Athletics Africa Magazine

Ethiopian pair of Tamrat Elanso and Adaneche Beyene Jemilu proved to be easy winners of the BLOM Beirut International Marathon on Sunday, reports the IAAF . But pride of place was acknowledged to belong to the meeting organisers who ensured the race went ahead without a hitch despite Lebanon's present political situation. Race president May El Khalil stressing how it fetches her volatile country together said: "We have people from all sorts of religions and life running. We have entrants from the south and the north." Khalil was delighted in excellent conditions and the event went ahead with positive results for Elanso and Jemilu who led a strong contingent from their country to the Lebanese capital. "It was important that I succeeded today, it was a good chance for me to win my first marathon," said Elanso, who scorched ahead of his rivals after 35 kilometres to clinch a simple victory. Elanso, 30, slowed after breaking up the field and running in isolation ahe...

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 .

Meserat Defar last week once again further reduces her world 5000m record! i don't think that will be the last time this year. Just how fast can this elegant Ethiopian stallion really go? I have always admire her sportsmanship and competitiveness which came to fore last year when she denied her compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba at the last stage of the Golden League even when Dibaba only needed one more victory to grab the $1 million jackpot. Not surprising, with the pace she started off in Oslo even the worst pessimist in the stadium knew something was in the offing. She clipped almost eight seconds from her existing World 5000m record to finish in 14:16.63 (subject to ratification) Well, it's Paris next on Friday, July 06. Do you think she can do it again? Watch this space for Defar again.

The IAAF has teamed up with one of the world's leading sports research companies, Sponsorship Intelligence (SI) to carry out the biggest, most in-depth survey of the sport of track and field athletics ever conducted. The IAAF is keen to gather as much information as possible about the current state of the sport around the world in order to assist it in the planning and development of the sport. As part of a three-year contract through to 2009, SI, the IAAF's first research partner, will review the global state of track and field, with particular focus on the sport's commercial potential, as part of the IAAF's new strategy under its Marketing Director, Luis Carulla. Sponsorship Intelligence metamorphosised from Sponsorship Research International (SRi) after the ZenithOptimedia Group acquired SRi from sports marketing agents, ISL in 2001 and re-branded the company. Read more http://www.athleticsafrica.com