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Lead Stories: Sunday, November 23, 2008

TFS News Briefs: 10/19/07

Posted October 19th, 2007 at 5:00 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

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

Elite Men Planning a 2:06 Time in Amsterdam Marathon
Kenyans Jason Mbote (2:08:13) and Paul Kiprop Kirui (PB: 2:06:44) both plan to run new personal bests this Sunday, October 21st, 2007 at the ING Amsterdam Marathon. Mbote said he wants to run between 2:06 and 2:07. The women’s race is expected to be around 2:26. Read more at: [IAAF]

Bulgarian High-Jump Record Holder Says Her 20-Year-Old Record is Legit
High-Jump World Record Holder Stefka Kostadinova, known at home in Bulgaria as “queen of the high-jump,” expects Blanka Vlašić (pictured at right) to break her 20-year-old record next year and is happy that so many women are making an assault on it. She said that it “proves that my achievement is truly feminine and perfectly within human reach.” Read more at: [Yahoo! Sport]

“Pick the Olympic Trials Winners” Contest at Runner’s World
Runner’s World is conducting a contest in which you can pick who you expect will be the top 3 finishers in the U.S. Men’s Olympic Trials Marathon next month in NY City. The contest winner receives a T-shirt autographed by the trials winners. Enter the contest at: [Runner’s World]
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World records likely in Osaka?

Posted August 23rd, 2007 at 9:00 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Drugs In Sports

The Osaka track is extremely fast, as evidenced by Jeremy Wariner’s early-season 44.02 back on May 5th, 2007 at the Osaka Grand Prix. That bodes well for the sprints, obviously, which means that most of the distance records are probably safe. Hard tracks are best for sprinting, while soft tracks are best for distance races. So which world records are safe and which ones could be broken in Osaka?

The two safest records are undoubtedly Jarmila Kratochvílová’s 1:53.28 in the women’s 800m and Marita Koch’s 47.60 in the women’s 400m. These records were set way back in 1983 and 1985, respectively, and will probably be safe for some time to come. The 2007 world’s best for the 800m, set this week by Ukraine’s Yuliya Krevsun in Bangkok, Thailand, is 1:57.63, nearly 4 1/2 seconds slower than Kratochvílová’s controversial mark.

Rumors of drug use by both Kratochvílová and Koch persist, their best marks having come during the heyday of the Cold War when nationally-sponsored doping programs within the Iron Curtain were rampant. It should be noted, however, that neither neither athlete ever tested positive for PED’s and both records are still considered to be official by the IAAF.
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Distance stars shine in Stockholm

Posted August 8th, 2007 at 7:40 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Many of the sport’s middle and long distance stars shined at last night’s DN Galan meeting in Stockholm, an IAAF Super Grand Prix event.

Kenenisa Bekele dominated the men’s 3000m, running the fastest time of the year and winning by about ten seconds. The Ethiopian’s 7:25.79 clocking made him the #6 performer of all-time, and he has run the three fastest times in the world this year at this distance. He is gearing up for his title defense at 10,000m at the IAAF World Championships in Osaka, the only event he will contest at those championships according to his manager, Valentijn Trouw. Second place went to Jonas Cheruiyot of Kenya in 7:35.44. American Matt Tegenkamp ran his fastest 3000m of the season, finishing fourth in 7:35.68.

American Deena Kastor won the women’s 5000m in 14:52.21, perhaps a birthday gift to husband Andrew who turned 30 yesterday. Her time was only slightly off of her personal best of 14:51.62 set on the same track back in 2000. Like Bekele, Kastor will contest the 10,000m in Osaka.
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Blanka Vlašic Jumps Lifetime Best; World-Leading 2.07m

Posted August 7th, 2007 at 4:20 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Blanka Vlašic took yet another diamond away from the DN Galan meet organizers with a lifetime best of 2.07m, just 0.02m away from Bulgarian Stefka Kostadinova’s phenomenal world record of 2.09m, set 20 years ago. Although Vlašic also made 3 attempts at a new world record of 2.10m, only one of the attempts was close. She is all but assured of a gold medal in Osaka. Kajsa Bergqvist, despite having a home-crowd advantage, could only muster a 1.98m third place finish. Anna Chicherova, also jumping 1.98m, took 2nd place with fewer misses.

1 Vlašic Blanka CRO 2.07
2 Chicherova Anna RUS 1.98
3 Bergqvist Kajsa SWE 1.98
4 Green Emma SWE 1.95
5 Forrester Nicole CAN 1.92
6 Acuff Amy USA 1.92

Complete results: [IAAF]

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