Janeth Jepkosgei of Kenya on her way to winning the women's 800m at the 2007 Berlin Golden League meeting (© Getty Images)
A clash of the reigning women's World outdoor and indoor 800m championships will be but a sampling of dozens of intriguing head-to-head battles on tap at the DKB-ISTAF Berlin meeting in the German capital on Sunday 1 June, this year the kick-off of the six-meeting ÅF Golden League series.
Building on her slew of fast performances of recent years, Kenyan ace Janeth Jepkosgei disappointed no one at the World Championships in Osaka last summer with her scintillating gun-to-tape run, clocking a national record 1:56.04. Conversely, Australian Tamsyn Lewis utilised a different approach in her gold medal-winning run in Valencia in March. Choosing to follow, she waited for an opportunity to strike, and when it appeared, she took full advantage to pull off one of the biggest surprises of the indoor season.
Underscoring the significance of the face-off is that the women’s 800m is one of the designated ÅF Golden League events in which a share of the $1 Million ÅF Golden League Jackpot will be at stake. The pair of reigning World champions will face stiff competition at the series opening leg, including Spaniard Mayte Martinez, Ukrainians Tatyana Petlyuk and Yuliya Krevsun, Osaka finalist Svetlana Klyuka of Russia, and Jamaican standout Kenia Sinclair.
Kallur vs Jones
Likewise, the women’s 100m Hurdles, also a Jackpot event, will feature Swede Susanna Kallur, the woman who seemed destined to take the World Indoor title in Valencia, and American Lolo Jones, who wound up with that gold medal. Less than a month after breaking the World indoor record in the 60m Hurdles, Kallur was forced to withdraw from the semi-finals in Valencia with a hamstring injury. Jones, who was the season’s second fastest, stepped up without hesitation to claim the title. This will be their first meeting since.
Among the challengers to the pair will be rapidly improving 21-year-old Spaniard Josephine Onyia who over the weekend lowered her personal best to 12.64.
Organisers have also announced a high calibre field in the women’s 5000m, lead by local favourite Sabrina Mockenhaupt. The 27-year-old is a solid performer from 3000m to the Marathon, and the Berlin field will provide an ample test of her pre-Olympic form.
The field boasts Kenyan Priscah Jepleting Cherono, the bronze medallist in the event from Osaka; Kenyan rising stars Linet Masai, the World cross country bronze medallist, and former World Junior and World Youth 3000m champion Veronica Nyaruai, and Canadian Megan Metcalfe, the early season world leader in the 3000.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
