Jamaica's Usain Bolt is given a piece of the Berlin Wall by the Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit for his achievements at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (© Getty Images)
A world class cast for a world class meeting. Most of the protagonists from a spectacular show in Berlin have moved west to Zürich’s Letzigrund stadium for the Weltklasse Zürich, the meeting which has often claimed to be the Olympic Games and World Championships in one night.
The Weltklasse Zürich, the fifth meet of the sixth fixture ÅF Golden League 2009, takes place on Friday 28 August, and has quite a performance to follow after nine days of dramatic action at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (15 -23 August), which matched if not surpassed the sport’s Olympic triumphs in Beijing a year before.
In Berlin last week, we marvelled at the brilliance of Usain Bolt, the theatre of Blanka Vlasic vs Ariane Friedrich, the despair of Yelena Isinbayeva coupled with the astonishment of Anna Rogowska, the tenacity of Kenenisa Bekele, the expected victory of LaShawn Merritt and the not so expected triumphs of Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, Yusuf Kamel and Ryan Brathwaite, the general ruff and tumble of the 1500 and Maryam Jamal’s successful defence, the return to the top of the podium for Ezekiel Kemboi, while Sanya Richards and Brigitte Ann Foster-Hylton made that global championship rung for the first time, Andreas Thorkildsen doing what even Zelezny couldn’t, Allyson Felix making it a hat-trick of titles, and Shelly Ann Fraser adding World gold to the Olympic 100m crown.
All these names and more will compete in Zürich, and with 14 of the 15 disciplines boasting their Berlin winner – only the men’s Triple jump is missing its World champion – and Allyson Felix and Kerron Clement outside their specialist events bringing the total of Berlin champions competing up to 16, the Weltklasse Zürich is certain to live-up to its well deserved reputation.
And as befits a world leading sports event, the meeting organisers have also embraced environmental arguments and are aiming for a carbon-neutral future. Athletes are giving up cars to travel to and from the stadium in dedicated trams, and in conjunction with that initiative spectators who have purchased tickets can use the city’s public transport network free of charge.
Bolt – how fast can he go?
At the IAAF Daily Briefing on the night of the 200m final in Berlin, Michael Johnson, now an IAAF Ambassador told the media that he thought an improvement to the World record which he, Johnson, once owned, was unlikely because Usain Bolt would be tired after improving the 100m record earlier in the week. Yet a few hours later we were all marvelling at the 19.19 sec World record clocking of the now World and Olympic 100m and 200m champion.
A few days later at the press conference after the 4x100m Relay in Berlin it was Bolt who himself confirmed he was feeling tired, but how do we read this statement even from the champion’s lips? The Jamaican in the last two seasons has re-written what the discipline of sprinting is all about.
Bolt running tired over 100m would mean a national record performance to all but a few of his competitors. Bolt has moved the goal posts of what quickness means, and as long as weather conditions in Zürich are good – currently 26C and sunny - we should expect sub-9.90 at least to send the spectators home happy.
Isn’t this a tall order after so much racing in Berlin? No! We are referring to Usain Bolt, currently the greatest sportsman across all sports not just athletics.
Keeping Bolt company on the 100m start line on Friday will be World Championship bronze medallist Asafa Powell who now, without the responsibility of being the ‘world’s fastest man’, seems more relaxed in his running.
Powell lost the gold two years ago in Osaka and ended up bronze medallist whereas in Berlin he won the bronze! The colour of the World Champs medals on his CV are of course the same but in reality he was running stiff in 2007 and relaxed in Berlin.
Bolt’s brilliance has killed the tension in the starting blocks, and has allowed everyone to relax and enjoy their running, and has brought a level of public enjoyment to athletics unseen for decades.
Four continue for the $1 Million Jackpot
As an ÅF Golden League meeting, the other main topic of conversation at the Weltklasse Zürich is the $1 Million Jackpot. The penultimate stop of the six meet tour, four athletes remain in the hunt for the prize; six wins from six meets being the criterion to at least share the prize.
Kenenisa Bekele, now the first man in history to secure the World and Olympic 5000m and 10,000m double, is the only male athlete still standing in the context of the Jackpot. By holding off the determined challenge of defending World champion Bernard Lagat on Sunday (23) in Berlin to win the 5000m crown the Ethiopian has reasserted his claim to be the greatest track distance runner in history to go with the already secure mantle of all-time cross country exponent.
In the absence of Lagat who very creditably came away with two medals in Berlin when defending his 1500/5000m double from Osaka, Bekele looks to have a fifth Golden League victory sewn up. James Kwalia and Moses Masai, respectively the Berlin 5000m and 10,000m bronze medallists, will race.
Kerron Stewart who holds Jackpot contender status in the women’s 100m will have her work cut out, as her compatriot Shelly Ann Fraser who added the World title to her Olympic crown when narrowly out running Stewart in Berlin is also in the Zurich line-up.
In the 400m, Sanya Richards who has won a slice of two previous Jackpots (2006 / 2007) is perhaps the unluckiest of the four remaining contenders for this year’s prize as she finds compatriot Allyson Felix, the three-time World 200m champion, in her race. Both World champions are in scintillating form but over the one lap we would still expect Richards to prevail. Richards’ PB is 48.70sec, while Felix has a career best of 49.70, and over 400m they have a win/loss career record of 4 to 1 which is in the favour of Richards.
Now that brings us to the women’s Pole Vault. Yelena Isinbayeva, the 2008 World Athlete of the Year is no stranger to counting the Jackpot cash (2007) but this year having no heighted in the World Championships final, which was won by Poland’s Anna Rogowska, the 27-year-old suddenly needs to reassert her authority.
In reality the Russian World record holder has nothing to prove to the media or viewing public or even her opponents who still regard her as the best vaulter in the world but a second mess-up would be damaging to her reputation. Zürich needs to see ‘Issy’ flying high and remaining in the hunt for the Million.
The new World champion Rogowska, as well as Berlin co-silver medallists Chelsea Johnson and Monika Pyrek, head the opposition which in composition basically recalls the Berlin final.
Vlasic vs Friedrich
Though away from the Jackpot battle, much same can be said about the women’s High Jump line-up, it’s a repeat of Berlin. The silence which fell on the 56,000 crowd when Friedrich with the simple movement of her index finger to her lips called the Berlin faithful to be quiet before her jumps was pure theatre; the noise which followed her third time success at 2.02m, was a moment of magic no one will forget.
What the German knows is that she was beaten by defending champion Blanka Vlasic with 2.04, and by Anna Chicherova on count back at 2.02. Battle will be rejoined on Friday, and the supporters of the Croatian double World champion will be expecting another triumphant trade-mark dancing display on the landing mat from their heroine as they witnessed in Berlin.
2.06 is Friedrich’s world season lead which gained her victory over Vlasic at the opening Golden League meeting of the season is likely to be challenged now the medal tension has been removed.
Thorkildsen without equal
Few victors produced a more peerless performance in Berlin than the double Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen in the men’s Javelin Throw. True the defending champion and arch-rival Tero Pitkämäki was below par suffering from a high temperature and an ear infection but there would be few even in the Finnish camp who would deny that the Norwegian with 89.59m would still have won even if their best man had been well.
Thorkildsen has now achieved what no other javelin thrower has done which is to hold World, Olympic and European titles simultaneously, and most of the defeated Berlin field including silver medallist Guillermo Martinez of Cuba return to seek that illusive dent in the teflon armour of the champion.
In the other men’s field event, defeated 2007 World Triple Jump champion Nelson Evora will be looking to recapture some of his aura of invincibility. Portugal’s Beijing gold medallist who had to settle for World silver last week will not face his Berlin vanquisher, Briton Phillips Idowu, but the fourth and fifth placers from that final, Leevan Sands (BAH) and David Giralt (CUB) will be on show.
Hurdles… it’s a generation game
Were there two more unexpected gold medallists in Berlin than the sprint hurdles winners, Ryan Brathwaite (BAR) and Brigitte Ann Foster-Hylton (JAM)?
The men’s 110m Hurdles was as statistician Peter Matthews pointed out the closest ever in a global championship as 0.01 separated first from third. With Olympic champion Dayron Robles not making the final due to injury it was an open race and Brathwaite, 21, made the tape first to become the youngest ever World champion in this event.
While just 0.04 covered the medallists there couldn’t be more contrast with the women’s 100m Hurdles winner as Foster-Hylton, who had considered retirement after a below par Olympics, at the age of 34 became World champion after previous silver (2003) and bronze (2005) medals, the oldest ever in this event.
Olympic medallist David Oliver's return from injury is the challenge for Brathwaite, while Olympic champion Dawn Harper will be looking for an upturn to her season after 7th behind Foster-Hylton in Berlin.
Merritt to remain in charge?
In Berlin, Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt proved that his Beijing 400m victory was no one off. The era of Jeremy Wariner’s unchallenged supremacy is now gone but can the former World and Olympic champion counter attack? Their season’s bests tell the story so far Merritt’s 44.06 to Wariner’s 44.60… Wariner has a lot of ground to make up.
Making the one lap mix even more interesting we have double World 400m Hurdles champion Kerron Clement and 2000 / 2008 Olympic hurdles gold medallist Angelo Taylor also racing.
With the exception of the Ethiopians who finished in fifth and sixth in Berlin, the men’s 3000m Steeplechase brings the main protagonists back together. Will this be an all-Kenyan affair or can European record holder Bob Tahri perhaps break-up the east African stranglehold again and even duck under 8mins? The Frenchman’s bronze medal performance in Berlin was 8:01.18, and at that pace World champion Ezekiel Kemboi could be under threat.
Middle distances… time for revenge
The men’s middle distance races of 800m and 1500m are wide open. Going into the World championships few, despite the impressive pedigree of the two eventual gold medallists would have confidently put their money on Mbulaeni Mulaudzi and Yusuf Saad Kamel. The South African rests 17th place on the world season list for the 800m, and Kamel, 8th on the 2009 tally for the 1500m.
So one feels this is time for previously more favoured runners to show what might have been in Berlin especially the 20-year-old Kenyans David Rudisha, running the 800m, and Asbel Kiprop, the Olympic silver medallist, in the 1500m here. The latter’s tactics seriously let him down in both the Berlin 800m and 1500m. Look out too for their compatriot Alfred Yego, the 2007 World 800m champion, who did everything he could in defending his title but was simply beaten by the better man on the day.
Which brings us to the only event on the Zürich schedule we haven’t so far covered, the women’s 1500m, and with national emotions still running high in both Ethiopia and Spain over the incident which left Gelete Burka prostrate on the track with half a lap to run and Natalia Rodríguez ultimately disqualified - neither runner is in the invitational field in Zürich - this is perhaps the best moment for the now double World champion Maryam Jamal of Bahrain to show why she is the world leader this year, 3:56.55, and so help us get our minds back on the running.
Chris Turner for the IAAF
