The Latest on your Favourite Stars

You want to know what the stars are up to, so sit back this weekend, catch up on the latest news about the movers and shakers in the athletic world, and check back for the New Year's special on Monday night.

The latest on many of your favourite athletes in the sport of track and field:

• Abebe Dinkesa ran what was described as "a mind-boggling" 41.45 11.5km race on November 29th to win the $50,000 first prize money and also set a new course record in the 4th Obudu International Mountain Race—a steep and hilly course which has never yielded a defending male champion in the meet's history.
  


• Alan Webb, the American-record holder in the mile who failed to advance past the US Olympic Trials in the 1.500m, was signing red t-shirts and providing his support on December 27th at the Friends of Indoor Track Invitational at Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex in Landover, VA; where nearly 1,300 supporters signed a petition to be forwarded to members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to save indoor track from the chopping blocks for local high school students. At issue is whether or not indoor track is necessary as Fairfax County Public Schools faces a $170 million shortfall in its 2010 budget, though track costs only $50 per student according to Dan Woolley, FIT president.


• Allyson Felix has been quiet this off-season, with planned time-off giving her much-needed rest from the Olympic preparations she and Bob Kersee put in last year. Felix, who travelled to Jamaica on holiday during the off-season, hosted her family for Christmas last week. Felix, the defending 200m world champion, is in a long-repetition training phase she gears up for the 2009 World Championships.


• Andréas Thorkildsen, the two-time Olympic javelin champion, was awarded the gold medal for the ‘Performance of the Year' by Norwegian daily newspaper Aftenposten at a ceremony organised by the Norwegian Ministry of Culture in November. The Sports Journalist Association of Norway also presented a statuette to Thorkildsen for becoming the Performer of the Year in Norwegian sport.


• Anna Chicherova was spotted with other high-profile athletes and dignitaries at a Real Madrid match on December 18th, but not the famed Spanish team of the football variety. Russian basketball team CSKA were playing the Spanish basketball team in Moscow in an epic showdown which Real Madrid won in front of the Russian hosts in stunning play. Chicherova is confirmed for competitions to be held in two Czech cities, Trinec (Jan 21st) and Hustopece on (Jan 24th) in what is known as the Moravia High Jump Tour.
  

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