Swedish pole vault world record-holder Armand Duplantis will not defend his title at next month’s European Indoor Athletics Championships in Istanbul, the Swedish Athletics Association said. The 23-year-old star was among five athletes eligible to compete at the games who have decided not to participate, the association said in a statement late Monday.
“I had of course hoped that he would participate. At the same time I have 100 percent confidence that his planning is correct with regards to his goals and his focus on being as good as possible when it counts the most,” team captain Kajsa Bergqvist said in the statement.
“I have been aware since December that the European Indoor Championship is not a high priority for Armand. He told me already then that his main focus was very clearly on the outdoor season,” Bergqvist continued. Relations between Turkiye and Sweden have soured over the past year as Ankara has refused to ratify Sweden’s Nato membership, accusing the Nordic country of providing a safe haven for what it considers “terrorists”, especially members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
In recent weeks, relations have been strained even further following anti-Turkiye protests in Sweden, including the hanging of an effigy portraying Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the burning of a Koran in front of Turkiye’s embassy in Stockholm.
Sweden’s foreign ministry has warned that Swedish citizens and interests risked being targeted in Turkiye and has advised Swedes travelling to the country to exercise caution. But Duplantis’ decision was not due to safety concerns, Swedish Athletics Association secretary general Stefan Olssons said. A Swedish team of 15 to 18 athletes will compete in the games, with a final line-up to be presented on Wednesday, the association said.
Kerley aims for golden double at world championships
Versatile track superstar Fred Kerley yesterday said his key goal for 2023 was to match Usain Bolt and claim the 100m-200m sprint double at the world championships in Budapest this year. The American reigning 100m world champion and Tokyo Olympic silver medallist is the star attraction at the Maurie Plant meet in Melbourne tomorrow, where he will make his season bow.
He is one of only three men in history to run sub-10 seconds for the 100m, sub-20 for the 200m and sub-44 for the 400m, giving him multiple options. But he opted to focus on the 200m, where gold eluded him at last year’s world championships in Eugene. “Every time I step on the track it should be something fast,” the 27-year-old told reporters. “I know my training has been going good, so hopefully it will be a good time. “Last year (at Eugene) I came up short in the 200, so double gold is the only thing that is on my mind at the moment.”
He vowed to run under 20 seconds in Melbourne, which has been upgraded to World Continental Tour Gold level, sitting just under Diamond League in status. “Sub-20, you should come and see a sub-20 time,” said Kerley, who has a personal best of 19.76 sec.
“Every time I step on the track I expect something of the best, every time.”
His main challenge could come from Australia’s fastest man Rohan Browning. American Noah Lyles topped last year’s 200m times with a blistering 19.31sec at the world championships, which put him third on the all-time list behind Bolt and fellow Jamaican Yohan Blake. The Melbourne meet will also see Rio Olympic 1500m champion Matthew Centrowitz take on Commonwealth champion Oliver Hoare in the mile.
US hurdles legend Greg Foster dead at age 64
Three-time world 110-meter hurdles champion and 1984 Olympic runner-up Greg Foster has died at age 64, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) athletic department announced on Monday. The American legend had been battling amyloidosis, a rare disease in which a protein build up causes organ damage. The illness led to a 2020 heart transplant.
Foster died peacefully on Sunday, a statement from the school said.
After a collegiate career at UCLA in which he won national 110m hurdles crowns in 1978 and 1980 and a 200 title in 1979, Foster captured a total of 10 US national indoor and outdoor hurdles titles from 1981 through 1991. Foster took 110 hurdles gold at the first three World Athletics Championships in 1983, 1987 and 1991 in addition to a 1984 Los Angeles Olympic silver medal in his specialty.
He also won the 110 hurdles at the inaugural Goodwill Games in Moscow in 1986 and took the 1991 world indoor 60m hurdles title.
Armand Duplantis
