Track and Field Society

Lea OBEID and Sara Joe KORTBAWI grab two medals for Lebanon

krystel — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 03:53:32 GMT

Lea OBEID won Gold medal at the Arab Youth Championship in 12.40 seconds. The next day her teammate Sara Joe KORTBAWI won silver on 800 meters running the distance in 2:14.85! With her 12.22 at the Asian Championship, Lea OBEID was the first youth athlete to do the qualification standards for the World Youth Championship!

Today, Sara Joe KORTBAWI only needs 0.85 to qualify to the Worlds! If she does so, we will see two Lebanese athletes representing our country at the World Championship!

Really great achievements by our Lebanese girls, hoping that the boys will do the same!

Lea OBEID silver medalist at the 1st Youth Asian Championship in Athletics

krystel — Fri, 08 May 2015 20:10:07 GMT

08 May 2015 – Today, Lea OBEID entered the history of athletics by winning a silver medal at the 1st Youth Asian Athletics Championship in Doha, Qatar, AND breaking the long standing youth Lebanese record of Lina BEJJANI (12.36 in 2000), by running the 100 meters in 12.22 seconds! A time that allows her to directly qualify for the World Youth Championship, something never done by a youth Lebanese Athlete before!

This incredible performance will not only allow her to take part in big events for her age but also place her between the best athletes overall in Lebanon! For the first edition of the Asian Championships, Lea set a new championship record, by running in the semi-finals the record time of 12.22s. In the finals, the gold winner ran the distance in 12.27 seconds!

Silver medal, World Championships Qualifications, Championship record, Lebanese Youth record, what else can a 16 years old dream of? This will be a great motivation for OBEID who will also run the 200 meters in this championship!

Our young and talented youth are performing amazingly at this championship, with Jad KHOURY who ran the Heats is 11.33 (Wind +0.1m/s), a new personal best, he ran the semi-finals clocking the same exact time of the heats 11.33 but couldn’t qualify for the finals. He will also be running the 200 meters! Ahmad CHOUR and Peter KHOURY ran one against the other, but in different heats, on the 800 meters clocking respectively 2:02.51 and 2:05.85! Ahmad CHOUR was able to qualify for the finals.

Entry updates with official results, and the championship just started! There’s more to come!

Congrats to all our young talents, especially Lea for this unique achievement.. and the best is yet to come!

Sandy Karam opens the seaosn with a new 3km race walking record

krystel — Sun, 15 Mar 2015 11:29:33 GMT

The Lebanese Athletics Federation organized yesterday, Saturday 14, a local meeting in preparation for the Youth West Asian Championship. The meeting also included events for Senior athletes. Sandy KARAM set a new Junior and Senior record in 3km race walking in 15:49.33.

“I woke up yesterday and told my sister that its a good weather and a good day to break a record, thinking of her breaking the midget record and not even thinking about mine. I was very excited to see where I am now with my performances in this start of the season especially in the 3000m.” Said Sandy.

In her first 3km of the season, she was 1 second away from breaking her own record, yesterday, she went 10 seconds above the record. This season she is preparing for the 10km race walking, the official distance for Juniors, but she will also participate in 20km race walking for seniors.

“I’m focusing a lot now in my training and increasing the intensity and distance with my coach in order to be able to finish the 20km walking in Gwangsu Summer Universiade.

Unfortunately, in our country, instead of encouraging the athlete, they try to destroy him or her. Sandy is one of them. She’s been setting high level records, even if only her and her sister participate in the race walking events. The two sisters are doing really good performances. But there are people who criticize their walking technique, with not even having a glance of what is race walking and what are the IAAF rules of race walking. If the referees aren’t qualified enough to judge her technique they better not criticize. This talented young athlete participated in 5 international competitions and didn’t have a single yellow card!

We should mention that Sandy KARAM is the first athlete who started Race Walking in Lebanon, back in 2011 when she participated in the Youth West Asian Championship and won a bronze medal when she was still a Midget Girl (U15).

“People always ask me why race-walking and why not running? It’s funny to say that I’m loving this game more and more especially when I remember where I was 3 years back and where I am now, and when I see the people who know me encouraging me without criticizing! Only a year back my 3km record was 16:57 and I am willing to keep on moving forward and never giving up!”, added Sandy.

This meeting was initially organized for youth athletes like Mahmoud DAOU from CSJ who ran the 200 meters in 22.65 seconds! Jad KHOURY, who turned youth this year, was also very good on 200 meters clocking 23.16 seconds.

On 800 meters, Ahmad CHOUR from Phoenicia Tyr did a superb run from start to finish clocking 2:00.47. After him comes Peter KHOURY from Champville who turned youth this year and opened the season with a new personal best of 2:08.16. With Ahmad, Peter, Jad and Mahmoud, we expect to see a great relay team in the upcoming championship.

The girls weren’t as good as expected in this meeting, Sara Joe KORTBAWI opened the season with 2:23.74 on 800 meters, but who will be a potential gold medal contender in the Youth West Asian Champs. Yasmina FAKHRY ran the 3000 meters in 11:51.02! A great performance for this young girl who is improving a lot lately.

Another meeting is expected to be held in the upcoming days. This year, unlike 2014, is a year of championships. In athletics, it is usually a cycle of four years. If we start counting from London 2012, it was the year of the Olympic Games, in 2013, there was the World Championship that happens every two years, so 2014 was an empty year, and this season we have not only the World championship, but also the Arab Championship, the Arab Games, Youth West Asian and Youth Asian championship.

We expect the performances to increase in every competition.

>>> Results:

3km Race Walking Women:

Sandy Karam (Champville): 15:49.33
Chloe Karam (Champville): 19:25.84

100m Hurdles Women W(+1.2m/s):

Krystel Saneh (Champville): 15.98
Tara Kanj (Antonins): 18.54

200m Women H1 W(+0.9m/s):

Aziza Sbeity (CSJ): 25.65
Joelle Feghali (CSJ): 27.68
Farah Hachem (Antonins): 27.73
Lea Ladki (Inter-Lebanon): 30.55
200m Women H2 W(+1.1m/s):
Karen Fallaha (Antonins): 30.73
Mona Dika (Antonins): 31.41
Rhea Akel (CSJ): 31.65

200m Women H3 W(+0.7m/s):

Lea Obeid (Champville): 27.41
Rebecca Kassab (CSJ): 28.06
Lea Dandan (Inter-Lebanon): 28.74
Corine Freiha (CSJ): 29.80
Nathaly Bejjani (CSJ): 30.85

200m Women H4 W(+0.3m/s):

Betani Nasrallah (Inter-Lebanon): 29.42
Taghrid Naaman (Batroun Stars): 29.74
Farah Harb (Inter-Lebanon): 30.06
Diala Jazra (CSJ): 30.84
Ayend Christ Daou (Champville): 32.01
Christelle Haddad (CSJ): 32.34

200m Men H1 W(+0.1m/s):

Jad Khoury (Champville): 23.16
Mrad Younes (Batroun Stars): 24.66
Nabil Younes (Batroun Stars): 25.52
Camil Bou Farhat (CSJ): 26.06
Ahmad Mohsen (Phoenicia): 26.40

200m Men H2 W(+0.8m/s):

Ralph Ward (CSJ): 24.71
Boulid Ali (Manar): 25.38
Georges Ghafary (CSJ): 25.47
Carlo Karam (CSJ): 26.04
Elie Aramouni (CSJ): 26.14

200m Men H3 W(+0.4m/s):

Nour Hadid (Army): 22.26
Hassan Mansour (Army): 22.64
Mahmoud Daou (CSJ): 22.65
Anthony Mikael (CSJ): 22.73
Malek Chatila (Inter-Lebanon): 23.40
Mohamad Cheib (Army): 24.02

200m Men H4 W(+0.2m/s):

Khaled Mansour (Army): 23.95
Ali Fneich (CSJ): 24.23
Mohamad Kassem (Army): 24.38
Bassel Tfeili (CSJ): 26.05
Emile Hoayek (CSJ): 26.09

2000m steeplechase Women:

Nour Farhat (Antonins): 9:08.27
Joylynne Kortbawi (Champville): 9:33.01

800m Men:

Hussein Karkali (Army): 1:55.23
Ahmad Chour (Phoenicia): 2:00.47
- : 2:03.01
Michael Bassous (CSJ): 2:07.23
Peter Khoury (Champville): 2:08.16
Carlo Karam (CSJ): 2:19.07
Mohamad Naaman (Batroun Stars): 2:21.83
Bassel Tfeili (CSJ): 2:25.71
Ahmad Mohsen (Phoenicia): 2:28.12
Walid Mokhel (Antonins): 2:28.45
Charbel Sfeir (Meristes Jbeil): 2:33.88
Hamzi Yaghi (Manar): 2:34.53

800m Women:

Sara Joe Kortbawi (Champville): 2:23.74
Ghiya Mtairek (Phoenicia): 2:30.03
Corine Freiha (CSJ): 2:44.87
Karen Feghali (CSJ): 2:57.39
Chloe Abi Jaoude (CSJ): 2:59.97
Malaurie Abi Ghanem (Champville): 3:01.85

3000m Men:

Osmat Ghreizi (Army): 9:11.92
Ali Sweidan (Army): 9:14.38
Mohamad Ajami (Army): 9:36.84
Atef Azizi (Army): 9:53.90
Abdallah Kadri (Phoenicia): 10:11.34
Kifah Mohamad (Batroun Stars): 10:18.46
Habib Hatem (CSJ): 10:34.91
Camil Yamine (CSJ): 11:31.40
Mounir Hamid (Manar): 11:41.81

3000m Women:

Yasmina Fakhri (CSJ): 11:51.02
Lynne Doughanne (CSJ): 12:39.25
Lea Hoayek (CSJ): 14:30.12
Murielle Slim (CSJ): 14:52.89
Sasha Hakim (CSJ): 15:08.35

Women Medley Relay:

CSJ (A): 2:32.38
CSJ (B): 2:43.35
Antonins (A): 2:49.73
CSJ (C): 2:54.82
Antonins (B): 2:57.03

Men Medley Relay:

Army (A): 2:00.75
CSJ (A): 2:03.21
Army (B): 2:08.96
CSJ (B): 2:21.02

Discus Throw Youth Boys:

Nabil Younes (Batroun Stars): 23.57
Cyril Dagher (CSJ): 18.67

Discus Throw Youth Girls:

Nathaly Bejjani (CSJ): 20.76

Long Jump Men:

Fouad Younan (Army): 6.06
Mahmoud Daou (CSJ): 6.04
Klovice Albati (Army): 6.00
Boulad Ali (Manar): 5.72
Michael Samrani (CSJ): 5.50
Ghassan Zgheib (CSJ): 5.50
Ralph Ward (CSJ): 5.38
Georges Ghafary (CSJ): 5:20
Maroun Aoun (Champville): 5.06
Karim Itani (Inter-Lebanon): 4.76
Maria Nasour (Champville): 4.40
Christian Moussa (Champville): 4.19
Karl Risk (Champville): 4:18
Jad Bhamdouni (Champville): 4:12
Ronald Kassab (CSJ): 3.99

Long Jump Women:

Krystel Saneh (Champville): 5.18
Joy Abousleiman (CSJ): 4.92
Christina Daou (Champville): 4.58
Betani Nasrallah (Inter-Lebanon): 4:48
Vera Terro (Antonins): 4:23
Lea Dandan (Inter-Lebanon): 4:15
Eve Daou (Champville): 4:13
Diala Jazra (CSJ): 4:10
Maria Merhej (CSJ): 3.99
Lea Tajer (CSJ): 3.98
Rhea Akel (CSJ): 3.91
Lea Ladki (Inter-Lebanon): 3:91
Christelle Haddad (CSJ): 3.55
MAria Bou Farhat (CSJ): 1.96

High Jump Men:

Ali Kenaan (Army): 1.83
Ali Dirani (Army): 1.80
Georges Ghafary (CSJ): 1.77
Mehdi Idawi (Army): 1.68
Roger Chaarour (CSJ): 1.68
Joseph Younes (CSJ): 1.50
Ronald Kassab (CSJ): 1.45
Mario Nassour (Champville): 1.45
Christian Moussa (Champville): 1.35

High Jump Women:

Vera Terro (Antonins): 1.45
Maria Merhej (CSJ): 1.40
Roxanne Ragi (CSJ): 1.35
Rhea Azar (CSJ): 1.30

1st Meeting of the season and first two records

krystel — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 20:57:52 GMT

The Lebanese Athletics Federation organized the first track and field competition of the season on Saturday, February 21^st at the Lebanese University of Hadath, where Lea OBEID and Jad KHOURY were the only two athlete to set new records; the first two records of the year.

Lea OBEID from Champville who turned 16 on February 22^nd, was able to set a new Midget record (U15) in 80 meters with 10.41 seconds. The previous record was 10.48 seconds for the same athlete. Lea also run the 60 and 150 meters, setting a record-performance in the 60 meters in 7.96s but wasn’t considered as one due to the strong wind that went above 2.0 m/s. She ran the 150 meters in 20.29 seconds.

Jad KHOURY from Champville set a new Midget record in 300 meters running the distance in 38.38 seconds. The previous record was also held by the same athlete in 38.75s. Jad also ran the 60 and 100 meters in two record-performances of 7.22 and 11.28 respectively. Unfortunately, the records weren’t legal due to the strong wind.

On the other hand, Pia NEHME form Inter-Lebanon was 3 seconds away from breaking the 3000 meters record. Sandy KARAM from Champville was 1 second away from breaking the 3000m race-walk record! We should mention the come back of Maha AL MOALLEM to the track while Aziza SBEITY from CSJ won the three short sprint events leaving everyone behind on the 60, 80 and 150 meters.

>>> Results:

60m Men H1 W+3.0m/s:

Jad Khoury (Champville): 7.22
Anthony Mikael (CSJ): 7.25
Mohammad Daou (CSJ): 7.26
Daniel Bassous (CSJ): 7.46

60m Men H2 W+2.3m/s:

Ali Feneich (CSJ): 7.76
Michael Bassous (CSJ): 7.95
Joseph Azzi (CSJ): 8.00
Christian Moussa (Champville): 8.28

60m Women H1 W+2.3m/s:

Aziza Sbeity (CSJ): 7.82
Maha Al Moallem (Inter-Lebanon): 7.92
Lea Obeid (Champville): 7.96
Krystel Saneh (Champville): 8.12
Joy Abousleiman (CSJ): 8.37
Ayand Christ Daou (Champville): 9.24

60m H2 W+2.1m/s:

Joelle Feghali (CSJ): 8.43
Christine Daou (Champville): 8.53
Cynthia Abdelnour (Champville): 8.92
Eve Daou (Champville): 9.97
Rhea Akel (CSJ): 9.67

100m Hurdles Women H1 W+1.9m/s:

Krystel Saneh (Champville): 16.54
Tara Kanj (Antonins): 19.08

100m Hurdles Women H2 W+0.9m/s:

Patil Yaacoubian (Antonins): 20.24

100m Men H1 W+2.5m/s:

Anthony Mikael (CSJ): 11.21
Mahmoud Daou (CSJ): 11.26
Jad Khoury (Champville): 11.28
Ali Fneich (CSJ): 12.27

100m Men H2 W+2.3m/s:

Michael Bassous (CSJ): 12.43
Joseph Azzi (CSJ): 12.66
Daniel Baddoud (CSJ): DQ

80m Women H1 W+1.9m/s:

Aziza Sbeity (CSJ): 10.20
Lea Obeid (Champville): 10.41 *New Midget record
Krystel Saneh (Champville): 10.77
Farah Hachem (Antonins): 10.95
Joy Abousleiman (CSJ): 11.01
Betani Nasrallah (Inter-Lebanon): 11.66

80m Women H2 W+2.3m/s:

Joelle Feghali (CSJ): 10.84
Carine Fallaha (Inter-Lebanon): 11.55
Farah Harb (Inter-Lebanon): 11.83
Lea Ladkani (Inter-Lebanon): 12.00
Vera Terro (Antonins): 12.26
Alaa Baajour (Antonins): 12.31

3000m Women:

Maria Pia Nehme (Inter-Lebanon): 10:08.40
Oregu Sisai (Inter-Lebanon): 11:32.30
Nadine Kalot (Inter-Lebanon): 11:56.35
Nour Farhat (Antonins): 13:18.96
Tala Salam (Inter-Lebanon): 13:51.09
Lea Ladki (Inter-Lebanon): 14:23.57

1000m Men:

Peter Khoury (Champville): 2:52.72
Nabil Tabbal (Inter-Lebanon): 3:14.19
Walid Mkahhal (Antonins): 3:22.55
Mohamad Salam (Antonins): 3:52.50

1000m Women:

Sara Joe Kortbawi (Champville): 3:08.50

3000m Race Walk Women:

Sandy Karam (Champville): 15:59.70

300m Women:

Lory Tashjian (Champville): 47.29
Zoe Dagher (Champville): 49.13
Carine Falaha (Antonins): 50.16
Malaurie Abi Ghanem (Champville): 55.88

300m Men:

Anthony Mikael (CSJ): 36.16
Daniel Bassous (CSJ): 37.78
Mahmoud Daou (CSJ): 37.94
Jad Khoury (Champville): 38.38 *New Midget Record
Ali Fneich (CSJ): 39.49
Ragheb Raad (Antonins): 40.38

150m Women H1 W+0.3m/s:

Aziza Sbeity (CSJ): 19.12
Lea Obeid (Champville): 20.29
Krystel Saneh (Champville): 20.66
Joy Abousleiman (CSJ): 20.74
Farah Hachem (Antonins): 20.90

150m Women H2 W+0.1m/s:

Tara Kanj (Antonins): 20.80
Lory Tashjian (Champville): 21.80
Cynthia Abdelnour (Champville): 22.70
Rhea Akel (CSJ): 23.40
Alaa Baajour (Antonins): 23.80

High Jump Women:

Vera Terro (Antonins): 1.40m
Christelle Njeim (Champville): 1.20m

High Jump Men:

Georges Ghafary (CSJ): 1.74m
Rodrigue Hachem (Champville): 1.50m
Mario Nassour (Champville): 1.46m
Carl Rizk (Champville): 1.34

Discuss Throw Women:

Nathaly Bejjani (CSJ): 21.54m

Lebanese Age group Cross Country Championship

krystel — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 12:21:28 GMT

The Lebanese Athletics Federation is organizing this Sunday, February 15, the Lebanese Age group Cross Country Championship at Jamhour.

Schedule:

7:30 Grouping

8:00 Men 9200m (1981-1995)

8:45 Women 5400m (1981-1995)

9:10 Kids U12 Girls 1000m (2004-2005)

9:20 Kids U12 Boys 1400m (2004-2005)

9:30 Bantam U14 Girls 1400m (2002-2003)

9:45 Bantam U14 Boys 1800m (2002-2003)

10:00 Midgets U16 Girls 1800m (2000-2001)

10:15 Midgets U16 Boys 2800m (2000-2001)

10:30 Youth U18 Girls 2800m (1999-1998)

10:45 Youth U18 Boys 3200m (1999-1998)

11:10 Juniors U20 Women 3600m (1996-1997)

11:40 Juniors U20 Men 4600m (1996-1997)

Tons of record at the Last two CSJ meetings

krystel — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 19:07:15 GMT

The Club Sportif Jamhour (CSJ), organized its second and third meetings for the end of the season on Monday, December 29th, and Tuesday, December 30th, where many Lebanese records were broken.

Maysa MOUAWAD from CSJ set three records on her own on Monday. The first was in the high jump, where she cleared 1.42 cm improving her old record by 12 cm! Amazing performance by the 11 year-old who is getting closer to the U13 record already. She also shined on the 50 meters, clocking 7.49 seconds, this time with a legal wind of +1.3 m/s. She also ran the 250 meters in 38.27 seconds setting her 3rd record of the day. Maysa also competed in Long Jump and Relay.

On the next day, she improved her 50 meters record clocking 7.46 seconds and her 250m record with 38.05 seconds.

Jad Khoury from Champville improved his 80 meters record by running the distance in 9.27 seconds. He also ran the 150 meters in 17.25 seconds not so far from his last week record. But the day after, he broke his own 150 meters record by 0.01 second clocking 17.13 seconds, and finishing second after the Lebanese Army athlete Ahmad MOHSEN. He also set a new best performance in 60m with 7.32 seconds.

Lea OBEID from Champville broke the long standing record of Lina BEJJANI and Christelle RAHME in 80 meters by running the distance in 10.48 seconds. The previous record held by both BEJJANI and RAHME was 10.57s. She also ran the 60 meters in 7.97 seconds but unfortunately this time was not ratified because the wind went above 2.0m/s.

Alexandre SIOUFI from CSJ ran a beautiful 250m in 38.00 seconds to set a new U11 – Kids record.

Georges GHAFARY from CSJ ran for the first time the 80 meters Hurdles in 13.17s and set a new best performance for this distance. He also shinned in the high jump where he cleared 1.78 meters on the first day and 1.81m the day after!

Sports 961

Off Season? Not for everyone!

krystel — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 18:42:43 GMT

Off Season?? Usually most of the athletes take a break after the Open Club Championship, but this is not the case for everyone!

Sara Joe Kortbawi participated at the 2^nd edition of the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China. She ran the 800 meters heat withs a Season Best of 2:19.42, but improved not only her season best but also her personal and national Youth record for this distance with 2:17.62.

After spending only one day in Lebanon after the Youth Olympic Games, KORTBAWI joined Lea OBEID to a two weeks training camp in Aspire, Qatar, with their coach Elie SAADE.

Ali HAZER on the other hand, is preparing for the 17^th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea that will be held from 19^th of September to 4^th of October 2014. HAZER will participate in the 400m Hurdles.

We should mention that he is been improving the 400mH record for years alone, and he is the only representative of track and field from Lebanon in these Games.

In another context, Maristes Champville Club is organizing 4 successive meetings at Jamhour track on the 17, 20, 23 and 24 September 2014, for athletes who want to break records.

Good Luck for all our athletes, abroad and in Lebanon!!

The Magic of the Lebanese Open Club Championship

krystel — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 11:25:41 GMT

Every year, in this championship, each athlete lives an amazing experience with his or her team. Losing or winning, this isn’t the matter; the Lebanese Open Club Championship is distinct from other championships by its magical spirit that pushes athletes beyond their limits to achieve greatness. This championship is about beautiful stories that people create.

The Lebanese Army team, showed up to the championship despite the tough situation they were enduring; they were reserved for one week to take the place of other soldiers that are fighting in Ersel. The Club Maristes Champville supported the Lebanese Army by wearing army bracelets and foulards during these 3 days of competition. In recognition of this beautiful gesture from the Champville team, the Lebanese Army Team came up on the last day of competition, offering red roses for every athlete from Champville. This beautiful spirit between the two teams was exceptional! The Lebanese Army Team didn’t just win the Championship, but they also won our hearts.

On the other hand, when we said that this Championship in particular has the power to push athletes beyond their limits, we meant Raphael Samaha from CSJ who crossed the finish line in front of the Lebanese Army runners in 100 meters. He stayed focused on his race despite the disqualification of his teammate Michel Zeinaty who did a false start. As he said, in this championship, the only thing that matters is the title. Sabine Khoury from Inter-Lebanon also proved that Raphael is right; she won the Long Jump competition in front of Joy Abousleiman and Krystel Saneh who both had done better in previous competitions.

This year, the scoring system was different. It depended on the performance of the athletes; when they do better results, they gain more points, and when they break National records, they are awarded 5 more points. The only one to set a National record and win this award was Ali Hazer from the Champions Club, who broke the 53 seconds barrier to score on 400 meters hurdles 52.95 seconds! Another record was set but for the Midget Category with Lea Obeid from Champville, a pure talent who ran the 100 meters in 12.77 seconds to take second place after Aziza Sbeity from CSJ who clocked 12.15s! An amazing performance by Aziza who now only waits for some challenge to go under the 12 seconds!

“When you compete, you should only focus on yourself, on how you will do better and forget the people who are waiting for your results”. This was the advice I received from a true champion Manal Tayyar from CSJ. A girl who showed that she has the strongest will in this Championship! She improved her record in each run to set a new Personal Best of 2:18.90 and win the 800 meters!

“It’s all mental, it’s you against time. And it’s the toughest competition because time has no mercy, so it’s all about not giving up. Think about your personal satisfaction instead of your position because position doesn’t count as much as your level” said Sandy Karam from Champville who was very close to her National record in 5000 meters walking. She clocked 27:29.41. Her sister Chloe Karam also was few seconds away from the Midget record too.

Carine Bitchakjian from Champville is the Lebanese record holder in high jump and the Lebanese Champion for over 10 years. She said that she started high jump at the age of 19, and that she wasn’t a pure talent. What made her succeed was her perseverance. She raised the bar very high that no one since her record of 1.72m had jumped over 1.60m. She is waiting impatiently for the young talents to raise the bar even higher. Her advice for them is to work hard and never give up on their dreams.

What to say about the Lebanese Army Team, with champions like Mohamad Treiji, Nour Eddin Hadid, Ahmad Mohsen, the Mansour brothers, Khaled Dennaoui, Badri Obeid, Bilal Awada and many others, they will forever be the team to beat. While CSJ won the second place in men’s, and 1^st place in women’s, they have also a unique team spirit that is giving them wings. Inter-Lebanon wasn’t very present this year but will certainly be hard to beat the year after, in both women and men. Ansar team with coach Leymouni, are doing great job, recruiting young talents like Angy Saleh, who jumped this year 4.88m while she is still a bantam.

This short season is now done, but few meetings will follow. See you next year hopefully with a higher level of competition and better performances.

Can Lebanon be compared to Jamaica?

krystel — Sun, 04 May 2014 15:19:35 GMT

One day, a person told me that I should stay objective as a reporter especially when I am at the same time an athlete, but things need to be said.

Let me introduce you to the world of athletics in Lebanon.

The number of athletes in Lebanon is very small. Athletics, the mother of all sports, isn’t a popular sport like basketball here. We should mention that basketball, and especially men’s, is unfortunately the only interrest of sports media in this country; we don’t mean that this is bad, but other sports should do an effort to challenge basketball in the media field, of course without bringing political issues to sports. Athletes are all part of different clubs, some of them don’t have a track to train on, they do some sessions on the road or get a track one day per week. The Lebanese athlete work very hard, the dedicated one of course, but he or she works on his or her own, sometimes without coaches. Few, very few clubs support their athletes and help them achieve their goals. The others are just there for the name, and their athletes continue their lonely journey of purchasing their dreams. I am not being pessimistic, I am only describing the situation in Lebanon. I know that other countries are maybe worse, or are in the same hole as we are, but we should face this and try to climb to the top.

Lebanon is the smallest country in the world with 4 million inhabitants. It is a country like Jamaica. We have aproximatevely the same population number. How does Jamaica work to produce Olympic Champions? A Jamaican will answer this question for us; my coach, Elie Saade, asked the same question to a Jamaican official at the 2012 London Games and the Jamaican answered that they simply prepare the kids, starting from the age of 6, to be world champions, they select the best among them and put them on the right track. Jamaica doesn’t have facilities like the United States, yet they left no medals for the States in sprint events. We can conclude that our problem, or on the other hand, the Jamaican “secret power", comes from the system. A system that prepares the young athletes to shine in the future. A system that have one goal: Produce Olympic Champions for their OWN COUNTRY. It is sad to hear that Lebanon has only collected 3 olympic medals since the beginning of the Olympic Games, but no gold. Today there is only one athlete who is achieving this greatness. You don’t know who is it? Ask the local media about Edward Maalouf the Paralympic athlete who won two bronze medals at the Beijing 2008 Olympics and who is preparing now for another quest in Rio.

To get back to our subject, and continue comparing Lebanon to Jamaica, everyone knows how the Jamaicans support their champions, and for this issue, I think the Minister of Sports and Education and the Lebanese Olympic Committee needs to act. To build a solid relationship between the Lebanese people and sports, they need media specialists, good advertising strategies and of course the help of all the federations and Sports-related NOGs.

Moreover, we hear every year names of young talents who are shinning in different events. At first we call them the rising stars, at last the stars begin to fade. Why? Let's see the reason behind this misfortune. Who took these young and gifted athletes in charge and put them on the right track? No body. Did the federation offered them a track to train on? a coach to train with? No. Did the club did that? No. Thank God we have some coaches who see these stars and take care of them. But what if this athlete lives very far from the place this coach train? It’s simple, I will tell you what will happen according to examples I’ve seen myself: this athlete comes from far to train with this coach, he or she is very dedicated and very excited to take part in the Track and Field family. After one week, he or she begins to feel the heaviness of that very long road. His trainings decreases from 3 or 4 times per week to twice a week, and by the time going he’s gone, lost in the darkness of the sky. In Track and Field Society, we enumerate the rising stars every year, and we concluded that every year one or two stars have been saved from fading. The Ministry of Sports, the LOC, the federation, the clubs, the coaches and the sponsors should take care of these rising stars, even athletes are responsible, we should all put our efforts in building a new strong generation of Lebanese olympians.

There is one important thing concerning these rising stars, Schools and Universities. The kids grow up, some of them quit training because of the system. This time it isn’t the system of Jamaica, but the education system in Lebanon. We shouldn’t ignore the support that schools and universities give us; they let us travel for competitions, they applaud us when we come back with medals… but they don’t treat the athlete differently from the others. They ask him or her how he or she manages the time between their studies and practice, and they are always surprised by the efforts the athlete make. What do they do to make his life a bit easier? Nothing. I wonder why it is the Ministry and Sports AND Education… An athlete only needs to train well, eat well and rest well. The last two options are always disturbed due to the education system. Being stuck in university, WORKING from 8 am to 6 pm or sometimes to 8, and everyday, is not a solution for the athlete who wants to get a good education and excel in his sports. In Lebanon it is clear, or you want to have a sports career and ignore your studies, or have a professional career by ignoring sports training, in this case sports are an option of course. We should mention that in other countries, they don’t differentiates between sports and professional careers, because sports in their country is a profession.

This is the reason why the number of kids in competitions decreases by the time they grow up. The lack of adversity comes from lack of athletes.

Did you ask yourself why I decided to compare Lebanon to Jamaica? It all began with doping. This year was the biggest doping scandal Jamaica has ever had, especially when the athletes concerned are Asafa Powel and Sherone Simpson. Two years ago, doping controls in Lebanon started to be more frequent thus more efficient. Four Lebanese athletes were caught. Hussein Awada from Lebanese Army, Ahmad Hazer and Ramzi Naim from Champions Club, and lately Ghena Assir from Elite Club. Hussein Awada had an amazing career in track and field, he improved long distance running and marathon records hundreds of times maybe. Ahmad Hazer started improving the 110m Hurdles records since he was a youth. He was the first person to break the 14 seconds barrier in this event, but was caught for doping last year. Ramzi Naim was a figure in 400 meters, he was also present on the 100 and 200 meters for the challenge. He also set many records in 200 and 400 meters since he was a youth. Ghena Assir won the 2013 Beirut Marathon. These athletes, especially the boys, can be compared to Asafa and Sherone, they were among the best athletes in Lebanon. Ahmad Hazer was the best men in athletics last year! Unfortunately, they cheated. May I ask why? Why did you cheat guys? To break few Lebanese records? Or to be selected on the national team? Or to win the Beirut Marathon? Or it was a medication you took not asking what substances it contains? Athletes aim for medals, they aim for Olympic Glory, World titles. Ok, let me say that athletes in Lebanon can aim for Asian Gold, Arab Gold, West Asian Triple Gold! They can aim for Olympic standards to qualify for the Olympics! They aim to qualify for the world championship! They aim to throw this wild card away and qualify knowing that the hard work paid! It is sad to hear that a Lebanese athlete have been caught doping, first, because he or she are representing our country, second, because our country isn’t Jamaica even if we are comparing it to Jamaica, we are not on the same level as Asafa Powel or Sherone Simpson or Tyson Gay and a lot more… Maybe Tyson and Asafa cheated to try to be as fast as Usain Bolt, but they were caught. Why does a Lebanese athlete need to cheat? It is in our nature as humans to want to improve, it is our nature as athletes to want to go faster to jumper higher to throw further and to become stronger! But we can achieve greatness without taking the easiest way of cheating. Winning is great of course, but it is greater when winning last for ever and when you know that you suffered a lot and sacrificed lots of things for your passion and all the sweat and pain pay off! Cheaters are weak, we must stay strong! I personally know very well two of these athletes, and I know how hard they worked, I don’t know of course the reason that lead them to doping but it isn’t over. You can get back, be clean, live clean and achieve greatness again, because you guys are talented and strong!

Finally, I would like to encourage all the athletes, younger and older, to be aware of the danger of doping, educate your self if there is no one to educate you, don’t fall in the trap of weakness, stay strong and have fun performing. Enjoying the sports is essential for all of us. Having fun and enjoying training and competing is thousands of times more powerful than performance enhancing substances.

A last message for all those responsible for the education of athletes to avoid taking performance enhancing drugs; please do your job.

Two Bronze medals at the Arab Juniors Championship

krystel — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 13:58:00 GMT

The Lebanese Team who went to the 16th Arab Juniors Championship won two Bronze medals through Sandy Karam in 10km Race walk and the women's 4x400m relay team with Sandy Karam, Sara Joe Kortbawi, Joy Abousleiman and Joelle Feghali. Elie Saade was the only coach and official representing Lebanon at these championships.

On the first day of the Arab Juniors Championship, and in it's first event, Sandy Karam from Champville won a Bronze medal for Lebanon in the 10km Race Walk setting a new national record of 59:01.21.

Joy Abousleiman set a new personal best in Long Jump on the same day. She jumped 5.21 meters to finish 4th behind Asraa' Mohammad Samir from Egypt with 5.86m, Salma Jamal Ahmad from Egypt with 5.45m, and in the 3rd place Lidia Sahrawi from Algeria with 5.39m on her last attempt.

Alain Saad threw 14.47 meters in shot put and took the 5th place behind Moustafa Amr Ahmad from egypt with 21.79, Ahmad Shareef Adel from Egypt with 19.63, and Moustafa Daher from Iraq with 16.68 and finally in the 4th place Ibrahim Al Fadly from Kuwait with 15.55m.

The next day, Joelle Feghali from CSJ ran the 400 meters in 1:04.09 to take 5th place in the final. Sarah Joe Kortbawi finished 5th in the 800 meters clocking 2:19.80. 1 seconds away from her record.

On Saturday, the last day of competition, Joy Abousleiman finished 5th in the Triple Jump with 10.51 meters, and then won the second bronze medal for Lebanon with her teammates Sandy Karam (her second bronze), Sara Joe Kortbawi and Joelle Feghali, in the 4x400m Relay!