Virgilijus Alekna of Lithuania celebrates winning the discus throw (© Getty Images)
The Rieti IAAF Grand Prix meeting, the final leg of the international athletics circuit before the IAAF World Athletics Final (13 and 14 September) in Monaco, will certainly live up to its strong middle distance running tradition with the return of Hicham El Guerrouj to the track where he finished just short (3:26.96) off his World record (3:26.00) last year.
The Moroccan has kept the promise made last year to return to the Raul Guidobaldi stadium which is known as a “temple of middle distance running”. Six World records and three European all-time bests have been set in the 33-year-old history of the Rieti meeting.
The legendary British middle distance runner Steve Ovett began the meeting’s 1500 metres World record history with 3:30.77 in 1983. Next the magical Italian track attracted Algeria's Nourreddine Morceli who entered the history books by smashing two records in two consecutive years: 3:28.86 in the 1500 metres in 1992 and 3:44.39 in the mile in 1993.
Hicham El Guerrouj is fresh from his fourth consecutive World title in the 1500 metres won in Paris over the French hero Mehdi Baala, and travels to Rieti on Saturday directly from Brussels, where he ran and won the 1500 metres at the Memorial Ivo Van Damme last night, again ahead of the Frenchman – 3:28.40 to 3:28.98 (French record).
In the Italian town he will contest another 1500 metres race aiming for a fast time. Previously he wanted to run the Mile distance but made a quick change to his plans after testing his condition one week after the World Championships. William Chirchir, Benjamin Kipkurui and the Russian Vyacheslav Shabunin are also on the starting list.
The Domincan Republic’s Felix Sanchez is the other big name in Rieti. Sanchez who won his second World title in Paris last week with the new Central-American record of 47.25 (world season’s best and seventh in the all-time list) arrived in Rieti on Thursday. to prepare for his last outing on Sunday afternoon before the World Athletics Final in Monte Carlo.
Sanchez, aims to possibly attack his seasonal best and will face France’s Stephane Diagana, European champion in Munich and the continental record holder with 47.37, the Czech Jiri Muzik, European silver medallist last year and the US hurdler Eric Thomas (PB 47.94).
The women 400 Hurdles is no less interesting. The World record holder Yuliya Pechonkina with the 52.34 she set at the Russian championships, will clash with Sandra Cummings Glover, second in Paris and the double reigning European champion Ionela Tirlea of Romania.
The men’s 800 metres race is another race with a glorious past in Rieti. Last year Wilson Kipketer clocked 1:42.32 in a competition which featured five men under the 1:43.15 barrier. The track record is held by Kipketer who ran 1:41.83 in 1996.
The two-lap event is star-studded and features last year’s Zürich winner Joseph Mutua (PB 1:43.33), Wilfried Bungei, second last year in Rieti with a PB of 1:42.34, who won last night in Brussels with 1:42.52 but missed the Paris World Championships due to a bout of malaria during the kenyan trials, South Africa’s Hezekiel Sepeng, silver medallist at the Atlanta Olympics and at the 1999 World Championships, Netherland’s Bram Som (PB 1:43.98), finalist at last year’s European Championships, last year’s World Cup winner Antonio Reina from Spain (PB 1:43.83), Justus Koech from Kenya, finalist in Paris in this event, France’s Florent Lacasse (PB 1:44.61 set in Turin), and Andrea Longo of Italy (fifth in Paris).
Other Paris world finalists and medallists will also be on the starting-lists in Rieti. Italian fans will have the chance to celebrate their Pole Vault hero Giuseppe Gibilisco, the surprise World champion at the Stade de France. Gibilisco is coached by Sergey Bubka’s former trainer Vitaliy Petrov. Few athletics pundits would have bet on Gibilisco’s victory some weeks before Paris.
Rieti will feature a re-match of the Paris World Championships with 2001 World champion Dmitry Markov from Australia his chief rival but with the Italian jumping no better than 7th= last night in Brussels (5.60m) and Markov also below-par on 5.70m (4th), both men need to up their post Paris game to keep it interesting.
The reigning European 200 metres champion Muriel Hurtis, one of the French squad to win World gold at the 4x100m is the star of the women’s 100 metres.
In the men’s dash the names speak for themselves. Led by last night’s Brussels winner Jamaican Asafa Powell (10.02) the field contains World 200m silver medallist Darvis Patton, US champion Bernard Williams, Shawn Crawford, World Cup winner Uchennna Emedolu from Nigeria. Crawford also goes again in the 200m and faces World Indoor champion Marlon Devonish of Great Britain, and USA’s Coby Miller.
The world season’s leader in the women’s Triple Jump Yamile Aldama will face Francoise Mbango, silver in Paris with 15.05 (african record) and the Italy’s Cuban-born Magdelin Martinez, the World bronze medallist (new italian record of 14.90).
A great men Discus throw competition is also in prospect. Lithuania’s World and Olympic champion Virgilius Alekna, will battle against Hungary’s Robert Fazekas, last year’s European championships and World Cup winner, Vasiliy Kaptyukh from Belarus, bronze medallist in Paris and at the 1996 Olympic Games, and Frantz Kruger from South Africa, the Olympic bronze medallist in Sydney.
So role on Rieti, the last competition before IAAF World Rankings places are decided and the start lists of the World Athletics Final in Monaco (13 and 14 September) become clear.
