Posted: June 16, 2006

Athletics: News & Notes, Volume 7, Number 48

U.S. Olympic Committee honors Gatlin

The U.S. Olympic Committee has named sprinter Justin Gatlin one of its May Athletes of the Month.

The reigning Olympic and World 100m champion, Gatlin (Raleigh, N.C.) tied the men's world record at the Qatar Super Grand Prix in Doha on May 12. His time of 9.77 seconds with a wind reading of +1.7 meters per second (a mark ratified by the IAAF on Friday) ties the record set by Jamaican Asafa Powell on June 14, 2005 in Athens.

Gatlin is slated to compete in the 100 meters at the 2006 AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Indianapolis, June 21-25. Others recognized by the USOC for outstanding achievements in May include women's cyclist Amber Neben, and The USOC Team of the Month was awarded to the USA Women's National Field Hockey Team.

For more information on the USOC's May Athletes of the Month visit: USOCPressBox.org.

For more information on the 2006 AT&T USA Outdoor Championships and USATF's Visa Championship Series, visit: USATF.org.

Top mountain runners to compete at USA Mountain Running Championships

The nation's top mountain runners will gather in Gorham, N.H., for the USA Mountain Running Championships this Saturday, June 17. Held at the 46th annual Mount Washington Hill Climb, it is also the first race in the selection process for the 2006 U.S. Mountain Running Team.

Race favorites include 2004 champion Paul Low (Belchertown, Mass.); four-time winner at Mount Washington and uphill specialist Simon Gutierrez (Alamosa, Colo.); and two-time mountain team member Eric Blake (New Britain, Conn.).

The women's field features four-time mountain team member Anita Ortiz (Eagle, Colo.), who will also be racing to break the women's masters course record of 1:16:03, set in 1997 by 1984 Olympic gold medalist Joan Samuelson.

Additional contenders for the championship title and spots on the mountain team include Liza Grudzinski (Harriman, N.Y.); and Laura Haefeli (Del Norte, Colo.), first female American finisher in the 2005 World Mountain Trophy race.

The race course is a 7.6 mile unbroken ascent to the 6,288-foot summit of Mt. Washington. The highest peak in the northeastern United States is infamous for its outrageous wind and layers of fog and cloud.

The top three U.S. male finishers and the top two U.S. female finishers will be named to the team (must be current USATF members). The 10-member open squad of six men and four women (junior squad includes three junior men and two junior women) is slated to compete in the 22nd World Mountain Running Trophy race on September 10 in Bursa, Turkey.

For more information on the USA Mountain Running Championships visit USATF.org.

World Marathon Majors Statement on Elite Athletes Having Tested Positive for Performance Enhancing Drugs

The World Marathon Majors -- Boston, Flora London, real,- Berlin, LaSalle Bank Chicago, and the ING New York City -- have adopted a policy whereby any elite athlete who has been convicted of a drug violation will have lost the opportunity to run in the individual World Marathon Majors events.

Directors and principals of the five races met on June 14 and 15 in New York City and formally took the position which goes into effect immediately.

Believing a clean sport is essential to the promotion of the World Marathon Majors Series, the events were unanimous in creating their stance.

Collectively, the World Marathon Majors directors said: "We'll do anything we can to deter anybody from cheating. The consequences of cheating have to be so Draconian that there's no incentive to cheat. If someone falls afoul of doping regulations, they will not be invited to our events. We must maintain the integrity of our sport, and it has to be us that push this on the athletes. Equally important, we have athletes who share our concern and our drive for our sport to become even more successful than we are currently."

Additionally, the World Marathon Majors directors said they will seek ways of employing greater testing at their events.

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