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December 2002

Kenteris and Thanou named Athletes of the Year for Greece
December 16. One more time the winners of the Athlete Of The Year awards for Greece, come from Athletics. Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou, both European Champions in Munich, named today Athletes of the Year. It was the third consecutive title for Kenteris and, also, the third title for Thanou. Katerina Voggoli, the European discus throw Champion, placed second in women's classification, while a tennis player, Lena Danielidou was third. Vlassis Maras (world champion, gymnastics) and Leonidas Sambanis (weightlifting) placed second and third respectivery in men's ranking.

European Cross Country Championships. Lebid and Javornic on the top
December 8. Ukrainian Sergiy Lebid dominated the European Cross Country Championships, held in Medulin, Croatia. The Ukrainian ran the distance of 6.170 m. in 28' 58" and crossed the line in front of Mustapha Essaid and Fabian Roncero. Slovenian Helena Javornik won the senior women's race, while the juniors races were dominated by Russian Evgeniy Rybakov and British Charlotte Dale. Spain dominated the men's overall standing, Russia won the women's and junior men categories and Great Britain was the winner of the junior women class.

Guevara won the Central American Games in 51" 87.
December 3. Mexico’s IAAF Golden League Jackpot winner, Ana Guevara, won easily the gold medal of the Central American Games, yesterday in San Salvador. Dion Crabbe won the 100 m. title in 10" 28., while Mexico' s Allen Doll was the winner of the women's final with 11" 34. Juana Rosario of Domenican Republic cleared 1, 97 m. to win the high jump

November 2002

Statistics Session Updated
November 30. We have already upadated the most of our statistics series, as the 2002 season is already over. The season was marked by 13 world records in men and women, 5 of them by Svetlana Geofanova in the indoor season. In Greece, we had a total of 67 national records, 28 records by men and women, 18 records by juniors and 21 more records by U18 athletes, boys and girls.

El Guerrouj and Radcliffe named Athletes of the Year
November 17. Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) and Paula Radcliffe (GBR)  named Athletes of the Year, at the 2002 World Athletics Gala, which is celebrating the 90th anniversary of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Hicham El Guerrouj becomes the first man to win Athlete of the Year titles in consecutive years since the award was created in 1988. The first ever “Primo Nebiolo Lifetime Achievement Award” was awarded to Kip Keino.The Rising Star awards, went to Usain Bolt (JAM), who became the youngest ever World Junior Champion when winning the 200m at the World Junior Championships in Kingston, and Carolina Kluft (SWE), who won the Heptathlon title in Jamaica before setting a world junior record to win the European Championships title in Munich.

Osaka to host World Championships 2007 - Everything is ready for the World Athletics Gala 2002
November 14. IAAF Council, in the first session of a meeting in Monaco, has accepted a bid from the Japanese city of Osaka to host the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics in 2007. The proposed dates for the Championship are 24 August to 2 September, subject to Council approval. On the meanwhile, everything is ready for the World Athletics Gala 2002, on Sunday night. More than 600 guests will congratulate the Athletes of the Year, as well as the recipients of the Rising Star Award (for the most impressive Juniors of 2002) and the new Primo Nebiolo Lifetime Achievement award, in recognition of long and extraordinary service to international athletics.

Kenyan Mark Saina won the Athens Classic Marathon
November 03. Kenya's Mark Saina won the 20th edition of the Athens Classic in 2:18' 17", followed by his compatriots John Moiben and Eliah Korrir. The faster Greek runner was Vassilios Zambelis who ran a 2:20'36" and placed 6th. Ukrainian Serhiy Zachepa won the European Police Championships in 2: 24' 15. Sonja Krolik won the women's race in 2: 37' 27", followed by Georgia Ambatzidou who clocked 2: 47' 18", and Victoria Zueva. Alisson Crook of Great Britain won the women's Police Championships title.

October 2002

Manjani and Kenteris again on the top of the European Lists
October 26. Mirela Manjani and Costas Kenteris is once more on the top of the European season's lists of their events. This year, among the top 10 european athletes, there are 18 entries by greeks, the most than ever before, while two more (Angeliki Tsiolakoudi and the 4X100 women's team) are on the 11th positions. Costas Gatsioudis is the 2nd european performer with his only throw this year at 91, 23 m. Although the list may be slightly modified in the coming weeks, especially regarding the road events, Russia is once more the country with the most entries, 86 in men's and women's lists, followed by Germany (42), France (41), the Great Britain (39) and Spain (35 entries).

Athlete of the Year Awards 2002
October 19. Costas Kenteris is among the nominees for the Athlete of the Year Award, accoding to the announcement of the Athlete of the Year Foundation. The nominations are: Men: Jonathan Edwards (GBR), Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR), Robert Fazekas (HUN), Konstadinos Kederis (GRE), Khalid Khannouchi (USA), Wilson Kipketer (DEN), Robert Korzeniowski (POL), Tim Montgomery (USA), Felix Sanchez (DOM) and Roman Sebrle (CZE). Women: Berhane Adere (ETH), Surreya Ayhan (TUR), Kajsa Bergqvist (SWE), Gail Devers (USA), Svetlana Feofanova (RUS), Debbie Ferguson (BAH), Ana Guevara (MEX), Marion Jones (USA), Maria Mutola (MOZ), Paula Radcliffe (GBR). The IAF Council will meet prior to the World Athletics Gala, which will be held in Monte Carlo on Sunday, 17 November, to decide the top three male and female names, with the Athlete of the Year announced live on stage at the Gala.

2:17.18 marking Radcliffe's Era
October 13. Paula Radcliffe smashed the Marathon record in Chicago, running a tremendous 2:17.18 and going on the most brilliant season of her career. Racliffe was on the top of the race for almost the whole distance and made the record although she had to face with the wind during the last kilometers. Radcliff'e' s splits were 1:09:05 for the first half and she ran the second half faster in 1:08:13. The old record was 2:18.47 set by Ndereba last year also in Chicago. Today, Ndereba finishes second in 2:19:25; the first time two women have ever run sub-2:20 in the same marathon Khalid Khannouchi won the men's race in the fourth all time mark 2:05.56, six months after his 2:05.38 world record in London. Khannouci accelarated after the 24th mile to take the lead just 1.5 mile before the finish, while Japanese Toshinari Takaoka was on the top for the most of the race, running in a world record pace, but slowed down in the last miles. Results from Asian Games

Jefferson Perez wins in Torino just before the end
October 13. Ecuador's walker, Jefferson Perez, won the 20 Km men's race, just 50 meters before the end, on the first day of the  IAAF World Race Walking Cup, in 1:21.26. The 1996 Olympic Champion won after the disqualification of Roman Rassakov at the end of the race. Vladimir Andreyev was second, picking up his second major silver medal of the year, after the European Championships. Erica Alfridi of Italy won the women's race in 1:28.55, while both Greek women, Kokotou and Papayianni did not finish the race. On Sunday, Aleksey Voyevodin won the 50Km race in 3:40.80. Georgios Argyropoulos placed 28th with 4:05.25., while two more Greeks, Kastanis and Satamatopoulos did not finish.

Rethymno Meeting on the top of Europe
October 10. "Vardinoyiania 2002", the international meeting of Rethymno, ranked on the top of the EAA permit meetings for 2002. The meeting in Rethymno scored 83.287 points, in front of the meetings of Ostrawa and Lausanne. Two more Greek meetings are in good positions, Chania in 7th position and Kalamata in 11th. Two years ago, it was the meeting of Chania on the top of the european list. According to the 2003 schedule announced, the meeting in Kalamata is to be held on May 31st. On June 6th we'll watch the annual edition of Venizelia 2003 in Chania, while Vardinoyiannia 2003 is scheduled for July 7th in Rethymno.

September 2002

Takahashi returned victorious in Berlin
September 29. Naoko Takahasi, the Marathon world record holder, won the Berlin Marathon today with 2:21.50, in the place where he set a world all time best one year ago. It's the fourth world time for this season. Mexican Andriana Fernandez placed second with 2:24.12 and Kenyan Helen Kimutai third in 2:26.11 Raymond Kipkoech won the men's race in 2:06.50 followed by the other Kenyans Simon Biwott, Vincent Kipsos, Boniface Usisivu and Jimmy Muindi. Dan Browne with 2:11:33 and Irina Rogacheva with 2:29.38 won the Twin Cities Marathon, held also today in Indianapolis, US.

Jones and El Guerrouj end the season on the top
September 25. Marion Jones and Hicham El Guerrouj finished the season on the top of the IAAF world ranking, according to the last release published today. Jones has 1405 points, just 2 more than Svetlana Feofanova and 3 more than Gail Devers who are on the second and third positions. El Guerrouj is followed but Tim Montgomery who climbed to the second position after the world record he set on the Grand Prix Final, while Boulami is currently third, althought his positive test still pending. Costas Kenteris is the best Greek with 1296 points, on the 105th position of the world list. Kenteris is 5th among the 200 m. runners. Periklis Iakovakis and Munich bronze medalist Alexandros Papadimitriou share the second place among the Greek athletes with 1249 points. Katerina Thanou is the better Greek woman with 1267 points. She is on the 97th position of the world list and 14th in the 100 m. world list. The European discus champion Katerina Voggoli is now second Greek, followed by the 100 m. hurdles runner Flora Redoumi.

Africa and Russia win in Mardid. Second place for Europe in women's and third in men's classification
September 21. The men's team of Africa got the fourth consecutive World Cup, while the US placed second and the team Europe third. The Russian  team was the winner of the women's title, followed by the teams of Europe and Americas. On the second day of the World Cup championships records set by Antonio Manuel Reina in 800 m. with 1.43.83, also national record for Spain, Olga Yegorova in 5000 m. with 15.18.15 and Craig Mottram in 3000 with 7.41.37. The 4X400 m. men's team of Americas set a world leading mark 2.59.19, while Hestrie Cloete won the high jump with a clearance of 2, 02 m., the same mark with Kajsa Berqgvist who placed 2nd.

Second place for Katerina Voggoli in the World Cup
September 20. Katerina Voggoli, the only Greek who accept the honour to represent Europe in the World Cup, placed 2nd in the discus throw tonight in Madrid, throwing 61, 77 m., while Beatrice Faumuina was the winner of the event. Marion Jones dominated the 100 m. in 10" 90., and Uchenna Emendolu won the men's race after the withdrawal of Tim Montgomery. The US 4X100 m. men's team set a championships record of 37" 95., while America's team won the women's 4X100 in a world leading mark 41" 91. In Men's standings Africa is on the top with 65 points, followed by the US team (63 p.) and the team Europe (60 p.). In women's classification Europe is on the top with 63 points, one more than Russia, while the US team is currenlty placed third. It's notable than no woman of the team Europe has won any event in the first day of the world cup.

The loss of Bob Hayes shadows the opening of the World Cup
September 20. A legend of the world athletics, Bob Hayes, passed away at the age of 59 yesterday, in Indianapolis. Hayes was Olympic Champion of 100 m. in Tokyo 1964, equalling the world record with 10" 06., while in the same Olympics he got also the 4X100 m. relay gold with a world record of 39" 06.
In this atmopsphere of America's mourn, the World Cup opens tonight in Madrid and both the 100 m. races attracts the eyes worldwide. Tim Montgomery and Marion Jones leading the US team, while the only Greek of team Europe, Katerina Voggoli, participates today in the discus final.

9" 78. - Montgomery breaks the world record in Paris
September 14. The Grand Prix Final 2002 started with the new 100 m. world record set by Tim Montgomery. The new record is 9" 78. and Tim Montgomery is now the best 100 m. runner, according to IAAF ranking system and, also, tops the Overall men's GP standing with 116 points. In this unbeliavable race, Dwain Chambers equalled Christie's European Record, running in 9" 87., while the wind mark was +2.0 m/s. Greene did not compete. Marion Jones won the women's race in 10" 88. and dominated the Overall women's classification. Felix Sanchez won the 400 m. hurdles with a championships record of 47" 62. and Hicham El Guerrouj the 3' 29" 27. Both matched 116 points in the overall standing, but Montgomery is the season's winner, because of the world record he set, followed by El Guerrouj and Sanchez on the 2nd and 3rd positions respectively. Next year, the IAAF Grand Prix Final will become the IAAF World Athletics Final and its system of qualification will radically change. To qualify for the IAAF World Athletics Final, athletes will have to be ranked among the top 8, or 10 in middle distance events, in the IAAF World Rankings.

Golden League Final
September 13. The Grand Prix Final 2002 is to be held tomorrow in Paris. Hicham El Guerrouj abd Felix Sanchez are on the top of the overall men's standing with 92 points and both claim the first position of the GP 2000. Four years after her previous win, Marion Jones is ready to collect a second Overall IAAF Grand Prix title. She is on the top with 92 points, five more than Gail Devers who is second. Another interesting point of tomorrow's final is the effort of Tim Mongomery to jump on the leading position of IAAF World Rankings in 100 m. Montgomery needs to beat Greene by 0.06 seconds to overtake hin to the top.

The European Team for the World Cup
September 11. (From European Athletics Association). Francis Obikwelu (200 m), Kim Gevaert (100 m) and Mikaela Ingberg (Javelin) will replace the three Greek athletes Konstantinos Kenteris, Ekaterini Thanou and Mirela Manjani in the Team Europe for the 9th IAAF World Cup in Madrid on 20/21 September. The chance of greek athletics to be represented by 4 athletes in the European Team is lost. A dissapointment for the Greek friends of Athletics at the end of a brilliant season. Both the athletes and the federation should have faced with the world cup more seriously, taking into account the current development of the sport in Greece and depriving malicious arguments. The team of Europe is the following. Men: 100m: Obikwelu POR, 200m: Obikwelu  POR, 400m: Plawgo POL, 800m: Bucher SUI, 1500m: Baala FRA, 3000m: Lebid UKR, 5000m: Sghyr  FRA, 3000m St.: Vroemen NED, 110mh: Olijars LAT, 400mh: Diagana FRA, HJ: Rybakov RUS, PV: Averbukh ISR, LJ: Lukashevich UKR, TJ: Olsson SWE, SP: Bilonog UKR, DT: Fazekas HUN, HT: Annus HUN, JT: Mararov RUS, 4x100m: UKR 4x400m: Plawgo POL, Szeglet HUN, Van Brantegmem Cedric BEL, Blaha CZE. Women: 100m: Gevaert BEL, 200m: Hurtis FRA, 400m: McConnell GBR, 800m: Ceplak SLO, 1500m: Ayhan TUR, 3000m: Szabo ROM, 5000m: Pavey GBR, 100mh: Krasovska UKR, 400mh: Tirlea ROM, HJ: Bergqvist SWE, PV: De Wilt NED, LJ: Johnson GBR, TJ: Hansen  GBR, SP: Pavlysh UKR, DT: Vogoli GRE, HT: Skolimowska POL, JT: Ingberg FIN, 4x100m: FRA  4x400m: McConnell GBR, Prokopek POL, Yefremova UKR, Usovich BLR

Kipketer sets season's best in Rieti
Sep 08. Wilson Kipketer won the 800 m. in Rieti Grand Prix II, in a season's world leading time of 1' 42" 32., beating Wilfred Bungei who clocked 1' 42" 34. In the same race, Mehdi Baala broke the French national record. Hicham El Guerrouj ran the 1.500 m. in 3' 26" 96. and Uchenna Emedolu won both 100 m. and 200 m. races with 10" 10. and 20" 31., while Italian Magdelin Martinez won the triple jump with a national record of 14, 73 m. Becker, Pyrek and Molnar cleared 4, 53 m. leaving Dragila at 5th place with 4, 33 m.

All defended their share to the gold
Sep 06. The four contenders of the Golden League jack pot won their events tonight in ISTAF Berlin, Marion Jones clocked 11" 04., Hicham El Guerrouj dominated the 1500 m. in 3' 30" 00.,  Felix Sanchez the 400 m.h in 48" 05. and Ana Guevara the 400 m. with 49" 91. Maurice Greene placed 6th in the 100 m., where Chambers was once again the winner in 10" 02. and Christian Olsson impressed again with a jump at 17, 40 m. Fast 5000 women's race with Berhane Adere to cross the finishing line in 14' 41" 43. and Benita Johnson to break the Oceanic record. Yesterday, in the World Armed Forces Championships, Greek Marios Evaggelou placed 5th in the pole vault with 5,30 m., Georgios Iltsios was 6th in the javelin with 70,36 m. and Maria Papadopoulou 8th in the 400 m. in 57" 80.

Re-activating
Sep 01. After a 3-week vacation period, during which we failed to watch the latest athletics developments, the Athletics Site is being re-activated. We start to add some missing results and update all the statistics series we keep; hopefully these tasks will finish before the end of the new week.
Just then, we are going to completely reorganize our "Athletes" session, adding many top athletes from the international and the Greek scenes, while we return to the known pace of publishing results, especially waiting for the GP Finals and the World Cup in this month.
By the way, we should thank all our readers for trusting the Athletics Site. On last August 39.893 sessions served by the site, the most since its first establishment. During the European Championships we had more than 2000 sessions per day, while on August 9th we met with our best ever of 2.472 sessions.

August 2002

Iakovakis sets new 400m. Hurdles record for Greece
August 19. Thanassis Kalogiannis' legendary 48" 87. (1987) is now history, after Periklis Iakovakis broke the 400 m. Hurdles National Record for Greece at the Linz Meeting. The talented athlete (World Junior Champion '98, 5th at Munich 2002) finished 3rd at the Linz race, clocking 48" 66.

Boulami sets new 3000m. Steeple World Record at 7' 53" 17.
August 16. Brahim Boulami bettered his world record at the 3000m. Steeple, with 7' 53" 17. at a great race in Weltklasse, Zurich.

Kipketer revenges Schumann in his own home
August 11. In a slow 800 m. race lead by Nilis Schumann, the local hero, with some of the best runners competing, it was sure that it would be not only the most talented but also the most efficient and lucky to win. This year, unlike 1998 in Budapest, Wilson Kipketer -the World Record holder- did a perfect job to claim the title. Andre Bucher was second, leaving Schumann third. In an incredible and very fast 1500 m. Final, it was Turkish Sureya Ayhan that claimed gold, beating the great favorite Gabiela Szabo and clocking 3' 58" 79, which is a new National Reord. Kajsa Berqvist (1,98 m. - High Jump), Robert Fazekas (68,83 m. - Discus) and the Germany Women's 4 x 400 m. team easily won golden medals at their events. The British Men's team won both the 4 x100 and 4 x 400 m relay. Greece was 6th at the 4 x 400 m. Final. Finnish Jane Holmen lead the European Championships Marathon straight from the beginning to win it in a personal best time of 2 hours 12 min. 14 sec. On the first Track final of the 6th and final day of the Munich Eurochamps, France managed to overcome the will of the home team for gold and won the 4 X 100 m. Women's race. Combe, Hurtis, Felix and Sidibe ran the 400 m. distance in 42" 46., while Germany was second with 42" 54. and Russia third with 43" 11.

Jackson wins fourth European Title, like Backley did yesterday
August 10. Italian Maria Guida managed to overcome the pressure from home favorites Zaituc and Oberem and win the Marathon on the Munich Eurochamps, with 2 hours 26' 05", which is a new Competition Record. It was the first final of the 5th day of the games. In a slow Steeple race, Antonio Jimenez was the winner with 8' 24" 34. Colin Jackson won yet another title, after running the 110 m H. in 13" 11. It is his fourth consecutive title, a rare achievement in the world of athletics. After Friday's impressive results the whole world of Track and Field speaks about Greek star Kenteris (Olympic, World and European Champion of the 200 m.) and of course of Steve Backley, who also (like Jackson) managed to win his fourth European title! On the medal table, Russia is still on top (6-6-3), however Great Britain is threatening her lead (5-1-6). Greece, who was second until today, is now fourth (4-0-2) as Spain (4-3-4) managed to pass her as well. Other European Champions of the 5th day include Irina Korzhanenko (20, 64 m. at the Shot Put), Marta Dominguez (15' 14" 76. at the 5000 m.) and Karolina Kluft (6542 points at the Heptathlon).

19" 85: Kenteris claims the throne of the European 200m. from legendary Mennea
August 10. The European Record of the 200 m. still stands at 19" 72. Nobody was expecting it to fall tonight. However, Kostas Kenteris' 19" 85. gives him a clear clue towards his next goal. Especially now that there are no more titles to challenge. He was the Olympic Champion in Sydney, the World Champion in Edmonton and tonight he completed his hat-trick with the European title. He is the first runner of the 200m. ever to achieve such a record. And even those who doubted him all these years must now admit that his name already stands together with Mennea's on top of the European Athletics History. It was the fastest European Championships 200 m. ever with other four athletes clocking under 20" 40. Francis Obikwelu ran at 20" 21. and Marlon Devonish at 20" 24. Christian Malcom was 4th with 20" 30. and M. Jedrusinski was 5th with 20" 31. On the other fantastic race of the night, Stephane Diaga let nobody doubt who's the best European hurdler. He ran at 47" 58. (the best performance in the world for 2002) and left Jiri Muzik to claim silver at 48" 53... Periklis Iakovakis had a great run and placed 5th with 49" 07. Alexandra Papageorgiou placed 7th at the Hammer Throw Finals, with 66,49 m. which is a new National Record for Greece. Olga Kuzenkova was the winner with 72,49 m. of the first final of the 4th day of the European Championships, held early in the afternoon. Meanwhile, the African Championships are held in Tunis, where Fredericks ran the 100 m. in 9" 93. and Boulami beated the Kenyans at the Steeplechase final.

Manjani claims another golden for Greece
August 09 Mirela Manjani sent the javelin to 67, 47 m., a world leading mark for this season and got the gold medal, in the 3rd day of European Championships. Manjani was world champion in Sevilla, silver medalist in Sydney and Edmonton, as well as the first world record holder with the current javelin type. Steffie Nerius placed 2nd with 64, 09 m., while Mikaela Ingberg got the bronze just on the last attempt.

Attempting a historical triple
August 08. Kostas Kenteris started today in 200 m. heats, running a 20" 55., without any pressure, and was the faster of the 1st round along with Francis Obikwelu. If Kenteris won tomorrow the final, he will be the first european 200 m. runner who matches the Olympic, the World and the European titles. In the other events Chryssopigi Devetzi qualified for the triple jump final with 14, 06 m. and Tania Tambaki will run in the semifinals of the 100 m. hurdles. Olena Govorova surprisingly disqualified from the triple final, while all favourites qualified in the pole vault. Robert Korzeniowski won the 50 Km. Walk in an all time world best 3: 36' 49" In this race Spryos Kastanis placed 14th in 4: 00' 31"

A precious title for lady's collection
August 07. Katerina Thanou verified the forecasts and won the gold medal of the European Championships. Kim Geveart and Manuella Levorato got the other medals, while the event held under strong rain. The European title is added to the glorious career of Thanou, which includes the Olympics silver in Sydney 2000, the bronze medals of the World Championships in Sevilla and Edmonton, as well as a bronze medal in the EuroChamps 98. Thanou was also world indoor champion in Maebashi and double european indoor champion in 1996 and 2000, while she won the gold medal of the world universiade in 1997..

A long night for Greek athletics. Voggoli won the discus gold. Bronze for Kelesidou.
August 07. Four medals in a day for the Greek team, more than the medals won during the whole Championships in 1998, while the Greek team counts already 13 participations in finals. Katerina Voggoli, who wax very stable this year over the 64 m., won the discus gold with a throw at 64, 31 m., leaving the favourite Natalya Sadova in second position. The new European Champion was 5th in EuroChamps 98, 9th in Sydney Olympics and 11th in Sevilla World Champs. Anastassia Kelesidou got one more medal, after the 2 silvers in Sydney and Sevilla. The younger Greek participant Areti Ambatzi was 6th.  Tatyana Kotova won the long jump with 6, 85 m., where Stella Pilatou placed 6th with 6, 58 m. and Heike Drechsler 5th.Great race for Manuel Jose Martinez, the winner of the 10000 m. in 27' 47" 65. and the silver medalist Dieter Baumann who clocked 27' 47" 87.

Dwane Chambers seizes gold with 9" 96. Bronze medal for Alexandros Papadimitriou in the hammer throw
August 07. Dwain Chambers won the men's 100 m. in a european leading mark and personal best 9" 96., followed by Francis Obikwelu (10" 06.) and Darren Campbell (10" 15.). Aris Gavelas placed 7th, while Georgios Theodoridis disqualified with 2 fault starts, loosing a great opportunity to run for a medal. Adrian Annus was the winnner of the breathtaking hammer's final with 81, 17 m., followed by Sevilla bronze medalist A. Piskunov who threw 80, 39 m. At long last, Alexandros Papadimitriou proved his great value in an important championships. Being very serious and mature during the competition, he put up a good fight and finally achieved to get the bronze with 80, 21 m. Alexandros was also finalist in Sydney, where he placed 12th.

Ivanova won the 20Km walk. National records for Tzoumeleka. Papageorgiou and Tsamoglou in hammer final
August 07. Russian Olympiada Ivanova won the first final of the second day, walking the 20Km in 1: 26' 42. Athanassia Tzoumeleka placed 11th with a national record 1: 31' 25", while Athina Papagianni was 9th with 1: 31' 45. Tzoumeleka's mark of 44' 56" in 10Km is also a national record. Periklis Iakovakis qualified for the semifinals of 400 m.h. with a season's best 49"24. Georgia Tsiliggiri cleared 4,00 m. but did not achieve to qualify, in a competition where we had a big surprise, the failure of Monica Pyrek who was 13th with 4, 30 m., the same mark with the last qualifier. Both Alexandra Papageorgiou and Evi Tsamoglou succeded a participation in the hammer throw final.

Radcliffe's triumph under the storm. Shattering of the european record
August 06. An unbelievable race of Paula Radcliffe marks the opening of the European Championships. Under the strong raining Radcliffe followed a hectic pace and crossed the line in a fantastic european record of  30' 01" 09. breaking the 30' 13" 74. set by Christiansen 16 years ago. O' Sullivan placed second with a national record 30' 47" 59. and Russian Biktasheva was third. Chrysa Iakovou placed 13th with a national record for Greece 32' 18" 62. Ukrainian Yuriy Bilonog won the shot put with 21, 37 m., in front of Olssen and Bartels.

Easy race for Katerina Thanou in 11" 07. Theodoridis, Gavelas and Kokloni in the semifinals
August 06. Francisco Fernandez of Spain won the first gold of the 1st day of the European Championships in the 20Km. walk., followed by Vladimir Andreyev and the other walker from Spain Juan Molina. Katerina Thanou won easily the fourth heat of the first round with 11" 07, although under the rain, and goes on in the semifinals. Excellent run for Georgia Kokloni who was 2nd in the second heat and will be also tomorrow in the semifinals. Giorgos Theodoridis won his heat in 10" 25. in front of Gardener and Aris Gavelas was 4th in the third heat with 10" 35.; both will participated in the semifinals. Panayotis Sarris had a very slow start and finished the race in 10" 46. Dwain Chambers was again the faster with 10" 08.; the big favourite for the gold tomorrow. Panayotis Stroubakos was 7th in the first heat of the 1500 m. and disqulified, while Dimitris Sirakos also failed in the high jump.

A great dissapointment for Niki Xanthou. Manjani and Tsiolakoudi in the final
August 06. The disqualification of Niki Xanthou from the long jump final was the hard surprise of the 1st day of the European Championships. The European Indoor Champion had two fault jumps and is out of the top 12 athletes with a jump at 6,12 m. The level of competition was very low, because of the weather conditions and Niki needed only few more cms to qualify. The failure of Nurka Montalvo was the second surprise of the event. In contrast, Stella Pilatou will be in the final of the long jump, as well as both Greek Javelin Throwers, Mirella Manjani - the only who made the standard with 61, 09 m. - and Angeliki Tsiolakoudi with the fifth mark at 58, 51 m.

Voggoli, Kelesidou and Ambatzi in the discus final. Good start for the sprinters
August 06. Katerina Voggoli with 61, 94 m. was the best qualifier in the morning round for the discus throw final. The other two Greeks, Kelesidou (61, 18 m.) and Ambatzi (61, 03 m.) placed 3rd and 4th, while Sadova was just 12th. A very good performance, promising a respective one in the final. Very good start also for Theodoridis, Gavelas and Sarris, all continue to next round of the 100 m. Theodoridis was the second faster qualifier (10" 24.) following Dwain Chambers (10" 23.). Stelios Dimotsios also qualified for the second round of 400 m., where Anastassios Gousis failed to qualify. Kosta Zalagitis was 9th in the triple jump qualification round with 16, 57 m., where British Phillips Idowu jumped 17, 54 m. and Christian Olsson 17, 01 m. Lenis and Meletoglou failed to qualify. Denmark's Olssen tops the shot put qualifying with 20, 45 m. in front of Harju who threw 20, 40 m. Alexandros Papathimitriou was 4th in the morning qualifying. Katerina Thanou, starts the course for the European title today in the afternoon session. Important Greek participations these of Mirela Manjani, Angeliki Tsiolakoudi, Niki Xanthou and Stella Pilatou.
 

Katerina Thanou targets the European title
August 05.  Katerina Thanou, silver medalist in Sydney and bronze in Edmonton, Sevilla, as well as the European Championships four years ago, starts the course for the European title tomorrow in the morning session of the European Champs. Along with her the discus throwers, Anastassia Kelesidou with two silvers in Sydney and Sevilla and a 4th place in Edmonton, Katerina Voggoli who was also finalist in Sydney and Sevilla and the younger one Areti Ambatzi, also start in the qualification round the effort for a medal. The Greek sprinters, Gavelas, Sarris and Theodoridis, being in a good form, expect a participation in the final, while Kostas Zalagitis has to verify his season best at 17, 43 m. to be classified among the best European triple jumpers. Stamatis Lenis is the second Greek participation in the triple jump, while Alexandros Papadimitriou will attempt to qualify for the hammer's final. Dimotsios and Goussis will also start the 400 m. qualification round tomorrow morning.

The Greek Team leaves Athens tomorrow
August 03. With the exception of Costas Gatsioudis and the women's of triple jump, the other strars of the Greek team will be in Munich next week for the European Championships. Christina Chatzi finally suspended by the Greek Federation for 6 months, because she wasn't controlled after her national record race in Thessaloniki. The record is not recognized. In the last meeting of the Hellenic Grand Prix series Vasilis Segos won the 100 m. in 10" 50., but a pleasant surprise was the National Juniors and U18 record set by Euthimios Stergioulis in Sparta two days ago. In the last international meetings before Munich, Heike Drechsler jumped 6, 85 m. in Leverkusen, while Alicia Turova of Belarus broke the 3000 m. steeple world record with 9' 16" 51. in Gdansk, where Giorgos Kompogiannis participated in the men's steeplechase race and set a personal best of 8' 37" 59. Finally, Eleni Bikaki broke the women's steeple record for Greece, with 10' 14" 96. in Bucurest.

July 2002

Bad luck for Kostas Gatsioudis. The athlete loses Munich!
July 25. He was one year far from the track, but Kostas Gatsioudis received another shoulder lesion yesterday, during his only attempt in Thessaloniki. Gatsioudis, one of the favourites for Munich, totally disapointed, announced today that he lost the European Championships. Adding our sorrow to this difficult time, we wish him a rapid come-back. We're sure, his well known fighting spirit will be the handdle against this new crisis.

Gatsioudis starts with 91, 23 m. in Thessaloniki. Kotova jumps 7, 05 m.
July 24.  Kostas Gatsioudis returned to the competition after one year of absence because of injury problems he faced with after Edmonton, and won the IAAF Permit "Olympic Meeting 2002", in Thessaloniki with a throw at 91, 23 m. Gatsioudis attempted only once. Christina Chatzi broke the 400 m. hurdles national record with 56" 67, while Sandra Glovers dominated the event with 54" 75. Miguel Pate jumped 8, 42 m. and Jeff Hartwig won the pole vault with a clearance of 5, 80 m. Great run for Alvin Harisson, the winner of the 400 m. in 45" 02. and the 200 m. race in 20" 49. Inka Babakova cleared 1, 96 m. and Zhanna Pintusevich clocked 11" 08. in 100 m., while Julia Kalatayud won the 400 m. in 51" 36. Tatyana Kotova won the 7, 05 m. in front of Higa Magee who was second with 6, 82 m. Niki Xanthou left the competition because of an injury on her first attempt, but there is no danger for her participation in Munich.

Stavros Kouroupakis placed 4th in Kingston
July 22. Stavros Kouroupakis got the fourth place in men's pole vault on the final day of the World Juniors Championships with 5, 40 m., the same mark with the 3rd placed French athlete Vincente Favreto. Yesterday in Volos, on the final day of the Greek U23 Championships, Stella Pilatou won the long jump with a personal best 6, 75 m., while Petros Katsis was the winner of the men's event with 7, 72 m. Finally, Zhanna Pintusevich verified her participation in the IAAF permit "International Olympic Meeting 2002" to be held on Wednesday in Thessaloniki.

Zhanna back on the top. World leading mark also for Ceplak in Heusden
July 20.  Zhanna Pintusevich improved the best season's mark of 100 m. to 10" 83. tonight in Heusden, where Jolanda Ceplak won the 800 m. in 1' 55" 20. Thus, Zhanna sents a reply to Jones one day after the Monaco GL where the American clocked 10" 84. and four days before the "Olympic Meeting" in Thessaloniki, where Pintusevich is expected to participate. Olga Kuznetsova ran the mile in 4' 29" 19. the best season's perfomance so far. Antonis Papantonis was 10th in the 10000 m. race with 29' 14" 65. and failed to meet the standard for Munich. Maria Protopapa was 9th in the 5000 m. in a season's best 15' 43" 89. In the meeting of Cuxhaven, Frank Fredericks won the 100 m. in 10" 18. and Swedish Belin Kirsten the pole vault with 4, 39 m., the same height with Annika Becker who was second. During the 5th day of the world juniors champs, the 4X100 men's team of Greece disqualified from the final, but broke the national record with 40" 55. Swedish Carolina Kluft broke the world record of heptathlon. Finally, in Volos, Greece, Dimitris Tsiamis jumped 16, 84 m. in the Greek U23 Championships, Alexandra Papageorgiou won the hammer throw with 63, 40 m.and Charoula Bouda the 400 m. with 53" 67.

European Records for Szabo and Vroemen in Monaco
July 19.  Gabriela Szabo broke the european 3000 m. record tonight in Monaco Golden League, with 8' 21" 42. The old record was the 8' 21" 64. by O' Sullivan in 1994. In the same race, Paula Radcliffe broke the British record with 8' 22" 20. Another european record came from Simon Vroemen of Netherlands, who ran the 3000 m. steeple in 8' 06" 91. to smash the record of 8' 07" 62. set by Joseph Mahmoud in 1984. Cuban Julia Calatayud broke the American 800 m. record with 1' 56" 09. beating Maria Mutola who clocked 1' 56" 16. In men's 800 m., Wilson Kipketer set a world leading time of 1' 43" 76. followed by the middle distances surprise of this year, American David Krummenacher, who finished the race in 1' 43" 95., while Yuriy Borzhakovskiy was just sixth. Another tremendous triple jump competition with Olsson to break the Swedish record with 17,63 m. and Edwards to jump 17, 59 m. Marion Jones equalled the leading time of Pintusevich and  Regina Jacobs clocked 4' 01" 01. in 1500 m., a world leading mark for this season. Jones, Devers, Sancez, El Guerrouj and Guevara go for the jackpot of this year, after the wins set tonight.

Emmanuel placed 4th in Kingston
July 19. Dimitra Emmanuel broke the juniors' pole vault record for Greece at 4, 10 m. and placed 4th on the third day of the world juniors championships in Kingston. During today's morning session Stavros Kouroupakis met the standard of 5, 15 m. and qualified also for the final.

Andrian Annus and Evdokia Tsamoglou won in Nikiti
July 18. Andrian Annus and Evdokia Tsamoglou impressed in the 1st Hammer Throw Metting "Sithonia 2002" organized by the Greek hammer throw champion Alexandros Papadimitriou. Annus won with a throw of 82, 68 m., followed by Karsten Kobs (80, 52 m.). Tsamoglou won the women's event with a season's best at 65, 60 m.  On the second day of the World Juniors Championships Brown Darell of Trinidad and Marshevet Hooker of USA won the gold medals of 100 m. in men and women. Impressing double win for Latvia in the women's javelin throw. Athanassia Pera placed 10th in the triple jump final, while all the other Greek athletes was far from their personal bests and failed to qualify for the final of their events.

European record for Feofanova in Stockholm. Dimitra Emmanuel qualified for the final in Kingston
July 16. Svetlana Feofanova broke the European pole vaul record with 4, 78 m. in Stockholm Grand Prix. Jonathan Edwards jumped 17, 78 m. to win in front of Christian Olsson who set a 17, 39 m, while Tatyana Kotova won the long jump in , with 7, 02 m. and Gail Devers the 100 m hurdles in 12" 42. followed by Bridgette Foster who clocked 12" 49. Zhanna Pintusevich was again under 11" in the 100 m. In the opening session of the World Juniors Championships in Kingston, Dimitra Emmanuel equalled her season's best at 3, 90 m. and qualified for the pole vault final, while Andreas Karagiannis promoted to the 2nd round of the 100 m. During the evening session Croatian Edis Elkasevic broke the shot put world juniors record with 21, 47 to get the gold medal and Kenya's Hilare Chenoke won the men's 5000 m. followed by two Ethiopians. A woman of Ethiopia Meseret Defar got the 3000 m. gold. Athanassia Perra qualified for the triple jump final, while Dimitris Gravalos and Michalis Markopoulos passed the first round of 400 m. and 400 m. hurdles respectively. Andreas Karagiannis placed 8th in his quarter-final 100 m. heat. On Sunday, during the test events of the championships, Stavros Kouroupakis improved again the juniors pole vault record for Greece to 5, 50 m.

Good work for long jumpers in Patra
July 14. Two greek long jumpers set very good marks in the International Meeting Tofalia 2002. The European Indoor Champion Niki Xanthou won the women's event with 6, 85 m. a season's best for the athlete, while Louis Tsatoumas the 20-year-old European Juniors Champion flied to 8, 17 m. the third all time mark for Greece. Romania's Christina Kassandra clocke 9' 43" 44. in the 3000 m. steeple, Michael Rotich won the 800 m. in 1' 45" 77. and Cydonie Mothersille clocked 23" 18. in the 200 m. race. Natalya Safronnikova won the 100 m. in 11" 38. and Uchenna Emendolu was the winner of the men's race with 10" 25. Ionel Oprea dominated the discus throw with 63, 20 m. in front of the favourite Libor Malina who placed 2nd with a throw of 62, 47 m. Yelena Gulyayeva cleared 1, 90 m. to win the high jump. In Bucurest, Athanassia Tzoumeleka broke the 10000 m. walk record for Greece with 45' 15".

Fast sprinters in Rome. Great marks by Guevara, Hissou, Boswell and El Guerrouj
July 12. Maurice Greene set a world leading mark tonight in Rome Golden League, running the 100 m. in 9" 89. and beating Tim Montgomery who clocked 9" 94. Marion Jones won easily the 100 m. in 10" 89., Frank Fredericks set a 19" 99. in 200 m. and Gail Devers dominated the high hurdles in 12" 51. Felix Sanchez clocked 47" 73. in the 400 m. hurdles, a world leading mark for the Domenican athlete, while more season's best set by Hicham El Guerrouj in mile with 3' 48" 28., Salah Hissou who won the 5000 m. in 13' 55" 85. and Ana Guevara who won again the 400 m. in 49" 51. Maria Mutola was the winner of the 1500 m. in 4' 01" 50. Walter Davis won the triple jump with 17, 33 m. leaving Edwards second with 17, 25 m. Finally, the European triple jump champion Olga Vasdeki, after 2 years of injuries, attempted a satisfying come back, jumping 13, 82 m.

Zhanna to run again in Thessaloniki IAAF Permit
July 10. Zhanna Pintusevich-Block, after the world leading 10" 84. set in Rethymno, will run again in Greece, in the IAAF Permit Meeting, scheduled for July 24th in Thessaloniki. Besides her, enough top athletes have already verified their participation in the meeting. Tatyana Kotova will participate in the long jump, but also Natalya Sadova, Alvin Harisson, Ivan Pedroso, Savante Stringfellow, Adam Nelson and Inka Babakova are among the announced entries. It should be mentioned that Vardinoyannia EAA Meeting of Rethymno has already climbed to the top of the meetings held this season, according to EAA's formal standings.

Pintusevich runs 10" 84. in Rethymno
July 07. Zhana Pintusevich-Block was the brillant star of Vardinoyiannia 2002, winning the 100 m. in a world leading mark of 10" 84., while Darvis Patton was the winner of the men's race with 10" 16. The Greek 200 m. runner Panayotis Sarris won the second race of the 100 m. in an impressing personal best 10" 17. and set another 200 m. personal best 20" 48. one hour later. Natalya Sadova won the discus throw with 65, 90 m. and Glory Alozie the 100 m. hurdles in 12" 64. Flora Redoumi became the second all time greek under 13", as she placed 5th with 12" 90. Tatyana Kotova dominated the long jump 6, 80 m. Svetlana Feofanova won the pole vault with 4, 62 m. and then attempted unsuccesfully for a world record at 4, 82 m. Alvin Harrison won the 400 m. with 44" 48., while Anier Garcia won the 110 m. hurdles with 13" 13. the same mark with Allen Johnson who was second. Great discus throws by Robert Fazekas 67, 56 m. and Virgilius Alekna 66, 90 m., Finally, Roman Schurenko won the long jump with 8, 26 m., beating Lamela and Pedroso. In Germany, Anika Becker broke the European pole vault record with 4, 77 m.

Edwards jumps 17,75 m. and Olsson 17, 60 m. in Paris.
July 05. The battle between Edwards and Olsson was the top moment of the Paris Golden League meeting. Jonathan Edwards was finally the winner with 17,75 m. leaving Olsson in the second position with 17, 60 m., while Cuban Martinez placed 3rd with a jump of 17, 32 m. The new Greek triple jump recordman was just 14th with 15, 93 m. Marion Jones clocked 10" 89. and Maurice Greene won in 9" 99., while Gabriella Szabo won the 3000 m. in a world leading 8' 31" 88. Felix Sanchez won the 400 m. hurdles in 47" 91. and Benjamin Limo the 5000 m. in 13' 02" 34. Hicham El Guerrouj ran a 1500 m. world leading mark 3' 29" 96.

Vardinoyiannia 2002
July 05. Three top ladies of world athletics will be in Rethymno next Sunday, for the EAA Permit meeting "Vardinoyannia 2002", Stacy Dragila and Svetlana Feofanova in the pole vault, but also the world 100 m. champion Zhana Pintusevich - Block. Tatyana Kotova and Tatyana Ter-Mesrobyan, Avard Monkur, Alvin Harrison, Marcin Urbas, Debbie Ferguson, Szymon Ziolkowski, Virgilius Alekna, Ivan Pedroso, Glorie Alozie, Elina Svereva, Natalya Sadova and Monica Pyrek are also among the participants of the meeting.

Dragila, Feofanova and Pintusevich in Rethymno on Sunday
July 02. Three top ladies of world athletics will be in Rethymno next Sunday, for the EAA Permit meeting "Vardinoyannia 2002", Stacy Dragila and Svetlana Feofanova in the pole vault, but also the world 100 m. champion Zhana Pintusevich - Block. Tatyana Kotova and Tatyana Ter-Mesrobyan, Avard Monkur, Alvin Harrison, Marcin Urbas, Debbie Ferguson, Szymon Ziolkowski, Virgilius Alekna, Ivan Pedroso, Glorie Alozie, Elina Svereva, Natalya Sadova and Monica Pyrek are also among the participants of the meeting, while there are enough hopes for the come back of the current European Triple Jump champion Olga Vasdeki, after a long period of injuries.

2, 04 for Bergqvist in Lausanne
July 02.  Tonight in the Grand Prix Meet of Lausanne Marion Jones, who has already returned to the top of the IAAF world rankings since today, won the 100 m. in 11" 04. Great marks by Kajsa Bergqvist who cleared 2, 04 m., Anier Garcia 13" 04. and Osleidys Menendez 67, 40 m. Obikwelu was the winner of the 100 m. in 10"09 and Said Guerni Djabir won the 800 m. in 1' 44" 70. leaving Borzakovskiy in second position.The new Greek triple jump recordman, Kostas Zalagitis, will participate in the Paris GL later this week.

Zalagitis flies to 17, 43 m. in Chania. Stringfellow jumps 8, 45 m.
July 01. The 54th edition of Venizelia started impressingly with the Greek triple jump champion Konstantinos Zalagitis to fly to 17,43 m., smashing the national record. American 2002 Champion, Savante Stringfellow won the long jump with a championships record of 8, 45 m. and Tanya Kotova won the women's event with 7, 05 m. Maria Protopapa broke the 3000 m. national record for Greece with 8' 59" 49. Alvin Harrison was the winner of the 400 m. in 45" 37. and Paul Korir dominated the 800 m. in 1' 45" 55. another championships record set tonight. The other winners of the meeting are Dwight Thomas with 10" 26. in 100 m., Natalia Safronikova with 11" 24. in the women's event, Ian Weekly with 49" 54. in the 400 m.h., Irina Lenskaya with 12" 92 in the 100 m.h., Olga Komyagina with 4' 06" 27., Peter Biwot with 3' 38" 45. in 1500 m., James Kwalia in the 3000 m. in 7' 44" 15., Allan Pombey in the women's 400 m. in 51" 71., Adam Ptacek with 5, 70 m. in the pole vault and Nikoletta Grasu with 63, 88 m. in the discus throw. During the 2nd day of the Greek Juniors Champs Eleni Nikolopoulou broke the 3000 m. national juniors record. Finally, the Greek women's combined events team promoted to the Super League, after the 2nd position achieved in Riga, during the weekend. Angeliki Strataki was the best of the team, as she paced 5th with 5.761 p. In contrast, the men's team failed, as only one athlete of the team finished the competition.

July 2002

Chambers did it again in Sheffield
June 30. In Sheffield Grand Prix Dwain Chambers won again the 100 m. with a wind assisted 9" 95. following by his compatriots Francis Lewis and Gardener, while Maurice Greene was just sixth. Fredericks ran a 20" 29. in 200 m. and Sergey Makarov threw 92, 61 m. Christopher Rawlinson broke the informal world record of 300 m. hurdles with 34" 48.

Venizelia 2002
June 30. Another great international meeting is scheduled in Chania, Greece for today. Following the long tradition of the meeting, the 54th edition of Venizelia will host some of the top world athletes. American 2002 Champion, Savante Stringfellow, with 8.52 this season is among the top names of the meeting. Tatyan Kotova, with 7, 42 m. this season, will participate in the long jump. Few more participants: Miguel Pate and Dwight Phillips, second and third long jumpers in Palo Alto, Greg Saddler, Obadele Thompson, Keneth Brokenburr, Dwight Thomas, Alvin Harrison, Jerome Young, Vionette Dixon, Julia Tabakova, Nikoletta Grasu and Svetlana Dimitrova. On the first day of the Greek Juniors Championships, Stavros Kouroupakis broke the pole vault juniors record for Greece with 5, 45 m.

Dwain beats Mo, Tim and the others in Oslo
June 28.  Dwain Chambers was the winner of the 100 m. in the first meeting of the IAAF Golden League, held in Oslo, with the partipation of the top athletics stars of the world. Chambers clocked 10" 05. beating both Maurice Greene, who was second with 10" 06., and Tim Montgomery who placed third in 10" 10, but also Jon Drummond and Ato Bolton. Jonathan Edwards dominated the triple jump with 17, 51 m. in front of Christian Olsson who jumped 17, 47 m. Great 5000 m. race with four runners under 13', won by Benjamin Limo who clocked 12' 57" 70. Marion Jones won the 100 m. in 10" 96., Gabriela Szabo the 5000 m. race with a world leading 14'46"86.. Hicham El Guerrouj the mile in 3' 50" 12. and Osleidys Menendez the javelin with a throw of  63, 51 m. Kostas Zalagitis placed 10th in the triple jump with 16, 30 m. and Lambros Papakostas failed in the high jump competition at 2, 15 m.

Zhana Pintusevich ran 10" 91. in Lucerne.
June 26. Zhana Pintusevich set the best mark in EAA Permit meeting of Lucerne running the 100 m. in 10" 91. Sergey Mararov threw 88, 96 m. and Avard Moncur won the 400 m. in 45" 46.  In Greece, Katerina Voggoli was the best of the fourth competition of the Greek Grand Prix "Bizania 2002" held in Kallithea. She threw 64, 86 m. and seems in great form one month before the European Championships. Personal Best for Ioannis Vassilopoulos who won the shot put with 18, 35 m. and Errica Prezerakou, the winner of the pole vault with 4, 15 m.

The British team returns to the top. Russia got the Cup in women. Greek teams return to the Super League
June 23. The Great Britain won the European Cup tonoght in Annecy, after a great competition with teams of Germany and France. The women of Russia won all the events of the second day with the only exception the high jump and got easily the European Cup. Tatyana Kotova was the athlete of the games jumping 7, 42 m. In Banska Bystrica the second day of the First League was a triumph for the Greek teams as both achieved to promote to the Super League. Kostas Kenteris won the 200 m. in 20" 25. while both 4X400 relay teams set national records. Kostas Zalagitis should also be included in the highlights of the competition with his jump at 16, 97 m. In the group of Seville, Christian Olsson broke the Swedish record with a jump at 17, 63 m., Kajsa Bergquist cleared 1, 98 m. and Johan Wissman clocked 20" 51 in 200 m. Both teams of Spain promoted to the Super League. Yestrday, in the USA Championships Maurice Greene won the 100 m. in a wind assisted 9"88. followed by Tim Montgomery who clocked 9"89.

France and Russia on the top after the 1st day in Annecy. Good start for the Greek teams in Banska Bystrica.
June 22. The men's team of France and the women's of Russia diminate the standings of the SuperLeague after the events of the first day of the European Cup. Dwaine Champbers ran the 100 m. in a championships record 10" 04., while Daniel Gaines was impressing in the 400 m. where he clocked 45" 14. Russia won six women's events, but Muriel Hurtis of France set the mark of the day, dominating the 100 m. in 10" 96. and leading her national relay team to win. In Banska Bystrica, both Greek teams started very well, as both dominate the standings of the 1st day. Katerina Thanou won in 11" 14. and Eleni Bikaki set a 3000 m. steeple record for Greece. Mirela Manjani won with a season's best 63, 04 m.and Aris Gavelas dominated the men's 100 m. with 10" 32. Very good marks for Chryssoula Goudenoudi, Antonis Papantonis, Panayotis Stroubakos, Christina Chatzi; all winners of their events. The men's relay team did not finish the race losing valuable points. Running in a race out of competition Giorgos Theodoridis broke his personal best with 10" 20. Finally, both teams of Spain have an excellent performance in the group of Seville and seem ready to promote to the Super League.

European Cup 2002
June 22. The European Cup 2002 starts today in Annecy, France. The current euopean cup holder team of Poland will try to repeate the achievement of the last year, facing, mainly, with the very strong men teams of Germany and Great Britain. The Russian team seems to be the favourite in the women's competition. Both Greek teams are to compete in the Group A of the European First League, in Banska Bystrica. Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou, but also Alexandros Papadimitriou, Aris Gavelas, Anastassia Kelesidou, Mirela Manjani will support the effort for returning to the Super League, a difficult mission, especially for men, taking into account the potential of the other competitors. The USA Championships 2002 opened yesterday night with impressing marks by Stringfellow who won the long jump with 8, 52 m.; Keflezighi who ran the 10000 m. in 27' 41" 68. and Tisha Waller who cleared 1, 96 m. to win the high jump.

20" 18: Kenteris' new promises for another glorious season
June 15.  The opening race of the Olympic and World Champion was impressing, exactly as expected. Kostas Kenteris set the best mark of second day of the Greek National championships winning the 200 m. race in 20" 18. Many other athletes seem to be in good form, one week before the games for the European Cup. Alexandros Papadimitriou won the hammer throw with 80, 14 m., Periklis Iakovakis set a 49" 33. in the 400 m. hurdles, Kostas Koukodimos dominated the long jump with 7, 90 m., Panayotis Sarris was second in 200 m. with 20" 58., Anastassia Kelesidou won the discus throw with 65, 05 m., while Katerina Voggoli was second with 64, 26 m. On the meanwhile, Svetlana Feofanova broke the European pole vault record with 4, 76 m. in Lille.

20" 18: Kenteris' new promises for another glorious season
June 15.  The opening race of the Olympic and World Champion was impressing, exactly as expected. Kostas Kenteris set the best mark of second day of the Greek National championships winning the 200 m. race in 20" 18. Many other athletes seem to be in good form, one week before the games for the European Cup. Alexandros Papadimitriou won the hammer throw with 80, 14 m., Periklis Iakovakis set a 49" 33. in the 400 m. hurdles, Kostas Koukodimos dominated the long jump with 7, 90 m., Panayotis Sarris was second in 200 m. with 20" 58., Anastassia Kelesidou won the discus throw with 65, 05 m., while Katerina Voggoli was second with 64, 26 m. On the meanwhile, Svetlana Feofanova broke the European pole vault record with 4, 76 m. in Lille.

Three National Records on the first day of the Greek National Championships
June 15.  The first day of the Greek National championships brought three national records, all of them in women's events. Chryssoula Goudenoudi broke the 400 m. record with 51" 81., Eleni Bikaki set a 3.000 steeple record with 10' 32" 37. and Alexandra Papageorgiou equalled the hammer record with 65, 83 m. Katerina Thanou ran without any pressure a 11" 19. while Aristotelis Gavelas won the men's 100 m. in 10" 21. Good marks for Tania Tambaki who set a 13" 10. in 100 m. hurdles, Stelios Dimotsios who won the 400 m. in a personal best 46" 16.; Panayotis Stroubakos who was the winner of the 800 m. in 1' 46" 64., Constantinos Zalagitis who won the triple jump with 17, 07 m., Dimitris Pietris who smashed his 110 m. hurdles personal best with 13" 63. the second all time performance for Greece and Maria Tsirba who won the 1.500 m. in 4' 10" 45. running alone against the time.

The Greek National Championships are in progress in the city of Trikala
June 14. The Greek Championships 2002 have been in progress, will be the starting meeting for enough Greek top athletes, among which are Katerina Thanou, Costas Kenteris and Mirella Manjiani, while Anastassia Kelesidou will also participate in the discus competion, as well as the hammer throwers Alexandros Papadimitriou and Christos Polychroniou. With the exceptions of Niki Xanthou and Costas Gatsioudis, who still face with injury problems, the rest of the Greek athletes will be there, as just after the games the greek team for the European Cup will be announced. In the morning preliminaries of the 100 m. hurdles, Christiana Tambaki set a personal best of 13" 11. the second all time mark for Greece, while Georgios Theodoridis was the faster qualifier of the 100 m. in 10" 38. Personal best for Georgios Doupis who was the faster in 400 m. preliminaries with 46" 92. Katerina Thanou ran the qualification round in 11" 23.

Greene ran 9" 97. in Athens. World leading marks in pole vault, by Lobinger and Hartwig.
June 10. Maurice Greene was once more the star of Athens Grand Prix, winning the 100 m. race in 9" 97., while Deji Aliu clocked 10" 03. in the second heat of the meeting. Tim Lobinger and Jeff Hartwig set world leading marks, both at 5.90 m. and Zhanna Pintusevich-Block won the 100 m. with 11" 02. Christian Olsson jumped a championships record at 17, 40 m. and Kotova won the long jump with 6, 90 m. Bernard Williams was the winner of  the 200 m. in 20"19.  beating Crawford, Chambers, Miller and Bolton, while Joe Woody set another championships record, winning the 400 m. hurdles in 48" 61. Significant throws by Osleidys Menendez who won the javelin with 66, 18 m. and Natalya Sadova who was the winner of the discus throw with 66,56 m. just one metre in fron of Svereva. Althought the top Greek stars, beeing included in the entry lists, were conspicuous by their absence,  there are some good marks by Greeks, especially by Giorgos Theodoridis (10" 24.) and Aristotelis Gavelas (10" 25.) as well as by Katerina Voggoli (64, 61 m.)

Georgia Tsiligiri broke the pole vault national record in Mytilene. National record for Maria Tsirba in Bucurest.
June 08. Georgia Tsiligiri broke the pole vault national record for Greece with 4, 38 m., today during the Hellenic Grand Prix Meeting "Kenteria 2002", held in Mytilene. Good marks from Stelios Dimotsios (46" 26. in 400 m.), Eleutherios Karasmanakis (77, 19 m. in javelin), Dimitris Pietris (13" 79. in 110 m. hurdles) and Maria Koletsou (discus throw 61, 86 m.). Maria Tsirba participated in the Romanian Open Championships and smashed the 1.500 m. national record for Greece with 4' 08" 44. In Sevilla GP II Meeting, Periklis Iakovakis dominated the race of 400 m. hurdles in 49" 91. In the same meeting Adrian Anus won the hammer competition with 81, 09 m. In Dortmund, Yolanda Ceplak won the 800 m. in 1' 58" 64., Kasten Kobs threw 81, 49 m. and Stefan Holm cleared 2, 30 to win the high jump.In Bydgoszcz, Kamila Skolimosvksa broke the Polish hammer throw record with 72, 60 m., Dwain Chambers won the 200 m. in 20" 55. and the 100 m. in 10" 16. and Kemel thompson the 400 m. hurdles in 49" 35. Results from Palo Alto GP Meeting.

Turin IAAF Permit Meeting
June 07. Yuriy Borzakovskyi won the 800 m. in Torino in 1' 44" 25. Good marks for Juliet Campbell  22" 97., Tatyana Kotova 6, 81 m. and Deon Hemmings 55" 00. Christos Polychroniou placed 7th in a great hammer throw competition. Errica Prezerakou was also 7th with 4, 00 m.

Deji Aliu and Antroula Sialou impess in Kalamata. National record for Maria Papadopoulou.
June 01. Deji Aliu was very fast tonight in Papaflessia 2002, held in Kalamata, dominating the 100 m. race in 10" 08., but also the 200 m. with 20" 48. A Cypriot athlete, Androula Sialou was the surprise of the meeting. Sialou smashed the Cypriot 400 m. hurdles record with 55" 25., the 3rd world mark for this year, beating big stars as Deon Hemmings, Urlike Urbanski and Debbie Parris. Maria Papadopoulou placed 4th in the 800 m. race with a national record for Greece 2' 01" 00. Yevgeniy Mikhailchenko won the pole vault with 5, 70 m. leaving Dmitri Markov second with 5, 65 m. Jamaikan Bridgette Foster dominated the 110 m. hurdles in a world leading mark 12" 74. In Cottbus, Tim Lobinger cleared 5, 80 m., Yvonne Buschbaum won the women's pole vault with 4, 50 m. and Kamila Skolimovska threw 69, 04 m.

May 2002

Tatyana Kotova flied to 7, 03 m. in Filothei Women Gala 2002
May 29. Kotova was the great start of Filothei Women Gala today, as she improved her own world leading mark to 7, 03 m.  Niki Xanthou followed her with 6, 67 m. in front of Lyudmilla Galkina who jumped 6, 65 m. Victorya Seryogina and Yelena Shivousenko cleared 1, 97 m., while Helena Oleynikova won the triple jump with 14, 37 m. Svetlana Dimitrova won the 100 m. hurdles in 13" 11. Thalia Iakovidou was the winner of the pole vault (4,00 m.), and Olena Pastushenko won the 100 m. in 11" 45.

Filothei Women Gala 2002
May 28. The international meetings in Greek cities start tomorrow, with the 3rd edition of Filothei Women Gala with the participation of many world stars in six women events. Susan Tidke is the last entry of the meeting. Three days later, the focus turns to the EAA Permit Meeting "Papaflesseia 2002" in Kalamata, where Dmitriy Markov and Viktor Chistiakov are among the entries of the meeting.  On the meanwhile, Maurice Greene, Ato Bolton, Shaun Crawford, Frank Fredericks, Bernard Williams, Jon Drummond and Jason Gardener, but also Zhana Pintusevits-Block verified their participation in the Athens Grand Prix "Tsiklitiria 2002" to be held on June 10.

Marion Jones started the season with 10" 90.
May 26. Marion Jones ran the first 100 m. race in this season in 10" 90. tonight in the Prefontaine Classic GP, where Stacy Dragila won with a clearance of 4, 72 m. Marla Runyan dominated the 3.000 m. in 8' 39" 36. and Gail Devers run a wind assisted 12" 29. in 100 m. hurdles, and Hicham El Guerrouj won the mile in 3' 50" 89. In Lisbon, the Greek Champion Team of Panhellenios won the second division of the European Cup for Champion Teams and promoted to the first division. Panayotis Sarris impressed again with a personal best of 20" 67. in the 200 m. race. The women's team, already in the first division, placed 3rd. In Heraklion, where the second meeting of the Hellenic Grand Prix held,  Anastassia Kelesidou won the discus throw with 63, 64 m. while Despina Papavassilaki came back after a year of injuries with 6, 32 m. Finally in Chalkida, Prodromos Korkizoglou and Argyro Strataki won the national combined events titles with 7. 538 p. and 5. 855 p. respectively.

Ceplak ran 1' 57" 63. in Lisbon
May 26. Yolanda Ceplak, running for the Greek Champion Team Panhellenios, set a world leading mark yesterday in Lisbon, during the first day of the European Cup for Champion Clubs. Georgia Tsiliggiri cleared 4, 20 m. Good marks for Glory Alozie (11" 14.), Elina Svereva (64, 49 m.) and Danil Burkenya (8, 35 m.). In the second division games, Papanayotis Sarris won the 100 m. in a personal best 10" 30. on Saturday, whlie he clocked 20" 67. in the 200 m. on the second day. Finally, in the meeting "Isthmia 2002" held in Corinthos, Greece, Tasos Makrynikolas jumped 8, 05 m. to set a personal best in the long jump. Eleutherios Karasmanakis threw 76, 02 m. to win the javelin competition, setting, also, a personal best. Ioannis Kanellopoulos and Georgia Ambatzidou won the national titles for 10000 m.
 

The early international meetings in Greece
25 May. As usually happens in the last years, many world top stars open the season in the international meeting in Greece, starting in the coming week. The 3rd edition of the Filothei Women Gala, to be held on Wednesday 29th, hosts many of them, among which Lyudmilla Galkina, Marina Kuptsova, Niki Xanthou, Svetlana Dimitrova and Yelena Belyakova. Three days later, the focus turns to the EAA Permit Meeting "Papaflesseia 2002" in Kalamata, where Dmitriy Markov and Viktor Chistiakov are among the entries of the meeting. On the meanwhile, Maurice Greene, Ato Bolton, Bernard Williams, Jon Drummond and Jason Gardener, but also Zhana Pintusevits-Block verified their participation in the Athens Grand Prix "Tsiklitiria 2002" to be held on June 10.

Oregon Adidas Classic
19 May. Great marks in Portland last night! Adam Nelson set a shot put 22, 51 m., while Coby Miller clocked 9" 98. in the 100 m., beating Kim Kollins and Shawn Crawford. Mary Sauer jumped 4, 62 m. to win the pole vault and Beatrice Faumuina sent the discus to 63, 51 m.  On the second day of the Greek Armed Forces Championships, the European Indoor Champion Niki Xanthou jumped 6, 79 m. the second mark for Europe in this year, and Christos Polychroniou threw 78, 92 m.

Hellenic Grand Prix Series open
18 May. The first meeting of the Hellenic Grand Prix Series held today in Edessa, with enough participations by Greek champions. Katerina Voggoli won the discus throw with a personal best 64, 94 m., the fourth mark in the world for this season. Charoula Bouda set personal bests running the 100 m. in 11" 79. and the 400 m. race in 52" 96. Savvas Panavoglou dominated the discus throw with 60, 42 m. Panayota Koutsioumari won the long jump at 6, 36 m., while Maria Koletsou was the fifth Greek discus throw who exceeded the 60 m. in this year. Athanassia Tzoumeleka and Georgios Argyropoulos won the 20000 m. walk National Championships, held in Volos, with 1:32'33" and 1:29'05" respectively. Finally Panayotis Sarris set the best mark of the 1st day of the Greek Armed Forces Champs, setting a 100 m. personal best at 10" 42.

Doha Grand Prix
15 May. Although Maurice Greene did not run in Doha, some excellent marks were set in the Grand Prix. American Williams Bernard was the winner of the 100 m. in 10" 08., Noah Ngeny dominated the 1500 m. in 3' 33" 02. while Hungarian Robert Fazekas won the discus throw with 69, 13 m., leaving far behind Lars Riedel. Tatyana Kotova jumped 6, 99 m. and Chandra Sturrup won the 100 m. in 11" 01. Periklis Iakovakis of Greece made his first appearence in a grand prix meeting and placed fifth in the 400 m. hurdles with 49" 52. Al Nubi was the winner of the race in 48" 41. James Beckford jumped 8, 21 m. and won the long jump competition.

National Record for Savvas Panavoglou
15 May. Savvas Panavoglou broke the 19-year-old discus throw national record for Greece, throwing 63, 18 m. today in Thessaloniki, while he had another throw at 63, 00 m. Katerina Voggoli won the women's event with 63, 34 m.

Kelesidou at 65,08 m. Papadimitriou borders on the national record
12 May. The final phase of the Greek Clubs Championships has been in progress and on the first day of the games, Anastassia Kelesidou set the 3rd world mark for this season with 65, 08 m. in Thessaloniki. Alexandros Papadimitriou had a throw at 80, 11 m. in Athens, something less than the national record, while Evi Nessoudi clocked a personal best 13" 48. in 100 m. hurdles. Alexandra Papageorgiou set a hammer throw 63, 92 m. to meet the standard for Munich. In this event we had two national records by Katerina Maslatzidou 59, 15 m. (juniors) and Irene Miliou 53, 68 m. (U18). Finally, Stella Pilatou jumped 6, 40 m. facing with a negative wind mark. On the first day of international throwing meeting in Halle, Germany, Michael Mollenbeck won the discus competition, beating Lars Riedel, with 67, 07 m. and Franka Dietsch set a mark of 64, 12 m. Finally, in Modesto Relays Stacy Dragila jumped 4, 62 m., Allen Johnson won the 110 m. hurdles in 13" 29. and Brian Lewis clocked 10" 10.

Shawn Crawford clocked 9" 94. in Osaka.
11 May. Shawn Crawford won the 100 m. race in Osaka's Grand Prix, in 9" 94. beating Tim Montgomery who clocked 9" 95.  Stringfellow dominated the long jump with 8, 49 m., while Adrian Anus threw 80, 10 m. to win the hammer throw competition. Susanthika Jayasinghe won the women's 100 m. race in 11" 11.

Third Grand Prix for 2002 in Brazil - 44" 45. for Leonard Byrd
May 06. Leonard Byrd's 44" 45. at the 400 m. was the most significant performance in Belem, Brazil, where the third part of the IAAF Grand Prix Series for 2002 was held. Maurren Maggi jumped 6, 90 m., Michelle Collins won the Women's 400 m. in 50" 43., Kevin Toth was the Men's Shot Put winner with a throw at 20, 78 m., while Hudson de Souza (1500 m.) with 3' 36" 56. and Bridgette Foster (100 m. H.) with 12" 64. both set season bests for their events. The Grand Prix Series will continue in Osaka, Japan, on the 11th of May.

Kosgei and Adere are this year's Half Marathon Champions
May 05. Paul Kosgei is the 5th Kenyan runner to win the World Championships of the Half Marathon in six years. He beated Gharib Jaouad of Morocco at the last meters of an exciting race in Brussels, Belgium, to claim the title. Berhane Adere of Ethiopia was the winner of the Women's title. Tegla Loroupe did not manage to win her 4th title. Kosgei's time was 1: 00' 39", while Adere's was 1: 09' 06".

April 2002

Greek Clubs Champs
April 30. Althought most of the Greek top athletes are still in training period, the first day of the Greek Clubs Championships brought enough good marks. Alexandros Papadimitriou threw 77, 28 m. in Thessaloniki, where Stella Papadopoulou set a hammer throw personal best at 62, 30 m.. Stella Pilatou started the season with 6, 43 m. and Stella Tsikouna threw a 62, 48 m. in Chalkida. Ioanna Parha, Ksenia Kasimirova and Chrysi Moesidou set national U18 and Juniors records in Kavala. Good marks by Koukodimos (long jump, 7, 84 m.) and Chatzistathis (shot put, 19, 04 m.). On Monday, in the Athens' group Christos Polychroniou exceeded the 80m line in the hammer throw with a personal best at 80, 08 m. Results from Martinique

Simon Biwott runs the Rotterdam Marathon in 2: 08' 39. Baumann did not finish in Hamburg
April 21. Kenyan Simon Biwot made his 6th win in 12 Marathons today, winning the Rotterdam Marathon in 2:08.39., more than one minute faster than his compatriot Kenneth Cheruiyot (2:09.43), while Spain's debutant Jose Manuel Martinez got the third place in 2:09.54. The Greek runner Vassilis Zambelis placed 11th in 2:13.22, while Nikolaos Pollias was 17th in 2:18.29. Ominami Takami of Japan won the women's race in 2:23.43. In Hamburg Marathon, where Baumann did not finish the race, Kenya's Christofer Candie dominated the men's race in 2:10.15, followed by Turba Neguse of Ethiopian and Kenyan Mark Saina. Germany's Sonia Oberem won the women's Marathon in 2:26.21. Finally, Italian Alberico Di Cecco (2:10.28.) and Kenya Anastasha Ndereba (2:31.18) are the winners of Turin Marathon.

Kruger throws 68, 25 m. in Cape Town
April 19. South African Frantz Kruger was the star of the IAAF permit meeting in Cape town. Kruger won the discus event with an impressive throw of 68,25 m., leaving Lars Riedel at the second place with 65, 80 m. Tim Montgomery clocked 10" 03. while Allen Johnson had an bad night, crashing to the ground three barriers short of the finish line.

Kansas Relays under way
April 19. The 2002 Kansas Relays have been already in progress since Wednesday, the Mountain SAC Relays start today in St Antonio College, while the IAAF permit meeting of Cape Town is to be held also today. This weekend, the athletics action also includes the Rotterdam Marathon, on Sunday, with the participation of a greek team. On Wednesday, the 17-year-old thrower Ioanna Parha, broke the javelin national U18 and Juniors' records for Greece with a throw at 49, 13 m

World Record by Khannouchi and victorious debut for Radcliffe in the best Marathon ever held
April 14. Paula Radcliffe won the first Marathon of her career, running the Flora London Marathon and producing one of the best ever running performances to win the women's race in 2: 18' 56", a new European Record, slightly out of Ndereba's record. Few minutes later, Khalid Khannouchi crossed the finishing line in a new record time of 2: 05' 38" , after a battle in the last stages of the race with Paul Tergat and Haile Gebreselasie. The great Ethiopian, running also his Marathon debut, kept the pole position for the most of the race, but fell back to third few meters before the end.

Helsinki to host the World Champs
April 14. Helsinki has been selected to host the 2005 World Athletics Championships. The IAAF's Council chose the Finnish capital, a capital of world athletics, to succeed London, which was original host city.

Papagianni smashed the Greek walk record
April 13. Athina Papagianni smashed the 10.000 m. walk record for Greece today in Rio Maios, Portugal. Papagianni clocked 46' 17" to get the 5th place in the race and improve the record by about half a minute.

9" 94. by Tim Montgomery in Pretoria
April 12.  Tim Montgomery opened dynamically the season in Pretoria, South Africa, with a race at 9" 94. the better world time so far for this year. Shawn Crawford placed second in 9" 99. and Morne Nagel  third in 10" 13. Chris Harmse dominated the hammer throw event with a new African record at 80, 19 m. and Marcus LaGrange was the winner of the 400 m. with 44" 65. Olijars won the 110 mh in 13" 15. in front of Allen Johnson who clocked 13" 26. Jacques Freitag cleared 2, 34 m. and won the competition beating Staffan Strand and Mark Boswell, while Lars Riedel sent the discus to 66, 72 m. Results from Telstra Australian Open

Dieter Baumann and Mihaela Botezan won the European Challenge
April 07. Dieter Baumann won the European 10000 m. Challenge, held in Camaiore, Italy. Baumann clocked 27' 38" 51. to Rios' 27' 38" 82. while Italian Marco Mazza placed third in 27' 44" 05. In women's race Romania's Mihaela Botezan was the winner in 31' 19" 74., approaching Chigan's romanian record, followed by Fernanda Ribeiro (31' 40" 80.) and Spain's Luisa Laragga. Results from Paris Marathon.

Morne Nagel shines in Germiston
April 05.  Morne Nagel broke the South African 200m record at the opening Engen GP Summer Series in Germiston. Nagel, clocked 20" 11. beating the 20" 16. record set by Riaan Dempers in 1995. Shaun Crawford was second in 20" 27., while Jacques Freitag cleared 2, 30 m. Shaun Bownes ran a season's best for a South African by finishing a very close second to Stanislav Olijars of Latvia in the 110m hurdles. He clocked 13" 37. to Olijars' 13"30. Marcus la Grange was won in 45"20., while world women's high jump champion Hestrie Cloete cleared 1,90 m. for her win.

Hellenic Grand Prix series scheduled
April 05. The Hellenic Grand Prix series for 2002 scheduled as following: May 18 Edessa, May 26 "Knossia" Herakleion, June 06 "Costas Kenteris" Mytilini, June 22 "Bizania" Kallithea, July 03 "Vikelia" Kifisia, Jul 31 "Leonidia" Sparti, Aug 04 "Koroivia" Amaliada.

Texas Relays started today
April 03. The 75th version of Texas Relays started tonight in the University of Texas with the combined events competitions. In the coming days the appearance of some top world athletes is expected, among which are Maurice Greene, John Drummond, Allen Johnson, Josua Johnson and Terrance Trammel. The athletics action is being accelerated this week, as besides the Texas Relays we have the European 10000 m. challenge on Saturday (Italy), as well as the opening meeting of the Engen Series in South Africa. In Greece, last weekend, we had the combined events club championships, where Pavlos Kouromichelakis was the better in decathlon with 7.182 p. and Athina Papasotiriou dominated the heptathlon competition with 5.328 p.

March 2002

Radcliffe keeps the title
March 21. Paula Radcliffe managed to keep the world cross country title she won in Ghent last year, as she dominated the long race of 2002 World Cross Country Champs, today in Dublin. Radcliffe followed by two Americans Deena Drossin and Colleen DeReuk. Ethiopia's Kenenisha Bekele won the men's short race, followed by Luke Kipsogei. Kenyan teams dominated the men's short race as well as the women's junior race, while women of Ethiopia won the long race standing.

Mourhit searching a third title
March 19. Mohammet Mourhit, the Belgian double world cross country champion is ready to run in Dublin this weekend, searching for his third consecutive world title. Although Murhit was dissapointing in Vienna, where he placed 6th in the 3000 m. final, has now completed his preparation for the championships. Mourhit, who has competed for Belgium since 1997, is the first man to hold European records on the track at 3000, 5000 and 10,000 metres since Finland's Paavo Nurmi in the 1920's. Paula Radcliffe will defend her long course world in title and Sonia O' Sullivan, winner of 1998 champs will participate in the short course.

Ceplak goes on in Australia
March 16. Jolanda Ceplak, after closing the indoor season in Europe with a new world record, goes on running in Australian meetings, where today she won the TELSTRA Series meeting of Perth with 2' 00" 71. Cathy Freeman came back running the 400 m. in 52" 59., while Colin Jackson was the winner of the 110 m. hurdles in 13" 31. followed by Elmar Lichtenegger. Nikole Mladenis approached her Oceanic record to win the triple jump with 14, 21 m., but assisted by the strong wind.

Hartwig cleared 6, 02 m.
March 10. Jeff Hartwig cleared 6, 02 to win the meeting of Sindelfingen. The American vaulter broke the US record and equalled the second all time performance for the event. On the second day of the European Winter Throwing Challenge, Evdokia Tsamoglou placed 6th in the hammer competition with 62, 85 m. Germany's Susanne Keil was the winner with 66, 54 m., while the Russian Aleksandr Ivanov won the javelin throw with 81, 61 m. Vita Pavlysh set a championships record of 20, 03 m. and David Martinez of Spain dominated the discus throw with 63, 09 m., also a championships record. On the meanwhile, in Brazil, where the outdoor season is in full progress, Higa Maggi broke the South American triple jump record with 14, 21 m. while she set a world leading mark in the long jump with 7, 00 m. Results from Cape Town

Papadimitriou set an early 79, 87 m.
March 09. Alexandros Papadimitriou placed 2nd in the European Winter Throwing Challenge, sending the hammer at 79, 87 m., an excellent mark for this season. The winner was Alksey Zagorniy of Russia with a championships record at 82, 27 m. Russia's Valentina Ivanova won the women's discus throw with 60, 28 m. Claudia Coslovich won the javelin throw with 63, 27 m. while Manuel Martinez also break the shot put championships record at 20, 92 m. In Glascow, Ceplak did not break the 1500 m. world record, although she was the winner with 4' 05" 44. Feofanova cleared 4, 66 m. and Jason Gardener dominated the 60 m. in 6" 53. Two national records for Sweden in the men events of 200 m. and 4X400 m. relay.

Grand Prix Series 2002 opened in Melbourne
March 07. The first Grand Prix II meeting held in Melbourne. Alvin Harrison won both 200 m. and 400 m. race in 20"63. and 45"77. respectively, while Stephen Cherono dominated the 5000 m. in 13' 11" 55. Bronwyn Thompson jumped a wind assisted 7, 00 m. and Bronwyn Eagles won the hammer throw with 69, 18 m. Beatrice Faumuina was the winner of the discus throw with 61, 13 m. The next GP meeting is held for April 12 (Pretoria, South Africa).

A brilliant Spanish team gather the gold
March 02. After Manuel Martinez, Glory Alozie and Albert Garcia, Raul Fernandez came to add one more gold to spanish collection with a jump at 8, 22 m. while his compatriot Yago Lamela got the silver at his last attempt, leaving Petar Datchev at third place. After the second day of the championships Spain has won 4 golds, 3 silvers and 1 bronze. Rui Silva was the winner of the 1500 m. final in 3' 49" 93., while Colin Jackson won the 60 m. hurdles with a season's best 7" 40. and Tim Lobinger the pole vault with 5, 75 m. Finally Marcin Urbas won the 200 m. final with 20" 64., beating Christian Malcolm (20" 65.) and Robert Mackowiack (20" 77.)

Marina Kuptsova at 2, 03 m. Three golds for Spain
March 02. Marina Kuptsova broke the Russian high jump record with a clearance of 2, 03 m. to win the gold medal of the European Championships, while Berqvist and Gyoffry shared the silver at 1, 95 m. Gold Medal also for Tereza Merinova with a jump at 14, 18 m., ten cm more than Ashia Hansen who got the silver. Manuel Martinez won the first gold for Spain in the shot put, breaking the national record with 21, 26 m., in front of Olssen and Konopka. Roman Serble finally won the heptathlon, followed by Dvorak, while Erki Nool was third. Alberto Carcia got the second gold for Spain in the 3000 m. final, breaking the championships record with 7' 43" 89., where Jimenez was second and Jesus Espana third, an impressing triple win for Spain. Another championships record set by Marek Plawgo of Poland in the semifinals of 400 m. with 45" 49. Glory Alozie took Spain's third gold in the final of 60 m. hurdles where Flora Redoumi was sixth. Alozie broke the national record with 7" 84. Vita Pavlysh won without any difficulty the shot put with a throw at 19, 76 m.

Sixth place for Flora Redoumi
March 02. Flora Redoumi broke the 60 m. hurdles record for Greece, running in 8" 01. and qualified for the final of the event where she clocked 8" 02. and placed 6th. The old record was 8" 08. made by Voula Patoulidou in 1990.

Georgia Kokloni running fast
March 02. Georgia Kokloni was the best Greek athlete among those participated in the morning events of the second day of the European Championships. Kokloni placed second in her heat with a personal best 7" 17., the second time among all qualifiers, and seems ready for her very first final of an important competition. In contrast to her, Costas Zalagitis and Angelos Pavlakakis were very dissapointing, while Aris Gavelas did not participate in the 60 m. qualification round. Marc Francis - Lewis was the faster in this round with 6" 57. Yannoula Kafetzi (7" 61.) and Voula Patoulidou (7" 48.) also disqualified from the semifinals. Finally, Dimitris Kokotis failed at 2.22 m. and he won't participate in the high jump final. Roman Sebrle dominates the heptathlon competition after the pole vault, where he abandoned the competition after passing 4, 80 m.. Thomas Dvorak is second and Erki Nool promoted to the 3rd position as he won the pole vault with 5, 20 m. Romania' s Marian Oprea was impressing in the triple jump qualification jumping 17, 28 m.

Prokhorova got the pentathlon gold. Poor performance by the Greeks
March 01. Russia' s Yelena Prokhorova won the pentathlon competition in the first day of the European Indoor Championships, with 4.622 p., followed by Portuguese Naida Gomez and Swedish Carolina Kluft. The qualification rounds and the semifinals did not hide any significant surprises for the favourites of the events. The most notable mark was this by Marci Urbas who dominated the 200 m. semifinals in a national record 20" 55. The performance of the Greeks was poor as none of them achived a qualification in the final. Marina Vassarmidou ran in the semifinals of 200 m. and Tasos Makrynikolas placed 10th in the long jump with 7, 72 m., where Koukodimos jumped only 7, 56 m. and Carlos Calado failed once more in an important competition. Tsiliggiri cleared 4, 20 m. and placed 15th, while Stroubakos, Devetzi and Dimotsios were far for their year's best. Yannoula Kafetzi jumped 13, 31 m. in the triple jump and is going to compete in the 60 m. tomorrow. Finally, Tasos Gousis ran 21" 15. in the 200 m. and 47" 35. in the 400 m. qualification round and disqualified from the semifinals. Gousis Markynikolas and Vassarmidou were the only who bettered or at least approached their season's bests.

February 2002

Greece with 18 athletes in Vienna
February 28. After the withdrawal of Giorgos Theodoridis (silver in Ghent), eighteen Greek athletes are ready to compete in the European Indoor Championships, starting tomorrow in Vienna, Austria. As the Olympic medalists of the country do not compete in the indoor season, the expectations are enough holding back. Niki Xanthou is the big name of the greek delegation and maybe a hope for a medal, as Costas Koukodimos participates in the European Indoor Champs for a fifth consecutive year. Angelos Pavlakakis (bronze in Ghent), not in his better form will have to try. But these championships are a chance for important experiences for the rising stars of the Greek athletics, mainly Stella Pilatou, Georgia Kokloni and Costas Zalagitis, three athletes able to participate in the finals of their events.
The Greek team for the European Champs Men: Angelos Pavlakakis - Aristotelis Gavelas (60m.), Anastassios Goussis (200m., 400m.), Stylianos Dimotsios (400m.), Panayotis Stroubakos (1500m), Dimitrios Kokotis (high jump), Anastassios Makrynikolas - Constantinos Koukodimos (long jump), Constantinos Zalagitis (triple jump). Women: Georgia Kokloni - Paraskevi Patoulidou - Yanoula Kafetzi (60m), Marina Vassarmidou (200m), Flora Redoumi (60mh), Georgia Tsiliggiri (pole vault), Niki Xanthou - Stella Pilatou (long jump), Chryssopigi Devetzi (triple jump)

Feofanova set the fourth world record in 21 days
February 24. Svetlana Feofanova bettered once more the world record, in the meeting of Lievin, where she cleared 4, 74 m. Carla Sacramanto ran the one mile race in 4' 23" 00., a national record for Portugal and the 5th all time world performance. Morne Nagel won both 60 m. and 200 m. races with 6" 50. and 20" 54., a national record for South Africa. Bucher set another national record 1' 45" 08., while Rui Silva won the 1.500 m. in 3' 35" 26.

National Records by Tsiligiri, Papadopoulou. Voula Patoulidou shines even at 37
February 23. Two national records for Greece and one for Cyprus set during the Balkan Championships, held today in Piraeus. Georgia Tsiligiri cleared 4, 37 m. to break the pole vault record, while Maria Papadopoulou bettered her own 800 m. record by more than one second, beating famous middle distance runners. Agni Charalambous cleared 1, 84 to break the national record for Cyprus. But the shining star of the games was Voula Patoulidou, who ran out of competition in the 60 m. race. The former Olympic Champion, at the age of 37, clocked 7" 36. to meet the standard defined by the Greek Federation for the Euro Champs. Patoulidou followed by Yannoula Kafetzi who also made the standard running a 7" 37. Stavros Kouroupakis broke the 13-year-old juniors' pole vault record with 5, 36 m. After the end of the Championships, the Greek team for the European Championships was formally announced:
MEN. Angelos Pavlakakis, Georgios Theodoridis and Aristotelis Gavelas (60m.), Anastassios Goussis (200m., 400m.), Stylianos Dimotsios (400m.), Panayotis Stroubakos (1500m), Dimitrios Kokotis (high jump), Anastassios Makrynikolas and Constantinos Koukodimos (long jump), Constantinos Zalagitis (triple jump).
WOMEN. Georgia Kokloni, Paraskevi Patoulidou and Yanoula Kafetzi (60m), Marina Vassarmidou (200m), Flora Redoumi (60mh), Georgia Tsiliggiri (pole vault), Niki Xanthou and Stella Pilatou (long jump), Chryssopigi Devetzi (triple jump).

The Pole Vault Ladies impressed in Athens
February 20. The world record didn' t come tonight, but all the stars of the women's pole vault were there, in the IAAF Permit "Athina 2002". Svetlana Feofanova won easily the competition with a clearance of 4, 60 m. and then failed three times to break the record. Her second attempt was slighlty  wrong, the crowd and the athlete started celebrating, but the attempt was fault. Sevatheda Fynes won the 60 m. (7" 17.) in front of the world champion Zhana Pintusevich, while four athletes clocked 6" 62. in the men's race. Swedish Patrick Lovgren was the best and won leaving behind Brian Lewis and Greg Saddler as well as Freddy Mayola. Christian Olsson was the expected winner of the triple jump, while a third Swedish, Staffan Strand dominated the high jump with 2, 32 m. Allen Johnson was very fast once again (7" 50.) and Sylas Kimutai broke the meeting record of 1000 m. running a 2' 17" 96. Gergia Kokloni was the better among the few Greeks participated in the meeting; she placed third in 60 m. with 7" 20.

Birmingham Indoor Meeting
February 17. Svetlana Feofanova was the star of Birmingham tonight, as she won the pole vault at 4, 64 m. leaving Dragila just at 4th position. Graff clocked 1' 57" 20. to leave enough behind Mutola, and Ajunwa won the 60 m. in 7" 06. in front of Fynes and Zhana Pintusevich who was 3rd. Shawn Crawford impressed with the 20" 30. and Bucher won the 800 m., where Wilson Kipketer placed 4th. Excellent marks for Colin Jackson (7" 47.), Morne Nagel (6" 49.) and Tereza Marinova (14, 59 m.).
On the second day of Greek National Championships, Athanassia Pera broke the junior's triple jump record with 13, 31 m.; while Marina Vassarmidou clocked 23" 75. in 200 m. and set the standard for Vienna. The 4X400 women's team of Panhellenios GS broke the national relay record. Good jumps by Tasos Makrynikolas at 7, 91 m. and Crhyssopigi Devetzi at 13, 94 m.
In Sweden, Christian Olsson set an impressing world leading mark at 17, 60 m. during the Swedish Championships. Results from Deutsch and Polish Championships.

Zalagitis sets triple jump national record
February 16. The first day of the Greek National Championships marked by the mational record set by Constantinos Zalagitis at 16, 74 m. Niki Xanthou jumped a year's best 6, 70 m. while Flora Redoumi clocked 8" 10. the second all time mark for Greece.

Another World Record for Feofanova
February 10. Svetlana cannot stop! Today, she cleared 4, 73 m. to set another world indoor record, the 3rd in a single week, in Ghent. Stacy Dragila did not compete today, but we hope both of them will be in Athens after ten days. Stefanie Graf set a world leading a national record 1' 56" 85. crossing the line in front of Yolanda Ceplak who also broke the Slovenian Record. Kenya's Mark Bett broke the unofficial 10000 m. world indoor record with a time of 27' 50" 29. Morne Nagel won again with 6" 53. but he clocked 6" 50. in the semifinal and Colin Jackson dominated the 60 m. hurdles in 7" 49. In the indoor meeting of Piraeus, Georgia Kokloni clocked 7" 18. the second all time performance for Greece. Panayotis Stroubakos won the 1500 m. in 3' 42" 22. and met the standard for Vienna. Pavlos Kouromichelakis won the national championships of heptathlon with 5.757 p.

Adidas Midwest Track Classic
February 09. In Nebraska, Bernard Langat won the 1 mile race in the Golden Spike Tour of Lincoln with 3' 55" 07. while Nelson Adam set a 21, 04 m. in the shot put competition and Larry Wade dominated the 60 m. hurdles with 6" 47. Jearl Miles-Clark set a 52" 21 and Amy Acuff cleared 1, 92 m. Argyro Strataki won the national title of Greek Combined Events Championships, while Pavlos Kouromichelakis heads the standing after the first day of men's heptathlon. Full results from the outdoor competitions in Canberra and Campbelltown.

4, 72 m. - She did it again!
February 07. Svetlana Feofanova impoved by one centimeter the world pole vault record, yesterday in Stockholm. It was a precious improvement, taking into account who was the second athlete of the competition, the best 2001 athlete in the world; Stacy Dragila. Besides Feofanova, Nagel clocked 6" 53., Kipsogei 7' 40" 70.in 3000