Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia wins the Triple Jump at the Paris Golden League meeting (© Getty Images)
MonteCarloGiven that Tatyana Lebedeva seems to have recovered from the Achilles problems which prevented her participation in the World Championship Triple Jump final in Helsinki on 7 August, it would be one of the shocks of this summer if the 29-year-old Russian didn’t fulfill her One Million Dollars destiny this Sunday in Berlin, Germany (4 Sep).
A victory at ‘ISTAF Berlin’, the final TDK Golden League meeting of the summer, will ensure that the 2001/2003 World Triple Jump champion and 2004 Olympic Long Jump gold medallist becomes only the second athlete in history to snatch the entire TDK Golden League Jackpot of One Million Dollars.
The season long quest is the hardest our sport has to offer but the rewards are equal to the task for anyone successfully expending the effort. The winning formula could not be more transparent, with the requirement being that, to at least share the Jackpot, any athlete must take six wins from six meetings in their chosen discipline, with the only other competitive obligation being to compete at the World Athletics Final in Monaco (9 / 10 Sep).
Two years ago, Friday 5 September 2003, Mozambique’s Maria Mutola was equal to the task, taking her sixth Golden League win at 800m, so becoming the first ever solo winner of the greatest single prize in track and field.
Lebedeva, like Mutola two season’s ago, is the sole surviving Jackpot contender from the 12 who won their respective TDK Golden League events at the opening meeting, which was held in Paris on 1 July 2005.
With the exception of her Achilles injury which intervened at just the wrong moment, the Russian who is also the World Indoor Triple Jump champion and record holder, has had an unblemished year of competition. In all she has taken six victories in the event, the one non TDK Golden League competition, not including the World Championships qualification round (14.14m, -0.2m/s; Helsinki 6 Aug), being at the Super Grand Prix in Lausanne on 5 July (15.05m, 0.9m/s).
Lebedeva’s TDK Golden League Triple Jump summary:
15.11 (-0.2 m/s wind) Paris 1 Jul;
15.03 (0.6) Rome 8 Jul;
14.89 (0.1) Oslo 29 Jul;
14.94 (-0.9) Zürich 19 Aug;
14.94 (-0.2) Brussels 26 Aug.
Only one other athlete has managed to breach the 15m barrier during an otherwise low key year for the women’s Triple Jump. Trecia Smith of Jamaica took the World crown in Lebedeva’s absence with 15.11m – equalling the world’s longest jump of this summer - the stature of the result refuting any possible suggestion that the title was cheaply won. But sadly in securing her gold medal Smith injured herself and collected her prize with the aid of a pair of crutches in Helsinki, and she has today withdrawn from ISTAF Berlin with a recurrence of that leg injury.
The main opposition to Lebedeva on Sunday now rests with six of the other top eight finishers from the World Championships led by silver and bronze medallists Yargelis Savigne (CUB) and Anna Pyatykh (RUS).
Chris Turner for the IAAF
The original 12 winners from Paris who started on the TDK Golden league Jackpot quest and how they progressed –
Men:
100m - Aziz Zakari (GHA) - defeated in Rome
800m - William Yiampoy (KEN) - defeated in Rome
1500m - Daniel Kipchirchir Komen (KEN) - defeated in Rome
3000/5000m – Kenenisa Bekele - did not contest Rome
110m Hurdles - Ladji Doucouré (FRA) - defeated in Rome
High Jump - Stefan Holm (SWE) - defeated in Rome
Javelin Throw - Tero Pitkämäki (FIN) – defeated in Rome
Women:
100m - Christine Arron (FRA) – defeated in Zürich
800m - Svetlana Cherkasova (RUS) - defeated in Rome
3000/5000m - Edith Masai (KEN) - defeated in Rome
400mH - LaShinda Demus (USA) - defeated in Oslo
Triple Jump - Tatyana Lebedeva (RUS) - contender
TDK Golden League 2005
2005 Dates
Paris- Friday, 1 July
Rome- Friday, 8 July
Oslo- Friday, 29 July
Zurich- Friday, 19 August
Brussels- Friday, 26 August
Berlin- Sunday, 4 September
2005 Events
There will be seven events for men and five for women:
Men:
100m, 800m, 1500m or Mile, 3000m or 5000m, 110m Hurdles, High Jump, Javelin Throw.
Women:
100m, 800m, 3000m or 5000m, 400m Hurdles, Triple Jump.
IAAF
