Winner of Moscow 10k stopped 500m from finish line by police

The Moscow Marathon was held last weekend and one of the events associated with it was a separate 10km road race. The leader of the race Rinas Akhmadeyev had a surreal moment when he was stopped by a Moscow police officer about 500m from the finish line. In a post race interview, he said..."A policeman stopped me for 20 seconds. I was puzzled. I asked them where the finish line was, but they repeated: 'You can't go any further'.

Fortunately he had a substantial lead and when released, he went on to win the race in a time of 29m 45s.

Story behind the iconic image of the 2013 World Championships in Moscow...

The day after Usain Bolt won the Gold medal in the mens 100m at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, this photo appeared on newspapers all over the world. Taken just after the finish, it is of course very symbolic with the world's fastest man having the surname Bolt  and then having a bolt of lightning in the background.

Irish sports commentator Will Downing caught up with the photographer Olivier Morin and asked him how he captured the image.

Usain Bolt wins mens 200m in World Championships in 19.66 seconds

Usain Bolt of Jamaica won the mens 200m at the IAAF World Championships today in Moscow in a time of 19.66 seconds.

POS ATHLETE    COUNTRY    MARK        REACTION TIME
1 Usain BOLT     JAM     19.66     WL    0.177
2 Warren WEIR    JAM     19.79     PB    0.176
3 Curtis MITCHELL     USA     20.04        0.147
4 Nickel ASHMEADE    JAM     20.05        0.145
5 Adam GEMILI    GBR     20.08        0.151
6 Anaso JOBODWANA    RSA     20.14        0.172
7 Churandy MARTINA     NED     20.35        0.138
8 Jaysuma SAIDY NDURE     NOR     20.37        0.145

This equals the 19th fastest 200m time ever yet Bolt was just cruising at the end.

Brendan Boyce records personal best at 50k walk at World Championships in Moscow

As well as Rob Heffernan taking Gold in the 50 km race walk at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, the other Irish interest was Brendan Boyce from Donegal.

Brendan is being coached by Rob Heffernan and today, he finished the 50 k race in a time of 3:54:24. That was a new personal best time for him by some 37 seconds, beating his previous best time of 3:55:01 which was set in London during the 2012 Olympics. He finished in 25th position out of 46 finishers while 14 competitors were disqualified or did not finish.

Just to give you some idea of just how fast these guys are moving...
Rob's time for 50k was 3:37:56...an average of 7:01 per mile.
Brendan's time was 3:54:24...an average of 7:33 per mile.

Usain Bolt wins 100m title at World Championships in Moscow

At the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow, the Olympic champion added the World Championship title to his crown. After being eliminated in 2011 in Daegu, South Korea due to a false start, there was no mistake this time as Bolt went on to win the title in 9.77 seconds.

Justin Gatlin of the USA finished in second which will no doubt be of relief to a lot of people. As someone who has failed a drugs test in the past, many would prefer if he didn't win any major titles.

The results also show up the dominance of Jamican sprinters with them taking 4 out of the top 5 places.

Timetable for Irish athletes at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow

Irish Athletes Schedule - World Championships Moscow 2013 - (Irish Time)
 
Sat 10th Day 1
8:20am 800m Heats Men...Mark English & Paul Robinson
11:00am Marathon Final Women...Maria McCambridge
15:05pm 400m Heats Women...Jennifer Carey
 
Sun 11th Day 2
8:05am 400m Heats Men...Brian Gregan
16:10pm Pole Vault Q Women...Tori Pena
16:35pm 800m SF Men...Mark English & Paul Robinson?
17:05pm 400m SF Women...Jennifer Carey?
 
Mon 12th Day 3
17:05pm 400m SF Men...Brian Gregan?
18:15pm 400m Final Women...Jennifer Carey?
 
Tues 13th Day 4
06:35am 20K Walk Women...Laura Reynolds
16:35pm Pole Vault Final Women...Tori Pena?
18:10pm 800m Final Men...Mark English & Paul Robinson?
18:50pm 400m Final Men...Brian Gregan?
 
Wed 14th Day 5
05:30am 50K Walk Men...Rob Heffernan & Brendan Boyce
 
Thurs 15th Day 6
6:55am 800m Heats Women...Roseanne Galligan
 
Fri 16th Day 7
17:15pm 800m SF Women...Roseanne Galligan?
 
Sat 18th Day 8
12:30pm Marathon Final Men...Paul Pollock
 
Sun 19th Day 9
 14:50pm 800m Final Women...Roseanne Galligan?

Irish Athletics team announced for World Championships in Moscow...

A few days ago, Athletics Ireland announced the Irish team for the IAAF World Track and Field Championships in Moscow, Russia from the 10th to 18th of August.

The 11 athletes are...
Robert Heffernan-50km Walk (Togher AC)
Brian Gregan- 400m (Clonliffe Harriers) Coach:John Shields
Mark English - 800m (UCD AC) Coach: Teresa McDaid
Paul Robinson- 800m (St Cocas AC) coach: Robert Denmead
Brendan Boyce- 50km Walk (Letterkenny AC) Coach: Robert Heffernan
Paul Pollock- Marathon (Annadale Striders) Coach: Andy Hobdell
Jennifer Carey- 400m (Dundrum South Dublin) Coach: Travis Anderson
Rose-Anne Galligan - 800m (Newbridge) Coach:David Farrow
Tori Pena    - Pole Vault (Finn Valley) Coach: Greg Hull
Laura Reynolds- 20km Walk (Mohill and District) Coach: Colin Griffin
Maria McCambridge- Marathon (Dundrum South Dublin AC) Coach: Dick Hooper

Out of the eleven, the one person who is a serious contender for a podium place is Rob Heffernan from Cork in the 50 km walk. After finishing 4th in the London Olympics last August, he is certainly in with a chance although he'll be up against some of the best in the world, especially the Russians who will obviously enjoy a lot of home support.

Rob will be in action in the 50k at 5:30am Irish time on Wednesday, the 14th of August.