Isinbayeva clears a new World record of 4.92 in Brussels (© Getty Images)
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The start-list of the World Athletics Final is decided according to the IAAF World Rankings, with athletes who are in the top 7 positions (11 positions for the races of 1500m and over) in each event automatically qualifying.
The date upon which the IAAF Rankings are calculated with respect to the World Athletics Final, is after the TDK Golden League meeting in Berlin on Sunday 12 September, which is the last IAAF outdoor meeting of the season.
Consequently, our previews are as accurate as possible given that no one can predict the results which might occur during the course of the next week or if an athlete is available or fit enough to compete.
Click here to go to the current IAAF World Rankings------------
Jumps
Men - High Jump, Pole Vault, Long Jump, Triple Jump
Some of the sport’s brightest stars this year have emerged from the jumps and many of those will cap their respective seasons at the World Athletics Final. As with many events, the men’s High Jump features virtually the entire start list from the Olympic final, led by gold medallist Stefan Holm. Undefeated in 18 competitions this year, the World Indoor champion intends to extend his streak another notch while improving on his runner-up finish here last year.
American Matt Hemingway, who cleared a season’s best 2.34 to claim the silver, and Czech Jaroslav Bába, who leaped a personal best 2.34 to capture the bronze, will be in Monaco as well. American champion Jamie Nieto, whose 2.34 in Athens was also a personal best, aims to improve on his third place finish in last year’s inaugural edition.
The Athens podium trio in the pole vault will also bring their stellar seasons to a conclusion in Monaco. Olympic champion Tim Mack raised the Olympic record to 5.95 in Athens, topping compatriot Toby Stevenson, the year’s only six-metre performer. Giuseppe Gibilisco of Italy, the bronze medallist in Athens, and Russian Igor Pavlov, who scaled a personal best 5.80 for fourth at the Olympics, will compete as well.
Hoping to bounce back from sub-par efforts in Athens will be defending champion Tim Lobinger, and 2002 European champion Aleksandr Averbukh, who performed consistently in his lead up to the Olympics.
Olympic champion Dwight Phillips, who has dominated the long jump since his leap to the World Indoor title in 2003, leads a field that boasts the top six finishers from Athens. The reigning World champion, 2004 world leader and perhaps the only solid favorite leading up to the Games, the American took care of business early on in Athens, with an opening round leap of 8.59 to top the deepest competition in Olympic history.
In Monaco, he will be an overwhelming favourite to defend his World Athletics Final title. Silver medallist John Moffitt, this year’s NCAA champion, is the second farthest jumper of the year after his 8.47 leap in Athens, and he too will be in Monaco. Spaniard Joan Lino Martinez, Jamaican James Beckford and Briton Christopher Tomlinson, third, fourth and fifth in Athens, all reached seasonal bests in the Olympic final, and earned their ticket to Monaco. Young Ghanaian Ignisious Gaisah, third here last year, returns as well after a respectable sixth place finish in Athens.
Christian Olsson didn’t let the pressure of being the favourite in Athens get the best of him. Indeed, he seemed to revel in it, producing a 17.79 outdoor personal best, just four centimeters shy of his world indoor record, to strike Olympic gold. Depending on the outcome of the Berlin leg of the TDK Golden League, Olsson could arrive in Monaco half a million dollars richer, producing a momentum that will be difficult to stop.
But Olympic silver medallist Marian Oprea, who dealt the Swede his only defeat of the season and his first in a year-and-a-half, will be eager to strike again in Monaco, Olsson’s home away from home. The young Romanian reached a personal best 17.55 in Athens to beat back the challenge of Russian Danila Burkenya, who was forced to settle for bronze. He too will be in Monaco. Brazil’s Jadel Gregorio, the gentle giant of the event, looks to improve on his fifth place effort in Athens.
Women - High Jump, Pole Vault, Long Jump, Triple Jump
Just a year after claiming the IAAF’s Athlete of the Year honors, South African Hestrie Cloete is now struggling to maintain her status as the world ’s top high jumper. Yelena Slesarenko, the World indoor champion, leaped to Olympic gold in fine style, setting an Olympic record 2.06 in the process. Outdoors, her lone loss of the season came in Rome, where she finished second to Cloete on the count back. She has been nearly flawless since, producing several solid attempts at a world record 2.10.
Joining the Gold and silver medallists will be Ukraine’s Viktoriya Styopina, whose personal best 2.02 was enough to capture the bronze, and American Amy Acuff, who was fourth in Athens.
Blanka Vlašic, who raised her Croatian national record to 2.03 in Ljubljana just prior to the Olympics, is looking to bounce back from a disappointing 11th place showing in Athens.
With the Yelena Isinbayeva – Svetlana Feofanova rivalry continuing in Monaco, the women’s Pole Vault promises to be among the marquee events, if not the premiere offering of the two-day competition. Since capturing Olympic gold with a world record 4.91 clearance, Isinbayeva has already improved the mark, raising it a centimeter in Brussels last weekend. Feofanova, forced to watch both efforts helplessly from the sidelines, settled for silver in Athens. Last year, Feofanova beat her rival here just a few weeks after winning the world title, and hopes to end the season duplicating that performance.
Yet despite the gap the two Russians have opened on the rest of the world, surprises can emerge. Last year’s winner was yet another Russian, Tatyana Polnova, who in Brussels raised her PB to 4.72 in Brussels. Poland’s powerful pole vaulting 1-2 punch, Anna Rogowska and Monika Pyrek, have qualified for spots in Monaco as well. Rogowska took the bronze in Athens with a 4.70 leap, with Pyrek finishing fourth. Last weekend, Pyrek continued her hot streak, raising the national record to 4.72. American Stacy Dragila, the former World and Olympic champion, has perhaps the most to prove after a disappointing performance in the Olympic qualifying round.
Leading the horizontal jumps is double Olympic medallist Tatyana Lebedeva. The Russian, who leaped to double gold at the World Indoor championships in March, nearly duplicated the feat in Athens, winning the Long Jump and claiming the bronze in the Triple Jump.
The Long Jump will also include the remaining two-thirds of the Russian Olympic podium sweep, Irina Simagina and Tatyana Kotova, who both reached 7.05 in Athens, a mere two centimeters behind Lebedeva. Australian Bronwyn Thompson and American Marion Jones, fourth and fifth in Athens, are slated to compete as well. For Jones, who left Athens empty handed after her winning five medals four years ago in Sydney, Monaco would provide one last chance to end her comeback from maternity leave on an up note.
In Athens, the top four triple jumpers performed beyond the still formidable 15-metre mark, and all will be competing in Monaco.
The strongest field of the year is led by by Olympic champion Françoise Mbango Etone of Cameroun, who reached an African record 15.30 in Athens. Hrysopiyí Devetzí of Greece, who thrilled the Olympic stadium crowd with her 15.25 silver medal leap, is hoping to take centre stage one last time. Jamaican Trecia Smith, who extended the Commonwealth record to 15.16 this year, along with Yamilé Aldama, fourth and fifth respectively in Athens, fill out the field.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
The men’s Pole Vault, horizontal jumps and women’s High Jump are scheduled for Saturday, with the men’s High Jump, women’s Pole Vault, Long jump and Triple Jump on Sunday.
IAAF World Athletics Final
Monaco, MON, 18 and 19 September 2004.
