Maria Mutola (MOZ) strides round the bend to win in Glasgow (© Getty Images)
Karlsruhe, GermanyHeavily decorated runners Haile Gebrselassie and Maria Mutola, plus the year’s fastest man, Jason Gardener, are among the marquee athletes who will see action at the LBBW Meeting on Sunday (15 Feb), as the European indoor circuit moves to the Europahalle in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Gebrselassie aims at PB
Gebrselassie returns for the fifth time to one of his favourite indoor venues in Europe in hopes of approaching his 3000 metres PB of 7:26.15 set on the same track in 1998. The five-time global champion in the outdoor 10,000m will be accompanied by fellow Ethiopians Abiyote Abate and Hailu Mekonnen on his fifteen laps.
Ukraine’s Sergiy Lebid, a four-time European cross-country champion, is scheduled to make a rare indoor appearance in the event, perhaps a prelude to a Budapest appearance. Needless to say, his national record of 7:47.38 could well disappear on Sunday.
French steeplers Bob Tahri, fourth in both the 2003 Worlds Paris and the 2002 Europeans in Munich, as well as Vincent LeDauphin are also included in the entourage.
Fresh and fit Mutola
It has been three weeks since Maria Mutola ran her world-leading 1:58.46 for the women’s 800 metres in Glasgow in her only 2004 appearance thus far, so one must regard her as being not only fit but also in fresh condition.
The Mozambique runner’s toughest challenger will be Natalya Khrushchelyova, the bronze medallist from Paris. It will be the Russian’s first 800 of the season, but it comes only two weeks after a superb 1:25.15 in the 600 metres, the second-fastest clocking ever.
Also in the race will be European indoor bronze medallist Sandra Stals of Belgium, and Holland’s Stella Jongmans, a two-time European indoor finalist.
Gardener faces Ukrainian showdown
Sunday will see a showdown of the two fastest sprinters in the world this season, leader Jason Gardener of Great Britain at 6.49, and Konstantin Rurak of Ukraine with 6.54. A double World Indoor bronze medallist, Gardener will hope to bounce back after overnight travel from Leipzig, where he will be part of the British team at the European Indoor Cup on Saturday.
Sub-6.60 times have been a relative rarity this season, but two others in the Karlsruhe field have dipped under that benchmark - Cuba’s Fredy Mayola and Simone Collio of Italy.
Potent Triple Jump line-up
The indoor Triple Jump seems to have all but disappeared from the programmes of indoor invitational meetings, but Karlsruhe is presenting both the men’s and women’s versions, and both feature fields of outstanding quality.
In the men’s event, the most prominent absentee is World champion Christian Olsson of Sweden, who, like Gardener, will also be seeing duty in Leipzig on Saturday. But the Karlsruhe start list is nonetheless a potent one.
The second and fourth placers from Paris - Cubans Yoandri Betanzos (17.39 this season) and David Giralt - will be on hand, as will the fifth-placer, Brazilian Jadel Gregório. The number-two jumper on the 2003 outdoor list, Romania’s Marian Oprea, whose untimely Achilles injury late in the summer took him out of an almost certain medal in Paris, is also included.
Oprea, the silver medallist at the European under-23 championships last year, will also see the other two medallists from that event, winner Dmitriy Valyukevich (indoor PB 17.31 two weeks ago) and Germany’s Rudolf Helpling. Additionally, former World Champion Charles Friedek will make the overnight trek to Karlsruhe after helping his German team in the Leipzig competition.
Aldama on the boards
The women’s Triple Jump will finally see Cuban-born Yamilé Aldama wearing her new Sudanese colours after last weekend’s visa problems delayed that debut. Aldama, the world leader from the last outdoor season, will meet the silver and bronze medallists from Paris, respectively Françoise Mbango of Cameroon and Italy’s Magdalin Martinez, as well as former double World Indoor bronze medallist Sárka Kaspárková of the Czech Republic, and Greece’s Olga Vasdéki, the 1998 European outdoor champion who captured a World bronze five years ago in Seville.
Turova and Heshko at 1500m
After jolting the season list of the women’s 1500 metres in Stockholm Thursday night with a world-leading 4:04.72, Alesya Turova of Belarus will come to the line Sunday in that same event against Sydney champion Nouriah Mérah-Benida of Algeria, who will be making her 2004 début. Others in the competition include Kutre Dulecha of Kenya, Ukraine’s Iryna Lishchynska, and Judit Varga of Hungary, who was also part of the Stockholm field (fourth in 4:07.01).
Ivan Heshko of Ukraine, the Paris bronze medallist and the number-two runner on this year’s list (3:37.48), leads the men’s 1500 metres lineup. His main rivals will be Mike Too of Kenya (3:38.12), fast-ascending Czech runner Michal Sneberger (3:38.98) and the silver medallist in both the Sydney and Edmonton 5K, Ali Saïdi-Sief of Algeria.
Levorato versus Gevaert, Ottey...
Manuela Levorato of Italy goes for her third straight win in the women’s 60 metres against the double sprint silver medallist from Munich, Belgium’s Kim Gevaert, who returns to action after an automobile accident in Brussels last weekend. Also on the Europahalle’s renowned infield course will be sprinting legend Merlene Ottey of Slovenia, European 200m bronze medallist Karin Mayr of Austria, Natalya Safronnikova of Belarus, the bronze medallist in Lisbon, and Germany’s top sprinter, Sina Schielke.
Like Gevaert, Sydney Hurdles champion Anier García of Cuba will be testing his condition after a slight hamstring strain two weeks ago while training in Spain. American Duane Ross, the bronze winner in Seville, and the Commonwealth bronze medallist, Maurice Wignall of Jamaica, are also among the top entrants in the men’s 60 metres Hurdles, as is García’s countryman Yuniel Hernández.
Jamaica is also well represented in the women’s sprint Hurdles event, with the top two finishers from the last Commonwealth Games, Lacena Golding-Clarke and Vonette Dixon, topping the list. On hand will also be the World Indoor bronze medallist from Lisbon, France’s Nicole Ramalalanirina.
Germany’s Daniela Rath brings her three-meet winning streak in the women’s High Jump to Karlsruhe, where she will meet three other members of the Two-Metre Club, Ukrainians Vita Palamar and Irina Mykhalchenko, plus Russia’s Viktoriya Seryogina.
The men’s Pole Vault field is dominated by German jumpers, including World and European indoor champion Tim Lobinger and European silver medallist Lars Börgeling.
