Boston footnotes

Last Saturday’s Reebok Boston Indoor Games (29 Jan) was arguably one of the strongest indoor meets on the international circuit for many a season. Our correspondent Parker Morse who was there to witness the action now adds some interesting footnotes to the performances of a few of main athletes who headlined - Dibaba, Rotich, Klüft, Krummenacker and Smoots.

Click here for the original FULL REPORT of the meeting

Dibaba’s just getting started

Tirunesh Dibaba's World Indoor 5000m record came in only her third-ever race on an indoor track, every one of which has been a record-setter. In 2004, Dibaba ran 14:53.99 for 5000m at the Boston Indoor Games (setting the world’s best ever time for a junior), then 8:33.56 for 3000m (another Junior best) in Birmingham, England. In both races she finished second to Meseret Defar.

Asked her opinion of the Boston track, Dibaba admitted she had no basis for comparison, since there are no indoor tracks in Ethiopia.

Dibaba was confident of breaking the record during her recent training preparations but in the final weeks leading up to the competition in Boston, she suffered from growing uncertainty. It wasn't until she and her sister were on the track and following the pacemaker - ironically, falling behind the record pace - that she was certain she could make the mark.

The one-two finish of Tirunesh and her older sister Ejegayehu (whose 14:58.25 makes her eleventh all-time for the 5000m distance) is probably the fastest-ever finish of two sisters in the same 5000m race. Despite this on a 200m track, Tirunesh came perilously close to lapping her sister.

Dibaba is one of only two athletes to hold both the World Indoor record and the world's best performance as a junior for any indoor event. The other is Heike Dreschsler in the Long Jump.

Rotich going for longer

While the Kenyan system annually produces a new round of athletes ready to jump directly from Junior competition to the top of the Senior ranks, Laban Rotich provides a contrast. Starting his thirty-seventh year, Rotich is the new owner of the Kenyan national record for the indoor Mile, and his only concession to age has been to give up contesting shorter events like the 800m and 1000m.

"As my age is increasing, I can feel my speed is diminished," he explained. His dash past Bernard Lagat in the homestretch just minutes before suggests that "diminished" speed is purely relative.

Rotich, who will race again at the Millrose Games in New York on Friday night, has found a niche on the American indoor circuit. He has been a regular at Millrose, winning the Mile in 1998 and 2002, and he is a regular foil for Lagat, six years his junior.

Rotich may be using the patience of age to compensate for his supposedly-diminished speed. Frequently, his winning tactic is a closing-stretch burst which carries him past the flagging field. Lagat, after being caught by this tactic at Millrose in 2002, referred to Rotich, with rueful respect, as "sneaky."

Sneaky he may be, but nobody can accuse Laban Rotich of not making the most of what leg-speed he retains.

Klüft’s putting the pieces together

While Carolina Klüft might appear to have dominated the women's Long Jump on Saturday, the young Swede actually weathered an uneven start and only landed her 6.63m jump on her final attempt. Klüft cited early-season rust for her early troubles, including a first-round 6.25 which failed to best Grace Upshaw's 6.34 opener.

"It's my first competition, so I needed to get a feeling for the runway and the takeoff. In the beginning, my runway (approach) was pretty good, but I needed to focus on the takeoff."

Klüft jumped 6.40 in the second round, which ultimately would have been enough to win the competition over Noelle Graham, who came through with a 6.39 in the final round. Klüft stayed ahead of Graham and Upshaw, but not by too much--until the final jump.

Klüft's complete series of six jumps was 6.25m, 6.40m, 6.48m, 6.47m, 6.40m, and 6.63m. "On the last jump, I finally put it together," Klüft explained.

While clearly a favorite for the World Championships Heptathlon this summer, Klüft is not letting expectations bother her. "I don't have goals, like medal goals or score goals. I try to do my best (in) one competition at a time. I'm trying to live now, and not in the future."

Aside from the Jura Jumps on 3 February in Gothenburg, Klüft has only one other future event on her mind: her twenty-second birthday, this Wednesday. "It will be a happy birthday," she said. "No competitions.”

Krummenacker returning to what works

In 2002, David Krummenacker set an American record 2:17.86 for 1000m at the Boston meet, and went on to win outdoor 800m races in Paris and Rome, ending the year IAAF World Ranked fourth for 800m. "That was really my best year so far," he explains. "2003 was great, because I won the World Indoors, but 2002, throughout the whole season, I felt strong."

After a disappointing 2004, where he placed fourth in the 800m at the U.S. Olympic Trials and was not selected to run in Athens, Krummenacker is returning to the training he did in 2002 with the goal of reaching the outdoor medal podium in Helsinki - preferably the way he did indoors in Birmingham in 2003. "It's not like the next Olympics is not for four years. We have the World Championships the very next year. You get fired right back up."

Krummenacker started the competitive process by returning to the Boston Indoor Games, where he won the 1000m again, this time in 2:20.91.

While Krummenacker remains in Tucson, Arizona, training with Patrick Nduwimana under the guidance of Brazilian coach Luiz de Oliviera, it's the small changes in training that add up to medal aspirations. "Its little differences here and there: a little more mileage here, a little less mileage there. A little more quality in certain places. It's hard to pin down one or two things. We went to altitude for about five weeks, which was something I didn't do last year."

Krummenacker doesn't minimize the value of strong training partners. "I think having a good training partner is the most important thing in track and field," he says with a nod to Nduwimana and frequent visitor Berhanu Alemu, second in Boston in 2:21.19. "I always say, we're friends at all times, but we're competitors on the track. As soon as that gun goes off, we're neck and neck battling it out. But as soon as the race is over, we're back to being friends."

"They win some, I win some. I'm happy for them when they win, and when I win they're happy for me. It's a group effort. These guys help me tremendously."

Another Helsinki aspirant

New 60m world season leader Jason Smoots at 6.53 hopes that his winter form will carry him on to the USA 100m team for the Helsinki World Championships. "This time today is excellent," he said, "It's a (PB). I had a great start, made a smooth transition and stayed under control. I'd like to get my 60m down into the 6.40s and apply those lessons to the 100m." Smoots is passing up Friday's Millrose Games in New York City, but will compete on 11 February in Fayetteville, Arkansas at the Tyson Invitational.

Parker Morse for the IAAF