Team Europe dominated the IAAF Continental Cup that was held in Marrakech, Morocco over the weekend. The Europeans found themselves topping the medals table ahead of the Americas on Day One and continued their rich vein on form yesterday garnering 447.5 points.

Some of Europe’s outstanding performers included James Dasaolu, Dafne Schippers, Barbora Spotakova and Tiffany Porter who ensured her season ended on a high clocking a UK record of 12.51 when she finished second in the women’s 100m huddles after Americas Dawn Harper-Nelson.

Seasoned Jamaican sprinter Veronica Campbell-Brown made the most of Blessing Okagbare’s absence having lost to her at the 2014 Commonwealth Games led an Americas one-two in the women’s 100m, clocking 11:08 to beat Michelle-Lee Ahye with 11:25.

Monaco – The 2014 IAAF Diamond League reached its conclusion last week in Brussels with the crowning of 16 Diamond Race winners, following the first 16 athletes who received their Diamond Race trophies in Zurich one week prior.

Since the Diamond League began in 2010, no one else other than Renaud Lavillenie has won the Diamond Race in the pole vault. He made history last week in the Belgian capital by becoming the first five-time Diamond Race winner.

New Zealand’s Valerie Adams also made a bit of history. By winning in Brussels – and becoming the only athlete this year to notch up seven victories in IAAF Diamond League events – her career tally of IAAF Diamond League wins now stands at a record 24. She also has the most Diamond Race points of all time with 126.

Sierra Leone’s national team, Coach Johnny Mckinstry has said an ‘unplanned substitution’ was one of the reason for Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Ivory Coast in the ongoing 2015 African Nations Cup qualifiers.

Leone Stars delivered an impressive performance against the Elephants of the Ivory Coast in Abidjan especially during the first half which saw them lead by a goal from Kei Kamara in the 43rd minute of play. 

However, the Irish coach was forced to make two changes at half time due to an injury of winger George Davies and midfielder Alfred Sankoh.

Mckinstry said: "We had been largely content with our performance in the first half, with only one or two small things to address in the dressing room.  Our biggest problem was injuries. George Davies was unable to continue, and that was a considerable loss as he had given Ivory Coast problems again and again in the first half.”

"Alfred Sankoh had also been struggling at half time. We decided to try him for a few minutes but had to bring him off pretty much straight away. Two unplanned changes at half time are very difficult for any team."

The 11th episode of IAAF Inside Athletics is available to watch online now.

This show features an exclusive and in-depth interview with Jamaica’s world 200m silver medallist Warren Weir.

IAAF Inside Athletics is hosted by Trinidad and Tobago’s 1997 world 200m champion Ato Boldon, who is now an internationally respected broadcaster.

Fans can interact and ask questions, either on the IAAF World Athletics Club Facebook page or by email to insideathletics@iaaf.org

Monaco - On Friday 5 September, Brussels will host the second of two finals for the 2014 IAAF Diamond League series as 16 more Diamond Race winners will be crowned.

Of those 16 events, the Diamond Race champions have already been decided in eight of them, but athletes must compete in their discipline in Brussels to secure the USD$40,000 bonus and the Diamond Race trophy.

Those eight athletes are sprint hurdler Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, 400m runner Novlene Williams-Mills, steeplechaser Jairus Birech, 800m runner Eunice Sum, pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, 400m hurdler Kaliese Spencer, triple jumper Caterine Ibarguen and shot putter Valerie Adams.

Lusaka, Zambia, August 27: The Zambia’s Nanjing Youth Olympics 100 metres sprint gold medallist Sydney Siame has said that he has set his sights firmly on Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The 16-year-old sprinter said he will not relax following his latest Nanjing feat where he also won a silver medal in 8x100 metres relay race.

“It’s been long for Zambia to win a medal like this. I won’t relax [because] it’s just the beginning for me, “he was quoted by online media as saying.

In fact, my target is [2016 Rio and [Tokyo] 2020 [Olympic Games], Zambians should expect gold from there,” he added.

The   world fastest sprint kid recently attained   success has not escaped the attention of the legendary former 400 metres hurdles specialist Samuel Matete.

The former Olympic silver medallist advised Siame not to get excited by his latest feat saying it should be regarded as foundation for future success adding instead he should continue working hard.

The Commonwealth Games Federation court has determined that Botswanan athlete, Amantle Montsho, has committed an anti-doping rule violation and has disqualified her from the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The results of all her performances at the Games will now be nullified.

On 29th July a test during the Commonwealth Games produced an adverse analytical finding indicating the presence of Methylhexaneamine Dimethlypentaylamine - a substance prohibited under the current WADA Prohibited List - Class S6 Stimulants.

Ms Montsho requested that her B sample be analysed, which subsequently confirmed the initial A sample analysis.

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Continuing her streak of great performances for the 2014 Track & Field Season, Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria has once again done it as she topped her competitors in the 100 meters with a time of 11.00 seconds which was also a new Championships record in Day two (2) at the Ongoing Senior African Track & Field Championships in Marrakech Morocco.

Blessing who was just coming off a set of great performances at the Commonwealth Games in Scotland where she grabbed double gold in the 100 and 200 meters in a Games where she also set a new record for the 100 meters at 10.85 seconds repeated her strong showing as she came through to beat the best of Africa women sprinters that included the likes of Muriel Ahoure of the Ivory Coast who came in second with a time of 11.03 seconds to claim another Gold Medal in less that a month.

In the 400 meters men finals today in Hampden Park a little know star was born as South African Wayde Van Kirk surprised a stellar field of quarter-milers to take the Silver medal behind Kirani James with a time of 44.68 seconds.

In the inset of the stadium it was Silver Medal celebration as well for fellow South African Sunnete Viljoen who came in second in the women’s Javelin throw after launching the missile 63.19 meters

Meanwhile Dongmo Mekemnang of Cameroon was eighth in the shot put with a distance of 16.50 meters setting a new national record for Cameroon in the womens Shot Put final which Valerie Adams of New Zealand won handily. Nigeria’s Nwanneka Okwelogu was 9th behind Mekemnang in the Shot put with a distance of 15.13 meters setting a personal best in the process.

Sierra Leone’s poor showing continued at the Commonwealth Games as seven of its sprinters failed to secure qualifying times to move to the next level in the 100m, and 400m heats whilst weightlifter Jonathan Johnson also fell short of qualification.

Johnson fell short in the 77Kg group B contest after he was only able to lift a total of 200Kg for both the snatch and Clean & Jerk.

The 26-year-old lifter failed in his first attempt to snatch 85kg but went on to lift it in his second attempt which was pretty much the same story in the 90kg lift where he was only finally able to lift it  in his third attempt giving him a total of 90kg in the snatch category.

When the cat is away, the mice can play.

World 100 meter champion and record holder Usain Bolt did not feature in the 100 meters qualifying heats and Team South Africa took advantage of that by dominating the dash sprint event

Two of Team South Africa’s 100 meter sprinters went through to the semi finals of the men’s 100 meter event as the track and field competition got underway on Sunday.

National champion Simon Magakwe and runner up in that race, Akani Simbine both qualified automatically. But late addition to the team, Ncincilili Titi fell by the wayside.

First off in Heat five of nine was Titi and he ended fourth in 10.48 as big Jamaican Nickel Ashmeade won in 10.40.

Nigeria and Africa’s number one female sprinter and 100 Meters record Holder Blessing Okagbare is ready to take the stage at the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Scotland beginning tomorrow Sunday July 27th 2014 starting with the 100 meters heats.

Blessing who has been putting up some phenomenal performances at the IAAF Diamond League series, despite silently battling some health issues is the favorite to win Gold in the 100 and 200 meters and the Long Jump. She recently clocked a seasons best of 10.97 seconds at the Monaco Grand Prix and is looking forward to capitalizing off of that seasons best performance at the Track in Scotland.

 The Head Coach of the Sierra Leone Athletics Association, Jimmy Wright has said that there are possibilities for his athletes to win medals in relays as well as individual events like the 100, 200 and 400 meters respectively.


He revealed that this is one of the best athletics team the country the country has produced in many years and one can boast of them as the athletes are ready to compete and bring laurels to the nation.


He stated that he is happy for the crop of athletes both foreign and home based that are representing the country in the Games and with determination hope they can achieve their aims and objective.

Nigeria and Africa’s number one female sprinter and 100 Meters record Holder Blessing Okagbare is ready to take the stage at the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Scotland beginning tomorrow Sunday July 27th 2014 starting with the 100 meters heats.

Blessing who has been putting up some phenomenal performances at the IAAF Diamond League series, despite silently battling some health issues is the favorite to win Gold in the 100 and 200 meters and the Long Jump. She recently clocked a seasons best of 10.97 seconds at the Monaco Grand Prix and is looking forward to capitalizing off of that seasons best performance at the Track in Scotland.

Team South Africa are leaving no stone unturned as they garner for medals in the upcoming Commonwealth Games that roar into life on Wednesday in Glasgow, Scotland.

Some of South Africa’s bright track and field prospects at the Games had the opportunity of fine tuning their preparations during the weekend in various European competitions that included the IAAF Diamond League on Friday.

South Africa’s team, comprising 155 athletes, will compete in a wide range of disciplines that include aquatics, athletics, badminton, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, hockey, judo, lawn bowls, netball, para-powerlifting, rugby sevens, shooting, triathlon, weightlifting and wrestling.

At the last Commonwealth Games, held in New Delhi, Team South Africa ended fifth on  the medals table with 12 gold, 11 silver and 10 bronze medals.

Forget Football or Soccer as Americans call it or the Confederation of African Football, Yaya Toure or Didier Drogba the biggest sports brand in Africa currently is Blessing Okagbare; the African Women’s 100 meters Record Holder, Gold, Silver and Bronze Medalist in the Long Jump, 100 and 200 meters.

She is the Usain Bolt of the African continent. She is bar none the biggest focus of African athletics with exactly a week and a half to go to the Scotland Commonwealth Games, and a year to the next IAAF World Athletics Championship in Beijing China and 2 years to the Rio Olympic Games in Brazil.

An erstwhile young lady from the small town of Sapele in the Delta State of Nigeria, Blessing carries Nigerian athletics and that of the African continent on her shoulders literally like no other athlete. She came to prominence in the Track & Field World at the collegiate level when she conquered the NCAA in the long Jump and 100 meters in 2010 for University of Texas at El Paso and has never looked back since.

The best young athletes from nearly 200 countries will soon be on their way to Eugene for the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships, which begin in exactly one week’s time on 22 July.

As featured in the latest edition of SPIKES, we take a look at 10 talented teenagers who will be among the medal contenders at Oregon 2014.

Full article.

Michelle Lee-Ahye of Trinidad and Tobago an unheralded force in women’s sprinting has taken the sprinting world by storm as she took on the most elite field at the Sainsbury Glasgow Diamond League meet where she topped the world’s top sprinters in Carmelita Jeter, Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce and Muriel Ahoure to name a few and soundly defeated them in the 100 meters, clocking the race in 11.01 seconds.

Ahye comes nation with a strong sprinting tradition and she is going to be a fixture amongst top world class sprinters for a long time to come. She will be competing at the upcoming commonwealth games and seems certain to be a medalist.

Isaac Makwala of Botswana confirmed his arrival at the top level of elite sprinting at the Glasgow Sainsbury Grand Prix meet on Saturday July 12th 2014 when he topped other World class sprinters including the likes of Chris Brown of the Bahamas winning the race in a comfortable 44.72 seconds leading the race pretty much from start to finish.

Makwala who came to this meet with the new African record of 44.01 seconds after he eclipsed the old mark of Gary Kikaya’s 44.10 seconds in Switzerland last week looks set to cause some major upsets in the ranks of global quarter milers.

The IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene, which will take place from 22 to 27 July 2014, are on course to become one of the biggest gatherings in terms of participating IAAF Member Federations in the history of the Championships.

With the deadline for the final entries now closed, no fewer than 175 IAAF Member Federations have confirmed their participation in these Championships; the most attended edition was Beijing 2006 where 176 countries gathered in the Chinese capital, followed by Annecy 1998 with 170 countries.

Monaco - Eugene’s Hayward Field last weekend hosted the US Junior Championships; the final event at the historic venue ahead of the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships, which kick off in exactly two weeks from today.

If the record-breaking results of last weekend are anything to go by, then Oregon 2014 is set to be a special championship indeed.

In the 28-year history of the event, there have been countless stars of the sport who first came to prominence at the IAAF World Junior Championships. And before the month is out, we will catch a glimpse of the future generation when the world’s top teenage talents descend upon Eugene from 22-27 July.

Zambian 400 meters runner Saviour Kombe on Sunday July 6th set a new Personal Best time in the 400 meters of 45.48 seconds sending notice to the rest of the world that there is a new kid with supreme talent out there. Kombe who trailed Botswana’s new African record holder in the race as he set the new African record at the race in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland of 44.01 seconds eclipsing Gary Kikaya’s old African mark of 44.10 seconds was close on the heel of Makwala and fellow Botswana athlete Pako Seribe who came in second ahead of Kombe.

In a low key meet in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland Botswana 400 meters runner Isaac Makwala emulated fellow Botswana athlete Amantle Montsho; the female 400 meters World Champion and national record holder for Botswana as he set a new national and an African record in the 400 meters of 44.01seconds breaking the former record set by Congolese Gary Kikaya of 44.10 seconds back in 2006.

Not the first time, the MEETING AREVA served up some superb entertainment for track and field fans at the Stade de France, with a host of champion athletes turning on the style, though home supporters were hoping for more from Renaud Lavillenie and Christophe Lemaitre.

A crowd of 42,154 flocked to the Stade de France for the sixth MEETING AREVA on Saturday evening and were treated to some excellent entertainment. With weather conditions (22°C and 60% humidity) just about perfect, the stage was set for some first-class performances, and they duly arrived in the shape of two new MEETING AREVA records (courtesy of Sandra Perkovic in the women’s discuss and Hiwot Ayalew in the women’s 3000m steeplechase), five world bests of the year and three national records. On the downside, however, the Stade de France will have to wait at least another year before seeing its first world record. There could be no questioning the commitment of the athletes, however, as they gave their all in this the eight meeting on the 2014 IAAF Diamond League calendar.