Nike shoes face the axe
Australian Open qualifiers fear for health as they are urged to stay on court in toxic air from bushfires
THE running shoe used by Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei to smash Paula Radcliffe’s marathon record is set to be banned. There is no decision yet on whether the new women’s marathon mark — which Kosgei set wearing the Nike Vaporfly — will be allowed to stand. The 25-year-old recorded a time of 2hr 14min 4sec in Chicago, well inside Radcliffe’s mark of 2:15.25 set at the London Marathon in 2003. It is also understood shoes which sources at World Athletics believe to be a hybrid of the Vaporfly — and in which Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge ran an unofficial sub-two-hour marathon in Vienna last year — will also be outlawed. The contentious issue is the foam and carbon-fibre composition of the sole, which acts like a spring to help runners get the most forward
As smoke from bushfires blanketed the start of Australian open qualifying, organisers came under heavy criticism from players forced to brave brutal conditions.
slovenian Dalila Jakupovic collapsed and had to abandon her match when she could take no more, despite being close to victory against No 11 seed stefanie Vogele when the first round of the qualifying event got underway yesterday.
While she described herself as ‘sad and angry’ after recovering, Britain’s Liam Broady and Jay Clarke told of their struggles to cope with lungfuls of toxic air combined with stifling heat.
Clarke, the British No 5 from Derby, revealed he had been told to prepare to play indoors, but that air vents were letting in too much smoke to make it feasible. A ballgirl was taken off with heat exhaustion during Clarke’s three-set defeat by Blaz kavcic.
With the wind creating a smoky haze derived from the massive blazes in eastern Victoria, Jakupovic took an inhaler on to the court to help but to no avail.
The first day’s play went ahead after an hour’s delay, despite locals being advised to stay indoors and horseracing being called off at nearby Werribee. Construction workers in the city were told to down tools.
Tennis Australia insisted their on- site experts had declared the playing environment safe at melbourne Park, and that it had liaised with representatives of the men’s and women’s tours.
Jakupovic was unimpressed, saying: ‘It was really bad. I never experienced something like this and I was really scared. I was scared that I would collapse. That’s why I went on the floor, because I couldn’t walk any more. I’ve never had asthma before.
‘It was not fair because it’s not healthy. I thought we wouldn’t be playing today. We don’t have much choice. If we don’t go on the court, maybe we get fined. It would maybe have been better to wait to see if tomorrow is better. They still have time, there’s no rush.’
Broady went down 6-3, 6-0 to Ilya Ivashka of Belarus and also suffered in smoggy air and heat well into the thirties, accompanied by humidity. ‘ I’d like to think I’m properly fit and after four games I was absolutely gassed,’ said the British No 6.
‘At 6-3, 3-0 down, when you’re supposed to be relatively fresh, I was bent double and gasping for air. my fitness is one of the best parts of my game but I definitely didn’t feel great.
‘I was surprised by how bad it was when I was walking out to the court. I had been inside from 10 o’clock for three hours and, because they had decided to go ahead, I thought it would have cleared up a lot.’
He was not alone in thinking that top players may not have been asked to play. ‘I don’t think qualifiers are treated the same way,’ he added. ‘maybe we have to earn the right to be treated like the main draw players but we are all human beings.’
Australia’s Bernard Tomic lost to American Denis kudla and questioned the umpire during his defeat. ‘No air’s going in, I’m getting tired so easy,’ Tomic told the trainer and doctor during a medical timeout. ‘I just can’t breathe.’
In what is a potential blow to the event given the scale of the fires Clarke suggested Tennis Australia’s throwback position of moving matches inside to avoid the worst of the conditions was futile. ‘We went to the National Tennis Centre and it was worse,’ he said. ‘They have vents open so when the smoke got in it wasn’t able to get out.’
At 9am Victoria’s environmental Protection Authority had advised melburnians to ‘try to stay indoors, keep windows and doors shut, and keep pets inside’. The air did improve after the 11am start, but deteriorated again in the afternoon.
‘This is new for all of us,’ said Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley, who was evasive on whether or not on-court officials should be issued with face masks. ‘We follow the advice of medical experts and environmental scientists and the health and wellbeing of the players, fans and staff is crucial to the decisions we make.
‘When we got up, the smoke haze was significant. Based on that advice we took a decision to suspend practice, and to start the qualifying matches an hour later than scheduled.’
This morning’s second day was delayed by two hours as the poor air quality refused to improve. WImBLeDoN
doubles champion Robert Farah has tested positive for a banned steroid, having pulled out of the Australian open yesterday for ‘ personal reasons’. The Colombian, 32, claimed he may have failed the test after eating contaminated meat.