Athletics
OVER 100 TOP RUNNERS READY 2018 ACCESS BANK LAGOS CITY MARATHON
The interest shown in the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon is growing with each edition and this is evident in the number of top runners from across the world seeking participation in the one-day event.
For the forthcoming edition slated for February 10, the General Manager for the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, Yusuf Alli, has disclosed that over 100 top runners from various part of the world are expected to compete for honours in Lagos.
“Across the world, we should have a minimum of 100 top-class runners even though we originally pencilled down 84.” Alli said at the weekend.
Alli revealed that entries for the 2018 Access Bank Lagos City Marathon from both home and abroad has been overwhelming especially in the newly-introduced 10km Family Race.
Despite the huge interest coming from runners across the world, Alli was unequivocal that it is not a free for all as only the best and those capable of adding value will be officially invited.
“We have raised our game and we are only bringing the best from all over the world, the first criteria we have set is that any athlete that would be invited or given any form of appearance fee should be doing below 2:10mins,” he said
Alli however assured that any elite from any part of the world was still welcomed to fell the vibe of the Lagos Marathon.
“We have people coming from as far as Finland, France and other parts of the world, we expect a spectacular race this year,” the former African Record holder in Long Jump event posited.
Alli also expressed optimism that Nigerian athletes should be able to give their counterparts from across the world a run for their money especially with the improved incentives by the organisers.
“I am aware our home groom athletes have been training well, we expect them to improve on what that they did in the first two editions.
“As for the organizers, we have increased their prize monies, so we hope that will spur them to better performance,” Alli added.
Athletics
Former 800m world champion Pierre-Ambroise Bosse banned for 16 months
France’s former 800m world champion Pierre-Ambroise Bosse has received a 16-month ban from the French Anti-Doping Agency after missing three drug tests in the space of nine months. Bosse announced he was quitting athletics late last year due to recurrent injuries.
The sanction comes after the 31-year-old missed three drug tests between September 2022 and June 2023. Bosse had announced his retirement in December, seven months before the Paris 2024 Olympics. He had received notifications of breaches three times, with the period coinciding with his efforts to return to a high-level athletic performance despite grappling with a hamstring injury.
The initial breach occurred on 25 September 2022, when an anti-doping controller arrived at his residence to conduct a test within the athlete’s scheduled time slot, but Bosse was not available. He told French news outlet L’Équipe: “I was one foot in training, one foot on holiday.”
Bosse, who was eliminated at semi-final stage of the Tokyo Olympics, was enduring a thigh problem at the time. Following surgery in December 2022, Bosse embarked on a race against time with the aspiration of competing in his fourth Olympic Games in Paris.
On 1 May 2023, authorities tried to contact him again, but were unable to reach him during a time when he was with family in Nantes. “I wasn’t worried at that time because I had forgotten the previous one and so I thought I only had one. At that moment, I gave up completely.”
Then a month later, a controller returned to his residence for another scheduled check, but the athlete was evidently absent. He was subsequently informed a few weeks later of a likely two-year suspension for failing to fulfill such obligations.
Despite feeling dejected and shocked, Bosse attempted to defend himself by attributing the second violation to an issue with the absence of a doorbell.
“I made three mistakes, I accept. It’s true that I haven’t always been the best student when it comes to taking care of my location but, until then, it had never played any tricks on me. I know I should have been more serious but I would like to point out that I have been in the AFLD target group since 2012 and they have all my analyses.”
The 31-year-old was unable to recuperate following surgery on his right thigh last year and had been out of competition since April 2023.
Before his injury troubles he most notably secured fourth place in the 800m at the Rio Games back in 2016, and has yet to recapture the form that led to his crowning as the world champion over 800m in London in 2017. Bosse also got his hands on bronze at the European Championships in both 2012 and 2018.
Since leaving his beloved sport behind, the Frenchman has starred in two reality TV shows in his homeland and focussed on his association combining sport and ecology which he launched with his friend and former international team-mate Bryan Cantero.
Athletics
Nigerian-born Ujah recalled to Britain’s relay squad after serving doping ban
Chijindu Ujah has been recalled to Britain’s 4x100m squad for the World Athletics Relays in May, 10 months after serving his ban for a doping violation which resulted in his team being stripped of their silver medals at the Tokyo Olympics.
Sprinter Ujah was banned by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for 22 months in October 2022, which was backdated from August 2021 to June 2023. However, the AIU had cleared Ujah of intentionally taking prohibited substances.
Britain were stripped of the Tokyo silver after the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld Ujah’s anti-doping rule violation, though former UK Athletics technical director Stephen Maguire had said he would be considered for selection again after his ban.
Ujah’s team mates Richard Kilty, Zharnel Hughes and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake also had their medals stripped, with Kilty saying they were left “devastated” since they had strictly followed the rules unlike Ujah.
All four sprinters were named in an eight-man 4x100m relay squad for the World Athletics Relays in the Bahamas on May 4-5, giving Ujah another shot to redeem himself before the Olympic Games in Paris from July 26-Aug. 11.
“They have had their fair share of challenges in recent years,” said Darren Campbell, British Athletics’ head of sprints, hurdles and relays.
“But I have had my own discussions with each and every member of the squad and know they are motivated, committed and focused on working together to reach Paris.”
-Reuters
Athletics
A clash of two citizens as Tobi Amusan and Ofili compete in US tourney today
World record holder in women’s 100m hurdles, Tobi Amusan, will later today attempt to surpass her personal best of 11.10 seconds in the 100m event at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational hosted by the University of Florida this Friday
The race will feature another Nigerian, Favour Ofili. Both will be competing in a power-packed field that will include world championships finalist Tamari Davis and her compatriot Melissa Jefferson, who’s a former US champion as well as Jamaican duo Alana Reid and Kemba Nelson and Abby Steiner.
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