Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown and her US counterpart sprinter Allyson Felix and are expected to be among the stars of this year’s IAAF Diamond League and and with three weeks to go before the opening meeting of 2013, on Friday 10 May in Doha, the pair spoke to journalists on Thursday (18). Below are the edited highlights of their conference call, with the London 2012 Olympic Games 200m gold medallist Felix speaking from California and the reigning 200m World champion Campbell-Brown on the phone from Florida. How important are competitions like the IAAF Diamond League as part of your preparations en route to the IAAF World Championships in Moscow? Veronica Campbell-Brown: The Diamond League is very important for my preparations and I like the fact that I get to compete against the best women in the world. It’s a good way to see where you are in respect to the World Championships in Moscow. Allyson Felix: The Diamond League competitions are definitely going to be very important to see where we are at and face top competition with the main goal being, for me, to make the World Championships team. There’s always great match-ups, great competition, and that’s what we […]
Read More
Chapeltown’s Yona Knight-Wisdom, whose father was born in Kingston, is officially Jamaica’s number one diver and has high hopes of joining Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake at the opening parade ceremony of the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Yona made his debut for Jamaica earlier this year when he competed at an international meeting in Dresden, Germany, advancing to the finals. This past Easter weekend, competing for his City of Leeds club, Yona won a Gold in the 1m event at the British Gas Elite National Junior Diving Championships, scoring 502, a new Personal Best. Knight Wisdom also won Silver in the 3m event. “I couldn’t be happier with these results and it gives me huge confidence for the summer international competitions”, said Yona, bubbling with enthusiasm. “It’s also a fantastic way to end my junior career.” [hr] [column2] [/column2] [column2_last] [/column2_last] [hr] The Elite National Championship is the highlight on the domestic junior calendar and was held at the John Charles Centre in Leeds, where the country’s top under 18 divers battled it out for honours. “British diving is at a really high standard at the moment with the likes of Jack Laugher and Tom Daley”, Knight-Wisdom confirmed. “It could […]
Read More
Uriah Hall is a Jamaican Mixed Martial Artist (MMA) artist currently fighting as a middleweight. He is the current Ring of Combat Middleweight Champion. He has fought notable fighters like Chris Weidman and Costa Philippou. Uriah Hall was born in Spanish Town, Jamaica but moved to Queens, New York in the United States at the age of thirteen. Upon his arrival in a new country, he was bullied at school but found refuge in martial arts. He is a second degree blackbelt in Tiger Schulmann’s Mixed Martial Arts under Tiger Schulmann and also competed as a kickboxer in the World Combat League. A contestant on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen. From early days of their time in The Ultimate Fighter house, their roles were cast. Uriah Hall was the flashy, powerful favorite, capable of intimidating the opposition, while Kelvin Gastelum was the inexperienced underdog, the last pick on his team. Hall was one of the heaviest favourites in TUF Finale history, having delivered a series of brutal knockouts during his run to the final. It was an unlikely pairing to end the season, but they both survived the tournament structure to meet in the TUF […]
Read More
University of Technology’s Stephanie McPherson ran another world leading time for the women’s 400 metres at the UTech Classic at the National Stadium yesterday. McPherson who clocked a world-leading and personal best 50.78 seconds for the distance at the inter-collegiate championships a week ago, lowered her time to 50.74 but she still felt she could have done better. “I wanted to run a faster time but the heavy wind affected me, but I am looking forward to the remainder of the season as I am hoping to make the National team to the World Championships this year,” McPherson, a former Mannings’ School student, said after winning her event yesterday. G.C. Foster College’s Anastasia Leroy continued her good early season form, placing second in 53.54 as her former high school teammate, Bobbi Gaye Wilkins-Gooden, in her first competitive race in two years, was third overall in 53.67. Scare for Blake Olympic 100 metres silver medallist Yohan Blake gave his supporters a scare in the men’s 100 metres which was being run at press time. Blake stopped half way the event which was won by St Kitts’ Kim Collins. An official from Blake’s camp said the athlete felt some stiffness in […]
Read More
Double Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt has passed on his congratulations to Bayern Munich on winning the Bundesliga title in record time. Bolt, who defended his 100m and 200m Olympic titles at London 2012, is occasionally in Munich to see renown sports doctor Hans-Wilhelm Mueller-Wohlfahrt, who also works with the Bayern team and the Germany side. The 26-year-old specifically thanked Dr Mueller-Wohlfahrt after his 100m victory in London having been treated by the German doctor in the build-up to the Olympics and says the pair speak by telephone “from time-to-time”. He is also friends with some of Bayern’s players. Bayern won the Bundesliga title for the 22nd time in the competition’s 50 year history on Saturday with a 1-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt, thanks to Bastian Schweinsteiger’s second-half goal, and Bolt offered his congratulations. “It’s impressive what Bayern have done this season,” Bolt told German daily Bild on Sunday after Bayern won the title with six games left, a new Bundesliga record, and hold a 20-point lead. “To be champions with such a lead and so early in such a strong league, is extraordinary. “First of all, I want to congratulate Basti (Schweinsteiger) and the team, who, just like […]
Read More
NEW YORK — Veronica Campbell-Brown, the queen of Jamaican sprinting, announced tonight on Irie Jam Radio that she will return to the adidas Grand Prix in NYC on May 25 to run her specialty, the 200 meters. With seven Olympic and 11 World Championship medals, Campbell-Brown, 30, is one of the most-decorated sprinters in history. Her collection includes back-to-back Olympic gold medals at 200 meters in the Olympic Games in 2004 and 2008, and she is the reigning 200-meter World Champion. In her most recent trip to the adidas Grand Prix, in 2010, Campbell-Brown scorched to victory over Allyson Felix in their first-ever meeting at 200 meters in the United States. Her winning time of 21.98 not only stands as the meet record, but it was also the fastest time in the world that year and the fastest 200 run on U.S. soil in almost a decade. This will be the popular Campbell-Brown’s sixth appearance at the NYC meet, at which she has won four times. In addition to her 200-meter triumph, she has won at 100 meters three times—including a meet record time of 10.91 in 2008—and she finished third at that distance once, albeit in a wind-aided […]
Read More
With less than three weeks remaining for her April 20 world title fight in Panama against Chantall Martinez for her World Boxing Council super bantamweight title, Alicia ‘Slick’ Ashley has left her New York base to train in Argentina. The fight will take place at the Roberto Duran Arena in Panama City. There are two reasons for this change. The first is that her lead trainer Hector Roca has to be in Argentina to be with one of his fighters, Carlos Abrega, who has a fight there on April 15. The second is that Argentina is warmer than New York at this time of the year and this is what Ashley says that she wants at this time. She arrived in Argentina last Saturday and resumed her training schedule immediately. She told The Gleaner that she is enjoying the warmer weather in Argentina, and is pleased that she has two good male sparring partners who can really push her. She concedes that Martinez will be a good opponent, but is going into the ring very confident that she will retain her title. “I am not about to give up my title to anyone, and whoever challenges me will have a […]
Read More
Samsung, the South Korean electronics giant which has sponsored the series for three years since its inception in 2010, has opted not to renew its deal for the forthcoming season, leaving the world governing body with precious little time to find a replacement before action gets underway. The title sponsorship deal is believed to have been worth around £3 million a year to the IAAF, who have been forced to make financial cutbacks in recent years to weather the global economic crisis. However, the IAAF insisted yesterday that the series would not be affected by Samsung’s departure and that it would make up any shortfall in the budget from its own reserves until another commercial partner was found. Until then, the series will be known as the IAAF Diamond League. Samsung’s decision is a blow to the sport so soon after it enjoyed spectacular exposure at the London Olympics but an IAAF source the company had opted to “cut back on its exposure-driven activities”. It recently announced an individual endorsement deal with Usain Bolt and continues to sponsor the Olympic Games and Chelsea Football Club. [column3] [/column3] [column3] [/column3] [column3_last] [/column3_last]
Read More
On the track and in the field, the Carifta Games was Jamaica’s business as usual. A total of 69 medals and a 28th straight year on top don’t lie. Off track, burning questions beg for good answers. As soon as young star Michael O’Hara was declared ill with a full-blown case of chicken pox, a red flag went up. Apparently, young O’Hara arrived in The Bahamas afflicted. It makes you worry for those with whom he travelled there and for his family, friends and colleagues at Calabar. If the virus was passed on to the Carifta team and those they came close to in The Bahamas, the consequences are dire. Presumably, the Carifta officials were convinced that the crisis was well handled by the Jamaican team. Otherwise, they would have had no choice but to send Jamaica home. HEALTH CONCERNS PERSIST That would have killed off the Carifta Games, but the health concern would have had top billing. As things stand, it’s critical to check how O’Hara became infected and to care for any others who may be in danger. I’m no public-health expert, but the first step seems to be an immediate check with his family […]
Read More
