DIAMOND RACE UPDATE AHEAD OF THE SECOND 2015 FINAL IN BRUSSELS – IAAF DIAMOND LEAGUE

The 2015 IAAF Diamond League is about to reach its climax, with 13 of the 14 meetings having taken place.

Last Thursday, Zurich staged the first of two finals and there was the coronation of 16 Diamond Race champions. On Friday night (11), the remaining 16 will take their place on the podium in Brussels.

Dominant Diamond Race leaders

Friday‘s Diamond Race action will kick off with the women’s discus.

With five victories and a 15-point lead, Sandra Perkovic has been dominant in this year’s competition. She needs only to compete in Brussels to claim a fourth consecutive Diamond Trophy.

The same is essentially true of Sifan Hassan in the women’s 1500m and Caterine Ibargüen in the women’s triple jump.

Both women hold leads of eight points or more and participation alone is required for them to win the Diamond Race in their respective disciplines.

Nail-biting duels

In the men’s shot put, David Storl and Joe Kovacs are equal on 14 points and have three victories each.

Whoever finishes ahead of the other in Brussels will take the Diamond Trophy and the US $40,000 winner-takes-all cheque, a duel made all the juicier by the fact that Kovacs relieved Storl of his world title in Beijing barely two weeks ago.

Renaud Lavillenie is looking for port-Beijing redemption.

The only athlete to have won the Diamond Race in every year since it was inaugurated in 2010, Lavillenie needs only to win in Brussels to secure a sixth Diamond Trophy.

However, the French world record holder and 2012 Olympic champion only holds a three-point lead over Greece’s Konstantinos Filippidis.

Perhaps the most brilliant double act of the season in any discipline has come in the men’s triple jump.

Christian Taylor and Pedro Pablo Pichardo have delivered a wonderful, season-long battle fro supremacy during 2015. It was Taylor who claimed the major prize when they faced each other in Beijing, but Pichardo still has a two-point lead in the Diamond Race.

In the women’s 200m, meanwhile, one of the heroines of Beijing will be out to rekindle the old fire in the Diamond Race.

Allyson Felix hasn’t had her hands on a Diamond Trophy since she claimed two of them in 2010 but the 400m world champion could change that on Friday.

She leads the women’s 200m Diamond Race, but only by a single point, with Jeneba Tarmoh hot on her heels and 200m world champion Dafne Schippers is also in reach.

Nowhere are the margins closer, however, than in the women’s 100m hurdles.

After six rounds of Diamond League competition, three athletes have shared the spoils exactly among themselves. Jasmin Stowers, Dawn Harper-Nelson and Sharika Nelvis all have two victories and ten points under their belt.

The Diamond Trophy will simply go to whichever of them crosses the line first in Brussels.

© Victah Sailer

Six is the magic number

In six of the Diamond Race events to grace Brussels this year, the winner is close to taking the crown. Bershawn Jackson is five points ahead in the men’s 400m hurdles, while Justin Gatlin, Ruth Beitia, Virginia Nyambura, Francena McCorory, Nijel Amos and Vítezslav Veselý all hold leads of six points.

Amos looks highly likely to claim his second consecutive Diamond Trophy in the men’s 800m, having missed out on the chance to claim gold in Beijing. His six-point lead could be enough, particularly in the absence of David Rudisha.

Beitia’s consistence over the season has been outstanding and, despite a thoroughly competitive field, few would doubt that she could rise to the occasion in the high jump and claim Diamond Race glory.

Likewise, Gatlin, McCorory, Nyambura and Vesely, all of whom have the quality to claim the minimum requirement of a third place in the Belgian capital and transform their six point lead into a Diamond Trophy in the sixth year of the IAAF Diamond League.

Final flourish

The final Diamond Race event of the evening will be arguably the most gripping.

In the men’s 5000m, there has been a different winner in each of the six rounds so far, and five of them – Ben True, Thomas Longosiwa, Caleb Ndiku, Yomif Kejelcha, Hagos Gebrhiwet – will be present in Brussels.

With none of them having reached eight points, however, it is not just these five who can claim the Diamond Trophy.

In theory, any of the athletes on the startlist could win the Diamond Race in Brussels, even those who are currently without any points.

It is by far the most open Diamond Race of the season.

As a final flourish, with some of the most even Diamond Races, some potentially epic duels, and some of the most dominant athletes, the 2015 season finale should be a night of the superlatives in Brussels.

DIAMOND RACE UPDATE AHEAD OF FIRST FINAL IN ZURICH – IAAF DIAMOND LEAGUE

The IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 is over. But the show goes on. There is more top-level athletics to be enjoyed over the next two weeks with the IAAF Diamond League finals in Zurich and Brussels.

All season long, the world’s top track and field stars have vied for valuable Diamond Race points in the first 12 IAAF Diamond League meetings. Even with just the two finals to go, however, much could still change. Double points are on offer in the finals, meaning only an eight-point lead at this stage guarantees overall victory in the Diamond Race.

The finals are the perfect conclusion to the 2015 season. They are a chance for the victors of Beijing to garner yet more success. A chance for those who were disappointed to claim redemption. A chance for all athletes to get their hands on a $40,000 cash prize and the spectacular Diamond Trophy.

IAAF DIAMOND LEAGUE
© Philippe Fitte

New Diamond Race champions to be crowned

The first of the two finals takes place on Thursday 3 September in Zurich. At the Weltklasse meeting, 16 different Diamond Races will reach their ultimate conclusion, and the first 16 Diamond Race champions of 2015 will be crowned.

Among them will almost certainly be Christina Schwanitz, Tianna Bartoletta and Eunice Sum, who have all been imperious in this season’s Diamond Race.

Both shot putter Schwanitz and 800m runner Sum have won four out of six Diamond League clashes this season, while long jumper Bartoletta has three wins to her name, her points tally bolstered by second-place finishes in New York and Monaco.

All three athletes now have a lead of eight points or more, meaning that they only need to compete in Zurich in order to claim the Diamond Trophy.

But in many of the disciplines which will conclude in Zurich, there is barely a hair’s breadth between those still in the running for the Diamond Trophy.

In the men’s 200m, there have been four different victors over the six races so far, leading to a field so open that it is led by a man who hasn’t a single victory to his name. Anaso Jobodwana has finished second four times this year. He is now on nine points, just a whisker ahead of Alonso Edward and Zharnel Hughes.

The men’s 400m is nearly as close. The first half of the season was dominated by Diamond Trophy holder Kirani James, but after his shock defeat in Paris to Wayde van Niekerk, the Olympic champion has seen his lead shortened dramatically. He is now just two points ahead of the young South African.

Two other world champions who will be gunning for the Diamond Trophy in Zurich are Asbel Kiprop and Zuzana Hejnova. Kiprop is third in the men’s 1500m Diamond Race, having been outgunned so far by Ayanleh Souleiman and Silas Kiplagat. With only a two-point gap between him and the top, though, the newly re-crowned world champion will be confident of winning the Diamond Trophy.

Hejnova, meanwhile, overturned Kaliese Spencer’s 10-point lead with three straight wins since Paris. She is now two points ahead of Spencer, and the battle between the two of them is one to look forward to in Zurich.

© Deca Text&Bild

Favourites can still fall

There is a wealth of athletes who remain agonisingly close to Diamond Race glory. Steeplechaser Jairus Birech and pole vaulter Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou have leads of seven and six points in their respective Diamond Races. Despite both failing to win gold in Beijing, they are both expected to take the Diamond Trophy. Piotr Malachowski, who is six points ahead in the men’s discus, is in a similar position.

Others are less certain of success. Greg Rutherford has had to fight at times this season, but the new world champion has come out on top with a five-point lead in the men’s long jump. The same goes for Mutaz Essa Barshim, whose disappointment in Beijing mirrored his travails in the Diamond Race since Oslo after an early period of dominance.

Genzebe Dibaba and Barbara Spotakova may also have expected to be sitting more comfortably in their Diamond Races by this stage. Dibaba only has a six-point lead in the women’s 5000m to show for her excellent season, while three-time Diamond Race winner Spotakova has been challenged by an open field, and holds a lead of only four points.

Leads of four, five, six or seven points are perhaps the best illustrations of the excitement of the Diamond Race. Those holding them have had to work all season to establish their advantage, yet one bad performance in Zurich could see them blown away in an instant.

European Equestrian Federation Signs Memorandum Of Understanding With FEI

The European Equestrian Federation (EEF) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the FEI.

The organization is headquartered in Brussels (BEL) and was founded in 2010.

A total of 43 of the FEI’s 133 National Federations are also members of the EEF, which is focused on maximising the potential and development of equestrian sport in Europe and globally.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed at the FEI Sports Forum 2015, which was attended by over 270 delegates, many of whom represented the FEI’s 27 National Federations based across Europe.

FEI President Ingmar De Vos (left) is pictured with Dr Hanfried Haring, President of the European Equestrian Federation, following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding at the FEI Sports Forum 2015 held at the IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland. (FEI/Germain Arias-Schreiber)

“On behalf of the EEF, I am very excited to take the next step forward in our relationship with the FEI”, said Dr Hanfried Haring, President of the European Equestrian Federation.

“For us, this is the beginning of a new working environment where a continental federation is joining forces with the FEI and improving the already fruitful cooperation. The EEF will continue to strive for its mission values now in collaboration with the FEI.”

“The FEI has worked closely with the EEF ever since the organisation was created,” said FEI President Ingmar De Vos.

“We are now looking forward to many more years of close collaboration with the EEF, and with the many other continental organisations we work with, as our sport grows within Europe and globally.”

Diamond Race Update Ahead Of Second Final In Brussels – IAAF Diamond League

On Friday 5 September, Brussels will host the second of two finals for the 2014 IAAF Diamond League series as 16 more Diamond Race winners will be crowned.

Of those 16 events, the Diamond Race champions have already been decided in eight of them, but athletes must compete in their discipline in Brussels to secure the USD$40,000 bonus and the Diamond Race trophy.

Those eight athletes are sprint hurdler Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, 400m runner Novlene Williams-Mills, steeplechaser Jairus Birech, 800m runner Eunice Sum, pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, 400m hurdler Kaliese Spencer, triple jumper Caterine Ibarguen and shot putter Valerie Adams.

But the Diamond Race for eight other disciplines in Brussels is still undecided, so a victory in the Belgian capital will take on extra significance.

IAAF Diamond League: With Four Meetings To Go-Most Diamond Races Remain Wide Open

There are four more meetings left in the 2014 IAAF Diamond League series, but six athletes have dominated their disciplines to the extent that they have already done enough to win the Diamond Race.

US 400m runner LaShawn Merritt, French sprint hurdler Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, Kenyan steeplechaser Jairus Birech, French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, Jamaican 400m hurdler Kaliese Spencer, and New Zealand’s shot put star Valerie Adams are the Diamond Race winners in their respective events.

To seal their victory – and the USD $50,000 bonus and Diamond Trophy to go with it – they simply need to compete in their discipline at either of the IAAF Diamond League finals in Zurich and Brussels.

The other 26 events in the Diamond Race remain undecided. Four of them are extremely close, however, with just two athletes left in the running. US triple jumpers Will Claye and Christian Taylor are currently separated by just two points. Piotr Malachowski and Robert Harting are the only remaining athletes in with a chance to win the Diamond Race in the men’s discus.

IAAF Diamond League Calendar

The IAAF Diamond League is composed of 14 of the best invitational track and field meetings in the world. The meetings are spread across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the USA, and compose the top tier of the IAAF’s global one-day meeting competition structure.

This series of 14 meetings, which began in 2010, showcases 32 event disciplines which are carefully distributed amongst the meetings.

In each discipline, there is a Diamond Race with points available throughout the 14 meeting season. Winners of each Diamond Race receive a 40,000 USD cash prize and a spectacular Diamond Trophy.

2014 IAAF Diamond League calendar

Doha, QAT – 9 May

Shanghai, CHN – 18 May

Eugene, USA – 31 May

Rome, ITA – 5 Jun

Oslo, NOR – 11 Jun

New York, USA – 14 Jun

Lausanne, SUI – 3 Jul

Paris, FRA – 5 Jul

Glasgow, GBR – 11-12 Jul

Monaco, MON – 18 Jul

Stockholm, SWE – 21 Aug

Birmingham, GBR – 24 Aug

Zurich, SUI – 28 Aug

Brussels, BEL – 5 Sep

Facts, figures and who to watch in Copenhagen – IAAF/AL-Bank World Half Marathon Championships

With little more than a week to go to the 2014 IAAF/AL-Bank World Half Marathon Championships in the Danish capital of Copenhagen on 29 March, we take a look at some of the key contenders, as well as some of the more interesting entrants.

This will be the 20th edition of the championships (including the two editions that were renamed the ‘IAAF World Road Running Championships’) and Denmark is the 16th country to host the World Half Marathon Championships.

The event is being held in Scandinavia for just the second time ever, 20 years after Oslo hosted it. It’s also just the second time in the history of the championships that it is being held in spring. Brussels in 2002 was the only other World Half Marathon Championships that was held at this time of year.

No story on the World Half Marathon Championships would be complete without a mention of five-time winner Zersenay Tadese. The Eritrean is the most decorated athlete in the history of the championships, having won 12 medals, five of them gold.

On the all-time medals table for the event, if Tadese were entered as a separate nation, he’d rank fourth behind only Kenya, Ethiopia and Romania.

Tadese will be in Copenhagen next weekend, looking for an unprecedented sixth gold medal in what will be a record ninth appearance at the championships. If he makes it on to the podium, he would become the oldest ever men’s individual medallist at the World Half Marathon Championships.

Seven teams – Spain, Ethiopia, France, Japan, Kenya, Romania and USA – will continue their record in Copenhagen as ‘ever presents’ at the World Half Marathon Championships, having contested every edition of the event since the inaugural championships in 1992.

No fewer than 150 teams have taken part across the past 19 editions of the World Half Marathon Championships. Saudi Arabia will this year be making their first appearance at the event, with two athletes entered in the men’s race.

Host team Denmark will be keen to perform well in front of their home crowd and for the first time they are fielding full teams for both the men’s and women’s races.

Denmark’s best ever individual finish was Jan Ikov’s 10th place in the men’s race in 1993, while their best team placing was 12th in 2012.

Three of the five athletes who represented Denmark in 2012 feature on this year’s team, including European under-23 10,000m bronze medallist Abdi Hakin Ulad. The team also includes eight-time national champion Morten Munkholm and Olympians Jesper Faurschou and Jess Draskau-Petersson.

At 49 years of age, Iceland’s Martha Ernsdottir is set to become the oldest ever competitor at the World Half Marathon Championships. But she isn’t the only quadragenarian in the race, or even on her team, as 42-year-old compatriot Helen Olafsdottir will also be representing Iceland.

But not all of the Icelandic team are veterans as 19-year-old Ingvar Hjartson is entered for the men’s race. He’s not quite the youngest athlete set to compete in Copenhagen, though. That honour belongs to Eritrea’s 18-year-old Ghirmay Ghebreslassie. And with a 1:00:09 personal best, he could even challenge for a medal.

Other notable entrants include two of the Estonian Luik triplets, Liina and Leila.

Previews of the men’s and women’s races will be published online next week.

RECORDS

World records
Men: 58:23 Zersenay Tadese (ERI) Lisbon 2010

Women: 1:06:25 Lornah Kiplagat (NED) Udine 2007 (women-only)

1:05:12 Florence Kiplagat (KEN) Barcelona 2014 (mixed race, subject to usual ratification procedure)

Championship records
Men: 58:59 Zersenay Tadese (ERI) Udine 2007

Women: 1:06:25 Lornah Kiplagat (NED) Udine 2007

Men’s team: 2:58:54 (KEN) Udine 2007

Women’s team: 3:22:30 (KEN) Birmingham 2009

Area records – men

Africa: 58:23 Zersenay Tadese (ERI) Lisbon 2010

Asia: 1:00:25 Atsushi Sato (JPN) Udine 2007

Europe: 59:52 Fabian Roncero (ESP) Berlin 2001

North, Central America and the Caribbean: 59:43 Ryan Hall (USA) Houston 2007

Oceania: 1:00:56 Collis Birmingham (AUS) Marugame 2013

South America: 59:33 Marilson dos Santos (BRA) Udine 2007

Area records – women

Africa: 1:05:12 Florence Kiplagat (KEN) Barcelona 2014

Asia: 1:07:26 Kayoko Fukushi (JPN) Marugame 2006

Europe: 1:06:25 Lornah Kiplagat (NED) Udine 2007

North, Central America and the Caribbean: 1:07:34 Deena Kastor (USA) Berlin 2006

Oceania: 1:07:11 Kim Smith (NZL) Philadelphia 2011

South America: 1:10:30 Yolanda Caballero (COL) New York City 2013