Great
all round sprinter adds to Sydney field
Athletics Australia
One of the world’s greatest all round sprinters will hit Australia this weekend to compete in the Optus Sydney Grand Prix on Sunday at the Sydney International Athletic Centre.
Russia’s Irina Privalova, medallist at both Olympic Games and World Championships has entered the 100 metres and 100m hurdles in Sunday’s all-star athletics program.
The 31-year-old has a range of personal bests from 10.77s for the 100m, 21.87s for the 200m, 49.89s for the 400m and 13.4s for the 100m hurdles to confirm her status as one of the best alltime across all women’s sprints events.
To add to her standing Privalova broke the world record over 60m indoors in the same year (1993) as she set her 400m personal best of 49.89s.
Ranked sixth all-time over 100m, she was a bronze medallist in this event at the 1992 Olympic Games and 1995 World Championships. Over 200m Privalova won a silver medal at the 1995 World Championships after taking bronze in the previous edition in 1993.
At the Optus Sydney Grand Prix Privalova will be tested against a world class field in the 100m that includes 1996 Olympic Games relay gold medallist Chryste Gaines (US), Australian record holder Melinda Gainsford-Taylor (NSWI), the in-form World Championships 100m semi-finalist Lauren Hewitt (VIS) and Commonwealth Games 100m finalist Nova Peris-Kneebone (NTIS).
Over 100m hurdles she will give the Australian girls something to think about with her p.b of 13.4s. She will be against Valerie Manning (US) who has a p.b of 13.00s and in-form Aussies Sally Bult of WA and Debbi Edwards of NSW.
Star Kenyan distance runner Noah Ngeny, the world's second fastest ever miler and world record holder over 1000 metres, is primed to smash a number of records at the Optus Grand Prix in Sydney on Sunday and assist Australia's distance runners in the process.
Ngeny has been training in Australian for over a month and is set for a record-breaking opening to his 2000 competition campaign.
He has raced sparingly over 800m and is aiming to annihilate his personal best of 1:45.87 and break the Australian Allcomers record set in 1982 by Peter Bourke (1:44.78).
Better known over 1500m, Ngeny was the silver medallist in the 1999 World Championships, set the second fastest time over the mile ever (3:43.40), and finished the year by breaking Seb Coe's long-standing 1000m world record with a time of 2:11.96.
On Sunday, Ngeny will face 1999 World Championships bronze medallist Djabir Said-Guerni of Algeria, Swiss athlete Andre Bucher who was ranked fourth over 800m last year and Australia's new 800m star Kris McCarthy (VIS).
Said-Guerni set an Algerian record of 1:43.09 last year which placed him fifth in the world, one place behind Bucher who ran a national record of 1:42.92.
Adding to the international field will be Kenyan David Kiptoo who has a p.b of 1:43.38 and New Zealand's Shaun Farrell who has a best of 1:45.45.
The Australian contingent is led by McCarthy and NSW Institute athlete Martin Byron. McCarthy shot onto the scene at the Optus Canberra Grand Prix last month when he won the 800m in a p.b and Olympic A qualifying time of 1:45.77 from Byron (1:46.45).
Ngeny fired out a warning this week to his Sydney competitors and also provided some words of advice to McCarthy.
"I will revise my personal best over 800m in Sydney. I would also like to advise Kris McCarthy and the other Australians to be ready to run with me, and if they do, be prepared to run personal bests and Olympic qualifying times," he said.
The Optus Grand Prix Series starts this weekend in Brisbane on Friday (11 February) and Sydney on Sunday (13 February).
MAIN CLASHES (BRISBANE)
Men
100m Matt Shirvington (NSWI), Patrick Johnson (AIS), Damien Marsh (Melbourne Track Club)
200m Patrick Johnson (AIS), Damien Marsh (MTC), Darryl Wohlsen (QAS)
400m Derek Mills (US), Patrick Dwyer (NSWI), Brad Jamieson (SASI), Daniel Batman (NSWI)
800m Djabir Said Guerni (ALG), Fred Onyancha (KEN), David Leilei (KEN), Martin Byron
(NSWI)
1500m Sammy Mutai (KEN), John Kosgei (KEN), Nick Howarth (SASI), Scott Petersen (VIS)
5000m Luke Kipkosgei (KEN), Joseph Kimani (KEN), Scott Westcott (NSWI), Shaun Creighton
(ACT), Darren Lynch (MTC)
400m hurdles Derek Adkins (US), Eric Thomas (US), Maurice Mitchell (US), Rohan Robinson
(AIS), Blair Young (QLD)
Long Jump Kareem Streete-Thompson (CAY), Jai Taurima (AIS), Peter Burge (NSWI), Shane Hair
(Homebush Track Club)
Triple Jump Andrew Murphy (NSWI), Larry Achike (GBR), Rogel Nachum (ISR)
Javelin Adrian Hatcher (NSWI), Andrew Currey (NSWI), Rongxiang Li (CHN)
Women
100m Melinda Gainsford-Taylor (NSWI), Lauren Hewitt (VIS), Chryste Gaines (US), Nova
Peris-Kneebone (NTIS)
200m Gainsford-Taylor, Hewitt, Gaines, Cathy Freeman (MTC), Tania Van Heer (SASI)
400m Tamsyn Lewis (VIS), Nova Peris-Kneebone (NTIS), Lee Naylor (VIS), Jana Pittman
(NSWI), Susan Andrews (WAIS)
1500m Benita Willis (AIS), Sarah Jamieson (VIS), Gladys Wamuyu (KEN), Faith Macharia (KEN)
400m hurdles Sandra Farmer-Patrick (US) Lauren Poetschka (WAIS), Adrienne McIvor (QAS),
Stephanie Price (NSWI)
Pole Vault Stacy Dragila (US), Emma George (WAIS), Tatiana Grigorieva (SASI), Alejandra
Garcia (ARG)
Discus Lisa-Marie Vizaniari (QAS), Alison Lever (QAS)
MAIN CLASHES (SYDNEY)
Men
100m Johnson, Shirvington, Chris Donaldson (NZL), Marsh
200m Johnson, Shirvington, Donaldson (NZL), Marsh, Wohlsen
400m Mills (US), Dwyer, Batman, Jamieson
800m Noah Ngeny (KEN), Djabir Said Guerni (ALG), Andre Bucher (SUI), David Kiptoo (KEN),
Kris McCarthy (VIS), Shaun Farrell (NZL), Byron
1500m Mutai (KEN), Leilei (KEN), Lynch, Howarth, Michael Power (VIS), Petersen (VIS),
Graham Hood (CAN)
400m hurdles Adkins (US), Thomas (US), Mitchell (US), Robinson, Zid Abou Hamed (NSWI),
Young
Pole Vault Dmitri Markov (WAIS), Paul Burgess (WAIS), Viktor Chistyakov (SASI), Danny
Krasnov (ISR), Igor Potapovish (KZK)
Long Jump Kareem Streete-Thompson (CAY), Jai Taurima (AIS), Peter Burge (NSWI), Shane Hair
(Homebush Track Club)
High Jump Tim Forsyth (VIS), Konstantin Matusevich (ISR)
Javelin Adrian Hatcher (NSWI), Andrew Currey (NSWI), Rongxiang Li (CHN)
Women
100m Irina Privalova (RUS), Gainsford-Taylor, Hewitt, Peris-Kneebone, Gaines (US)
200m Gainsford-Taylor, Van Heer, Hewitt, Freeman, Peris-Kneebone
800m Tamsyn Lewis (VIS), Georgie Clarke (VIS), Toni Hodgkinson (NZL), Susan Andrews
(WAIS), Benita Willis (AIS), Sarah Jamieson (VIS), Gladys Wamuyu (KEN)
5000m Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL), Kerryn McCann (NSWI), Susie Power (VIS), Anne Cross (VIS),
Clair Fearnley (VIS), Natalie Harvey (VIS), Kylie Risk (TAS)
400m hurdles Farmer-Patrick (US), Poetschka, Jana Pittman (NSWI), McIvor, Price
Pole Vault Dragila (US), George, Grigorieva, Garcia (ARG)
