Published on November 6, 2009 |

Following months of speculation, the Jamaica Observer are now reporting that teenage track star Ramone “Batman” McKenzie – the 2007 World Youth Championships 200m gold medallist – has gone professional. McKenzie, who will celebrate his 19th birthday on November 15, started training with respected American coach Lance Brauman earlier this week. “Ramone has decided to…

Published on November 6, 2009 |

Pretoria – A group of “drunk” individuals caused enough disruption at an athletes’ meeting in Pretoria on Saturday that the organisers were forced to call it off. Double Commonwealth bronze medallist sprinter Geraldine Pillay, who organised the meeting to discuss the poor state of the sport in the country, said she suspected Athletics South Africa…

Published on November 4, 2009 |

Birmingham has already come out top in the 2012 Olympics by attracting the world’s best athletes to train in the city, says gold medallist Jonathan Edwards. The triple jump champion at the 2000 Sydney Games said the city had beaten rivals by sealing deals with the Jamaican and US track and field teams. Triple Olympic…

Published on November 4, 2009 |

Olympic, Chicago and London Marathon champion Samuel Wanjiru is considering relocating to Japan because he fears for his security, especially at his rural home in Nyahururu, which has been raided twice by thugs. On return from New York on Tuesday night, where he was crowned the new World Marathon Majors champion, fetching a prize pack…

Published on November 4, 2009 |

Olympic 2004 half-lap champion Shawn Crawford reported to camp today and began workouts with John Smith is the word I’ve gotten this afternoon. Potentially filling that void in Smith’s camp left by the retirement of Maurice Greene in 2006. Crawford brings an already impressive resume to practice. Bests of 9.88 and 19.79. Apart from his…

Published on November 4, 2009 |

Much about Anthony Carpenter – the man who for the foreseeable future will coach two-time Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown – remains a mystery, almost two weeks since it was revealed he will be the new man in charge of guiding her progress when the 2010 track season begins. Even a photo of the coach is…

Published on November 3, 2009 |

Life for Usain Bolt is far from normal these days. There are public appearances in every part of the world, long flights (in first class, naturally), endless interviews, and every once in a while, a bit of training to keep him in shape. He is fast becoming the most recognizable athlete on the planet. He…

Published on November 3, 2009 |

World 100 and 200 metres record holder Usain Bolt and his Racers Track Club teammates will definitely have a synthetic track to prepare for international meets on the grounds of the University of West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus. Speaking with the Observer yesterday in an exclusive interview from Kenya, Bolt’s agent Ricky Simms confirmed that…

Published on November 3, 2009 |

As soon as Mebrahtom Keflezighi, better known as Meb, won the New York City Marathon on Sunday, an uncommon sports dispute erupted online, fraught with racial and nationalistic components: Should Keflezighi’s triumph count as an American victory? He was widely celebrated as the first American to win the New York race since 1982. Having immigrated…

Published on November 1, 2009 |

Mary Keitany looked to be cruising towards a World record time through 15km of Sunday’s Airtel Delhi Half Marathon. Eventually the Kenyan settled for 1:06:54, falling short of the mark, though she smashed the course record. Deriba Merga did not have a Kenyan breathing down his neck as he crossed the finish-line first for the…

Published on November 1, 2009 |

Sprints world record holder Usain Bolt of Jamaica completes his busy tour of Kenya on Monday with a courtesy call on President Mwai Kibaki before adopting a cheetah at the Nairobi National Park in the company of Prime Minister Raila Odinga. The world and Olympic champion’s first visit to Africa has numerous fans battling to…