Rethymno, Greece - The 21st annual edition of the “Vardinoyiannia” meeting - EAA permit – (10 July) is expected to be one of the most exiting international meets hosted by a Greek city, and in its history it has demonstrate the quality that comes with a World record in 2001, when Cuba’s Osleidys Menendez sent the women’s Javelin to 71.54m.

Isinbayeva of course is expected to break the World record

Just the appearance of Yelena Isinbayeva in the entry list is enough to start talking about a possible new World record. One week after the 4.93m in Lausanne, Isinbayeva goes to Rethymno attempting to reach new heights.

Twice in 2004, Isinbayeva was involved in competitions that produced World records in Greece. Eleven months ago she was the winner of the battle in the Olympic Stadium, breaking the World record with 4.91m and seizing the Olympic gold medal. Just a few months before the Olympics, her compatriot Svetlana Feofanova defeated her in the “Athina 2004” indoor meeting. Feofanova’s performance was 4.85m, a new World indoor record then.

Unfortunately, Feofanova is injured but the Olympic champion will still meet up with two more Olympics finalists, Poland’s Monica Pyrek and Czech’s Pavla Hamackova. Also in the field is Greece’s Afroditi Skafida, who set a national record of 4.48m at the beginning of June.

Menendez returns to the venue of triumph

Four years after her World record attempt, Osleydis Menendez returns to Rethymno, where six of the top-10 performers of the year have entered the meeting. The Cuban duo, Sonja Bisset and Menendez are on the top, after their throws at 67.67m and 66.02m in Salamanca. The Mediterranean Games winner, Greece’s Angeliki Tsiolakoudi with a season’s best at 62.72m (5th world performance), but also Czech’s Barbora Špotáková (6th world mark) Italy’s Zahra Bani and Hungary’s Nikolett Szabó, who hold the seventh and ninth positions in the season’s list are among the other entrants.

Along with them the starting list also includes Greece’s Savva Lika and Spain’s Mercedes Chilla, who have to demonstrate the necessay stability to  throw over 60m.

Oprea and Gregorio in the Triple Jump

The men’s Triple Jump is one more event, where the spectators will watch a competition of the highest possible standard. The two top athletes on the world list, Romania’s Marian Oprea (17.81m) and Brazil’s Jadel Gregorio (17.73m) will compete.

Two Americans, both among the revelations of the event last year, are among the other participants. Kenta Bell, second in the national championships last month and Melvin Lister, second world performer in 2004.  Along with them, Germany’s Charles Friedek, fourth on the world list this year with 17.39m, Cuba’s David Giralt, Ukraine’s Vyktor Yastrebov, Greece’s Konstantinos Zalagitis, and the Mediterranean champion from Almeria, Hristos Meletoglou, all with season’s bests over 17 metres seem ready to compete at a very high level.

Riedel vs Alekna

Two legends of the Discus Throw, Germany’s Lars Riedel, the only thrower with five gold medals in the World Championships, and the World and Olympic Champion, Virjilius Alekna stop in Rethymno, on their way to Helsinki. Alekna threw a world leading 70.53m in Lausanne, while one more participant of the meeting, Estonia’s Gerd Kanter is the second best Discus thrower who has exceeded the 70 metres line this year.
 
The impressing entries also include the Olympic’s finalist Gabor Mate of Hungary (65.42m this year) and his compatriot Ronald Varga (65.12m)

Fast sprinters in men’s and women’s races

Leonard Scott, has already secured his participation in the World Championships, winning the bronze medal of the USA championships. In Rethymno, he faces Mark Jelks who has ran a 10.02 this year, and Jamaica’s Dwight Thomas with a season’s best at 10.05. Brian Lewis of USA, South Africa’s Morne Nagel and Cuba’s Freddy Mayola are also going to compete in the 100m race.

Jamaican Christopher Williams and Zimbabwe’s Brian Dzingai have entered in the 200m races, where they’ll have the chance to meet with the Olympics finalist, Mauritius’ Stephane Buckland.

Rachelle Smith, second in the 100m final of the US Championships, tops the entry list of the women’s dash, which also includes the European Indoor Championship silver medallist, Greece’s Georgia Kokloni, but also Cameroon’s Myriam Mani, and Ukraine’s Olena Pastushenko.

Three more Americans, Stephanie Durst, Crystal Cox and Angelique Smith are the main entrants in the women’s 200 metres.

Calatayud in the 800m, Chepchumba in the steeplechase

“Vardinoyiannia 2005” will provide one more test for Cuba’s Zulia Calatayud, less than a month before the World Championships. Calatayud was 8th in the Olympics, but this season has shown impressive potential, especially after her win in Lausanne, where she defeated the best 800m runner this year, Russia’s Svetlana Cherkasova. In Rethymno, the Cuban, already second in the world list with 1.58.07 will be challenged by Germany’s Monica Gradzki (2.01.00), American Alice Schmidt (2.01.20), Morroco’s Seltana Ait Hammou (2.01.54), but also a Greek athlete, Maria Papadopoulou who has set the 5th European performance of the year with 1.59.79.

In the 3000m steeplechase, Kenya’s Salome Chepchumba and Hungary’s Livia Toth, third and fourth respectively in the fast race which took place in the Athens Super Grand Prix (14 June), are the entrants with the better season’s marks.

Johnson, Zushkov, Pate and Tsatoumas in the Long Jump

Luis Tsatoumas who won in Prague and Salamanca increasingly returns to stability in producing jumps over 8m. With a season’s best of 8.14m, the former Under-23 European champion needs to improve further in order to meet the high standard for the World Championships (8.20m), but also the national record for Greece, which is always in his sights.

In Rethymno, Tsatoumas will experience a tough competition from Americans Miguel Pate and Brian Johnson, third and fourth in the world list this year, but also Ukraine’s Volodymir Zushkov who has a season’s best of 8.31m.

Mauritius’s Arnaud Casquette (8.12m.) and Romania’s Bogdan Tarus, 8th in the Olympics last year, upgrade even more the level of the competition, while Greece’s Dimitrios Filindras and Asterios Nousios also enter the meeting seeking the standards for the World Championships.

Close competition expected in the men’s Hammer Throw

The men’s Hammer Throw features some of the most famous throwers. Two Athens finalists are going to Rethymno, Germany’s Karsten Kobs and Hungary’s Kristian Pars. Sydney’s Olympic Champion, Szymon Ziolkowski, the bronze medallist of the European Championships in 2000, Alexandros Papadimitriou, the World Athletics Final winner Olli-Pekka Karjalainen of Finland, Croatia’s András Haklits and Germany’s Klose Holger are also strong rivals for the Olympics finalists.

More Olympians in the other events

In the men’s High Jump, South African Jacques Freitag, the World champion who jointly tops the world list this year, competes with Poland’s Grzegorz Sposób who has cleared 2.30m. Americans Keith Moffat, third in the US national championships, and Jesse Williams, as well as Cyprus’ Ioannis Konstantinou.

The Olympic bronze medallist for the 110m Hurdles in the Olympics, Anier Garcia of Cuba faces the second best world performer of the season, American Dominique Arnold, who won in Rome on Friday, but also his American compatriots Arend Watkins and Anwar Moore, who have both clocked 13.23 this year.

The silver 400m medallist of the European Championships, Spain’s David Canal, runs in the one lap sprint with Jamel Ashley, the fastest participant of the event with 44.75 this season, and Australian John Steffensen, silver medallist in the Olympics with the Australian relay team. American Terry Beard, Carlos Santa of Dominican Republic, Zimbabwe’s Young Talkmore Nyongani and Congo’s Gary Kikaya, are also included in the entry list of the event.

Spain’s Glory Alozie participates in the 100m Hurdles with Cuba’s Anay Tejeda, Poland’s Aurelia Triwianska and Canada’s Priscilla Lopes

Michalis Nikitaridis for the IAAF