FIS World Nordic Skiing Championship organizers decided Thursday to postpone the ski jumping part of the Nordic combined because of strong winds and heavy snow in Liberac, Czech Republic. Officials felt the decreased visibility put the jumpers in jeopardy.
The city has received more than 31 inches of snow this week.
For the first time, the Nordic combined began with cross-country. Usually competitors begin with the ski jump and, based on their results, proceed to cross-country pursuit.
The debut of women’s ski jumping will be among the highlights when competition resumes on Friday.
Women’s ski jumping will be part of the program for the first time, with 39 athletes from 13 countries scheduled to take part in the competition that begins on Friday.
FIS President Gian Franco Kasper said the inclusion of women’s ski jumping in the Nordic worlds is an important first step to adding the event to the program for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
“These first open championships in ladies’ ski jumping are an important opportunity for the female ski jumpers to convince the International Olympic Committee of the quality of their performances and ensure their inclusion in the Olympic program of Sochi 2014,” Kasper said.
A total of 589 athletes representing 61 nations will compete for medals at the event which lasts through March 1. It is the largest sports event ever held in the Czech Republic.
Triathlon Federation to Increase Prize Money
The International Triathlon Union said it will double the amount of top-level prize money to $3.5 million as the federation prepares to launch its new Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship Series.
The boost in prize money by the ITU, which will also affect its Triathlon World Cup series, is a result of an increase of the number of partners and sponsors backing the federation.
“We continue to gain interest from sponsors and partners and our results heading into our first season are very positive,” ITU world championship series director Paul Coleman said. “At a time when other sports are facing significant funding difficulties, it is very encouraging to see that we are in a position to offer such a significant increase in prize money.”
Around $20 million is being invested in the new series, which makes its debut May 10 in Singapore.
International Paralympic Committee Accepts Media Award Nominations
The International Paralympic Committee is receiving nominations for the Paralympics Media Awards, which will honor the best media coverage of the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing.
The awards, presented at the IPC General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in November, will be divided into four categories: broadcast, written, photo and radio.
The IPC also plans to honor its best athletes from Beijing with its Paralympic Sports Awards, which will include citations for best male and female athletes, team performance, Paralympic Games debut and exemplary Paralympic Games official.
Nominations are to be submitted to the IPC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland by April 10.
Boston Marathon Completes Elite Field
The Boston Marathon completed its elite field for the 113th edition of the race on April 20, with a number of the world’s top marathoners signing up.
Deribe Merga of Ethiopia, a fourth-place finisher in the 2008 Beijing Olympic men’s marathon, and 2008 U.S. Olympian Brian Sell are among the latest entrants in the field of male runners. They join competitors such as defending champion Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya and American Ryan Hall, who also competed in Beijing last year.
In the women’s race, Russians Lidia Grigoreyeva, the 2007 Boston winner, and Galina Bogomolova join last year’s winner Dire Tune of Ethiopia and Kara Goucher of the U.S. Goucher competed in the 10,000-meter run in the Beijing Games last year.
Briefs…
…Ethiopian runner Meseret Defar set a new indoor record in the women’s 5,000-meter run at the GE Gala in Stockholm, Sweden on Wednesday. With a time of 14:24.37, Defar broke the record of 14:27.42 set by fellow Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba in 2007.
…Beijing Olympic track and field gold medal winners Sammy Wanjiru and Pamela Jelimo were named the Kenyan men’s and women’s sports personalities of the year at the Soya Awards in Nairobi on Wednesday. Wanjiru won the gold medal in the men’s marathon at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, setting a new Olympic record (2:06:32) in the process. Jelimo was the winner of the women’s 800-meter run in Beijing.
Written by Greg Oshust.
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