World Athlete of the Year Sanya Richards lauds Schools Olympic Program

DOHA, March 13, 2010 – 2009 World 400m champion and World Athlete of the Year Sanya Richards of the United States, who is currently in Doha as a spectator, was available to fans and media at the IAAF Diamond League hospitality located in the Fans’ Zone Area at the Aspire Dome Saturday. Richards praised the organising committee for their efforts in organising the 13th IAAF World Indoor Athletics Championship at one of the world’s best sports venue, Aspire. Successful SOP participation

EVENT REPORT – WOMEN’s Triple Jump Final

DOHA, March 13, 2010 - On paper, the women’s Triple Jump here promised little more than modest results. Olga Rypakova clearly had other ideas. Already the surprise winner of the gold, the 25-year-old from Kazakhstan capped a fierce dual with defending champion Yargeris Savigne with a massive 15.14m leap in the final round, an effort which catapulted the 25-year-old all the way to the No. 3 position of all time. Rypakova showed her big meet meet mettle at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing where s

EVENT REPORT – MEN’s 400 Metres Final

DOHA, March 13, 2010 - Third time lucky. After winning bronze at the last two editions of the World Indoor Championships, Chris Brown of the Bahamas finally struck gold in the men’s 400m here in Doha. Brown clocked a season’s best 45.96 to cross the finish line unchallenged but no-one will ever know what would have been had pre-event favourites Bershawn Jackson and David Gillick not collided coming off the final bend. The incident profited 23-year-old William Collazo who matched Robert

EVENT REPORT – WOMEN’s High Jump Final

DOHA, March 13, 2010 - It wasn’t like Croatian Blanka Vlasic’s win in the high jump was never in question. Just a look at the participant list was enough, there was no Ariane Friedrich of Germany there.  In Doha the Croatian added a 14th successive win since July 2009 retaining her World indoor title. Vlasic did the same outdoors in Berlin and has now won all four World titles indoors and outdoors 2007-2010. The 26-year-old won her sixth competition of the season and has cleared two metr

EVENT REPORT – MEN’s 1500 Metres Final

DOHA, March 13, 2010 - Deresse Mekonnen became the fourth athlete to defend his World Indoor title here in Doha and most notably the second Ethiopian champion of the day following Meseret Defar’s win in the women’s 3000m much to the delight of the numerous Ethiopian fans whose vociferous chants have characterised the second day of competition. It took Mekonnen all his energy to respond to the constant changes of pace mainly coming from his African counterparts. Former World Junior champio

Debbie Dunn streaks away with 400m title

DOHA, March 13, 2010 - RED-HOT  favourite Debbie Dunn of the USA led from the front to ease to 400m victory at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Doha. The 32-year-old romped home in 51.04 seconds, as she proved far too strong for her European rivals and continue the USA's dominance over the 400m events. Dunn, 32, and a member of the 4x400m gold medal winning relay team at last year's World Championships, has shown her pedigree throughout the heats in Doha, and in the final she p

No world record for Hooker but pole vaulter clinches world gold

DOHA, March 13, 2010 - Australia's Steve Hooker wrapped up the world indoor pole vault crown in Doha with a world lead clearance to add to his Olympic and world titles. Hooker arrived in Doha as one of the favourites but when world number one Renaud Lavillenie of France crashing out in qualifying, the Australia's already short odds were slashed. And he did not disappoint with a clearance of 5.80m confirming his gold medal before signing off in style with clearances of 6.01m. The Austral

Ennis moves up to third all-time best with World Pentathlon gold

DOHA, March 13, 2010 - Briton Jessica Ennis finished the women’s Pentathlon competition exactly in the emphatic style she started it winning another gold medal with a big margin. The 24-year-old went for it from the start and took the lead to go after the world record, but not surprisingly that proved to be a job too tough even for her.  Ennis finished the race in 2:12.55 indoor personal best for a total of 4937 points bettering Swede Carolina Klüft’s seven-year-old competition record 4933

EVENT REPORT – WOMEN’s 3000 Metres Final

DOHA, March 13, 2010 - Meseret Defar promised “something special” for today’s 3000m final and the Ethiopian superstar delivered with a convincing victory to become the first four-time winner in the event. “This was a very important victory for me,” said a beaming Defar after adding to her triumphs from 2004, 2006 and 2008. Her time, 8:51.17, was only the third fastest of the quartet, but that mattered little to the 26-year-old multiple world record holder. “I changed my tactics

EVENT REPORT – MEN’s Shot Put Final

DOHA, March 13, 2010 - We should never have doubted him. In the greatest shot put competition in World Indoor Championship history Christian Cantwell became the first ever three-time champion, courtesy of a spectacular sixth round 21.83m effort. In a thrilling competition which swung between the giant American and the Belarussian Andrei Miknevich, it was Cantwell that had the final say. The 29-year-old has now won the 2004, 2008 and 2010 World Indoor titles and is also the World outdoor ch