Hicham El Guerrouj turns up the
heat in Zurich …
By Nick Davies
The track of the Letzigrund Stadium shimmered in a heat haze as the world's best athletes gathered for the fourth stage of the IAAF's Golden League - the Weltklasse in Zurich. It was Meeting Director Res Brugger's last show, for which he was rightly honoured by IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch with the Olympic Order of Merit, but it was the athletes who took centre stage.
All roads lead to Sydney so as well as setting up options on the IAAF Golden League Jackpot which will be claimed in Berlin in three weeks time, this Weltklasse allowed rivals to square up and seek a psychological edge in the lead up to the Games. In the men's 1500m, the duel was between two superb exponents of middle distance running Hicham El Guerrouj and Noah Ngeny. El Guerrouj had beaten Ngeny last Saturday over 1 mile and was seeking to extend a winning streak at this distance which stretches back to the last Olympic Games.
Tonight Ngeny seized the initiative by following the pacemaker through 400m in 54.02 and 800m in 1:50.16. But although El Guerrouj was content to follow, he decided to make his move with about 1 and a half laps to go. At the bell, reached in 2:32, the Moroccan was running with the effortless cadence that is such a joy to behold. With a last lap of approximately 54 seconds, El Guerrouj stopped the clock at 3:27.21 - the third fastest time in history. And only he has ever run faster. Can anyone stop him in Sydney? Ngeny and his compatriot Bernard Lagat can hardly be accused of apathy. With 3:28.12 and 3:28.51 respectively in second and third place, both were inside the Kenyan 1500m record.
The women's 3000 m was one of the fastest in history. Gabriela Szabo was anxious to kick-start a season that had started badly by her own high standards. But as she shadowed the pacemaker she was closely followed by runners of the calibre of Regina Jacobs, Paula Radcliffe, Lydia Cheromei, Sonia O'Suulivan and Tegla Loroupe. Although Szabo was ushered through 1000m in 2:46.25 - just as she had requested, the pace then slowed significantly. The clock showed 5:40 at 2000 m, (Szabo had asked for 5:33) and it was clear that she now faced a real race. Although Jacobs then dropped dramatically out of contention, O'Sullivan and Radcliffe - easy to spot with knee length white socks - began to put the pressure on the tiny Romanian. At the bell, it was Radcliffe and Loroupe who had the pole position with O'Sullivan just behind and Szabo, boxed into the curb. Would she suffer her second successive defeat? As O'Sullivan made her bid for victory on the back straight, it seemed that the Irishwoman's sprint might prove decisive. That then Szabo popped up - kicking past O'Sullivan and easing clear round the final bend. The all-conquering runner of 1999 was reborn and she crossed the line in 8:26.36. O'Sullivan hung on for second in 8:27.58, with Radcliffe losing out on the line to Marta Dominguez - 8:28.80 to 8:28.85. Dominguez improved her personal best by almost 1.5 seconds for a new Spanish record. Lydia Cheremoi (KEN) and Irina Mikitenko (GER) also set national records (8:29.14 and 8:30.39).
After suffering from an achilles injury that threatened his very participation in the Olympics, Haile Gebrselassie started the 5000m tonight without his usual aurora of invincibility. Yet the man from Ethiopia showed every ounce of his fighting spirit as he held off the challenge of the world's best specialists to win in 12:57.95. It may have not been close to his world record but in terms of spectacle, this race had an edge on the usual record-chasing processions. At halfway, Sammy Kipketer, distinctive in his IAAF Golden League Jackpot contender golden bib, was shadowing Gebrselassie but it was the Ethiopian who led with 2000 metres still to go. His face contorted with effort, Gebrselassie allowed Mohamed Mourhit to take the lead with two laps to go, and was also himself closely shadowed by Kipketer, Paul Tergat and the reigning world champion Salah Hissou. At the bell, reached in 12:05, there were still six runners in the race. Mourhit was still leading, but with 200 metres to go, Gebrselassie made the decisive acceleration. As he hung on desperately, Paul Tergat began to close the gap, but the Ethiopian held on down the final straight for a confidence boosting win.
For sheer showmanship, no-one could match Andre Bucher tonight. The Swiss 800m runner had promised his home crowd he would not give up his world number 1 status lightly. And so it proved - he latched onto his pacemaker and tore round the first lap in 49.7 - his rivals some way in arrears. But he then seemed to ease up, and Japheth Kimutai caught him with 200m to go. But Bucher knew what he wanted - a winning sprint to the line in the last 100 metres that would bring the crowd to their feet. With Kimutai straining to hold his form, the Swiss man edged ahead punching the air as he stopped the clock at 1:43.72. The stands echoed to football-style claps and chants - an eruption of noise that helps to make the Letzigrund such a memorable athletics venue.
It was hard to follow Bucher, but US stars Maurice Greene and Gail Devers tried. Devers was the more memorable performer, clocking 12.39 for a convincing victory, Greene content with 9.94 and a narrow victory over Obadele Thompson (9.97).
The men's 400m hurdles was a superb race as Angelo Taylor, fastest in the world so far this year, edging out Llewelyn Herbert, who has lost only once in 15 outings in 2000, 47.90 to 47.93. Taylor had started faster - was caught by Herbert in the final straight - but then fought back to steal victory on the line.
After three days of media attention that was occasionally frenzied, Marion Jones could be forgiven for being edgy, even if she followed her false start with a big grin. When the race got underway for the second time, Jones needed all her legendary acceleration to just edge out Inger Miller - 10.95 to 10.96. Miller had a simply superb start - taking a metre out of Jones in the first 20. But the World Champion kept her nerve, pulling back Miller as the finish line loomed. The veteran Jamaican Merlene Ottey - who was fourth at the Jamaican championships and so is not eligible for an individual place in Sydney - ran well to clock 11.06 in third place. Jones went back to work a little later - taking the lead in the long jump with 6.93 in the first round. That was enough for victory but only just , becuase Bulgaria's Iva Prandzheva leapt 6.92 and a delighted Heike Drechsler 6.91 with her last jump, 17 years after she was first crowned world champion.
Maria Mutola was looking for her 8th consecutive win in the Weltklasse - and she got it, overtaking early leader Ludmila Formanova in the last 200 metres to ease home in 1:56.90. The Czech world champion had started sharply, shadowing the pacemaker through 400m in 56.5, but her lead was cut back when Mutola surged in the back straight and she faded to third in 1:57.34. Austria's Stephanie Graf left her sprint late, edging past a tiring Formanova in the last few metres of the race to clock 1:57.34. Lars Riedel was another athlete seeking an 8th consecutive win - but he was beaten by the in-form Virgilius Alekna who threw the discus 71.12.
In the steeplechase, Bernard Barmasai let his feet do the talking, but couldn't match the finishing speed of Wilson Boit Kipketer who snatched victory in 8:11.19. The early pace was set by Abraham Cherono, Josphat Kapkory and Bouabdellah Tahri - a Frenchman. With two laps to go, the lanky Tahri and Cherono had a ead of 20 metres - but this had been cut in half by the chasing pack on the last lap. Although Tahri made a bold bid for glory, he was swamped by a Kenyan horde on the last bend. In a mass charge over the final 100 metres it was Wilson Boit Kipketer - who broke the world record here three years ago - who emerged to secure the win.
World record holder Jonathan Edwards confirmed his excellent form in the triple jump by beating world champion Charles Friedek for the second time in six days. Edwards had pulled up halfway through his first effort of the night clutching his back - a worrying sign - but he returned to cut the sand at 17.27. With his next attempt, he increased his lead to 17.36. Yet his technique was not perfect - particularly in the last phase - and he concluded his night's work after the fourth jump. Friedek also looked a little out of sorts, with three fouls and two efforts under 17 metres. He redeemed the situation a little with a final round effort of 17.31.
Sergey Bubka's dream of winning Olympic gold in Sydney took another knock tonight. In only his third outdoor competition of the year (he no-heighted in Lausanne) he could only manage 5.50, to finish 14th in an event won by Danny Ecker with 5.85. His mother, Heide Rosendahl won the long jump here exactly 30 years ago
In the 110m hurdles, Anier Garcia had the beating of Allen Johnson until he crashed into the last hurdle, lost his balance, and allowed the Olympic champion to steal past him for victory in 13.17. The Cuban ran 13.23, and punched the floor in disgust at his misfortune.
Next Friday the Golden League takes place in Monaco, before heading for Brussels and the climax in Berlin.