademark sensational turn of speed to finish 150m clear of American Ryan Hull in recording a time of seven minutes 36.85 seconds, four seconds outside the British record.
"This is where I love to run and last year at the Olympics was a really big year for me," said Farah, who is now based in Oregon in the United States.
"This is where I made my name. Each time I race I want to make my country proud. I am honoured to represent my country.
"Tomorrow I'll go to St Moritz to train ahead of the World Championships and hopefully I'll get on the podium there."
There had been hopes that Somalia-born Farah, who was largely raised in Feltham, West London, would eclipse David Moorcroft's 31-year-old mark after he broke Steve Cram's British 1500m record last week.
London silver medallist and Beijing 2008 champion Ohuruogu won the one-lap in 50s dead at the London leg of the Diamond League - although the events contested by Ohuruogu, Farah, Johnson-Thompson and Ennis-Hill did not have Diamond League status - an indicator of great form ahead of August’s World Championships in Moscow.
It was a relatively lukewarm performance from Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill in the 100m hurdles, placing fourth, while she finished last in the long jump.
Ennis-Hill has been dogged by a persistent ankle injury that has decimated her season and, like Farah, was given a rapturous reception by those present for what was a crucial meet for the 27-year-old.
She had been forced to delay her comeback five times and has only competed twice in 356 days since the London Games, leading to doubts about whether she should compete in the multi-event in Moscow.
A poor start meant she was never in contention but she finished strongly in fourth with a time of 13.08 as Olympic champion Sally Pearson took the spoils with a season-best 12.65.
Ennis-Hill said after the race: "This was very nerve-wracking. It was my first race back and I couldn't prepare as best as I wanted. I was disappointed with my time.
“I'm lacking speed work at the moment having just started training this week. I'm going to have a chat with my coach and try and put things right for Moscow."
She added later that she will monitor how she recovers before deciding whether to compete in Russia.
"It’s definitely getting better which is a good thing and I just need to see how it is tomorrow but it’s that difficult decision of deciding whether I’m ready enough," she said.
"It’s a real dilemma, I hate making decisions as well so I think I’m going to have to sit down with my coach and see what’s best.
"It’s only two weeks now so I’d like to make a decision sooner rather than later so I can mentally get myself where I need to be if I do compete.”
The long jump was won by Briton Johnson-Thompson on countback from Bianca Stuart of the Bahamas as both jumped 6.46 while Britain's Lorraine Urgen finished third with 6.44.
Ennis-Hill's best was 6.16m, which put her eighth and last.
American Allyson Felix, who finally bagged Olympic gold last year after twice taking silver, had to work in the second half of the 200m to come home in 22.41, ahead of compatriot Shalonda Solomon.
"Such a special place, so many memories...," said the smooth-striding Felix, who will seek a fourth world title over the half-lap in Moscow.
A huge roar was afforded to Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie when he went over 6.02 metres for a world leading best in the pole vault. Emboldened, the confident Olympic champion then made three audacious attempts at a world record height of 6.16, but his hopes of usurping the great Sergei Bubka will have to wait for another day.
New Zealand shot-putter Valerie Adams, beaten by Nadzeya Ostapchuk in the Olympics but upgraded to gold after the Belarusian tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid, increased her season's best to 20.90 and a fourth successive world title surely beckons.
Other Games heroes fell short.
Shelly-Anne Fraser-Pryce set a world leading 10.77 in the 100m heats but paid for a slow start in the final as she was easily upstaged by Blessing Okagbare.
The Nigerian sprinter continued her fine Diamond League season by setting an African record of 10.79 to head to Moscow as a leading medal hope. Fraser-Pryce had to be content with fourth while world champion Carmelita Jeter pulled out of the final after suffering a hamstring twinge.
Olympic 110m hurdles champion Aries Merritt's last race before Moscow did not go to plan either, the world record holder coming to a premature halt after clipping the fifth hurdle.
"I'm thankful I'm not injured," the American said as he sheepishly waved to the crowd.
American David Oliver won the race from Briton William Sharman, who set a personal best of 13.26.
"It feels fantastic, it's been a long time coming for me. Everybody keeps telling me what I'm capable of but I haven't been fulfilling my potential till now,” Sharman said.
Olympic 400m hurdles champion Felix Sanchez, who 12 months ago shed tears on the podium after regaining his title at the age of 34, also cut a frustrated figure as the Dominican trailed home last in a race won by American Michael Tinsley, who Sanchez beat into silver in London.
"I've been playing around with different strategies this year, but that one was an absolute disaster," Sanchez admitted.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Bolt agrees to Farah showdown

Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt has accepted a challenge from Britain's Olympic middle distance champion Mo Farah to race for charity, saying he would be prepared to meet over 600 metres.
Farah, who won gold at the 5,000 and 10,000 metres at the London Olympics last year was the star turn of the Games along with Jamaican sprinter Bolt, who won the 100 and 200 metres.
"It would be great to do a distance where people vote in - proper athletics fans - on what distance they think is most suitable," Farah told Sky Sports.
He then turned to the camera and said: "Are you up for that? Come on, you've got to do it."
In a separate interview, Bolt was shown the footage and replied he would be prepared to take on the challenge.
"That sounds fun," he said.
"It's going to be hard but it's charity so it's all about fun and enjoyment.
"I'm up for anything, for anything's possible."
Bolt, who holds the world records at 100m and 200m, said running 1,500m would be out of the question.
"It's way too far," he said. "600 for sure I can try because I've done 600 metres in training, but not 1,500 metres."
Farah, the Somalia-born 30-year-old who grew up in London, has lightning pace over the final stretch and has recently experimented with shorter distances, setting a European 1500m record of 3:28.81 this summer.
Farah laid down the challenge to the Jamaican sprinter after running a personal best of 7 minutes 36.85 seconds in the 3000 metres at the London Anniversary Games at the weekend.
One intriguing aspect of the race would be how the taller, more powerful Bolt would cope with the early stages of the longer distance and if he would have the acceleration to match Farah's finish after running 500 metres.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Schedule denies Farah golden treble chance

Mo Farah wanted to run the 1500m as well as the 5000m and 10000m at the World Championships in Moscow next month.
The double Olympic champion asked UK athletics performance director Neil Black to pick him for the shorter distance race as well as the longer races that made him famous in London last year.
But the scheduling of the distance races at the World Championships meant that it was impossible for him to try and win all three races.
"I said, ‘Neil, put me in the 1,500 metres. I want to run it as well as the 5,000 and 10,000,’" Farah told the Daily Telegraph.
"I was serious, but he said no because it didn’t fit in with the timetable."
Farah would have needed to run his 1500m semi-final on August 6 just an hour and 45 minutes before the 5000m final, which would have ended any chance of a medal.
But the British superstar - who is now set to race Usain Bolt over 600m in a charity race later this year - insists that 1500m is a realistic target for him in the future.
“I’m closer in the 1,500 than anything else,” he said, insisting that he could challenge the world record of three minutes 26 seconds. “I honestly think it’s closer.”
Farah is set to focus on long-distance racing next season, however: he will run the full London Marathon for the first time next April.
Yet he claims that it will not hamper his hopes of moving into shorter events.
“It’s a year when you can play around with things. Doing the marathon in April, there’s still quite a lot of time before the summer," he said.
"Sometimes when you don’t have a championship it’s nice to have four months to train for an event and see what you can do. I’m looking forward to that.”

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Eaton and Merritt headline young US team for worlds

World record holders Ashton Eaton and Aries Merritt headline a strong American team for next month's world championships in Moscow.
Nine current world champions and 18 other individual Olympic medallists join decathlete Eaton and 110 metres hurdler Merritt, who both won gold medals at last year's Olympic Games.
They are joined by other London winners Christian Taylor (triple jump), Allyson Felix (women's 200 and 4x100 relay), Jenn Suhr (pole vault) and Brittney Reese (long jump).
The team will miss former triple world sprint champion Tyson Gay, who has withdrawn from the championships after testing positive for a banned substance. He had been expected to challenge Jamaican Olympic champion and world record holder Usain Bolt in both the 100 and 200 metres and be a key member of the U.S. 4x100 relay team at the Aug 10-18 championships.
Defending 2011 world titles won at Daegu, South Korea will be jumpers Taylor and Reese, Jason Richardson (110 hurdles), Jesse Williams (high jump), Dwight Phillips (long jump), Trey Hardee (decathlon), Carmelita Jeter (100, Jenny Simpson (1,500) and Lashinda Demus (400 hurdles). All have wild-card entries into the championships.
Seventeen members of the team are 22 or younger, including 2013 world leaders Brianna Rollins (100 hurdles) and Brigetta Barrett (high jump) and rapidly improving middle distance runner Mary Cain, who is only 17.
The United States led the medals table at both the 2011 world championships (12 golds) and 2012 Olympics (nine) and are expected to be the top team in Moscow.

U.S. team:

Men

100 - Justin Gatlin, Charles Silmon, Mike Rodgers.

200 - Isiah Young, Curtis Mitchell, Wallace Spearmon Jr.

400 - LaShawn Merritt, Tony McQuay, Arman Hall.

800 - Duane Solomon, Nick Symmonds, Brandon Johnson.

1,500 - Matthew Centrowitz, Leo Manzano, Lopez Lomong.

3,000 steeplechase - Evan Jager, Daniel Huling, De'Sean Turner.

5,000 - Bernard Lagat, Galen Rupp, Ryan Hill.

10,000 - Galen Rupp, Dathan Ritzenhein, Chris Derrick.

Marathon - Daniel Tapia, Jeffrey Eggleston, Carlos Trujillo

20 kms race walk - Tim Seaman.

50 kms race walk - John Nunn.

110 hurdles - *Jason Richardson, Ryan Wilson, David Oliver, Aries Merritt.

400 hurdles - Michael Tinsley, Kerron Clement, Bershawn Jackson.

High jump - *Jesse Williams, Erik Kynard, Dustin Jonas, Keith Moffatt.

Pole vault - Brad Walker, Jeremy Scott, Jack Whitt.

Long jump - *Dwight Phillips, George Kitchens, Marquis Dendy.

Triple jump - *Christian Taylor, Omar Craddock, Will Claye. Shot put - Reese Hoffa, Ryan Whiting, Zack Lloyd, Cory Martin.

Discus - Lance Brooks.

Hammer - A.G. Kruger.

Javelin - Riley Dolezal, Sam Humphreys.

Decathlon - *Trey Hardee, Ashton Eaton, Gunnar Nixon, Jeremy Taiwo.

4x100 relay pool - Justin Gatlin, Charles Silmon, Mike Rodgers, Rakieem "Mookie" Salaam, Dentarius Locke, Jeff Demps.

4x400 relay pool - LaShawn Merritt, Tony McQuay, Arman Hall, Josh Mance, James Harris, David Verburg.

Women

100 - Carmelita Jeter, English Gardner, Octavious Freeman, Alexandria Anderson.

200 - Charonda Williams, Kimberlyn Duncan, Allyson Felix, Jeneba Tarmoh.

400 - Natasha Hastings, Francena McCorory, Ashley Spencer.

800 - Alysia Montaño, Brenda Martinez, Ajeé Wilson.

1,500 - *Jenny Simpson, Treniere Moser, Mary Cain, Cory McGee.

3,000 steeplechase-Nicole Bush, Ashley Higginson, Shalaya Kipp.

5,000 - Molly Huddle, Shannon Rowbury, Kim Conley.

10,000 - Shalane Flanagan, Jordan Hasay, Amy Hastings,

Marathon - Dot McMahon, Jeannette Faber, Deena Kastor.

20 kms race walk - Maria Michta, Erin Gray, Miranda Melville.

100 hurdles - Dawn Harper, Brianna Rollins, Queen Harrison, Nia Ali.

400 hurdles - *Lashinda Demus, Dalilah Muhammad, Georganne Moline, Christine Spence.

High jump - Chaunte Lowe, Brigetta Barrett, Inika McPherson.

Pole vault - Jenn Suhr, Kylie Hutson, Becky Holliday.

Long jump - Brittney Reese, Janay DeLoach Soukup, Tori Polk, Funmi Jimoh.

Shot put - Michelle Carter, Tia Brooks, Alyssa Hasslen.

Discus- Gia Lewis-Smallwood, Whitney Ashley, Elizabeth Podomonick.

Hammer - Amanda Bingson, Jeneva McCall, Amber Campbell.

Javelin - Brittany Borman.

Heptathlon - Sharon Day, Bettie Wade, Erica Bougard.

4x100 relay pool - English Gardner, Octavious Freeman, Alexandria Anderson, Jeneba Tarmoh, Barbara Pierre, Aurieyall Scott.

4x400 relay pool - Natasha Hastings, Francena McCorory, Ashley Spencer, Joanna Atkins, Jessica Beard, Rebecca Alexander.

* 2011 world champion.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Bolt, Fraser-Pryce to lead scrutinised Jamaican team

Olympic champions Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce headline a Jamaican world athletics championships squad that will come under intense scrutiny in Moscow following several positive doping tests by some of the country's athletes.
Five athletes, including Olympic gold medallists Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson, tested positive for banned substances at the Caribbean island's national championships in June and face disciplinary hearings.
All five have denied knowingly taking banned substances.
Neither Powell nor Simpson, both of whom tested positive for the stimulant oxilophrine, were included in the squad named by the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) on Monday for the Aug. 10-18 championships in the Russian capital.
Nine-times world championship medallist Veronica Campbell-Brown, who held a wild card entry to Moscow by virtue of winning the 200 meters in Daegu, South Korea in 2011, also missed out.
Campbell-Brown is provisionally suspended after failing a test for using a banned diuretic at the Jamaica International Invitational World Challenge meet in May.
Powell had finished seventh in the 100m at the national championships but had been expected to be included in the 4x100 relay team having run 9.88 seconds at the Lausanne Diamond League meeting on July 4.
Jamaican officials did not indicate what event the athletes were likely to run in Moscow but Nesta Carter is expected to join Bolt, Nickel Ashmeade and Kemar Bailey-Cole in the 100m in the absence of injured world champion Yohan Blake.
The 22-member male squad also includes Olympic 200m bronze medallist Warren Weir.
Former Commonwealth Games champion Sherri-Ann Brooks, who was fourth at the Jamaican trials in June, is expected to take the place of Simpson in the women's 100m.
Wild card holder and 2009 world champion Fraser-Pryce, Kerron Stewart and Schillonie Calvert will be the other entrants in the blue riband event.
London Olympics bronze medallist Hansle Parchment, who injured his ankle at the Jamaica trials, takes his place in the 110 hurdles along with Andrew Riley and Dwight Thomas.

Squad

Men: Nickel Ashmeade, Kemar Bailey-Cole, Usain Bolt, Nesta Carter, Warren Weir, Jason Livermore, Javere Bell, Javon Francis, Omar Johnson, Hansle Parchment, Andrew Riley, Dwight Thomas, Leford Green, Isa Phillips, Annsert Whyte, Damar Forbes, Raymond Brown, Odayne Richards, Oshaine Bailey, Akheem Gauntlett, Rusheen Mcdonald, Edino Steele

Women: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Sheri-Ann Brooks, Schillonie Calvert, Kerron Stewart, Patricia Hall, Anneisha Mclaughlin, Stephanie McPherson, Novlene Williams-Mills, Natoya Goule, Andrea Bliss, Danielle Williams, Shermaine Williams, Danielle Dowie, Kaliese Spencer, Ristananna Tracey, Nickiesha Wilson, Francine Simpson, Kimberly Williams, Natasha Morrison, Carrie Russell, Christine Day, Anastasia Le-roy, Rosemarie Whyte

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Farah: Star-studded Great North Run will be 'amazing'

Double Olympic champion Mo Farah faces one of the most challenging contests of his career when facing Ethiopian superstars Kenenisa Bekele and Haile Gebrselassie at the Bupa Great North Run.
The awesome trio of Olympic and World champions will put their reputations on the line when they clash in the same race for the first time ever at the world's greatest half marathon on September 15.
"No one could ask for a better ‘dream team’ to participate in their event and we are delighted they will feature in what has the makings of the greatest head-to-head in half marathon history," said Brendan Foster, founder of the event.
"We've had many fantastic races down the Newcastle to South Shields course in past years, but this will be a competition everyone in the athletics world will want to watch. Haile may now be a veteran but he remains an accomplished performer and we should remember he won the Bupa Great North Run three years ago in a very impressive time of 59:33."
Gebrselassie, who missed last year's race through injury, is looking forward to sparring with his younger rivals.
"I'm just delighted I am returning to the Bupa Great North Run," said the ‘Emperor’, as he is affectionately known. "I can still compete at the highest level and I look forward to giving both of them a run for their money.
"This is something special for everyone. It's going to be a tough contest for all of us which I am sure will result in an exciting race.”
Farah, by contrast, is a relative newcomer to the distance whilst Bekele will be making an eagerly awaited 13.1 miles debut.
Farah trains in the United States and was last summer's double Olympic gold medallist at 5,000m and 10,000m, replicating the feat Bekele achieved four years earlier at the Beijing Games. He is already the fastest all-time British half marathoner.
The 30-year-old recorded 1:00:23 when triumphing in his first outing two years ago in New York, the time being ruled out for record purposes because of the course's downhill gradient. Then last February he smashed Nick Rose's 1985 UK record with a time of 1:00:59, scoring a very tense victory when outsprinting another Ethiopian heavyweight Gebre Gebremariam, the former World Cross Country title holder, in New Orleans.
After completing his main target of the summer he should hopefully win the World 5,000m and 10,000m gold medals at the Championships being held in Moscow from August 10-18. He will now be determined to become the first Briton to win the Bupa Great North Run since Steve Kenyon in 1985.
“I competed in the mile and two mile events on Great North Run weekend in past years and am delighted to finally make my debut in the main event," said Farah.
"It is always one of the world’s top half marathon races and this year promises to be a great race with me against Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele.
"I remember watching Haile win the 2000 Olympic Games in a sprint finish in Sydney when I was just 17 years old.
“I have experience on the roads but this will be only my third half marathon race. I won in New York in 20011 and New Orleans earlier this year. I hope to make it a third win in the North East.”
Bekele, acknowledged as the best distance track and cross country runner in the history of athletics and along with Gebrselassie recognised as a genuine legend in the sport, is looking forward to the transition to road running and this will be his first major test before stepping up to a full marathon.
"I started my international career when winning the Great North Cross Country in Newcastle over 10 years ago and I was grateful for that opportunity," said Bekele, then a teenager.
"Now I'm looking forward to my half marathon debut. It's not going to be easy for me as the others have more experience over the distance and yes, I am the newcomer just starting to pursue a serious road running career.
“But I'll be coming to the race fully prepared and determined to give it my best shot against two great athletes."
The 30-year-old, determined just as he was when launching his spectacular 5,000m and 10,000m career and following in Gebrselassie's footsteps as global number one and world record holder, knows the Great North Run will provide a perfect backdrop to launch a serious road racing career.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Ohuruogu named as GB team captain

Christine Ohuruogu has been selected to lead the British team at the World Championships in Moscow.
Ohuruogu was selected by performance director Neil Black to lead the team at the championships – which run from August 10th to 18th – and he paid tribute to her championship record and conduct amongst fellow athletes.
Black said: "Christine is one of Great Britain’s greatest ever athletes. Her championship record speaks determination and attack, yet her countenance and conduct amongst others makes her one of the most approachable and genuine people many of the team will ever meet.
Ohuruogu will be looking to add to a personal haul that includes a silver in the Olympic stadium last summer to go with the world title she won in 2007 and an Olympic gold from 2008.
“I know she will do a brilliant job of motivating and looking out for her team-mates."
Ohuruogu, who claimed the 400m at the Anniversary Games in London over the weekend, said: "I am very proud to have been asked by Neil to be the team captain at the World Championships in Moscow."
She added: "When he called me up the other week, I thought I was in trouble! I am not normally someone who likes the spotlight, but this is a lovely feeling to be trusted in this role, and it’s nice for myself and my coach Lloyd (Cowan) for the hard work we have put in over the years.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Russian heptathlete Chernova ruled out of worlds

Russian heptathlete Tatyana Chernova will not be able to defend her world title next month in Moscow because of injury.
Chernova was the highest profile name missing on Tuesday from the team announced by the host nation for the world championships, along with world champion race walkers Valeriy Borchin and Sergey Bakulin.
Chernova, 25, suffered a knee ligament injury running the 100 metres hurdles during the Russian championships last week. Her rival, British Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill, is also in danger of missing the championships because of injury.
"Of course it's a shame to miss the championships when they're being held at home," Twice Olympic bronze medallist Chernova was quoted as saying by Russian media.
Russia's team includes 12 Olympic champions and six world champions from Daegu - 3000m steeplechaser Yuliya Zaripova, 20-km race walker Olga Kaniskina, javelin thrower Mariya Abakumova, high jumper Anna Chicherova, hammer thrower Tatyana Lysenko and 800m runner Mariya Savinova.
Other Russian medal hopes include long jumpers Aleksandr Menkov and Elena Sokolova, Olympic 400 metre hurdles champion Natalya Antyukh and pole vault world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva.
Also in the team are Olympic 20km race walk champion and world record-holder Elena Lashmanova, and Olympic high jump gold medallist Ivan Ukhov.
Russia has set a target of winning six gold medals at the championships, which start on Aug. 10, and a total of 16 medals. It will be the first major outdoor athletics event hosted by Moscow since the 1980 Olympics.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - IAAF promises aggressive drug testing

The International Association of Athletics Federations is determined to crack down on drug-taking in the sport after two leading sprinters tested positive this month, the ruling body's vice-president Sebastian Coe has said.
Coe was speaking in Moscow, the host of next month's world athletics championships, after American Tyson Gay, a former world 100 metres champion, and Jamaica's Asafa Powell, a former 100 metres world record holder, provided positive samples.
The two athletes have withdrawn from the Moscow championships.
"The right thing (to do) is being aggressive about our testing, is forever making sure our technology runs ahead of the competitors and our overall task is to make sure the sport is clean for clean athletes," Coe told Reuters.
"I think it would be unrealistic of me to say that we are ever going to reach a period where we will be entirely free from the scourge of drugs in sports," the former Olympic 1,500 metres champion added.
"But...we are taking this more seriously than we have ever taken it before."
The world championships will be the first major outdoor athletics event hosted by Moscow since the 1980 Olympics and it will be held at the same Luzhniki stadium which staged the opening ceremony of the summer Games more than three decades ago.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Former world high jump champion Vlasic to miss Moscow

Twice world high jump champion Blanka Vlasic has ruled herself out of next month's world championships in Moscow as a precaution after suffering a recurrence of pain from an old injury.
The Croatian returned to competition this year after missing the whole of 2012 following surgery on her Achilles tendon.
"The pain in my foot became more intense after the Diamond League competition in Monaco (on July 19) and it still has not calmed down as after the other competitions," she wrote on her website.
"This is a clear sign that I need to stop for a while and recover completely. To jump in Moscow would be too much of a risk and could only jeopardize the future and I don't want to risk that."
Vlasic became world champion for the first time in Osaka in 2007 and retained her title in Berlin two years later. She was a silver medallist behind Russian Anna Chicherova two years ago in Daegu, South Korea.
Vlasic, 29, had a best leap of 2.0 metres this year, a height bettered only by Chicherova and American Brigetta Barrett.
The world championships run from August 10-18.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Former Olympic champion Moses makes run for top WADA job

Twice Olympic 400m hurdles champion Edwin Moses has launched his bid for the presidency of the World Anti-Doping Agency and is the third candidate for the post.
American Moses, who won gold medals at the 1976 and 1984 Olympics, joined former IOC medical director Patrick Schamasch and IOC Vice President Craig Reedie of Britain in the race for the job currently held by Australian John Fahey.
The IOC executive board will name one candidate to succeed Fahey at its meeting on August 9 in Moscow and the appointment will be formalised in an election at the World Conference on Doping in Sport in November.
The 57-year-old Moses, chairman of the United States Anti-Doping Agency since 2012, dominated his one-lap event for a decade, putting together a remarkable winning streak of 122 consecutive races between 1977 and 1987.
WADA was set up in 1999 by the IOC to fight the growing problem of doping in sport with half its funding coming from the IOC and international federations and the other half from governments.
The sports bodies and the governments take turns in nominating the WADA president. Fahey was the choice of governments in 2007.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Fit-again Rutherford selected for Moscow, Tomlinson misses out

Olympic champion Greg Rutherford has been added to the British team for next month's World Championships with performance director Neil Black convinced that he is fit enough for Moscow.
Rutherford wasn't among the 60, later increased to be 61, Brits named for the trip to Russia on July 16 with a hamstring injury placing a cloud over his participation in the long jump.
However all was not lost with Black using performance director discretion to leave the spot open, not only for Rutherford, but also for British champion Chris Tomlinson.
And, following a series of fitness tests, it is Rutherford who has been formally named on the team with Tomlinson, whose fitness isn't in doubt, therefore denied a trip to Moscow.
Neither have jumped the World Championship A qualifying standard of 8.25m and just one centimetre separates the two this season, Olympic champion Rutherford ahead on 8.22m.
Rutherford has proved to the selection committee that he had made a level of progress that would see him able to perform strongly in Moscow with Black seeing no reason why not.
"Greg has shown a remarkable level of recovery during a short space of time, something he has shown an aptitude for throughout his athletics career," said Black.
"Following the fitness tests and his record of being able to produce a quality performance off minimal build up, I am pleased to confirm his place in the GB & NI team.
"He'll continue to work closely with the support staff to maximise every additional moment in between now and the 14th of August."

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Injury forces Ennis-Hill out of World Championships

Jessica Ennis-Hill has withdrawn from the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for the World Athletics Championships in Moscow.
Ennis-Hill, who won the Olympic heptathlon title as part of Super Saturday at London 2012 last summer, has been feeling pain in her Achilles and heel since the start of June, drastically reducing her competitive outings.
Prior to Ennis-Hill's return to the Olympic Stadium for the Anniversary Games at the weekend she had competed at just a small meeting in Leeds in April and another in Loughborough on July 23.
The 27-year-old looked short of fitness at the Anniversary Games as she finished fourth in the 100m hurdles and eighth in the long jump and admitted so while revealing a decision would soon be made about the worlds.
Ennis-Hill will turn her attentions to returning to full fitness, something she admitted was put to one side in order to get to the worlds.
"Up until now we have been focusing on managing the pain so I can train and get myself in shape to go out there to win in Moscow, which has meant not focusing on finding a cure for the injury," said Ennis-Hill.
"The time has now come to stop chasing fitness and look to cure the problem. I am so glad I got to compete in London last weekend as it gave me a clear picture of where I am, and it is definitely not where I want to be both regarding pain and also form.
"To say I am gutted is an understatement, no athlete likes to miss the opportunity to compete at a major championships, they don't come round that often."
Ennis-Hill came to the conclusion along with coach Toni Minichiello, who admitted it was not worth her competing in Moscow and risking further long-term injury damage down the line.
"The pain management did improve, and Jessica was able to compete in London, but the next few days have not seen enough improvement that would have made completing the two day, seven events of the heptathlon possible," he said.
"I've also had to consider if competing at the World Championships would caused further damage, making any rehab more difficult. There are nine global medals up for grabs over the next three years not including Moscow. So a long-term view has been taken.”

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Bubka: IOC to introduce entourage doping sanctions

International Olympic Committee presidential candidate Sergei Bubka expects the body to approve sanctions for doping offences by athletes' entourages at a meeting of their executive board in August.
Ukrainian Bubka, who is one of six candidates in the running to replace current IOC president Jacques Rogge, is chairman of their Entourage Commission which has been set up because of concerns that athletes are being led astray by those working for them.
"It is clear, I am chair of the Entourage Commission and we are working right now for entourage sanctions," the former Olympic pole vault gold medallist and six-times world champion said.
"We have already done our work and the final stage, Aug. 9, the executive board of IOC will approve this and this we will presented to sports institutions to implement."
A recent spate of positive dope tests have provoked debate about the role of coaches and managers in an athlete's regime.
Former double world sprint champion Tyson Gay recently failed an out-of-competition dope test and said: "I don't have a sabotage story. I don't have lies...I basically put my trust in someone and I was let down."
Jamaica's former world 100 metres record holder Asafa Powell and Olympic 4x100 metres relay silver medallist Sherone Simpson also tested positive and both said they had never knowingly taken any substances.
Their trainer Chris Xuereb has denied providing them performance-enhancing drugs and said the sprinters should take responsibility for their failed dope tests.
Bubka, who won gold at the Seoul 1988 Olympics and is a member of the powerful IOC executive board as well as a senior vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, said the recent spate of positive tests showed the system was working.
"Of course there are some positive cases that are unpleasant, we don't like them but in some way we must see it as positive," he said.
"The system works...you will pay the price if you go the wrong way, this is a very important message."
He warned athletes to steer clear of supplements that could leave them vulnerable to positive tests and gave his support to increased bans for convicted dopers from two to four years.
"I think we need to go this way," he said. "We need to protect honest athletes, we must eliminate the cheaters. This is very important for sport, for youth, for credibility of sport."
The 49-year-old, who broke the world record 35 times, is joined by Germany's Thomas Bach, Singapore's Ng Ser Miang, C.K. Wu of Taiwan, Puerto Rican Richard Carrion and Swiss Denis Oswald in a six-way contest for the most influential post in world sport.
Bach, an Olympic fencing champion in 1976, is the favourite to be elected on Sept. 10 when Rogge, in charge since 2001, steps down when his two-term rule comes to a mandatory end.
Bubka puts youth sports participation high on his list of priorities for the IOC to tackle but also said the issue of the cost and size of the Games needs to be addressed in the near future.
The soaring costs involved in holding a Games have led to accusations that providing a host city is now the exclusive preserve of only a handful of rich countries.
The cost of hosting the 2014 winter games in the Russian resort of Sochi has been estimated at around $50 billion, making them the most costly Olympics ever.
Bach suggested the Summer Games could be extended further to encompass more than the 28 sports currently allowed, a move Bubka says could only be considered if it did not come at a financial cost and involved the sharing of venues.
"If we engage new sports it must be used in the same facilities, there must be no additional costs this is clear," he said.
"This is an important issue for the success of the future of the Olympic Games as the best sports show on the planet."

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - The secret behind Rudisha's speed

Kenyan athletes are in danger of hitting the wall unless traditional training methods are replaced with more modern thinking, according to the coach of Olympic 800 metres champion David Rudisha.
Brother Colm O'Connell, an Irish missionary who has coached the 800m world record holder since he was a teen, believes pushing runners to do more mileage or pound the track with greater intensity no longer works.
"Sometimes I think maybe we flail our athletes," the 64-year-old, told Reuters in Iten, a small village in Kenya's Rift Valley where most of the country's champion runners train.
"Perhaps it happened in London a bit - a lot of our athletes went and underperformed," O'Connell said, referring to Kenya's performance at the 2012 Olympics where Athletics Kenya targeted 12 golds but the east African country won only two.
"I felt there was a flatness to our running. We all felt so jaded in London.
"You're flailing an area that's already close to 100 percent and the runner is banging his head off the ceiling by doing more and more and more of the same thing."
O'Connell's idea to create Iten's first training camp in 1989 is now viewed as the catalyst that transformed the village into a global athletics hub.
O'Connell, who has coached 25 world champions and five Olympic champions, believes modern running times are so fast that breaking records requires a more holistic approach.
"Look at how many Kenyans (who run 800m) come down to 1.43 and 1.44 and get stuck," he said.
"If you want a guy to improve, you must raise the ceiling. You must give him capacity to improve."
With these concerns in mind, O'Connell began to alter his coaching philosophy about seven years ago. He wanted to discover training methods that would make a substantive difference rather than bring incremental improvements.
"I asked myself that question a thousand times, day and night," he said. "That's when I started to think: let me look at exercise work, core strength, pilates, the way you run, the way you carry yourself, the way you relate to the ground."
About that time O'Connell had started to work with Rudisha, who would go on to embody the new approach. "It has resulted in how Rudisha runs: very much controlled, very much smooth."
Ian Kiprono, a 27-year-old former gymnast who is often seen doing pilates and stretching with Rudisha, became O'Connell's assistant and implemented many of his new ideas.
"I wanted someone with a gymnastics background, someone who can really develop poise, core strength, how you relate to the ground, pushing off the ground," O'Connell said.
"He was able to put into practice things I had worked out in my head."
Gymnasts and runners have more in common than people realise, O'Connell said.
"It's not the opposition that makes you tired, it's gravity. Gymnasts just deal with their body and how you handle things in space and (Kiprono) has a great sense of that."
O'Connell, who has lived in Iten for 37 years, said relaxation techniques are part of Kiprono's exercise sessions rather than just sweat.
Last year in London, Rudisha became the first and only man to run 800 in under one minute 41 seconds, smashing the world record with a time of 1:40.91 in what was acclaimed the greatest race ever over the distance.
Rudisha only ran five races in 2012 before the London Games and in the month before the Olympics, the tall Maasai runner barely trained on the track at all.
"I just said to him, let's do just nice, confidence building, quality - not volume - training for the next few weeks," O'Connell said inside his humble home within the grounds of St Patrick's High School for boys in Iten.
"So I brought that concept in to his training and we would only go on the track and just do very short, crisp, high quality interval training.
"When he came off the track, I wanted him to feel good."
"Rudisha would say 'You want me to do more and push even harder?' and I would say 'No, I want you to keep it, lock it in, don't let it out just like that. Keep it under wraps'."

 

[Smallville22]

World Athletics Championships - No jumping the gun for Bolt in Moscow

That infamous false start is no longer of concern to Usain Bolt as the six-times Olympic gold medallist heads to the World Championships in Moscow ready to regain the 100 metres title he lost so ignominiously in 2011.
On that fateful day in Daegu, a stunned stadium watched as the distressed champion pulled off his running vest and looked up to the sky in disbelief after clearly leaving his blocks before the gun sounded to mark the start of the 100 final.
The world record holder's young training partner Yohan Blake went on to win the sport's blue riband event.
Since then, Bolt has, on occasion, been beaten but the Jamaican arrives in Moscow as the brightest of favourites in a world championships shorn of many of its leading lights through injury - including Blake - or positive dope tests.
"My coach keeps reminding me that I'm not a good starter so don't worry about the start and go when the gun says go, that is the plan," a jovial Bolt said after winning the 100 at last week's Diamond League meeting in London.
"I figured out what I did wrong from my mistake. I went to the Olympics and I did well so it's behind me now all I have to do is go there and compete."
Bolt went on to dazzle the crowds at the London Olympics, playfully declaring himself a legend after winning 100, 200 and relay golds to match his feat from Beijing in 2008.
However, those hoping the fastest man in history, who set the 100 and 200 world records at the 2009 championships in Berlin, will go even faster in the Russian capital are likely to be disappointed.
Bolt, by his own admission, is 'race rusty' after his early season was dogged by a hamstring injury.
He looked sluggish when suffering a surprise defeat over 100 metres to American Justin Gatlin in June and despite clocking a season's best of 9.85 to win in London last month, conceded his start had been so poor that in a stronger field he would "probably be fifth or something".
Bolt has the 100 and 200 heats in Moscow to fine tune his race-day display and ensure the crowd are treated to his trademark 'archer' celebration which inevitably follows his victories.
The 26-year-old will also not be lining up against the men likely to have pushed him hardest - 2007 double sprint world gold medallist Tyson Gay and world champion Blake.
American Gay, along with former world record holder Asafa Powell, has fallen foul of the drugs testers while Blake will not defend his title because of a hamstring injury.
Bolt's main rival for the 100 gold is likely to be Gatlin, a twice-convicted doper who returned from a four-year ban in 2010 which will not help a sport struggling with its image following a deluge of failed drugs tests across track and field events.
Having long been the sport's meal ticket, Bolt now finds himself central to maintaining its credibility.
"I can't determine how much the sport needs me, I think other people determine that," he said when asked how much athletics needed him.
"But as a person I try to assist the sport, try to do great things and to put the sport in to a good light and that is what I'm here for.
"You guys are here to tell people that Usain Bolt is needed for the sport or whatever, but I am just here to do my best and to prove to the world that it is possible to run clean and train hard and be focused."

 

[Smallville22]

World Athletics Championships - Worlds hit by withdrawals, but Bolt still on board

A year after athletics was at the heart of London 2012, the sport's biennial world championships is in danger of losing its lustre after a series of doping and injury withdrawals have robbed the Moscow event of much of its stardust.
True, Usain Bolt is still on board flying the flag and will ensure massive interest but after Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell were ruled out through doping violations and reigning 100m champion Yohan Blake pulled out injured, it seems only a repeat of his false start in Daegu two years ago can prevent the Jamaican taking the title.
Should Bolt fail again, the International Association of Athletics Federations faces the nightmare scenario of twice-banned doper Justin Gatlin being crowned world champion to cap off an horrific summer doping deluge that has again dragged the sport into the gutter.
Olympic 1,500 metres champion Asli Cakir Alptekin is one of dozens of Turkish athletes to fail recent tests while host nation Russia has more than 40 currently serving bans - as well as several more back in action having served their time for positives.
Olympic champion and world 800 record holder David Rudisha will be watching from home as he nurses a knee injury but, according to Kenya's former Olympic champion Kip Keino, several of the country's other leading athletes are also opting to sit out the championships to stay fresh for potentially more lucrative appearances in the Diamond League and city road races.
Also missing will be Britain's Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill who has failed to recover from an Achilles tendon injury, with Russian world champion Tatyana Chernova also out injured.
All of which focuses the spotlight even more brightly on Bolt and the likes of American sprinter Allyson Felix, 20-year-old 400 metres sensation Kirani James, Britain's double Olympic distance gold medallist Mo Farah and Tirunesh Dibaba, also seeking the 5,000/10,000 double.
In 2009, Bolt matched his Beijing Olympic heroics and went even faster by winning the 100m and 200m in world records that still stand.
Two years later in South Korea it all went horribly wrong when he false-started and was disqualified from the 100, opening the door for Blake.
He roared back to take the 200 and relay golds and, providing he is fully fit, there seems little possibility of him missing out on another double and probable treble.
Bolt warmed up with a comfortable 9.85 win at the London Diamond League last weekend, despite a dire start.
"I think I was just race rusty," he said. "I think the rounds at the world championships should help out just to get my legs freer."
Gatlin, who handed Bolt a rare defeat over 100 in June, looks his closest rival and Jamaican Nesta Carter, whose 9.87 in Madrid on July 13 makes him the second-fastest man in the field, should also feature but realistically they are competing for silver.
Another Jamaican, 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Warren Weir, looks the only man capable of getting close to Bolt over 200 and he completed his competitive preparations with a London win in 19.89 but again the champion would have to have an off day to open the door.
While the United States is struggling to reclaim its hegemony in the flat sprints, it remains dominant over the hurdles where David Oliver, Aries Merritt and surprise national trials winner Ryan Wilson will attempt a first US sweep of a global 110 hurdles final since the 1960 Olympics.
Australia's Olympic sprint hurdles champion Sally Pearson has timed her return to form just right as she won her first Diamond League race of the season at London after a wretched injury-hit season.
Farah's leap to dominance over the longer distances came after he worked relentlessly to develop his last-lap speed and the evidence was there for all to see when he broke Steve Cram's 28-year-old British 1,500m record when recently finishing second to Kenya's Asbel Kiprop, favourite to retain his world title.
Only Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj, the world record holder with 3:26.00, American Bernard Lagat and Algerian Noureddine Morceli have run faster than Kiprop's 3:27.72 Monaco run and with Olympic champion Taoufik Makhloufi out injured, he starts a strong favourite.
It will be an emotional outing for Russian pole vaulter extraordinaire Yelena Isinbayeva, who will retire after the event.
The 31-year-old twice Olympic champion failed to medal in the last two world championships and has struggled for form this year but would love to go out on a high - something around five metres.
The championships run from August 10-18.

 

[Smallville22]

World Athletics Championships - Farah at the peak of his powers for double repeat

As double Olympic champion Mo Farah knows he is there to be shot at. But such is his self-belief that it will take someone and something special to scupper the Briton's bid to repeat the feat at the World Championships in Moscow.
His London triumphs last year when the Somali-born runner stormed to 5,000 and 10,000 metres glory put Farah firmly among the sport's superstars - his 'Mobot' now as recognisable as Usain Bolt's 'archer' celebration.
After joining Emil Zatopek, Vladimir Kuts, Lasse Viren, Miruts Yifter and Kenenisa Bekele as the only athletes to complete the 5 and 10k double in the post-war period, Farah is at the peak of his powers.
"The hardest is being at the top because when you are at the top everybody wants to knock you down. So many guys want to get you," Farah said recently.
"They are going to have to come up with something, it's exciting, they are testing me out. The 10k is more exciting than the 5k... I have to keep my feet on the ground.
Farah credits his coach, former marathon world record holder Alberto Salazar, with turning him into a winner.
"I've definitely improved in terms of winning medals, but it's only been one or two percent in terms of my times. I've learned to win races and I've learned to be confident when you approach a race," he said.
"I'm a lot more confident than I was years ago, and that comes from learning from every race.
"Obviously Alberto is a great coach... and the whole team that supports me. Without the team I don't think I could have achieved what I have achieved."
Farah won the world 5,000 title in Daegu, South Korea in 2011 after having to settle for silver over twice the distance earlier in the championships behind unexpected winner Ibrahim Jeilan of Ethiopia.
Farah later remarked he had barely heard of Jeilan but is unlikely there will be a joker in the pack this time.
Depending on how quickly he recovers from the 10,000 - in London he admitted it had taken more out of him than he first thought - his versatility and incisive finishing kick should see him emulate Kenenisa Bekele who achieved the double at the world championships in Berlin in 2009.
Farah warmed up for Moscow last month by testing his speed to great effect when dropping down to 1,500 metres in Monaco.
While he never looked likely to catch impressive winner Asbel Kiprop of Kenya, his time of 3:28.81 not only broke the British record of former world champion Steve Cram but also placed him sixth on the world all-time list.
Farah was stunned.
"I couldn't believe how fast I ran. It was crazy. If you had set to me six weeks ago that I would run 3.30 and break Steve Cram's record I would never have believed you. It just shows, when you have that confidence..."
While he focuses on a Moscow double, his track future is uncertain with a first full marathon pencilled in for London next year, having made a much-publicised bow by running half of the race in the capital earlier this year.
Asked before the Diamond League meeting in London last week if he planned to compete on the track in next year's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Farah replied: "It depends on how it fits in. Next year is quite a big challenge because I am moving up to the marathon. I don't know what's going to happen."
It is a measure of Farah's relaxed state of mind that as he headed off this week to finalise his Moscow preparations at high altitude in St Moritz, Switzerland, the Briton was cheekily laying down the gauntlet to sprint king Bolt.
The pair share the same agent in Ricky Simms and Farah has challenged the Jamaican to a race over 600 metres, an invitation Bolt has readily accepted.

 

[Smallville22]

World Athletics Championships - Bolt fired up for worlds despite rivals' absence

Usain Bolt is determined not to let the absence of some of his main rivals make him drop his guard as he tries to win back the 100 metres world title he lost two years ago.
Bolt, who retained his Olympic title last year, said after arriving in Moscow for the world championships that he was not worried he would repeat the nightmare of Daegu in 2011, when he was disqualified for a false start.
"I went to the Olympics, and now I'm back - back to regain my title. I'm even more focused that last time. So I'm going to get it done," the Jamaican told Reuters on Sunday, six days before the championships start.
American Tyson Gay and Jamaican former world record holder Asafa Powell will not compete in Moscow after failing doping tests. Jamaican Yohan Blake will not defend his title because of a hamstring injury.
Bolt, who has won six Olympic gold medals and is the 100 metres world record holder, denied their absence would affect his own motivation, pointing out that he had won titles before when big rivals were not competing.
"So for me I'm really motivated to go and show the world that even without nobody there, I can still win. So I'm focused, and I'm ready to go," he said.
Bolt, whose main rival for the 100 gold is likely to be American Justin Gatlin, made it clear that winning was his priority, not setting a new world record in next Sunday's final.
"I never predict times, because you never know, it might be like this, you know, overcast, and slightly chilly, or it might just be warm. You never know what can happen so that's my focus, and that's what I'm going out there to do, and (to) prove to the world that I'm still a champion," he said.
Bolt, 26, looked relaxed as he performed a set with DJs at a Jamaican-themed party in the Puma Yard in Gorky Park in central Moscow.
He said he would not jump the gun by discussing the doping tests failed by Powell and Gay, saying the full details were not known: "So, I don't want to judge anybody until I hear the final."
Bolt won 100, 200 and relay golds in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. He also won the 100 and 200 world titles in 2009 and retained the 200 title in Daegu two years later.
He said he was open to a proposal by Mo Farah, Britain's Olympic 5,000 and 10,000 metres champion, to race each other over 600 metres.
"We don't know if it will happen, but we'll definitely be thinking about it, to see if it possibly could fit in our schedules. So we'll definitely look into it and see what can happen," Bolt said.