News02 Feb 2009


Christopher aims at 300m meeting record in Karlsruhe

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Tyler Christopher of Canada wins the men's 400m from Johan Wissman (© Getty Images)

World Indoor 400m champion Tyler Chistopher will take on the seldom run distance of 300m at the BW Bank Meeting in Karlsruhe on 15 February.

The BW Bank Meeting is an IAAF Indoor Permit meeting.

The 25th edition of the BW Bank Meeting in Karlsruhe’s Europahalle promises more and more, to be a festival of the World champions and Olympic champions.

The latest name to line-up is Tyler Christopher. The Canadian is the 2008 World Indoor champion at 400m but will race the rarely contested distance of 300m on 15 February.

Germany’s national 400m champion Simon Kirch, and Britain’s former World junior 200m champion Tim Benjamin will be his main opponents.

Christopher’s best time indoors for 300m is 32.53 seconds which he ran in Winnipeg last year (31.77 outdoors in 2004), while Kirch and Benjamin have never run the distance indoors and respectively have career bests of 32.65 (2004) and 32.61 (2002) outdoors

The meeting record was set 20-years-ago by Brazilian Robson de Silva in 32.19 seconds. At that time it was the World best but after standing 17 years USA’s Wallace Spearmon established a new global time of 31.88 seconds (Fayetteville, USA, 10 Feb 2006).

Burka has Olympic champion for company

Ethiopian Gelete Burka’s World record attempt at the women’s Mile has already been announced last month - see 'Related Content' under main photo - but today organisers also confirmed the participation of Olympic 3000m Steeplechase champion Gulnara Samitova-Galkina in the line-up.

Despite the fact that the Russian took the World Indoor Championship bronze over 1500m back in 2004, Burka won’t be too concerned about her new opponent given that at the 'Russian Winter' in Moscow yesterday (1 Feb) Samitova-Galkina could only manage the 12th overall quickest time of the day at 1000m, and after the race confirmed she currently lacks the fitness that took her to a World record (8:58.81) in her Olympic event in Beijing.

Chris Turner for the IAAF

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