News10 Jan 2009


Burka plans assault on Mile WR in Karlsruhe

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Solid victory for Gelete Burka in Birmingham in 2008 (© Getty Images)

The women’s mile race promises to produce another highlight at the BW Bank Meeting in Karlsruhe next month (15 February).

Ethiopia’s Gelete Burka has announced that she will chase the world mile record in Karlsruhe, a IAAF Indoor Permit Meeting. A number of other world class athletes had already been signed by meeting director Alain Blondel earlier.

The 22-year-old Burka will go for a record established 19 years ago. It was back in February 1990, when Romania’s Doina Melinte clocked 4:17.14 minutes in East Rutherford. In that same year she established an outdoor personal best of 4:18.13. So Melinte was faster indoors than outdoors. Burka will have to achieve the same feat to break the record in Karlsruhe. It was last summer, when the Ethiopian clocked 4:18.23 minutes to win in Rieti. The time remained a world lead for the remaining year.

Burka, who took the 1500m at the African Games in 2007 and medalled at last year’s World Indoor Championships in Valencia, will turn 23 on the day of the Karlsruhe event. While pacemakers will surely be signed for this race it not yet known who else will run in the mile.

In other events Blondel has signed a number of world-class athletes for the 25th edition of the BW Bank Meeting. Among them is the Olympic 110m Hurdles champion Dayron Robles (Cuba) and High Jumper Blanka Vlasic (Croatia). The World Champion will meet Germany’s Ariane Friedrich in the High Jump.

While in the women’s 60m Hurdles the reigning World indoor champion Lolo Jones (USA) will meet Derval O’Rourke (Ireland), who had won this global title in 2006.

German Pole Vault stars Tim Lobinger, Danny Ecker, Björn Otto, Fabian Schulze and Raphael Holzdeppe will also clash in Karlsruhe.

Jörg Wenig for the IAAF

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