What
to look out for on Day 7
Nick Davies for the IAAF
9 August 2001 - Christian Malcom, a double sprint world junior champion in 1998,
confirmed he has graduated to senior class with a blistering display yesterday
in his 200m semi-final.
The slender Briton with the peroxide hair set a personal best of 20.08, just ahead of former World Indoor champion Kevin Little (USA) and Stephane Buckland from Mauritius who clocked a national record of 20.15. Olympic champion Konstandinos Kederis won the second semi-final with a world leading 20.03 and has lane 4 in the final, with Malcolm in 5, which will allow him to judge his pace against the Briton. Shawn Crawford of the USA and Jamaica’s Christopher Williams also looked slick in the semis.
Although Allen Johnson will be desperate to regain a title he has won twice, in 1995 and 1997, he will have to raise his game to upset the Olympic champion Anier Garcia in the 110m hurdles final. The Cuban ran a season’s best of 13.19 to win the first semi-final from Johnson, who clocked 13.27 after stumbling, albeit not as dramatically as his training partner Terrence Trammel, who misses the final after hitting four hurdles and finishing third in the second semi. Another surprise will be the absence of Britain’s Commonwealth champion Tony Jarrett, who was disqualified for two false starts. Garcia’s Cuban team-mate Yoel Hernandez could challenge for a medal after qualifying with 13.33, his best time of the season.
The biggest favourite for the men’s Pole Vault final will be Dimitriy Markov, the Russian born Australian who cleared 5.60 and 5.70 first time to clinch automatic qualification. Markov also has the best recent form as he cleared a world leading 5.95 at the most recent Golden League meeting in Monaco on 20 July. Nick Hysong of the USA will be hoping to repeat his Olympic victory, and was also impressive in qualifying. Germany have three men in the final, Danny Ecker, Michael Stolle and Richard Spiegelburg, but watch out also for the Israeli Aleksandr Averbukh, a world bronze medallist in 1999 who set a personal best of 5.90 earlier this season. With defending champion Maksim Tarasov out injured, and the man who won every other edition of these Championships, Sergey Bubka, looking on from the VIP stands, there will definitely be a new name on the list of champions.
Following their 1-2-3 finish in the men’s 20km race, Russia will be hoping for more glory in the women’s event where they are strongly represented by Olimpiada Ivanova, who lowered the year’s world best to 1:24:50 at her national championships, and her compatriot Natalya Fedoskina, who Ivanova beat in the European Cup. China, another top walking nation, will be hoping defending champion Liu Hong can repeat her Seville victory. Olympic champion Wang Liping will not be present, but the Australian who was dramatically disqualified as she was leading in Sydney, Jane Saville, will get a chance to make amends. Two very experienced Italians, Elisabetta Perrone and Erica Alfridi will also be leading contenders with 40 year-old Australian Kerry Saxby-Junna contesting her sixth World Championships.
