Unheralded Ethiopians impress in Herrera

Herrera (Seville) Spain  Ethiopian athletes may not be dominant at events such as the men’s 1500m or the 3000m steeplechase but last night’s (19) ‘Gran Premio de Andalucía’ - EAA Permit - held in Herrera (100km east of Seville) on a warm but windy day, witnessed what well could be the rising to the crème of two previously unknown Ethiopians in the guise of Tsigu Derese Mekonnen (1500m) and Roba Gari (3000m steeplechase). They produced two of the most outstanding performances of a two and a half-hour programme hampered by strong gusts of wind.

The Gran Premio Andalucía is one of a select group of Area meetings at which points can be acquired by athletes to qualify for the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final.

Strong displays by Mekonnen and Gari

This young pair of Ethiopians was fresh from commanding wins at the recent Ethiopian Championships staged in the altitude of Addis Ababa a fortnight ago. In fact they were overwhelming victors in their respective specialist events by clocking 3:38.69 (1500/Mekonnen) and 8:31.48 (Steeplechase /Gari). The latter faced yesterday a bunch of under 8:10 specialists, including Morocco’s Abdelkader Hachlaf (8:08.78) and Kenya’s David Chemweno (8:09.09) in the rarely contested 2000m steeplechase event, but Gari didn’t seem to be overawed by them and posted an impressive gun-to-tape win.

Gari went through the 1000m point in a brisk 2:37.08 and a sizeable lead over the rest of the field which he even increased during the second half of the event to romp home unopposed in a fine clocking of 5:19.96. Hachlaf came a distant second in 5:23.02 some six tenths clear of Kenya’s Elijah Chelimo who beat his countryman Chemweno back in fourth with 5:25.64.

Gari holds a modest 8:30.20 PB at 3000m steeplechase but after yesterday’s breakthrough on the international scene the question mark should be: is Eshetu Tura’s National record of 8:13.57 - when taking Olympic bronze in Moscow back in 1980 - safe?

As for Mekonnen he out-sprinted Morocco’s Ali Maataoui in the closing 200 to claim a relatively unexpected victory in the men’s 1500, clocking 3:36.41 to Maataoui's 3:37.71. The field also included Portugal’s Olympic and World bronze medallist Rui Silva plus Spain’s recent European indoor medallists Sergio Gallardo and Arturo Casado but a 55.3 last 400m was enough for Mekonnen to startle the crowd assembled.

Given the far from ideal weather conditions – specially for the wind – and the identity of his well-beaten rivals Mekonnen’s outing suggests that joining the world 1500m elite is within his capabilities. The fight for being first European home was more than fierce with no less than four athletes covered by 67 hundredths. Spain’s Sergio Gallardo pipped Silva in the final 20m to take third in 3:39.74.

Iguider and Benhassi provide Moroccan success

Morocco’s former (2004) World 1500m junior champion Abdelaati Iguider avoided another successful Ethiopian chapter by pulling away of Bikila Demma Daba in the closing stages of the men’s 3000m. The 20-year-old Moroccan used his 1500m speed (PB of 3:32.68) to stamp his authority in 7:41.95 over a star-studded field which also comprised of Morocco’s Hicham Bellani (5000m PB of 12:55.52) and European 5000m champion Jesús España of Spain who managed a creditable third in 7:43.29 behind runner-up Bikila Demma (7:42.63) but ahead of Bellani timed at 7:43.59.

Reigning Olympic and World 800m silver medallist Hasna Benhassi clinched a fine win at her specialist event in what was her outdoor season’s opener. The Moroccan star, who will turn 29 years of age on 1 June, was never seriously threatened and cruised to a comfortable 2:02.24 win.

Britain’s Marilyn Okoro proved to be in good form following her successful indoor campaign when she narrowly missed the bronze medal at the European indoors in Birmingham. Okoro never challenged Benhassi but she managed to cross the finish line only 0.23 adrift of the Morrocan ace who clocked exactly the same 61.1 seconds for each lap.

“Last year (2006) it was a transitional season for me not having World or Olympics at stake,” Benhassi said, adding: “After respective silvers at the 2004 Athens Olympics and Helsinki Worlds the following year it’s now time to tackle the gold medal in Osaka. That will be my main focus this summer.” Benhassi spent some three weeks in April at a training camp in the altitude of Ifrane before returning to her base in Rabat where she lives for most of the year.

Benhassi will be defending ‘Valencia Terra i Mar’ vest at next weekend’s European Teams Cup to be held in Albufeira (Portugal).

...and elsewhere

Poland’s Malgorzata Trybanska took advantage of a strong tailwind of 3.3 to leap 6.81 in the women’s Long Jump and a 11 cm margin over Japan’s Kumiko Ikeda who landed 6.70 (also with an assisting wind of 5.2 m/s).The win in the men’s Discus went to Poland’s 2006 European Cup winner Piotr Malachowski thanks to a 65.18m sixth-round release to overtake Hungary’s Gabor Mate’s 63.19 also set in the final attempt. Britain’s European U-23 4x400 relay silver medallist Martin Steele took the men’s 400m in 46.76 with a 0.2 second advantage over Carlos Santa of the Dominican Republic. America’s Garrett Johnson was the only shot-putter exceeding the 20m barrier thanks to a 20.03 second-round heave, enough to better Poland’s Tomasz Majewski’ 19.60.

Spain’s reigning World High Jump indoor bronze medallist Ruth Beitia gave the local crowd something to cheer about with her 1.94 first-time winning clearance ahead of Canadian Nicole Forrester who had to settle for a 1.89 performance. Olympic 100m silver medallist Francis Obikwelu of Portugal was fastest in the men’s 100 in 10.34 into a headwind of 2.5m/s some 0.06 clear of Jamaica’s Clement Campbell. Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski, 4th at last year’s World Juniors in Beijing at 800m, defeated home hero Antonio Reina with respective times of 1:49.07 and 1:49.44. Yesterday marked Reina’s first appearance since September 2005 as he sustained an injury earlier that year which has prevented him to compete until May 2007.

Spain’s Jackson Quiñónez took revenge of his defeat to the Dutch pair of Gregory Sedoc and Marcel Van der Westen at last March’s European indoor championships. Quiñónez clocked 13.73 in the 110m Hurdles (headwind of 3 m/s) for a handsome win over Van der Westen (13.94) and the European indoor champion Sedoc, third on this occasion in 13.96. Nigerian-born Spain-based Josephine Onyia received Spanish nationality earlier this month and she (a 12.78 100m hurdles specialist) celebrated that feat by winning the 100m flat event (-1.6) in 11.55 ahead of America’s Antonette Carter’s11.78 while World 60m hurdles silver medallist Glory Alozie finished third in 11.90.

Emeterio Valiente for the IAAF