Aziz Zakari of Ghana wins the men's 100m at the Paris Golden League meeting (© Getty Images)
With fifteen mainline events being staged during tomorrow night’s three hour international programme of the Borotalco Golden Gala, the second leg of the TDK Golden League 2005, Italy’s premier meeting can rightly be delighted to have attracted ten of last summer’s individual Olympic champions.
The three standout men’s events are of course the men’s 100m dash and the 110m Hurdles, and in the infield the High Jump, while in the women’s category, perhaps Tatyana Lebedeva’s consistent 15m Triple jumping should be given the most attention. But more of all these already well publicised competitions later…
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8 July, 10.30hrs GMT - NEWS UPDATE - We have been informed by the meeting organisation that, unfortunately, in the last couple of hours both Asafa Powell (groin injury) and Allen Johnson (left calf muscle injury) have announced their withdrawal from tonight's meet.
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On the Jackpot trail
If it is a TDK Golden League meeting that means a $1 million Jackpot is on offer. Eleven out of the twelve winners from the qualifying TDK Golden League events at last Friday’s opening meeting in Paris St-Denis will compete again this Friday (8 July) in the Italian capital’s Olympic Stadium.
Only Kenenisa Bekele (men’s 3000m/5000m) has decided not to continue his quest for at least a portion of the $1 million TDK Golden League Jackpot, which awaits any athlete who wins his or her discipline at each of the six TDK Golden League 2005 meets, and then also competes at the World Athletics Final (Fri 9 / Sat 10 September).
World champions Kipchoge and Shaheen on show
Bekele’s absence from the 5000m might have denied the meeting a jackpot full house and an eleventh Athens champion but the large 26 man field is full of talent. Abebe Dinkessa, Bekele’s determined challenger in both the Olympic champion’s races this summer, Hengelo (10,000m) and Paris (5000m), is one of five top young Ethiopian talents on parade. However, the ace in the race is World champion Eluid Kipchoge of Kenya, who leads a posse of another eight Kenyans, including World Junior champion Augustine Choge, and Isaac Songok. The latter recently inflicted a surprise defeat on Kipchoge in the Kenyan World Championship trials.
Kenyans will of course be to the fore in the 3000m Steeplechase. Athens silver and bronze medallists, Brimin kipruto and Paul Kipsiele Koech, will lead the nation’s charge. However, without Olympic champion Ezekiel Kemboi on which to trust, top honours are set to be taken by their former compatriot, Saif Saaeed Shaheen, the World champion and World recordholder. Amazingly, on the times run this year nearly eight seconds separates the Qatari from the best of the rest who will assemble in Rome.
Ramzi ready to spring a surprise once more?
The surprise of the flat middle distances could be Rashid Ramzi, and if that name rings a loud bell, it is because the Bahraini, formerly Moroccan, won here last summer at 1500m (3:30.25), ahead most notably of a then out of sorts Hicham El Guerrouj. While Ramzi’s more illustrious former compatriot did more than recover later in the season to take an historic Olympic 1500m and 5000m double, matters went into reverse for Ramzi in the Greek capital, as he failed to even reach the Olympic final.
Ramzi, according to his manager John Nubani, has grown from that experience in Athens and is intent on making amends for his Olympic failure when he competes this summer in Helsinki at the World Championships. Last Tuesday in Lausanne, Ramzi, who it is easy to forget is the World Indoor 800m silver medallist, stormed to an impressive two-lap personal best win over much of the world’s elite at 800m (1:44.73). So he obviously has speed aplenty.
In opposition to Ramzi at 1500m is TDK Golden League Jackpot contender Daniel Kipchirchir Komen, and of course, Olympic silver and bronze medallists Bernard Lagat (USA) and Rui Silva (POR), to name but three others of a classy 17 man field.
Without Ramzi in the 800m, Jackpot contender William Yiampoy (KEN), the African champion, is an obvious name to highlight but with Olympic and World champions, Yuriy Borzakovskiy (RUS) and Said Guerni (ALG), competing, Yiampoy doesn’t want to start any spending of that $1 million just yet!
For a discipline which has yet to fire on all cylinders this summer, it seems a strange choice to close the Rome meeting with the women’s 1500m but that is the schedule tomorrow. More certain pyrotechnics will take place five minutes later when the Fireworks display begins. If there ever was an invitation for half-a- dozen women’s 1500m runners to run well inside 4 minutes to prove this smug writer wrong, I don’t know of one!
Cherkasova and Masai will find it tough
The focus of the women’s middle and long distance races will be the 800m and 5000m, and the respective merits of the Jackpot contenders Svetlana Cherkasova (RUS) and Edith Masai (Ken). The Russian who looked so confident and full of speed in Paris, was but a shadow of herself in Lausanne on Tuesday when she looked very heavy legged. Her main opponent in Rome is World champion Maria Mutola who was equally short of condition herself in Paris.
In the 5000m, Masai’s problems are more stark than the Russian’s at 800m, as the World 5000m bronze medallist faces Olympic champion Meseret Defar, and World gold medallist Tirunesh Dibaba among the 30 strong line-up of runners.
Impressive one laps
The line-ups for the two flat 400m contests possess impressive talent even with the absence of two principal players Olympic champions, Jeremy Wariner and Tonique Williams-Darling. But with junior phenomenon LaShawn Merrit and early season ‘Wariner conqueror’, Darold Williamson in the men’s, and in the women’s, World champion Ana Guevara, and Sanya Richards, who killed off Williams-Darling in Lausanne this week, we have races in prospect to savour.
There are also two quality one lap Hurdles to enjoy. Here Paris winner James Carter and women’s World champion Jana Pittman, who tied up dreadfully a week ago in the same meet, are two of the gilt edged stocks in a what is a line-up of blue chip men’s and women’s 400m Hurdlers. It is on USA champion Lashinda Demus, who emphatically beat Pittman in Paris that Jackpot hopes rest.
Johnson and Gatlin – Lausanne cramps
Then we also have the surely unsurpassable men’s 110m Hurdles. Allen Johnson (a left calf cramp in Lausanne caused his withdrawal) and Liu Xiang, along with their Paris conqueror and new French national record holder, Ladji Doucouré - Jackpot contender - are the main triumvirate of stars. Frankly though any of the field could pull of the win…that’s the kind of quality on show in Rome.
Click here for earlier Rome 110m Hurdles story
In the flat 100m dash, we have already waxed lyrical this summer about the respective merits of Olympic champion Justin Gatlin and World record holder Asafa Powell.
Click here for earlier Rome 100m story
Gatlin was run out of the field in Lausanne on Tuesday by the French record recorded by Ronald Pognon (9.99). The American confirmed today that he had suffered a left hamstring cramp. With Jackpot contender Aziz Zakari of Ghana, another 9.99 performer this summer, in the mix, the 100m is set to be one of the highlights of Rome’s show.
Respectful rivals
Both men were respectful of each other today. Gatlin confirmed that, “competing against Asafa is always a great race…I have a lot of respect for him and I think he does for me….he had no one pushing him when he set the record (9.77 WR), so his run was even more special then you can imagine.”
A softly spoken, even shy, Powell in response summed up his opponent with the words, “he is a great competitor who is always breathing down my neck!”
Christine Arron (FRA) is the Jackpot contender in the women’s dash. As well as Olympic silver medallist Lauryn Williams (100m) and Allyson Felix (200m), a quartet of Americans is completed by their last two national champions, LaTasha Colander (2004) and MeLisa Barber (2005).
The Olympic final comes to town
The men’s High Jump is also too close to call. Olympic champion Stefan Holm (SWE) and World gold medallist Jacques Freitag (RSA) are the ‘two’ global titlists on show but with the entire Olympic Final top-8 on view, there are too many talents from which to choose for the win. Holm is the Jackpot contender.
Click here for earlier Rome High Jump story
Mopping up the remaining Olympic champions on show in the non-TDK Golden League events…
In the women’s 100m Hurdles, Joanna Hayes (USA) seems to have the measure of World champion Perdita Felicien (CAN) so far this season. The latter took a dreadful tumble while leading in Lausanne which must have revived painful memories of her first hurdle exit fall in the Olympic final.
The men’s Pole Vault features Tim Mack whose Olympic title and six metre feats at the World Athletics Final now must seem a distant memory for the American who flopped out of contention for the Helsinki World Championships team at the recent USATF nationals. In the men’s Long Jump, Olympic champion Dwight Phillips is qualified for Helsinki but was topped at the US championships by Miguel Pate, who also lines up here in Rome.
Pitkämäki and Lebedeva contenders for the prize
The remaining two Athens individual gold medallists competing tomorrow are Olympic Javelin Throw champion Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway, and Russian Tatyana Lebedeva, the Long Jump winner but who is the outstanding favourite in the women’s Triple Jump tomorrow, a discipline for which she is double World outdoor champion.
Thorkildsen, for the second time this summer found himself beaten by Finland’s Tero Pitkämäki, the world’s sixth longest thrower ever, in Paris last week, and so it is the Norwegian who finds himself as the challenger to the Jackpot contending Finn.
There were no similar challengers to Lebedeva, who with her 15.11m and 15.05m wins in Paris and Lausanne, is currently the only athlete this season to have surpassed 15m. If anyone of the eleven TDK Jackpot contenders looks to be a firm bet than it is definitely the Russian.
Chris Turner
IAAF Editorial Manager
