Nebiolo: "Every Golden League Meet is like a Mini-Olympics" - Tension mounts for fourth leg in Zurich On Wednesday
Monaco - 10 August 1998 -An evening of thrills is in store on Wednesday as Zurich’s Letzigrund stadium hosts the fourth leg of the IAAF Golden League. The meeting’s historical success will be further heightened by the excitement created by the introduction of the IAAF Ericsson $1 million jackpot, which will be awarded in Moscow on 5 September during the IAAF Golden League/Grand Prix Final, to the athlete(s) who have won their events in each of the six stages of the competition and in the Moscow Final.
Bryan Bronson (USA - 400m hurdles), Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR - 1500m), Haile Gebrselassie (ETH - 3000m, 5000m, 10,000m), Marion Jones (USA - 100m) and Charity Opara (NGR - 400m) are the magnificent five who remain in contention for the first such jackpot in the history of athletics. Saturday night’s meeting in Monte Carlo produced results worthy of any World Championships or Olympic final, in the space of 1½ hours of non-stop excitement. In this athletics maelstrom, the air of invincibility of Frank Fredericks (NAM - 100m), Svetlana Masterkova (RUS - 1500m) and Jonathan Edwards (GBR - triple jump) was shattered and the three lost every hope of taking home the million dollar jackpot.
The Golden League formula is standing on its merits and generating new interest in athletics.
"I was completely sure that that this would be the case," said IAAF President, Dr Primo Nebiolo. Adding: "The idea of linking a series of meetings, which already have a rich tradition, with the concept of a knockout jackpot, adds still more suspense to the competition. The proof is there for all to see, in the excellent results achieved in Oslo, Rome and Monte Carlo: three evenings when we experienced emotions which are normally reserved for world championship or Olympic finals. I would insist on this point: with the IAAF Ericsson Golden League, athletics is putting on a show worthy of any Olympics. The other evening, in Monaco, from the 100m of Ato Boldon and Marion Jones - who won with respective times of 9.92 and 10.72 - to the 1500m of Hicham El Guerrouj and Gabriela Szabo - who clocked first place times of 3:28.37 and 3:56.97, there was not an event which wasn’t up to Olympic standards. The women’s 1500m was the stuff of which thrillers are made. Svetlana Masterkova was beaten in the last metre, losing the race and her jackpot hopes, by Gabriela Szabo’s killer finish. I believe that the Golden League has all the ingredients needed for a great success. This success will be confirmed on Wednesday, in Zurich, and again in Brussels and Berlin and in the Golden League/Grand Prix Final in Moscow, where the city’s Mayor, Jury Lutzhov, is the president of the organising committee.
ENDS
