Previews22 Jul 2004


TDK Golden League – Paris Preview

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Allen Johnson - US Trials (© Getty Images)

A generous swathe of the world's athletics elite and a smattering of national heroes and heroines will be on show tomorrow night to keep the expected 50,000 to 60,000 spectators highly entertained at the Meeting Gaz de France Paris Saint-Denis in the Stade de France (Friday 23 July 2004).

This year’s TDK Golden League meeting is the third of the six event series, and it offers spectators a three hour and 15 minute athletics spectacle.

TDK Golden League Jackpot

In previous stories this week we have already covered in detail the form of the five TDK Golden League Jackpot contenders, the return to form of Maurice Greene (100m), and a re-motivated Felix Sanchez (400mH).

Now we look are some of the other highlights we might expect tomorrow night in the Stade.

Diagana and Pérec to be honoured

With the recent retirement of crowd favourite Stéphane Diagana, the reigning European 400m Hurdles champion, injury has suddenly robbed French athletics of one it’s great world stars. 

Diagana’s career which included the 1997 World championship title will be honoured in the stadium tomorrow, along with the achievements of the most famous French athlete ever, Marie-José Pérec.

WOMEN’s events - Arron's night

With Eunice Barber, the World Long Jump champion struggling to be fit for next month’s Olympics, France’s premier meeting turns to three members of the national “Golden Girls” relay quartet to hold the public’s attention in the Stade.

Of the three, Christine Arron, Muriel Hurtis and Sylviane Felix, the European 100m record holder Arron is the athlete in form. At last weekend’s national championships, as well as winning the 100m in 10.95, Arron (22.67) beat Hurtis (22.78) the World 200m bronze medallist, and Felix (22.85), with a magnificent display in the 200m.

Arron, who ran five races in the course of the three days at those championships, is also doubling up on Friday. She will notably face this season’s fastest at 100m, Ivet Lalova of Bulgaria (10.77 National Record). Lalova who will also run both sprints here, also set a personal best for 200m last weekend in Madrid (22.51).

Mutola tackles 1500m

Missing out on Madrid through injury was Maria Mutola (MOZ). In Lausanne (6 July) she sustained a rare defeat at her specialist distance of 800m at which she is the World and Olympic champion. Mutola is back tomorrow but in the 1500m (4:01.50 NR – 2002), a distance she wants to contest (along with the 800m) at the Olympics next month. Well, that was the reported plan prior to Lausanne anyway.

At 3000m, we are presented with essentially an East African  contest. The Kenyans - national 10,000m champion Alice Timbilili, former World 10,000m champion Sally Barsosio, and Isabella Ochichi, who was second in their Trials at 5000m - will be the featured stars but Spain's World 5000m silver medallist Marta Dominguez, and Britain's Jo Pavey should also feature.

Felicien - top flight

The women’s sprint Hurdles field is topped by the presence of Canada’s World champion (indoors and out), Perdita Felicien who is the fastest in the world in 2004 (12.46). The Jamaican Delloreen Ennis London (12.51) and USA’s Jenny Adams (12.56) are the next quickest. We can also expect much from a trio of class French hurdlers led by Linda Ferga Khodadin (12.82) in front of their home crowd.

With the TDK Golden League credentials of Tonique Williams-Darling (400m) and Hestrie Cloete (HJ) aready covered in an earlier story, that just leaves us with the Hammer in the programme of eight women’s events to mention.

However, “just” is of course an inappropriate term when describing a throwing discipline which boosts double World champion Yipsi Moreno of Cuba and Poland’s Olympic gold medallist Kamila Skolimowska, among it’s starting line-up.


MEN’s Events

The marketing face, or rather faces of the Meeting Gaz de France Paris Saint-Denis 2004, which adorn the meeting’s promotional material are those of the 400m runners, Leslie Djhone and Marc Raquil. While the latter, the World bronze medallist is slowly recovering from injury (46.21), the former who was fifth in that World Championships final, sped to a season’s best 44.98 (6 July) and a 20.67 PB (200m - 18 July), and must be a good bet for another good time tomorrow.

We have separately concentrated on Maurice Greene’s 100m comeback but in the longer sprint it is possibly another American World 200m champion John Capel who has the most to prove and frustration to vent after missing out on the US Olympic line-up (6th 20.72). The smart money though will be on Mauritian Stephane Buckland who won in the previous TDK Golden League meeting in Rome (2 July - 20.20).

Yiampoy - new African champion

The 800m is missing the season’s two big hitters, Kenyan champion and world leader Wilfred Bungei (1:43.72), and World record holder Wilson Kipketer of Denmark (who won in Rome – 1:43.88). However, with newly crowned African champion William Yiampoy (1:43.95) and his Kenyan colleagues Michael Rotich (1:44.08) and Justus Koech (1:44.19) in the field, the pace is likely to be brisk anyway.

There are four of the season’s top eight on the 1500m start list. Leading the line-up is World Indoor 3000m champion Bernard Lagat (3:30.81). The World Indoor gold medallist for 1500m Paul Korir is the next fastest (3:31.10). Alex Kipchirchir, also of Kenya (3:32.35), and Portugal’s Rui Silva (3:32.13) also possess particularly fleet feet. Of course we must not over look the reigning Olympic champion Noah Ngeny (3:33.38), who gradually is recovering form.

Johnson versus Trammell

Over the sprint Hurdles, Allen Johnson will be out to recover  some lost pride after his surprising third place in the US Trials. The quadruple World champion will have the man who won that race Terrence Trammell, the World and Olympic silver medallist, firmly in his sights.

Galfione to take curtain call

The world’s newest six metre pole vaulter graces tomorrow’s competition. Toby Stevenson of the USA (6.00), and the next two best in the world in 2004, his compatriot Tim Mack (5.90), and European champion Alex Averbukh of Israel (5.85) should make it a good fight.

Jean Galfione, the 1996 Olympic champion takes his end of career bow to the Stade crowd. There is also Tim Lobinger (GER) and Dmitri Markov (AUS), two former World champions, respectively the indoor 2003 and outdoor 2001 gold medallists, also to mention among the 14 strong field!

Which - if we skip over the 400m Hurdles (Sanchez), Triple Jump (Olsson), and Discus (Alekna) which we have already tackled separately - brings us to the Grand Finale of the night, the men’s 3000m Steeplechase.

Though missing World champion Saif Saaeed Shaheen of Qatar, and this year’s world’s fastest Paul Kipsiel Koech of Kenya (7:59.65) in its 17 runner line-up, the race can still claim the silver and bronze medallists and the fourth place finisher from last summer's World Championships, respectively the Kenyan Ezekiel Kemboi, Eliseo Martin of Spain, and France’s Tahri Bouabdallah. 

IAAF


Meeting Gaz de France Paris Saint-Denis

This week’s previous stories, click on titles below -

Can the Americans get Sanchez excited again?

The Stade hopes to see some ‘Mo’ brilliance

TDK Golden League Jackpot - “And then there were Five”

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