Shawn Crawford of the US takes the 200m title (© Getty Images)
MonacoPierre Schoebel, the Meeting Director of the second edition of the World Athletics Final which takes place in Monaco on 18 and 19 September, was pleased to confirm at this morning’s official press conference that nineteen newly crowned individual Olympic champions have already confirmed their participation.
Best of the Best
The start-list of the World Athletics Final is decided according to the IAAF World Rankings, with athletes who are in the top 7 positions (11 positions for the races of 1500m and over) in each event automatically qualifying.
While the date upon which the IAAF Rankings are calculated with respect to the World Athletics Final, is after the TDK Golden League meeting in Berlin on Sunday 12 September, a large number of athletes are already assured of their places and of these names, nineteen Olympic champions have declared their intention to participate.
The World Athletics Final is simply the Best of the Best, and with over a week still to go, the two day spectacular can already claim the following Athens winners -
Shawn Crawford, Ezekiel Kemboi, Stefan Holm, Dwight Phillips, Christian Olsson, Yuriy Bilonog, Virgilijus Alekna, Andreas Thorkildsen, Yuliya Nesterenko, Veronica Campbell, Tonique Williams-Darling, Meseret Defar, Joanna Hayes, Yelena Slesarenko, Tatyana Lebedeva, Francoise Mbango, Yumeileidi Cumba, Natalya Sadova, and Osleidys Menendez, with many more names still to be announced after Sunday.
The OIympics in the space of six hours
“We are very happy with the impressive list of champions who have already confirmed…” commented Schoebel. “This will be a very good opportunity on TV and in the stadium to see the Olympics in a space of just six hours. Held across two days, Monaco will be a concentration of the ten days of quality we witnessed in Athens, with many of the same starting line-ups.”
“This is the ideal opportunity to come and watch the superstars close up. This is an intimate stadium and if you can nearly touch the champions it is a whole different experience to just sitting at home and watching them on a screen.”
“It is difficult to say what I expect to be my highlight but with Asafa Powell running so well in the men’s 100m as we saw in Brussels last week, and the Olympic women’s champion Nesterenko wishing to reaffirm her Olympic form after her recent hospital illness, there is so much quality to which we can look forward.”
Kipketer looks for perfection
Along with Jean-Pierre Schoebel at today’s press conference were Son Excellence Bernard Fautier, the Vice President of FMA (Monegasque Athletics Federation), Jean Fabre of the United Nations Development Programme (with responsibility for the fight against AIDS), IAAF’s General Director Pierre Weiss, and representing the participants was Monaco resident Wilson Kipketer, the World 800m record holder, who came home with a bronze from Athens.
The 33 year-old Kipketer, who has a season’s best of 1:43.88 and on two other occasions this summer has run to a 100th of that mark (including his third place run in Rieti last Sunday), is still looking for his perfect race, and hopes the World Athletics Final will present him with that chance.
“I am confident that the top eight in the World will race together in Monaco. Just as at the Olympics there is no pacemaker, and so we can all play together and really see who is the best in the last 200 metres! I still believe that I am the best but this year I have yet to find my complete race."
“Will I retire at the end of this season?”
“There are so many factors weighing on this calculation, not just my motivation. I must also think about all my supporters, especially my family and of course the money. Perhaps though it is as basic as what is good for the sport.”
“Why if I am running well and have motivation do I need to retire? Perhaps it is better that I show the younger generation that even when beaten that a runner can show dignity and set an example for others to follow….At a more personal level I would also like my young son to really remember seeing me run in this sport, so he truly knows who I am as a person. That is motivation in itself to continue.”
“I have kept my concentration. I have kept my love of the sport. I have been running for so many years now. So long as I keep the heart I will continue, and hopefully I will still give my fans something to be happy about,” concluded Kipketer.
IAAF
The men’s 800m is on Saturday 18 September
IAAF World Athletics Final
Monaco, MON, 18 and 19 September 2004.
