Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/697149
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 JUNE 2016 Sport 54 ATHLETICS OLYMPICS Yannick Rinne, Lisa Bezzina headline podium in first 2016 Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club 5k Road Running Race The first day of summer was an appropriate day to inaugurate the first race of Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club 5k Road Running Race Series, which forms part of the Club's extensive Summer of Sport Race Calendar A fresh breeze welcomed the 144 athletes who signed up for the challenge course on the Mtarfa By-Pass. In what was a replay of last year's edition, an international athlete was first to cross the finish line beating Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club's Keith Galea, over- all winner of the 2015 edition and touted as one of the favourites to win. Keith Galea was first to shoot off from the start line, however from the onset of the race it was evident that a hard battle was go- ing to ensue between him and LSF Muenster athlete Yannick Rinne, who narrowed the gap from the very first kilometre. Hot on their heels where Stefan Azzopardi and Shaun Galea (Birkirkara St. Joseph) who kept a consistent dis- tance throughout the course. As the finish line approached, Rinne's strength could be seen when he crossed the finish line in a time of 16 minutes and 9 sec- onds, beating Galea by twenty- nine seconds. Third place was clinched by St. Patrick's A.C Matthew Cutajar who fended off Azzopardi and Galea's attempts for the last place on the podium, clocking a time of 16 minutes and 47 seconds. The female category saw a sharp increase in participation, familiar and new faces joined the foray and the chase for top placings was go- ing to be a hard fought campaign. Overall winner of the 2015 edi- tion Rita Galea (Mellieha AC), who gave a relatively consistent performance, was no match for Pembroke Athleta's Lisa Bezzina who won the females race in a time of 17 minutes and 44 sec- onds, beating her personal best time by a bit less than a minute. Bezzina has been on a roll, pro- ducing some noteworthy achieve- ments and adding a number of accolades to her race CV. Bezzina won the recently held National Mountain Running Champion- ships, breaking the course record in the process and achieving a very respectable third place in the 3,000m race in Athletics Small States Championships. Second female was Angele Satariano, who registered a substantial improve- ment on the previous year's times, completing the course in 18 min- utes 30s seconds. Third placed was Ladies' Running Club athlete Francesca Arrigo who makes a welcome return to the podium after having missed out podium placings in the 2015 edition. The next race of the Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club 5k Road Running Race Series will take place on Tuesday 19th July at 19:00hrs on the Mtarfa by Pass. Athletes can still register for this race, either online - http://www. bkarastjoseph.com or up to forty- five minutes before the race on the day. All results can be found on ht tp://www.bkarastjoseph .com/ index.php?id=37 (L-R) Keith Galea (2nd) Yannick Rinne (1st) Matthew Cutajar (3rd) (L to R) Angele Satariano (2nd) Lisa Bezzina (1st) Francesca Arrigo (3rd) Russian doping shadow hangs over US trials SWIMMERS at the US Olympic Trials insist they are squeaky clean when it comes to doping but do not share the same confi- dence over the competition they could face in just over five weeks at the Rio Games. With the Russian track and field team suspended from the Rio de Janeiro Games for systemic dop- ing and a potentially similar sanction awaiting the country's weight lifters a cloud of suspicion lingers over all of the country's athletes. World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) chief Craig Reedie warned on Monday that they would call for "serious" action against Russia if a new investiga- tion led by Canadian law profes- sor Richard McLaren unearths more evidence of widespread state-sponsored doping. "There is definitely a lot of talk, but, you know, I'm 100 percent confident that the U.S. Olympic Team will be 100 percent clean; there is no doubt in my mind," said Elizabeth Beisel, who will be one of the busiest athletes at trials trying to qualify in nine events. "It is sad that some athletes, no matter what sport you're in, are choosing to dope. "It's always going to be in the back of your mind, thinking about it." The drugs question is one that is certain to linger over the June 26 to July 3 U.S. Trials as the Rus- sian doping shadow creeps into the pools. Some U.S. swimmers qualifying for Rio face the prospect of go- ing up against a Russian who has twice tested positive for a banned substance and could find herself competing at the Olympics in August instead of serving a life- time ban. Yulia Efimova, a four-times breaststroke world champion, tested positive for meldonium but has had a temporary suspen- sion lifted pending a final ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Hundreds of athletes this year have tested positive for meldo- nium but WADA has said their bans might be overturned due to a lack of clear scientific informa- tion on how long the drug takes to be excreted from the body. If her ban is held up it would be the second offence for Efi- mova, who was disqualified for 16 months in 2014 by swimming's world governing body after traces of an anabolic steroid were found in her system. "No doubt in my mind that somebody that's been tested twice positive during this window of time, I don't see how would be allowed to swim in the Games," said David Marsh, head coach of the U.S. women's swim team. "I think there is systemic (dop- ing), but that (Russia) is not the only nation that has had patterns of behaviour that seem to go be- yond the norm. "I feel very good about the U.S. Trials. I feel like this is a venue where we have people of the highest character and ethics, and I feel like we will have a very clean event here and we'll have a very level playing field." While the doping scandal has not touched U.S. athletes direct- ly, swimmers competing in Oma- ha worry their performances and results are being viewed through a doping prism. "There is a level of frustration and anger that comes with it," said Katie Ledecky, who could become the first U.S. woman to swim the 100 metres, 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle at a single Olympics. "I think we're all happy that people are getting caught and they're being a little tougher on things. "Hopefully that will continue, and we can all feel confident going in that we're competing against clean athletes." President of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Craig Reedie