Mezzofondo: terminato il raduno di Grosseto

La Maremma si conferma al centro dell’atletica italiana, con il raduno nazionale di mezzofondo che si è svolto a Castiglione della Pescaia. Da sabato 22 e fino a domenica 30 aprile, molti dei migliori specialisti azzurri si sono allenati sia nell’impianto di Casa Mora che nei percorsi in pineta e sulle piste ciclabili, per preparare al meglio la nuova stagione agonistica. In tutto ben 35 convocati, tra cui due atleti che hanno partecipato alle Olimpiadi di Rio: Giordano Benedetti (800 metri) e Margherita Magnani (1500 metri), entrambi portacolori delle Fiamme Gialle, ma anche il due volte oro europeo juniores di corsa campestre Yeman Crippa (Fiamme Oro), insieme agli altri azzurri Marco Salami (Esercito) e Ahmed El Mazoury (Fiamme Gialle). Poi un folto gruppo di 30 atleti under 25 inseriti nel progetto sviluppo federale, nati dal 1993 al 1997 e accompagnati dai rispettivi tecnici personali, che comprende i campioni europei juniores dei 3000 siepi Yohanes Chiappinelli (Carabinieri) e dei 10.000 metri Pietro Riva (Fiamme Oro). Gli atleti hanno svolto test metabolici con misura del lattato a velocità crescenti, valutazioni sulla forza e sulla meccanica della corsa, training sulla velocità sulla potenza aerobica massima e sulla resistenza specifica. “I ragazzi hanno trovato un ambiente accogliente a Castiglione della Pescaia – ha detto Gianni Ghidini, advisor nazionale del mezzofondo veloce – e il bel clima in generale ha favorito i lavori”. Una preziosa assistenza logistica è stata fornita da Elisabetta Artuso, appuntato scelto dei Carabinieri Forestali, e dalla società Atletica Castiglionese. Nello staff c’erano anche i grossetani Claudio Pannozzo, nel ruolo di tecnico, e Marco Spernanzoni come fisioterapista.

Di seguito l’elenco completo degli atleti che hanno partecipato al raduno nazionale di mezzofondo: Ahmed Abdelwahed (Cus Camerino), Mohad Abdikadar (Aeronautica), Irene Baldessari (Esercito), Elena Bellò (Fiamme Azzurre), Giordano Benedetti (Fiamme Gialle), Francesca Bertoni (La Fratellanza 1874 Modena), Gabriele Bizzotto (Cus Parma), Lorenzo Casini (Atl. Firenze Marathon), Yohanes Chiappinelli (Carabinieri), Simone Colombini (La Fratellanza 1874 Modena), Francesco Conti (Atl. Imola Sacmi Avis), Nekagenet Crippa (Trieste Atletica), Yeman Crippa (Fiamme Oro), Alessandro Dal Ben (Atl. Insieme New Foods Verona), Lorenzo Dini (Fiamme Gialle), Samuele Dini (Fiamme Gialle), Daniele D’Onofrio (Nuova Atl. Isernia), Ahmed El Mazoury (Fiamme Gialle), Said Ettaqy (Esercito), Leonardo Feletto (Atl. Brugnera Friulintagli), Chiara Ferdani (Atl. Spezia Duferco), Alessandro Giacobazzi (La Fratellanza 1874 Modena), Margherita Magnani (Fiamme Gialle), Joyce Mattagliano (Esercito), Mattia Padovani (Atl. Lecco Colombo Costruzioni), Lorenzo Pilati (Atl. Valli di Non e Sole), Italo Quazzola (Atl. Casone Noceto), Nicole Reina (Cus Pro Patria Milano), Enrico Riccobon (Atl. Brugnera Friulintagli), Pietro Riva (Fiamme Oro), Marco Salami (Esercito), Christine Santi (Esercito), Eleonora Vandi (Atl. Avis Macerata), Ala Zoghlami (Cus Palermo), Osama Zoghlami (Cus Palermo).

Budapest launch bid to host 2023 IAAF World Championships

 Budapest wants to host the 2023 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships as part of a long-term strategy to stage the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Discussions have already started between Hungarian officials and the IAAF.

Hungary have vowed to continue bidding for major events, despite the city's Olympic bid for 2024 collapsing in February after local opponents of the bid submitted a quarter-of-a-million signatures in a petition demanding a local referendum in Budapest on the issue.

Balázs Fürjes, chair of Budapest 2024 and Government Commissioner for flagship Budapest developments, revealed during the SportAccord Convention here that the Hungarian capital still plans to build many of the facilities they proposed if they were awarded the Games.

This includes the main Olympic Stadium along the banks of the River Danube, which would host the IAAF World Championships.

Paris only interested in 2024 Olympic Games, ruling out 2028

Paris has told the International Olympic Committee "it's now or never" as it bids for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Paris and Los Angeles are the two cities still competing to be the host in 2024 and there has been suggestions that the IOC may award both the 2024 and 2028 Games in September.

But Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games bid co-chair and IOC member Tony Estanguet insists the French capital would only host the Games it is bidding for. 

We're okay if the IOC wants to give two Games at the same session in Lima," said Estanguet, speaking in London on Tuesday. "But on our side, our project is only possible for '24.

"We can't accept '28. It's not possible. It's now or never. Either the IOC family wants to choose Paris for '24 or we will not come back for '28."

Budapest, Hamburg and Rome have already left the race for 2024 over domestic concerns about costs.

Paris hosted the second Games in 1900 and again in 1924, but lost out to Barcelona in 1992, Beijing in 2008 and London four years later.

"This is the fourth bid, we learnt a lot," added Estanguet, a three-time Olympic slalom canoe gold medal winner. "We also believe this is the time to come back to Paris, or to Europe, in '24.

"We are not against the process, we welcome the process and understand the process, but our project is only possible for '24.

"We cannot imagine hosting the Games in '28. That was not the mandate I received from my team, the political leaders in my country.

"We believe we are the best partner for '24. It's a no risk bid."

Paris will largely make use of existing venues and infrastructure, but the site of the athletes' village, in Seine-Saint-Denis, is attached only to the 2024 bid and will not be available thereafter.

The French city and LA chiefs are poised to meet at next month's Sport Accord business and sport convention in Aarhus in Denmark, but there will be no compromise from Paris.

"We will meet them," Estanguet added. "There's no problem at all to discuss this and how they feel with this.

"But then again, it will not be possible for us to open any gate in discussing negotiating for '28. On our side it's really clear: we are only focused on '24."

Lessons have been learned from London's staging of the Games and Estanguet insists Paris would be a Games for the whole of Europe in a post-Brexit world.

"It was a great example for us. We looked very carefully at what London delivered," he said. "It was a similar approach.

"If Paris is host of the Games. It won't be only a French bid. It's really easy to come to Paris from different places in Europe.

"We hope to welcome British (people) to France in 2024."

Over 15,500 runners in today's Reading Half Marathon

Thousands of runners will pound the streets of Reading today to take part in the town's 34th Reading Half Marathon.
The event starts at the Green Park area of town and ends at Madejski Stadium. The organisers have made a downloadable map of the route available online.
A number of roads will be closed before, during and after the race.

Akani Simbine 9.92 battles Thando Roto 9.95 in 100m at AGN Championships

Men´s 100m AGN Championships: Akani Simbine blazes 9.92 seconds to defeat Thando Roto (9.95) in 100m.