Starstudded
field for Norwich Union Classic Grand Prix in Gateshead
Chris Turner for IAAF
27 August 2000 - Despite the withdrawal of Ethiopian distance king Haile Gebrselassie who
has been recalled by his federation to attend a pre Olympic training camp, the Norwich
Union Classic in Gateshead on Monday still looks set to be a sparkling meet.
The world’s fastest man - World 100m Champion Maurice Greene headlines a star-studded field in the men’s 100 metres which includes Canada’s reigning Olympic Champion Donovan Bailey and Britain’s pack of Olympic sprint medal hopefuls - Dwain Chambers, Darren Campbell and Jason Gardener.
All three British sprinters have a lot to gain from the clash with America’s best.
Chambers, last year’s world championship bronze medallist, produced a spectacular return to form when winning the AAA’s title earlier this month and will be seeking to build on that new found speed; Campbell, the European Champion and Britain’s fastest and most consistent sprinter this year will aim to reassert his domestic dominance of the event; whilst Gardener will hope to prove he has now fully recovered from the back injury that restricted him to fourth place at the trials, as he seeks to repeat his emphatic victory over Greene in Glasgow back in July.
In the men’s 400 metres, Mark Richardson after pushing Michael Johnson all the way to the finish line in Brussels on Friday night will tackle his British rivals European Champion Iwan Thomas and World Indoor Champion Jamie Baulch.
However, it will not just be a domestic battle as Jamaican Greg Haughton who won at the London Grand Prix three weeks ago and American trials finalists Jerome Young and Danny McCray will not let the Brits have it their own way.
Running only his third 800 metres of this year, world record holder and three-time world champion
Wilson Kipketer takes on current world number one Andre Bucher of Switzerland who finished ahead of Kipketer in Brussels on Friday. However, on that occasion both men were beaten in an exceptionally fast race by Algeria’s Djabir Said-Guerni and so will be out to recover some lost pride in Gateshead.
In the men’s high hurdles, Britain’s reigning world champion Colin Jackson will hope to continue is come back to top form. After being badly defeated at the Monaco Golden League meeting only just a week ago (18/08), Jackson blasted back to his best form running 13.10sec in Leverkusen, Germany two days later. Another victory this Monday over largely the same field which includes world indoor silver medallist Reggie Torian, World Cup winner German Falk Balzer and former world championship silver medallist Tony Jarrett would give Jackson’s Olympic hopes a big boost.
Another British world record holder also to re-established his Olympic challenge in Leverkausen was world triple jump record holder Jonathan Edwards who leapt to the top of the world rankings with 17.62m - his best for two years.
In Gateshead, Edwards will hope the home crowd can inspire him to a morale boosting victory over some of his leading Olympic rivals including the man he replaced at the top of the world rankings Italian Fabrizio Donato; 1997 World Champion Yoelvis Quesada; the winner of last month’s US Trials in Sacramento Robert Howard; World Indoor silver medallist Lamark Carter; and his two closest domestic rivals - European Cup winner Larry Achike and AAA Champion Phillip Idowu.
In the men’s javelin, Olympic silver medallist Steve Backley will hope to build on his impressive winning throw at the Norwich Union Olympic Trials & AAA Championships, a season’s best of 86.70m. He faces Cuban Emeterio Gonzalez Silva whose own season’s best of 87.12m is just beyond Backley’s, as well as fellow Brits Nick Nieland, who threw a 85.09m personal best to finish second at the Trials and European silver medallist Mick Hill.
One of the highlights of the women’s events in Gateshead will be the battle between Australia’s double 400m World Champion Cathy Freeman and reigning World 200m Champion Inger Miller over the shorter distance. The race represents a big test for Freeman as this is the world 400m number one’s first race over 200m since she gained selection for the Australian 200m Olympic team last week.
In the rarely run 300 metres, Katharine Merry Britain’s own Olympic medal hope over 400m, returns to the track over the rarely run 300m having been forced to miss the Norwich Union Olympic Trials & AAA Championships due to illness. Merry takes on new AAA 400m Champion Donna Fraser - who trains with Freeman at Eton - as well as 1997 World 400m silver medallist Jamaican Sandi Richards and the winner of the US Olympic Trials Latasha Colander-Richardson.
There should also be an interesting battle in the women’s 400 metres hurdles as the reigning Olympic Champion Jamaican Deon Hemmings takes on the 1997 World Champion Moroccan Nezha Bidouane, this year’s world number one Sandra Glover and Olympic bronze medallist Tonia Buford Bailey. The race also looks set to provide a fantastic domestic showdown with Britain’s top three - Keri Maddox, Natasha Danvers and Sinead Dudgeon lining up against each other once again as they seek some notable world class scalps ahead of Sydney.
In the only "long" distance event of either the men’s or women’s programme Sonia O’Sullivan, Ireland’s reigning European Champion over 5,000m and 10,000m renews her rivalry with British 10,000m World silver medallist Paula Radcliffe. Radcliffe beat O’Sullivan over 5,000m in London earlier this month before O’Sullivan gained revenge over 3,000m in Zurich, when she produced the second fastest time in the world this year. The world class field also includes 1997 World 10,000m Champion Sally Barsosio.
