Russia Doping: WADA To Publish Sochi 2014 Findings

Russia could face a complete Olympic ban if allegations of state-sponsored doping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics are proven on Monday.

An independent commission set up by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has been investigating the claims and is to publish its findings.

Russian track and field athletes are banned from international competition, including the Rio Olympics.

But individual athletes can compete as neutrals if they prove they are clean.

Russia are currently challenging the ban on their athletes at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), with the tribunal expected to conclude on 21 July.

However, Monday’s findings may put more pressure on the nation if there are any adverse revelations.

The commission, headed by Dr Richard McLaren, has primarily been looking into claims made by Dr Grigory Rodchenkov, a former anti-doping chief, who alleged dozens of athletes, including at least 15 medallists at the 2014 Winter Olympics, were part of an extensive state-run doping programme.

Rodchenkov described a massive, tightly organised doping operation involving Russia’s security service and the sports ministry.

But Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko condemned the allegations as “a continuation of the information attack on Russian sport”.

The Russian weightlifting team are also facing the prospect of a ban from Rio after repeated anti-doping violations.

BBC

Russia Doping: WADA To Publish Sochi 2014 Findings

Ghanaian Athletes Impress At All African University Games

A host of Ghanaian Athletes have put up strong showing on day 1 of track and field at the ongoing All African University Games in South Africa. 

University of Ghana sprinter, Desmond Aryee won gold in the men’s 100m final in a personal best time of 10.40s on Thursday.

Aryee held off competition from his compatriot Martin Owusu Antwi of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), who came second in 10.42 and Mount Kenya University’s Charles Wanjiru Wamweya, who finished in 10.48s, to secure the victory.

Aryee and Owusu-Antwi appeared to have acclimatised to the cold conditions at the venue having participated in the 20th African Senior Championships in Durban which ended only last Sunday.

There was more to come later as sprinter Martin Owusu-Antwi inspired the KNUST men’s 4x100m relay team to win gold in a time of 40.49s ahead of the team from the University of Education Winneba, who recorded 40.95s while Mount Kenya University came third in 41.93s.

Meanwhile, University of Ghana’s female sprinter,  Dorcas Pomah Nimako won silver in the women’s 100m final in a time of 12.02s behind eventual winner Petunia Ndyombo Obisi of the University of Western Cape, who clocked 11.96s while University of Botswana’s Ontiretse Molapisi came third in 12.07s.

Dorcas later run the third leg as the University of Ghana’s 4x100m women’s relay team won gold in a time of 47.39s ahead of Midlands State University in 51.12 and the University of Botswana in 55.40s.

Bachela Yirimeah Awudu won University of Ghana’s fourth medal in track and field when he finished third with a throw of 39.47m in the men’s discus throw behind University of Johannesburg’s Russel Tucket, who won with 58.15m while Tshwane University of Technology’s Rudolf Johannes Van Vuuren came second with 41.11m.

There was also some strong showing from the University of Education Winneba (UEW) whose 400m runner Shawkia Iddrisu clinched gold in the women’s 400m final in a time of 54.82s, followed by University of Ghana’s Joycelyn Assafuah in 57.21 while the University of Zambia’s Musonda Chitoshi came third in 1:01.83.

UEW’s Umar Ayishetu also took first place with 33.97m in the women’s discus while Africa University’s Nozipho Makhanda took second in 24.57m.

Ghanaian Athletes Impress At All African University Games

Ghana"s Relay Team Disappointed

Ghanaian women’s 4x100m relay team expressed their disappointment at not being able to run the required time for qualification to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games despite winning a silver medal in a time of 44.05s at the 20th African Seniors Championships at the Kings Park Athletics stadium in Durban South Africa last Thursday.

The quartet of Flings Owusu-Agyapong, Gemma Acheampong, Beatrice Gyaman and Janet Amponsah came second in the final race which was won by host nation South Africa in 43.66s.

The team needed to have recorded 53.53s to break into the top 16 4x100m women’s relay ranking in the world and to secure automatic qualification to the Games.

“We came here trying to get an Olympic qualifier. We didn’t come here to medal,” a visibly disappointed Flings Owusu Agyapong said in an interview, adding that, “So it socks that our time was really slow. We are not excited.”

Ghana thus needs to scout for other relay race opportunities before the IAAF’s Rio deadline date of 11th July, 2016.

Gemma Acheampong commented: “If we can find a meet, then we will be excited to get into it. Give it another go.”

Meanwhile, the Ghana based duo of Abigail Kwarteng and Regina Yeboah came 4th and 5th in the women’s high jump with 1.76m and 1.73m respectively.

Julia Agawu narrowly missed out on a place on the podium after placing 4th in the women’s discus throw with 51.74m.

Three other athletes clichéd final places in their respective events.

800m runner Sampson Laari finished in a respectable 6th place in his debut appearance at the African Championships men’s 800m in 1:47.62m.

Janet Amponsah crossed the finish line in 23.45 to take 5th position in the women’s 200m final while Gemma Acheampong came 6th in a time of 10.49s in the women’s 100m final. The men’s 4x100m relay finished 6th in their final in 40.21s.

The trio of Emmanuel Dasor, Vivian Mills and Akua Obeng Akrofi exited the semi final of their respective 400m events.

Ghana was represented by 27 athletes at the five-day competition which took place from 22nd-26th June, 2016.

Ghana"s Relay Team Disappointed

CAA Championship: Nadia Eke Wins Gold For Ghana

Ghana won two medals (one gold and one silver)  on the final day of the 20th African Seniors Championships held at the King Park Athletics stadium in Durban, South Africa last Sunday.

Triple jumper Nadia Eke grabbed Ghana’s first gold medal at the Championships since the 2012 African Seniors Championships when she jumped 13.42m to clinch victory.

Nadia has thus won three international medals for Ghana in three years after winning silver at the 2014 African Senior Championships in Morocco and bronze at the 2015 All African Games in Congo-Brazzaville.

Significantly, Ghana’s national anthem was played for the first time at the 5-day event after the President of the Ghana Athletics Association, Prof. Francis Dodoo had handed a gold medal to Nadia Eke on the podium.

Following to win, Nadia, who had recorded a new national triple jump record of 13.82m prior to the competition, told reporters she was disappointment with her own performance on the day.

Soon after Nadia’s heroics, Team Ghana captain John Ampomah added another silver medal to the country’s medal collection after throwing 75.22m to win a silver medal in the men’s javelin throw event.

This was Ampomah’s third medal in six years for Ghana after winning silver at the 2012 African Senior Championships and the 2015 All African Games in Congo-Brazzaville.

John’s mark of 75.22m fell below the Rio 2016 Olympic automatic qualifying mark of 83m.

The national team had won four medals prior to the final day with two silver medals coming from the women’s 4x100m relay team and national decathlon record holder Atsu Nyamadi, while heptathlon queen Elizabeth Dadzie and pole vault specialist Jordan Yamoah had also won bronze medals in their respective events.

Despite the six medal haul which equals Ghana’s last medal count at the 2014 CAA Championships, many of the athletes expressed their disappointment with their own performances.

It is becoming increasingly clear that they will need to find some more competitions to try meet the qualifying standards for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

CAA Championship: Nadia Eke Wins Gold For Ghana

CAA Championship: Ghanaian Trio Bow Out

Ghanaian Trio Emmanuel Dasor, Vivian Mills and Akua Obeng Akrofi have all failed to make it to the final of the men’s and women’s 400m respectively at the 20th African Seniors Championships which is taking place in South Africa. 

Dasor bowed out of the men’s event after coming 4th in his semi final in a time of 47.12s on Thursday.

Vivian Mills and Akua Obeng Akrofi also exited the women’s 400m.

Akrofi came last in her race in 54.49s while Mills placed 7th in 53.87s.

CAA Championship: Ghanaian Trio Bow Out

CAA Championships: Ghanaian Sprinter Qualifies To 100m Final

Ghanaian sprinter Gemma Acheampong is through to the final of the women’s 100m after placing second in a time of 11.60s in semi final 1 at the ongoing 20th African Senior Championships at the Kings Park Athletics Stadium in Durban-South Africa on Wednesday, 22nd June.

Gemma punched her ticket for the final after sealing one of the automatic places in the heat, behind Cote D’Ivoire’s Marie Ta Lou who crossed the finish line in 11.20s.

The U.S. based athlete had earlier won Heat 1 of the 100m in 11.84s to progress to the semis.

She has thus qualified for the final of the women’s 100m for a second consecutive time, having similarly qualified for the final at the 2014 CAA Championships where she placed 7th.

CAA Championships: Ghanaian Sprinter Qualifies To 100m Final

Usain Bolt Could Lose Olympic Gold Medal

Nesta Carter (second from left) and Usain Bolt (second from right) won gold for Jamaica in Beijing

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt could lose one of the three gold medals he won at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Reuters report that the ‘A’ sample of one of his team-mates in the 4x100m, Nesta Carter, was found to contain the banned substance Methylhexanamine.

The news comes after the retesting of 454 samples from the 2008 Games.

Carter, who along with his agent has not replied to requests for comment, will face sanctions if his ‘B’ sample also tests positive for the substance.

The 30-year-old ran the first leg for Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team in Beijing, which also included Michael Frater, Asafa Powell and Bolt.

The team took gold in what was then a new world record of 37.10 seconds, ahead of Trinidad and Tobago and Japan.

Carter was also a member of Jamaica’s gold medal-winning relay teams at the 2011, 2013 and 2015 World Championships as well as the 2012 Olympic Games.

He has not run this season, because of a foot injury, but is expected to return to the track ahead of Jamaica’s Olympic trials from 30 June to 3 July.

Methylhexanamine has been on the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) Code prohibited list since 2004, although it was reclassified on the 2011 list as a “specified substance”, meaning one that is more susceptible to a “credible, non-doping explanation”.

Sold as a nasal decongestant in the United States until 1983, Methylhexanamine has been used more recently as an ingredient in dietary supplements.

The IOC programme of revisiting samples is aimed at using developments in testing techniques to expose traces of drugs that were undetectable in 2008 or 2012.

In previous doping cases where individual members of a medal-winning relay squads have tested positive for a banned substance, the whole team is stripped of their medal.

The United States men’s 4x100m team were stripped of their silver medals from the 2012 Olympics after Tyson Gay’s doping case.

BBC

Usain Bolt Could Lose Olympic Gold Medal

Six-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt ran a season’s best 9.98 seconds in winning the men’s 100m at the Golden Spike meeting in the Czech Republic.

In his first European outing of the year, the Jamaican recovered from a slow start to win with ease with Ramon Gittens 0.23 secs behind in second.

Bolt clocked 10.05 seconds in his only other 100m of the season – at the Cayman Islands Invitational Meet.

The 29-year-old needed treatment on a tight hamstring following that race.

Bolt has won three 100m world titles

He took a break from racing after the Beijing World Championships last August, where he won golds in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.

In the build up to the race in Ostrava, the 100m and 200m world record holder said his main aim was to break the world 200m record at this summer’s Rio Olympics.

BBC

GAA Circuit Championships : Deborah Acquah closes in On Nadia Eke"s Triple Jump Record

Triple jumper Deborah Acquah broke new grounds, jumping a personal best 13.34m to win the third leg of the Ghana Athletics Association’s National Circuit Championships at the Sekondi Sports stadium.

Acquah, who previously won the previous Circuit at Koforidua with 11.97m, eased to her new life time best with her first jump of the day, which is 0.12m shy of the 13.46m national record held by Nadia Eke.

She was followed in second place by Faustina Tetteh with 12.05m and Aba Sam Amengu with 11.96m.

With her performance improving by competition, Deborah Acquah will be eyeing Eke’s national record by the close of the Athletics year.

She will next compete in the final Circuit at the Newly constructed Cape Coast Sports Stadium in May this year

GAA Circuit Championships : Deborah Acquah closes in On Nadia Eke"s Triple Jump Record

GAA Circuit Championships: Kate Agyemang Wins 200m in 24:04

Young female sprint sensation, Kate Agyemang, at the Sekondi Sports stadium last Saturday, beat a quality field in the 200m final, clinching first place in a time of 24.04s ahead of Happy Abruyah, who came second in 24.12s and Josephine Anokye who took third place in 24.17s.

Agnes Abrokwah crossed the finish line in 24.33s while Cecilia Asekiya and Dorcas Gyimah settled for fifth and sixth in 24.42 and 24.50 respectively.

Running in lane five, Kate Agyeman- a former student of Kumasi based Aduman Senior High School – run a splendid curve and caught up with Agnes Abrokwah (in lane 6) after about 100m before powering home aplomb, leaving her more illustrious seniors Dorcas Gyimah and Cecilia Asekiya in her shadow.

Her victory adds to a very entertaining season which has seen two different winners in the 200m final.

Dorcas Gyimah won the 200m final at the first leg of the Circuit held at Bolgatanga before Cecilia Asekiya won the second leg encounter at the Koforidua Stadium.

The stage is now set for the fourth and final leg of the National Circuit Championships to be held at the newly built Cape Coast stadium in May to determine who wins the overall 200m crown this season.

GAA Circuit Championships: Kate Agyemang Wins 200m in 24:04

GAA Circuit Championship: Martha Bissah wins 800m Gold

Youth Olympic Gold medalist, Martha Bissah, overcame a stiff opposition from youngster Hawa Kombat to win a close 800m final in a time of 2: 13.20 min at the third leg of the Ghana Athletics Association National Circuit Championships, held at the Sekondi Sports Stadium,last Saturday.

Bissah, who run a very fast first lap under 55s, struggled to finish the race and was closely followed by Hawa Kombat in a time of 2:13.39 min while Patience Akanwogba came third in 2:15.45min.

It will be recalled that the 2014 Youth Olympics gold medalist recorded a season’s best 2:09.72 min (ON GRASS) at the 2nd leg of the Circuit Championships at the Koforidua Stadium last month.

This was the second time that Bissah and Kombat had face off each other on the finish line after a similar scene played itself out at the Grand Finale of the 2015 Circuit Championships 1500m final in Tamale.

Meanwhile, 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games participants- Salomey Agyei and Helen Maasotuo- placed fourth and seventh in a time of 2:16.44 and 2:23.08 respectively in the same 800m final.

GAA Circuit Championship: Martha Bissah wins 800m Gold

GAA Circuit Chamionship: Margaret Simpson Wins Javelin and High Jump

Ghanaian Olympian, Margaret Simpson produced her best performance of this season to win both the women’s Javelin with 49.58m (SB) and high jump (1.70m) at the third leg of the Ghana Athletics Association National Circuit Championships held at the Sekondi Sports stadium over the weekend.

The highly rated athlete threw 49.58m on her third attempt to leapfrog reigning National Circuit champion, Mary Zuta who led the pack with 48.31m after her first throw.

This is the first time Simpson has beaten Zuta to first place ever since she re-launched her career on the domestic Circuit Championships in Bolgatanga earlier this year.

Boosted by her victory in the javelin, Simpson turned her attention to the women’s high jump where she again jumped a season’s best 1.70m to win the event ahead of Deborah Acquah and Abigail Kwarteng who both jumped 1.55m.

The duo of Abigail Kwarteng and Regina Yeboah, who have jumped the GAA’s African Championships B-standard marks of 1.77m and 1.76m respectively this season, had a day to forget on the circuit.

Regina sustained an injury and had to retire from the competition while Kwarteng could only jump 1.55m.

GAA Circuit Chamionship: Margaret Simpson Wins Javelin and High Jump