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[Smallville22]

Athletics - Woman charged over attempt to defraud Boston bombing fund

A New Jersey woman has been charged with submitting fraudulent injury claims to a charity set up to aid victims of the Boston Marathon terrorist bombings, prosecutors said on Friday.
Union County prosecutors said Iris Gamble, 44, of Linden, N.J., submitted a false claim with the One Fund Boston, which was established after the April 15 bombing attack that killed three and injured about 264 people, mainly spectators crowded at the finish line.
Gamble is the third person charged with filing false claims for benefits from the fund, which has raised more than $60 million for victims of the largest mass-casualty attack on U.S. soil since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Gamble submitted the claims on June 11, claiming to have been treated at a Newark hospital for injuries sustained in the bombing. However, the application was flagged due to misspellings and other irregularities, prosecutors said. The Massachusetts attorney general forwarded the case to Union County officials.
"Our investigation revealed that the defendant was not in Boston on the day of the bombings," said acting Union County Prosecutor Grace Park. "The defendant wasted little time in trying to profit from the generosity and kindness of others."
Gamble was charged on Thursday with third degree theft by deception, fourth degree fraud and fourth degree creating fraudulent documents. Her first appearance in Union County Superior Court is scheduled for Aug. 16th.
She could not be reached for comment on Friday.
Last month, a Troy, N.Y., woman was charged with larceny after fraudulently receiving nearly $480,000 in benefits from the fund, claiming she suffered a traumatic brain injury. A Boston man was arrested in July for submitting a false $2 million claim on behalf of his aunt.
About 250 people have applied for money from the One Fund charity, set up to benefit the families of those killed and those who lost limbs in the blasts.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - World waits for showman Bolt to strut his stuff

Usain Bolt will need to guard against complacency as he begins his bid to win the 100 metres crown while double Olympic champion Mo Farah goes for gold in the 10,000 on the first day of the world championships.
Track and field, beset again by a spate of positive doping tests to some of the sport's biggest names in the build up to the global showpiece, needs a big performance from its greatest showman.
Jamaican Bolt infamously false-started and was disqualified from the 2011 world final two years ago in Daegu, South Korea, a race won by compatriot and training partner Yohan Blake who is injured and not in Moscow to defend his title.
World record holder Bolt's sprint dominance was underlined at last year's Olympics in London when he repeated his Beijing feats of 2008 by winning triple gold, including the 4x100 relay.
Bolt will line up in the evening's first round heats with the semi-finals and final on Sunday.
With Blake absent, along with American Tyson Gay, the fastest man in the world this year who has tested positive for a banned substance, Bolt's chief rival will be double 2005 world champion Justin Gatlin.
Farah, like Bolt, is a hot favourite to complete a world track double and repeat his Olympic feats when he stormed to 5,000 and 10,000 gold.
The Briton will also be wary of a joker in the pack after Ethiopian Ibrahim Jeilan beat him into silver over 25 laps in Daegu, before Farah claimed his first world title in the 5,000 later in the championships.
The first gold medal of the championships will be decided in the women's marathon with holder Edna Kiplagat of Kenya facing a stern test of her credentials from Ethiopia's Olympic champion Tiki Gelana.
Olympic decathlon champion and world record holder Ashton Eaton begins his quest for a first world gold after losing out to compatriot Trey Hardee two years ago.
The younger Eaton turned the tables on Hardee at the London Games last year, winning by a 198-point margin.
The first day of decathlon features the 100 metres, long jump, high jump, shot put and 400.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - From Vanuatu to Moscow, teenager gets taste of big time

While Usain Bolt enjoys a leisurely day before beginning his quest for 100 metres gold later on Saturday, teenage Vanuatu sprinter Daniel Philimon's World Athletics Championships lasted 11.53 seconds.
When the sport's great showman takes to the stage, Philimon will be sat in the stands hoping one day to meet his idol.
In muggy conditions and in front of a sparse Luzhniki stadium crowd on the first morning of the global showpiece, the 18-year-old from Malakula - the second largest of a string of some 80 islands in the South Pacific Ocean that make up Vanuatu - got a brief taste of the big time.
Forcing a half smile, Philimon said he had not been nervous.
But despite smashing his personal best having never previously dipped under 12 seconds, he appeared to be distinctly underwhelmed by his efforts.
"I was expecting to do a better time. I've had a hamstring injury the last two weeks. I know I can run 10.7," said Vanuatu's only competitor in Moscow after his run in the first of four preliminary round heats where he placed sixth of seven.
The slightly-built Philimon came to Russia with the slowest registered personal best time of all the 100 metres competitors - and he admitted his training facilities back home "were not good".
"We only have maybe four sprinters in Vanuatu – preparing themselves for the Commonwealth Games (next year in Glasgow)," he said.
"My coach is back home. I'm here with the (Federation) president."
Once known as the New Hebrides - Vanuatu achieved independence from France and Britain in 1980.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Broken nose shatters Semenova's discus hopes

Natalia Semenova's hopes of reaching the discus final at the world championships were shattered when the Ukrainian suffered a bloodied and broken nose in a freak accident just before Saturday's qualifying round.
The European championship bronze medallist was accidentally hit in the face by Polish athlete Zaneta Glanc who had mimed a throw while holding the discus as she sat in the athletes area next to the discus circle at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium.
"I was next to her. The Polish athlete was warming up and hit her in the face," Olympic champion Sandra Perkovic told Reuters.
"Her nose is broken. When I saw it, I ran over to help her. I took my towel to her and some water," added the Croatian who is favourite to take her first world title in Sunday's final.
Semenova had to be patched up by officials under the blazing morning sun in the competition area.
The 31-year-old, sporting a dressing on the bridge of her nose to cover the cuts and bruises, bravely continued with qualifying but managed only one legal throw of 55.79 metres, well down on her season's best of 61.41, to finish bottom of the group.
After coming off the field, a clearly upset Semenova walked past waiting reporters carrying a bloodied towel to her nose, pausing briefly only to tell one she was going for medical treatment.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Fans stay away as worlds get off to sweaty start

The world athletics championships got off to low-key but high-humidity start in front of a few hundred hardy fans scattered around the 81,000 Luzhniki Stadium on Saturday, with star attraction Usain Bolt ready to be unleashed in the evening.
Among those braving the warm sunshine and sweltering air were Bolt's parents, on board for the first appearance of the world record holder later on Saturday in the first round of the 100 metres.
The double Olympic champion, out to reclaim the title after being disqualified for a false start in the final two years ago, makes his first appearance at 17.15BST ahead of Sunday night's final.
The first medals of the championship will be decided later on Saturday in the women's marathon and the early stadium action centred on the decathlon and various qualifying rounds.
Organisers have claimed to have sold 80 percent of tickets for the Aug. 10-18 event but there were acres of yellow, red and orange seats vacant on Saturday, producing a multi-coloured backdrop to the vivid blue track and artificial green grass infield.
American Olympic champion and world record holder Ashton Eaton set the early pace in the decathlon with a 10.32-seconds 100 metres and 7.32 metre long jump for a two-event tally of 2003 points
Germany's Michael Schrader was second on 1944 with another American, Gunnar Nixon, third on 1907 after a personal best long jump of 7.80.
There was a surprise in women's discus as China's Siyu Gu, whose 67.86 metres makes her second in the world this year behind dominant Croatian Sandra Perkovic, had a miserable morning with three fouls and failed to reach Sunday's final.
Ukrainian Natalia Semenova will not forget the event in a hurry either after being cracked in the face by Zaneta Glanc during the Pole's discus-swinging warm-up routine.
European bronze medalist Semenova, who had been sitting on a bench minding her own business, received treatment for a deep gash on the bridge of her nose and was able to continue but she managed only one legal throw and failed to qualify.
Ethiopian Mohammed Aman, the only man to have beaten absent world record holder David Rudisha over 800m in the last three years, underlined his status as favourite to take the two-lap gold as he produced the fastest time of the morning heats, one minute, 44.93 seconds.
His compatriot Ibrahim Jeilan will be in action in the only track final later on Saturday when he seeks to retain the 10,000m title.
However, Briton Mo Farah, who he memorably caught on the line for that title in Daegu, starts as strong favourite having gone on to complete the 10,000/5,000m double at last year's London Olympics.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Lewis bows out early in Moscow

Steven Lewis, fifth at the Olympics in London, suffered disappointment in Moscow having crashed out in pole vault qualifying.
The 27-year-old was unable to record a height, failing with his three attempts at 5.40m - which was some way short of his British record for the event that stands at 5.82m
Lewis’s disappointment was compounded for UK Athletics fans by the news that Ashley Bryant was denied the opportunity to compete in the decathlon by a hamstring injury.
Bryant, who finished fourth at the European Under-23 Championships in Finland in mid-July, said: "Unfortunately I got a grade one hamstring tear last week. I knew I'd be up against it to recover but I thought I had a good chance because it was in good shape in the last few days, so I was hopeful.
"In warm-up today when I had to push it that bit more it wasn't ready for the competition. I'm gutted, but that's sport I guess."
There was better news for UK Athletics on the track with Andrew Osagie and Michael Rimmer progressing in the 800m heats.
Osagie, a finalist at London 2012, eased through with a time of 1:46.16 and Rimmer equalled his placing of third but bettered his time with 1:45.47 to progress.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Child and Shakes Drayton ready right wrongs in Moscow

Eilidh Child is fed up of falling at the final hurdle – and has vowed to put it right in Moscow.
With the exception of her silver at the Commonwealth Games, Child’s major championship record over 400m hurdles looks a little familiar.
But she’s confident the World Championships in Moscow will see a change in fortune, with her opening heat scheduled for Monday morning.
“I’m fed up with semi-finals and I need to take that step up and make the final,” said Child.
“Semi-finals last year at the Olympics, semi-finals at the worlds in 2011, semis at the Europeans in 2010 and semis at the worlds in 2009, it’s getting a bit boring.
“There are some girls running really well at the moment like Perri Shakes-Drayton and Zuzana Hejnová but it’s also a really open event – if you can make a final.
“Perri is obviously in great form and is right up there while Zuzana Hejnová is having a great year but it’s still a really open event.
“I’m feeling pretty good about everything. Training is good and my flat speed is pretty sharp and that’s going to make me a quicker hurdler."
Shakes Drayton is the only British woman athlete ranked in the world's top three in her chosen event in 2013 and clocked a 53.67 second personal best at the recent Sainsbury's Anniversary Games.
And she's determined to exorcise the disappointments of last year's Olympics - when she failed to make the final.
'I've forgotten the Olympics, it's behind me now and it's all about what happens in Moscow now - you can't look back, you have to only look forward,' she added.
"I've done well in 2013, I have already raced well against some of the girls in the world here and I have my eye on Hejnova."

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Osagie full of confidence

Andrew Osagie believes a lack of race preparation could prove to be a blessing in disguise after he eased into the 800m semi-finals on day one of the 2013 World Athletics Championships in Moscow.
The 25-year-old has endured a frustrating season to date as he bids to improve on his eighth-place finish at London 2012 in what has been coined the 'greatest 800m race ever'.
Osagie ran a personal best 1:43.77 minutes to place him fourth on the all-time Great British list in the Olympics last summer but arrived in Russia with his season's mark more than two seconds off that after picking up a hamstring tear in Lausanne last month.
This injury caused Osagie to miss both the British Championships and the Anniversary Games but he blew the cobwebs away in the Luzhniki Stadium on Saturday morning.
Osagie crossed the line in 1:46.16 minutes to finish third in his heat and progress to Sunday's semi-final, and he insists he is not concerning himself with the past, only the future.
"It was a morning race and everyone knows I don't like morning races but I got the job done," he said. "I have kept on saying that I have come here to be a professional athlete and get the job done, that is what it is about when it comes to the champs, getting through the rounds and being focused.
"And I felt relaxed, I didn't need to hold too much back and I didn't need to push too much so it was a good race for me in the heart.
"I feel fine physically. When I get to the champs I feel a different man, I love it here. I love the build up, I love the pressure, I love the track, I love the stadium. I love this bit of the sport.
"My preparation has been different, I missed a few races which was frustrating but I managed to more training done at this time of the year which I wouldn’t have normally been able to do.
"Every cloud has a silver lining and hopefully mine is here and I can get the job done."
Great Britain's Michael Rimmer also finished third in his 800m heat to make it into the semi-finals, putting in a great sprint for the line to come home in 1:45.47 minutes.
However it wasn't all good news for Great Britain in the first morning session as decathlete Ashley Bryant was forced to withdraw before the competition even got underway with a hamstring injury.
Meanwhile, pole vaulter Steve Lewis failed to clear his first height of 5.40m three consecutive times to crash out of the competition, and he was at a loss to explain what had happened.
"I felt good, everything has been going fine and I had a good warm-up," Lewis said. "My second attempt was a good jump but I just came down on the bar, and with a little headwind in the third attempt my markers were slightly off and the same thing happened.
"To get it back-to-back is frustrating, it's the sort of thing you don't want to be happening at a World Championships.
"5.55m is going to make the final and I have been entering competitions all over this year at 5.60.
"But my thinking was you can only lose in qualifying so I decided to enter early at 5.40m, that is not a challenging height for me."

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Kiplagat denies Straneo to retain marathon title

Kenyan Edna Kiplagat defied hot and humid conditions and a brave front-running display from Italian Valeria Straneo to become the first woman to retain the world marathon title on Saturday.
Kiplagat, 33, won the first gold of the Moscow world championships after taking control of the race in the shadows of the Luzhniki stadium to win in 2:25:44.
The smooth-striding Kiplagat, who led a Kenyan sweep of the medals in Daegu in 2011, stalked Straneo, 37, until the 40-kilometre (25miles) mark after the two other leading protagonists - Japan's Kayoko Fukushi and Ethiopian Meselech Melkamu dropped off the pace.
Kiplagat was happy to drop some 30 seconds behind the pace over the first 10k, a strategy she said allowed her to slowly build momentum.
"I felt a bit tired at the start - my body did not react immediately," she told a news conference. "I just wanted to relax, prepare my body so I could pick up gradually."
Despite the energy-sapping conditions, Kiplagat's winning time was just under three minutes quicker than her gold-winning performance in Daegu which was also hot and humid.
Straneo, who underwent major surgery in 2010 to have her spleen and gall bladder removed, had run strongly at the front but was unable respond when the race reached the shade of the Olympic Park and took silver in 2:25:58. Fukushi, 31, secured bronze in 2:27:45 to complete a podium sweep for the thirty-somethings.
Sporting pink trainers, Straneo celebrated her silver by performing a cartwheel on the track and later said she was "the surprise of the day".
"At 40km I had to let Edna go because I felt pain in the muscles of my legs," said the Italian, eighth in the Olympic marathon in London.
"I ran my own race from the beginning and my pace was good. The heat was not bad for me. I'm comfortable with it."
Kiplagat's victory made up for a disappointing London Olympics last year when she was suffering with flu and trailed home 20th behind Ethiopian Tiki Gelana.
She showed she had regained her form by finishing second in the London marathon in April, but Gelana's poor season continued on Saturday as she dropped out before the 15-km mark of a race run by the banks of the Moskva river and on a series of loops between the stadium and Red Square.
Straneo, who underwent surgery in 2010 to have her spleen and gall bladder removed, was unable to keep tabs on the leader in the shade of the Olympic Park and took silver in 2:25:58. Fukushi secured bronze in 2:27:45.
Kiplagat's victory made up for a disappointing London Olympics last year when she was suffering with flu and trailed home 20th behind Ethiopian Tiki Gelana.
She showed she had regained her form by finishing second in the London marathon in April, but Gelana's poor season continued as she dropped out before the 15-km mark of a race run by the banks of the Moskva river and on a series of loops between the stadium and Red Square.
Gelana also suffered in the London marathon when was knocked to the ground after being struck by a wheelchair athlete mid-race, limping home in 16th place.
The conditions ins Moscow caused a number of athletes to drop out - the most dramatic of which came in the form of Beata Naigambo, who staggered off the road before appearing to collapse.

Marathon results:

1. Edna Ngeringwony Kiplagat (Kenya) 2:25:44

2. Valeria Straneo (Italy) 2:25:58

3. Kayoko Fukushi (Japan) 2:27:45

4. Ryoko Kizaki (Japan) 2:31:28

5. Alessandra Aguilar (Spain) 2:32:38

6. Emma Quaglia (Italy) 2:34:16

7. Madai Perez (Mexico) 2:34:23

8. Kim Hye Gyong (DPR Korea) 2:35:49

9. Deena Kastor (US) 2:36:12

10. Susan Partridge (GB) 2:36:24

11. Jessica Trengove (Australia) 2:37:11

12. Diana Lobacevske (Lithuania) 2:37:48

13. Aberu Kebede (Ethiopia) 2:38:04

14. Kim Hye Song (DPR Korea) 2:38:28

15. Lishan Dula (Bahrain) 2:38:47

16. Sonia Samuels (GB) 2:39:03

17. Sin Yong Sun (DPR Korea) 2:39:22

18. Dorothy McMahan (US) 2:39:52

19. Ding Changqin (China) 2:40:13

20. Zivile Balciunaite (Lithuania) 2:41:09

21. Albina Mayorova (Russia) 2:41:19

22. Nadezhda Leonteva (Russia) 2:42:49

23. Jeannette Faber (US) 2:44:03

24. Lucy Wangui (Kenya) 2:44:06

25. Alina Armas (Namibia) 2:45:09

26. Alevtina Biktimirova (Russia) 2:45:11

27. Tatyana Aryasova (Russia) 2:45:27

28. Wei Xiaojie (China) 2:46:46

29. Kalliopi Astropekaki (Greece) 2:47:12

30. Remalda Kergyte (Lithuania) 2:47:30

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Phillips planning golden sunset to long jump career

Long jumper Dwight Phillips postponed his retirement for a year in a bid for one final golden moment and the chance to become the first US athlete to win five individual world championship titles in the same event.
The defending world champion had hoped to go out in a blaze of glory at last year's London Olympics but an Achilles injury put paid to that so the 35-year-old put his exit on hold.
"I was very inspired by having the opportunity of passing Michael Johnson (400 metres) and Allen Johnson (110 hurdles) and now I'm in a position where I can win a fifth title," Phillips told a news conference in Luzhniki stadium on Saturday.
"I believe I can do it and it's just about going out there and elevating my game.
"Due to the fact I tore my Achilles and I knew I had an automatic place for the world champs this year, I just decided in my mind that I wanted to go out of the sport on my own terms - competing and not injured.
"This will definitely be my last championships," added the experienced athlete who took his first world title in Paris 10 years ago.
"This will be a great time to hang my spikes up. The sport has been great to me and I just want to finish on one last golden moment."
It also will be a seventh consecutive worlds for the Phillips, who made his first appearance in Edmonton in 2001, and, along with 800 metres runner Khadevis Robinson, makes it the most by an American man.
Phillips, also world champion in 2005, 2009, 2011 and a bronze medallist in 2007, is ranked fifth on the all-time list with a best of 8.74 metres.
Olympic champion in 2004, he missed out on the 2008 Beijing Games after finishing fourth in the US trials, with only the top three selected for the team.
Gold in Moscow this week could prove to be a leap too far for Phillips whose best this season is only 7.89.
Competition in the event is tough with the field including Mexican Luis Rivera, who has the longest junp of the year of 8.46 and home favourite Aleksandr Menkov, ranked second in the world but Phillips knows the world championships have always been a happy stomping ground for him.
"When I'm in the final I know how to win, I've done it many times and although I'm not the favourite, in my eyes I am," he said with a smile.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Decathlon champ Hardee out after high jump failure

Double defending decathlon world champion Trey Hardee was dumped out of the competition on Saturday as he no-heighted in the high jump leaving fellow Americans Ashton Easton and Gunnar Nixon fighting it out at the halfway mark.
Hardee, who triumphed in Berlin and Daegu and took Olympic silver behind Eaton last year, was looking off the pace on the opening morning and went into the high jump, the fourth discipline, in fifth place.
With a personal best of 1.99 metres it was among his weaker events but he strained a hamstring in his second attempt and then failed again.
"My hamstring got tight on me in the second jump and just wouldn't release and the third jump came too soon for me to recover," he said. "My body would not let me compete today.
"Gunnar has done outstandingly in the first four events but I still think Ashton is the man to beat," added Hardee, somewhat prophetically, ahead of the day-closing 400 metres.
At that stage 20-year-old Nixon was leading on the back of personal bests in the long jump (7.80 metres) and shot (14.68) as well as recording the day's best high jump clearance with 2.14.
A strong 400m finished a great day for the young American as Eaton struggled with his long jump, shot and high jump.
However, he then showed why he is the world record holder with a storming 46.02 lap of the blue track, the fastest 400m ever run in a world championship decathlon.
It took him to an overnight total of 4,502 points, nine ahead of Nixon and 75 clear of Germany's Michael Shrader, who ended the day on a high with a personal best 47.66 in the 400.
"I couldn't find the motivation but before the 400m the coach said to me 'wake up, it's the world championships. Go into the lead for the second day,' said Eaton.
"And I did it. Now I feel some spark for tomorrow and they are my strong events so I'm looking forward to it."

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Brit Partridge claims top-10 finish in marathon

Susan Partridge battled heat and her rivals to claim a top-10 finish in the best World Championships performance by a British women's marathon runner in six years.
The 33-year-old arrived in Moscow ranked 95th in the world and clocked two hours 36.24 minutes, the best run since Mara Yamauchi's ninth in Osaka.
This was only Partridge’s second World Championships outing and having finished 24th in Daegu two years ago, the Scot was able to toast a job well done in the Russian capital.
She adopted a cautious strategy, going through 20km in 22nd but came home strongly and the heat started to take its toll on her rivals.
“I started off and I was way back and for a minute I did wonder if I had been a little bit too cautious,” said Partridge, who saw fellow Brit Sonia Samuels finish 16th in her maiden World Championships.
“It was just getting my rhythm going and I didn’t really think about the times or even paying attention to the kilometre markers.
"It was all about looking at the next person in front of me and trying to get past them and it was a proper race in that sense.
“There were bits that I wanted to run harder and I feel that I've run within myself and that there was more there."
Meanwhile, Kenyan Edna Kiplagat made history as she claimed victory in Russia, becoming the first ever woman to win back-to-back marathon world titles.
Kiplagat come home in two hours 25.44 minutes with Italian Valeria Straneo 14 seconds further behind in second and Japan’s Kayoko Fukushi completing the podium in third.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Farah claims dramatic 10,000m gold medal in Russia

Olympic champion Mo Farah won the 10,000 metres gold medal at the World Championships in Moscow.
Briton Farah, who stole the hearts of the British public with his double distance success over 10,000m and 5,000m at London 2012, sprinted home from Ibrahim Jeilan to win in 27 minutes 21.72 seconds.
Ethiopian Jeilan, who beat Farah to gold in Daegu in South Korea in 2011, looked to chase him down - but Farah's rapid pace down the final stretch saw him triumph.
"I had the experience from two years ago," Somalia-born Farah told the BBC.
"I knew I just had to cover every move and the guys were going to go out there to take a lot out of me. I was just digging in, digging in.
“I saw him coming and it was important to have something left. I didn’t want to lose again. A couple of years ago I was second. I kept looking across…
“I only realised I had won when I crossed the line.”
Jeilan’s time of 27:22.23 put him less than half a second clear of Kenya's Paul Tanui in the bronze medal position.
Hot favourite Farah won the 5,000m gold at the 2011 championships to go with his 10,000m silver. That left the world 10,000m gold the only one of the four top distance titles - including the Olympics - he had not previously won.
“It was nice to come out here and win it and that was the one missing," he added.
“I’ve been training really hard and spent a lot of time away from the family.
“Winning makes it more tasty because as a parent you don’t want to be away from your kids.”
Farah, who was competing in his first race over the distance since winning gold in London Games, looked calm and collected throughout the final on a sultry evening at the Luzhniki stadium.
Knowing he could outsprint the opposition, Farah was happy to settle into the pack for most of the race, leaving the Kenyans and Ethiopians to set the pace before making his move on the penultimate lap.
The 30-year-old, who plans to defend his 5,000 metres title, moved to the front and began to wind up the pace but there was still a leading group of six at the bell.
Farah kicked again and was followed by Jeilan but coming down the home straight the Ethiopian knew he was beaten.

Results

1. Mohamed Farah (Britain) 27:21.71

2. Ibrahim Jeilan (Ethiopia) 27:22.23

3. Paul Kipngetich Tanui (Kenya) 27:22.61

4. Galen Rupp (U.S.) 27:24.39

5. Abera Kuma (Ethiopia) 27:25.27

6. Bedan Karoki Muchiri (Kenya) 27:27.17

7. Kenneth Kiprop Kipkemoi (Kenya) 27:28.50

8. Nguse Amlosom (Eritrea) 27:29.21

9. Mohammed Ahmed (Canada) 27:35.76

10. Dathan Ritzenhein (U.S.) 27:37.90

11. Thomas Ayeko (Uganda) 27:40.96

12. Imane Merga (Ethiopia) 27:42.02

13. Moses Ndiema Kipsiro (Uganda) 27:44.53

14. Cameron Levins (Canada) 27:47.89

15. Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Japan) 27:50.79

16. Dejen Gebremeskel (Ethiopia) 27:51.88

17. Goitom Kifle (Eritrea) 27:56.38

18. Chris Derrick (U.S.) 28:04.54

19. Daniele Meucci (Italy) 28:06.74

20. Stephen Mokoka (South Africa) 28:11.61

21. Suguru Osako (Japan) 28:19.50

22. Timothy Toroitich (Uganda) 28:33.61

23. Bashir Abdi (Belgium) 28:41.69

24. Collis Birmingham (Australia) 28:44.82

25. Yevgeny Rybakov (Russia) 28:47.49

. Yuki Sato (Japan) DNF

. Jake Robertson (New Zealand) DNF

. Polat Kemboi Arikan (Turkey) DNF

. Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico) DNF

. Alemu Bekele (Bahrain) DNF

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Sprinter Baptiste tests positive - report

Trinidad and Tobago sprinter Kelly-Ann Baptiste has tested positive for a banned substance, according to reports.
Baptiste, 26, has returned home from the world championships where she was due to run in the first round of the 100m heats on Sunday morning.
"She has voluntarily withdrawn from the competition and is heading back to her base," the newspaper quoted Trinidad and Tobago team manager Dexter Voisin as saying.
Voisin did not say that Baptiste had tested positive but the newspaper said a reliable source had confirmed it.
Voisin said another Trinidad & Tobago woman sprinter, Semoy Hackett, 24, had also withdrawn from the championships and returned home voluntarily.
"They both left this morning," said Voisin.
Baptiste, the third fastest woman this year over 100m, hails from the same training group of former world sprint champion Tyson Gay of the United States, who has returned two positive tests for an undisclosed banned substance.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Bolt, Brits through to sprint semi-finals in Russia

Usain Bolt breezed into the semi-finals of the men's 100m along with Dwain Chambers and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey while James Dasaolu scraped through as a fastest loser at the World Championships in Moscow.
Bolt, with a wave and a quick salute to an appreciative Luzhniki stadium crowd pre-race - but no smiles or elaborate gestures - eased down the straight in 10.07 seconds, safely earning his passage to the semi-finals on Sunday. The final is later on Sunday evening.
Running in the last of seven first-round heats, Bolt kept his composure after Kemar Hyman of the Cayman Islands, running in lane four - directly to Bolt's right - false-started and was disqualified.
Olympic champion and world record holder Bolt infamously suffered the same fate two years ago in Daegu, South Korea, and was forced to walk away as compatriot Yohan Blake took his world title.
Aikines-Aryeetey and Chambers both automatically advanced into the semi-finals, both finishing third in their heats.
However, Dasaolu, who became Britain's second-fastest sprinter of all time last month - clocking 9.91 seconds - scraped through by the skin of his teeth.
The 25-year-old eased up during the final few metres of his heat and finished fourth, leading to an agonising wait until he was confirmed as a fastest loser by just 0.01s.
"I've learnt a lesson," the Londoner, 25, told the BBC. "I don't think I got off to a great start. I'll just use the round and try to build on this tomorrow.
"I haven't been able to do much training in the run-up to this and I knew I'd be a bit rusty but hopefully I can step my game up tomorrow."
Chambers said his own heat had been far from comfortable.
"It was tough," said Chambers, 35.
"The first round is always nerve-wracking because you want to get through safely and it was a tough heat with the likes of [Justin] Gatlin and [Keston] Bledman - sub 10-second runners.
"Medals are up for grabs here but you've got to take each round one step at a time, and I know for me I've got to rely on my experience, most definitely."

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - World champion Farah sets sights on more golds

Mo Farah has now won everything there is to win on the track for a long-distance runner but the newly-crowned 10,000m world champion insists he has his sights set on yet more gold later this week.
Farah stormed to the top of the podium in the Luzhniki Stadium, avenging his defeat against Ibrahim Jeilan over 25 laps in Daegu two years ago.
This time around it was the Ethiopian that had to settle for silver as Farah’s final kick in the home straight proved enough to cross the line first in a time of 27.21.71 minutes, with a 54 second last lap underlining his dominance.
The double Olympic champion is now the holder of both 10k and 5k world and Olympic titles. He is the first British athlete to win a 10,000m world title since Liz McColgan in 1991 and the first European man to take gold in the event at world level since 1983.
But Thursday’s 5,000m heats in Moscow are already on Farah’s mind and his motivation to keep chasing medals remains undiluted.
“I will take nothing for granted in the 5,000m now because I want to win as many medals as I can before the end of my career,” he said.
“It is that feeling that as it makes all the hard work worth it, to spend months away from my children, my new-born twins didn't even recognise me when I come home recently.
“That is very tough to take but when you cross that line it makes the hard work and sacrifices worth it.”
In Thursday’s heats over the shorter distance the Kenyans and Ethiopians will have to try and produce a quicker pace to run Farah out of the race.
Indeed the 30-year-old was delighted that he was not put under more pressure earlier in claiming Great Britain's first gold and first medal.
“I was surprised at how slow the pace was,” he added. “I knew the Ethiopians had four guys as did the Kenyans so there was a lot of talk they would take up the pace.
“My aim was to save energy and it was quite slow, it was the perfect race for me. I thought they would push the pace to try to get rid of me but it never happened."
Elsewhere, Eilish McColgan ran a personal best and set a new Scottish record of 9:35.82 minutes in qualifying for Tuesday’s 3000m steeplechase final.
“To run a personal best after the last eight weeks that I’ve had is absolutely unbelievable," she said.
"I’ve only managed to run twice a week and everything else is in the pool or on the cross trainer.”
Meanwhile, Christine Ohuruogu won her 400m heat with a time of 50.20 seconds to go through to the semi-finals as the fastest qualifier and Shara Proctor needed just one jump to qualify for Sunday’s long jump final but team-mate Lorraine Ugen is out on her World Championships debut after failing to record a distance.
“That’s all it took and that’s all it needed," said Proctor, after jumping 6.85m, just seven centimetres shy of her British record.
"That’s what I tried to do – just go out there and get one jump in, but it’s surprising I got 6.85m when I was so far behind the board.”
Dwain Chambers, Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and James Dasaolu all progressed their 100m heats, even though the latter, who turned heads when he ran 9.91 at the British Championships, scraped through as a fastest loser.
Dasaolu had not raced since setting that sparking new personal best last month and the 25-year-old admitted he got lucky.
“I haven’t had the best preparation because since I ran 9.91, I haven’t raced because of a hip problem,” said Dasaolu.
“That was my first time out of the blocks for a few weeks so I didn’t really know where I was heading into the race. Hopefully I can improve.”
Meanwhile, Chambers - competing at his seventh World Championships - admitted age is starting to catch up with him after coming through a tough heat that included one of the medal favourites Justin Gatlin.
“It was tough, but I got through. It felt like a hard race," he said.
"I guess that’s one of the things that I have to cope with at my age but I am happy with it. I wanted to give a better performance, but I did enough to get through and I have to make sure I find enough for tomorrow.”

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Gardner sets the pace with sub-11 first-heat 100m

English Gardner laid down a marker as she ran a sub-11 second heat at the World Championships in Moscow.
Just as in the men's event, Jamaica and the United States have dominated the global sprint scene in the last two decades and the United States took first blood on Sunday with an explosive performance by Gardner.
The 21-year-old winner of the US trials flew out of her blocks to open a two-metre lead in an instant and, unlike most of her more experienced rivals, kept the power on to drive through the line in 10.94 seconds despite a slight headwind.
"My coach said to get out at 60 and if felt good, finish," she said. "That wasn't necessarily all out. I think I have a lot left, that felt pretty comfortable so I'm a little scared!"
Team mates Alexandria Anderson and Octavious Freeman also looked sharp but defending champion Carmelita Jeter, who has missed much of the season through injury, appeared a touch off
the pace and finished second in her heat. Jamaican quartet Kerron Stewart, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price, Sheri-Ann Brooks and Schilonie Calvert all progressed safely, Stewart the fastest in 11.02.
Blessing Okagbare, who set an African record 10.79 when winning last month's London Diamond League meeting, looks the only woman in the field capable of crashing the US-Jamaican party and the muscular Nigerian eased through her heat in 11.03.
Kelly-Anne Baptiste of Trinidad and Tobago, the third-fastest woman this year and bronze medallist two years ago, did not race after reportedly testing positive for drugs and leaving Moscow on Saturday.
The 2011 silver medallist and former winner Veronica Campbell-Brown and fellow Jamaican Sherone Simpson missed the championships after dope-test failures.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Four Brits progress from heats in Moscow

Hannah England left it late to qualify from her 1500m heat, rounding the final bend in seventh. before powering down the home straight to finish third in 4:08.05.
England hasn't competed since booking her place on the team with a victory at the British Championships last month and was relieved her absence from the track had not impacted on performance.
“I felt good out there,” she said. “I was quite nervous before because I haven’t raced since winning the trials and that feels like an awful long time ago now.
“Having spent time in Font Romeu and then Barcelona and now here it feels like a very long time since I raced.
“But I am glad to get that one under my belt and now I can look forward to the semi-final.
“I did feel fine physically out there and once I started running all the nerves went.
“Not competing since the trials was just a decision I made in terms of my training block and one that all morning I was questioning but now I know there was no need.”
While England was able to secure safe passage to the 1500m semi-finals team-mate Laura Weightman disappointed, finishing 11th in her heat in a time of 4:14.38, more than ten seconds down on her personal best.
This was also Weightman’s first outing since the British Championships, when she crashed out after a nasty fall, and the 22-year-old Olympic finalist admitted it was too big an ask to repeat her London 2012 heroics.
“I was on crutches for two weeks after the trials with a bruised bone in my foot,” she said.
“Coming into these Championships I’ve had ten days of running just to try and get my body going.
“I was hoping that by coming here I would try and rely on my strength built over the winter to get me through.
“But I just had nothing, no kick, no speed, no real pace in my legs that you have to have at a Championships like this to get you through the rounds.
“It’s frustrating because I know what sort of shape I was in at the trials, it’s just so unfortunate to and go out perform like this.”
Elsewhere, William Sharman eased through his 110m hurdles heat in third, clocking 13.51 secs to progress to the semi-finals.
He said: “I didn’t get the start I would have ideally have liked to get and that left me with a bit of work to do.
“But I think I performed to the best of my ability this early in the morning, so that is the main thing. I got the job done."
Meanwhile, Nigel Levine came home fourth in 45.41 seconds in his 400m heat to also advance to Monday’s semi-finals.
And British champion Asha Philip crossed the line in 11.29 seconds to take third in her 100m heat.
"I thought it was going to be hard to make the top three, then I thought ‘I’m not going out first round’, so I’m definitely going to do it. 11.29 for third - I’m really pleased,” said Philip.
“It’s good, it means I can do it. It doesn’t matter what they’ve run before, I still have to make sure I believe I can still beat them.”

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Bolt set to dazzle, six medals on offer on day two

Usain Bolt will be expected to bring some razzle-dazzle to the World Championships on Sunday in the semi-finals and final of the 100m after the Jamaican played it safe in the heats.
Triple Olympic champion Bolt, who infamously false-started and was disqualified from the final two years ago in Daegu, took no chances on his first appearance in the Luzhniki stadium with a win in 10.07.
"I'm happy with my run. I took it easy as it was the first round. I just wanted to get my reaction and start right," he said.
Bolt is hot favourite for the title in the absence of injured 2011 winner Yohan Blake and 2007 champion Tyson Gay who announced last month he had failed a dope test.
The decathlon is among five other golds to be decided on the second day of the championships and world record holder Ashton Eaton holds a nine-point lead over US team mate Gunnar Nixon with the 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500m (1635) to go.
Any hope of an American sweep of the podium went when defending world champion Trey Hardee no-heighted in the high jump in Saturday's fourth event.
Ethiopia's Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba is unbeaten over 10,000m and favourite to win the women's final, a title she earned in 2005 and 2007.
Dibaba was the first women to win the distance double when she also took gold over 5,000 in Helsinki in 2005 but although the 27-year-old has been entered into the shorter race here. Ethiopian media reports suggest she will run only the one event.
Another athlete who has dominated her event, Sandra Perkovic, will attempt to win a first discus world gold. The 23-year-old Croatian has the top four throws in the world this year with a best of 68.96 metres.
"I've never won a world title - I was too young in 2009 (finished ninth) but now is perfect," she told Reuters.
Cuba's Yarelys Barrios leads the rest of the contenders and is aiming to become the first woman to win four successive World Championship medals in the event after silvers in 2007 and 2009 and bronze in 2011.
World and Olympic long jump champion Britney Reese had a scare, scraping into Sunday's final in 12th and last place on countback with 6.57 metres as Shara Proctor led the qualifiers with 6.85 despite taking off way behind the board.
The first medal of the day comes in the men's 20-km walk which includes Olympic champion Olympic champion Chen Ding, although the Chinese has been plagued by injury and has not finished a race winning gold in London.

Key times on day two (UK times)

16:00 - Women's long jump final

16:05 - Men's 100m semi-finals

16:35 - Men's 800m semi-finals

17:05 - Women's 400m semi-finals

17:15 - Men's discus throw final

18:05 - Women's 10,000m final

18:50 - Men's 100m final

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Merritt puts safety first in Moscow

It was a case of safety first for Olympic 110 metres hurdles gold medallist Aries Merritt in the World Championships heats after his last race ended in a clatter with the barrier.
The world record holder ran within himself to safely negotiate the 10 hurdles on the bright blue track in a Luzhniki Stadium that was again practically empty.
Not even the lure of a host of world and Olympic champions could persuade the fans to turn out in sizeable numbers on a humid morning in the Russian capital.
A few hundred Ukrainian fans, all wearing blue or yellow tops, tried to brighten the atmosphere by fanatically clapping and cheering their country's athletes but the echoes that rang around the stadium merely underlined the emptiness.
Organisers must be hoping one of the biggest names in sport can liven things up when world record holder and Olympic champion Usain Bolt takes centre stage in the event's showpiece men's 100 metres final later on Sunday.
Merritt will be joined by defending champion Jason Richards, David Oliver and surprise US trials winner Ryan Wilson in Monday's semis as the Americans attempt a first global clean sweep in the event since the 1960 Olympics.
As if to impress upon his rivals his status as fastest in the world this year, Oliver was the quickest qualifier for Monday's semis in a time of 13.05 seconds.
Merritt, however was nonplussed by his compatriot's fast time.
"Today it was not necessary to run 13.05 in the first round. I preferred and needed to save energy," he told reporters.
"I tried not to make any mistakes," added Merritt who pulled up and pushed over a hurdle in his last race before the World Championships at the London Diamond league meeting two weeks ago.
"I wanted to be relaxed and in control. Full play will be tomorrow."
Like the men's event, the women's 100 metres has been hit by doping scandals with the silver and bronze medallists from Daegu in 2011 both missing.
Veronica Campbell-Brown, second two years ago, tested a positive for a banned diuretic in May while Kelly-Ann Baptiste of Trinidad and Tobago voluntarily withdrew from the championships on Saturday after reports of a failed test.
"In less that 24 hours, the federation will give a statement on Baptiste, Trinidad team manager Dexter Voisin told reporters on Sunday, without confirming or denying the reports.
American English Gardner put in a storming performance, flying out of the blocks and pushing all the way to the line to comfortably win her heat in the fastest time of the day, 10.94 seconds.
Defending champion Carmelita Jeter, whose season has been blighted with injury, looked less polished as she finished second in her heat behind Ivory Coast's Murielle Ahoure to go through to Monday's semi-finals.
Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, sporting a bright yellow bow in her pink ponytail, and Kerron Stewart led the challenge for the US's arch sprint rivals Jamaica, with wins in their heats.
The competition's decathletes were greeted with the sight of thousands of empty red, orange and yellow spectator seats for the start of the second day of the 10-discipline event which began with the 110 hurdles.
World record holder Ashton Eaton held a nine-point lead over young US compatriot Gunnar Nixon overnight and he extended that to 118 after clocking 13.72 for the hurdles, the fastest time of the day.
Despite the discus being one of Eaton's weaker events, his 45 metres was better than Nixon's 42.38, a performance which dropped the younger man down to fifth overall.
With the pole vault, javelin and 1,500 to come, Olympic champion Eaton has a lead of 119 over Germany's Michael Schrader.