El Guerrouj eclipses world stars
in Weltklasse thriller
Nick Davies for the IAAF
11 August 1999 - Cloudy skies may have ruined the Zürich public’s enjoyment of the solar eclipse earlier today but the Weltklasse lived up to its reputation as the world’s greatest one day meeting. Witnessed by a capacity crowd, this latest stage of the highly successful IAAF Golden League proved a fitting dress rehearsal for the IAAF World Championships which begin in Seville on August 20. Only those nursing injuries - like Allen Johnson, Colin Jackson, Michael Johnson and Ato Boldon – missed a great show.
There were four athletes in contention for the $1 million dollar IAAF Golden League Jackpot at the start of the Weltklasse and the same four – Marion Jones, Gabriela Szabo, Bernard Baramasi and Wilson Kipketer – achieved their fifth consecutive victories tonight.
The first Golden League event of the evening was the steeplechase, where Bernard Barmasai was far less emphatic than in Monaco where he finished almost 10 seconds ahead of the next to place – due to a spirited attack from Christopher Kosgei. Safely tucked in behind his pacemakers Josphat Kapkory and Eliud Barngetuny, Barmasai eased through the opening laps before bursting into the lead with 1000 metres to go. Only Kosgei dared to challenge, but Barmasai refused to yield and sprinted home in 8:05.16 with his countryman second in 8:05.43. "After the Monaco meeting I have been training very hard," said Barmasai, "so I was not as relaxed as usual." Back in fourth place, last year’s World Cup winner Damian Kallabis set a German national record of 8:09.48 and could soon threaten the European record (8:07.62).
However hard she is pushed, and both Zahra Ouaziz and Paula Radcliffe did that tonight, Gabriela Szabo is simply unbeatable at 3000 metres. With three laps to go of a terrific race, Szabo was being shadowed by Ouaziz, Radcliffe, Tegla Loroupe and the Russian Maria Pantyukhova . At 2000 metres – reached in 5:39.48 by Radcliffe – Szabo and Ouaziz were the only ones left in contention, and at the bell, Ouaziz moved into the lead. But the Romanian was waiting, and with 250 metres to go she pounced, sprinting past the Moroccan to open up a decisive lead. Szabo finished in 8:25.03 – a meeting record and the fastest time of the year – with Ouaziz second in an African record of 8:26.48 and Radcliffe third, setting a British and Commonwealth record of 8:27.40. Radcliffe has now set national records at 3000m, 5000m and 10,000m this summer. Szabo said: "I am in great shape and this time says a lot about what I can do in the 5000m in Seville. Today my concentration was good – I knew that the other girls would try a fast pace but no-one can beat me in a sprint."
Denmark’s world record holder Wilson Kipketer has wisely restricted his competitive outings to the minimum to avoid any recurrence of the illnesses that wrecked his 1998 season. But what is lacking in quantity is more than made up for in quality and Kipketer dazzled with speed and style again in Zürich. After a first lap of 50.03, Kipketer chased the pacemaker hard down the back straight, before opening a gap on the chasing pack in the last 100 metres. Crossing the line in 1:43.01, the Dane had three metres to spare on South Africa’s Hezekiel Sepeng, the only other man to break 1:44 (1:43.66).
In the women’s 200m, yet again, Marion Jones won, and yet again, Inger Miller was not that far behind. Jones powered into the lead around the bend, but Miller closed fast at the finish as the two Americans clocked 22.10 and 22.19 respectively, some way ahead of their rivals.
One of the most eagerly awaited events of the night was the men’s 1500m, where Noah Ngeny was expected to give the world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj a tough challenge. But the Morrocan went into the lead with 550 metres to go and simply destroyed his rival. Hitting the bell in 2:33, El Guerrouj maintained a lead of 10 metres over Ngeny right until the line, without strain, slowing to a jog to stop the clock at 3:28.57. The ease of his victory - with his only likely rival almost two seconds adrift - makes gold in Seville seem like a cast iron certainty. "To me, this was a very important win because I have had health problems since Rome. But I am confident again now and will return to Morocco for my final preparations."
Another man in dominant mood was Haile Gebrselassie. The Ethiopian again showed why he is considered the greatest distance runner of all time, winning the 5000m in 12:49.64, the best in the world this year. It was not so much the victory but the way he first caught Salah Hissou on the last lap and then surged clear to finish over 20 metres ahead at the finish. It was an awesome display in a race where Hissou (12:53.45) and Benjamin Limo (12:55.86) also dipped under the hallowed 13 minute barrier.
Cuba’s Ivan Pedroso showed he is not letting the drama surrounding his close friend Javier Sotomayor to affect his own performance as he overcame two of his toughest rivals to win the long jump. Pedroso soared out to 8.39 with his first effort, then no-jumped twice and passed the remaining rounds. It later emerged that he had a slight strain: "I have some pain in my left calf. But I don’t want to take any risks before the physios can get at me." James Beckford was second with 8.27 and Spain’s great hope Yago Lamela only fourth with 8.18.
Obadele Thompson gave Maurice Greene a tough race in the 100m but the world record holder found an extra gear in the last 20 metres to ease away from the Barbadian and clock yet another sub-10 sec performance. Greene’s 9.99 was three hundredths faster than Thompson with fast starting Canadian Bruny Surin third with 10.06. Greene, who has lost just one 100m race all season (to training partner and arch-rival Ato Boldon in the IAAF Grand Prix in Lausanne on 2 July, where Boldon dipped across the line in 9.86 to Greene's 9.93 second place), commented after the race "the best part of my race was the finish. It was a good performance because there was a headwind (-0.7 mps)" Thompson came back later to contest the 200m but he lost out to Frank Fredericks in a close finish – 20.23 to 20.26.
As expected, the biggest roar of the night was reserved for the Swiss star Anita Weyermann. The tiny middle distance runner didn’t disappoint, chasing Romania’s Violeta Beclea-Szekely hard around the last lap of a superb 1500m. She couldn’t quite catch Beclea-Szekely, who clocked 3:59.31, a world best for the season, but she still dipped under the 4 minute barrier with 3:59.82.
In the absence of World and Olympic champion Michael Johnson, fellow American Jerome Young comfortably won the 400m in 44.33. Although hardly a vintage year for the quarter mile, Young is showing the most consistency, having won in London last Saturday and in Stockholm before that.
The men’s pole vault was not as dramatic as in the last Golden League in Monaco. Jeff Hartwig won with 5.91, but the next two, Andrey Tivontchik and Vadim Strogalyev could only manage 5.80 and Maksim Tarasov, who has cleared 6.05 this season, just 5.70.
As is usual in the Weltklasse, there were stunning performances even before the start of the main Golden League programme. Benjamin Kipkurui ran 3:33.16 to set a new world junior record in the B 1500m while in the B 400m hurdles, Britain’s Chris Rawlinson made a stunning breakthrough by winning in 48.14, an improvement of 0.7 seconds on the time he ran to finish 5th in the recent World Student Games. Rawlinson would actually have won the A race with his performance, as Angelo Taylor clocked 48.15 to win that event. Only two men have run faster than the Briton anywhere this season.
