Amy Mbacke Thiam wins her 400m semi final (© Getty Images)
The African Athletic Confederation’s 2004 circuit of eleven track and field meetings will commence next Saturday 3 April 2004 in Dakar, Senegal.
Thiam's back
Senegal’s own ‘Edmonton golden girl’, Ami Mbacké Thiam will again be one of the principal stars, following on from her bronze medal at last summer’s World championships in Paris where she so bravely attempted to retain the 400m title she had won in 2001.
Saturday’s race will mark the start of outdoor season for the 27 year-old, who ran an indoor 300m race in 39.13 seconds in Sherbrooke, Canada on the 6 February. Thiam has made Canada her training base for the last two seasons
"Like last season, it will be my first entry on track,“ confirmed Thiam to the CAA web site on 23 March. “Even if I have no desire to push myself too hard (so early in the season), I know I must prove myself in front of my home fans. I believe that 51.80 would not be a bad run.”
Van Damme connection
Overall, the organisation of the meeting of Dakar hopes to benefit from its ‘twinning’ with Brussels’ Memorial Van Damme, which is on the IAAF’s Golden League series of meetings. The Memorial will bring technical support to the Dakar event, an experience of high level competition that has been acquired over 27 years.
As in Brussels, a concert will close the Meeting of Dakar after the sporting competition has concluded, and the Senegalese artistic community will also contribute to the meeting's success. One of the Senegal’s most famous painters, Chalys Leye has designed the poster for the meeting and the sculptor Issa Diop the bronze trophy which will be awarded to the winners on 3 April.
The musical finale will be provided by Youssou Ndour, the Senegalese singer who, at the time of the opening ceremony of the World Cup of Football in France (1998), sang a duet with the Belgian Axelle Red.
The full 2004 programme of CAA meetings is as follows -
Dakar 3 April; Bamako 6 April, Nairobi 14 April, Maurice 18 April, Johannesburg (date tbc), Yaoundé 8 May, Ndjaména 12 May, Brazzaville 16 May, Casablanca 19 June, Alger 24 June and Tunis 27 June.