News24 Aug 2006


Green track opens for business in Stuttgart – IAAF World Athletics Final

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Thomas Blaschek (GER) on the new green track of the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadium. (© Holger Schmidt)

Stuttgart, GermnayThe green track of the Gottlieb Daimler Stadion of Stuttgart dressed with its newly laid white lane markings, sparkled and glittered in the sun. And the small delegation of officials, organisers, journalists and photographers watched the result of the resurfacing work as it was unveiled to the world on Monday (21). The costs: 290,000 Euro for the redevelopment. It was a special moment. Now the athletes have a new paradise on which to compete.

Testing time for Blaschek
 
The official opening of the new green track in Stuttgart took place with Thomas Blaschek, European Championship silver medallist in the 110m Hurdles, on hand as the first athlete to test the new track surface. Carefully the guy from Leipzig crouched down in the new starting blocks and simulated a race start on the new track, which is ready to host the IAAF World Athletics Final, 9 / 10 September 2006.

The track has been resurfaced with a five millimetre thick surface of green synthetic granulate.
 
In less than three weeks the big stars of the IAAF World Athletics Tour will meet in Stuttgart. Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva in the Pole Vault, 100m sprinter Asafa Powell from Jamaica, the Swedish superstars Kajsa Bergqvist (high Jump) and Christian Olsson (Triple Jump), USA’s Jeremy Wariner in the 400m, Javelin ace Andreas Thorkildsen from Norway, Germany’s European silver medallists in the 100m Hurdles, Kirsten Bolm and in the Javelin, Steffi Nerius… are just a few of the names who will fight for the victory in the season’s finale to the World Athletics Tour, which is a veritable "Mini-World Championship".

Nearly $3 million up for grabs

The winner of each of the disciplines gets $30,000, with prize money awards descending down to 8th place (9th to 12th places in races over 1500m will also receive awards), with a total prize purse of $2,976,500 up for grabs.

"The spectators can watch the best athletes in every discipline this season,” said Jörg Klopfer, the press chief.
 
Thomas Blaschek is looking forward to the 9 /10 September. "It’s time that athletics comes back to Stuttgart,” commented the 25-year-old. The stadium wrote big stories in athletics in the past via the 1986 European Championships and the 1993 World Championships.

"Normally new tracks are very soft, what is not very good for the sprints and the hurdles, but this one is hard. So I expect, we can run very good results,” confirmed Blaschek. "But the colour is not responsible for the results,” he confirmed with a laugh.
 
$100,000 World record bonus

Asafa Powell could become the Superstar of the Stars in the new Stadium. The Jamaican guy has equalled the World record in the 100m twice times this year following on from his original clocking of 9.77 on 14 June 2005. In Gateshead (11 June 2006) and in Zürich (18 August 2006) he ran 9.77 - and he is still in a very good shape. If he breaks that mark in Stuttgart he would earn an extra $100,000. In fact, every athlete who surpasses a World record in the World Athletics Final will be awarded this money. So it is an extra motivation to come to Stuttgart.

A second possible World record could come in the women’s Pole Vault. Isinbayeva is ready. Last year she jumped 5.01m to win the World Championship in Helsinki and it would be a nice conclusion of her one-day meeting season, if she could surpass that mark at the World Athletics Final.
 
The city of Stuttgart is ready to welcome world class athletes from all over the World and with 30,000 spectator tickets already sold the atmosphere should be just the motivation for good marks. 
 
Ursula Kaiser for the IAAF

IAAF World Athletics Final – Who and how many qualify?

 

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