Justin Gatlin leant forward on the railing, dripping sweat and sucking in lungfuls of humid air. Gatlin had just won the inaugural Diamond League meeting of the 2012 season, in Doha. He ran 9.87sec, his fastest time since he won the Olympic title in 9.85sec in 2004.
At least, it was his fastest time since that still stood in the record books, several others having been struck out when he was banned after testing positive for testosterone in 2007. The run was not his first since he returned, but it was his quickest. Gatlin was back.
"How does it feel to be Justin?" he was asked. "Have the fans made you feel welcome?" Gatlin switched on his goofy smile. Sure they had. And if some of them saw him as a villain, he did not much mind. He insists that the failed test was caused by a malicious masseur who secretly rubbed testosterone cream into his knee. "Track and field," he said in his Brooklyn drawl, "is a soap opera with spikes on."
Some soap opera. They say that 3bn people watched Usain Bolt win the Olympic 100m in 2008. Such estimates are notoriously hard to verify, but that was certainly the figure Puma were working with when they gave Bolt a three-year sponsorship contract worth around £21m. In eight weeks' time, at 9.50pm on Sunday 5 August, more still will tune in again to see the denouement to a story that has been running for four years now: can anyone beat Bolt?
When Bolt opened his European season with a run of 10.04sec in Ostrava it looked as though maybe they could. Now no one is so sure. Irked by that performance, he followed it up with a 9.76sec in Rome, equalling his quickest time since he set his world record of 9.58sec at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. In Oslo on Thursday he ran 9.79sec.
Bolt is still a swaggering showman – he did a lap of honour before his race in the Stadio Olimpico, on the back of a golf buggy – but his approach to his sport is a little more serious than it once was. It was a lack of sleep and a bad diet that slowed him down in Ostrava, he said. Since then he has been keeping sensible hours and eating sensible food. "I do still eat fast food," he said with a smile. "But now I try to get a lot of pasta in too. It's key that as you get older you have to watch your diet." This is the man who prepared for the 2008 Olympic 100m final with a midnight feast of chicken nuggets.
Bolt talks incessantly about wanting to make himself "a living legend" at the 2012 Games. He would like us to think his success is effortless, but that is just part of his image. His friend and training partner Jermaine Gonzales, a 400m runner, insists that the idea people have of Bolt is all wrong. "People imagine that Usain isn't a hard trainer. He can be a bit inconsistent and miss the odd day here and there but he doesn't know how to run slow. Try training with him and tell me he doesn't work hard."
Another of Bolt's training partners down at the Racers Track Club in Kingston is Yohan Blake, the 22-year-old who won the world 100m title in 2011 after Bolt was disqualified for a false start. Blake is renowned as the hardest-working man in the group. "I train hard by myself – that is why Usain calls me The Beast," he said recently. "I'm doing twice as much work as anyone else. When everyone else is sleeping I am still working."
As if Blake's world 100m title wasn't enough, he followed it up by running 19.26sec over 200m in Brussels last September. That was 0.07sec off Bolt's world record, a mark many had imagined would be all but untouchable. Blake has not yet made a similar breakthrough in the 100m – his personal best is 9.82sec – but he says he is "really focusing on my 100m" by "working hard on technical aspects, on my start and on the first 30 metres. All of that is going to come in to play for the Olympics." He opened his season with a run of 9.84sec in the Cayman Islands.
Bolt looms over his sport. His fellow 100m runners have had to get used to living in his 6ft 5in shadow. Blake and Gatlin are two exceptions. Neither has been scarred by the experience of trailing in behind Bolt in Beijing or Berlin, when he set his world records: Blake was too young to be there, and Gatlin was banned.
"Everyone wants to see a great competition," said Gatlin after he won in Doha. "They have watched the Bolt show for a couple of years and everyone wants to see someone else in the mix – I'm glad to step up and take charge of that."
He and Bolt have previous. In a recent interview with CNN Bolt recalled that when the two had raced together in Zagreb last year, Gatlin spat in Bolt's lane as the two were walking back to the blocks.
"When he did it, I knew he was trying to intimidate me," Bolt said. "I found it really funny." Bolt gave that interview to Linford Christie, and the story is reminiscent of Christie's era, when 100m sprinters were all swaggering braggadocios, swapping sharp words off the track and gimlet-eyed stares on it. Gatlin v Bolt is a rivalry that has real needle to it.
When Bolt heard what Gatlin had said in Doha, the Jamaican snapped out of the droll torpor that is his default mood during press conferences. His body shook with laughter. "I don't want to sound rude," he said. "But I think Gatlin's had his chance. He's been on top, to say 'Get ready for the Gatlin show' is funny. There are a lot of other athletes. You can't count out Tyson Gay and Yohan Blake, so he has a few guys to get past before he should be worried about me."
Bolt's list of contenders Gatlin would have to get past had one conspicuous absentee: the former world record holder Asafa Powell. Between them, Powell and Bolt have run 12 of the 15 fastest 100m times in history. But Powell seems to have got so used to being beaten by Bolt that you wonder if he has given up hope of ever finishing first.
At the third Diamond League meeting of the season, in Rome, Powell was forced to give his press conference while sitting in front of a huge poster of Bolt running down the Via Condotti. "I'm not here to compete against Bolt, or try to beat any times," he said wearily, "I am here to run fast. The finish line is my target, not Bolt or anyone else." He sounded like Chevy Chase in Caddyshack, espousing his hippy creed: "I don't play golf for money … against people."
"Unlike some people who say they are going to run 9.7, I can't do that," Powell said. "I am a human being, I don't know what my body is going to put out. We'll just have to wait and see."
Gatlin has already skewered Powell too, after beating him in Doha: "Races like this, it shows who's a competitor and who's just a runner." Powell bridled at that, but it is hard to argue with. Powell has run five of the 15 fastest 100m times in history, but none of them came at a major championship.
Last year Powell was striking a notably more strident tone ahead of the world championships in Daegu. "I think of myself as the No1 now. I'm the one people have to beat. I'm the No1 sprinter this year. That gives me confidence, the edge over everyone," Powell said. "I think I have a great chance, a 99% chance of winning." He ended up pulling out of the competition two days before it started, saying that he had a groin strain.
Despite that, Powell was once again trying to talk the talk at the start of the 2012 indoor season. "I'm not going to say if I do well tomorrow; I am going to do well tomorrow," he said, before running over 60m at the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham. He finished third behind his two compatriots Nesta Carter and Lerone Clarke, who were both selected ahead of him for the world indoor championships in Istanbul in March.
Of those 15 fastest times in history, the remaining three belong to the American Tyson Gay. Like Powell, he has proven he can come close to matching Bolt for speed – he is the only other man to have run under 9.70secs – and, crucially, he has also won major championships: he did the sprint double over 100m and 200m at the world championships in Osaka in 2007. "I really believe it's going to be one of the most exciting Olympics in history," Gay has said of this summer's race. But the question is, will he be part of it?
Like Powell, Gay missed the 2011 world championships. He was having corrective surgery on his hip. Since then he has had serious groin and tendon problems, and started track training only at the start of February. He ran his first race in a year, in New York, on Saturday. He says he has been through the hardest three months of training of his life, and that he has given up running the 200m so he can eke whatever mileage is left out of his ailing body and focus on challenging Bolt in the 100m.
Before he can even think about that, he will need to get through the US Olympic trials at the end of the month. It is not just Gatlin he will be competing with there, but seven other sprinters who have run under 10.05sec this season.
Kim Collins, the 2003 world 100m champion, is convinced that the 100m final is going to be greatest in Olympic history. "This year is going to be special," he said. "This year is going to be the year when we see eight men under 10 seconds in the same competition."
Five men have run under 9.90 seconds this season: Gatlin, Bolt, Powell, Blake, and the Central American and Caribbean Games champion, Keston Bledman, from Trinidad. There are other medal contenders too – Carter, Clarke, and Nickel Ashmeade from Jamaica, and the odd man out from France, Christophe Lemaitre. As Collins says "Keep watching".
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Adam Lambert enjoys London nightlife: 'Mugging in a London Black Cab' - Examiner
Angelina Jolie may be interested in directing the '50 Shades of Grey' film.
Should she act in it instead?
Source: www.examiner.com
Arizona Immigration Law: Supreme Court Decision Could Prompt New Front In Fight - Huffington Post
PHOENIX -- A forthcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision on Arizona's controversial immigration law – which some experts believe could uphold the most controversial aspects of the measure – won't end legal disputes on the matter and instead is likely to ignite renewed assaults by the law's opponents.
The court is evaluating the 2010 law on only the question of whether Arizona's attempt to fix its border problems is trumped by federal law. That means that opponents could still ask the courts to block enforcement of the law on other legal grounds.
For example, the high court isn't considering the possibility that racial profiling may arise from the law – because the Obama administration's lawsuit didn't challenge it on those grounds. The administration focused instead on whether federal law supersedes the state law, an issue known as "pre-emption."
"All the court is going to decide is the pre-emption issue," said Linton Joaquin, general counsel for the National Immigration Law Center, an advocacy group for low-income immigrants that's part of a coalition of opponents that filed a separate challenge. "But we think this law basically requires racial profiling by mandating that officers detain and investigate people that they have reasonable suspicions of being unauthorized."
The case was argued before the high court in April, and a ruling is expected by the end of June. Based partly on skeptical questions posed by justices during the hearing, legal experts expect that the court likely will uphold Arizona's requirement that police check the immigration status of people they stop for other reasons; that provision was put on hold by a judge in July 2010 and hasn't yet been enforced. Less controversial parts of the law were allowed to take effect.
A decision in favor of Arizona could clear the way for other states to enforce immigration-check requirements and create an opening for states to take a larger role in immigration enforcement after mostly staying out of it for decades and letting the federal government handle it alone.
Five others states – Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah – have enacted similar laws.
If Arizona wins at the Supreme Court, opponents say they likely would go back to lower courts to seek injunctions on other grounds before any provisions that win approval from the Supreme Court take effect. They also may ask the courts to block enforcement of the law's most controversial parts by arguing that the law requires police to extend the length of time of traffic stops beyond the permitted time.
"We are preparing for the next step in case of a bad decision," said Andre Segura, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which also is fighting the law in court.
Segura said it's unlikely that a Supreme Court decision that upholds the Arizona law would go into effect immediately. Instead, the case would probably be given back to lower courts to decide when it takes effect, though it's unclear how long it would take for the courts to decide when police can start enforcing the provision.
It's also unclear when similar laws in other states would take effect if the court rules in Arizona's favor. Those states will likely have to take up the issue in their respective courts to see how their laws – which have different provisions on the questioning of people's immigration status – square up with the Supreme Court's ruling, Segura said.
Lawyers who are fighting the law aren't the only opponents preparing themselves for a ruling that upholds the law.
Immigrant rights advocates plan to launch a public relations campaign in hopes of quelling fears about the law and hold public meetings across the state to explain the law. They also are planning protests and a bus tour across the country to protest Arizona-style immigration laws. And hotline run by a civil rights group will take questions about the law and document reports of abuses by police.
Meanwhile, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio – who, more than any other police boss in Arizona, has pushed the bounds of local immigration enforcement – said he has no plans to expand his immigration efforts if Arizona wins its appeal. "I really don't see any big change with me," Arpaio said, adding that his officers already ask people for their immigration status when they have a good reason to do so.
The U.S. Justice Department has accused Arpaio's office in a lawsuit of racially profiling Latinos in his trademark immigration patrols. The sheriff vigorously disputes the allegation.
Along the Arizona-Mexico border, Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada doubted his deputies will need to undergo special training to enforce the law's questioning requirement. He said his deputies, who now call the U.S. Border Patrol to pose such questions, would instead inquire about people's status and, if needed, call federal agents for assistance.
Estrada, who has 37 deputies to patrol a county that shares 50 miles of border with Mexico, said he will have to balance enforcement of the law with his limited manpower.
"We will enforce based on our resources and priorities," Estrada said. "In other words, I am not going to be sending a squad to do that. I don't have a squad to do that."
Related on HuffPost:
Source: www.huffingtonpost.com
Not another one! Brownlees in new London selection row - Daily Mail
By Derek Hunter
|
Britain's Olympic build-up was rocked on Saturday by its second selection row in a week.
Two ‘pacemaker’ athletes have been picked for the six-strong triathlon team at the London Games to help the Brownlee brothers, Alistair and Jonny, to an anticipated gold and silver double.
The uproar over the selection of Stuart Hayes and Lucy Hall ahead of better and more experienced athletes follows the furore over taekwondo’s Aaron Cook, who has been overlooked for the British team despite being world No 1.
Controversy: The squad selection has caused a new row
Four seasoned triathletes will appear for Team GB at London — world champion Alistair Brownlee, 24, and his world No 2 brother Jonny, 22, in the men’s race, and world champion Helen Jenkins and Vicky Holland in the women’s event.
But Hayes and Hall will fulfil the duties of pacemakers at the expense of better all-round triathletes Will Clarke, Tim Don, Liz Blatchford and Jodie Stimpson, who were all overlooked. The squad will operate on ‘team orders’ to help the Brownlees and Jenkins get medals.
‘It’s hard because two of those people have basically walked on to an Olympic team,’ said Clarke, 27, who is ranked No 12 in the world. Don, son of former Premier League referee Philip Don, is No 13 while Hayes is ranked No 46.
Clarke added: ‘There’s not any other sport like that, where someone qualifies so easily considering what others like us have been through. We’ve been racing at the top level around the world for years, gaining ranking points, and they’ve walked on to the Olympic team. But I’m still good friends with Stuey and wish him all the best.’
Brothers: Alistair Brownlee (left) and Jonathan Brownlee (right)
A report that triathletes, unhappy with the selection policy, had ‘heated words’ with selectors was vindicated when Clarke’s wife, Clare, pointed her followers on Twitter to it and said it was a ‘great summary’ of what had happened during the selection process.
Clarke, who received numerous messages of support at his surprise omission, tweeted: ‘Finally the Team GB Triathlon team has been announced. Gutted to not be part of it but good luck to the guys and bring back some medals.’
The Brownlee brothers finished together in first place at the Blenheim triathlon as Alistair made his comeback from injury. On form, they would be expected to win gold and silver in London, while Jenkins is favourite in the women’s event.
Not selected: Aaron Cook's omission caused a stir
British Triathlon want to maximise their chances, however, hence the inclusion of Hall and Hayes, who are quick swimmers and cyclists and can pace their team-mates before fading.
Hall said: ‘They made it clear that, if I was going to take this place on the team, I would be going as someone to help [Jenkins]. Everyone can’t be happy with the decision. People are always going to be upset. That’s how it is, that’s sport.
‘It’s horrible to think some people don’t get to fulfil their Olympic dreams. I hope they understand why I’m taking this opportunity. It’s a home Olympics. I can’t turn it down.’
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
Seb Coe Pledges Support for London CITIZENS 100 Days of Peace Project and CitySafe Campaign - Danbury News-Times
Seb Coe, Chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has pledged his support for the 100 Days of Peace project, by becoming one of the first people to sign the Peace Pledge.
(PRWEB) June 09, 2012
Seb Coe, Chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has pledged his support for the 100 Days of Peace project, by becoming one of the first people to sign the Peace Pledge.
- Link to images of Seb Coe and London CITIZENS members meeting to mark the 100 Days of Peace project here
The launch rally for the 100 Days of Peace project will be held on Saturday 9 June at the Scoop by City Hall. Shadow Minister for the Olympics Tessa Jowell MP and Chair of the CitySafe Foundation, Deputy Mayor of London for Planning Edward Lister, Simon Hughes MP and Leader of Southwark Council Peter John will also attend the event.
There will be 18 other CitySafe rallies organised by London CITIZENS taking place across London on the same day in 18 other Boroughs.
The objective of 100 Days of Peace, which is a London 2012 Inspire Mark project, is to promote a safer and more tolerant society across the Games period and is specifically aimed at young people. It is strongly linked to London 2012’s work around the Olympic Truce and seeks peace in London for 50 days ahead of the Games and for 50 days afterwards. At the end of this period, on October 28th, London CITIZENS will publish a new map of London with CitySafe Zones marked on it.
An integral part of the 100 Days of Peace project is the CitySafe Campaign where young people and adults will work on a number of initiatives. These include encouraging local businesses and organisations to offer their premises as CitySafe Havens, pledging to report 100% of crime and organising events that facilitate dialogue between police and young people, led by CitySafe Champions.
The aim is to build stronger communities, neighbourhood organisations and relationship with the police to strengthen CitySafe Zones.
The CitySafe Campaign is led by London CITIZENS member communities which include Families United and The Jimmy Mizen Foundation.
Both 100 Days of Peace and the CitySafe Campaign are coordinated by London Citizens, the UK’s largest independent civic alliance with over 250 schools, churches, mosques, trade unions, charities and local associations. One of the four sub-regional groups of London Citizens is the East London Communities Organisations (TELCO) which has been working with London 2012 from the start of the bid process.
TELCO has worked with LOCOG on a number of issues, including getting all London 2012 contractors to agree to pay the London Living Wage where applicable and appropriate, ensuring job opportunities were promoted to citizens in east London, and putting forward candidates for recruitment events.
Seb Coe, Chair of LOCOG said: “The 100 Days of Peace project is a great initiative and I would encourage all members of the public and businesses to back this. It absolutely fits in with the vision we set out in Singapore to inspire young people and provide them with new opportunities in life. The first meeting I had once I was appointed Chair of the Bid Committee was with London Citizens and over the years we have been driven, guided and steered by them on a number of key issues for residents in London. I would like to thank London Citizens for their leadership and very practical way in which they are helping deliver our vision at a Borough level. This is something we will always want to support.”
Paul O’Shea, Chair of London Citizens Trustees said: “We are delighted that the working relationship we forged with Lord Coe and the Bid Committee in 2004 has been so constructive throughout and adds massively to the legacy that the Games will leave behind for Londoners – particularly East and South Londoners. LOCOG has delivered on all of the commitments made to London CITIZENS and signed off in a ceremony in City Hall in November 2004 – Living Wage Jobs throughout the Estate; Construction Training for local people; money for schools and health care in Stratford and jobs for local people. We look to the Legacy Company to ensure that the land available for housing on the site includes Community Land Trusts which will ensure affordable homes for local families in perpetuity.
“We wish to thank Lord Coe and his team for their steadfastness, leadership and for honouring the commitments made eight years ago. Lord Coe’s support for our CitySafe Campaign is a bonus and fits exactly with the Olympic tradition of a legacy of peace and more integrated communities.”
Paul Amuzie, a former student from St Bonaventure’s School in Newham and other young people from Forest Gate came up with the name and concept of CitySafe in 2008. Paul attended a meeting with Seb Coe earlier this week and said: “I am very proud that Lord Coe that the 100 Days of Peace and the Inspire Mark will help us take the CitySafe campaign to over 20 London Boroughs and make those communities safer and better organised. There are now over 300 CitySafe Havens, including City Hall and the Mayor has agreed to be the CitySafe Campaign Ambassador. This not only makes our streets safer, it reduces the fear of crime in our neighbourhoods by bringing traders and neighbours together with the police to ensure folks can go about their business in peace.”
Notes to editors:
For further information please contact the London 2012 Press Office.
Find out the latest from London 2012 on http://www.london2012.com, follow us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/london2012 or download the Offical London 2012 Join In app.
The Official London 2012 Join In app is a free mobile guide to help you plan, enjoy and share your Games experience. From the Olympic Torch Relay to the Olympics and Paralympics, the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, plus all the cultural, city and community celebrations happening across the UK, the Official London 2012 Join In App is your essential companion. It is available now at app stores and at http://www.london2012.com/mobileapps/
About CitySafe Zones
A CitySafe Zone is a street or neighbourhood with CitySafe Havens and a London CITIZENS member community that has agreed to organise the communities for peace, work closely with the police and ensure the traders and neighbours all know each other and meet regularly to ensure the ‘Zone’ offers protection and security and positive relationships for the future.
London 2012 Games partners:
The Worldwide Olympic Partners who support the London 2012 Olympic Games and the National Olympic Committees around the world are Coca-Cola, Acer, Atos, Dow, GE, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Procter and Gamble, Samsung and Visa.
LOCOG has seven domestic Tier One Partners - adidas, BMW, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF and Lloyds TSB. There are seven domestic Tier Two Supporters – Adecco, ArcelorMittal, Cadbury, Cisco, Deloitte, Thomas Cook and UPS. There are now twenty-eight domestic Tier Three Suppliers and Providers – Aggreko, Airwave, Atkins, Boston Consulting Group, CBS Outdoor, Crystal CG, Eurostar, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, G4S, GSK, Gymnova, Heathrow Airport, Heineken UK, Holiday Inn, John Lewis, McCann Worldgroup, Mondo, NATURE VALLEY, Next, Nielsen, Populous, Rapiscan Systems, Rio Tinto, Technogym, Thames Water, Ticketmaster, Trebor and Westfield.
There is one domestic Tier One Paralympic Games-only Partner, Sainsbury’s and two domestic Tier Three Paralympic Games-only Suppliers, Otto Bock and Panasonic. The London 2012 Paralympic Games also acknowledges the support of the National Lottery.
For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/6/prweb9588721.htm
Source: www.newstimes.com
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