European
ChampionshipsPreview
Patrick F. Merle for
the IAAF
4 August 2002 - Munich, Germany - The Bavarian city which was the scene of the
1972 Olympic Games welcomes the European Athletic Championships, which will be
staged between 6 – 11 August in the Olympic stadium.
In a few weeks time Munich will also host the "Oktoberfest", the world's most famous beer festival but most athletes competing in Munich this week would no doubt rather exchange all the beer Munich can offer in exchange for a gold medal performance and a celebratory glass of champagne.
In the women's sprint events, one name is on everybody's lips: Ukraine's Zhanna Pintusevich-Block. The Ukrainian sprinter, crowned world 100m champion ahead of Marion Jones last season, has voluntarily decided not to take part in this event. "I had made this decision already in 2000.”
In her absence, France's Muriel Hurtis appears the main contender. The new French gazelle, claimed both the 100 and 200 at the European Cup in Annecy, and her main objective as she stated after her European Indoor title over 200 in Vienna has always been to become European Champion.
"I wouldn't mind going under 22 seconds but my main goal is to win in Munich", the 1998 world junior champion said last March. The spectators will have to wait until Friday to see whether the French sprinter lives up to her words.
On the men's side, Great-Britain's Dwain Chambers is poised to win his first major title over 100m. Unable to finish at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester because of muscle cramps, the 1999 World Championships bronze medallist, who has defeated Maurice Greene twice this season, has the fastest continental time over the distance in 2002. Moreover, according to Max Jones, UKA’s Performance Director, Chambers suffered no muscle damage in Manchester.
"We have been giving him extensive medical tests, we have concocted a new fluid replacement for him containing the levels of minerals and electrolytes compatible with his physical problem," Jones stated.
Over 200 m, the reigning world and Olympic champion, Greek's Konstadinos Kederis is once again the strong favourite. Although, he has limited his number of outings so far this season, Kederis has proven to be always well prepared for major championships. The Greek athlete will, however, have to hold off Darren Campbell's assault. The British Olympic 200m silver medallist Campbell is also the reigning European champion over 100m and is lined up for both distances in Munich.
The Nigerian-born Portuguese Francis Obikwelu could, however, create the surprise and take a double sprint win as he did in the Lausanne IAAF Grand Prix last July 2nd.
In the middle and long distances, a small European elite should manage to keep the public on the edge of their seats.
Surprisingly, the world and Olympic be-medalled Romania Gabriela Szabo, who shattered the 3000m European record in Monaco on July 19th, hopes to claim only her first European title - 5000m. The elfin runner faces a stiff challenge as she will meet up with Russia's Olga Yegorova who took her world title in Edmonton last summer.
Great-Britain's Paula Radcliffe is also looking forward to clinching her first European laurels - 10,000m. Weakened by a virus after her breath-taking debut over the marathon, the tall runner is in good shape. Not only has she improved her personal best over 3000m when finishing on Szabo's heels in Monaco but she also came a few seconds short of setting a new world record over 5000m at the Commonwealth Games.
However, Szabo and Radcliffe must beware as Ireland's Sonia O'Sullivan, who won a 5000/10.000 double in the continental championships in Budapest four years ago, hopes to leave Germany with at least one successful defence.
On the men's side of things, two events present a star-studded line up, the 800 and the 1500 m.
Over 800 m, the local spectators will hope to see Nils Schumann on the highest step of the podium, in the absence of Russia's prodigy, Yuriy Borzakovskiy, who has decided to tackle the 400m,
Germany’s reigning Olympic and European champion, could well manage to retain his title. Of Schumann’s main rivals, Switzerland's world champion Andre Bucher is only just back from injury while the Kenyan-born Dane Wilson Kipketer believes he might also be short of running so far this summer.
In the 1500m, France will have to count on the new national champion Mehdi Baala, fourth in Sydney, as the bronze medallist, Driss Maazouzi, injured, had to pull out at the last minute.
The 24-year-old Baala faces a stiff challenge from the Spanish. Fifth in Edmonton, Reyes Estevez, is the reigning champion and firmly intends to keep his title. While world indoor champion Rui Silva of Portugal, who clocked a new national record in Monaco, will remember that when taking his world indoor crown he was able to out-sprint his Mediterranean neighbour on the line. The final takes place on Thursday, August 8.
Munich will also see a number of magnificent athletes compete for the last time in the European championships including Great-Britain's Colin Jackson, Jonathan Edwards and Steve Backley, and Germany's Heike Drechsler.
Jonathan Edwards knows one jump is usually enough to push his rivals away. Yet, with Sweden's Christian Olsson in the contest, the world record holder will have to surpass himself to retain his crown.
The goal is similar for Colin Jackson and he has a long winning-streak to defend. The world record holder over 110 m hurdles bids to claim his fourth consecutive title, while Drechsler hopes to conquer her fifth long jump gold in a row which would be a championships record.
In the men's javelin, three time Olympic champion Jan Zelezny of the Czech Republic will tackle Britain’s three time European champion Steve Backley.
Russia's Svetlana Feofanova likes the noun: record. The shy athlete, who set five world indoor pole vault records last winter and has moved on to the summer with a new European outdoor record which rests at 4.78m, will not be satisfied until she breaks USA’s Stacy Dragila's mark of 4.81. As a former European champion and colleague of Feofanova's coach, Ukraine’s Sergey Bubka has already booked his ticket in the stand for the final which will take place on Friday, August 9th.
If Feofanova fails in her bid to break the world mark, fellow Russian Tatyana Kotova might give it a shot in long jump. With 7.42m in Annecy, she became the fifth best in history, only ten centimeters short of the world mark that dates back to 1988 and not even Drechsler’s swan song competition is likely to distract Kotova.
There are so many other great competitions to savour at these European championships. For example, the men’s shot is likely to be decided with a great battle over 21 metres, while there are 17 European hammer throwers with 2002 season bests of over 80m!
Four years ago, in Budapest, Germany finished ahead of Russia and Great-Britain in the overall standings at the end of the championships, and after placing second in both the men and women's competition in this season’s European Cup in Annecy, Germany expect nothing else but to retain their continental leadership in front of a home crowd.
In Munich, the German squad will compete without their giant discus man Lars Riedel, who is injured. However, in his absence, they can surely still rely on the likes of a mixture of youth and experience through the legs of Ingo Schultz (400m), Tim Lobinger (PV), and Grit Breuer (400m women) to keep their sights on that target.
The European Championships begin on Tuesday 6 August.
