Blanca Vlasic | TheFinalSprint.com - Track & Field, Marathons, Racing News, Training Advice, Elite Athlete Blogs, Interviews, Podcasts, Videos and More!

Lead Stories: Thursday, January 8, 2009

TFS News Briefs: 5/08/2008

Posted May 8th, 2008 at 10:45 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, TFS News Briefs

Politics Rears Its Ugly Head
Political friction between Qatar and Ethioipia has resulted in a boycott by the Ethiopian federation of the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix meet. Indoor world champions Deresse Mekonnen (1500m) and Tariku Bekele (3000m) had been scheduled to run.
More: PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung), Austria

Instead…
of the Ethiopians, look for some superstars at the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix meet. Jeremy Wariner will run the 200m, Allyson Felix will run the 400m and Blanca Vlasic will compete in the heptathlon. Just kidding, she’s sticking to what she knows - the high jump (with Wariner and Felix branching out from their usual events, I couldn’t resist!).
More: IHT

Where In The World Is…
Tuvalu? It’s a tiny island nation in Oceania located northeast of Australia. It boasts a population of 11,992 and a land area of 10 square miles. “So what?” you ask. Well, it is the newest member country of the IAAF, the world’s governing body of track & field, which now has a membership of 213.
More: Afrique en ligne, France
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

TFS News Briefs: 5/07/2008

Posted May 7th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, Drugs In Sports, TFS News Briefs

TFS News Briefs

Vlasic Aims For Gold, Record At Beijing Olympics
World champion high jumper Blanca Vlasic from Croatia , whose aim is to win the gold medal in the Beijing Olympics high jump, also has her sights on another goal, saying, “I would say it is possible that I could win the gold in Beijing with a world record.”
Read more at: [Reuters]

Michael Johnson “Shocked” By Bolt’s 100m Time
After Jamaica’s fabulous early-season time of 9.76 seconds in the 100m dash at the Jamaica International Invitational, legendary sprinter Michael Johnson said, “Usain said he was shocked. I’m shocked too.” Even so, he advised Bolt “not to get too carried away with the performance.”
Read more at: [Caribbean Net News, Cayman Islands]

Great News From Ann Gaffigan’s Training Camp
Ann Gaffigan, the former American-record holder in the 3000m steeplechase, has published a new blog post that ha some great news for the runner who has had her share of bad news over the past year or two. Despite having a bad race lately (she trained through it) she writes that “my workouts have been better than ever before, yes I felt like my old self at the Mt. SAC Relays, yes my iron levels are high, my heart rate is low, my speed is good and my strength even better.”
Read more at: [Steeplechics]
Read the rest of this entry »