Fredericks opens IAAF Grand Prix II in Melbourne in 200m
24 February, 1999 – Frank Fredericks (NAM) will be the star attraction of the IAAF Grand Prix II in Melbourne, scheduled to take place beneath the sun of the Australian Summer tomorrow. The meeting launches the long Grand Prix season, which will end in Munich in September, but will also constitute an important trial before the 7th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Maebashi, 5-7 March.
Fredericks will doubtless be one of the stars of the Championships. The 9.94 he clocked in the 100m in Sydney last weekend shows just how similar the 32-year-old Namibian engineer – he is a laureate of the Brigham Young University in the USA – is to his past training partner Linford Christie. His explosive power has increased, rather than diminished, as he has matured. Fredericks’ dilemma now is whether to compete in the 60m or the 200m in Maebashi. The 200m is really his great speciality and he still owns the world indoor 200m record with 19.92. But there is an enigma in the career of this exceptional sprinter: he has a wealth of great times and results to his credit, but only one gold medal, which he won in the 1993 world championships’ 200m in Stuttgart.
In Maebashi, in the short sprint, Fredericks would have to compete against Maurice Greene (USA). A challenge with the American – who owns the world record with 6.39 – would certainly be one of the highlights of the 1999 winter season, but would be risky, insofar as medals and consequent winnings are concerned ($50,000 to the winner, against $20,000 to 2nd place and $10,000 to third). The 200m should be less highly contested and could well give Fredericks not only his first indoor gold, but also a possible new record, rewarded with another $50,000 of record bonus.
Fredericks’ results in Melbourne could well influence the choice of the Namibian, who is well known as an athlete who loves the emotions of a challenge. The best the fans could wish for would be to see Fredericks compete in both 60m and 200m in Maebashi.
Emma George (AUS), will also be competing again in Melbourne, just days after setting her latest world record of 4.60m in the pole vault in Sydney. Thursday’s meeting will be another occasion for her to warm up before Maebashi, where the attractive Australian will not have an easy ride. The competition is increasing daily and George, who was beaten in Paris two years ago by the surprising Stacy Dragila (USA), will now have to face another rising star: Melissa Mueller, who set the new American record of 4.50m on 19 February.
The start of the ’99 Grand Prix season will be further heightened by the presence of Colin Jackson (GBR) in the 110m hurdles; Raymond Hecht (GER) in the javelin; Darren Campbell (GBR) in the 100m; Tim Forsyth (AUS) in the high jump; Jamie Baulch (GBR) in the 400m and Syrian-born Austraian Zid Abou Hamed in the 400m hurdles, where this two-times champion of the Mediterranean Games has recently improved his PR to 48.87.
Local star Cathy Freeman, the reigning world champion in the 400m, has recently returned to competition after a series of injury problems, clocking 50.76 in Sydney and can be expected to show further improvement in the days to come.
