Bolt may rest after Zurich event

Usain Bolt said he could call an early halt to his season after Friday's Golden League meeting in Zurich.

Bolt, who smashed his existing records in the 100m and 200m at the recent World Championships in Berlin, admitted to feeling tired from his exploits.

"I can't say I'm not tired. Hopefully I can tell after the race whether I can go for three more races," said Bolt.

Lisa Dobriskey, who claimed 1500m silver in Berlin, heads a small squad of British athletes in Zurich.

Dobriskey, who was elevated to second place after original winner Natalia Rodriguez was disqualified for pushing, will again meet most of the contestants from the Berlin final.

Bahrain's gold medallist Maryam Yusuf Jamal and Shannon Rowbury of the United States, who was third, also make an early return to action, while Dobriskey's fellow Briton Jemma Simpson, a semi-finalist in the 800m in Berlin, steps up in distance.

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ONLINE FIRST Levins wins 5000m gold at Canada Summer Games

Cameron Levins of Black Creek captured gold in the 5000m event Monday, Aug. 24 at the Canada Summer Games in Prince Edward Island.

Levins clocked a 14:23.01 time to beat Stephane Colle (silver medal in 14:27..26) and Matt Brunsting (bronze medal in 14:35.57).

On Tuesday, Levins ran the quickest time (3:56.25) in the first of two 1500m heats and will go for gold in the final of that event on Friday, Aug. 28.

“I went into the 5000m confident that I could at least contend for the win,” Levins said. ”I felt that I would be strong in the 5000m because I was already training for the long distances I will be running (6km, 8km, 10km) during the coming cross country season.

“My plan was to stay just behind the leader(s) of the race and take the lead with a few laps left to tire out my competitors a bit more before the final lap, and then push even faster on the last lap,” Levins said. “My personal bests in the shorter distances were generally faster than everyone else in the 5000m, so I assumed that if the race was going slow I should be able to outsprint my opponents.”

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Kenyan cheer as Cheruiyot trumps Defar for 5000m title

BERLIN — Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot trumped defending champion Meseret Defar of Ethiopia in a sprint to the line in the women's 5000m at the World Athletics Championships here on Saturday.

Cheruiyot, a Sydney Olympic Games finalist at aged 16 who won silver in the last worlds in Osaka in 2007, had led for much of the race but was overtaken by Defar with 150 metres to go to the finish.

It looked like Defar would be celebrating an Ethiopian gold in the absence of injured team-mate and Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba, but Cheruiyot produced a stunning fightback to nip in at the line at 14min 57.98sec.

As Defar eased off in the knowledge that she had been defeated, Cheruiyot's compatriot Sylvia Kibet stole in for silver in 14:58.33, for the second one-two podium finish for Kenya on Saturday following the men's marathon.

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World athletics: Birmingham eyes 5000m

COLLIS Birmingham will turn his attention to the 5000m at the World Athletic Championships in Berlin on Sunday after failing to finish the 10,000m.

The Ballarat middle distrance runner withdrew late in the event in the early hours of this morning (AEST).

Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele won gold in the 10,000m in 26 minutes, 46.31 seconds.

Birmingham's personal best of 27:29.73 would have placed him eighth.

Fellow Australian David O'Neill (29:18.59) finished 24th of the 25 to finish.

Birmingham now lines up in the 5000m on Sunday, the last day of the championships.

Ballarat's Jared Tallent contests the 50km walk on Friday .

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World athletics: Birmingham eyes 5000m

COLLIS Birmingham will turn his attention to the 5000m at the World Athletic Championships in Berlin on Sunday after failing to finish the 10,000m.

The Ballarat middle distrance runner withdrew late in the event in the early hours of this morning (AEST).

Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele won gold in the 10,000m in 26 minutes, 46.31 seconds.

Birmingham's personal best of 27:29.73 would have placed him eighth.

Fellow Australian David O'Neill (29:18.59) finished 24th of the 25 to finish.

Birmingham now lines up in the 5000m on Sunday, the last day of the championships.

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Hogarth on target at road champs

Kim Hogarth had things all his own way in the combined road racing championships of the Waimea Harrier Club and Athletics Nelson on Saturday.

Racing over an out-and-back 10-kilometre circuit from the west end of Parkers Rd, to the far side of the airport via the perimeter road, Hogarth set out for what he described as "a tempo training run" at 32-minute pace.

With September's national road champs in Dunedin as his goal, Hogarth's pace judgment was spot on, crossing the finish line in 31min 58sec. Simon Mardon admitted he would like to have kept contact a little longer, as he crossed the line a minute and a half later.

Veteran Cliff Bowman also made it seem like a walk in the park, coming in a minute behind Mardon. Bowman is just five weeks out from the world mountain-running championships in Zagreb, Croatia, and at the age of 47 is in the form of his life, running with the speed and vigour of a man half his age.

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Hasta Manana Laing hope

ROBBIE Laing is thoroughbred racing's miracle worker.

The Victorian horseman has completed two of jumps racing's greatest training feats this season and former South Australian rider Bill Williams is hoping they can combine for another memorable moment in tomorrow's Grand National Hurdle at Morphettville.

Laing is represented by Hasta Manana and Williams is expecting a bold showing from the nine-year-old, who is part-owned in SA by his mother, Frances Nelson QC.

"I think he'll run well," Williams said yesterday.

"He's still on the comeback trail after a serious injury and he'll be a much better horse on Saturday. "He was a run short in the Hiskens.

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