Hicham El Guerrouj dominates Zurich's 1500m (© Getty Images)
Some of the world’s most outstanding athletes have asked to be considered for the first ever election to the IAAF Athletes’ Commission which will be held in Paris on the occasion of the IAAF World Championships.
This follows a decision of IAAF Council stating that the IAAF Athletes’ Commission will be made up of 19 members, of whom 12 shall be elected by their peers and seven appointed by the IAAF.
The elections will be concluded by Saturday 30th August in the Athletes’ Village.
All candidates were put forward with the support of their Member Federations before the deadline of 31 July 2003. All accredited athletes at the Paris World Championships have the right to vote. The Election Committee will include IAAF Council Members and former athletics’ stars Sergey Bubka, Alberto Juantorena Danger, (Co-chairs) and Nawal El Moutawakel (Scrutineer).
Those elected to the Commission will serve a four year mandate, with the next elections planned for the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Osaka.
Amongst a list of 26 outstanding candidates are Olympic Champions, World Champions, and World Record holders.
Yahye ADEN HOCH (DJI) Marathon Male AFR 35y Ran in two IAAF World Championships marathons.
Jolanda CEPLAK (SLO) 800m Female EUR 26y Pronounced "Cheplak"... 2002 European Champion at 800m indoors & out.. world record holder at 800m indoors.
Stephane DIAGANA (FRA) 400mH Male EUR 34y 2002 European Champion at 400m Hurdles ... European record holder former World Champion; has finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th at IAAF World Championships.
Hicham EL GUERROUJ (MAR) 1500m Male AFR 28y World record holder at 1500m, One Mile & 2000m ...29x below 3:30 for 1500m; the next most is 8x by Morceli & Ngeny.
Beatrice FAUMUINA (NZL) Discus Female OAA 28y Twice Commonwealth Games Champion at Discus Throw...former World Champion ... had a 35-meeting win streak in 1997-98.
Debbie FERGUSON (BAH) 100m/200m Female NACAC 27y Three sprint golds at 2002 Commonwealth Games ... 2001 World silver at 200m... anchored Bahamas to relay gold at 2000 Olympics & 1999 Worlds.
Haile GEBRSELASSIE (ETH) 10,000m Male AFR 30y World record holder at 5000m and 10,000m… Twice Olympic 10,000m Champion… 4x World 10,000m Champion… Has set a total of 12 World Records and 4 World Bests.
Deon HEMMINGS (USA) 400mH Female NACAC 34y At 400m Hurdles in Atlanta 1996, she became Jamaica's first female Olympic Champion.
Mikaela INGBERG (FIN) Javelin Throw Female EUR 29y Former European Junior Champion at Javelin Throw… 1995 World bronze… twice European bronze medallist… trademark headscarf.
Faraj Ibrahim ISMAIL (QAT) 400m Male ASI 31y 2x Olympic finalist at 400m ... 6x Asian Champion ... 6x Arab Champion.
Susanthika JAYASINGHE (SRI) 100m/200m Female ASI 27y 1997 World 200m silver & 2000 Olympic 200m bronze.
Balazs KISS (HUN) Hammer Throw Male EUR 31y (Pronounced "Bollarzh Kish") ... 1996 Olympic Champion at Hammer Throw.
Manuel MARTINEZ (ESP) Shot Put Male EUR 28y ("Manolo") ... 2003 IAAF World Indoor Champion at Shot Put.. Had a string of 16 successive wins in both 2001 and 2002.
Osleydis MENENDEZ (CUB) Javelin Throw Female NACAC 23y World Javelin Throw record holder; on July 1, 2001 in Rethymno became the first Cuban woman to set a world record in athletics.
Eric MILAZAR (MRI) 400m Male AFR 28y 2x African Champion at 400m.
Koji MUROFUSHI (JPN) Hammer Throw Male ASI 28y 2001 World silver at Hammer Throw ... He was 9th in the 2000 Olympics, his father (Shigenobu) was 10th in 1972.
Sonia O'SULLIVAN (IRL) 5000m Female EUR 33y Holds every Irish record at distances from 800m to Half Marathon… Sydney Olympic silver at 5000m.
Andrew OWUSU (GHA) Triple Jump Male AFR 31y Former African Champion at Triple Jump & 1998 Commonwealth Games silver.
Irina PRIVALOVA (RUS) 400mH Female EUR 34y Sydney Olympic 400m Hurdles Champion in only her fifth final at the event.
Paula RADCLIFFE (GBR) 10,000m Female EUR 29y Undisputed World female athlete of 2002 ...her 2:15:25 marathon in 2003 regarded by many as the greatest ever performance seen at any event in the history of women's athletics.
Alexandar RAKOVIC (SCG) Walk Male EUR 35y 11th in 50K walk at the last two Olympic Games.
Felix SANCHEZ (DOM) 400mH Male NACAC 25y IAAF 2001 World Champion at 400m Hurdles, winning the Dominican Republic's first ever world or Olympic medal.
Kevin SULLIVAN (CAN) 1500m Male NACAC 29y ("Sully") ... Canadian record holder at 1500m & One Mile ... 1994 Commonwealth silver at 1500m.
Gabriela SZABO (ROM) 5000m Female EUR 27y Twice IAAF World Champion at 5000m, once at 1500m ... Sydney Olympic 5000m Champion ... more than one million dollars in prize money in 1999.
Paul TERGAT (KEN) 10,000m Male AFR 34y 5x IAAF World Cross Country Champion, 2x IAAF World Half Marathon Champion…two World & two Olympic silvers at 10,000m,each time behind Gebrselassie.
Marco Antonio VERNI (CHI) Shot Put Male CONSUDATLE 27y Twice South American Champion at Shot Put… Silver at Pan-Am Games in August 2003.
