Asafa Powell defeats Maurice Greene in Zurich Golden League (© Getty Images)
Let us briefly delve into the near future and conjure with the possible competitive delights that are likely to be offered by the second edition of the IAAF World Athletics Final.
With one IAAF Grand Prix and two TDK Golden League meetings, let alone the Olympic Games still to be contested the start list for the World Athletics Final, which is determined by the event positions of athletes in the IAAF World Rankings*, remains understandably fluid for all events.
But let’s tempt our athletics appetites for a moment and for the fun of it ponder the possibilities for the men’s 100m.
There are some contestants whose places in the World Athletics Final short sprint are already all but guaranteed because of their exceptional form over the last 12 months.
As such we can potentially look forward to Shawn Crawford (USA - 9.88), Maurice Greene (USA - 9.91), Asafa Powell (JAM - 9.91), and Francis Obikwelu (POR - 10.02), blasting down the straight of Monaco’s Stade Louis II.
Based on this week’s World Rankings for the men’s 100m, other possible contestants for the automatic seven places are, World Champion Kim Collins (SKN – 10.10) or the Americans Justin Gatlin (9.92), John Capel (9.95) and Bernard Williams (10.04), or Ghana’s Aziz Zakari (10.00).
So here is how the fictional line-up would stand if the athletes were called to their marks today -
1. Asafa POWELL 82 JAM 1352
2. Maurice GREENE 74 USA 1333
3. Justin GATLIN 82 USA 1328
4. Shawn CRAWFORD 78 USA 1327
5. Kim COLLINS 76 SKN 1323
6. John CAPEL 78 USA 1311
7. Francis OBIKWELU 78 POR 1305
8 Aziz ZAKARI 76 GHA 1297
8. Bernard WILLIAMS 78 USA 1297
All in all with five fast Americans presently listed at the top of the World Rankings for the Event*, it could be argued that the men’s 100m sprint in Monaco is set to better the Olympic Final line-up in Athens, which of course is restricted to three entrants per nation per event.
The World Athletics Final – Simply the “best of the best”!
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*The start-list of the World Athletics Final is decided according to the IAAF World Rankings in each event, with athletes who are in the top 7 positions (11 positions for the races of 1500m and over) in each event automatically qualifying.
IAAF World Athletics Final -
Szombathely, HUN, 5 September 2004 (Hammer competitions)
Monaco, MON, 18 and 19 September 2004
IAAF
IAAF World Athletics Final
Predictions as at 9 August 2004
Our forecast of the athletes who have virtually already done enough to automatically qualify for the Final
MEN
Event Athlete Nat.
100m
Maurice GREENE USA
Asafa POWELL JAM
Shawn CRAWFORD USA
Francis OBIKWELU POR
200m
Shawn CRAWFORD USA
Stéphan BUCKLAND MRI
400m
Alleyne FRANCIQUE GRN
800m
Wilfred BUNGEI KEN
William YIAMPOY KEN
Joseph Mwengi MUTUA KEN
Yuriy BORZAKOVSKIY RUS
1500m
Bernard LAGAT KEN
Paul KORIR KEN
Ivan HESHKO UKR
Isaac Kiprono SONGOK KEN
Alex KIPCHIRCHIR KEN
Hicham EL GUERROUJ MAR
5000-10,000m
Kenenisa BEKELE ETH
Gebre-Egziabher GEBREMARIAM ETH
Mushir Salem JAWHER BRN
John Kemboi KIBOWEN KEN
Sileshi SIHINE ETH
Ahmad Hassan ABDULLAH QAT
Richard LIMO KEN
Dejene BERHANU ETH
Boniface SONGOK KEN
Craig MOTTRAM AUS
Haile GEBRSELASSIE ETH
Eliud KIPCHOGE KEN
110mH
Allen JOHNSON USA
Xiang LIU CHN
Terrence TRAMMELL USA
400mH
Felix SÁNCHEZ DOM
Christopher RAWLINSON GBR
Naman KEITA FRA
3000mSC
Paul Kipsiele KOECH KEN
Ezekiel KEMBOI KEN
Julius NYAMU KEN
David CHEMWENO KEN
Ali EZZINE MAR
Saif Saaeed SHAHEEN QAT
High Jump
Stefan HOLM SWE
Yaroslav RYBAKOV RUS
Jaroslav BÁBA CZE
Jamie NIETO USA
Pole Vault
Tim LOBINGER GER
Toby STEVENSON USA
Long Jump
Dwight PHILLIPS USA
Hussein Taher AL SABEE KSA
Triple Jump
Christian OLSSON SWE
Jadel GREGÓRIO BRA
Marian OPREA ROM
Danil BURKENYA RUS
Shot Put
Christian CANTWELL USA
Adam NELSON USA
Discus Throw
Virgilijus ALEKNA LTU
Róbert FAZEKAS HUN
Hammer Throw
Koji MUROFUSHI JPN
Adrián ANNUS HUN
Ivan TIKHON BLR
Javelin Throw
Sergey MAKAROV RUS
Breaux GREER USA
Aleksandr IVANOV RUS
WOMEN
Event Athlete Cnt
100m
Christine ARRON FRA
Yuliya BORTSEVICH-NESTERENKO BLR
200m
Cydonie MOTHERSILL CAY
Muriel HURTIS FRA
400m
Tonique WILLIAMS BAH
Natalya NAZAROVA RUS
800m
Maria de Lurdes MUTOLA MOZ
Jolanda ÈEPLAK SLO
1500m
Kelly HOLMES GBR
Hayley PARRY-TULLETT GBR
Lidia CHOJECKA-OKNINSKA POL
Judit VARGA HUN
Yelena ZADOROZHNAYA RUS
5000-10,000m
Tirunesh DIBABA ETH
Isabella OCHICHI KEN
Edith MASAI KEN
Ejagayou DIBABA ETH
Meseret DEFAR ETH
Werknesh KIDANE ETH
Alice TIMBILILI KEN
Benita WILLIS-JOHNSON AUS
Derartu TULU ETH
Teyiba ERKESSO ETH
Elvan ABEYLEGESSE TUR
100mH
Perdita FELICIEN CAN
Gail DEVERS USA
Glory ALOZIE ESP
Delloreen ENNIS-LONDON JAM
400mH
Sandra CUMMINGS-GLOVER USA
Tetyana TERESHCHUK-ANTIPOVA UKR
Yuliya NOSOVA-PECHONKINA RUS
Ionela ÞIRLEA-MANOLACHE ROM
High Jump
Hestrie CLOETE RSA
Yelena SIVUSHENKO-SLESARENKO RUS
Blanka VLAŠIÆ CRO
Pole Vault
Yelena ISINBAYEVA RUS
Svetlana FEOFANOVA RUS
Stacy DRAGILA USA
Long Jump
Tatyana LEBEDEVA RUS
Tatyana KOTOVA RUS
Irina SIMAGINA RUS
Marion JONES USA
Triple Jump
Tatyana LEBEDEVA RUS
Yamilé ALDAMA SUD
Shot Put
Svetlana KRIVELYOVA RUS
Irina KORZHANENKO RUS
Nadezhda OSTAPCHUK BLR
Discus Throw
Vìra POSPÍŠILOVÁ-CECHLOVÁ CZE
Aretha HILL USA
Natalya SADOVA RUS
Hammer Throw
Yipsi MORENO CUB
Olga KUZENKOVA RUS
Yuan GU CHN
Manuela MONTEBRUN FRA
Javelin Throw
Osleidys MENÉNDEZ CUB
Nikola TOMEÈKOVÁ-BREJCHOVÁ CZE
Steffi NERIUS GER
