IAAF Brings Trail and Mountain Running Into Fold -- Federation Focus

(ATR) The IAAF World Trail and Mountain Running Championships will debut in 2021.

The global governing body of athletics is partnering with the International Trail Running Association (ITRA) and World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) as it expands into new territories.

The two organizations are officially becoming technical partners of the IAAF, and will work alongside the International Association of Ultrarunning (IAU), a consultancy partner, with the goal to develop, expand, promote and take trail and mountain running to another level across the world.

The new agreement brings all the forms of running, one of the key elements of the sport of athletics, under one umbrella.

"Running is the most natural thing in the world and we want to encourage people around the world to run in whatever environment they most enjoy," IAAF President Sebastian Coe said in a statement, adding "we look forward to offering new opportunities for distance runners to compete in the spectacular settings and on the challenging courses that traditional mountain and trail events offer."

Details of the new combined biennial World Championships will be worked out in the coming months, along with the creation of biennial area championships.

ICF Bans Four-time Olympic Medalist for Doping Irregularities

Beijing 2008 canoe sprint champion Inna Osypenko-Radomska has been suspended for four years after refusing to undergo an out-of-competition drug test.

The 36-year-old Osypenko-Radomska has not competed since refusing the test in May.

"A four year ban sends a clear message to all our athletes that they are expected to play by the rules," ICF General Secretary, Simon Toulson, said in a statement.

"If an athlete believes by refusing or evading a drug test they will escape a ban, they need to think again. We will ensure they face the full force of the law."

Osypenko-Radomska has 21 days to lodge an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. If she does not, it would likely signal the end to a career highlighted by four Olympic medals while competing for two countries.

She won the K-1 500 in Beijing, then finished second in the same event and in the K-1 200 in London, while competing for Ukraine.

After switching to Azerbaijan in 2014, she was a member of their bronze medal K-4 500 team in Rio 2016. She has also won a gold, two silver and three bronze medals at ICF World Championships.

Professional Cyclists Want UCI to Embrace Reforms

The international cycling federation (UCI) is being urged to embrace reforms to the top tiers of men’s professional road racing.

The International Association of Professional Cycling Teams (AIGCP) – which represents 17 WorldTour Teams and 27 Pro-Continental Teams – is calling for UCI to adopt its draft reform plans, which are due to be considered by UCI Management Committee on Sept. 28.

The AIGCP, in a statement this week, said "Professional road cycling’s economical model is currently recognized to contain many flaws, and has led to a fragile position for many teams, their riders, and race organizers - both in the first and second tier. Ultimately, cycling is currently far from achieving its full potential."

Following AIGCP’s general assembly last Friday, the teams demanded that the reforms must not put them in a position that is even worse than the status quo.

But they also made it clear that they want to help move the sport forward.

"The AIGCP wants to work with the UCI to help the sport grow, and to do so the teams and riders need the ability to maximize all opportunities available to them, and bring their expertise to the UCI," Richard Plugge, Vice President of the AIGCP and Team Director at Team LottoNL–Jumbo, said in a statement.

"We want to be the perfect solution provider for the UCI and work with it, not against it. If cycling is able to modernize its approach as has been done successfully in many other global sports, then the much needed Reform can become reality, which will create sustainable growth for all stakeholders."

Cycling remains one of the very few global sports where the teams, and their riders, have effectively no say in how the professional top tiers are being run.

Written by Gerard Farek

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