Other Sports

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Okoro makes easy progress, Judd falters

Marilyn Okoro admits she has new coach Johnny Gray to thank after breezing through her 800m heat at the World Athletics Championships in Moscow.
One year ago Okoro was close to quitting the sport for good after controversially failing to earn selection individually for the 800m for the London 2012 Olympics.
However fast forward to the present and the outlook looks much rosier as she finished her heat second in a season's best time of 1:59.43minutes to qualify for the semi-finals.
And the 28-year-old knows exactly where the praise lies for her comfortable opening outing at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium, at the feet of coach Gray.
And she insists Gray's big-time experience that saw him claim 800m bronze at the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games is already proving invaluable in Moscow.
"I'm very pleased with how my heat went," she said. "It was a season's best and I'm just happy to have executed my race the way I did.
"It was a tough draw and I thought 'I know how these girls run' so I just really wanted to relax and go through the motions and use my speed at the end and try to stay really calm.
"Johnny's a front runner and that's what works best for us when we're trying to go get those fast times. This is a championships though so he's definitely been beasting me and making me strong.
"Of the little stuff we've done together I'm really pleased with how it's going, but mostly he's teaching me how to run the race well."
Okoro will be joined in the 800m semi-finals by fellow Brit Laura Muir, who celebrated her maiden World Championship outing by finishing her heat third in 2:00.80.
However 18-year-old Jessica Judd will not join them as she saw her own World Championship bow end prematurely as she could only manage 2:01.48 to cross the line fifth in her heat.
"I've come a long way this season," said Judd. "It's been my best year so far and it would have been a dream if I could have made it into the final, or at least a semi-final.
"Going out in the heat wasn't on my agenda at all, that's why I am so disappointed. I know I could be a finalist, I can run so much quicker, I think I'm in 1:58 shape so to run over two minutes is just a disaster in my opinion."
There was more disappointment for Anyika Onuora in the 200m as she finished fourth in her heat in 23.36 seconds, missing out on a place in the semi-finals.
However European under-23 champion Jodie Williams marked her world bow in style as she qualified for the semi-finals as one of the fastest losers having clocked 23.00.
"I feel pretty good, 23.00 is the fastest I've ever run in a heat and I've never come out and run that fast in the first round, so I'm pleased with my performance," said Williams.
"I get better through the rounds so hopefully I can get a bit quicker. These girls are running so fast, it's just an honour to be here really.
"In the next round I'm going to run as fast as I can. It would be great to come here and run a personal best.
"I always like to come to championships and run the best that I can and I feel like I'm in personal best form. Hopefully in the next round that's all I can ask for."

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Athletes add some colour to world championships

Swedish high jumper Emma Green-Tregaro made a discreet but colourful show of support for Russia's gay community at the world championships on Thursday.
The 28-year-old painted her nails the colours of the gay pride rainbow flag for the qualifying round of the event and after needing just two jumps to reach the final will get the chance to show off her manicure again.
Russia, which hosts next year's Winter Olympics in Sochi, passed a controversial law in June outlawing the promotion of homosexuality.
"It felt right," Green-Tregaro told reporters, adding she had got the idea after seeing a rainbow over the Russian capital. "I wouldn't say it was a protest more of a statement of what I think."
Shocking pink was the dominant colour of the 200 metres heats with 100 metres gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce's bright hair extensions and matching spikes blazing a trail across the Luzhniki Stadium track.
After her exertions in the shorter race, it was not surprising to see the Jamaican, aiming to become the first woman in 22 years to win a world championships sprint double, ease down near the end of a heat she won in 22.78 seconds.
Fastest time of the day went to three-times world champion Allyson Felix, who was more than happy to finally get a taste of the action, gracefully speeding to 22.59.
"These last days, I was watching the action on the TV and finally I could get out there," said the American, who with eight world championship golds to her name needs one more to set a record.
"I'm happy with my run today. I was focused on my start, on working the turn and easing comfortably on the home straight."

LOCAL JUMPERS

The sparse crowd did have plenty to cheer about, however, with defending world champion Mariya Savinova the quickest of three Russian athletes to go through to the Friday's 800m semis.
In a fast heat, Savinova, also the Olympic champion, looked comfortable as she finished third to take the final automatic qualifying spot in 1:59.44. Heat winner Brenda Martinez of the U.S. had the best time of the round with 1:59.39.
There will also be three Russians in Saturday's high jump final with world and Olympic champion Anna Chicherova leading the way.
As was shown by the raucous support given to pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva during her emotional victory on Tuesday, the home athletes can expect more vociferous backing in the finals.
Trinidad and Tobago's Keshorn Walcott pulled off a massive upset when he won the Olympic javelin title in London but a year on, having struggled with injuries for part of this season, he failed to make the world championship final, finishing 19th in qualifying.
Six gold medals will be up for grabs later on Thursday with both 400 metres hurdles finals being contested as well as the men's steeplechase and women's 1,500m. On the infield, there is the men's high jump and women's triple jump.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Isinbayeva condemns Swede's 'disrespectful' gay rights protest

The face of the Moscow world championships, Yelena Isinbayeva, has condemned Swede Emma Green-Tregaro's gesture of support for the Russian gay community as disrespectful and said she supported the law banning the promotion of homosexuality.
Green-Tregaro competed in Thursday's qualifying round of the high jump at Luzhniki Stadium with her fingernails painted in the colours of the rainbow flag used by the gay movement.
Meanwhile, American 800 metres runner Nick Symmonds said he was shocked by Isinbayeva's comments and that he had been told he risked jail if he wore a rainbow badge.
"It's disrespectful to our country, disrespectful to our citizens because we are Russians," Isinbayeva, speaking hesitantly in English, told a news conference.
"Maybe we are different than European people and people from different lands. We have our law which everyone has to respect. When we go to different countries, we try to follow their rules. We are not trying to set our rules over there. We are just trying to be respectful.
"We consider ourselves, like normal, standard people, we just live boys with women, girls with boys... it comes from the history.
"I hope the problem won't ruin our Olympic Games in Sochi ," added the 31-year-old, who is one of Russia's best known athletes and won her third world title in front of an enthralled crowd on Tuesday.
The controversial Russian legislation, which was passed in June, outlaws some aspects of the promotion of homosexuality and has become a political hot potato ahead of next year's Sochi Winter Olympics, when it will apply to athletes and spectators.
Critics of the law have said it effectively disallows all gay rights rallies and could be used to prosecute anyone voicing support for homosexuals.
Last week, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it had sought clarification from Russia on how the law would be applied while there have already been some calls for a boycott of the Games.
Isinbayeva, who is an ambassador for Sochi 2014 and will be mayor of the main athletes' Olympic village, was against this.
"Of course, I don't support this boycott," she said. "I'm also against this polemic and feel sorry that they try to involve the athletes in such a problem... because we are not prohibiting athletes from participating in Sochi even if they have no traditional relationships," added the world record holder.
"It doesn't matter because... we don't care about nations, about different skin colours, we are athletes, we are one family, and we work very hard for only one goal, to take a gold medal in an Olympic Games, to participate in an Olympic Games.
"We are against publicity but not of course against every choice of every single person, it's their life, its their choice, it's their feelings but we are against the publicity in our country and I support our government," she added.
Symmonds, the only athlete to speak out against the ban in the build-up to the world championships where he won a silver medal, voiced his concerns again on Thursday.
"It blows my mind that a young, so well-educated woman can be so behind with the times," Symmonds told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"Guess what Yelena, a large portion of your citizenship are normal, standard homosexuals.
"I wanted to compete with a rainbow sticker but was told I would go to prison if I did that.
"It was suggested that if I pushed this too far it was a real possibility."
Asked what the feeling about the law was among the athletes in Moscow, Symmonds said: "It's a very divided subject but from most of what I've seen, this is not an issue for my generation. We believe in equality.
"There's been a huge shift to equality now being the majority view in America. Here it seems the majority of people respect this law so you have to respect that in a democracy.
"But if you are going to host the Sochi Olympics, history will look back and say 'you are on the wrong side of history, Russia'."
Symmonds said he was against a boycott of Sochi but would continue to speak out.
"My aim was to come here and race and try to win a medal for the United States," he said.
"Having done that, if I can help to advance the cause then that's something I'd like to do."
Green-Tregaro got the inspiration for her discreet display of support from seeing a rainbow over the Russian capital.
"When I first came to Moscow, the first thing I saw when I opened the curtains was a rainbow over Moscow and I thought that was a pretty good sign," the 2005 world bronze medallist said.
"I hadn't thought about it before, then I decided to paint my nails. I usually do my nails in something that feels good for me and it was a simple way of showing what I think."
"It felt right," she said showing her brightly coloured nails painted in red, yellow, gold, blue and purple.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Hejnova flies to 400m hurdles win as Shakes-Drayton flops

Zuzana Hejnova obliterated the opposition to win 400m hurdles gold as Britain's Perri Shakes-Drayton fell to pieces in Moscow.
The Czech cruised to an error-free win in a world-lead, national record time of 52.83 seconds, with American duo Dalilah Muhammad (54.09) and 2011 champion Lashinda Demus (54.27) picking up silver and bronze.
Medal hope Shakes-Drayton - who impressed in qualifying but showed ragged technique at times - started poorly and was going backwards in the closing metres, finishing seventh in a poor time of 56.25.
"It was going all right until the first hurdle and after the first hurdle my knee just felt funny," she said.
"It was going so well, leading the heats and the semi. But tonight after the first bend I was just going back and back and back."
Her compatriot Eilidh Child was far more impressive, coming fifth, with her time of 54.86 only half a second shy of a medal.
It is the 26-year-old Hejnova's finest achievement to date, having picked up bronze at last year's London Olympics.
"To run under 53 seconds - it is fantastic. The reason for my improvement is that I changed coach and I now train with the boys," the 26-year-old Hejnova said.
"They are faster so they are my motivation."
After London 2012, Hejnova linked up with Dalibor Kupka, former coach to 2004 Olympic decathlon champion Roman Sebrle, and she counts European 400 metres gold medallist Pavel Maslak among her new training partners.
"It's a fantastic season for me. I'm still unbeatable... and I broke my personal best and the national record," Hejnova added.
It was only the second track gold for the Czech Republic at a world championships after Ludmila Formanova won the 800 in 1999.
While Shakes-Drayton and Demus were considered the favourites after Olympic champion Natalya Antyukh failed to reach the final, Hejnova had qualified fastest ahead of the aforementioned pair and - unlike them - improved on that time in a flawless final run.
The Czech's excellent technical hurdling ultimately saw her build up an unassailable lead in the middle part of the race as the fast-finishing Demus and Muhammad failed to get close in the final strait.
It is back to the drawing board for the highly-rated Shakes-Drayton, who often performs well in the season and qualifying but fails to make an impact on major championships.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Kenya's Kemboi lands world steeplechase hat-trick

Kenyan Ezekiel Kemboi refused to buckle and allow teenage team-mate Conseslus Kipruto to threaten his dominance of the 3,000 metres steeplechase by powering to a third consecutive world title.
The 31-year-old, sporting a mohawk hairstyle, clocked 8:06:01 with Kipruto, 18, chasing him home in 8:06.37. Frenchman Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad repeated his bronze from Daegu to deny Kenya a podium sweep with Paul Kipsiele Koech placed fourth.
The four Kenyans in the final dictated the pace of the race from the gun to the bell. Benabbad looked threatening around the home turn but Kemboi simply went up a gear and burst away, allowing himself to slow up towards the line with gold secure.
Kenya are the dominant force in men's steeplechasing with twice Olympic champion Kemboi laying strong claim to be the best yet to emerge from the east African nation, although Moses Kiptanui also won three successive world title between 1991-1995.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Fraser-Pryce takes it easy in bid for world sprint double

Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has her eye on a golden sprint double at the world championships after curtailing the celebrations following her 100 metres victory.
Fraser-Pryce, who took 100 gold at the London Olympics but silver in the longer sprint, will face defending champion Allyson Felix in the final of the 200 after winning her semi on Thursday without hitting top gear.
Briton Jodie Williams was seventh in the third and last semi-final.
Aiming to become the first woman since Katrin Krabbe in 1991 to win the sprint double at the world championships, the 26-year-old Fraser-Pryce practically jogged over the line to take her race in 22.54.
"I feel much better than last year. This year I did not celebrate so much and I am resting more," Fraser-Pryce said.
"They say about the final 'no pain, no gain'. Once I am in the blocks I know what to do."
A late surge gave Mariya Ryemyen second place and a spot in Friday's final to the joy of the several hundred blue or yellow clad Ukraine fans who have become a regular and noisy feature at the Luzhniki stadium.
Felix, who with eight world championships golds needs one more to set an outright record, said after the heats earlier in the day that she had been itching to get a taste of the action and it was clear why as she comfortably clocked the fastest time of the round with 22.30 seconds.
In second, the tireless Blessing Okagbare, runner-up in the long jump and sixth in the 100 final already at these championships, was the only athlete who could stay anywhere near Felix in 22.39.
"I just want to do well as long as my body carries me," the Nigerian told reporters. "Regardless of how I feel, I have to go through the competition and see what happens."
Ivory Coast's Murielle Ahoure, who became the first African woman to finish on the podium in a sprint at the world championships with silver in the 100, won the other semi in 22.46.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Gordon runs down Tinsley to snatch hurdles gold

Mum knows best, so the saying goes, even if the mother of new 400 metres hurdles world champion Jehue Gordon has not quite got track and field terminology quite right.
Heeding her words to "push-ahead" all the way to the line, the 21-year-old from Trinidad & Tobago came of age to fulfil a talent, nurtured, honed and refined in the island nation.
In a thrilling finish, Gordon threw himself at the line to pip Michael Tinsley by one hundredth of a second to take gold in 47.69, his power-packed finish and lunge, leaving the American with another silver after last year's Olympic near-miss.
Part professional athlete, part student, the former world junior champion Gordon credited the "crazy workouts" from his coach, Ian Hippolyte, as the reason behind his success.
"He kept telling me my body is in phenomenal shape and just believe in myself and let loose in the final," he told reporters after claiming Trinidad's first gold at a world championship since Ato Boldon's 200 metre victory in 1997.
"I kept patient, I kept calm and I executed the best race of my life today."
But a non-expert - his mother Marcella - also played a significant role.
"After the last hurdle I just remembered my coach telling me it's going be a foot race coming home. I also remembered my mum telling me to push ahead - she says push ahead instead of dip for the line because she's really not that involved in track and field," he said.
"My head actually left my body and went over the line. As Trinidadians would say, I threw my frame over the line.
"My mind was clear, I wanted to raise up and see my mind to the top of the board."
Gordon doubted that his proud parent would have watched his moment of glory.
"No," he said. "She does not want to have high blood pressure."
A brilliant fourth in the 2009 world final as a 17-year-old, Gordon did not initially press on from his introduction to the big time.
His decision, though, to stay and train at home, and remain with the coach he had been with from the age of 12, he said, had now been vindicated.
"I kept faith in my coach, I must give this achievement to him because he's had a lot of criticism over the years.
"I wanted to be the world champion after being the world junior champion (in 2010). Now I want to be Olympic champion... I'm just being patient.
"It's not easy on a 21-year-old trying to be a student and professional athlete at the same time."
Gordon, majoring in sports management, has just finished his third year at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine.
Becoming world champion, he said, showed that young Caribbean athletes did not have to go into the American collegiate system to progress.
"I wanted to show Trinidadians I could localise things. I could localise books and athletics at the same time, and show people I don't need to go outside (Trinidad) to be successful."
His victory lifted some of the dark clouds hovering above the Trinidadian camp after Kelly-Ann Baptiste, who won a world 100 metres bronze medal in 2011, and fellow sprinter Semoy Hackett missed the Moscow world championships because of doping violations.
"I really just wanted to uplift the team," Gordon said.
"Even though we have not been studying the Kelly-Ann issue so much we just wanted to be positive and feed off the energy we have been getting around the whole camp."

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Swede Aregawi takes silver winner Simpson's 1,500m title

Sweden's Ethiopian-born Abeba Aregawi learned from her Olympic mistake and produced a devastating final 300 metres to deny defending champion Jennifer Simpson a second 1,500 metres gold at the world championships on Thursday.
Simpson managed to find another gear coming towards the line as she fought desperately to retain her title but it was too late and Aregawi, who was cleared to compete for the Sweden last December, finished clear of the field in four minutes 2.67 seconds.
American Simpson, her ponytail bobbing frantically behind her, had to settle for silver in 4:02.99 and Kenya's Hellen Obiri took the bronze with 4:03.86.
Briton Hannah England enjoyed a storming finish to snatch fourth spot.
"After my failure at the Olympics last year, I worked specifically on the final 400 metres and on improving my finish. Today the race suited me perfectly," said Aregawi.
Competing for Ethiopia, she had been a medal hope at London 2012 but found herself out of position and then almost fell in the final metres to finish fifth.
"I had trained very well to win in London but it was basically a technical mistake. I didn't put myself in the correct position and there was a bit of jostling but I've corrected that," she told a news conference through a translator.
Determined not to make a similar error in Moscow, the 23-year-old moved into second on the shoulder of Simpson with two laps to go and then, with the field still bunched behind her, kicked for home at the bell.
The injection of pace started to stretch her rivals and Aregawi, undefeated this year, opened up a decisive gap on Simpson up the back straight to give Sweden their first world championship middle distance gold.
There was to be no further medal celebrations for the Dibaba family as Aregawi's former Ethiopian team mate Genzebe, younger sister of 10,000 metres world champion Tirunesh, could only manage eighth.
American 17-year-old prodigy Mary Cain, coached by Alberto Salazar - the man credited with making Britain's multi distance champion Mo Farah into a winner - was 10th.
Turkey's Olympic champion Asli Cakir Alptekin was not in Moscow after being provisionally suspended due to irregularities in her biological passport.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Champion Bondarenko misses WR as Grabarz disappoints

Newly crowned world high jump champion Bohdan Bondarenko failed in his bid to land the world record after a gripping final in Moscow which saw British Olympic bronze medallist Robbie Grabarz finish eighth.
Bondarenko had a great battle with Olympic bronze medallist Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and Canada Derek Drouin, who both cleared 2.38 metres.
Bondarenko had 2.35 under his belt but then bravely passed on 2.38, only to miss his first attempt at 2.41, a height he has not managed all year.
At the second attempt, however, he made it, for gold, though his latest attempt on Javier Sotomayor's 20-year-old world record of 2.45 fell short.
His first attempt was decent as he clipped the bar on his way over, but the second was far closer as the crowd remained quiet on the Ukrainian’s insistence.
A sense of destiny pervaded the air of the Luzhniki Stadium as he sat down ahead of his third jump, but once he had climbed to his feet and taken his run-up, he knocked the bar off with his arm on the way up.
That did not prevent him from celebrating with his coach in front of thousands of his blue-and-yellow-clad compatriots.
Grabarz cleared 2.29, the height which saw him win bronze at the 2012 Olympics, at the second attempt but failed with his three attempts at 2.32.
Caterin Ibarguen took Colombia's first-ever world gold in the women's triple jump.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Child admits to letting 400m hurdles medal go at worlds

Eilidh Child might have finished fifth in her maiden major outdoor championship final but she couldn't help but think that she could have had so much more to celebrate in Moscow.
The 26-year-old paid the price for a third-place finish in her semi-final as she was stuck out in lane eight for the 400m hurdles finals at the World Athletics Championships.
Child and fellow British 400m hurdler Perri Shakes-Drayton were much fancied to challenge the podium positions in Russia having both made relatively easy progress through the rounds.
But Child struggled with her stride pattern down the back straight finishing fifth in 54.86seconds while Shakes-Drayton was seventh after suffering from an unexpected knee problem.
"It feels a bit bittersweet just now," she said. "If you had told me I would have finished fifth in the worlds then I would have taken it but that was not my best race.
"I didn't execute it that well and seeing what got medals I think I could have been up there. But it's the third race in four days and sometimes the legs don't have it in them.
"So I'm happy to have come fifth and hopefully I can get on the podium next time. I lost my stride a bit on the back straight and felt I was trying to fight back the whole way.
"In the heats and semi-finals had been the home straight I struggled with. So if I can just combine the two it would be a better race."
Hungary's Zuzana Hejnova capped off a remarkable unbeaten season with gold while Shakes-Drayton went for a scan to figure out what is wrong with her knee.
"In the race it felt like my knee was wobbling and doing something it should not have been doing," she said. "I am gutted obviously.
"I was doing so well and feeling so good but I was just not in that race. It happened before I clattered into the hurdle, I was like 'Oh God, please hold on' because I was still pushing."
On a night of contrasting fortunes, there was better news for Britain's men's 4x400m relay quartet, who progressed through to the final in a season's best time of 3:00.50minutes.
Conrad Williams, Michael Bingham, Jamie Bowie and Martyn Rooney were the chosen four for the heats, finishing second to Jamaica, however there will be changes with Nigel Levine to come in.
Elsewhere, Olympic bronze medallist Robbie Grabarz had to settle for eighth in the high jump final as Bohdan Bondarenko jumped a championship record of 2.41m for gold.
Grabarz had three failures at 2.32m and said: "That was a pretty cool competition to be honest. I think my personal best would've come in about fifth.
"It's an incredible standard and it's not been a fantastic season for me anyway, so eighth place is obviously disappointing for me but at the end of the day I'll take it.
"I'm not jumping over the moon or anything but it's eighth place in a World Championship final and with the run in I've had it's acceptable."
European under-23 champion Jodie Williams bowed out in the semi-finals of the 200m after finishing seventh in her semi-final in a time of 23.31.
And world silver medallist from Daegu in 2011 Hannah England just missed out on a second successive global podium finish after placing fourth in the 1500m final.
"Coming fourth in the world is a very good achievement, especially after everything that happened last year," she said. "It's just hard to watch the other girls get a lap of honour, that is obviously where I want to be."

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Fab Friday beckons with the Felix, Farah and Bolt show

Usain Bolt starts his quest for a second world track gold in Moscow but American sprinting great Allyson Felix looks set to steal the limelight as she goes for a fourth world 200 metres title on Friday.
Briton Mo Farah should also rubber-stamp his status as one of the all-time distance running greats - and repeat his Olympic feat from London - by adding a 5,000 metres gold to the 10,000 title he won on the first day of the championships.
The graceful-striding Felix won three Olympic golds in London last year at 200 and in the 4x100 and 4x400 metres relays and is firmly on course to become the athlete to win most individual world championship golds.
Felix, Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson have all won eight.
The 27-year-old has most to fear from Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, whose 100 metres victory on Monday was probably the most impressive of the championships.
Compatriot Bolt, his 100 metres title safely reclaimed on Sunday, returns to the Luzhniki Stadium for the first round heats and semi-finals of the 200, the distance he prefers.
Defending world and Olympic 100 metres hurdles champion Sally Pearson gets her first feel of the Luzhniki track in the opening heats after "patiently waiting" until day seven of the championships.
"Staying focussed on the job can be quite tough when you're at the end of the program. You have to remain calm and relaxed," the Australian wrote in her blog.
Pearson has slowly regained form after an injury-hit season but faces a formidable challenge from the Americans, especially young sensation Brianna Rollins who ran the fastest time in 21 years when she clocked 12.26 seconds to win the U.S. trials in June.
Rollins' preparations have not gone without a hitch, however, the 21-year-old tweeting she had "banged my knee in practice" at the weekend.
While Rollins has plenty of time ahead of her to shine, compatriot and "golden oldie" Dwight Phillips bids to go out in a blaze of glory and secure a fifth world long jump title.
The 35-year-old delayed his retirement after missing last year's Olympics through injury.
Gold medals are also up for grabs in the women's hammer, men's shot put and men's 4x400m relay.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - 'Isinbayeva anti-gay? No, just lining up a political career'

Eurosport's Reda Maher tries to make sense of Yelena Isinbayeva's crass comments criticising a gay rights protest.
I interviewed Yelena Isinbayeva as one of my first assignments as an intern for Eurosport back in 2005, and – once the giddiness subsided – found her a bubbly, polite young woman who was happy to give interviews in a language she was still in the process of learning.
My positive feelings towards continued for many years. That was until Thursday afternoon, when what can only be described as an ill-advised ‘rant’ against Emma Green-Tregaro’s’s open support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Russians caused mini-shockwaves west of the Caucasus, where – until now – Isibayeva’s image as the poster girl of women’s athletics took a heavy blow from which she may not recover.
Isinbayeva has now tried to distance herself from her original comments, claiming to have been "misunderstood", and blaming the fact that, "English is not my first language."
Isinbayeva is an intelligent, educated woman, as outspoken 1500m medallist Nick Symmonds pointed out in his rebuttal to her criticism of those opposing Russia’s recent legislative regression on so-called ‘promotion’ of gay values.
Context is important. Russia’s newly-passed law outlawing public declarations of homosexuality is in direct contravention of the IOC’s clearly defined policy of inclusivity.
LGBT Russians have hardly been bashing down the Kremlin to demand promotion of homosexuality in schools, yet that is the argument proposed by the scaremongers among the social conservatives who are behind the law. That's despite there being no evidence to suggest that Gay Pride marches or an openly-lesbian TV presenter could provoke a social meltdown across the country.
Indeed, gays and lesbians are harassed, beaten and sometimes killed for expressing their sexuality in Russia. Pride marches are attacked by far-right skinheads, while police look on before arresting the victims on public order charges. It is clear to anyone with a conscience that Russia’s lawmakers should be seeking to protect, not further marginalise, minorities, whether sexual or ethnic.
This level of violence and state inaction extends to political opponents of Vladimir Putin’s ruling Free Russia party, and even those whose business interests threaten the State and its cronies.
The passing of this legislation has led many to propose boycotts of the Winter Games in Sochi. Such boycotts are arguably a step too far – major sporting events are regularly hosted on less enlightened shores in the Middle East, Asia and Africa – while China was allowed to host the 2008 Olympics, and their human rights record would make even the hardiest Soviet blush.
Yet while a boycott would be inappropriate, athletes should be allowed, encouraged even, to support minority issues if a host nation directly contravenes the Olympic spirit.
At the same time, however, defending freedom of speech means we should allow individuals to express their social and political views, and so any demands that Isinbayeva be punished by the IOC would be as Draconian as Russia’s own war on protest and activism.
It could be argued that events managed by the IOC, IAAF, FIFA and other sporting organisations should insist – as a stipulation of hosting one of their events – that their rules must be followed within boundaries of the competition. For example, the strict WADA code on doping might impinge on a host nation’s own legal framework, and the invasive nature of the drug test may contravene a state’s interpretation of personal liberty. So why not extend this for the support of minorities too?
Isinbayeva's retraction on Friday acknowledged the anti-discrimination language in the Olympic charter, saying that all she had wanted to do was complain about non-Russian athletes criticising Russian laws.
"What I wanted to say was that in her statement.
But this is all irrelevant to Isinbayeva, and merely serves to cloud the real reasons behind her initial statement. It's irrelevant because, despite having backtracked on her decision to retire earlier this season, the Russian’s long-term earning potential in track and field peaked a long time ago, when she was breaking her own world records one centimetre at a time to recoup lucrative bonus prize money at the regular IAAF events.
Isinbayeva sees her future career in Russia, and probably in politics, where she has close links to Putin’s gang of ex-KGB spooks and nouveau-riche oligarchs.
Don’t for one minute pretend Putin does not control everything that passes in law. After the farce that was the last ‘free and fair’ election, he is acutely aware that the next poll will need to retain something resembling credibility. To do so, he needs to shore up his support in the heartlands, where his links to the old regime are appreciated, and where his willingness to shamelessly and cynically promote the Orthodox Church is lauded, as we saw in the shambolic fall-out to the Pussy Riot affair.
Those heartlands extend to the more restive regions of the south west, where a different political and religious ideology shares the homophobic values of the heartlands.
Putin’s rejection of Western values on sexuality is a calculated risk. His own power is cemented at the expense of Russia’s relationship with the West, which has taken enough blows for different reasons of cold-war era gamesmanship recently. And there are other more willing allies in the unreconstructed east, not to mention the hedging of bets on the likes of Syria’s Assad retaining power.
Similarly, albeit less dramatically, Isinbayeva appears to have realised that her own reliance on the IAAF and IOC dollar has become limited by the passing of time and its impact on success. Even if she does return to competition after her upcoming break, she is unlikely to be earning the extra greenbacks because she is unlikely to be breaking world records in competitive conditions. That this puritanical rant in support of “normal” folk will isolate her from the rest of Europe and the New World is of little concern to her; now is time to shore up support, and affirm a stance alongside the hetero-normative standard of Putin’s rabble-rousing, chest-baring masculinity.
Isinbayeva laughably tried to claim she opposed Swedish jumper Green-Tregaro’s decision to wear rainbow nail-polish because it was a “political” statement. It wasn’t for Green-Tregaro, who is Swedish and thus has no political truck in Russia. It was a humanitarian statement, and by virtue of referring to it in such overwhelmingly negative terms, Isinbayeva politicised it.
Isinbayeva could easily have passed no comment, said that she was here to talk sport, not social or political issues. But she passed comment, and clearly positioned herself at the right-hand side of Putin and his regime.
By the time she is ready for government Russia’s political landscape may have seismically shifted, or it could have regressed further, no doubt at the expense of its economy. That’s a risk she has taken, and good luck to her.
But it is clear that, while remaining a national hero, her status as a global darling will have taken a massive knock. Athletics is not football. There is no homophonic chanting from the stands, and plenty of openly gay and lesbian athletes have competed and won at Games.
It may be difficult for Isinbayeva to compete outside of Russia in the future, with invites drying up and commercial opportunities limited. One assumes a crowd reaction in London, Paris, Berlin or Stockholm would be muted to say the least, if not outright hostile. Well, there’s always Qatar.
Could she handle the loss of adulation? Someone like Justin Gatlin plays up to the role of pantomime villain. But as a golden girl who has been the darling of the fans for so long , Isinbayeva may not take so well to the jeers.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Isinbayeva condemns Swede's 'disrespectful' gay rights protest

The face of the Moscow world championships, Yelena Isinbayeva, has condemned Swede Emma Green-Tregaro's gesture of support for the Russian gay community as disrespectful and said she supported the law banning the promotion of homosexuality.
Green-Tregaro competed in Thursday's qualifying round of the high jump at Luzhniki Stadium with her fingernails painted in the colours of the rainbow flag used by the gay movement.
Meanwhile, American 800 metres runner Nick Symmonds said he was shocked by Isinbayeva's comments and that he had been told he risked jail if he wore a rainbow badge.
"It's disrespectful to our country, disrespectful to our citizens because we are Russians," Isinbayeva, speaking hesitantly in English, told a news conference.
"Maybe we are different than European people and people from different lands. We have our law which everyone has to respect. When we go to different countries, we try to follow their rules. We are not trying to set our rules over there. We are just trying to be respectful.
"We consider ourselves, like normal, standard people, we just live boys with women, girls with boys... it comes from the history.
"I hope the problem won't ruin our Olympic Games in Sochi ," added the 31-year-old, who is one of Russia's best known athletes and won her third world title in front of an enthralled crowd on Tuesday.
The controversial Russian legislation, which was passed in June, outlaws some aspects of the promotion of homosexuality and has become a political hot potato ahead of next year's Sochi Winter Olympics, when it will apply to athletes and spectators.
Critics of the law have said it effectively disallows all gay rights rallies and could be used to prosecute anyone voicing support for homosexuals.
Last week, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it had sought clarification from Russia on how the law would be applied while there have already been some calls for a boycott of the Games.
Isinbayeva, who is an ambassador for Sochi 2014 and will be mayor of the main athletes' Olympic village, was against this.
"Of course, I don't support this boycott," she said. "I'm also against this polemic and feel sorry that they try to involve the athletes in such a problem... because we are not prohibiting athletes from participating in Sochi even if they have no traditional relationships," added the world record holder.
"It doesn't matter because... we don't care about nations, about different skin colours, we are athletes, we are one family, and we work very hard for only one goal, to take a gold medal in an Olympic Games, to participate in an Olympic Games.
"We are against publicity but not of course against every choice of every single person, it's their life, its their choice, it's their feelings but we are against the publicity in our country and I support our government," she added.
Symmonds, the only athlete to speak out against the ban in the build-up to the world championships where he won a silver medal, voiced his concerns again on Thursday.
"It blows my mind that a young, so well-educated woman can be so behind with the times," Symmonds told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"Guess what Yelena, a large portion of your citizenship are normal, standard homosexuals.
"I wanted to compete with a rainbow sticker but was told I would go to prison if I did that.
"It was suggested that if I pushed this too far it was a real possibility."
Asked what the feeling about the law was among the athletes in Moscow, Symmonds said: "It's a very divided subject but from most of what I've seen, this is not an issue for my generation. We believe in equality.
"There's been a huge shift to equality now being the majority view in America. Here it seems the majority of people respect this law so you have to respect that in a democracy.
"But if you are going to host the Sochi Olympics, history will look back and say 'you are on the wrong side of history, Russia'."
Symmonds said he was against a boycott of Sochi but would continue to speak out.
"My aim was to come here and race and try to win a medal for the United States," he said.
"Having done that, if I can help to advance the cause then that's something I'd like to do."
Green-Tregaro got the inspiration for her discreet display of support from seeing a rainbow over the Russian capital.
"When I first came to Moscow, the first thing I saw when I opened the curtains was a rainbow over Moscow and I thought that was a pretty good sign," the 2005 world bronze medallist said.
"I hadn't thought about it before, then I decided to paint my nails. I usually do my nails in something that feels good for me and it was a simple way of showing what I think."
"It felt right," she said showing her brightly coloured nails painted in red, yellow, gold, blue and purple.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Gemili fastest to qualify in 200m, Bolt cruises through

British sprinter Adam Gemili smashed his personal best to qualify joint-fastest from the heats for the 200m at the World Championships in Moscow.
Gemili produced the fastest time from a British athlete in the event since 2005 as he won his heat in a time of 20.17 for the joint-fastest time of the round along with South Africa's Anaso Jobodwana.
The time put him in fifth on the UK’s all-time list and second in the U23 category as the 19-year-old from London made an impressive start to the event, along with compatriot James Ellington, who also won his heat.
"Maybe I didn't expect it this early but coming into the 200m I knew I was in shape and I just wanted to execute," said Gemili, who was frustrated not to make the 100m team.
"I looked across and thought someone else must have got it but there's more to come and I just want to hit it this afternoon."
Two-time defending champion Usain Bolt jogged through his heat to win it in a comfortable time of 20.66.
Bolt, who took gold in the 100m on day two of the championships, pushed Britain’s Delanno Williams into second.
The 26-year-old Jamaican, who won the 200m titles in Berlin in 2009 and Daegu in 2011 and is also double Olympic champion and world record holder in the event, clocked an easy-going time as he cruised away from the field.
"I'm not really a morning person so I'm just happy to get through," Bolt said after advancing as the 21st-fastest qualifier.
"My foot is feeling better. It was sore but we've been working on it for four days."
Bolt, who set the current world record of 19.19 in Berlin four years ago, is the fastest in the field this season with 19.73 in Paris six weeks ago.
He will be joined by all the main favourites in Saturday's semi-finals, with the final to round off the evening session of day eight of action at the Luzhniki Stadium.
Jamaica team-mates Warren Weir, the Olympic bronze medallist from London, Nickel Ashmeade and debutant Jason Livermore all went through.

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Bolt blocks out the pain to advance in 200m

Usain Bolt stretched, stifled a yawn and, almost apologetically, extracted his giant frame from his blocks before strolling through his heat as he began his bid for a third successive world 200 metres title on Friday.
Bolt, never a fan of morning action and slightly tentative after dropping a starting block on his foot earlier in the week, was in the last of seven first round heats and duly won it in 20.66 seconds without ever getting out of second gear.
Watched by another feeble crowd, the sport's biggest name did the mininum required to advance to the semi-finals later in the day, with the final scheduled for 1605 GMT on Saturday.
"I'm not really a morning person so I'm just happy to get through," Bolt said after advancing as the 21st-fastest qualifier.
"My foot is feeling better. It was sore but we've been working on it for four days."
Bolt, who set the current world record of 19.19 in Berlin four years ago, is the fastest in the field this season with 19.73 in Paris six weeks ago.
American Tyson Gay would probably have been his main challenger, having clocked 19.74, but the 2007 champion misses the championships after a positive drugs test.
Bolt's Jamaican team mate Warren Weir, bronze medallist in last year's Olympics and the next-fastest in the field, also progressed comfortably, as did Nickel Ashmeade, fresh from his fifth place in the 100 metres final, and Jason Livermore as Jamaica bid to match their London Olympics podium sweep.
Yohan Blake, the silver medallist in London, is absent through injury while France's Christophe Lamaitre, world bronze medallist in 2011, also withdrew after suffering an injury racing the 100m earlier in the week.
Gay's absence opened the door for Wallace Spearmon, with two bronzes and a silver from previous world championships, but the American only just went through after taking it too easy for too long and finishing third in his heat.
South Africa's Anaso Jobodwana and British teenager Adam Gemili, with a personal best, shared the fastest time of the morning - 20.17.
"Maybe I didn't expect it this early but coming into the 200m I knew I was in shape and I just wanted to execute," said 19-year-old former Chelsea soccer trainee Gemili, who was frustrated not to make the 100m team.
"I looked across and thought someone else must have got it but there's more to come and I just want to hit it this afternoon."

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - Gemili aiming high after personal best in first Moscow outing

Adam Gemili insists he has the 200m final firmly in his sights after marking his senior World Athletics Championship bow in style with a new personal best in Moscow.
Gemili had to wait until day seven to get out on the track in Russia, eager to build on gold over 100m and fourth over 200m at the European Under-23 Championships last month.
And the wait clearly gave the Brit itchy feet as he stormed out of the blocks to win his 200m heat in 20.17seconds, beating his previous personal best by 0.13.
That time means Gemili now sits fifth on the all-time UK list, while it is also the fastest time posted by a Brit since Christian Malcolm ran 20.15 in 2005.
And, with the semi-finals following swiftly on at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Gemili was delighted to get off to a flying start but won't be settling for that.
"I'm very pleased with how it went so I'll take that forward to the semi-final and hopefully do well again," he said. "I was surprised; I was just looking forward to making the final. If I ran sub 20 at this meet I'd be over the moon but the final is my main aim.
"If the rest doesn't go to plan then at least I've come away with a personal best."
Gemili will be joined in the semi-final by British teammates James Ellington and Delano Williams as the pair also safely came through their heats.
Like Gemili, Ellington was impressive in winning his heat in 20.55 while Williams finished second behind defending champion Usain Bolt.
There was also good news for Tiffany Porter as she kicked off a fine morning for Britain by winning her 100m hurdles heat in a time of 12.72.
"It was just a matter of working off the cobwebs and just focusing on running a clean race and qualifying, that's the most important thing and I'm happy I was able to do that," Porter said.
"The main focus this whole season has been here, the World Championships, so hopefully I can put my races together and come out victorious.
"It's been excruciating having to wait so long; I've been ready to go since the first day. I've just been itching to get out here.
"So I'm happy I'm finally competing and finally it's our turn to just go out here and hopefully put on a good show."
And to round off a fine morning session Great Britain's women's 4x400m relay team won their heat in 3:25.39minutes to comfortably qualify for the final.
The team were led out by Eilidh Child, who had finished fifth in the 400m hurdles final less than 24 hours ago, before Shana Cox and Margaret Adeoye maintained Great Britain's lead.
Christine Ohuruogu brought them home for victory as Perri Shakes-Drayton missed out having flown home early to determine the full extent of a knee injury suffered in the 400m hurdles final.
"The girls did a superb job so I didn't have to do much work," said newly-crowned world 400m champion Ohuruogu.
"We always plan to turn up and deliver a really good performance and we always do and that was really great.
"They are a brilliant team to work with and I this is a really strong team and everyone has been looking forward to this and we are ready for the final."

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Britain's Porter wins heat in Moscow, relay team qualify

Britain's Tiffany Porter kicked off a fine morning for Britain by winning her 100m hurdles heat in a time of 12.72 at the World Championships in Moscow.
Porter was delighted with her commanding performance as she finally got her campaign underway on day seven with a composed run in the heat.
"It was just a matter of working off the cobwebs and just focusing on running a clean race and qualifying, that's the most important thing and I'm happy I was able to do that," Porter said.
"The main focus this whole season has been here, the World Championships, so hopefully I can put my races together and come out victorious.
"It's been excruciating having to wait so long; I've been ready to go since the first day. I've just been itching to get out here.
"So I'm happy I'm finally competing and finally it's our turn to just go out here and hopefully put on a good show."
And to round off a fine morning session Great Britain's women's 4x400m relay team won their heat in 3:25.39 minutes to comfortably qualify for the final.
The team were led out by Eilidh Child, who had finished fifth in the 400m hurdles final less than 24 hours ago, before Shana Cox and Margaret Adeoye maintained Great Britain's lead.
Christine Ohuruogu brought them home for victory as Perri Shakes-Drayton missed out having flown home early to determine the full extent of a knee injury suffered in the 400m hurdles final.
"The girls did a superb job so I didn't have to do much work," said newly-crowned world 400m champion Ohuruogu.
"We always plan to turn up and deliver a really good performance and we always do and that was really great.
"They are a brilliant team to work with and I this is a really strong team and everyone has been looking forward to this and we are ready for the final."

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Underfire Isinbayeva says she was 'misunderstood'

Russian pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva has said she is opposed to sexual discrimination, and that her English comments in support of her country's anti-gay propaganda law may have been misconstrued.
With Russia due to hold the Winter Olympics next year and football’s World Cup in 2018 the Government's stance, popular at home but fiercely at odds with many of the countries due to take part and already condemned by US President Barack Obama, is likely remain a touch-paper for protest.
The International Olympic Committee has asked the Russian government for a clear translation and a clarification of how the law will be applied during the Sochi games and Yelena Isinbayeva played the "misunderstanding" card on Friday when she sought to defend her anti-gay comments that caused such a stir on Thursday.
"English is not my first language and I think I may have been misunderstood when I spoke yesterday," she said in a statement.
"What I wanted to say was that people should respect the laws of other countries particularly when they are guests.
"But let me make it clear I respect the views of my fellow athletes, and let me state in the strongest terms that I am opposed to any discrimination against gay people on the grounds of their sexuality (which is against the Olympic charter)."
Isinbayeva, who won her third world title on Tuesday and is one of Russia's most popular sportswomen, caused international uproar on Thursday when she spoke out in favour of her country's recently-adopted law that bans some aspects of the promotion of homosexuality.
"Maybe we are different than European people and people from different lands. We have our law which everyone has to respect.
When we go to different countries, we try to follow their rules.
We are not trying to set our rules over there. We are just trying to be respectful," Isinbayeva said in English during a media interview ahead of her medal presentation.
"We consider ourselves, like normal, standard people, we just live boys with women, girls with boys ... it comes from the history."
Isinbayeva, who has now faced calls for her resignation as an Olympic youth ambassador, had been asked for her views after several Swedish athletes had painted their nails in rainbow colours in support of the gay movement.
American 800 metres runner Nick Symmonds said he was shocked by Isinbayeva's comments and that he had been told he risked jail if he wore a rainbow badge.
"It blows my mind that a young, so well-educated woman can be so behind with the times," Symmonds told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"Guess what Yelena, a large portion of your citizenship are normal, standard homosexuals."
The law, passed in June and that appears to have the widespread support of the Russian people, is already threatening to be a constant shadow over next year's Sochi Winter Olympics, where athletes, officials and fans will have to operate within its boundaries.
Social commentators in Russia have said that the country is likely to adopt something of a siege mentality in the face of worldwide condemnation and that a change in the law, which is broadly popular with the conservative majority, would be considered an unthinkable loss of face.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Gemili runs sub 20s to romp into final

British youngster Adam Gemili smashed his personal best for the second time in one day to win his 200m semi-final in 19.98s at the World Championships in Moscow.
Earlier on Friday, Gemili's time of 20.17s in the heats was the fastest by a Briton since 2005. His previous PB had been 20.30, meaning he has lowered it by almost a third of a second in one afternoon.
The 19-year-old feared he had showed his hand to early, but in the afternoon semi an astonishing finish saw the Londoner win through in the fastest time ever by a European U19 athlete, and the second fastest British time behind John Regis' 19.94.
Defending champion Usain Bolt comfortably won his semi-final in 20.17s.

 

[Smallville22]

World Championships - Bolt leads Jamaican assault on 200m final

Usain Bolt led three Jamaicans into the final of the men's 200 metres as the world record holder seeks a third successive world title at his favourite distance.
Bolt's team mates Warren Weir, bronze medallist in last year's Olympics and the next-fastest in the field this season, and Nickel Ashmeade, fresh from his fifth place in the 100 metres final, went through to Saturday's final as Jamaica bid to match their London Olympics podium sweep.
Hoping to crash their party, however, will be Adam Gemili, after the 19-year-old ran the second-fastest time ever by a Briton to make his first major final. His 19.98 is bettered only by former indoor world champion John Regis, who ran 19.87 when Gemili was nine months old.
Curtis Mitchell also went under 20 with a personal best 19.97, the fastest time of the semis, but the lone American in the final will almost certainly be battling for the minor medals behind the imperious Bolt.
The Jamaican, who won the 100m gold on Sunday, dropped a starting block on his foot earlier in the week but said after coming through his morning heat that he was no longer in pain.
In the evening semis he ran a typically strong bend, eased down, then had to push the last couple of strides after upstart South African Anaso Jobodwana in the next lane looked to take his scalp.
Bolt, smiling down at his rival, pushed on for a 20.12 time while the 21-year-old Jobodwana's personal best 20.13 sent him into the final.
Bolt, who set the current world record of 19.19 in Berlin four years ago, is the fastest in the field this season with 19.73 in Paris six weeks ago. His world record mark looks unlikely to be threatened in Moscow but the gold looks secure.
"I just need an ice bath and some rest," said Bolt, who will also go in the 4x100m relay final on Sunday.
"For the final I'd like to get an outside lane, it will be easier for me."
American Tyson Gay would probably have been his main challenger, having clocked 19.74, but the 2007 champion missed the championships after a positive drugs test.
Yohan Blake, the silver medallist in London, is absent through injury while France's Christophe Lamaitre, world bronze medallist in 2011, also withdrew after suffering an injury racing the 100m earlier in the week.