Category Archives: IAAF World Challenge

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IAAF World Challenge

Olympic champs Rudisha, Fraser-Pryce, Eaton Set For Sainsbury’s Glasgow Grand Prix

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Olympic champions David Rudisha, Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce, Carmelita Jeter and Ashton Eaton are just a few of the latest names to confirm that they will compete at the Sainsbury’s Glasgow Grand Prix at Hampden Park on 11-12 July.

The quartet will join 22 world champions and 25 Olympic and Paralympic gold medallists, which represents the most impressive athletic line-up ever assembled in Scotland, just two weeks before the Commonwealth Games. Britain’s biggest stars Mo Farah (coach: Alberto Salazar), Christine Ohuruogu (Lloyd Cowan) and Greg Rutherford (Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo) are already confirmed alongside Scottish stars Eilidh Child (Malcolm Arnold), Lynsey Sharp (Rana Reider), Chris O’Hare (Terrance Mahon) and Laura Muir (Andy Young).

With the USA and a host of other nations not competing at the Commonwealth Games, the Diamond League meet will offer fans the chance to see the world’s best competing at Hampden Park in the first ever IAAF Diamond League meet staged in Scotland. For those who missed out on Glasgow 2014 tickets, this is an unmissable opportunity to experience the world’s premier athletics series in the city.

Rudisha will be making his first appearance in the UK since breaking the 800m world record on his way to Olympic gold at London 2012, and he marked his return to form with a triumph at the New York Diamond League last weekend.

The 25 year old said: “I haven’t competed in the UK since winning gold at the Olympics, so to return to the UK for the Sainsbury’s Glasgow Grand Prix is something that I’m really excited about.

“Winning gold at the Olympic Games and being the first ever athlete to go below the 1:41 barrier is my biggest achievement to date.   Having only just returned to track action, my victory at the New York Diamond League has given me a lot of confidence and something which I will take with me to Hampden Park.

“The Sainsbury’s Glasgow Grand Prix will give me the best possible preparation for the Commonwealth Games. I know the field will include not only the best athletes in the Commonwealth, but the world too.  I know I will have to perform at my best to secure another victory on the Diamond League circuit.”

Carmelita Jeter, the second fastest woman of all time over 100m will return to the UK after winning a complete set of medals at the London 2012 Olympic Games. The American, who won 4×100 gold, 100m silver and 200m bronze in Olympic Stadium is excited at the prospect of running in one of the best line-ups staged in the UK.

The 34 year old said: “The Sainsbury’s Glasgow Grand Prix will be one of the first meets of my outdoor season and I’m looking to put on a good show for the crowd in July.

“Even four weeks out, we have multiple Olympic and world champions confirmed for the event, which shows how high the standard will be and something which I will relish, being an athlete that thrives on the big stage.

“With the standard of women’s sprinting improving all the time, I’ve got to have my eyes on all seven of the athletes that line up against me on the start line at the Sainsbury’s Glasgow Grand Prix.

“The British crowd always treat me as one of their own and that is the main reason why I keep on coming back year after year.”

Eaton meanwhile not only won gold at London 2012, but also triumphed at last year’s World Championships, before going on to defend his World Indoor heptathlon crown in Sopot in March.

With no major championships scheduled for the 26 year old this year, Eaton has opted to test his hand at the 400m hurdles this year, and will be looking to take the scalps of another world-class field at the Sainsbury’s Glasgow Grand Prix in July. The world record holder made another piece of history this month by becoming the first decathlete to win an individual event at the Oslo Diamond League, as the American took a notable victory over 2011 world silver medallist LJ Van Zyl and has since lowered his personal best to 48.94 after just six races.

“2014 will give me a chance to recharge my batteries ahead of the World Championships in 2015 and Rio 2016, where I will be looking to defend my decathlon titles.

“To have the opportunity to compete in the UK at the Sainsbury’s Glasgow Grand Prix is something that I will relish. I have established myself in the decathlon as the one to beat, and I’m looking to continue this throughout the course of the outdoor season in the individual events.

“My aim is to go quicker still at the Sainsbury’s Glasgow Grand Prix; I want  to keep pushing myself to the limit to see how far inside 49 seconds I can go. I know from Oslo that I can contend with a world-class field, but I’m expecting an even bigger test in Glasgow in July.”

Integrated into the IAAF Diamond League meet will be a series of para-events, which will star the likes of London 2012 gold medallists David Weir (Jenny Archer), Jonnie Peacock (Steve Fudge) and Hannah Cockroft (Jenni Banks), as well as Paralympic silver medallists Libby Clegg (Keith Antoine), Stef Reid (Reider) and the USA’s Richard Browne.

Rudisha, Fraser-Pryce, Jeter and Eaton will be joined at the Sainsbury’s Glasgow Grand Prix by a whole host of current and former Olympic gold medallists including Felix Sanchez, Anna Chicherova, Blanka Vlasic, Jenn Suhr, Dayron Robles, Amantle Montsho, Aries Merritt, Tomasz Majewski, Sandra Perkovic, Andreas Thorkildsen, Keshorn Walcott, Christian Taylor and Sally Pearson in one of the greatest fields ever assembled in the UK.

Tickets for the Sainsbury’s Glasgow Grand Prix at Hampden Park on July 11-12 are available by visiting http://www.britishathletics.org.uk/british-athletics-series/sainsburys-glasgow-grand-prix/

To send email correction or further classifications, please shoot us an email at lcummings [at] world-track.org.
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Mary Cain
IAAF World Challenge, Just In

Mary Cain and Jenny Simpson to Face Off at adidas Grand Prix

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NEW YORK CITY – A Two-time Olympic gold medalist, a three-time World Champion, and the most dynamic young American track star in a generation are among the latest added to the roster for the adidas Grand Prix on June 14, organizers announced today.

Tickets for the event, which is marking its 10th year of bringing the world’s top athletes to Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island, are on sale now at www.adidasgrandprix.com or by calling 1-877-849-8722.

Mary Cain, who earlier this month turned 18, rewrote the record books last year by breaking high school and/or U.S. junior marks at eight distances—including 1500 meters—and becoming the youngest athlete ever to represent the U.S. at the IAAF World Championships. So far in 2014, she has twice broken the World Junior Record for 1000 meters indoors, and won the U.S. indoor 1500-meter title.

Cain, set to receive her high school diploma a week after the meet, will be competing just 15 miles from her hometown of Bronxville, NY.

Among the athletes she will face at 1500 meters is American Jenny Simpson, the 2011 IAAF World Champion. The last time the two met was in the final of the World Championships last summer, where Simpson won a silver medal and Cain finished 10th. Also in the NYC field is Morgan Uceny, a three-time U.S. champion who in 2011 was ranked #1 in the world at the distance.

Leading the heavily decorated veterans will be Felix Sanchez of Dominican Republic and Robert Harting of Germany. Between them, they own three Olympic gold medals, five World Championship titles, and have been ranked #1 in the world nine times.

Sanchez, 36, became 400-meter hurdles World Champion for the first time in 2001, and then repeated in 2003 before winning his first Olympic gold medal in 2004. In 2012, he won his second Olympic gold when he surprised the field in London. Sanchez was ranked #1 in the world by Track and Field News magazine for four consecutive years from 2001 to 2004.

Harting, 29, is the 2012 Olympic gold medalist and three-time defending World Champion in the discus. Known for his wild victory celebrations at major competitions, Harting has been ranked #1 in the world for the past five years.

Yet another World Champion slated to compete isAmerican Jesse Williams, who won the world high-jump title in 2011 and in NYC will be part of what could be an historic competition. Bohdan Bondarenko, the 2013 World Champion ranked #1 in the world; Erik Kynard, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist; and Mutaz Barshim, the 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, have all been previously announced, and all three are off to a hot start in what some predict will be a World Record-breaking season in the discipline.

Among the other medal-winning headliners will be:

  • Tiffany Porter of Great Britain, the 2013 World Championships bronze medalist in the 100-meter hurdles and two-time World Indoor medalist who will meet the previously announced Sally Pearson, the reigning Olympic gold medalist;
  • Warren Weir of Jamaica, the 2012 Olympic bronze medalist and 2013 World Championships silver medalist at 200 meters; and
  • Marvin Bracy, another young American star who, at just 20, won the 2014 U.S. indoor 60-meter title in 6.48 seconds, the second-fastest time in the world this year, before bringing home a silver medal from the World Indoor Championships. In 2011, as a high school senior, Bracy won the Boys’ Dream 100 at this meet.

Other Olympic or World Champions already announced are David Rudisha, Jenn Suhr, Yohan Blake, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce,Valerie Adams, and Christine Ohuruogu.

One of the premier track-and-field events in the world, the adidas Grand Prix has hosted two World Records and 15 National Records in its first nine years, and its fans have had the privilege of witnessing almost a dozen performances that were the fastest ever recorded on U.S. soil.

The sixth stop on the international IAAF Diamond League circuit, the adidas Grand Prix is in its 10th year at Icahn Stadium, in conjunction with the Randall’s Island Sports Alliance. The latest news, photos and information on the eventcan be found atwww.adidasgrandprix.com; on Facebook and on Twitter.

To send email correction or further classifications, please shoot us an email at lcummings [at] world-track.org.
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IAAF World Challenge, Just In

World Cross Country champion Japhet Korir set for Melbourne meeting

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IAAF World Cross Country champion Japhet Korir (KEN) and three-time World Championships medallist Wallace Spearmon (USA) are the two latest star attractions added to entry lists for the Qantas Melbourne World Challenge this Saturday 6 April.

Watch Live Melbourne World Challenge – Stream

The addition of the two champions follows the unfortunate withdrawal of Asafa Powell (JAM) from the men’s 100m as a consequence of a Grade 1 hamstring injury.

Set to compete alongside Australian 1500m record holder Ryan Gregson (NSW) in the men’s 5000m, Korir will arrive in Melbourne less than a fortnight after stunning defending champion Imane Merga (ETH) with his powerful finish to add the open men’s title to his junior African crown from two years ago at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz (POL)

Korir has declared the 5000m will be his focus in 2013, with his start at the Qantas Melbourne World Challenge his first in-stadium event this year.

“I am looking forward to running in Melbourne after the excitement of the World Cross. Over the years so many of my countrymen like Rudisha and Kiprop have raced well in Australia and I hope to do the same,” Korir said.

“The 5000m will by my focus this season and the Qantas Melbourne World Challenge is my first chance to race across the distance. It would be good to get the year started well.”

Korir has a 5000m personal best of 13:11.44 set indoors in Dusseldorf last year, and a time similar to this at the Qantas Melbourne World Challenge would rocket him into the world lead. He raced twice across the distance in 2012, clocking 13:20.88 to win at the Meeting National in Carquefou (FRA) before placing 8th in the Kenyan championship one week later.

Like Korir, Spearmon’s year has begun impressively with his 9.92 in the men’s 100m at the Texas Relays on the weekend highlighting the form he will bring to the men’s 100m and men’s 200m at the Qantas Melbourne World Challenge.

Edged out by Warren Weir (JAM, 19.84) for the bronze medal in the men’s 200m at the London Olympic Games, Spearmon’s time of 19.90 was a season best and 0.3 second shy of his personal best of 19.65.

His international athletics resume includes gold medals from the IAAF World and IAAF World Indoor Championships, four medals (three silver, one bronze) from the World Athletics Final, three victories across the Samsung Diamond League and the North and Central American record for the indoor men’s 200m.

Spearmon will provide the ideal challenge for Australian men’s 4x100m relay record holders Tim Leathart (NSW), Josh Ross (Vic), Andrew McCabe (Qld) and Anthony Alozie (Vic), as well as international starters Rushane Scott (JAM) and Joseph Millar (NZL).

Leathart is the fastest Australian to date in 2013, with his very quick 10.24 to win the men’s 100m at the Sydney Track Classic a personal best and just 0.05 outside of the qualifier for the IAAF World Championships.

In 2013, Ross’ domestic campaign has included victory in the 100m in Adelaide and Brisbane and the 200m at the Sydney, Go for 2&5 Perth and Queensland Track Classics. He also won double gold in the short sprints at the Victorian State Championships earlier this month and was a semi-finalist in the Stawell Gift this past weekend.

Powell, despite withdrawing from the men’s 100m, will remain in Melbourne to uphold his commitment to the John Landy Lunch this Friday 5 April and to greet track and field fans at the Qantas Melbourne World Challenge on Saturday afternoon.

The Qantas Melbourne World Challenge will be held at Lakeside Stadium on Saturday 6 April.

Attracting Australia’s best athletes including Mitchell Watt (Qld), Alana Boyd (Qld), Josh Ross (Vic), Jarrod Bannister (Qld) and Evan O’Hanlon (NSW), the event will also welcome Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford (GBR).

The Qantas Melbourne World Challenge is the only meet in Australia sanctioned by the IAAF, with the event doubling as Round One of the IAAF World Challenge. It is the final leg of the Qantas Australian Athletics Tour ahead of the Australian Athletics Championships in Sydney (NSW) on April 11-14.

For more information on the Qantas Melbourne World Challenge, please follow the following links for general event information, entry lists and the event timetable.

Tickets for the event are available through Ticketmaster.

- athletics.com.au

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Diamond League, IAAF World Challenge

Holly Bleasdale v Olympic champ Jenn Suhr in Birmingham

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Fresh from reaching the final at her first Olympic Games, Holly Bleasdale will take on newly-crowned Olympic Champion Jenn Suhr of the USA at the Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix – the last pre-final meeting of the Samsung Diamond League – at Alexander Stadium on Sunday 26 August.

Bleasdale cleared 4.45m to finish tied for sixth place and record the best ever performance at an Olympic Games by a female British pole vaulter. Although the British record holder was somewhat disappointed not to have vaulted higher, she was encouraged by the support of the capacity crowd in London.

“I’ve had so much support and now that I’ve experienced the excitement of the Olympics in London I’m really looking forward to the great atmosphere of the Alexander Stadium for the Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix.”

Still only 20 years old, Bleasdale intends to take some of the lessons learned from her first Olympic Games forward as she continues to stake her claim as one of the world’s best.

“To finish sixth place in my first Olympic final is pretty good. I think due to the lack of experience I have at major championships it wasn’t the best set of conditions to contend with but I will learn from that and next time I will able to pick my game up. The crowd however, were absolutely amazing – they lifted me so much.”

Suhr, who already held a silver medal from Beijing, cleared 4.75m in the Olympic Stadium to clinch victory ahead of Yarisley Silva of Cuba. The American, who is second to Yelena Isinbayeva on the pole vault all-time list, set a personal best the last time she competed at the Birmingham Alexander Stadium so is understandably looking forward to a return to the West Midlands.

“I’m excited about Birmingham. The fans in the UK are amazing and they showed that at the Olympics. The Alexander Stadium is great for us pole vaulters as well because the runway is so close to the crowd, so it feels like you’re on stage and you can really feel the energy from everyone.

“It’s an amazing feeling to be able to call myself Olympic Champion. After finishing second in Beijing four years ago I really wanted to take gold in London and so I’m glad I’ve been able to do it. I’ve had a great time in the UK and now I’ll look to celebrate with another good performance at the Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix.”

Both Bleasdale and Suhr will face stiff competition in Birmingham from the likes of Brazil’s Fabiana Murer and Germany’s Martina Strutz, who were first and second at last year’s World Championships in Daegu. Another German, Silke Spiegelburg, who won the Pole Vault at the Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix last year and finished fourth place at the London 2012 Olympics, will also be competing.

Bleasdale has enjoyed a successful rise to prominence in 2012 that included a bronze medal at the World Indoor Championships in March, and she is keen to repeat the form that saw her set a new British record at the Aviva 2012 Trials in June at the Alexander Stadium.

“I’ve had such a good year starting from the indoors and stretching all the way to the Olympics. Hopefully I can keep it going for a few weeks longer and produce another big performance in Birmingham.”

Back the team and watch the world’s best athletes in action at the Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium on 26 August. Live coverage on BBC1 from 1.30-5pm.
Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix
www.diamondleague-birmingham.com

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Featured, IAAF World Challenge

Justin Gatlin runs 10.12, wins 100m in Rabat

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RABAT (Sporting Alert) — Justin Gatlin won the men’s 100-metres dash at the Meeting International Mohammed VI d’Athlétisme in Rabat on Sunday.

The World Indoor 60m champion posted a time of 10.12 seconds to take the victory over St. Kitts and Nevis experienced star and former world champion Kim Collins, who ran 10.17secs.

Morocco’s Aziz Ouhadi finished third in a time of 10.29secs.

Gatlin, the 2004 Athens Olympic Games champion has been in good form this season and is expected to make the American team to the London Olympics later this summer, where some of the world’s best sprinters – including double Olympic champion Usain Bolt, his Jamaican countryman Asafa Powell and USA’s Tyson Gay are expected to compete.

Felix Sánchez of the Dominican Republic continued his quest for another Olympic gold medal with a winning run in the men’s 400m hurdles.

Sanchez clocked 48.93secs to nip Briton’s world champion David Greene, who ran 48.96. Another Great Britain athlete, Jack Green, was third in 49.45.

Nigeria’s Muizat Ajoke Odumosu won the women’s race in 55.36.

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