The Greek team for Cheboksary
4.05.2008. Athanasia Tsoumeleka leads the team which is going to compete for Greece in the IAAF World Walking Cup, to be held in Cheboksary, Russia next weekend (10-11 May). The team consinsts of 7 men and women walkers: Athanassia Tsoumeleka and Despina Zabounidou (20Km), Theodoros Koupidis (men's 20Km), Konstantinos Stefanopoulos (mens 50 Km), Michalis Yelastos (juniors 10Km), Maria Tsinopoulou and Eleftheria Zapanioti (junior women 20Km).

Bolt 9.76, second all time 100m performer
3.05.2008. Jamaica's Usain Bolt clocked an unbelievable 9.76 running the 100m yesterday in Jamaica Invitational meet, the second all time performance for the event, as only Asafa Powell with his world record 9.74 in Rieti last year was ever faster. The world junior record holder and Osaka silver medalist verified an excellent form about three months before the Olympic Games.
Also women´s 100 m brought excellent results with first years sub 11 seconds as World relay silver holder Jamaican Kerron Stewart improved to PB of 10.96. World Champion Kerron Clement opened at 400 m hurdles with excellent world lead 47.79, while Tyson Gay won the 200m in 20.00.
In other events Sanya Richards clocked 50.60 to win the 400m, Joanna Hayes won the 100mh in 12.72

Tsoumeleka 2nd, Xynou 4th in Sesto San Giovanni
1.05.2008. Reigning World champion Jefferson Perez from Equador and 2000 Olympic silver medallist Kjersti Plätzer clinched solid wins at the 51st edition of the Coppa Citta di Sesto San Giovanni - IAAF Race Walking Challenge - on a very warm day. Greece's Olympic Champion placed second in the women's race continuing her preparation for Olympic title defending. Evangelia Xinou was 4th, making the standard for Beijing.

April 2008

Doping again on the scene: [A tale of two sprinters], by Chris Galakoutis and HellenicAthletes.com

Alexander the Great Marathon
20.04.2008. Under very warm weather conditions Kenya's Chebet Kipruto won the 3rd "Alexander the Great Marathon" held from the location to ancient Pella to Thessaloniki. Kipruto clocked 2.13.08 while his compatriot Elizabeth Chemweno was the winner of the women's race.
Men: 1 Chebet Ben Kipruto KEN 2:13:08, 2 Leonard Kipkoech Kipyego KEN 2:13:17, 3 Benson Cheruiyot KEN 2:14:04, 4 Jaroslav Musinschi MDA 2:14:57, 5 Yared Mekkonen Temesgen ETH 2:16:46, 6 Chepkwony David Kiptanui KEN 2:16:59, 7 Jacob Kiprotich Mengich KEN 2:17:10, 8 Simon Kipkorir Tonui KEN 2:19:53, 9 Ahmed Jumah Jaber QAT 2:24:34, 10 Aknello Rutto KEN 2:25:37, 11 Sevak Yeghikyan ARM 2 2:29:18, 12 Desalegn Senbetie ETH  2:30:43, 13 Abraham Kilimo Cheruyiot KEN  2:33:49, 14 Denis Bagrev KIR 2:34:09, 15 Dmitry Sivov BRL 2:34:19
Women: 1 Elisabeth Chemweno KEN 2:35:04, 2 Hirut Abere Legesse ETH 2:45:42, 3 Girma Woynishet ETH 2:50:06, 4 Samirawit Baleha ETH 2:51:14, 5  Alevtina Naumova RUS 2:52:15, 6 Vinera Sarmosova RUS 3:03:02

Nagano Marathon
20.04.2008. The defending champions, Nephat Kinyanjui of Kenya and Alevtina Ivanova of Russia won the men’s and women’s divisions respectively of the 10th annual Nagano Marathon
Men. 1 Nephat Kinyanjui KEN  2:14:17, 2. Tomohiro Seto JPN 2:14:17, 3 Fayisa Tusse ETH 2:14:19, 4. Gidey Amaha ETH  2:14:19, 5 Yoshiyuki Suetsugu JPN 2:14:31, 6 Arkadiusz Sowa POL 2:14:39, 7. Tekeste Kebede ETH  2:15:21, 8 Gemechu Woyecha ETH 2:15:27
Women: 1 Alevtina Ivanova RUS 2:26:39, 2 Kate Smyth AUS 2:28:51, 3 Dorota Gruca POL 2:31:54, 4 Miyuki Ando JPN 2:34:25, 5 Asnakech Mengistu ETH 2:37:02

Belgrade Marathon results
20.04.2008. William Kipchumba won the Belgrade Marathon men's race, where also nine of the top 10 men were Kenyans. Natalija Chatkina of Belarus ran a personal best by five minutes to win the women's race, while Nilaj Essen of Turkey in second place became the Balkan champion. Greece's Pavlos Tzanavaras was second in the Balkan Champs classification with 2.41.02
Men: 1 William Kipchumba KEN  2:14:03, 2 Jonathan Kipsaina KEN 2:16:14, 3 Victor Robert KEN 2:16:47, 4 Benjamin Tabut KEN 2:18:47, 5 Veres Gerrabziabher ETH 2:19:18, 6 Pius Mutuku KEN  2:22:22
Women: 1 Natalija Chatkina BLR 2:46:24, 2 Nilaj Eeesen TUR 2:55:47, 3 Mercy Too KEN 2:57:24, 4 Jane Kosgei KEN 2:57:46

Doping again on the scene
15.04.2008. In the shadow of the worst ever doping scandal in Greece, but also the upcoming trial of Trevor Graham, doping engrosses again the debate just few months before Beijing Olympics [The Finger Pointing has Begun, by Conway Hill and Hellenicathletes.com]
Read also: [Greene hits back over drug claims, from BBC]

Double Turkish win in Istanbul
12.04.2008. Turkey became the first country in the history of the European Cup 10000m, which won both men's and women's individual titles. In the 12th version of the annual event Selim Bayrak, who represents Turkey since February, clocked a national record 27:47.75 to break the national record and meet the standard for Bejing. As Girma Legese of Ethiopia he won bronze at World Youth Championships 2003 in Sherbrooke, Canada at 3000 m.
Spanish runner Carles Castillejo was second with 28:07.55 and the bronze medal went to Russian Oleg Kunkov who was leading the second group in 28:48.55. Greek runner Anastasios Fragos placed 16th with 30.24.00
World championships 2007 silver medalist Elvan Abeylegesse won for third time in a row the women race with 31:36.33. Second place for Lornah Kiplagat of Netherlands who achieved 31:53.72, while her  cousin Hilda Kibet won bronze for Netherlands clocking new career best 32:05.49. Greece's Ekaterini Asimakopoulou was 14th with 34.20.95

Four medals for Greece in the Balkan Walk Champs
12.04.2008. Romania won the Balkan Walk Championships, held today in Bucuresti, while the Greek team got the second place in the overall classification. Maria Xatzipanayotidou was second in the 20Km women's walk with 1.39.14 and Maria Evagelou third in the same event with 1.53.16. Michalis Yelastos placed 2nd in the 10Km juniors' walk with 46.39.7 and Eleftheria Zabanioti third in the girls' race with 49.48.9

Tsoumeleka placed 4th in Rio Maior
05.04.2008.The Greek Olympic Champion of the 20Km walk Athanasia Tsoumeleka opened the season in the IAAF International Race Walk of Rio Maior, where she placed 4th with 1.30.00, setting the standard for the Olympic Games. The 2000 Olympic runner-up Kjersti Platzer of Norway was the winner with 1.29.29. Tsoumeleka plans to follow the Schedule of the Race Walk Grand Prix participating in more races in April, as her first appearance indicates a succesful return after the birth of her daughter.

Tsoumeleka opens the season in Rio Major - Devetzi nominated for the European Athlete of the Month title
02.04.2008. Ecuador's Jefferson Perez, three times IAAF world 20km Race Walk champion, Olympic 2004 20km champion Athanasia Tsoumeleka, and local heroes Susana Feitor and Joao Vieira are among the key entrants of the 17th edition of the Rio Maior Walking Grand Prix, to be held on Saturday, April 5th.
The Greek Olympic Champion returns to Portugal for the second time after her triumph in Athens and is expected to  face a tough opposition from Norway's 2000 Olympic runner-up Kjersti Platzer and the home favourite Susana Feitor, the 2005 World championships bronze medallist and winner in Rio Maior from 1993 to 1999.
Meanwhile, the World Indoor Championships silver medallist Chrysopigi Devetzi has been among the nominees for the European Athlete of the Month for March [click here to vote]

Thessaloniki to host World Athletics Final 2009
02.04.2008. The IAAF Council selected Thesalloniki, Greece, to host for the track season-capping IAAF/VTB Bank World Athletics Final for 2009. Formerly the IAAF Grand Prix Final, the annual two-day season-ending gathering was renamed the World Athletics Final in 2003, and hosted by Monaco through 2006. Stuttgart’s three year run as host ends in September.
Birmingham, England, will host the 2009 World Half Marathon Championships

March 2008

European Cup Winter Throwing
16.3.2008 In sunny, but windy conditions Gerd Kanter won for the fifth time in the European Cup Winter Throwing srarted yesterday in Split. Double Italian win with Marco Lingua to dominate the men's hammer throw and Assunta Legnante the women's shot put. Greece's Stefanos Konstas was 8th in the discus throw with 59.98m, where Spyros Arabatzis placed 12th with 58.65m. Ioannis Barlis placed also 12th in the hammer throw with 69.86m.
On Sunday, Rutger Smith dominated the shot put with 20.77, while Greeks Andreas Anastasopoulos (18.85m) and Michalis Stamatogiannis (18.25m) placed 10th and 13th respectively. Styliani Papadopoulou was 6th in the Hammer Throw with 67.27m and Alexandra Papageorgiou 18th with 64.48m. Finally Georgios Geromarkakis placed 7th in the U23 shot put.  [European Cup Winter Throwing Results]

Beijing via Cheboksary - Tsoumeleka prepares for Olympic title defence
13.3.2008 Having a baby doesn’t seem to have harmed Paul Radcliffe’s quest for Olympic glory – and another new mother also eyes the ultimate prize [Full story by the IAAF]

Soboleva breaks again the record to win 15000m gold
09.3.2008 Yelena Soboleva improved her own 1500m world record to 1.57.71 winning the gold medal of the world championships. Impressing golds for Phillips Idowe with 17.75m in the triple jump, Evgeniy Kukyanenko in the pole vault with 5.90m and Sudan's Abukaker Kaki Khamis who clocked 1.44.81 in the 800m. Blanka Vlasic won the high jump gold with 2.03m
[World Indoor Championships results:Day1, Day2, Day3]

Savigne steals the gold on the last attempt. Silver for Chrysopigi
08.3.2008 After Osaka's World Championships where she won the world title, Yargelis Savigne managed to win also the indoor triple jump title, setting an area record at 15.05m in her last attempt.
The Greek Champion Chrysopigi Devetzi had maybe her best competition ever. She led the competition attepting at 14.93m on the first round, a national record for Greece, which she improved to 15.00m on the third round. Having all attempts over 14.83m, Devetzi lost the gold once again "on the last minute" but this cannot decrease the value of the greatest Greek athlete.
Cyprus' Kyriakos Ioannou repated the great achievement of Osaka, winning again the bronze medal in the high jump with 2.30m. Olympic champion Stefan Holm regained the World Indoor title he had secured for the third consecutive time four years ago in Budapest with a first time clearance at 2.36m after the Swede had all but a flawless competition in Valencia’s Velodrome tonight. [World Indoor Championships: Results by the IAAF]
Click also: Chrysopigi Devetzi: official site

Hellebaut wins heptahlon. American double in the shot put
07.3.2008 The Belgian High Jump European Champion Tia Hellebaut won the world indoor title in heptathlon with a world leading 4.867 points. In the dash races Nigeria's Fasuba Olusoj (6.51) and America's Angela Williams (7.06) won the gold medals, while in the shot put we had an expected American double. Christian Cantwell (21.77m) and Reese Hoffa (21.20) hold top spots.

World Indoor Championships open in Valencia. Devetzi targets 11th medal
07.3.2008 The Indoor World Championships start in the morning in Valencia, Spain. Among the 5 Greek participants, Olympics silver medalist Chrysopigi Devetzi , targets one more medal in her long carreer. In the last years Devetzi, who last Christmas named Athlete of the Year for Greece for third year in a row, has won almost all possible honours besides a gold medal:
2004: Silver in the Olympics, bronze in the World Indoor Championships, 2nd in the European Cup
2005: 2nd in the European Cup, bronze in Mediterannean Games
2006: Silver in the European Championships, 2nd and 3rd in the World Cup (triple jump and long jump),
2007: Bronze in the World Championships, 2nd in the European Cup
Her personal bests stand at 15.32m (triple jump) and 6.85i (long jump). This year improved her triple jump indoor record to 14.89m, a national record for Greece.
In the morning qualification round Devetzi was the best with 14.63m she set on the first round, while the second Greek participant Athanasia Perra failed to qualify having the best attempt at 13.61m. Devetzi competes tomorrow in the final, having to oppose Sestjak, Savigne and Aldama, but not Pyatykh who didn't make it.
In the men's long jump Luis Tsatoumas produced a negative surprise as he set a 7.77m losing the ticket for the final. [World Indoor Championships: Results by the IAAF]

February 2008

Greece with 5 in Valencia
26.2.2008 Five Greek athletes are going to participate in the World Indoor Championships to be held in Valencia. Osaka's bronze medalist Chrysopigi Devetzi participates in the triple and the long jumps, while Athanasia Perra also enters the triple jump competition. Nikoletta Kyriakopoulou, the new national record holder competes in the pole vault. Flora Redoumi participates in the 60m hurdles, while the only man of the Greek team is Luis Tsatoumas in the long jump.

Pole vault national record for Greece
23.2.2008 The 22nd annual version of the Greek National Indoor Championships opened today in Peania Hall with the participation of more than 400 athletes. Nikoletta Kyriakopoulou, 22, set a pople vault national record for Greece, with 4.40m and set the standard for the World Indoor Championships. Luis Tsatoumas won the close long jump competition with 7.88m
[RESULTS][2008 GRE Indoor Lists][All time lists: men, women][Greek National Indoor Records]

Powell and Wariner impress in Melbourne, a world juniors record in the 1000m in Stockholm
21.2.2008 Jamaica’s Asafa Powell won easing up in 10.04 and started World record talk at the Melbourne Grand Prix held today. American Jeremy Wariner opening the defence of his Olympic 400m title with a superb 44.82 in his first lap of the 2008 season, while local heroes Scott Martin smashed the Australian record with a Shot Put of 21.27m and Craig Mottram finished strongly to win over 5000m in 13:11.99 from a good international field. [Results]
The women's long jump produced national and meeting records in Stockholm. Irina Simagina jumped 6.98m to improve her career best, Portugal's Naide Gomez produced a national record at 6.93m and Southafrican Karin Mey placed third with 6.85m. Susanna Kallur won again in 7.74, while Stefan Holm cleared 2.33m to dominate the high jump and Dayron Robles won the men's 60mh in 7.44 World leading performance for Sudan's Abukater Kaki who won the 1000m in 2.15.77 setting also a world juniors record [Results]

World record by Isinbayeva in Donetsk. Bekele clocks 8.04.35 in 2 miles in Birmingham
16.2.2008 In her 2008 debut, Yelena Isinbayeva raised her own World record indoors to 4.95m* today at the Pole Vault Stars meeting in Donetsk, Ukraine. [Results]
The 25-year-old Russian added two centimetres to the previous indoor mark she set one year ago at this same competition.
World Champion Kenenisa Bekele fulfilled all expectations of packed NIA at Norwich Union Grand Prix today. In great duel with Paul Kipsiele Koech he finished clocking 8:04.35 at 2 miles. That is new world best, he bettered the previous mark of his famous countrymate Haile Gebrselassie who achieved 8:04.69 here in 2003. World record holder Susanna Kallur improved the stadium record to 7.75 at 60 m Hurdles. Canadian Helsinki medalist Tyler Christopher debuted indoors at 400m into national record and world leading 45.80. Norwegian Jaisuma Saidy Ndure won the 60 m in new national record 6.56. [Results]
In Moscow, Russia made the double winning the European Indoor Cup in men and women [Results] [Greek meetings results]

Four World Leading marks in Athens
13.2.2008 "Athina 2008" brings four world leading performances by Irving Saladino (8.42m), Marija Sestjak (15.08m), Daniel Komen Chipchipchir (3.34.80) and Yuliya Golubchikova (4.75m) as well as a national triple jump indoor record set by Chrysopigi Devetzi at 14.89m
Unlucky moments of the meeting the injuries of Saladino, Tsatoumas and Gaisah which actually ended early a great long jump competition
[Results][Our report written for the IAAF]

Athina 2008, IAAF Permit Meeting
11.2.2008 The presence of reigning three World champions and a handful of World and Olympics medallists, as well as of Greek top athletes in the “Athina 2008” IAAF Permit Meeting increases the interest for the event scheduled for Wednesday 13 in the Peania Hall in Athens. [Entrants][Our preview written for the IAAF]

Kallur sets world record in Karlsruhe
10.2.2008 The third world record in a sinlge day came by Sweden's Susanna Kallur who clocked 7.68 to get Narozhilenko's world record. Nelson Evora set a world leading mark of 17.33m in the triple jump [Results]

Soboleva breaks 1500m world record. Second record by a 4X800m team
10.2.2008 (from Alfons Juck) Yelena Soboleva clocked first world indoor record of the year during 3rd day of Russian Championships as she won the 1500 m in 3:58.05. She bettered her own mark from Russian Champs 2006 (Moscow Feb 18) by 0.23.
On more world record was registered at women's 4x800 m relay. The Team of Sverdlovsk Region clocked impressive 8:14.53 and bettered the former mark of Moscow Region Team from last years Russian Championships by huge 4.01 s (8:18.54 on Feb 11 2007 in Volgograd). The world record team consists of  Yevgeniya Zinurova, European 2006 Champion Olga Kotlyarova, Mariya Savinova and Natalya Ignatova.

Brilliant women's jumps in Balkan Champs
9.2.2008 Romania's Adelina Gavrila and Greece's Chrysopigi Devetzi set the best performances of the Balkan Championships, held today in Peania, Athens. Gavrila won the triple jump with 14.70m, while Devetzi in her first season's appearance produced a long jump personal best at 6.85m, to become the 4th world performer of the season. Devetzi participated out of competition, while on Wednesday participates in Athina 2008 IAAF Permit meeting in the triple jump.
One more significant performance was the winning shot of Bosnian Hamza Alic at 20.23m, a personal best for the athlete. Bulgaria’s Tventelina Kirilova clocked 52.61 to smash her personal best in the 400m, while Romania’s Ionella Tirlea placed second with 53.31. Liliana Popescu set the best time in the women’s 800m with 2.00.41 running out of competition, while her compatriot Mihaela Neascu was the winner of the event with 2.03.01.
Romania dominated both men's and women's categories. followed by the Greek teams.[Results]

Soboleva clocks Russian record 1.56.49
9.2.2008 (from Alfons Juck) Osaka 1500m silver holder Yelena Soboleva clocked new Russian indoor record at 800m. During second day of national championschips she achieved world leading and fourth best of all-time 1:56,49. Another world lead was registred in 200m heats as Anastasiya Kapachinskaya achieved 23.02.

Ioannou jumps 2.32m in Novisad. 15th Balkan Indoor Championships on Saturday in Athens
8.2.2008 Cypriot Kyriakos Ioannou, bronze medallist last year in Osaka, opened the indoor season in the Eurotop 2008, held yesterday in Novi Sad, Serbia. Ioannou won with 2.32m a national indoor record for Cyprus, while Greece's Kostas Baniotis placed 3rd with 2.24m  [Results]
The 15th annual version of the Balkan Indoor Championships is taking place in Peania, Athens on Saturday 9. among the significant entrants of the meeting are Romania's Ionella Tirlea, Adelina Gavrila, George Gouset and Bogdan Tudor, Moldova's Ina Gliznuta, Serbia's Dragutin Topic, Bulgaria's Spas Buchalov, Nikolae Atanasov, Antonia Yordanova and Greece's Aris Gavelas, Athanasia Perra, Stella Pilatou. Greece's Osaka bronze medallist Chrysopigi Devetzi participates out of competition, her first meeting for the indoor season. Devetzi who targets almost exclusively in beijing this year, has also entered "Athina 2008" not losing any opportunity to compete with other top world athletes in international meetings.

Three world leads during first day of Russian Championships: 7.09 Polyakova, 1:59.56 Soboleva, 51.42 Zaytseva
8.2.2008 (from Alfons Juck, EME news) The first day of Russian National Championships opened today in CSKA Hall. European indoor silver medalist Yevgeniya Polyakova won the 60 m in a PB and seasonal lead 7.09. Svetlana Nabokina who was co-leading the lists with 7.16 until today finished second clocking 7.18. World indoor medalist Andrey Yepishin won the men's short sprint with 6.64 and the European Indoor Champion of 2005 Dmitriy Bogdanov won the 1500m with 1:46.24 and took the title. Birmingham 2007 silver medalist Aleksandra Antonova won the 60 m Hurdles with 7.98. At men's 60 m Hurdles the top two places were clearly taken by Yevgeniy Borisov (7.59) and Igor Peremota (7.61), while Pavel Sofin with 20.11 m was best in Shot Put beating Ivan Yushkov (19.81).
Other two world leads were established in heats. Women's preliminary round at 800 m registered first seasonal sub 2 minutes times; Yelena Soboleva achieved 1:59.56 and Natalya Ignatova sensationally improved to her first ever sub 2 minutes with 1:59.67. In the morning program female 400 m runners were flying. Goteborg 2006 bronze medalist Olga Zaytseva clocked new world lead in heats with 51.42.
In men's 400 m heats Maksim Dyldin improved to European lead 46.22. Slovakian triple jumper Dmitrij Valukevic won the qualification with 17.13 m, what means for him confirmation of Olympic participation. Goteborg bronze medalist in Long Jump Oksana Udmurtova was the best in female Triple Jump qualification with 14.36 m. World leader in Long Jump Irina Simagina easily qualified in Long Jump with 632 cm.

Nelson shots 22.07 in New York - Vlasic 2.03, Silnov 2.37 in Arnstadt - Kallur 7.72 in Stuttgart
2.2.2008 Adam Nelson set a world leading 22.07m in the shot put, the best performace of the Millrose Games held yesterday in New York. [Results]
Today, Paraskevi Papahristou set a new national triple jump record in juniors jumping 13.86m in Peania. This mark improves also the outdoor record for Greece [Results]
In Arnstadt, Germany world leading marks were achieved by Russian European Champion Andrey Silnov who cleared 2.37 cm and Croatian World Champion Blanka Vlasic who won with 2.03 cm. [Results]
Susanna Kallur clocked 7.72 in Stuttgart, setting again a Swedish record and approaching even closer to the 60mh world indoor record [Results]

January 2008

Kallur clocks 7.75, Robles 7.45 in Gothenburg
29.1.2008 Susanna Kallur clocked an amazing 7.75 to set a new national 60mh record, missing Narozhilenko's world record by just 0.06. World leading marks set also by Cuban Dayron Robles (7.45 in the men's race) but also the high jump world champion Blanka Vlasic who opens the season with 2.01m. Another Cuban, the triple jump world champion Yargelis Savigne also started the season with a world leading mark at 14.56m.
Stefan Holm won the men's high jump with 2.33m and American Derek Miles the pole vault at 5.75m [Results]

Russian Winter Results
27.1.2008 The 17th edition of the ‘Russian Winter’ indoor meeting in Moscow witnessed a heavy snowfall of world season indoor leading marks which was somewhat appropriate for the opening event of the 2008 IAAF Indoor Permit season.The most impressive mark was the national record in the women’s Mile which was set by Yelena Soboleva. The previous mark - 4:24.11 -was set 7 years ago by Yelena Zadorozhnaya. [Results from Russian Winter][Results from Peania][Glascow results][Boston results]

Brilliant high jump stars to shine in "Athina 2008"
22.1.2008 The announcemet of the stars who are going to participate in "Athina 2008" IAAF Permit meeting is going on. Today it was announced that two athletes who won medals in the last world championhips will be among the entrants in the men's high jump competition: The world champion Donald Thomas from Bahamas and the bronze medallist Cypriot Kyriakos Ioannou.
Among the other entrants the Ukraine's Yuriy Krimarenko, winner in Helsinki World Championships in 2005 is also included. [ENTRANTS]

World leading marks in Hustopece
20.1.2008 Russia's Ivan Ukhov, Ukraine's Vita Palamar but also Germany's Adriane Friedrich won the high jump meeting held in Hustopece, Czech Republic, set world leading marks.
Ukhov cleared 2.36m to defeat Swedish Linus Thornblad who had his best leap at 2.34m. Palamar was the winner yesterday with 1.99m, the same performance with the German who was second. [Results]
Meanwhile, in the first Greek indoor meeting, held in Patra yesterday, Antonia Stergiou won with 1.85m, the best performance of the meeting.

Gebre clocks second faster time ever in Dubai Marathon
18.1.2008 Haile Gebrselassie won the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon clocking the second fastest time ever 2:04:53. Ethiopia's champion followed a very fast pace in the first half of the race, covered in 1:01:27, while the repsective time of the record race in Berlin was 1:02:29. Berhane Adere won in the women category with 2:22:42, setting also a new race record for Dubai Marathon. [Results from Wuppertal and Nordhausen]

Devetzi vs Savigne in "Athina 2008"
16.1.2008 Impressing entries for the women's triple jump in "Athina 2008" were announced today by the greek Federation. Athens' silver medallist Chrysopigi Devetzi will compete with the World Champion Yargelis Savigne of Cuba, but also Slovenia's Marija Sestjak (5th in Osaka last year), Ukraine's Olga Saladukha (7th in Osaka), France's new national record holder Teresa N'Zola and Brazil's Keila Kosta.
Tatyana Lebedeva announced that she is not going to compete in any indoor meeting this year, starting her preparation for Beijing Olympic Games

Simagina jumps 6.94m in Moscow
14.1.2008 Irina Simagina jumped 6.94m to set the best mark in Moscow Christmas Cup meetig held on Saturday. Tatyana Kimivyagi cleared 1.94m, while Yevgeniy POlotnir jumped 17.02m in the triple jump [Results]

Daniel Komen Chipchirchir enters "Athina 2008"
11.1.2008 The silver medalist of the World Indoor Champs 2006, kenya's Daniel Komen Chipchirchir is going to participate in the 1500m race of "Athina 2008" Indoor meet. Mansur Ali Bilal from Burundi, Kenya's Remi Limo and Spain's Sergio Gallardo and Juan Carlos Esteso will be among his main rivals.

Saladino and Tsatoumas to meet in "Athina 2008" Indoor
8.1.2008 The Greek long jump champion Luis Tsatoumas who didn't manage to compete in the world champs last year facing injury problems will meet with the World Champion Irving Saladino in the "Athina 2008" Indoor meeting to be held on February 13 in Athens. They are the first names announced by the Greek Federation which attempts to gather in Peania Stadium some of the bigger world athletics stars for the annual version of the IAAF meeting.

Kajsa Bergqvist retiring
7.1.2008 After an international career spanning no less than fifteen years Swedish high jumper Kajsa Bergqvist, 31, the 2005 World champion has today announced that her athletics career has come to an end.
Between 2000 and 2006 Bergqvist competed in ten international championships (Olympics, World, European) outdoors and indoors, without missing the podium even once and winning 50% of them - one World, two World Indoors, one European and one European Indoors. She first cleared 2 metres in 2000 and then did it at least once each of the following seven years amassing a total of 52 meets at 2.00+.
In 21 Golden League High Jump competitions she won 3, reached the podium in 13 and only once finished out of the top-6. She raised the Swedish national records from 1.94 both outdoors and indoors to 2.06 and 2.08 respectively. The latter also constituting a World Indoor record.[Full report from IAAF]

Ukhov and Silnov open season with 2.34m in Yekaterinburg
7.1.2008 At Ulatov Memorial Christmas Stars Russian High Jumpers started greatly into the season. Last year world indoor leader (with 239 National record) Ivan Ukhov went over 234 cm and the same height for second placed European Champion from Goteborg Andrey Silnov [Results]

Kajsa Bergqvist retiring
7.1.2008 After an international career spanning no less than fifteen years Swedish high jumper Kajsa Bergqvist, 31, the 2005 World champion has today announced that her athletics career has come to an end.
Between 2000 and 2006 Bergqvist competed in ten international championships (Olympics, World, European) outdoors and indoors, without missing the podium even once and winning 50% of them - one World, two World Indoors, one European and one European Indoors. She first cleared 2 metres in 2000 and then did it at least once each of the following seven years amassing a total of 52 meets at 2.00+.
In 21 Golden League High Jump competitions she won 3, reached the podium in 13 and only once finished out of the top-6. She raised the Swedish national records from 1.94 both outdoors and indoors to 2.06 and 2.08 respectively. The latter also constituting a World Indoor record.[Full report from IAAF]

The New Year starts with a 4-year ban for Justin Gatlin
1.1.2008 Reigning Olympic 100-meter champion Justin Gatlin learned last night that his 20-month fight against doping charges -- and probably his track and field career -- had ended. Gatlin was informed he had received a four-year competition ban for an April 22, 2006, positive test for testosterone and its precursors, according to several people close to the case. [More from Washinghton Post]