News06 Sep 2002


El Guerrouj to consecrate new track of Italian Middle Distance Temple

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Hicham El Guerrouj in Exxon Mobil Bislett Games (© Getty Images Allsport)

Rieti  The Rieti meeting has been part of the prestigious IAAF circuit since 1992 and is known all over the world for the 6 world records and the three European records set in the eighties and the nineties on the magical track of the Raul Guidobaldi stadium. The thirty-second edition of the traditional Grand Prix 2 meeting will take place on Sunday, 8 September.
The tradition of this meeting has continued over the years and the 2002 edition, the last event of the IAAF Grand Prix before the IAAF Grand Prix Final scheduled for 14th September in Paris, will certainly live up to its reputation of “little Oslo”: a temple for middle distance running. 
In 1982, Maricica Puica, Olympic champion over 3000 metres, was the first to break a World Record in Rieti by lowering the previous time of Mary Decker-Slaney over the mile to 4:17.44. The following year it was the turn of legendary British middle distance runner Steve Ovett to run the 1500 metres in 3:30.77, a new World Record. In 1992 and 1993, Noureddine Morceli, the 1996 Olympic champion over the 1500 metres, entered the history books of middle distance running by breaking the records over the 1500 metres (3:28.86) and the mile (3:44.39). Thanks to these legendary achievements Morceli was awarded with the honorary citizenship of Rieti. In 1996 Daniel Komen, excluded from the Kenyan team at the Atlanta Olympics for having finished fourth at the Kenyan trials, crowned his successful post Olympic-season with the fabulous record over the 3000 metres (7:20.77), a mark which neither Haile Gebrselasie nor Hicham El Guerrouj have managed to improve. Last but not least Noah Ngeny, 2000 Olympic champion, took 22 hundredths of a second off Sebastian Coe’s 1981 world record for 1000 metres by running 2:11.96.
Three European records were set by East German Hans Jörg Kunze over the 5000 metres (13:10.40) in 1981 and the high jumper Valery Sereda from the Soviet Union, who cleared 2.37 and was equalled by Carlo Thränhardt of West Germany few minutes later in the same edition of Rieti 1984.
In the same stadium a great men’s high jump competition will be one of the many highlights of the 2002 edition. The European silver medallist Stefan Holm of Sweden, who cleared 2.35 in Zurich this year will face the opposition of his compatriot Staffan Strand, third in Munich, the Olympic champion Sergey Klyugin, the American Matt Hemingway (2.38 last year), the Olympic bronze Abderrahamane Hammad of Algeria and Jan Janku from the Czech Republic.
Other legends of athletics like Michael Johnson, who won four editions of this meeting (1991, 1995, 1999 and 2000), Carl Lewis, Sergey Bubka, Merlene Ottey - three times winner in Rieti (1989, 1990, 1991) - the British myths Seb Coe and Steve Cram, who won respectively the 1500 metres in 3:29.77 and the 800 metres in 1:43.19 and the three times world champion over 3000 steeplechase Moses Kiptanui and Heike Drechsler, who won four editions of this meeting with a best mark of 7.19 in 1991, have made the history of Rieti.
 In the 2002 edition a new Mondo 8 lane track will be inaugurated.
Rieti is scheduled only two days after the final leg of the IAAF Golden League in Berlin and many stars will fly directly from the German capital to Rieti to take part in one of the best Grand Prix 2 meetings of the season.
Hicham El Guerrouj is announced as the big star of this meeting.
At the beginning of the season El Guerrouj expressed his wish to compete in the 5000 metres in Rieti, as the first milestone towards his goal to double 1500 and 5000 metres at the IAAF World Championships in Paris. Then the meeting programme has been changed and the 5000 metres race has been replaced by 3000 metres. Hicham would now like to compete in a final 1500 metres before the Grand Prix Final in Paris. The race will feature also the Spanish Reyes Estevez and Rui Silva, respectively silver and bronze medallists in Munich, the Kenyans Rono, third at the Brussels Golden League meeting in 3:30.99, Rotich and Too, the French steeplechaser Boubdallah Tahri and the young Italian Christian Obrist, who clocked 3:35.74 in the under-23 1500 m at the Golden League in Zurich one week after his excellent seventh place in Munich.       
Wilson Kipketer has decided to run his final 800 metres race of the season in Rieti, on the same track where he clocked an impressive 1:41.83 in 1996. He decided not to compete in Berlin so as to concentrate on the two lap event in Rieti where he will try to improve the world seasonal best of 1:42.74 he clocked at the Brussels Golden League meeting. Wilson’s main opponents will be his former compatriots of Kenya William Yampoi, third best in the world so far this year with 1:43.36 in Brussels and Wilfried Bungei, silver medallist in Edmonton and winner of the B race at the Zurich Weltklasse in 1:43.64, the 20 year-old Antonio Reina, the great Spanish hope after his 1:44.11 in San Sebastian and Pawel Czapiewski of Poland, bronze medallist in Edmonton.
Another traditional highlight in Rieti is the 3000 metres event especially after the world record set by Daniel Komen, a shadow of the former self recently, who will compete in Italy on Sunday against the Moroccan Salah Hissou, still world leader over the 5000 metres with 12:55.85 run at the Rome Golden league.
Sureyya Ayhan of Turkey produced one of the most sensational wins of the whole European Championships in Munich by beating Gabriela Szabo and then set the world seasonal best in Brussels by winning with the greatest ease in 3:57.75. In Rieti she will probably run her usual leading race at a world seasonal best pace.
Not only middle distance running will figure in Rieti. One of the best female pole vaults ever assembled in Italy will see the Olympic and world champion Stacy Dragila and the European champion and record holder Svetlana Feofanova clash for a possible attack on the World Record of 4.81 set by Dragila last year in Palo Alto. Stacy has recently boosted her confidence by clearing 4.72 in Rovereto and 4.62 in Padua after the defeats by Svetlana Feofanova at the Grand Prix meetings in Stockolm and London and the Golden League meeting in Monaco. The starting list also features the German pole vaulters Annika Becker (4.77 at the German championships in Bochum Wattensheid) and Ivonne Bushbaum, bronze medallist in Munich, and the 2000 Olympic silver medallist from Australia, Tatyana Grigorieva.
Shot Put is another world championships- level field event where the starting list features the American John Godina, three times World Champion in 1995,1997 and 2001, the 2000 Olympic champion of Finland Arsi Harju, his compatriot Ville Tisanoja, Andy Bloom from the United States, the European indoor champion from Spain, Manuel Martinez and the Italian Paolo Dal Soglio.
Magdelin Martinez, after her recent 14.58 in Padua, will continue her assault on the Italian record in the triple jump set by Fiona May at the European Cup in Saint Petersburg 1998 (14.65). In Rieti she will face the opposition of Heli Koivula of Finland, runner-up in Munich, Michaela Gindila of Romania, fourth at the 2002 Europeans and Carlota Castrejana of Spain, Spanish record holder with 14.51.
Fabrizio Mori will try to avenge his fourth place in Munich in the 400 hurdles against Jiri Muzik of Czech Republic and Poland’s Pawel Januszewski, who beat the Italian at the European Championships.
The 200 metres has replaced the 100 metres for the women in the timetable of Rieti in the last few days to enable Manuela Levorato, the double bronze medallist in Munich over 100 and 200 metres, to attempt to lower her Italian record (22.60 set at the Sevilla World Champs 1999). Manuela thinks that she has more chances in the longer distance to improve the national record, one of her last goals of the season.
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