World record for Emma George, Fredricks 9.94 and ambitions for Maebashi

World record for Emma George, Fredricks 9.94 and ambitions for Maebashi
Tony Harper (AP) in Sydney

Australian pole vaulter Emma George begged her coach for one more jump and used it to break her own outdoor pole vault world record at the Sydney Grand Prix track meet on Saturday.

George cleared 4.60 meters on her first attempt after easy clearances on her two previous heights. It was a 16th world record outdoors or indoors for George, who set the previous outdoor mark at 4.59m in Brisbane on 21 March last year and followed that with an indoor record of 4.55m in Adelaide on 26 March.

Her coach, Russian Alex Parnov, told her she should stop after winning the meet with a 4.50-meter clearance but she asked for another chance. "He said maybe we should stop now because you've got a competition next week,'' George said. "I counted my jumps and I said ‘can I have just a couple more’, so it was nice to get it in just one.''
The jump set her up for the world indoor championships in Japan next month, where George hopes to improve on her silver medal from last World Indoors in Paris in 1997.

George went on a record breaking spree early last year but then put height aside to work on the quality of her run-up. She took her time getting used to the shortened run up and suffered two losses to former Russian athlete Tatianta Grigorieva, now qualified for Australia, in the past fortnight. "The pressure's off a little bit now. I know I had a slow start off eight steps but it was what I was working towards,'' George said. "Beforehand I wasn't feeling confident at all, I was quite nervous but it got better as the comp went on.''

After the successful clearance, on the warm-up track in the shadows of the 110,000-seat 2000 Olympic Stadium, George jumped up into the stands to hug her mother and father. Merron and Noel George spent eight hours travelling by car from Melbourne to Sydney to watch Emma compete. "My dad's been cheering ever since warm-up, he gets a bit excited,'' she said.

Frankie Fredericks made a strong start to the year Saturday, running the fastest time ever on Australian soil when he clocked 9.94 seconds to win the 100-meter event at the Sydney Grand Prix.

Tuning up for a rare outing at the world indoor championships next month, Fredericks got a flying start and soared away with a1.3m/s tailwind to better the 9.99 mark run by American Maurice Green in Sydney last year.

"It feels really good. Every time you run under 10 seconds it's wonderful,'' Fredericks said. "It means that everything in my preparation up to this point is going well.''’

World 110-meter hurdles record holder Colin Jackson, who starts each year with training in Australia, struggled with jet lag but won his event in 13.30 seconds from fellow Briton Ross Baillie in 13.66. "I felt I ran very scratchy,'' Jackson said. ``That was probably worth .20 seconds. I made a few mistakes and after seeing what Frankie ran out there it would have been nice to have a smooth run.''

Fredericks, the Olympic silver medallist in the 100m and 200m events at the past two Olympics, is also the 200m indoors record holder with 19.92. He said his biggest remaining goal in track was the Olympic gold medal, which was partly why he accepted an invitation to run Down Under.

Saying he usually hates indoor racing because the air-conditioning is ``too cold,'' Fredericks will make an exception in Japan. He said he would run only one event. He expects it will be the 200, ``but after this who knows, maybe 60.''

Fredericks' main target this year in the world outdoors in Spain in August. "I'm not going to predict anybody to win that, I'm just going to make sure Frankie Fredericks is in good shape,'' he said. "My rivals know I'm still around.''

Australia's 400m world champion Cathy Freeman had her first successful outing over the distance in seven months and had too much class for her local rivals, crossing the line in 50.77. Britain's Alison Curbishly, last year's Commonwealth Games silver medallist, was second.

Freeman, silver medalist to Marie-Jose Perec in Atlanta, will attempt to defend her world title in Spain this year but for now she is just happy to be back on track. "I was really excited,'' said Freeman, who pulled out midway through a race earlier this month with a quad muscle injury. "I wasn't feeling great today because I had an upset stomach, but I felt really strong and surprised myself.''

OPTUS GRAND PRIX - SYDNEY (IAAF PERMIT MEET) 20 Feb 1999
Results from Athletics Australia

Open Women’s 100 metres
1. Lauren Hewitt (VIC) 11.40 w:0.4; 2. Sharon Cripps (QAS) 11.55 w:0.4; 3. Jodi Lambert (WAIS) 11.64 w:0.4; 4. Nova Peris-Kneebone (NTIS) 11.78 w:0.4; 5. Emma Marshall (TAS) 11.90 w:0.4; 6. Elona Reinalda (NSWI) 11.93 w:0.4; 7.Mindy Slomka (NSWI) 12.07 w:0.4; 8. Nicole Apps (NSW) 12.19 w:0.4; 9. Rachael Massey (NSW) 12.21 w:0.4.

Open Women’s 200 metres
1. Lauren Hewitt (VIC) 22.92 w:0.0; 2. Sharon Cripps (QAS) 23.38 w:0.0; 3. Jodi Lambert (WAIS) 23.49 w:0.0; 4. Emma Marshall (TAS) 24.02 w:0.0; 5. Elona Reinalda (NSWI) 24.06 w:0.0; 6. Nova Peris-Kneebone (NTIS) 24.21 w:0.0; 7. Shanie Coutts (NSW) 24.25 w:0.0; 8. Natalie O’Hara (ACT) 24.51 w:0.0; 9. Nicole Buchanan (NSW) 24.64 w:0.0.

Open Women’s 200 metres B Race
1. Georgina Amaral (NSW) 24.56 w:0.0; 2. Nicole Apps (NSW) 24.70 w:0.0; 3. Emma Quigley (NSW) 24.76 w:0.0; 4. Alicia Spencer (NSW) 24.91 w:0.0; 5. Veronica Boyd (NSW) 25.01 w:0.0; 6. Annette Low (NSW) 25.12 w:0.0; 7.Kristie-Lee Casey (NSW) 25.14 w:0.0; 8. Peta Gosbee (NSW) 25.26 w:0.0; 9. Vanessa Isaacs (NSW) 25.49 w:0.0.

Open Women’s 400 metres
1. Cathy Freeman (VIS) 50.76; 2. Alison Curbishley (GBR) 51.55; 3. Susan Andrews (WAIS) 52.00; 4. Helena Fuchsova (CZE) 52.16; 5. Tamsyn Lewis (VIS) 52.58; 6. Jane Arnott (NZL) 52.98; 7. Rosemary Hayward (NSWI) 53.60; 8. Vicky Piggin (NSW) 54.19; 9. Katerina Dressler (VIS) 54.83.

Open Women’s 800 metres
1. Kelly Roberts (ACTA) 2:06.23; 2. Amber Menzies (NSW) 2:09.60; 3. Lauren Elms (NSW) 2:10.46; 4. Lisa Corrigan (NSW) 2:10.88; 5. Michelle O’Grady (NSW) 2:13.11; 6. Amanda Jenkins (NSW) 2:14.13; 7. Nicole Kelly (NSW) 2:14.98; 8. Natalie Kolodziej (NSW) 2:17.37; 9. Larissa Stanley (NSW) 2:20.91; - Robyn Pearson (NSW) DNF; - Bride King (NSW) DNF.

Open Women’s 1,500 metres
1. Sarah Jamieson (VIC) 4:15.17; 2. Faith Macharia (KEN) 4:15.62; 3. Benita Willis (AIS) 4:16.74; 4. Susie Power (MTC) 4:17.45; 5. Georgie Clarke (VIS) 4:18.47; 6. Melanie Collins (ACT) 4:18.49; 7. Mary-Jane Harding (ACT) 4:18.69; 8. Sandra Dawson (QLD) 4:19.22; 9. Sarah Thorsett (USA) 4:22.29; 10. Suzy Walsham (NSW) 4:25.02; 11. Gladys Wamuyu (KEN) 4:27.48; 12. Alice Goodberg (NSW) 4:28.35; 13. Vanessa Kearney (NSW) 4:29.54; 14. Anne-Maree Lyons (NSW) 4:29.94; 15. Kerri Jorgensen (VIC) 4:31.41; 16. Heidi Riordon (VIC) 4:39.83; - Evette Cordy (VIS) DNF.

Open Women’s 3,000 metres GP
1. Kerryn McCann (NSWI) 8:54.41; 2. Natalie Harvey (VIS) 8:57.93; 3. Eloise Poppett (NSWI) 9:02.11; 4. Clair Fearnley (VIS) 9:10.03; 5. Mandy Giblin (TIS) 9:26.23; 6. Donna Tyberek (TAS) 9:32.91; 7. Catherine Lamb (NSW) 9:37.22; 8. Kate Maslen (NSW) 9:48.40; 9. Mary Fien (NSW) 9:55.28; 10. Melissa Vander Water (NSW) 10:00.06; 11. Annette Chase (NSW) 10:10.70; - Kate Anderson (VIS) DNF.

Open Women’s 100 metres Hurdles
1. Jacquie Munro (NSWI) 13.47 w:0.4; 2. Sherryl Morrow (VIS) 13.74 w:0.4; 3. Kym Burns (VIC) 13.80 w:0.4; 4. Nicole Gale (NSW) 13.95 w:0.4; 5. Simone Purvis (VIS) 13.98 w:0.4; 6. Clare Thompson (AIS) 14.07 w:0.4; 7. Jessie Shepherd (NSW) 14.08 w:0.4; 8. Kim Birrell (NSW) 14.41 w:0.4; 9. Jane Jamieson (NSWI) 14.48 w:0.4; 10. Virginia Young (NSW) 14.80 w:0.4.

Open Women’s 400 metres Hurdles GP
1. Adrienne McIvor (QLD) 56.85; 2. Evette Cordy (VIS) 57.94; 3. Jana Pittman NSW 58.45; 4. Kylie Wheeler (WAIS) 59.17; 5. Stephanie Price (NSW) 59.41; 6. Megan Chisholm (VIC) 60.94; - Melissa Mackie (ACT) DNF.

Open Women’s Pole Vault
1. Emma George (WAIS) 4.60m; 2. Tatiana Grigorieva (SASI) 4.30m; 3. Rachael Dacy (VIS) 4.10m; 4. Bridgid Isworth (VIS) 4.10m; 5. Kym Howe (WAIS) 3.95m; 5. Tracey Shepherd (WA) 3.95m; 7. Melina Hamilton (NZL) 3.80m; 8. Rosanna Ditton (NSWI) 3.80m.

Open Women’s Long Jump GP
1. Chantal Brunner (NZL) 6.48m w:1.9; 2. Nicole Boegman (AIS) 6.39m w:2.2; 3. Kym Burns (VIC) 6.32m w:2.1; 4. Clare Thompson (AIS) 6.10m w:1.8; 5. Kerrie Perkins (AIS) 6.08m w:1.1; 6. Jane Jamieson (NSWI) 5.96m w:1.4; 7. Sherryl Morrow (VIS) 5.88m w:0.9; 8. Siulolo Liku (TON) 5.68m w:0.4.

Open Women’s Shot Put
1. Hannah Schneider (NSW) 14.45m; 2. Katrina Steele (NSWI) 14.03m; 3. Debra Turnbull (NSWI) 13.77m; 4. Cathy Gardiner (NSW) 12.84m; 5. Erin MacGregor (NSW) 11.63m.

Open Women’s Hammer Throw GP
1. Olga Kuzenkova (RUS) 67.99m; 2. Debbie Sosimenko (NSWI) 65.10m; 3. Karyne Perkins (NSWI) 63.43m; 4. Byrony Glass (WAIS) 61.27m; 5. Brenda MacNaughton (NSWI) 60.18m; 6. Bronwyn Eagles (NSWI) 59.34m; 7. Denise Passmore (VIS) 57.72m.

Open Women’s Javelin Throw
1. Oksana Makarova (RUS) 61.50m; 2. Jane Jamieson (NSWI) 45.79m; 3. Rishelle Hume (WA) 45.34m; 4. Clare Thompson (AIS) 40.17m.

Men’s 100 metres GP
Heat 1: (w:1.5): 1. David Baxter (VIS) 10.32; 2. Matt Shirvington (NSWI) 10.34; 3. Paul Henderson (NSWI) 10.44; 4. Steve Brimacombe (QAS) 10.50; 5. Ian Mackie (GBR) 10.50; 6. Scott Vassella (NSW) 10.52; 7. Simon Bresnehan (TAS) 10.56; 8. Mathew Coad (NZL) 10.62; 9. Mark Wheeldon (NSW) 10.76.
Heat 2: (w:-0.3): 1. Chris Donaldson (NZL) 10.32; 2. Sebastien Keitel (CHI) 10.40; 3. Damien Marsh (MTC) 10.46; 4. Yoshitaka Ito (JPN) 10.55; 5. Gavin Hunter (QAS) 10.55; 6. Patrick Johnson (AIS) 10.61; 7. Robert Bruce (NZL) 10.89. Heat 3: (w:2.5): 1. Frankie Fredericks (NAM) 9.98; 2. Patrick Stevens (BEL) 10.27; 3. Paul Di Bella (QAS) 10.36; 4. Adam Basil (VIS) 10.37; 5. Donald McDonald (NZL) 10.49; 6. Hiroyasu Tsuchie (JPN) 10.52; 7. Ramon Varcoe (NSW) 10.63; 8. Gus Nketia (NZL) 10.67; 8. Ben Potter (NZL) 10.67.
Final (w:1.3): 1. Frankie Fredericks (NAM) 9.94; 2. Chris Donaldson (NZL) 10.28; 3. David Baxter (VIS) 10.30; 4. Patrick Stevens (BEL) 10.31; 5. Sebastien Keitel (CHI) 10.32; 6. Matt Shirvington (NSWI) 10.32; 7. Adam Basil (VIS) 10.34; 8. Paul Di Bella (QAS) 10.38; 9. Paul Henderson (NSWI) 10.45.

Open Men’s 400 metres GP
1. Brad Jamieson (SASI) 45.67; 2. Casey Vincent (VIS) 46.09; 3. Declan Stack (WAIS) 46.20; 4. Scott Thom (VIS) 46.28; 5. Mark Moresi (VIC) 46.64; 6. Keiran Gallagher (NSWI) 46.97; 7. Clayton Veltman (VIC) 47.07; 8. Dean Capobianco (NSW) 47.10.

Open Men’s 400 metres B Race
1. Paul Greene (NSW) 46.80; 2. Eugene Farrell (QLD) 47.57; 3. Jarrod Titcombe (NSW) 47.87; 4. Daniel Batman (NSWI) 47.93; 5. Daniel McFarlane (QLD) 48.49; 6. Rob Hanna (NZL) 49.09; 7. Sam Huber (SUI) 50.60.

Open Men’s 800 metres
1. Grant Cremer (AIS) 1:46.57; 2. Andre Bucher (SUI) 1:47.24; 3. Paul Cleary (VIS) 1:47.29; 4. Shaun Farrell (NZL) 1:48.09; 5. Joseph Ischia (VIS) 1:48.27; 6. David Kiptoo (KEN) 1:48.28; 7. Paul Byrne (VIS) 1:48.35; 8. Martin Byron (NSW) 1:48.43; 9. Jai Thomas (VIC) 1:48.45; 10. Frederick Onyancha (KEN) 1:49.77; - Sammy Langat (KEN) DNF.

Open Men’s 800 metres B Race
1. Robbie Lynch (VIC) 1:50.42; 2. Johl Storey (NSW) 1:51.01; 3. David Scollon (NSW) 1:51.10; 4. Todd McDonald (NSW) 1:51.19; 5. Malcolm Muir (QLD) 1:51.54; 6. Simon Rintel (NSW) 1:51.82; 7. David Byrne (NSW) 1:52.06; 8. Scott Antony (NSW) 1:52.36; - Andrew Brown (GBR) DNF.

Open Men’s 1,500 metres GP
1. Noah Ngeny (KEN) 3:35.74; 2. Hamish Christensen (NZL) 3:36.19; 3. Edwin Maranga (KEN) 3:39.32; 4. Mark Gorski (VIC) 3:39.39; 5. Stuart Lyall (ACT) 3:39.86; 6. Chris Bowden (VIS) 3:40.46; 7. Daniel Hill (QAS) 3:40.73; 8. Youcef Abdi (NSW) 3:43.21; 9. Alastair Stevenson (QLD) 3:43.64; 10. Martin Keino (KEN) 3:44.45; 11. Julian Marsh (VIC) 3:45.49; 12. Daniel Lancaster (NSW) 3:46.43; 13. Scott Petersen (VIS) 3:46.62; 14. Nick Howarth (SA) 3:49.72; 15. Alex Davey (VIC) 3:50.79.

Open Men’s 3,000 metres
1. Luke Kipkosgei (KEN) 7:39.22; 2. Ryan Wilson (USA) 7:41.60; 3. Lee Troop (VIS) 7:41.78; 4. Ben Maiyo (KEN) 7:42.88; 5. Darren Lynch (MTC) 7:45.53; 6. Mizan Mehari (AIS) 7:54.97; 7. Mark Thompson (VIS) 7:58.63; 8. Kim Gillard (NSW) 8:00.64; 9. Nick Cope (NSW) 8:02.20; 10. Craig Mottram (VIS) 8:02.77; 11. Andrew Russell (VIC) 8:03.86; 12. Darren Wilson (AIS) 8:05.11; 13. Scott Westcott (NSW) 8:06.40; 14. Martin Dent (AIS) 8:09.61; 15. Clinton Mackevicius (AIS) 8:11.65; 16. Lachlan Chisholm (NSW) 8:11.84; 17. James Barker (NSW) 8:12.17; 18. Paul Imhoff (ACT) 8:15.60; 19. Darius Burrows (GBR) 8:16.46; 20. Trent Harlow (ACT) 8:16.67; 21. Scott Winton (NZL) 8:18.89; 22. Chad Roberts (NSW) 8:19.49; - Graham Hood (CAN) DNF; - Adrian Passey (GBR) DNF.

Open Men’s 110 metres Hurdles GP
1. Colin Jackson (GBR) 13.30 w:0.6; 2. Ross Baillie (GBR) 13.66 w:0.6; 3. Jonathan Nsenga (BEL) 13.66 w:0.6; 4. Kyle Vander Kuyp (AIS) 13.76 w:0.6; 5. Jagan Hames (SASI) 14.20 w:0.6; 6. David Rose (SA) 14.24 w:0.6; 7. Martin Barrow (VIC) 14.30 w:0.6; 8. Scott Ferrier (VIS) 14.57 w:0.6.

Open Men’s 400 metres Hurdles
1. Zid Abou Hamed (NSWI) 48.87; 2. Matt Beckenham (AIS) 49.47; 3. Christopher Carroll (QAS) 50.07; 4. Jiri Muzik (CZE) 50.16; 5. Maurice Mitchell (USA) 50.30; 6. Jan Podebradsky (CZE) 50.32; 7. Rohan Robinson (AIS) 50.34; 8. Matt Woodhouse (NSWI) 50.85; 9. Peter Bate (AIS) 51.35.

Open Men’s 4x100 metres
1. Australia 39.89; 2. New Zealand 39.94; 3. NSW Open 40.46; 4. Westfields Sports High School 44.30; - Homebush Track Club DQ; - NSW Under 20 DQ.

Open Men’s Pole Vault GP
1. Dmitri Markov (SASI) 5.62m; 2. Scott Hennig (USA) 5.62m; 3. Viktor Chistiakov (SASI) 5.50m; 3. Paul Burgess (WAIS) 5.50m; 3. Danny Krasnov (ISR) 5.50m.

Open Men’s Long Jump
1. Shane Hair (NSW) 7.67m w:2.1; 2. Aaron Langdon (NZL) 7.59m w:-0.1; 3. Leigh Stuart (VIC) 7.52m w:0.9; 4. Jonathon Moyle (NZL) 7.33m w:-1.7; 5. Rupert Sakora (ACT) 7.01m w:-0.2; 6. Russell Parker (NSW) 6.81m w:1.3; 7. Ross Windsham (NSW) 6.78m w:1.4.

Open Men’s Triple Jump GP
1. Andrew Murphy (NSWI) 16.91m w:0.6; 2. Tim Barnes (NSW) 15.76m w:0.0; 3. Simon Mollica (VIC) 15.12m w:0.6; 4. Llanley Crowder (NSW) 15.10m w:0.4; 5. Simon Jacotine (VIC) 14.88m w:0.3; 6. Michael Perry (NSW) 14.88m w:1.5; 7. Nadika Ratnayake (VIC) 14.75m w:1.1.

Open Men’s Shot Put GP
1. Burger Lambrechts (RSA) 19.93m; 2. Clay Cross (NSWI) 18.87m; 3. Aaron Neighbour (VIS) 17.96m; 4. Rhys Jones (QAS) 17.11m; 5. Jacob Vujcic (NSW) 16.71m; 6. Aaron Hartney (VIS) 15.91m; 7. Michael Childs (NSW) 15.62m.

Open Men’s Javelin Throw
1. Raymond Hecht (GER) 84.29m; 2. Gregor Hogler (AUT) 81.26m; 3. Andrew Currey (NSWI) 78.73m; 4. Peter Blank (GER) 78.27m; 5. Sergey Makarov (RUS) 73.20m; 6. Steven Madeo (QLD) 72.66m; 7. Nick Batty (NSW) 71.65m; 8. Andrew Martin (VIS) 69.77m.