Seville Gran Premio sets stage for
August’s World Championships
26 May 1999 - MONTE CARLO - Monaco - With less than three months to go now to Seville
‘99, the Gran Premio Diputacion which will take place on Friday, will serve as a
general rehearsal for the IAAF World Championships in Athletics. Seville’s Grand Prix
II will offer not only a chance to test the magnificent equipment provided by the newly
inaugurated Olympic Stadium but also great duels on the track.
What was promising to be one of the
most exciting events, the men's long jump, has lost a little of its lustre with the
withdrawal, due to an attack of 'flu, of Ivan Pedroso. Spain’s Yago Lamela, European
indoor record holder and World indoor silver medallist in Maebashi was keen on taking his
revenge on the reigning the World outdoor champion: Pedroso defeated Lamela in Japan by
just 6 centimetres in his final attempt. Lamela will now have to keep an eye on Jamaican
James Beckford, this season’s current world leader with 8.40m.
The 200m should offer an interesting duel between such world class specialists as
Australian champion Matt Shirvington, Briton Darren Campbell and Sebastien Keitel from
Chile.
Kenyans will make the pace in the middle distance events with Japhet Kimutai, Benjamin
Kipkurui and David Kiptoo heading the field in the 800m with American Mark Everett and
local favourite Roberto Parra as outsiders.
Kenyan Paul Bitok’s task won’t be easy in the 3000m race, where 1992 Olympic
champion Fermin Cacho, Enrique Molina and Reyes Estevez will have all the support of the
local crowd.
In the field events, eyes will be set on the long awaited return to the centre stage of
Czech Jan Zelezny in the javelin throw.
At the other side of the track the hammer contest will offer a world class battle among
Hungarians Balazs Kiss and Tibor Gecsek and Belarussia’s Igor Astapovich.
In the women’s events, Olympic champion Deon Hemmings will face world record holder
Kim Batten in the 400m hurdles; in the 800m, world indoor champion Ludmila Formanova will
find strong opposition in Belarussia’s Natalya Dukhnova, Moroccan Hasna Benhassi and
Portuguese Carla Sacramento.
The Grand Prix will also schedule three world class field events. It would be difficult to
forecast the name of the winner in a pole vault contest that includes Anzela Balakhnova
(UKR), Nicole Humbert (GER), Zsuzsa Szabo (HUN), Vala Flosadottir (ISL) and Melissa
Mueller (USA).
In the triple jump, world indoor silver
medallist Iva Prandzheva seems a likely favourite, with 1997 world indoor champion Inna
Lasovskaya, Bulgaria’s Marina Marinova and Cuban champion Yamile Aladama ready to
challenge her.
Finally, eyes will be set on world champion Astrid Kumbernuss in the shot put. The German
will definitely be looking forward to her first international success, after skipping the
whole 1998 season as she expected her first child.
