Irving Saladino of Panama on his way to winning the silver medal in the men's Long Jump final (© Getty Images)
Monte CarloOf the 11 events given Golden League designation this year, few will be as hotly contested as the men’s Long Jump, the women’s High Jump, and the men’s Javelin Throw. And virtually all of the world’s top stars in those events will be vying for a slice of the $1 million IAAF Golden League when the six-meeting series kicks off at Oslo’s Exxon Mobil Bislett Games on Friday, 2 June.
Saladino - Phillips clash
Undoubtedly, the hottest Long Jumper thus far this spring has been the 23-year-old Panamanian Irving Saladino. After a silver medal with an Area Indoor Record at the World Indoor Championships in March, Saladino debuted outdoors with an 8.56 outdoor South American record in Rio de Janeiro on 14 May to thrust himself to the doorstep of the event’s all-time Top-10. With 8.47 follow-up efforts in both Fortaleza and Belém, Saladino, who began the year with a wind-legal 8.29 personal best, showed his Rio leap was anything but a fluke.
Oslo will provide the first clash between the young upstart and the dominant force in the event in recent years, World and Olympic champion Dwight Phillips of the U.S. Phillips, who successfully defended his world title in Helsinki last summer, has kept busy with the sprints this spring, but does have an 8.30 win from Xalapa to his credit.
Phillips will also have to contend with Ignisious Gaisah, the 22-year-old Ghanaian who has this year already collected gold medals at the World Indoor Championships and the Commonwealth Games. The field also includes World indoor and outdoor champion Walter Davis who has improved to 8.36 this spring in his second event; Frenchman Salim Sdiri and Finn Tommi Evila, each ranked No. 5 in the IAAF World Rankings; and American Brian Johnson, who has 8.33 and 8.29 leaps to his credit this year.
A 'Who's Who' in the women's High Jump
Another event laden with talent in Oslo will be the women’s High Jump. Indeed, with three of the top four finishers from the recent World Indoor Championships, the top four from last summer’s World Championships, and the Olympic gold and bronze medallists, it’s a veritable Who’s Who of the event.
Topping the fields –literally and figuratively- are reigning World champion Kajsa Bergqvist of Sweden and Russian Yelena Slesarenko, the World indoor and Olympic champion. The Swede, who raised the World Indoor Record to 2.08 last February, was sidelined from Moscow with a slight injury preventing a match-up with the Russian in Moscow. There, Slesarenko successfully defended her global indoor title, besting Croatian record holder Blanka Vlašic who, now fully recovered from injuries that shadowed her for the previous two seasons, improved to 2.05 indoors this year. Slesarenko has yet to compete outdoors, while both Bergqvist and Vlašic have jumped 1.97.
The young season’s only 2m jumper, Helsinki silver medallist Chaunte Howard, is also in the field, along with Vita Styopina, the Olympic bronze medallist, Swede Emma Green, the surprise bronze medallist last summer in Helsinki, and Russian Yekaterina Savchenko, who was fourth at the World Indoor Championships in March.
Thorkildsen ready to thrill the locals
Perhaps of most interest to the locals will be the men’s Javelin Throw, pitting Norway’s Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen, Estonia’s World champion Andrus Värnik, and No. 1 ranked Tero Pitkamaki of Finland.
The 24-year-old Thorkildsen prepped for his biggest domestic appearance with a 90.13 national record in Doha earlier this month, thus far the only 90 metre throw of the season. For his part, Pitkamaki, last year’s World Athletics Final champion and the winner of three Golden League contests in 2005, opened his campaign with a notable 88.41m effort in Seinäjoki, Finland, last weekend.
Unlike his chief rivals, Värnik is not yet a member of the 90 metre club, but armed with his Helsinki gold and silver from Paris 2003, he is always a threat. This year, he’s reached 84.85. The field also includes Russian Sergey Makarov, the Helsinki and Athens Olympic bronze medallist, and compatriot Aleksandr Ivanov, currently ranked No. 6 in the World.
This year there are eleven designated IAAF Golden League Jackpot events, and athletes who win at any five of the six meetings will share a purse of $500,000, while an additional $500,000 is on offer to be shared by athletes who succeed in winning their event a sixth time.
Click on the title below for the original Jackpot announcement:
New Jackpot, New Opportunities – IAAF Golden League
2006 IAAF Golden League Events:
Men: 100m, 400m, 1500m, 3000/5000m, Long Jump, Javelin Throw
Women: 100m, 400m, 3000/5000m, 100m Hurdles, High Jump
IAAF Golden League - Dates and venues in 2006:
Friday 2 June, OSLO, NOR
Saturday 8 July, PARIS, FRA
Friday 14 July, ROME, ITA
Friday 18 August, ZURICH, SUI
Friday 25 August, BRUSSELS, BEL
Sunday 3 September, BERLIN, GER
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
