London 2012 Olympic Games women’s pole vault champion Jenn Suhr added a centimetre to her own world indoor record * when she cleared 5.03m at the Golden Eagle Multi and Invitational in Brockport, New York state, on Saturday (30).
Her previous world indoor record of 5.02m came in Albuquerque on 2 March, 2013.
* Subject to the usual ratification conditions
There are just two weeks to go to the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 which takes place between 22-30 August.
Many of the IAAF?s 214 Member Federations have already named their teams for the most important sporting event on this year?s calendar but with the final entry deadline at midnight (Central European Time) on Monday 10 August, this weekend offers the last chance for athletes to qualify and for Member Federations to complete their squad selections.
Approximately 2000 athletes from over 200 nations are expected to compete in the Chinese capital later this month.
The USA and Jamaica have yet to formally name their teams but it is already known that global champions like Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, David Oliver, Christian Taylor, Ashton Eaton, Jenn Suhr and Brittney Reese have booked their places on the planes to Beijing.
Russia named their 71-strong team in the wake of their national championships earlier this week.
Other European nations to have named their teams include Czech Republic, France, Germany and Great Britain.
Distance running power houses Kenya and Ethiopia have also named their teams early and can expect to feature prominently on the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015 medal podiums.
The famous Bird?s Nest stadium, the centrepiece of the 2008 Olympic Games, will have a 50,000 capacity for the championships and the IAAF and Local Organising Committee have been very happy to announce recently that it will be full for each evening session, ensuring the world?s top athletics exponents get the audience they deserve.
The IAAF website has a special section devoted to the championships.
Coverage of the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 will include live results, previews, reports, features, a live blog and extensive coverage on the IAAF social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook.
Results, timetable details and the live blog will also be available in Chinese on the IAAF website and coverage will be available on Chinese social media
IAAF
IAAF / Nestlé Kids’ Athletics, Yohan Blake, Jenn Suhr, Manhattan,
A host of well-known athletes, including Jamaica’s 2011 IAAF World Championships 100m gold medallist Yohan Blake and the USA’s London 2012 Olympic Games pole vault champion Jenn Suhr took to the streets of Manhattan on Wednesday (11) to serve as coaches and mentors during a demonstration of IAAF / Nestlé Kids’ Athletics.
The venue was Herald Square, in front of the famous Macy’s flagship store and in the shadow of the Empire State Building in the heart of bustling Manhattan, as kids from local schools in New York took part in a competition of about 50 minutes.
This series of activities – knee throwing, overhead throwing, sprint/shuttle hurdles relay, ladder running, forward squat jump , cross hop, and an eight-minute endurance run – covered the core skills of athletics, ‘run, jump, throw.’
“I think we should have many more programs like we are doing today to show the kids a good time and teach them about what it takes to be in this sport because I believe they are the future,” commented an enthusiastic Blake.
Jamaica’s 2011 World 100m champion Yohan Blake and USA’s 2000 Olympic 100m champion Maurice Greene are among the star athletes ‘past and present’ who will gather in the heart of New York City on Wednesday 11 June to support a demonstration of IAAF / Nestlé Kids’ Athletics.
Blake, the second fastest 100m runner of all-time, and Greene, who took three World titles at 100m and one at 200m and is the 6th fastest ever sprinter, will be in Herald Square on Broadway to help support the fun team event for school children of 9-10 years.
The kids, from local schools in New York, will be split into 6 teams and take part in a competition of about 70 minutes. This series of 7 fun activities (2 x jump; 2 x run; 2 x throw; 1 x endurance) cover the core skills of athletics, ‘run, jump, throw’.
Joining Blake and Greene as team captains will be fellow star athletes USA’s 2012 Olympic pole vault champion Jenn Suhr and Australia’s Sally Pearson*, the 2011 World and 2012 Olympic 100m hurdles champion.
Greek pole vaulter Ekaterini Stefanidi, who appropriately for this event is a former World Youth champion, and Jamaica’s World and Olympic sprint medallist Warren Weir are also captains.
Herald Square, located between 34th and 35th streets, one block from the Empire State Building, will be the setting for an afternoon of track and field street action.
Suhr will be especially busy as the afternoon’s proceedings begin with a women’s pole vault featuring the London 2012 Olympic Games champion. Approximately two hours later IAAF / Nestlé Kids’ Athletics will commence.
IAAF / Nestlé Kids’ Athletics demonstration is one of the lead-in promotions to the adidas Grand Prix, the sixth leg of the 2014 IAAF Diamond League which takes place on Saturday 14 June in Icahn Stadium, Randall’s Island, New York.
IAAF Kids’ Athletics | Nestlé Healthy Kids, the flagship development project of the IAAF’s School / Youth programme, is one of the biggest grassroots development programmes in the world of sports.
The International Olympic Committee highlights IAAF / Nestlé Kids Athletics as a case study example of good practice for other international federations – click here
Nestlé, which is the world’s leading nutrition, health and wellness company with 339,000 employees worldwide, became the main sponsor of Kids’ Athletics in January 2012 agreeing a five-year sponsorship with the IAAF.
The IAAF’s objectives for Kids’ Athletics, which has so far been activated in more than 130 of the IAAF’s 212 national Member Federations worldwide, are to make athletics the number one participation sport in schools, promoting a balanced and healthy lifestyle, and attracting the potential sports stars of tomorrow.
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