Athletics Africa Magazine

The elegant Kenyan tore a page from the Filbert Bayi manual of Front-Running, photocopied it, crumpled the pages into a ball, and bounced them off the heads of her opponents. They didn’t have time to peruse the script, they were just trying to keep up. Multiple World champion, Maria Mutola of Mozambique stepped off the track, beaten with 80m to run. Kipruto leads Kenyan Steeplechase sweep, first since 1997 The Kenyan trio gave their opponents plenty of opportunity to lead, and even threaten to win. But when it came to the last 300 metres, they were the only men in it. Brimin Kipruto reversed the result of the 2004 Olympic Games, when he tore past Athens champion, Ezekiel Kemboi to win gold and relegated Kemboi to silver. Richard Mateelong, world number three last year, cemented that position with bronze. IAAF.org - Osaka 2007 - News Powered by ScribeFire .

OSAKA, Japan -- Luke Kibet ended Kenya's 20-year wait for a men's world marathon title with a comfortable victory in the first event of the 11th world championships on Saturday. The 24-year-old prison guard overcame searing heat and high humidity to clinch gold in two hours, 15 minutes and 59 seconds. Kenyan-born Qatari Mubarak Hassan Shami took silver, more than a minute behind his former compatriot in 2:17:18, and Swiss Viktor Roethlin came through to finish third in 2:17:25. "I'm happy and I am proud to win the gold medal for my country," Kibet told reporters. "It's been a long time for Kenya without the gold medal in marathon." read more..... WCSN.com: News

Haile Gebrselassie speaks with Lets run dot com.

Up close and personal with the Blade Runner - South Africa paralympic star and double amputee Oscar Pistorius.

The Africa List [beta release]: Athleticsafrica.com seeks Freelance Contributors for World Championship coverage in Osaka Japan Powered by ScribeFire .

Tyson Gay beats Francis Obikwelu in rain soaked Norwich Union British Grand Prix in Sheffield.

Many African athletes are in Europe now putting finishing touches to their preparations for the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Osaka, Japan starting in less than two weeks. Last Sunday, Nigeria's female sprinters Franca Idoko and Christy Ekpukpon led all comers home at the DLV Gala classics in Wattenscheid, Germany. Weeks before that Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele smashes the UK's All Comers Record with 7.26.69 in the men's 3000m at the Norwich Union British Grand Prix in Sheffield. The South Africa team is balanced with a mixture of experience and youth, sprinter Constance Mkenku is among a crop of promising young talent South Africa is sending to the World Athletics Championships in Osaka Japan. With the World and Olympic 5000m champion, Tirunesh Dibaba already selected to double up in 5000m and 10000m in Osaka, Africa is set to challenge the rest of the world and to once again dominate the long distance races, though Aussie Craig Mottram might have something to...

The IAAF has launched a new dynamic competition website for the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Osaka, Japan (25 Aug to 2 Sep). In what was described as "part of a long term re-development of the IAAF’s presence on the internet" the main IAAF homepage has also been cosmetically remodelled. Check out the new OSAKA 2007 site the new IAAF homepage International Association of Athletics Federations - IAAF.org Technorati Tags: iaaf , osaka 2007 , athleticsafrica , track , filed , japan , Powered by ScribeFire .