Irving Saladino roars with approval at his gold medal jump in the sixth and final round (© Getty Images)
European Long Jump champion Andrew Howe, the World silver medallist in Osaka, may be sidelined by injury but the spectators on Sunday in Rieti will still be entertained by the nine newly crowned champions from last week’s 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Osaka 2007. The beautiful small central Italian town of Rieti will play host to the second of two Italian legs of the IAAF World Athletics Tour 2007 (WAT) on Sunday 9 September.
Local heroes
Rieti, an IAAF Grand Prix status meeting as part of the WAT, will miss the competitive spirit of Howe who will not compete due to a heel injury sustained during the World Championships. In the Japanese port city, Howe extinguished the long-standing national record of Giovanni Evangelisti with 8.47m with his the last attempt though he was immediately surpassed for gold by Irving Saladino’s 8.57m South American record in a dramatic last round to the final.
“I am sorry to miss Rieti but I don’t want to risk more serious injury. But I am looking forward to receiving a very warm welcome from my friends and fans on Sunday,” said Howe who will be a VIP guest at the meet.
However, Saladino will jump in the Raul Guidobaldi Stadium in Rieti in a competition which also features Ukraine’s Oleksy Lukasevich and South Africa’s Ghodfrey Khotso Mokoena, respectively fourth and fifth in Osaka.
Italian women's High Jump record holder Antonietta Di Martino will carry the major hopes of a home win. Di Martino equalled her own Italian record of 2.03m when winning a splendid silver medal in Osaka after sustaining a foot injury in her build-up to the World Championships. In Rieti the high jumper from Cava dei Tirreni will face again Anna Chicherova who shared second place with her in Osaka.
“The fact that we shared the silver medal at the World Championships will make the Rieti competition more exciting. In front of the italian crowd I am looking forward to celebrating a silver medal which is the icing on the cake of a great season for me,” said Di Martino.
Powell ducks Zürich
In the spotlight on the 100m straight will be Asafa Powell who will be looking to bounce back from the disappointment of his third place in Osaka. In the dash, Powell, the World record holder with 9.77, will clash his distant cousin Derrick Atkins from the Bahamas who lowered his national record to 9.91 in Osaka to finish second ahead the Jamaican. Atkins has had a very consistent World Athletics Tour season in which he has won in Athens, Paris and Lausanne.
Powell, who ran three times in Rieti between 2002 and 2004 with a best result of 10.12 will skip Zürich on Friday evening, will travel to Rieti after spending some days in his summer base in Lignano Sabbiadoro, an Italian seaside resort near Venice. The stadium record of 9.99 is jointly held by Jon Drummond and Abdul Aziz Zakari.
The 100 metres line-up also features by 200 metres World bronze medallist Wallace Spearmon, young British star Craig Pickering and former Gambian Jaysima Saidy Ndure, now representing Norway, who ran 10.07 in the 'B' race in Stockholm.
The women's 100 metres will be highlighted by 2005 World champion Lauryn Williams who narrowly lost the World title in Osaka against Veronica Campbell. The other prominent names in the Rieti sprint races will be Christopher Brown from the Bahamas, fourth in the men's 400 metres in Osaka, Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie, also of the Bahamas, and France's Muriel Hurtis Houairi in the women's 200 metres.
Middle distances remain strong as per tradition
The Rieti meeting has always been synonymous with great middle-distance races and this year's card also has plenty to offer. Take for example the women’s 3000 metres Steeplechase which includes World champion Yekaterina Volkova who ran an impressive 9:06.57 in hot and humid conditions in Osaka to earn her the gold medal. In more ideal conditions in Rieti it is not difficult to predict an attack on Gulnara Samitova’s World record of 9:01.59 set in 2004. Samitova, who faded to seventh place after setting the early pace in the Osaka final, will also run in Rieti in a race where the big threat to Russian dominance will be posed by Osaka bronze medallist Eunice Jepkorir from Kenya.
World champion Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain ran a 3:56.18 Asian record in the women's 1500 metres in the 2006 edition of Rieti and is looking to improve her PB in what is expected to be a very fast competition which also features World bronze medallist Irina Lychinska from the Ukraine and Yulyia Chizenko-Fomenko from Russia.
Both men’s and women’s 800 metres have always produced very fast times in Rieti, and this year will be highlighted by 2007 World champions Alfred Kirwa Yego and Janet Jepkosgei.
Yego snatched a surprising gold medal for his first win of the year and is looking for a fast time against very strong opposition led by Olympic champion and 2007 World bonze medallist Yuriy Borzakovskiy of Russia. 19-year-old Abraham Chepkirwok from Uganda, fourth in Osaka, Asian record holder Youssef Saad Kamel from Bahrain, Amine Laalou from Morocco and world seasonal leader Mbulaeni Mulaudzi from South Africa also run on Sunday.
Jepkosgei set two world seasonal bests and Kenyan national records in the women's 800m in the semi-final (1:56.17) and in the final (1:56.04) to take the World title with impressive front-running. On the fast Rieti track Jepkosgei will pursue a sub-1:56 clocking. She will be pushed by Osaka World bronze medallist Mayte Martinez from Spain. Italian interest will be focused on Elisa Cusma who missed the Osaka final despite a 1:58.63 PB in her semi.
Another fast time is expected in the women's 3000 metres where Kenyan Vivian Cheruyiot, silver medallist in the 5000 metres in Osaka and the second fastest runner in history, will run against compatriot Prisca Jepleting, who finished third in Osaka.
Junior Asbel Kiprop, fourth in the Osaka men’s 1500 metres final is looking to continue his breakthrough season in a high quality 1500 metres race where the other prominent names are Tarek Boukensa from Algeria and Alex Kiphirchir from Kenya.
Savigne, Walker, Tikhon highlight the infield
Russian Tatyana Lebedeva, World champion in the Long Jump with 7.03m and silver medallist in the Triple Jump, will try to regain her top position in the triple against Cuban World champion Yargelis Savigne who leapt to 15.28 to beat the Volgograd star in Osaka. To add further quality Russia’s Anna Anna Pyatykh, fourth in Osaka, and Italy’s Magdelin Martinez who finished sixth in Osaka, also jump.
USA’s Brad Walker, now the World outdoor and indoor champion in the men's Pole Vault, has always done very well in Rieti especially two years ago when he cleared 5.96m, and will no doubt be the standout again after his Osaka triumph.
Felix Sanchez made a successful comeback in Osaka finishing second in the men's 400m Hurdles. The Olympic champion from the Dominican Republic ran a 48.01 seasonal best in Japan and could dip under 48 seconds in Rieti where he will be pushed by World bronze medal Marek Plawgo from Poland.
In the women’s 400 metres Hurdles another Pole, Anna Jesien, won World bronze medal in Osaka setting a new national record, takes on World record holder Yulia Pechonkina of Russia who finished second in Osaka.
The entertaining athletics afternoon of Rieti 2007 will be opened by the men’s Hammer Throw where Belarus’ Ivan Tsikhan (Tikhon), the triple World champion, faces Olympic champion Koji Murofushi from Japan, Poland’s Simon Ziolkowski, the 2001 World and 2000 Olympic champion, and Libor Charfreitag of Slovakia, the World championship third placer.
Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF
On Sunday 9 September - Click here for RESULTS
