portland2016 If all goes well on the pole vault runway, Fabiana Murer of Brazil will celebrate her birthday one day late in 2016. The accomplished vaulter turns 35 on March 16, one day before the best vaulters in the world gather at the Oregon Convention Center for the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016. All of … Read moreATHLETE PROFILE – FABIANA MURER
If you take a peek at his Twitter account (@mutazbarshim), Mutaz Essa Barshim can be seen in some photos wearing a cap emblazoned with the words, “WHAT GRAVITY?’’ What gravity, indeed. The 24-year-old high jumper from Qatar is doing his best to defy the reality of what comes up, must come down for as long … Read moreATHLETE PROFILE – MUTAZ ESSA BARSHIM
As proof that Jamaica produces more than elite speed on the track, we present O’Dayne Richards. In contrast to the multitude of celebrated sprinters from his homeland, Richards travels a mere seven feet during his athletic competitions. That’s the diameter of the shot put circle, in which Richards rotates his short and powerful body to … Read moreATHLETE PROFILE – O’DAYNE RICHARDS
Which of the following statements best describes the great Dutch athlete Dafne Schippers? For a heptathlete, she’s a superb sprinter. For a sprinter, she’s a pretty good heptathlete. Take your pick. Each statement is equally true when talking about the 23-year-old, who over the last two years made a stunning transition from multi-event athlete to … Read moreATHLETE PROFILE – DAFNE SCHIPPERS
At the age of 32, Ethiopian distance runner Meseret Defar is already the stuff of legend in the sport of track and eld. Like all elite athletes, though, she yearns for just one more trip to the podium, and Portland just might be that place to do that. The diminutive Defar, who stands 5-foot-1 and … Read moreATHLETE PROFILE – MESERET DEFAR
The current indoor athletics season has gifted us with an amazing duel in the men’s High Jump even if these two have not competed in the same field since September 3, 2015 at Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich. Defending World Indoor champion Mutaz Essa Barshim decided to prepare for Portland directly after he missed the podium … Read moreMEN’S HIGH JUMP: STRONG JUMPS & BRIGHT SHOW
Again and again and again, American Kendell Williams has proven herself the class of the pentathlon among collegians in the United States. Williams, a junior at the University of Georgia, won her third consecutive National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Indoor Track & Field national title in the event this past weekend in Birmingham, Alabama. Not … Read morePENTATHLON CONTENDER KENDELL WILLIAMS HEADLINES COMPETITORS FROM U.S. UNIVERSITIES
Three silver medals from three IAAF championships should make her too “hungry”. For Canadian combined eventer Brianne Theisen-Eaton, who is living in Oregon for nine years now, Portland is, maybe, the one of the best places to get to the highest stage of the global medal podium. “It’s amazing to be able to just drive … Read morePENTATHLON MEDAL CONTENDERS HAVE DREAMS OF FIRST GOLD … AND UKRAINIAN BONDS
Women’s high jump prodigy Vashti Cunningham admits she doesn’t really like to be the center of attention. But, like it or not, this 18-year-old high school student from Las Vegas, is bound to get a lot of attention this week at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016. That’s what happens when you establish new … Read moreWOMEN’S HIGH JUMP: VASHTI CUNNINGHAM – A STAR IN THE MAKING
In 2006 as a senior at Mountain View High School in Bend, Oregon, Ashton Eaton had never competed in the decathlon or heptathlon. Now in 2016, on the eve of the two-day heptathlon competition at the 16th IAAF World Indoor Championships in his home state, he is in many ways the quintessential combined-events athlete. The … Read moreA HOMECOMING FOR THE WORLD’S GREATEST ATHLETE