Doping doesn’t make an athlete world-class

To be a world-class athlete you need the genetics; choose your parents carefully. This potential, however, means nothing until you do the work. Not weeks, not years, but a decade of hard work. It takes less time to train as a brain surgeon than it does to be a world-class distance runner. At the top…

Craig Pickering: I'm going to run angrier in future

Craig Pickering has endured the lowest 12 months of his athletics career to date – but insists a year of being Great Britain’s forgotten sprinter must end in 2010. Hardly a thought was spared for the 23-year-old from Shenley Lodge at the World Championships in Berlin back in August as he sat and watched his…

Commonwealth Games a big deal for Hooker

In the eyes of many, the prestige of the Commonwealth Games belongs in a bygone era uncluttered by lucrative prize money and biennial world championships. Just don’t tell that to Steve Hooker. Despite being the Olympic and World pole vault champion, Hooker is just as proud of the Commonwealth gold he won in his home…

Dos Santos hopes for third New York City win

Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil was the first invited athlete to arrive at in New York City, on Monday (26), nearly a week in advance of the ING New York City Marathon, and the first to meet reporters on Tuesday morning. These are minor distinctions; more to the point, dos Santos was first to…

Liu Xiang stirs frenzy with post-victory strip

Liu Xiang madness has returned to China, with fans auctioning ripped-up pieces of the track star’s clothes that he tossed into the crowd after winning his third national 110 metre hurdle title. Internet chatrooms in China have been abuzz over Liu’s post-race stripteases at the National Games on Sunday in the eastern city of Jinan,…

Mark Lewis-Francis loses funding

Former Olympic 100 metres relay champion Mark Lewis-Francis has had his lottery funding withdrawn by UK Athletics. The 27-year-old Walsall-born sprinter, a member of Great Britain’s gold-medal winning quartet in Athens in 2004, is not among the athletes invited on to the World Class Performance Programme for the 2009/2010 season. Lewis-Francis, a former world junior…

China's 21-year-old champion banned for life for drugs use

China has banned its 21-year-old women’s 100-metres champion for life after she tested positive for banned drugs at the National Games. Wang Jing, from southeastern Fujian province, was the third athlete to fail a doping test at the games. Competition is intense at the quadrennial event since a strong performance can lead to a place…

Third positive test rocks National Games

JINAN, Shandong province: Wang Jing, who won the women’s 100m title on Thursday, faces a lifetime ban after testing positive for illegal substances at the National Games. Her coach, Chen Hua, could also be banned for life, senior athletics officials announced yesterday. Wang has accepted the results but stated she did not know how the…

Ramaala expects tough challenge from Lel in NYC Marathon

South Africa’s leading distance runner, Hendrick Ramaala, expects the toughest challenge to come from Martin Lel when the 37-year-old lines up for his eighth New York City Marathon on Sunday. Despite the withdrawal of injured former world record holder Paul Tergat, New York race director Mary Wittenberg has again put together a world-class field. “Hopefully…

Lopes-Schliep shortlisted for Canadian track award

Track stars Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, Perdita Felicien and Gary Reed are the finalists for the 2009 Athletics Canada overall athlete of the year award. Lopes-Schliep, of Whitby, Ont., won a silver medal in the 100-metre hurdles at this year’s world championships. Felicien, of Pickering, Ont., made it to the final but clipped a hurdle and finished…

Asafa Powell to launch charity

Former 100-metre world record holder Asafa Powell will, on November 4, launch his very own charitable foundation – The Asafa Powell Foundation – aimed at assisting with the development of track and field in Jamaica. The venue for the launch will be announced this week. Powell, who burst on to the international scene in 2003,…

Liu Xiang wins at Chinese National Games in 13.34

The 11th Chinese National Games reached its climax here on Sunday night when the Athens Olympic champion Liu Xiang ignited a sold-out Olympic sports center with victory in the men’s 110m hurdles. The 26-year-old Liu, who finished second at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix last month, exploded out of the starting blocks and hit the…