Chris Turner for IAAF
23 June 2000 - Olympic High Jump Champion Charles Austin will help to turn Birmingham "Outside In" for the Aqua-Pura Field Events Spectacular on Saturday June 24th.
The sport of athletics in Europe is normally keen at this time of the year to get back into the fresh air of summer after having been confined in indoor sports halls throughout the long winter months.
However, tomorrow night at Birmingham’s National Indoor Arena (NIA), the third of UK Athletics’ "Road to Sydney" development meetings will take place and will allure a star studded array of athletes back indoors for what is set to be an innovative meeting.
The Aqua-Pura Field Events Spectacular will provide banked "bullring" style seating so spectators can sit right up to the edge of the run up and landing areas. Specialised lighting, music and large video screens will also be employed to both inspire the competitors and encourage the audience to create a unique atmosphere.
Quality fields have been assembled for the meeting’s three field events, the men’s high jump, women’s pole vault and women’s triple jump.
In the men’s high jump, Dalton Grant the British men’s team captain and Commonwealth champion will face among others, Olympic champion Charles Austin and current world leader Matt Hemingway.
"I’ve waited 16 years for this," said Dalton. "It’s a high jumpers dream. Being a high jumper is as much a mental as a physical thing. It’s all about hyping yourself up and willing yourself over that bar. It’s also about performing to the crowd and feeding off their encouragement. That’s why Saturday sounds so exciting – with the spectators so close and the jumpers being given the chance to choose their own music!"
"I’ll be introduced to two inspirational favourites of mine: - Lenny Kravitz: ‘I wish I could fly’ and Queen: ‘We will Rock You’ - it will be fun to take the headphones off and share the music with the crowd!".
In the women’s triple jump, Ashia Hansen Great Britain’s world indoor champion and recordholder will be challenged by five women who have personal bests over 14 metres. Hansen’s opponents will be led by Cuban Yamile Aldama who was sixth on the 1999 world lists with 14.77m.
The women’s pole vault also presents another quality line up, with Janine Whitlock hoping that competition from Australian Tatayana Grigorieva, the 1999 World bronze medallist will help her to raise her British record from the 4.35 mark she set earlier this month.
