Hicham El Guerrouj crosses the finish line of the men's 1500m (© Getty Images)
MonteCarloThe beauty of Athletics and sport in general is that you are never 100% sure about any title, competition or race. Even the firmest favourites are occasionally beaten, and the competition at the inaugural World Athletics Final and the search for the World Athlete of the Year in Monaco this weekend (13 & 14 September) offers a highly competitive scenario.
Just ask El Guerrouj or Kenenisa Bekele about the pressures of being the joint favourites for the World 5000m title in Paris a fortnight ago, and how they felt when the Kenyan junior Eliud Kipchoge surprisingly sped past them to take gold. Similarly, Yuliya Pechonkina of Russia seemed a sure bet for gold in Paris Saint-Denis, and you would have wagered on her even up to just 100 metres from home in the women’s 400m Hurdles, until fate in the shape of Australia’s Jana Pittman burst past.
In Monaco, El Guerrouj and Bekele are once more in the frame for fame and fortune, US$ 100,000 to be exact which will be awarded to the Athlete of the Year. Yet never discount the seemingly impossible of either Qatar’s Saif Saaeed Shaheen (steeplechase) or USA’s Allen Johnson (110m Hurdles) grabbing the glory at the very last breath, which could happen if either were to establish a World record in Monaco’s Stade Louis II.
The timetable even seems to lend itself to such an outcome as the men’s 3000m Steeplechase is the last event of the World Athletics Final on Sunday. Surely even El Guerrouj is going to be sitting nervously during the approximately eight minutes duration of that race, especially if Shaheen believes he can go under that mark by six seconds or more.
In the women’s contest for Athlete of the Year, South Africa’s Hestrie Cloete and Carolina Klüft of Sweden appear to have a straight duel for the title. Yet competitive disasters can happen especially in an event as technical as the High Jump. Kelli White, currently lies well back in third in the Overall standings, but she runs in the women’s 100m which is the very last event of the women’s programme on Sunday and could even steal the South African’s or Swede’s thunder. Here of course we are dealing with statistical extremes but then so were we when Pittman passed a below par Pechonkina in Paris to the surprise of everyone accept the Australian athlete, and her coach.
We don’t know whether or not surprises await us during the two days of competition in Monaco, but we can always rely on one certainty, that the IAAF World Athletics Final will offer a spectacular conclusion to the search for the World Athlete of the Year.
Click here for 1st IAAF World Athletics Final Monaco 2003 - Local Organising Committee site
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