Athletics Kenya is set to host a three-day selection process to pick her representatives to the 21st African Athletics Championship to be staged in Asaba, Delta State. Kenya’s javelin star Julius Yego and world 5,000m champion Hellen Obiri are among the elite athletes eyeing a return to the African Athletics Championships having missed out in […]
via African Athletics Championship: Obiri, Yego Battle For Asaba 2018 Ticket — newfanzoneblog
The series of seven individual meetings in four different countries which make up the 2017/2018 IAAF Cross Country Permit series will kick off in ten days time with the Cross de Atapuerca on Sunday 12 November. The Atapuerca race, held near the Spanish city of Burgos, has on many occasions been the curtain raiser for […]
via 2017/18 IAAF CROSS COUNTRY PERMIT SERIES – 10 DAYS TO GO — newfanzoneblog
With less than two weeks to go until the IAAF Continental Cup, the teams are close to being finalised and many of the world’s best athletes are set to compete in Marrakech on 13-14 September.
The European team is yet to be finalised, but it will feature Polish hammer thrower Anita Wloarczyk, who yesterday set a world record of 79.58m in Berlin.
Other world-leading European athletes who will be invited to compete in Marrakech – based on their results at the European Championships – include pole vault world record-holder Renaud Lavillenie, Dutch sprinter Dafne Schippers, Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford, Dutch distance runner Sifan Hassan, Spanish high jumper Ruth Beitia, hammer thrower Pawel Fajdek and discus thrower Sandra Perkovic.
World indoor high jump champion Mutaz Essa Barshim, who currently shares the world lead of 2.42m, will be one of Asia-Pacific’s biggest hopes for maximum points. Team-mate Valerie Adams, who leads the 2014 shot put list with 20.46m, is another big favourite.
World champion Caterine Ibarguen, who earlier this year produced the best triple jump for six years with 15.31m, will be expected to bag valuable points for the Americas team.
She will be joined on the squad by several other world leaders, including US shot putter Joe Kovacs, 400m hurdler Javier Culson, world indoor 400m champion Francena McCorory, US 800m runner Ajee Wilson, sprint hurdler Dawn Harper Nelson, 400m hurdler Kaliese Spencer, Brazilian pole vaulter Fabiana Murer and long jumper Tianna Bartoletta.
The African team’s best chances are expected to come in the track events, and their line-up boasts seven athletes who currently top the world list in their respective events.
Jairus Birech, the fastest steeplechaser in the world this year, will be one of their top hopes, along with world indoor champion Genzebe Dibaba, 3000m world leader Hellen Obiri, African 800m champion Nijel Amos, world indoor 3000m champion Caleb Ndiku, African javelin record-holder Ihab Abdelrahman and Ethiopian steeplechaser Hiwot Ayalew.
As the 2014 season of the IAAF Diamond League approaches the half-way stage, the Diamond Race in all 32 disciplines can still be won by anyone.
There are eight athletes, however, who are just two more wins away from winning the Diamond Race in their event. They are shot putter Valerie Adams, discus thrower Sandra Perkovic, pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, 800m runner Eunice Sum, 400m runner Novlene Williams-Mills, 400m hurdler Kaliese Spencer, triple jumper Will Claye and 110m hurdler Pascal Martinot-Lagarde.
Six athletes – Lavillenie, Adams, Perkovic, Sum, Williams-Mills and 400m runner LaShawn Merritt – have so far achieved a clean sweep this season, having won every Diamond Race fixture for their event.
Lavillenie and Adams have extended their career tally of IAAF Diamond League wins to 20, more than any other athlete. Lavillenie is also on course to win an unprecedented fifth Diamond Trophy this year.
Meanwhile, if Perkovic wins in Paris and Glasgow, she will become the first athlete to win at every single IAAF Diamond League meeting on the calendar.
Already this year, IAAF Diamond League records have been set in five events, the most notable of which is in the men’s high jump.
Ivan Ukhov jumped 2.41m in the opening IAAF Diamond League meeting of the year to tie the record set last year by Bohdan Bondarenko. Mutaz Essa Barshim then equalled the record in Rome, before both he and Bondarenko jumped 2.42m in New York to add another centimetre to the mark.
Two IAAF Diamond League records were set in Eugene as world indoor champion Ayanleh Souleiman clocked 3:47.32 in the mile and Mercy Cherono ran 9:13.27 over two miles. In Doha, Hellen Obiri set an IAAF Diamond League record of 8:20.68 in the 3000m, while Perkovic broke her own IAAF Diamond League record in the discus with 70.52m in Shanghai.
There have also been some notable breakthrough performers this season. Having never before won at an IAAF Diamond League meeting, US triple jumper Will Claye and US sprinter Tori Bowie have now won three events each this year and lead the Diamond Race in their respective events.
And although 16-year-old Cuban triple jumper Lazaro Martinez and 17-year-old Ethiopian 1500m runner Dawit Seyaum may not have won at an IAAF Diamond League meeting, this season they have become the youngest athletes in the history of the series to score points in the Diamond Race.
IAAF
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