News17 Jun 2005


Sanchez, Lebedeva, Bekele confirm Lausanne fixtures

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Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia takes bronze in the Triple Jump final (© Getty Images)

There are a finite quantity of double World and Olympic champions around at anyone time, and so the 30th edition of ‘Athletissima’, the Lausanne IAAF Super Grand Prix, has pulled off something special by enticing Felix Sanchez and Tatiana Lededeva to compete on 5 July.

Felix Sanchez, 27, of the Dominican Republic, the double World 400m Hurdles gold medallist who was crowned Olympic Champion last summer, began his hurdles season with a 48.4 clocking on 14 May, proving he is very much recovered from injury. The Dominican who is IAAF World Ranked number one for the event, will race against Olympic bronze medallist Naman Keita of France.

Russia’s Tatiana Lebedeva, 28, the Olympic women’s Long Jump champion, is also a triple jumper par excellence. She is the reigning double World champion, as well as having the indoor World title and record on her CV as well!  She has the potential to smash the Triple Jump World record, and we should remember her jump last year in Lausanne measured 15.33m. Lebedeva is currently the World Ranked number one in the Long Jump and second in the Triple Jump. Champions don’t come much better than that!

Aiming to match Sanchez and Lebedeva’s present championship pedigree this summer in Helsinki is World Athlete of the Year, Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia. The 23 year-old has also confirmed for Athletissima. As well as his virtually countless cross country triumphs, the Ethiopian is Olympic and World 10,000m track champion, and will be attempt to win his second World title this summer. In Lausanne, the holder of the World records for both 5000m and 10,000m will take on Algeria’s Ali Saidi-Sief.

Maryam Jamal of Bahrain, who is the former Ethiopian athlete Zenebech Tola, is the surprise of the athletics circuit so far this summer. A member of the Stade Lausanne Club, she smashed the world season’s best and her own PB with a women’s 1500m win this week at the Super Grand Prix in Athens in 3:59.13 in Athens.

Jamal is now dreaming of a new victory on her ‘home’ track. “I would love so much to give pleasure, with a fine performance, to the public of Lausanne who have always supported me since I arrived in Switzerland. To do so, I would need the spectators’ support because the competition in Athletissima will be more difficult," confirmed Jamal.

www.athletissima.ch

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