The athletics community laments the passing of Carmen Valero, a 68-year-old legend in Spanish athletics, who passed away in Sabadell on Tuesday (2). Valero, who won the world cross country championship twice in 1976 and 1977, is well-known for her extraordinary accomplishments. Her legacy has had a significant influence on women's athletics in Spain.
The day begins with the toughest event in athletics, the men's 50km walk. The ironmen of the sport will battle for 4 hours in brutal conditions (30 degrees, 70% humidity @ 09.00). The Pole Dawid Tomala looks the goods and can emulate his legendary countryman, multiple gold medallist, Robert Korzienowski. Kawano (JAP) and Hilbert (GER) will go well and Aussie Rhydian Cowley could be in the top ten.
West Australian Peter Bol has broken the Australian 800m record at the Tokyo Olympics. Running in heat 1, Bol sat in second for most of the race, and finished strong crossing the line also in second. Easing up over the line, Bol still managed to break the Australian 800m record clocking 1:44.13. Not hard to see Bol dipping significantly under 1:44.00 in either the semi-final or final.
Italy's Olympic sprint champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs didn't hide his delight and said that he smiled when he learned that British sprinter CJ Ujah had been provisionally suspended for violating the anti-doping rule.
The click-bait articles were quick to flood the internet, but authorities have cleared 20-year-old Oliver Dustin of cocaine use, accepting there had been cross-contamination of a sample that contained small traces of cocaine. Earlier, Dustin was told he had returned an adverse analytical finding for traces of a cocaine metabolite in France. It has put his first Olympic outing in doubt, just 10 days before the opening of the Games in Tokyo.
The announcement of Nassau County's policy prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in women's sports at county-owned facilities has recently generated a lot of controversy and differing views from a range of sources, including Olympic champion Caitlyn Jenner.
The approaching Tokyo Olympics is set to proceed without spectators, after Japan declared a state of emergency for Tokyo amid rising COVID-19 infections.
Sifan Hassan is potentially about to have a crack at the impossible treble; the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m at the Tokyo Olympics. There is still a possibility that she will scratch from one event (rumoured to be the 1500m), but for now Hassan's name is on the start-lists for all three.
Women's 400m hurdling has seen a fantastic turnaround in the last few months, and American Sydney McLaughlin has been at the forefront.
The 21-year-old became the first woman ever to run the 400-metre hurdles in under 52 seconds with a time of 51.90, inevitably landing her the National title at Hayward Field.
World Athletics has made a bold step by announcing its innovative plan to award prize money during the Olympic Games, signaling a major change in how the world recognizes athletes' achievements. Athletes will be rewarded with US$50,000 if they win the gold medal in any of the 48 athletics events starting with the next Olympic Games in Paris.
