Breaux Greer sets a new American record in Carson (© Kirby Lee)
When the IAAF Golden League 2007 kicks off at the ExxonMobil Bislett Games in one week's time at Oslo's Bislett Stadium, there's little doubt as to who will be taking centre stage, certainly as far as the crowd in the Norwegian capital is concerned: reigning Olympic and European Javelin Throw champion Andreas Thorkildsen.
At last year's IAAF Golden League kick-off, the 25-year-old lived up to his meet poster boy billing after throwing a national record 91.59m to win the star-studded competition by more than three metres and to move up to the No. 6 spot among throwers all-time. In his most consistent season, Thorkildsen went onto win the Golden League contests in Rome, Brussels and Berlin, before finishing his season with victories at the World Athletics Final and World Cup to finish 2006 as the event's undisputed No. 1.
Thorkildsen has illustrated solid consistency in his initial outings this spring, opening with two wins in IAAF World Athletics Tour meets - 81.10m in Dakar, 28 April, and 86.39m in Doha, 11 May - and following up with an 87.24m effort in Kuortane, Finland, last weekend. There he finished second to long-time Nordic rival Tero Pitkämäki of Finland, who opened his season with an 87.78 throw.
The Finn, also a member of the event's exclusive 90-metre club with a 91.53m career best from 2005, is also headed to Oslo where he hopes to build upon his notable 2006 season, which included Golden League victories in Paris and Zurich, and a European silver medal. He also wishes to bag another win against Thorkildsen, this time on Norwegian’s home turf, as he did at the oslo meeting in 2005. In this particular rivalry, Thorkildsen beat Pitkämäki in six of their ten meetings last year, but the Finn holds a narrow 13-12 advantage overall.
Yet on paper, the favourite appears to be American Breaux Greer, who signalled a strong return to the event’s upper echelon after extending his own U.S. record to 90.71m in Carson, Calif., two weeks ago. It was the first venture into 90-metre territory for the 30-year-old American, whose standout career has been interrupted by injury in recent years. Greer is now advised by Finland’s former event head coach, Kari Ihalainen.
With seven consecutive national titles, Greer has dominated the U.S. scene over most of the past decade, but took an enormous step forward at the adidas Track Classic last month when he added more than three metres to his previous national record. In his series, he speared four of his five legal throws beyond the 87 metre mark, and backed up his career best effort with an 89.55.
Greer is anything but a one-hit wonder who has already made headlines and stolen the spotlight in Norway. Three years ago, when the Bislett Games were temporarily moved to Bergen while its Oslo home was being renovated, Greer won the competition with a then national record 87.39, beating event giants 2003 World champion Sergey Makarov of Russia and Thorkildsen among others.
Makarov, also twice an Olympic bronze medallist, is at 34 now the event’s elder statesman. But he too has already thrown beyond 87 metres this season, finishing second in Dessau, Germany last weekend with an 87.05 effort, and is always a threat on his best day. In the German city, he was defeated by Latvian Vadims Vasilevskis, another 90-metre thrower, who reached 87.56 and is also on the Oslo bill. A pair of relative newcomers, Swede Magnus Avidsson and Cuban Guillermo Martinez could also make some waves in the competitive atmosphere that the legendary Norwegian stadium always delivers.
Bislett Stadium is no stranger to 90-metre throws. No less than four competitions - Raymond Hecht (92.60) in 1995, Thorkildsen last year, Jan Zelezny (90.56) in 2000, and Pitkämäki (90.54) in 2005 – have produced winning efforts beyond that still-magical barrier.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
IAAF Golden League - Dates and venues in 2007:
Friday 15 June, OSLO, NOR
Friday 6 July, PARIS, FRA
Friday 13 July, ROME, ITA
Friday 7 September, ZURICH, SUI
Friday 14 September, BRUSSELS, BEL
Sunday 16 September, BERLIN, GER
IAAF Golden League Jackpot in 2007:
$1 Million Prize
Successful claimants of the $1 Million Jackpot must win their event (a list of applicable jackpot events is shown below) at ALL SIX meetings of the IAAF Golden League.
However, should NO athlete manage to attain six wins and claim the $1 Million, then anyone with five victories will share half the original prize - $500,000.
NOTE. this secondary prize is only on offer should nobody win his or her event at all six meetings.
All winners must compete at the IAAF World Athletics Final to be eligible for their share of the Jackpot.
IAAF Golden League Jackpot Events in 2007:
MEN: 100m, 1500m, 110m Hurdles, Triple Jump, Javelin Throw;
WOMEN: 100m, 400m, 100m Hurdles, High Jump, Pole Vault.
