Previews20 Sep 2007


Middle & Long Distance Preview – World Athletics Final

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Meseret Defar on her way to destroying the World best for Two Miles (© Getty Images)

Stuttgart, GermanyThe fifth edition of the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final takes place in Stuttgart, Germany, on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 September. We continue our event category previews with the MIDDLE & LONG DISTANCES.

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The entry list of the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final (WAF) is decided according to the World Athletics Tour (WAT) Standings. The top 7 athletes with the greatest number of points from their five best results (4 for throws) will qualify for each event of the WAF. For races of 1500m and over, 11 athletes will be qualified. The IAAF reserves the right to invite a maximum of 1 wild-card Athlete per event.

It is a condition that athletes have scored points in at least 3 meetings, and in case of a tie the athlete with best seasonal best qualify for the Final. There have also been a number of Area Permit Meetings at which points could be scored for the World Athletics Final.

After the last qualifying meeting, the IAAF Golden League meeting in Berlin (Sunday 16 September), the process began to contact all the athletes concerned to ascertain that they are fit and willing to compete. Not until those answers are received, wild card entries are decided, and the usual technical meeting is held on the day before the World Athletics Final, can the final start list be made available. Consequently, our previews are as accurate as possible before that time.

Click here for the final World Athletics Tour Standings 2007

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800m

Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, the world leader at 1:43.74, is the defending WAF champion, and will be keen to successfully defend his title after a disappointing seventh place finish in the tactical Osaka final.  The South African, the reigning Olympic silver medallist, bounced back with a quick-closing runner-up finish in Brussels.

Also looking for some post-Osaka redemption is Bahraini Youssef Saad Kamel, formerly Gregory Konchellah, the 2004 WAF winner and now perennial speedster who failed to move on from the World championships semi-finals. Along with Mulaudzi and Kamel, Moroccan Amine Laalou (1:43.94 is the third man to dip under 1:44 this season, and is fully capable of springing a surprise attack. Ugandan teenager Abraham Chepkirwok also produced a solid season, his first as an international, and finished fourth in Osaka.

1500m

Daniel Kipchirchir Komen has had a solid couple of weeks, bouncing back from another World championships disappointment with back-to-back victories in Brussels and Berlin, his first triumphs since taking the Prefontaine Classic mile with a quick 3:48.28. He won both contests, particularly Brussels, by decisive margins, suggesting that the 22-year-old Kenyan appears to be returning to the form that brought him four Golden League victories in 2005.

Physically and mentally drained from his unprecedented 1500/5000 double victory in Osaka, World champion Bernard Lagat of the U.S. won’t be in Stuttgart, but a handful of men who chased him to the line in Japan will be. Kenyan Shadrack Korir, the World bronze medallist, has performed reasonably well on the Tour, and has a 3:31.18 season’s best, but is still looking for his first victory of the summer.

Although he drifted to 11th in Osaka, Bilal Mansour Ali (SB 3:31.49) produced one of the most solid World Athletics Tour seasons, taking victories in Athens, Lausanne and Monaco. Algerian Tarek Boukensa (SB 3:30.92) has been fairly consistent as well, and was fifth in Osaka. American Alan Webb, the season’s world leader at both the 1500m and Mile, is targeting a solid performance to end his finest campaign with a run similar to his sensational victory in Paris two months ago.

3000/5000m

Since its inception five years ago, a Kenyan or Ethiopian has won the 3000 and 5000 at each edition of the World Athletics Final, and not surprisingly, men from these east African distance superpowers will again be taking centre stage.

Sileshi Sihine, winner of Golden League contests in Rome and Brussels and the Osaka silver medallist in the 10,000m, looks to be the man to beat in the 5000. Alogn with Sihine, Kenyans Eliud Kipchoge, the Osaka silver medallist behind Lagat, and Joseph Ebuya have each clocked under 12:51 this season, setting up yet another stimulating battle between the two rival nations. Moses Masai, who chased Kenenisa Bekele for 9400m in the Brussels 10,000, is on the slate as well.

While its yet unclear who will be contesting which event - Ebuya, still just 20, is provisionally entered in the 3000 as well - others in the mix in either event Kenyan Micah Kogo and Uganda Moses Kipsiro.

Looking to end the east African dominance of the WAF are Australian Craig Mottram, who despite his disappointment in Osaka has produced a notable season, and Irishman Alistair Cragg, who lowered his 3000 career best to 7:32.49 this season.

3000m Steeplechase

Kenya’s stringent qualifying procedure may have kept Paul Kipsiele Koech from Osaka this year, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s not currently the best steeplechaser in the world. The 25-year-old Kenyan has produced the year’s three fastest performances, has won five of his six contests, and in his most recent, solidly defeated World champion Brimin Kipruto in Brussels with a world-leading 7:58.80.

Nor did Koech’s absence preclude a Kenyan sweep in the event lead by Kipruto, the 22-year-old who recently improved his career best to 8:02.89, second only to Koech this year. Osaka remains Kipruto’s only victory this year, and he’ll be looking to end his season with another.

Swede Mustafa Mohamed rose to the top of event’s cream this summer, as he lowered the national record, which had stood since 1976, to 8:05.75. He ran aggressively in Osaka where he finished fourth, and may pose the biggest challenge to the event’s current ‘Big Two’.


WOMEN

800m

Since winning the Kenyan trials in late July, Janeth Jepkosgei has been unstoppable. Her powerful, confident front-running victories in her Osaka semi-final and final - with the season’s two quickest times - electrified the event and propelled the 24-year-old into the role of woman to beat. Since Osaka, she took commanding victories in Zurich, Rieti and Brussels, and is the favourite to do so again in Stuttgart. The WAF runner-up last year, Jepkosgei has produced the season’s three quickest performances, and her 1:56.04 to take the World title is the fastest since 2003.

Again giving chase will be Spaniard Mayte Martinez, who this season has elevated fast closing into a fine art. Last at the bell in Osaka, she wound up with bronze and more recently in Zurich and Berlin, closed brilliantly to finish second, on both occasions to Jepkosgei. Others in the mix include Jamaican Kenia Sinclair and Slovak Lucia Klocova.

1500m

For the third consecutive weekend since their showdown in Osaka, Russian Yelena Soboleva will once again try to figure out a way to beat Maryam Yusuf Jamal. In Osaka, Zurich, and Brussels, Jamal, who celebrated her 23rd birthday last Sunday, has gotten the better of her Russian rival, this year’s world leader, and looks poised to take her third straight WAF title. Soboleva, who was third behind Jamal in Stuttgart last year, prepped for her next encounter with some speed work in Berlin last Sunday, where she finished a solid third in 2:00.20. Will that sharpening do the trick?

Although she didn’t make Russia’s Osaka squad, veteran Olga Yegorova has been rounding into good form of late, finishing third in both Zurich and Brussels, and winning in Rieti. Kenyan trials winner Viola Kibiwott could be a force as well. Sixth in Osaka (4:02.10 PB), the 23-year-old was fourth in Zurich and Brussels, and runner-up in Rieti.

3000/5000m

After demolishing her World best over Two Miles last weekend in Brussels, Meseret Defar said she would be capping her track season in the Stuttgart 5000. Conventional wisdom dictates that the only race will be the one for second place.

Going back to her indoor debut in late January, the 23-year-old Ethiopian hasn't lost a race on the track this year. Already the Olympic champion at 5000m, she added the World title in the event to her resume, along with a 8:23.72 World record indoors in the 3000, a national record 8:24.81 outdoors, a pair of World bests over 2 miles, and of course, her dazzling 14:16.63 World record in the 5000 in the Golden League kick-off in Oslo.

With many women qualified for both distances, it’s yet unclear who will contest which distance, or as Defar and compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba did in Stuttgart last year, contest both. Although she took a back seat to Defar this season, Vivian Cheruiyot's 2007 campaign certainly hasn't lacked lustre. Second to Defar in Oslo (14:22.51) and also dipping under the Ethiopian's previous World record, the 23-year-old took the silver in the Osaka 5000, won decisively in Berlin, and in her Rieti victory, improved her 3000 PB to 8:30.25. Priscah Jepleting took bronze in the Osaka 5000 and finished a distant second to Defar in Brussels.

3000m Steeplechase

Russia’s World champion Yekaterina Volkova leads the field here and will clearly start as the woman to beat. The 29-year-old lead a Russian 1-2 in Osaka, winning with a career best 9:06.57, which is nearly 10 seconds faster than anyone else in the field. Undefeated in three appearances in this event this season, Volkova, winner of the difficult Russian championships, will be aiming to keep that record intact.

25-year-old Eunice Jepkorir emerged as the top Kenyan this season, first with her 9:19.44 victory in Oslo, then her African record 9:14.52 in Athens. In Osaka, she was a distant third, and could pose a significant challenge to Volkova. The remainder of the likely field has been consistent in the high 9:20 range – Australian Donna McFarlane (9:26.63)  and American Lisa Galaviz (9:28.75) stand out - leaving the podium battle very much up in the air.

Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

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