World Athletics Gala 2003 (© IAF)
MonteCarloAll eyes will be on the Principality of Monaco this weekend when, right after the conclusion of competition at the inaugural World Athletics Final in the Stade Louis II, the prestigious annual World Athletics Gala will be hosted for the first time in the Grimaldi Forum, Monte-Carlo, by International Athletic Foundation President HSH Crown Prince Albert of Monaco and IAAF President Lamine Diack.
Over 280 of the world’s top athletics stars who, over the course of the weekend will have entertained and enthralled us with their performances in the World Athletics Final, will be the special guests at this annual celebration. There will be many past champions in attendance too including Michael Johnson, Edwin Moses, Colin Jackson and Jonathan Edwards.
Highlight of this worldwide Live TV Award Show will of course be the annual awards ceremony for the Male and Female World Athletes of the Year, which this year will be the top placed athletes in the Overall IAAF World Rankings directly after the World Athletics Final. In the current Rankings 1500m star Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco would seem to have a comfortable lead over Ethiopia’s long distance maestro Kenenisa Bekele, while there is a ‘neck and neck’ battle in the women’s Rankings between South Africa’s Hestrie Cloete the double World High Jump champion, and Carolina Kluft of Sweden, the 21 year-old Combined Events marvel.
The evening’s show will begin in spectacular fashion with a performance by singing sensation Dannii Minogue. Dannii has released 3 albums, and had a notable hit with the single "Love And Kisses". She is also a part-time actress and host in the UK, after having a successful soap opera career in her native Australia. She is also the little sister of Kylie Minogue and is engaged to Grand Prix motor racing driver Jacques Villeneuve.
The rest of the Gala Show that follows will give us a chance to review the Athletics world of 2003 with video sequences of the recent World Championships in Paris 2003 Saint-Denis, the World Indoor Championships which took place in Birmingham last March, and even action from the weekend’s World Athletics Final. There will also be interviews with many of the stars of our sport including Hicham El Guerrouj, Carolina Klüft, Hestrie Cloete, Robert Korzeniowski….
The Gala which will be televised to the world by host broadcasters the IAAF and the European Broadcast Union will also give the Athletics’ family the opportunity to honour outstanding careers, inspirational figures, life time achievers and rising stars.
Click here for 1st IAAF World Athletics Final Monaco 2003 - Local Organising Committee site
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