BRUSSELS THE PENULTIMATE LEG OF GOLDEN LEAGUE JACKPOT CHASE BUCHER TO FACE POLISH REVELATION CZAPIEWSKI 22 August 2001 – MONTE CARLO – Monaco – André Bucher, the World Champion and holder of the Swiss record in the 800 metres with 1:42.55; Allen Johnson (USA), World Champion in the 110m hurdles and American superstar Marion Jones all have the possibility, Friday evening in Brussels, to join Romania’ s Violeta Szekely-Beclea in winning a share of the 2001 IAAF Golden League Jackpot. To ensure a part of the 50kg of gold ingots that make up the jackpot, André Bucher will once again have to defeat Russia’s World Indoor Champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy, Kenya’s William Yiampoy, Jean-Patrick Nduwimana from Burundi and Poland’s Pawel Czapiewski. The latter is one of the great revelations of this season: with a light but splendidly muscled physique, he has the dynamite of a sprinter in his calves as well as the ability to maintain a high pace over distance. In Edmonton he won bronze, in 1:44.63, after running 1:44.89 in the semi-final. Previously, he had run a PB of 1:45.38 on 8 June in Poznan, but his 2001 season started with a 1:46.07. From that time to his 1:43.22 clocking in Zurich, his progress has been astounding. André Bucher will have to hope that the 21-year-old Pole runs out of breath, for he could be a major hazard for the Swiss if he carries on with this progression. The 110 metre hurdles is by definition an obstacle course. The obstacles are ten, each one 106 cm high, separated one from another by 9.14 metres. To get over them without getting caught up is already half a miracle. For Allen Johnson, miracles seem to happen often, including in Edmonton, when he managed to stay on his feet despite hitting eight of the ten hurdles to take the title ahead of Cuba’s Anier Garcia (13.04 to 13.07). In Zurich, Johnson did it again and given his great form the chances are great that he will assure himself of a few kilos of gold in Brussels. The same goes for Marion Jones, who over 100 metres appears to be back on track. The World Champion, Zhanna Pintusevich-Block seems to have run out of steam after her victory in Edmonton and it seems unlikely that either Greece ’s Ekaterini Thanou or the Bahamas’ Chandra Sturrup will be able to halt Marion’s jackpot quest. But the Ivo Van Damme meeting – which will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year in the presence of King Albert of Belgium and his queen, Paola Ruffo di Calabria – will also be the last chance for Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR), Wilson Boit Kipketer (KEN), Kevin Dilworth (USA), Stephanie Graf (AUT) and Olga Yegorova (RUS) to stay in the Jackpot stakes. Which of them stands the greatest chance? Let us just say that the biggest risk is likely to be for Wilson Boit Kipketer who, in the 3000m steeplechase has a tough adversary in Morocco’s Brahim Boulami, the superb victor in Zurich with 7:58.50.
BUCHER CONSOLIDATES HOLD ON 800 METRE TOP SPOT. SANCHEZ HEADS 400 METRE HURDLES RANKINGS 21 August 2001 - MONTE CARLO - Monaco - Another victory in the IAAF Golden League meeting on his home ground in Zurich has further consolidated the hold of Andre Bucher on the 800 metre event rankings in the latest edition of the IAAF World Rankings released this afternoon. The Swiss World Champion in the two-lap race now has a solid 39 point lead over Russia’s Yuriy Borzakovskiy, who holds the number two spot for the event. Bucher has also gained 3 slots in the men’s Overall Rankings, moving into fifth position, just ten points behind Allen Johnson (USA) in the number 4 spot and 15 points behind US sprinter Tim Montgomery who has taken the third position overall after his 9.90 performance in the 100 metres at Friday’s Weltklasse. In the 200 metres, Greece’s Constantinos Kenteris has strengthened his points position and now trails the event rankings leader Shawn Crawford (USA) by just 3 points. The number one and two positions overall are still held by Maurice Greene (USA) and Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR), respectively. Greene’s lead is looking more tenuous, though, as he edges El Guerrouj by a mere six points (1473-1467) and will not resume competition before a 5 September outing at the Goodwill Games. The Dominican Republic’s Felix Sanchez has taken over the lead in the men’s 400m hurdles with an 11-point advantage over Olympic Champion Angelo Taylor and has also moved 17 places up the men’s overall into 11th place. Richard Limo (KEN) takes over the head of the men’s 5000-10,000 metre rankings from Belgium’s Mohammed Mourhit, albeit by just eight points. In the women’s Rankings, the most significant move comes for Morocco’s one lap hurdles World Champion Nezha Bidouane, as she moves into the number 8 spot in the Overall Rankings from her previous 13th place. While the women’s Overall leaders, Stacy Dragila and Marion Jones of the USA, remain unmoved and unchallenged, a mere 20 points now separate the next six positions 3. (3.) Gabriela SZABO ROM 1418 1500m, 5000m [3000m, 3000m ind.] 4. (4.) Maria Lurdes MUTOLA MOZ 1416 800m [800m ind.] 5. (5.) Gail DEVERS USA 1411 100mH 6. (6.) Osleidys MENENDEZ CUB 1400 Javelin Throw 7. (7.) Tatyana LEBEDEVA RUS 1399 Triple Jump [Triple Jump ind.] 8. (13.) Nezha BIDOUANE MAR 1398 400m hurdles The full IAAF World Rankings can be found on the IAAF web site.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS TURNS RANKINGS AROUND MARION JONES OUSTED AS DRAGILA TAKES OVERALL TOP SPOT FOR WOMEN 15 August 2001 - MONTE CARLO - Monaco - Marion Jones suffered her second setback in a week as she was ousted from the head of the overall women’s rankings just seven days after her defeat in the women’s 100 metre race in Edmonton. In the latest edition of the IAAF World Rankings, released yesterday, Jones fellow American, World pole vault champion, Stacy Dragila leapt to the number one spot with her victory in Edmonton succeeding a season of records and consistent excellence in her event. But Dragila’s margin is slim - she has 1462 points to Jones’ 1455 - and she will have to continue to excel if she wishes to retain her lead. Three-peating in the 110m hurdles has elevated the USA’s Allen Johnson to the number three spot in the men’s overall (previously 12), where he is tailed by a mere two points by Algeria’s Ali Saidi-Sief. The table for the men is headed by Maurice Greene (USA), with Morocco’s Hicham Ell Guerrouj in second place, with both of these athletes having successfully defended their titles in Edmonton. In the individual Rankings, a number of changes have occurred at the head of the Event Rankings. Most notable perhaps, is the success of Australian pole vaulter Dmitry Markov. His World Championship win with a clearance of 6.05 metres has taken him to the head of the vault rankings from his previous sixth position. The full rankings with all movements are available on the IAAF web site.
IAAF AND USATF HOLD “VERY PRODUCTIVE” MEETING ON ANTI-DOPING ISSUES 11 August 2001 EDMONTON – Canada – IAAF Representatives, including IAAF Senior-Vice President Arne Ljungqvist met their USA Track & Field counterparts, led by CEO Craig Masback, this morning for what was described by Ljungqvist as “a very productive meeting” concerning doping control matters. The principal focus of the meeting was 17 cases discussed by the Independent Commission that reviewed USA Track & Field’s anti-doping procedures. In the course of the discussions, the IAAF and USA Track & Field clarified the situation concerning all but three of the 17 cases. USA Track & Field will continue to provide information concerning these three cases and will also consult with the USOC before the final report to the IAAF. The IAAF and USA Track & Field are confident that USADA, the independent anti-doping organization in the United States with total responsibility for doping control, will deal more effectively with issues that have created problems in the past.
IAAF SUSPEND TERMURE AND SOLOGUB FOR DOPING OFFENCES 10 August 2001 EDMONTON - Canada - Ana Mirela Termure (ROM) and Natalya Sologub (BLR) have been suspended by the IAAF. Both athletes tested positive for norandrosterone, a metabolite of nandrolone, in samples taking during these World Championships. The A and B samples both confirmed positive results. Termure finished 10th in qualification for the Javelin Throw and Sologub was fifth in a semi-final of the 400m. To date, the IAAF has taken a total of 250 in-competition samples at these World Championships.
IAAF COUNCIL MEETS FOR FIRST TIME AFTER CONGRESS ELECTIONS 10 August 2001 EDMONTON - Canada – The IAAF Council met this morning at the MacDonald Hotel, for the first time since the recent Congress, under the leadership of the newly elected President Lamine Diack, and with the participation of new members Gianni Gola (ITA) and Sergey Bubka (UKR). The third new member of Council, Asian AAA President Suresh Kalmadi (IND) was not present due to a pressing engagement in his native country. Before the brief meeting, Lamine Diack presented Life Vice-President Ollan Cassell (USA) – the former long-term President of the US track and field federation with the IAAF Silver Order of Merit in recognition of his contribution to the sport. Council considered reports from the President, General Secretary and Competitions Commission, and also evaluated an on-going process to restructure the IAAF with the aim of providing even greater efficiency. The IAAF President also praised the Local Organizing Committee for their continuing efforts to make Edmonton 2001 a successful edition of the World Championships. “I would like to state for the record that this Organizing Committee has provided truly excellent conditions for the staging of this competition. The event has been extremely well organized,” said President Lamine Diack. IAAF Council will meet next in Monaco on 26-27 November, starting the day after the traditional World Athletics Gala organized by the International Athletic Foundation.
RESULTS OF EPO TESTS CONDUCTED IN EDMONTON RECEIVED BY IAAF 9 August 2001 EDMONTON – Canada – Testing of all the samples collected in Edmonton, and sent to the Lausanne laboratory to be analysed for EPO, has been completed and the results received by the IAAF. All samples, with the exception of one, are negative. The athlete whose sample is not negative has already competed in Edmonton. According to IAAF regulations, the athlete’s Member Federation will be informed of the results of the test. The IAAF will only announce the outcome of the test if the B sample analysis confirms the A sample result.
IAAF ANTI-DOPING PROGRAMME AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IAAF CONFIRMS SUSPENSION OF DOS SANTOS 7 August 2001 EDMONTON - Canada – Up until today, the IAAF has carried out 130 in-competition anti-doping tests (urine samples). Seven were carried out on the first day, when the only event was the men’s marathon, 43 on Day 2, 39 on Day 3 and 41 yesterday (Day 4). In addition, 49 athletes were tested out-of-competition prior to the start of the Championships. 39 of these tests were combined urine and blood samples and 10 were only urine samples. With regard to EPO testing, both out-of-competition and in-competition, a total of 50 samples have been collected. The IAAF can also confirm the suspension, by the Brazilian Athletics Federation, of the athlete Fabiane dos Santos. She tested positive for testosterone at the Brazilian Grand Prix in Rio de Janeiro on 6 May. Confidentiality was maintained in this case until the “B” sample results were confirmed.
EDMONTON RESULTS MOVE THE RANKINGS HAUGHTON TAKES 400M TOP SPOT 7 August 2001 - EDMONTON, Canada -Gregory Haughton’s third place finish in yesterday’s 400 metre final was enough to take the Jamaican athlete to the number one spot in the latest edition of the IAAF World Rankings released today. The race also moved Antonio Pettigrew (USA - fourth-placed) into the number two spot and the gold medallist, Avard Moncur of the Bahamas from 15th to 3rd place. Retiring Champion Michael Johnson drops out of the Rankings due to a lack of performances in the current period. In the men’s 100 metre rankings, Maurice Greene conserves his lead after a third successive World Championships victory, with silver medallist Tim Montgomery moving into the second place ahead of Trinidad’s Ato Boldon. Victory in the shot put meant that John Godina and Adam Nelson traded places in this event category, with Godina moving into the top spot. Just five points separate the two. Despite Koji Murofushi conceding defeat to Szymon Ziolkowski in the men’s hammer throw, it is Murofushi who moves into the lead with a 32 point advantage following a remarkably consistent season. In the women’s Event Rankings, Zhanna Pintusevich-Block’s surprise 100 metre defeat of Marion Jones sees her edging into the number two spot in the Rankings of the women’s blue riband event, though Jones retains a convincing 44 point lead over the Ukrainian. In the women’s pole vault, the third place of Monika Pyrek (POL) takes her into the number three spot in the Rankings, as she edges Australian Tatiana Gregorieva into 4th place, just as in the competition here in Edmonton. The two leaders of the event, remain first and second places in the Championships, Stacy Dragila (USA) and Svetlana Feofanova (RUS). To avoid overweighting, this latest edition of the IAAF World Rankings does not take into account the results from the Sydney Olympics, it having been decided that the twelve-month period used to determine positions in the Rankings would be adjusted to include not more than a single competition in the Olympic/World Championships category. The Performance Scores achieved during the latest Championships only will be considered for Ranking. The Performance Scores achieved at the earlier competition will count towards the previous year's Ranking Score. In this case the last one year period is from 7 August 2000 to 6 August 2001, which period contains the Olympic Games in Sydney and the IAAF World Championships in Edmonton. Applying the rule, the current World Championships' Performance Scores count in the last one year period while the Performance Scores achieved at the Sydney Games count towards the Previous Year's Ranking Score.
BRITISH SPORT MINISTER VISITS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS CONFIRMS COMMITMENT TO HOST “GREAT” EDITION IN 2005 6 August 2001 EDMONTON - Canada – Richard Caborn, recently elected Minister of Sport in Tony Blair’s new Labour government, met IAAF President Lamine Diack and IAAF General Secretary Istvan Gyulai in Edmonton today to discuss preparations for the 2005 World Championships in Athletics in London. “I had a very productive meeting, “ said the Minister: “I was very pleased to have had the opportunity to reaffirm the total commitment of the Government to the 2005 World Championships. This is a commitment from the Prime Minister down, and is not considered negotiable. We will meet all the deadlines set for us by the IAAF.” During his visit, Caborn is taking the opportunity to study various logistical aspects of these World Championships: “The fact that we are here in Edmonton means that our team can learn a lot, at first hand, about what it takes to organize such a major competition. I’ve learned a lot from being here and I am sure we can put on an excellent event in 2005.” The minister, who is staying in Canada until tomorrow, was also delighted to witness Joanathan Edwards’ victory in the Triple Jump, the first at these Championships by a Briton. “I will consider that a perfect omen,” said Caborn.
IAAF LIFTS SUSPENSION OF OLGA YEGOROVA 4 August 2001 EDMONTON – Canada - The IAAF has lifted the suspension of the Russian athlete Olga Yegorova, after receiving further information this morning regarding the validation of the testing system which led to the athlete’s positive finding for EPO at the Paris Golden League meeting on 6 July. Testing for EPO was first conducted at a major Championships last year at the Olympics where athletes were asked to provide samples of both blood and urine. The Sydney protocol involved a screening of the blood sample to provide an indication of whether EPO was present in the athlete’s body, and this was then confirmed by a follow up urine analysis. At this time, it remains the only means of testing for EPO that has been scientifically validated. Since Sydney, further extensive scientific research has been undertaken to finalise a single urine only test. The research is believed to be complete, but the IAAF has been informed that the test still awaits final validation. The IAAF believes that, in the circumstances, the test conducted by the French authorities on Ms Yegorova in Paris should not have been carried out. Ms Yegorova is currently in Edmonton and has been tested as part of the IAAF ’s own EPO testing programme. This programme uses the Sydney protocol of taking both blood and urine samples and the result of this test will be accepted by the IAAF.
Joint meeting between IOC and IAAF opens new era - August 04 - Today's meeting between IOC Executive and IAAF Council may have become something of a tradition but it gave two newly elected Presidents, Lamine Diack of the IAAF, and Dr Jacques Rogge of the IOC, the opportunity to meet for the first time as leaders of the Olympic Movement and the top sport of the Games. "I would like to issue my hearty congratulations to Lamine Diack for his brilliant election and also the fact that he opted to have a "real" election, which only showed the extraordinary level of support he enjoys among representatives of the IAAF's member federations. I can assure you that track and field is the most universal of sports and will always have a pre-eminent role in the Olympic Games," said Dr Rogge. In response, President Diack said that: "We have tried very hard over the past two years to build a closer collaboration with the IOC. We are very motivated and want to have a good relationship without tension and full of fruitful discussion." Among the topics discussed was the recent Olympic Games. Although athletics had been an outstanding success in Sydney, there had been some problems with athletes' competition clothing, and conflict between some National Athletics federations and National Olympic Committees over sponsor logos. Although the Olympic Charter currently gives NOCs the right to select uniforms, it was disclosed that the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) was discussing this issue as an urgent priority at its next meeting. President Rogge also announced that the IOC would permit manufacturers to display markings of 20cm on clothing at the next Games, and that the IAAF flag would also fly alongside the Olympic flag at the Athens Games in 2004. Regarding the future, it was agreed that there would be continual and close contact between IOC and IAAF on topics related to competition programmes and facilities, press services, anti-doping and development as well as the Games of Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008). Dr Rogge also welcomed the IAAF's decision to move arbitration decisions to the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS) and praised its continuing tough stance on anti-doping and its decision to introduce EPO testing. The IOC President also revealed that the IAAF received approximately $17,600,000 from the Sydney Games, more than double the amount that was received by the Association after the Atlanta Games in 1996. The 8th edition of the World Championships in Athletics starts this evening with the Opening Ceremony and Men's marathon race.
RACE WALKING RULES CHANGED ON LAST SESSION OF CONGRESS 2 August 2001 EDMONTON - Canada – with yesterday’s sessions devoted to elections as well as constitutional and technical rule change proposals, IAAF Congress delegates focused exclusively this morning on rule changes and reports from Area Associations, and the various IAAF Committees and Commissions. The most significant rule changes relate to race walking, in an effort to ensure the continued credibility of the discipline after a number of unfortunate incidents at the Sydney Olympic Games. Supported by the IAAF Council, the IAAF’s Race Walking Committee proposed a number of improvements in the judging of race walking, which were all accepted by Congress. Furthermore, it was agreed that the new walking rules be made valid immediately (the normal procedure is that new rules come into effect from 1 January 2002). The main decision was to give the Chief Walking Judge extra powers so as to enable him to disqualify any walker he judges to have infringed the rules, regardless of whether the competitor has previous warnings, in the last part of the race: i.e. between the circuit and the stadium, and on the track right up to the finish. When an event takes place exclusively on road, or track, the Chief Judge will have this extraordinary power only in the final 100 metres of the race. There will also now be a Deputy Chief Judge on the circuit, and he will also be able to disqualify athletes if they have received three warnings. As of now, the warnings will be given on yellow rather than white cards. In other rule changes, Congress agreed that, in response to a number of recent accidents, some of them fatal, landing sectors in the long throws (particularly the hammer and the javelin) would be reduced from 40° to 34.920°, which would significantly improve the safety of the event. This rule will not come into effect until 1 January 2003. It was also agreed that the current rule that gives organizers the possibility to reduce the number of attempts in field events if they so desire in international matches and cups, will be extended to include 1 day meetings, club competitions and continental cups. However, it is important to stress that this possibility remains at the discretion of organizers, and does not apply to major competitions like Continental Championships, World Championships and Olympic Games. A controversial aspect of the Pole Vault was addressed, regarding athletes who replace the bar with their hand during a vault. Congress agreed that the previous wording of rule which states that “a competitor fails, if during the vault, he replaces deliberately with his hands or fingers a bar which is about to fall off the supports” was open to misinterpretation and placed undue pressure on the judge and agreed this text will be replaced with: “a competitor fails, if during the vault he steadies or replaces the bar with his hand.” A proposal to reduce attempts in the vertical jumps from three to two was withdrawn.
CONGRESS AGREES TO CHANGE THE FALSE START RULE 1 August 2001 EDMONTON - Canada – After a number of spirited interventions from delegates, IAAF Congress this afternoon agreed to adopt a significant change to the rule regarding false starts in events up to and including the 400m. 81 delegates voted to allow only one false start per race, compared to 74 against. Any athlete subsequently false starting will be disqualified immediately. It was also agreed that this rule would not be introduced until 1 January 2003, to allow for a significant period of adaptation by competitors. In total, 178 proposals for technical rule changes were considered by IAAF Congress delegates, with only 5 either withdrawn or rejected. Among the proposals agreed was one permitting athletes to communicate with their coaches within the competition area. It was also agreed that hands on medical examination of athletes, by medical officers and physiotherapists approved by the organizers, would now be permitted during events.
LAMINE DIACK BECOMES FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ATHLETICS FEDERATIONS SERGEY BUBKA IS ELECTED TO THE IAAF COUNCIL IAAF AGREES TO REFER ALL DISPUTES TO CAS FOR ARBITRATION 1 August 2001 EDMONTON - Canada – An overwhelming majority of IAAF Congress delegates has elected Lamine Diack President of the International Association of Athletics Federations. 168 delegates voted for with just 1 delegate against. Mr Diack has been acting President of the IAAF since the death of former IAAF President Primo Nebiolo on 7 November 1999. Professor Helmut Digel (GER), who is already a Council Member, also received significant support – 151 for with 11 against – in the election for Vice-President. There were no other candidates for either position. Because Council needs to have 27 members, Congress also elected two new Members to Council. In the first round, Sergey Bubka (UKR) received 117 votes, which was enough for an absolute majority. Because no other candidate had a majority, according to IAAF rules, a second round of voting was necessary. Colonel Gianni Gola (ITA) received 68 votes, to take the remaining position on the Council. Colonel D.J.B. Al-Hamad of Qatar finished second with 60 votes Following its meeting yesterday, the Asian Amateur Athletic Association nominated Suresh Kalmadi (IND) as Asian Area Representative on the IAAF Council. Pierre Dasriaux (FRA) was elected Honorary Member of the IAAF. Congress has approved by acclamation a Council proposal that all athletics disputes be referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. CAS is already recognized as an independent final arbitral body for sporting disputes worldwide. This move is intended to bring athletics in line with other major Olympic sports. All disputes will be referred to CAS, which is based in Lausanne, within sixty days of the date upon which the disputed decision was made.
IAAF BECOMES THE “INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ATHLETICS FEDERATIONS” 1 August 2001 EDMONTON - Canada - IAAF Congress, meeting for its first session in the Shaw Center in downtown Edmonton, discussed a number of changes to IAAF Constitutional rules and agreed to change the federation’s name to International Association of Athletics Federations – while retaining the four letter acronym “IAAF.” It was also agreed that the IAAF General Secretary could no longer also be an elected Member of Council but should be an ex-officio Member of the Council, with a voice but not a vote. Another significant Congress decision was a change to Rule 4 to state that no athlete shall be eligible for international competition unless that athlete has signed an agreement with the IAAF by which he or she agrees to be bound by IAAF Rules and Procedural Guidelines and to submit, if necessary, to disputes he may have with the IAAF or a Member to arbitration in accordance with IAAF Rules. This new proposal is aimed to establish clear jurisdiction of the IAAF over its athletes and will allow them to enforce decisions more easily.
IAAF COUNCIL FINALISE CONGRESS PREPARATIONS NEW DATES APPROVED FOR FUTURE WORLD SERIES EVENTS 30 July 2001 EDMONTON - Canada - Meeting in the Hotel MacDonald, the IAAF Council declared their satisfaction with a final report from representatives of the Local Organising Committee regarding the staging of the 8th edition of the World Championships and reviewed final preparations for the 43rd IAAF Congress that opens tomorrow night at the Winspear Centre in Edmonton. Council decided to recommend to Congress, in agreement with the Technical Committee that, in races up to 400m, 1 false start will be allowed but that any athlete subsequently false starting will be disqualified immediately. Congress will also be advised to introduce this rule only in 2003, to allow an experimentation period for athletes and officials. It was also agreed that there should be no recommendation from Council regarding the number of attempts in vertical jumps. However, both Council and the Technical Committee will support the proposal to extend the possibility of reducing the number of attempts in horizontal jumps and throws which currently applies to international matches. A number of date changes for future IAAF competitions were approved. It was agreed that the 2002 World Cup in Athletics will take place in Madrid on Friday and Saturday, 21-22 September, and because the track can accommodate it, Spain will participate as the 9th team. Council confirmed that the 2003 World Youth Championships in Sherbrooke, Canada, would take place on 10-13 July and the 2003 IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Paris on 22-31 August. A new date of 23-24 March for the 2002 World Cross Country Championships in Dublin was also approved. In other business, transfers of allegiance were approved for Aleksey Kurdenko - from Belarus to Russia Lamssini El Hassan - from Morocco to France Ismail Sghyr - from Morocco to France After requests from many developing athletic nations, Council has agreed that technical delegates would have the power to approve the participation of non-qualified athletes in field events as well as running events. Following the resignation of Sheikh Khalid bin Thani Al Thani from the IAAF Council, the Asian Amateur Athletic Association will designate a new Area Representative at its extraordinary assembly tomorrow.
DRAGILA VAULTS CLOSER TO JONES IN RANKINGS POLE POSITION BERGQVIST TAKES HIGH JUMP NUMBER ONE SPOT 24 July 2001 - MONTE CARLO - Monaco - Stacy Dragila is gradually getting closer to the top spot in the women’s overall rankings after a series of superb performances in the lead up to Edmonton and the 8th IAAF World Championships. With just ten days to go to the start of the Championships Dragila is trailing the seemingly invincible Marion Jones by a mere 11 points following her recent world record performances and a convincing 4.72 metre win in Sunday’s London Grand Prix. A World Record performance by Dragila in Edmonton could vault her into the top spot. Another young lady who is flying high is Sweden’s Kajsa Bergqvist. The indoor world champion has had an excellent season so far and is in contention for the IAAF Golden League Jackpot after winning her event in Rome’s Golden Gala and at the Monte Carlo Herculis meeting. Her win in Monaco puts her firmly in the number one spot in the women’s high jump rankings. American Nick Hysong’s third place in Monaco has put him in the number one spot in the men’s pole vault rankings as he edges by one point the former leader, Russia’s Maxim Tarasov who is sidelined following a serious ankle injury sustained in the Herculis meeting. Another athlete to benefit from her performances in Monaco, where she was beaten in a near photo by Maria Mutola (MOZ), and in London, where she was a convincing winner ahead of Austria’s Stephanie Graf, is Brazil’s Fabiane dos Santos, the 25-year-old from Sao Paulo set a new national record in the 800 metres in Monaco with her time of 1:57.16 and has a total of four Grand Prix wins to her credit so far this season - Rio, Hengelo, Seville and London. One to watch in Edmonton. The full rankings by event and overall can be found on the IAAF web site.
MELINTE SUSPENDED FOR TWO YEARS FOR A DOPING OFFENCE 17 July 2001 MONTE CARLO - Monaco - Mihaela Melinte - the world record holder in the women’s hammer has been found guilty of a doping offence for nandrolone. Meeting in Monaco this weekend, the IAAF Arbitration Panel recommended that Melinte be suspended for a period of two years. The Romanian tested positive at the Notturno di Milano event in June 2000. Since she has already served 9 months suspension, she will be ineligible until 24 September 2002. The case was considered by an Arbitration Panel composed of Christoph Vedder (GER), Conny Jorneklint (SWE) and Jim Murphy (USA). The Arbitrators also considered the case of Carolin Soboll, a German javelin thrower, who tested positive for nandrolone after a test in Rhede, Germany, in June 2000. Soboll claimed that her test result was a result of contaminated supplements. The hearing has been adjourned until 22 September 2001, because the panel ruled that Ms Soboll (who did not attend) was a relevant and necessary party to the proceedings and should be given the opportunity to present evidence. Soboll has until 14 September to make her written submissions. In this case, the arbitrators consisted of Lin Kok Loh (SIN), Bob Ellicott (AUS) and Jim Murphy.
STACY DRAGILA THREATENS MARION JONES IN WOMEN’S OVERALL RANKINGS BUCHER TAKES OVER MEN’S 800M, BIDOUANE THE WOMEN’S 400M HURDLES 10 July 2001 - MONTE CARLO - Monaco - With the outdoor season truly underway now and the IAAF Golden League approaching the cut-off point where no new entrants will be able to enter the jackpot stakes, the results so far have created some significant movements in the IAAF World Rankings released today. With straight victories in Rome and Paris, interspersed with a grand show to his national crowd in Lausanne, Andre Bucher has set three world best performances and taken the lead in the men’s 800 metre event rankings. The young Swiss is on superb form and is a likely contender for gold in Edmonton as well as for a share of the 50 kilos of gold bars that are the jackpot shared between athletes winning their chosen event in five of the seven stages of the IAAF Golden League. With a convincing win in Rome, followed by victory in Lausanne, Nezha Bidouane from Morocco has taken over the lead in the women’s 400 metres hurdles rankings, with former rankings leader Deon Hemmings (JAM) dropping back to 3rd place after a disappointing 6th place in the Gaz de France meeting, the Parisian leg of the Golden League. The women’s 100 metre rankings are also a reflection of the the recent Golden League and Grand Prix Meetings, with Chandra Sturrup (BAH) on the heels of her training partner, American sprint queen Marion Jones, who recorded her 50th straight victory in the 100 metres on Monday in Nice, and closely followed herself by Ukraine’s Zhanna Pintusevich. In the men’s sprints, a series of relatively lacklustre performances have resulted in Trinidad’s 200 metre specialist Ato Boldon being relegated to 5th place in the 200 metre rankings, with his Caribbean neighbour Obadele Thompson taking over the top spot followed by the Greek Olympic Champion Kostas Kenteris, who shares the second place in the ranking with Shawn Crawford from the USA. Paul Tergat has experienced a similar fall in the 5-10,000 metre ranking. The Kenyan, who has decided to retire from the track to concentrate on his road running career now holds sixth place in the rankings, with Belgium’s Mohammed Mourhit moving into the number one spot. A chain of victories and record-setting performances have of course given Stacy Dragila the number one spot in the pole vault ranking, but also boosted her to the number two spot in the overall rankings, where she now lies a mere 24 points behind her compatriot Marion Jones. If Dragila continues to break records at the pace she has been doing in the past year, the seemingly invincible Marion could find herself at last overtaken, if not on the track in the IAAF World Rankings.
Raw speed
is the key as Ms Jones opens her European tour Nick Davies for IAAF
Marion Jones,
the world’s most famous woman athlete, has arrived in Rome for the first
leg of a whistle-stop tour that takes in Paris, Lausanne, Oslo and London
as preparation for the World Championships in Edmonton. “It reminds me
of when I came back to the sport in 1997-1998,” says Jones with the relaxed
ease of a Communications graduate. “Lots of places in a very short time.
It’s wonderful to travel and experience all these different cultures, but
it is also great to race the best in the world and to get accustomed again
to the big crowds and atmosphere.” But although the frenetic schedule may
bring back memories of an Olympic year that ended with 5 medals in Sydney,
there is a big difference. Jones has stripped things down to the basics:
no long jump, no 200m … just displays of blazing speed over 100m. “It’s
a big change for me compared to last year. But my coach Trevor [Graham]
and I decided I should take a break from the long jump for the whole season,
and streamline everything else. I still want to win gold at 100m and 200m
in Edmonton, so I needed to do some longer races - a 400m and 300m - at
the beginning of the year. But in Eugene I was pleased that my turnover
[stride rate] was quicker - and by running just the 100m races in the coming
weeks it will get even better.” Jones has no illusions that the competition
will be tough. “It is always challenging, especially when you talk about
the Golden League. You need to run sub-11 to win most races in Europe now,
and I suppose that if the conditions are right I should be able to run
sub 10.9 or even sub 10.8. I love running in Rome - and ran 10.75 two years
ago - and I’m also a big fan of Lausanne and London, where I always seem
to run well.” Life has certainly changed a lot for Jones since her exploits
in Sydney last year. First, of course, came the type of celebrity that
only Olympic glory brings, and secondly, her separation from CJ Hunter,
a man who was rarely far from her side. “Everything changed for me after
Sydney. It was a big change too and I’m not sure it has all been for the
best. But then again, prior to the Games, I used to complain that the US
public did not recognize track and field stars, and now they definitely
know me! But the downside is that a bit of your private life is taken away.”
And Jones - unlike another Sydney marvel Cathy Freeman - had no problems
getting back to hard training once the fuss had began to die down. In fact,
she jumped at the chance. “With all that was going on at the time, I actually
needed to get my head into training again. When Trevor asked me in November
if I was ready to come to the track again, my answer was “yes! yes!” Training
hard was a release from everyday life for me.” Comfortable with her new
life as a single woman, Jones is also rekindling her passion for basketball,
where she was a NCAA Championship winning standout player at the University
of North Carolina. She has agreed to commentate on two games of the WNBA.
The first was actually cancelled - although the excuse was a good one,
since Houston was being ravaged by a hurricane at the time - but Jones
is excited about getting behind a microphone in late July: “There are two
nice things about it,” she says: “first, it allows me to fulfill my love
for basketball without all the bumps and bruises, and second it gives me
practice at something I want to pursue when my career is over.” But there
is a long way to go before retirement, and the short term focus is on the
season at hand. Jones is happy to support US track and field, and claims
that even if she had not needed to qualify for the 200m team for Edmonton
at the US Trials she would have turned up anyway: “I think US athletes
have an obligation to our track fans to compete at the nationals, regardless
of the Wild Card issue.” But she has also given hope to US officials who
would love to see their relay teams back on top of the podium. “It depends
on if I am selected, but in the next three weeks I will decide which relay
to run in Edmonton. I can say that I will do one of them, but not which
one. If it’s the 4x100m then we have the speed, and if we can improve our
changes, then we will be hard to beat.”
President Diack hosts Golden League launch tomorrow in Rome Said Aouita will be present to recall his barrier-breaking world record 27 June 2001 MONTE-CARLO – Monaco – Said Aouita returns today to Rome where, on 22 July 1987, he became the first man to run 5000 metres in under 13 minutes – 12:58.39 – one of the defining moments in athletics history. Aouita was, at the time, already world record holder and his time of 13:00.40 set in Oslo in 1985, had improved the previous mark of Dave Moorcroft by 1/10th of a second. Aouita, also a former Olympic champion, will be the IAAF’s guest of honour on the occasion of President Lamine Diack’s lunch with the international press corps at the Hotel Jolly Midas at 13:30. The eve of the Honda Golden Gala in Rome represents an opportunity to present the fourth edition of the IAAF Golden League and to announce a number of likely innovations in the future. The aim is to make the Golden League even more spectacular, as well as to reinforce the concept of head-to-head competition among the world’s best athletes. Aouita knows all about head-to-heads, since he was a key player in some of the greatest Grand Prix races of all time back in the 1980s. His memorable Rome world record was the result of a stirring duel with Sydney Maree (USA) but Aouita will always be remembered for another confrontation which took place on 16 July 1985. On that date in Nice, Aouita raced Britain’s Steve Cram over 1500 metres. The race was decided almost by a photo-finish with Cram becoming the first man under 3:30 with 3:29.67, and the Moroccan just behind with 3:29.71. Aouita was so upset by his defeat that he bounced back later that season in Berlin to clock 3:29.46 – and add another world record to his CV. In total, Aouita amassed five world records, including the 2000 metres and 3000 metres. He also won Olympic gold (5000 metres in 1984) and bronze (800 metres in 1988) as well as World Championship gold (5000 metres in 1987) and bronze (1500 metres in 1983).
IAAF GOLDEN LEAGUE OPENS IN ROME - GEBRSELASSIE’S 5000M MARK UNDER THREAT 26 June 2001 Monte-Carlo - Monaco - Thirty seven Olympic medallists (15 men and 22 women) from last year’s Sydney Games will take their place among the impressive start list of the Honda Golden Gala, the first stage of the IAAF’s 2001 edition of the Golden League, this Friday 29 June, at Rome’s Olympic Stadium. In terms of quality, all the events will have the level of either a World Championships or Olympic Games. In the men’s 100 metres, for example, world number 1 Maurice Greene will face the challenge of recently crowned US National Champion Tim Montgomery as well as Obadele Thompson (BAR), the Olympic bronze medallist. In the 800m race, theWorld Indoor Champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy (RUS) will aim to outrun a number of in-form specialists, including local hero Andrea Longo (ITA). But, for aficionados of the middle distances, the biggest draw is the men’s 5000 metres, headed by Olympic champion Million Wolde (ETH). In Sydney, Wolde’s traditional Kenyan rivals were Julius Gitaho and Richard Limo (9th and 10th respectively). But as he proved at his National Championships recently, Limo is now is excellent shape, winning the 5000m title in 13:17.2 at high altitude Nairobi - equal to a sub-13 minutes performance at sea-level. Limo will race in Rome, as will his countryman Charles Kamathi who was also on form in Nairobi - winning the 10,000 metres in 27:47.33, the fastest ever clocked at altitude. The classy field is completed by Sammy Kipketer, Europe’s best male distance runner of the moment, the world cross country champion Mohammed Mourhit (BEL), 3000m world record holder Daniel Komen (KEN), Fita Bayessa (ETH) and Aliu Mekonen (ETH). The world record in the 5000m belongs to Haile Gebrselassie - who improved Daniel Komen by 0.38 sec on 13 June 1998 in Helsinki to 12:39.36. Over the years many have laboured to improve this mark beyond what had been considered the limits of human possibilities, but the current generation have scant regard for barriers. And what better setting than the Olympic Stadium - where Said Aouita ran the first sub-13 minutes 5000 metres on 22 July 1987 - for a new frontier to open?
IAAF GOLDEN LEAGUE TREASURE HUNT GETS UNDERWAY IN ROME ON FRIDAY A BILLION TV VIEWERS FOR MAURICE GREENE AND MARION JONES 25 June 2001 - MONTE CARLO - Monaco - The Honda Golden Gala will launch the IAAF Golden League 2001, in Rome’s Olympic Stadium on Friday, 29 June. The Italian Athletics Federation (FIDAL), the organiser of the meeting, has arranged for the participation of the world’s greatest athletes, including the American superstars Marion Jones and Maurice Greene. The IAAF Golden League, introduced four years ago, comprises a series of seven meetings all held on a Friday evening. After Rome, the meetings are: Paris (6 July); Oslo (13 July); Monte Carlo (20 July); Zurich (17 August); Brussels (24 August); Berlin 31 August). Each of the meetings will include the following events: Men: 100, 800, 1500 (or mile), 3000 (or 5000), 3000 steeplechase, 110m hurdles, long jump and javelin throw; Women: 100, 800, 1500, 3000 (or 5000), 400m hurdles and high jump. The 14 events are divided into 7 “Premium” events and 7 “Classic” events. The winners of the “Premium events” (men: 100; 800; 1500 or mile; 3000 or 5000; women: 100; 800; 3000 or 5000) will receive prizes of 15,000 euros; €12,000 to 2nd, €8000 to 3rd, €5000 to 4th, €4000 to 5th, €2500 to 6th , €2000 to 7th and €1500 to 8th. Prizes for the “Classic events” (men: 110m hurdles; 3000 steeplechase; javelin and long jump; women: 1500 or mile; 400m hurdles and high jump) will be: €7500 for first; €6000 for 2nd; €4000 for 3rd; €2500 for 4th; €2000 for 5th; €1250 for 6th; €1000 for 7th and €750 for 8th. The Golden League Jackpot of 50kg of gold bars will be split between the winners of the same individual Golden League event in at least five of the series. A special bonus of €50,000 will go to any athlete beating a World Record in a Golden League event in one of the Golden League Meetings. The chase after the Golden League Jackpot, which was won last year by Gail Devers (USA, 100m hurdles); Trine Hattestad (NOR, javelin) and Tatyana Kotova (RUS, long jump) - Maurice Greene (USA, 100m) and Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR, 1500-mile) lost their share after failing to compete in the IAAF Grand Prix Final in Doha - will be watched by TV viewers in 112 countries around the world. It is estimated that every meeting, whether broadcast live or delayed thanks to Canal + and its partners, will attract a global audience of around a billion viewers. For the first time, the Golden League will be available throughout the United Kingdom on Sky TV.
OFF TRACK KIPKETER CONTINUES TO FALL IN WORLD RANKINGS PLANS COMEBACK FOR EDMONTON 19 June 2001 – MONTE CARLO – Monaco – The man who totally dominated the 800 metres until struck down by malaria two years ago, Wilson Kipketer (DEN), is gradually being pushed lower in the IAAF World Rankings as he remains absent from the track. The 28 year old world record holder for the two-lap race has recently encountered a problem with a foot injury that is likely to keep him out of competition in the lead up to the World Championships, though he hopes to be back in shape in time to compete in Edmonton. “It is a nagging injury,” said Kipketer, “it is not something that can be operated or treated, so I do not really know how long it will take for it to clear up. “I have to take a break from training for the next ten days and then we will see again how I feel. For the moment it is less painful than before, but a few days ago I could hardly walk. “I will probably not compete before Edmonton, but I am aiming to be back in shape for the World Championships.” The 800m event rankings are currently led by Algeria’s Djabir Said-Guerni, who narrowly leads Switzerland’s Andre Bucher. The young Russian prodigy, Yuriy Borzakovskiy, who was a convincing winner of the World Indoor title in March has moved into third place in today’s rankings. Kipketer is relegated to sixth place. The full IAAF World Rankings are available on the IAAF web site.
MARK RICHARDSON REINSTATED UNDER “EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES” RULE 14 June 2001 - MONTE CARLO - Monaco - Mark Richardson, the British 400m runner who tested positive for nandrolone in October 1999, has been reinstated by the IAAF Council under the “exceptional circumstances” rule (60.8) and will be free to compete from 15 June 2001. Council reached this decision after careful consideration of the special circumstances surrounding this case. First of all, Richardson has never challenged the IAAF’s strict liability rule even though the nandrolone he ingested came from contaminated food supplements. Richardson also volunteered to undertake a number of activities to educate other athletes about the possible dangers of food supplements. His activities to date have been honest, committed and satisfactory. They include articles in various publications and on the IAAF internet site as well as lectures, with one planned for the World Youth Championships in Debrecen. IAAF Council also took into consideration Richardson’s willingness to continue his activities after his reinstatement. The athlete will participate in Nutrition and Sport Congress at the World Championships in Edmonton, and will also assist the new anti-doping organisation WADA with future educational activities worldwide. In conclusion, Mark Richardson’s message - “You don’t need supplements to be a winner” - has great educational value and will greatly assist the IAAF in its anti-doping campaign.
KALMADI STANDS DOWN FROM IAAF PRESIDENTIAL RACE 13 June 2001 - MONTE CARLO - Monaco - In a letter to Istvan Gyulai, general Secretary of the IAAF, the President of the Asian Amateur Athletic Association (AAAA), Suresh Kalmadi (IND), has officially withdrawn his candidacy for the position of president of the International Amateur Athletic Federation. The elections for the highest position in the IAAF will be held in Edmonton, on the occasion of the IAAF Congress (31 July to 2 August) that will immediately precede the 8th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (3-12 August). The elections must be held following the death, on 7 November 1999, of Primo Nebiolo, who was acclaimed president during the Seville Congress. There are two candidates for the presidency: the acting president of the IAAF, Lamine Diack (SEN), and honorary life member, Eisa al Dashti (KUW).
GATSIOUDIS AND BECKFORD MOVE CLOSER TO NUMBER ONE SPOT. DRAGILA RECORDS GIVE HER NUMBER 5 OVERALL 12 June 2001 - MONTE CARLO - Monaco - Strong performances in Athens have taken Constantinos (Kostas) Gatsioudis, in the javelin, and James Beckford in the long jump to the number two spots in their respective event rankings, while Stacy Dragila moves to number 5 overall in the latest edition of the IAAF World Rankings. Gatsioudis’ latest 88.89 metre effort in Athens now gives him five out of the top ten performances in this year’s IAAF performance lists and moves him a little closer to the Olympic Champion, Jan Zelezny (CZE), who still retains the top spot in the Rankings, with a 26 point lead over Greece’s Gatsioudis. Britain’s Steve Backley trails Gatsioudis by a mere nine points in third place. With a season’s best of 8.41 metres in the Turin permit meeting and a winning 8.18 metre clearance in Athens, Jamaica’s James Beckford has moved from third place to second in the men’s long jump rankings, but still remains way out of reach of the current event leader, Ivan Pedroso of Cuba who has a massive 114 point lead over the Jamaican. Sceptics of Greece’s Konstantinos Kenteris win in the Olympics were silenced when the 28 year-old sprinter was a convincing winner in Athens yesterday ahead of Floyd Heard (USA) and Francis Obikwelu (NGR) in a season leading 20.10. The result puts Kenteris in the number 8 spot in the men’s 200 metre rankings. With a massive 11-centimetre improvement in the women’s pole vault record, World and Olympic Champion Stacy Dragila has also vaulted into the number five spot in the women’s overall ranking. With just two points separating her from the number four seed, Gete Wami, Dragila can cherish hopes of further improving her position in the weeks to come.
RECORD SCORE TAKES SEBRLE TO THIRD PLACE IN WORLD RANKINGS. MARION JONES HEADS BOTH WOMEN’S SPRINT RANKINGS 6 June 2001 - MONTE CARLO - Monaco - In the latest edition of the IAAF World Rankings, released yesterday, the Czech Republic’s world record decathlete, Roman Sebrle has leapt into third position in the men’s overall rankings following his historic 9,026 points score in the Goetzis Hypo-Meeting. The 26 year-old became the first man in history to break the 9,000 points barrier and was rewarded with the world record and an eight place leap up the World Rankings tables. He now trails second-placed Hicham El Guerrouj by just one point, with Maurice Greene retaining his place at the head of the men’s overall, 12 points ahead of El Guerrouj. After briefly ceding her place as leader of the women’s 200m ranking to Jamaica’s Juliet Campbell, Marion Jones is once again at the top the World Rankings for both of the women’s short sprints. Her 22.26 performance in the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, the American sprint queen’s first 200 metre race since winning gold in the Sydney Olympics, now gives her a comfortable 24 points lead over Campbell. Jones also retains her position at the head of the women’s Overall Ranking, where progress through the ranks is being made by her compatriot, the Olympic champion and world record holder at the pole vault, Stacy Dragila. Dragila’s consistently good performances - her latest victory was in the Oregon Grand Prix meet, with a clearance of 4.51 metres - have now taken her to 8th place in the Overall Rankings (previously 12th).
PAUL TERGAT EMBARKS ON NEW MARATHON UNDERTAKING 31 May 2001 - MONTE CARLO - Monaco - Paul Tergat, the Kenyan five-time World Cross Country Champion has engaged in a new marathon - only this time he will be using his image rather than his legs to achieve his latest goal. The man who largely dominated the international cross country scene for half a decade and who recently started a new career on the world marathon stage has been enrolled by the World Food Programme to promote its latest fundraising initiative for the School Feeding Programme, a project that provides school meals to undernourished children in Kenya and neighbouring countries. According to Lindsey Davies of the WFP Information Office in Nairobi: “Tergat is an international figure who has made great strides in the global sports arena and we thought he was the ideal person to work with in this initiative. We held discussions with him and he was very positive. He is a wonderful personality,” In his schooldays, the 31-year-old Kenyan air force sergeant himself benefited from the programme, which was implemented in Kenya over twenty years ago. “I feel excited and honoured by the WFP to sensitise the world in this worthy course. I benefited from the school feeding programme in my early days in Riwo Primary school (1983-1985) in Baringo and I will give it my full support,” Tergat said. See the feature about Tergat and the World Food Programme on the IAAF web site, in an exclusive report by Omulo Okoth for the IAAF.
WORLD ATHLETICS DAY CONTEST WINNERS CHOSEN 26 May 2001 Edmonton - Canada - IAAF President Lamine Diack, world record pole-vaulter Sergey Bubka, Athletics Canada Board Chair Jean-Guy Ouellette and Edmonton 2001 Local Organizing Committee Board Chair Jack Agrios have drawn the names of 12 World Athletics Day (WAD) winners. The draw, which was held today, provides the 12 young athletes with an all-expenses paid trip to see the 8th IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada from Aug. 3 to 12. The winners, six boys and six girls, were chosen from thousands of names submitted by member Athletic Federations from the six IAAF Continental Areas around the world. The 2001 WAD winners will join the 12 winners from last year's draw at the Championships. "What an exciting day for this year's winners," said President Diack. "The IAAF is very pleased to be able to bring these fine young athletes to Edmonton for the World Championships in Athletics. They will see the world's best athletes compete in 46 events, and at the same time have the opportunity to visit a wonderful city in the beautiful province of Alberta. To be able to watch, up close, the greatest athletes in the world will be a once in a lifetime experience for our contest winners. We hope, for all of them, that it provides an incentive to perhaps become a future member of their nation's team at the World Championships." "We are delighted that the 12 winners from this year, along with the 12 winners from last year's draw, are coming to Edmonton," Agrios said. "The Opening Ceremony, which includes the running of the Men's Marathon - a first for the World Championships - is slightly more than two months away, beginning 10 days of excitement, meeting and greeting old friends and making new ones." WAD is a program developed by the IAAF five years ago to promote the sport of athletics to youth across the world. Since 1996, thousands of youngsters have participated in WAD in hundreds of countries in the half dozen continental regions. The winners of the 2001 World Athletics Day draw are: Girls - Mae Kolme of Papua New Guinea, 200 metres Chih-yu Wen of Chinese Taipei, High Jump Patricia Rissoo of Peru, Long Jump Pamela Salikumbi of Zambia, Long Jump Ivana Brkjacic of Croatia, Hammer Throw Yudith Mendez of Dominican Republic, 100 Metre Hurdles Boys - Jacoro Sucu of Fiji, Javelin Robani Hassan Mohd of Malaysia, 400 Metre Hurdles Santiago Guerci of Argentina, High Jump Hani Meguelati of Algeria, 1,500 Metres Kosta Kaloianov of Bulgaria, 110 Metre Hurdles Gregory La Croes of Netherlands Antilles, 100 Metres The 2000 winners of the World Athletics Day were: Girls Kathryn Mitchell, Australia, javelin Sanda Htwe, Malaysia, 10km walk Brigith Merlan, Colombia, 100m hurdles Lantoson Razafinjanahary, Madagascar, 100m Patricia Lopes, Portugal Keniesha Kiffin, Jamaica, 800m Boys Haozhi Wang, China, 110m hurdles Cristian Labra, Chile, 110m hurdles Emmanuel Unayezu, Rwanda, 400m Volodymyr Obcharov, Ukraine, 110m hurdles Darren Clarke, Canada, 200m Henricks Tari, Vanuatu, long jump
IAAF RATIFIES WORLD RECORD VAULTS 23 May 2001 MONTE CARLO - Monaco - The IAAF has officially ratified four world records - all of them in the women's indoor Pole Vault, a fast evolving event. Current world leader, Stacy Dragila (USA) established the current world record of 4.70i in Pocatello, USA, on 17 February 2001, but also cleared 4.66i at the same meeting, another world record. The previous world record of 4.64i was set by Svetlana Feofanova (RUS) less than a week earlier (11 February) in Dortmund, Germany. This had improved the world record of Dragila (4.63i) set in New York on 2 February 2001. In the Junior Women’s indoor event, Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS) cleared 4.47i to set a new record at Budapest on 10 February. Isinbayeva also set the previous mark of 4.45i in Volgograd, Russia, on 4 February 2000.
IAAF RATIFIES WORLD RECORD PERFORMANCES 16 May 2001 - MONTE CARLO - Monaco - The IAAF has officially ratified three world record performances. Gabriela Szabo (ROM) in the 3000 metres indoor, established a new world record of 8:32.88 in Birmingham (GBR) on 18 February 2001. Szabo bettered the 12 year old record of the Netherlands’ Elly van Hulst of 8:33.32, set on 4 March 1989 in Budapest. In the Junior women’s category, Russia’s Lyudmila Yefimkina (81) established the record time of 45:35.2 in the 10,000 metre Walk in Moscow on 20 May 2000. This was a new record category for the IAAF. During the same competition, her compatriot Victor Burayev (82), set a new record of 38:46.4 for the Junior Men’s 10,000 metre Walk. The previous record in the men’s event was 38:54.75, set by Ralf Kowalski (GDR) and had stood since 24 June 1981.
MIKE POWELL - THE LEGEND OF 91 - RETURNS TO COMPETITION TOMORROW 11 May 2001 - MONTE CARLO - Monaco - Ten Years after starring in one of the most exceptional nights of athletics ever, Mike Powell is returning to competition. Tomorrow, in Modesto, California, the 38 year old will attempt to repeat that magical bound of 30 August 1991, which carried him 8 metres and 95 centimetres for a new world record. Those who were there in that Japanese stadium will be full of nostalgia tomorrow. Ten years is a long time, but there has never been such a great duel as that one: Carl Lewis against Mike Powell and both of them against the legend of Bob Beamon. The outcome is part of sports history, and not just for athletics. There are sometimes circumstances in which champions create moments of absolute beauty, just as happens with the geniuses of the more intellectual arts. But whilst everyone can benefit from the fruits of intellectual creation, sport allows for no replication: only those who are lucky enough to be present on those rare occasions and have the heart and the culture to understand, will have the privilege of bearing witness. The return to competition of Mike Powell will be great for the upcoming generation, for they will not only be able to learn from him - just as his pupils are doing - the fundamentals of the long jump, but also the determination in competition that led him to not only beat the world record, but also to better a man that everyone considered invincible: Carl Lewis. In a long interview that will be published in the next issue of the IAAF Magazine, Mike Powell discusses this return to competition and also explains how, teaching at the University of Fullerton (California), his desire to compete again returned. Off course, we shouldn't expect great performances from this comeback. But the most important thing is the example that he gives: Mike Powell is not jumping any longer for glory - he has had that already - but, once again, for the joy of flying through the air.
MOHAMAD HASAN WITHDRAWS FROM COUNCIL ELECTION RACE 4 May 2001 - MONTE CARLO - Monaco - Mohamad "Bob" Hasan, a former IAAF Council Member and the incumbent President of the Indonesian Athletics Federation, has withdrawn from the list of candidates for the forthcoming IAAF Congress elections. Mr Hasan had been proposed for a place on the IAAF Council.
5TH MAY IS IAAF WORLD ATHLETICS DAY THE WINNERS OF AN INVITATION TO THE 8TH IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS TO BE DRAWN IN EDMONTON AT END MAY 3 May 2001 - MONTE CARLO - Monaco - 147 National Federations will this year participate in World Athletics Day. This event was introduced five years ago by the then-President Primo Nebiolo, with the aim of increasing public awareness of the need to educate youngsters in the practice of athletics. On that first occasion in 1996, World Athletics Day was themed around the Centennial edition of the Olympic Games in Atlanta. >From the winners of the event, the names of two boys and girls were drawn from each of the IAAF Continental Areas (Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, South America, North-Central America and the Caribbean) and they were invited by the International Federation to attend the Atlanta Olympics. The formula was repeated in successive years, with the lucky winners of the IAAF World Athletics Day receiving invitations to attend the IAAF World Championships in Athens (1997) and Seville (1999) and the World Cup in Athletics (Johannesburg 1998). This year, the World Athletics Day will be held for the majority of the federations on the 5th May and for the remainder on 12 May. The programme will include the following events: 1 sprint event 1 middle distance event (preferably the 1500 metres) 1 hurdles race 1 jumping competition 1 throwing event 1 walking race There will be a draw in Edmonton on 24-25 May, during the visit of IAAF President Lamine Diack to the city that will play host to the world’s greatest sporting event of 2001, to determine the winners of an invitation to attend the 8th IAAF World Championships. This year, twelve names will be drawn and those lucky enough to be picked will join 12 winners from last year, who, for logistical reasons, could not be invited to attend the Olympic Games in Sydney.
IN 100 DAYS IN EDMONTON A MARATHON RUNNER WILL BE THE FIRST WORLD CHAMPION OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM 25 April 2001 - MONTE CARLO - Monaco - Today, in Edmonton, the Organising Committee of the 8th IAAF World Championships in Athletics will celebrate the one hundredth day before the inauguration of the greatest sports event of the year, on 3 August. To mark the occasion, the organizers have invited the people of Edmonton to congregate in front of the City Hall where there will be an exhibition of high jumping in the fountain area. At this time, the Seiko Countdown Clock will be started, ticking away the hours to the start of the World Championships. This initiative of the Edmonton 2001 Athletic Foundation is designed particularly to underline the importance of the first staging in North America of the Championships for the State of Alberta and the whole of Canada. Around 3,000 athletes from more than 200 countries will participate in the World Championships, which will be broadcast over the ten days of competition to an estimated audience of over four billion viewers across the five continents. A particularly important agreement was signed in recent weeks between the IAAF and ABC/ESPN for live and delayed broadcast of coverage of both Edmonton and the 2003 World Championships in Paris and other major athletics events over the coming three years, throughout the United States of America. Proof that the World Championships in Athletics are eagerly awaited by Canadians generally and the citizens of Edmonton in particular, can be found in the huge number of people who have offered to work as volunteers and the ever-increasing demand for tickets. The forecast is that the Championships will play to a full house. Contrary to tradition, the first athletes to compete in the 8th IAAF World Championships will be the marathon runners. In exactly 100 days, at 6.45 pm, local time, the starting pistol will fire and, not much more than two hours later, the first World Champion of this new century and new millennium will be crowned in Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium.
IAAF WELCOMES SUPPORT IN FIGHT AGAINST DOPING 20 April 2001 - MONTE CARLO - Monaco - Within the next few days some big city marathons are sure to capture the headlines. In recent months, the organisers of these races have publicly announced their willingness to introduce EPO testing for runners. While the IAAF warmly welcomes any anti-doping initiative, we would also like to emphasise that certain procedural guidelines will have to be respected if these controls are to be truly effective. The most important considerations in current EPO doping test practice (which involves both blood and urine analysis) are logistical. The blood samples must be rapidly transferred to a laboratory if no analytical haematological equipment is available on site. As for the urine samples, these must be analysed by an accredited laboratory that has experience of the latest EPO detection method. As a matter of fact, only a few laboratories have currently developed this specific test elaborated by the French National Anti-Doping laboratory, namely Paris, Lausanne, Montreal and Sydney. It is important to stress that good laboratory practice is the basis of the reliability of test results, their interpretation and eventual disciplinary consequences according to IAAF rules. New analytical possibilities for EPO detection were introduced at the Olympic Games in Sydney. This consists of a combined testing of - blood sample analysis which represents an indirect screening test for various haematological parameters (haemoglobin, haematocrit, reticulocytes…). Abnormalities of the values of this haematological profile can lead to a more - specific urine analysis for a direct EPO detection in the athlete’s urine sample collected together with the blood sample. The EPO tests that the IAAF will be conducting at the next World Championships in August 2001 in Edmonton will also be based on double testing. In practice, the IAAF's experience with blood sampling dates back many years. The IAAF already permits blood sampling and analysis, and had first introduced blood testing at doping controls in 1993 and 1994 at the “Golden Four” IAAF Grand Prix meetings. This initiative aimed to enhance the traditional urine controls with respect to detection of blood doping and application of endogenous hormonal substances including EPO. The study showed nothing remarkable but the analytical methods in use at that time were not the same as those being used today.
IAAF RATIFIES JUNIOR WOMEN HAMMER THROW WORLD RECORD 2 April, 2001 MONTE CARLO - Monaco - The IAAF has officially ratified as a world record the 70.62 metre performance by the Polish athlete Kamila Skolimowska. This record mark was achieved in Rüdlingen, Germany, on 13 August 2000. The 18-year-old, became the inaugural Olympic champion in the women's hammer throw in Sydney on 29 September 2000 with a throw of 71.16 metres, which is currently awaiting ratification. The evolution of the Junior Women's Hammer throw: Awaiting Ratification 71.16 Kamila Skolimowska 82 POL Sydney 29 Sep 2000) 70.62 Kamila Skolimowska 82 POL Rüdlingen 13 Aug 2000 Previous 69.13 Kamila Skolimowska 82 POL Warszawa 10 June 2000 Previous 68.40 Bianca Achilles 81 GER Dortmund 25 Sep 99
WAMI OUSTS SZABO FROM TOP SPOT IN WOMEN'S DISTANCE RANKINGS NGENY EDGES MICHAEL JOHNSON IN MEN'S OVERALL RANKINGS 27 March, 2001 MONTE CARLO - Monaco - Gold in the women's short course race and silver in the long course event at last weekend's IAAF World Cross Country Championships have taken Ethiopia's Gete Wami to the head of the 5000 metre class in this week's IAAF World Rankings. The previous number one spot holder, Gabriela Szabo moves down to second place. This event category also takes into account performances in cross country events, which Gabriela Szabo does not run and Wami's two medals in Ostend have given her a three point advantage over the Romanian. However, Szabo still retains her third place in the overall women's rankings, where she maintains a four point lead over Wami. Great Britain's gold medallist in the women's long cross and silver medallist in the short course race, Paula Radcliffe moves up to third place in the 5000m category and to tenth place overall. She ties both places with Ireland's Sonia O'Sullivan, who had to pull out of the women's short course race due to illness. Meanwhile, in the men's overall rankings, time takes its toll on Michael Johnson, who officially announced his retirement from competition after the Sydney Olympics. As his 300 metre world record in Pretoria on 24 March last year is now over a year old and no longer counts towards the rankings, Johnson has been overtaken by the rising Kenyan middle distance star Noah Ngeny, winner of the 1500 metres in the last Olympics, who moves into third place ahead of Johnson in fourth position. Maurice Greene and Hicham El Guerrouj remain, respectively in first and second place in the men's overall rankings. The women's overall rankings are headed by Marion Jones (USA), with Trine Hattestad in second place.
IAAF EVENTS TO BE BROADCAST ON ABC/ESPN FOR NEXT THREE YEARS 22 March 2001 MONACO - Monte-Carlo - On behalf of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, ISL has reached a significant agreement with ABC and ESPN, which will ensure that the IAAF's top events are broadcast in the USA for the next three years. This exciting partnership gives ABC and ESPN exclusive broadcasting rights in the US for the following IAAF events: 8th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Edmonton, Canada, 2001 17th IAAF Grand Prix Final, Melbourne, Australia, 2001 18th IAAF Grand Prix Final, Paris, France, 2002 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships, Birmingham, UK, 2003 9th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Paris, France, 2003 19th IAAF Grand Prix Final, 2003 The agreement also includes the sport's most prestigious one-day events: the seven meetings that currently make up the IAAF Golden League - Berlin, Brussels, Monaco, Oslo, Paris, Rome and Zurich. Broadcasting plans have yet to be finalised by ABC and ESPN but it is expected that ABC will be airing the IAAF World Championships in Athletics at weekends with ESPN showing highlight programming during the week. The first event has already been successfully aired: the IAAF World Indoor Championships (March 9-11, 2001). Soon the focus will turn to the "crown jewel" of the IAAF World Athletic Series, the 8th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, scheduled for August 3-12 in Edmonton, Canada. Preparations for this event are well advanced with ticket sales already exceeding expectations. IAAF President Lamine Diack welcomed the new agreement: "We all know that the USA produces great athletes. But it is also a fact that most of them are more famous in Europe and the rest of the world than at home. For this reason, I am delighted that, thanks to ABC/ESPN, the American public will now be able to appreciate our sport, and its stars on TV. This agreement will benefit not just US track and field, but global athletics as well." "The World Track and Field Championships is one of the great international sporting events and we are pleased to add it to our ABC Sports lineup," said ABC Sports President Howard Katz. "ABC Sports has a long tradition of broadcasting Track and Field starting with the Penn Relays from Philadelphia in 1961 on the first ever "Wide World of Sports" telecast." "This is a break-through agreement for the sport of Athletics and its worldwide governing body, the IAAF, giving this most important Olympic sport the great exposure it deserves. All parties are entering this agreement in a true partnership spirit," says Jean-Marie Weber, Chairman of ISL Worldwide.
OSTEND RELIVES THE LEGENDS OF CROSS COUNTRY IN THE SPIRIT OF FAYOLLE AND BATTY 22 March, 2001 Ostend - The walls of the Wellington Hippodrome bear the lines that time and the elements have wrought upon them. Once there was a fort here - Fort Wellington its name - that defended Flanders from enemy landings, but as the fear of such incursions diminished , both the Duke (of Wellington) and the ruling family - the Sachsen Coburgs - decided that the time had come to turn this stronghold into a place of sport and relaxation, especially in the summer months. More than a hundred-twenty years have passed since then and the hippodrome is still standing, majestically resisting the travails of the centuries and the unremitting daily aggression of the wind, salt air and cold. The horses kick up the divots on the course, their nostrils flaring towards the see as they run parallel to the beach where the North Sea waves roll and die on the white sands. In the coming days, much larger groups of men and women will run on the traces of the horses. And on Saturday and Sunday the hippodrome will be all theirs, two-legged thoroughbreds from around the globe: 897 athletes, according to the latest update, representing seventy countries. They are here to contest the 29th IAAF World Cross Country Championships. It is not the first time that such an event has taken place in the Wellington Hippodrome in Ostend. The great tradition that Belgium has in this discipline is also, certainly, what has made it possible for the organisers to accomplish in three weeks something that normally takes two years: stepping in to replace Dublin as host to the championships following the foot and mouth epidemic that sidelined the Irish capital. Tradition, experience and passion: that is what cross country is all about in Belgium, and more particularly in this region. For this is a place where the memory of the 1965 championships is renewed season after season and passed on by parents to strengthen the fearless spirit of their aspiring athlete children. For that was the year that Ostend hosted what was then known as "The Nations Cross", and which was to become in later years the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. It was truly a memorable race, spellbinding and breathtaking. There were some great champions in competition: Tunisia's Mohammed Gammoudi, France's Michel Jazy, England's Ronald Hill, another Frenchman, Michel Bernard, Morooco's El Ghazi and Belgium's Clerckx. But the battle at the end of the race was between those who had managed to escape getting caught in the mud and resisted the cutting frozen winds for 12 kilometres without a moment's respite. The survivors were the English athlete Mel Batty, the Frenchman Jean Fayolle and Gammoudi. Gammoudi had a killer kick: when they came into the finishing straight, the three elbow to elbow, everybody thought that victory would be his. But no, the struggle was drawn out over 500 metres. Batty was the first to attempt a break, followed by Fayolle, as Gammoudi slowed, caught by the wind and the mud. The other two, well matched, continued to run alongside one another: the harder Batty pounded the track, the more Fayolle seemed to fly over the rotten ground and water-filled soil. The finishing line approached , just a few metres distant, but the two were still elbow to elbow with not a centimetre separating them. At the close, it was Jean Fayolle who was awarded the victory, with Mel Batty given second place with the same time: 36:48, not a tenth of a second more. Gammoudi came third in 37:00. Fourth place went to Bernard, 8th to Jazy and 38th to El Ghazi, who the following year would become world champion in Rabat, in front of his home crowd. On Saturday and Sunday, Fayolle and Batty will return to Ostend, to the site of that thrilling and exhausting encounter. They will mime their famous sprint for the joy of the youngsters in the hippodrome who will be able to see their parents' heroes in the flesh. They were both great champions at a time when Europe still loved to run. Jean Fayolle, multiple French national champion - with Robert Bogey and Vaillant - in the 10,000 and 5000 metres, had only a short career but with some great results on the track. Mel Batty, one of the best athletes of his day, became the world record holder over 10 miles in 47:26.8, a record that would be beaten in that same year of 1965 by Ron Clarke, before another Englishman, Ronald Hill, took back to Britain that once prestigious and now nigh forgotten record. Tomorrow, at 13H00, at the Hotel Andromeda in Ostend, IAAF President Lamine Diack, will meet journalists on the eve of the 29th IAAF World Cross Country Championships
A THOUSAND RUN IN A DAY TO GIVE OSTEND COURSE THE GOING OVER 19 March, 2001 MONTE CARLO - Monaco - Over a thousand Belgian athletes competed Sunday on the course of the forthcoming 29TH IAAF World Cross Country Championships. What would have been a dry run before the championships was anything but, as gusting winds off the sea coupled with rain and temperatures just above freezing point to make the Belgian national trials a true test of endurance. Last Sunday's competition involved everyone from school kids to the seniors in a veritable cross country-fest that ran virtually non-stop from 9.30 am to 4 in the afternoon. Heat following heat in a daisy chain of races watched by thousands of local enthusiasts and proud parents shouting their encouragement and who often stepped in to massage their youngsters' aching limbs after the races. Cross country is big time sport in Belgium and is preceded only by football and cycle-cross in the winter popularity stakes. The attendees at the nationals were rapturous despite the tough weather conditions and gave some measure of the support that can be expected the weekend of 24-25 March, when the world's best will battle their way around this same course, laid out on the Wellington Hippodrome. According to IAAF Competition Director Sandro Giovannelli, who followed Sunday's programme, the course will be demanding, with a fair amount of mud in the bends creating problems for the competitors. "It is more demanding than Dublin," commented Giovannelli, " the course is relatively flat, but the surface is not as smooth as in Dublin, there are some pretty tight bends and these are very muddy in places. "Couple this with relatively long grass throughout and we have all the makings of a traditional "mud and guts" course that will have the Championship contenders giving of their utmost." Whilst the course will be tough, the rest of the competition organisation is proceeding exactly according to plan, despite the three short weeks that the local organisers have had to step in and take over from Dublin. "It really is a credit to the Belgium Federation, their local partners, the Ostend Tourist Board and the organisers of the Ivo van Damme Memorial. They have all stepped in to fill the breach since Dublin had to cancel and they have really done a great job, " said Giovannelli. Rendezvous at the Hippodrome Wellington, Ostend, Belgium 13.05 pm on 24 March for the start of competition.
GENERAL REHEARSAL FOR WORLD CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS IN OSTEND SUNDAY 16 March, 2001 MONTE Carlo - Monaco - With eight days to go to the 29th IAAF World Cross Country Championships, which will take place during the weekend 24-25 March in Ostend, Belgium, initial entries have already been received for 758 athlete - 430 men and 323 women - representing 58 National Federations. These figures will increase in the hours to come, with a total of 900-1000 athletes expected in the final tally. The Belgian organising committee, assisted by the IAAF, is working flat out to ensure the success of this event. As one might expect, the sudden change of venue from Dublin to Ostend resulting from an Irish Government decision due to the foot and mouth epidemic, has raised a number of organisational problems, but these are rapidly being solved. Without any doubt the fact that the world championships will take place is a major success for the whole athletics movement and proof of the strong spirit of solidarity existing in its ranks. On Sunday, the Wellington Hippodrome in Ostend will host the Belgian cross country championships and this will be an interesting rehearsal for the World Championships. Belgium's Mohammed Mourhit, who triumphed in Vilamoura last year in front of Ethiopia's Assefa Mezegebu and Paul Tergat (KEN), will definitely be the man to beat on Sunday 25 March. His current form, demonstrated by his silver medal at the Lisbon World Indoors 3000m, with 7:38.94, behind Hicham El Guerrouj, is looking to peak at just the right time. All will labour with the conditions on the Ostend course, which is considered by observers to be extremely tricky, with gusting winds off the sea coursing across the seafront hippodrome. But Mourhit is used to the weather in Belgium, a country that has a longstanding tradition of producing great cross country runners: from Van den Broele, Chapelle and Van Rumst to the more recent Vandewattyne, Doms, Theys, Roelants, Clerckx, Puttemans, De Beck and Schots. We can look forward to some great competition on 25 march, over the 12.3 kilometres of the long cross: the Kenya squad, headed by Patrick Ivuti, backed up by John Korir, Paul Kosgei, Charles Kamathi, Enocl Mitei and Richard Limo, being most likely threatened only by a number of individuals, such as Mourhit, Portugal's Paulo Guerra, Ukrainian Sergiy Lebid and a fresh young Ethiopian team headed by 21-year-old Hailu Mekonnen
WORLD CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS TIMETABLE CHANGES 15 March 2001 MONTE CARLO - Monaco - The timetable of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships which will take place next 24 and 25 March in Ostend, Belgium has changed as follows: Saturday 24 March 2001 13:05 Junior Women's Race 13:45 Men's Short Race 14:15 Women's Long Race Sunday 25 March 2001 13:30 Opening Ceremony 14:30 Junior's Men Race 15:20 Women's Short Race 16:00 Men's Long Race Journalists covering the event should be aware that free transportation by train from Brussels to Ostend will be provided upon presentation of the letter of confirmation of accreditation at the Ostend Welcome desk in both Brussels' airport and train station. The journey from Brussels station to Ostend station takes approximately 2 hours.
MULTI-EVENTERS
ENTER WORLD RANKINGS - DECATHLETE ROMAN SEBRLE LEAPS TO 11TH PLACE OVERALL
13 March 2001
- MONTE CARLO - Monaco - With the World Indoor Championships concluded,
there have been some significant changes in this week's IAAF World Rankings.
All of the Lisbon medallists made progress in their respective event rankings,
with 60 metre victor Tim Montgomery (USA) taking over 4th place in the
men's 100 metre rankings (this category also includes the shorter indoor
sprints), the young Russian 800 metre gold medallist Yuriy Borzakovskiy
moving into 4th place in the two lap rankings just two points behind world
record holder Wilson Kipketer; and Lisbon long jump silver medallist Kareem
Streete-Thompson (CAY) leaping from sixth to second place in the long jump
rankings behind the gold medallist Ivan Pedroso (CUB). Pedroso's 8.43m
win has taken him to 12th place in the Overall Rankings. For the first
time since the introduction of the IAAF World Rankings, multi-eventers
are included in today's rankings release and the Czech Republic's Roman
Sebrle has shot straight into 11th place in the charts following his Heptathlon
victory in the Pavilion Atlantico. Despite a relative lack of success in
Lisbon, the Olympic gold medallist Erki Nool takes joint 26th place overall
with that other great Czech multi-eventer - unfortunately absent from the
World Indoors - Tomás Dvorak. In the women's rankings, the young
Juliet Campbell from Jamaica moved from 6th to 3rd place in the 200m event
ranking following her 22.64 victory in Lisbon and Bahamian Chandra Sturrup
moves from 6th to 4th in the 100 metres ranking after winning the 60 metres.
Campbell's veteran compatriot Sandie Richards, winner of the 400 metres
event moves up three places to 7th in the one lap rankings (two laps indoors..).
Swedish high jumper Kajsa Bergqvist takes second place in her event rankings
(previously third), while her male counterpart Stefan Holm advances from
9th to 4th place in the men's rankings. The women multi-eventers also entered
the overall rankings convincingly, with Russia's Yelena Prokhorova, the
silver medallist in the Olympics and in Lisbon entering in 23rd place and
the Lisbon indoor champion Natalya Sazanovich (BLR) who won bronze in Sydney
taking 42nd place overall. The next edition of the IAAF World Rankings
will be published on Tuesday 27 March.
RICHARDSON TO WARN OF DANGERS OF CONTAMINATED SUPPLEMENTS 13 March 2001 LISBON - Portugal - IAAF Council following the recommendations of the Anti-Doping Commission, has decided to refer the case of Mihaela Melinte (ROM) to Arbitration. In the case of the British athlete Mark Richardson, Council was notified about the decision of the athlete to withdraw from the Arbitration process and accept the application of IAAF rules. Council also considered, but did not accept, a request for early reinstatement for Richardson presented by UK Athletics. Nevertheless, Council welcomed a proposal from UK Athletics for Richardson to carry out a series of educational activities, warning young athletes about the dangers of contaminated food supplements, and agreed that it would reconsider the reinstatement request at a later date. In addition, Council expressed its dissatisfaction with earlier public announcements made by UK Athletics related to nandrolone analysis which were proved wrong once the investigation of Richardson's case had been finalised. Council also heard a report from the IAAF Technical Committee, which included a number of technical rule change proposals. These will be presented to the IAAF Congress in August for consideration. One rule change suggestion is that an athlete in events under 400m in length shall be disqualified for making one false start, rather than two. It is also proposed that in vertical jumps, athletes shall exit a competition after two consecutive failures at a height rather than three; that in the Pole Vault, the pole vault pegs be reduced from 75mm to 55mm; and that the take-over zone in relays should be, in total, 30 rather than 20 metres long. It was agreed that some of these rule changes will be tested at IAAF Grand Prix II events prior to the Edmonton Congress. Finally, Council agreed that the Decathlon would be introduced as a new event for women, although the Heptathlon would be retained as the official Championship event, and also decided to maintain the 200m at the World Indoor Championships.
IAAF COUNCIL
IN LISBON ANNOUNCE WORLD ATHLETICS SERIES VENUES
LISBON- Portugal
- The IAAF Council, meeting in Lisbon on the occasion of the 8th IAAF World
Indoor Championships in Athletics, has announced the venues of a number
of IAAF World Athletics Series events. The World Cross Country Championships
will be staged at the following locations: 2002, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
- This decision was taken at the request of the Irish Federation, who were
originally scheduled to stage the Championships later this month, but had
to desist due to restrictions resulting from the outbreak of foot and mouth
disease. 2003, Lausanne, Switzerland 2004, Brussels, Belgium 2005, Le Mans,
France The IAAF Grand Prix Final 2002, Paris, France - The Grand Prix Final
will be staged in the Stade de Charlety, which previously hosted the 1994
IAAF Grand Prix Final The World Half Marathon Championships 2003, Vilamoura,
Portugal The World Youth Championships in Athletics 2003, Sherbrooke, Canada
- Sherbrooke is a major university city with a population of 200,000 inhabitants,
situated 140 kilometres from Montreal. The Championships will be held within
the University complex. The IAAF Council will continue their sessions on
Monday 12 March and Tuesday 13 March.
THE PORTUGUESE
PRESIDENT AWARDED IAAF GOLDEN ORDER OF MERIT
10 March 2001
- LISBON - Portugal - The President of the Portuguese Republic, the Hon
Jorge Sampaio, was today awarded the IAAF Golden Order of Merit. The Order
was presented to Mr Sampaio by IAAF President Lamine Diack during a ceremony
at the Palacio de Belem, in the Portuguese capital, attended by the members
of the IAAF Council. Later in the afternoon, the Portuguese President attended
the IAAF World Indoor Championships, which are taking place in the Atlantic
Pavilion, Lisbon. The Golden Order of Merit is the highest honour awarded
by the IAAF and is normally awarded only to heads of state and other dignitaries
who have made a major contribution to the advancement of the sport of athletics.
Hon Sampaio is a great fan of the sport and a practising athlete who will
compete in the Lisbon half-marathon on 1 April.
WORLD CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPS MOVED TO OSTEND 8 March 2001 LISBON - Portugal - IAAF President Lamine Diack, on the occasion of the official Press Conference of the World Indoor Championships, has announced that the IAAF World Cross Country Championships will now take place in Ostend, not Brussels, at the request of the Belgian Athletics Federation. The change is due to the difficulty of finding sufficient hotel rooms in the Belgian capital to accommodate over 1000 athletes and officials. The event takes place on the weekend of March 24-25 on the course that will host this year's Belgian National Championships.
FIELD EVENT HEAD-TO-HEADS COULD PROVIDE THE BIGGEST EXCITEMENT IN LISBON 7 March 2001 Lisbon - Some of the most exciting competition at the 8th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Lisbon will be in the field events. Starting with the women's long jump, where the reigning Olympic Champion Heike Drechsler (GER) will be facing the defending World Indoor Champion Tatyana Kotova (RUS), the reigning World Champion Niurka Montalvo (ESP), the silver medallist from Sydney and Seville, Italy's Fiona May and the 1997 World Champion Lyudmila Galkina (RUS). 29-year-old Galkina has shown the strongest form so far during the indoor season and is the only competitor to have jumped 7 metres this year, heading the IAAF performance lists with her 7.00 metre clearance in Moscow in February. But Kotova is hard on her heels with 6.84 metres jumped in Sindelfingen last Sunday and Montalvo, too, is in reach with 6.82 metres in the Valencia meeting on 25 February. The veteran of the group at 36 years old, Drechsler has contented herself with a season's best of 6.74, but showed in Sydney that she is capable of pulling out the stops and surpassing the competition when it really counts. Her 1988 world record indoors of 7.37 still stands. The party-breaker in the whole equation, though, could well be Fiona May. Smarting from defeats in Sydney (by Drechsler) and in the 1999 World Championships in Seville (by Montalvo) - she took silver medals in both events - May will be going all out to add another world indoor gold to her 1997 title and avenge her last two major competition defeats. The men's event appears to be somewhat less competitive, with Cuba's Olympic Champion Ivan Pedroso a clear leader on his current performance. The "cat", as Pedroso is often nicknamed, leapt out to a world-leading 8.31 metres in Piraeus this season and is well clear of his closest competition. But Pedroso can be inconsistent and will be pushed to perform well by Kareem Streete-Thompson from Cayman and Australia's Peter Burge, who matched the long-standing Australian indoor record of 8.11 metres in Sindlefingen last week. In the women's high jump, just five centimetres separate the season's leaders. Olympic bronze medallist Kajsa Bergqvist has the advantage with her 1.99 clearance in Stockholm, but the Swede is closely followed by Venelina Veneva (BUL) and her best of 1.98 in Budapest in January, the veteran of the group, 33-year-old Inga Babakova of the Ukraine also with 1.98, Monica Iagar-Dinescu (ROM) at 1.97 and Amy Acuff of the USA with 1.96 metres. Sweden is looking good in the men's event too, with Staffan Strand and his compatriot Stefan Holm second in this year's performance lists with 2.34 metres, just behind the Ukrainian Andriy Sokolovsky, who has the season's best of 2.35. But the man they will all have to contend with is the world record holder and Olympic silver medallist from Sydney, the defending World Indoor Champion, Cuba's Javier Sotomayor. And Sotomayor will be focussed on his arch-rivals Vyacheslav Voronin from Russia, the World Champion in Seville 99 and Charles Austin from the United States. Back from vertical to horizontal in the triple jump, with particular focus on the men's event and the world outdoor record holder and 2000 Olympic Champion, Jonathan Edwards. Edwards appears to have regained confidence after his win in Sydney and to be a lot more relaxed about competition: "I have nothing left to prove now," he said recently; and his form during the indoor season has been excellent, with a best mark of 17.60 in Samara on 1 February. Indeed, Edwards has 4 out of five leading marks indoors this year, with only Vasiliy Sokov breaking into the list with the second best mark of the year of 17.16. The other strong challenger to Edwards in Lisbon is likely to be Germany's Charles Friedek and Yoelbi Quesada, both of whom can give Edwards a run for his money on their best days.
8TH IAAF WORLD INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS IN ATHLETICS LISBON 2001 IAAF PRESIDENT'S PRESS CONFERENCE MIDDAY TOMORROW 7 March 2001 - LISBON, Portugal - The President of the IAAF, Lamine Diack, will hold the traditional pre-competition press conference tomorrow, Thursday 8 March, at midday. During the press conference, which will take place at the main media hotel of the Championships, the Hotel Altis, 11 rue Castillo, Lisbon, President Diack will present the World Indoor Championships, which start on Friday 9 March in the Atlantico Pavilhão - Atlantic Pavilion, and be available to answer questions from accredited media. Preview information from Lisbon can be found on the dedicated IAAF web site for the championships - http://www.iaaf.org/wic01/. Middle distance fans will be particularly interested to see the analysis of these events - from the 800m to 3000m by IAAF correspondent K. Ken Nakamura. The IAAF web editorial team will be posting further previews in the coming hours and live reports and results from Lisbon will be posted throughout the Championships.
AMERICAN INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS CAUSE MAJOR CHANGES IN IAAF WORLD RANKINGS 6 March 2001 MONACO - Monte Carlo - With less than a week to go before the first IAAF World Athletics Series event of 2001, it is little wonder that there are few competition opportunities for athletes to improve their Ranking placings. Nevertheless, some excellent performances by US athletes at last weekend's National Championships, can be seen in this week's lists. Coby Miller ran a superb 20.31 to win in Atlanta and climb one place in the 200m ranking. But sadly, Miller suffered a broken leg after a freak post-race collision and has written off the rest of the indoor season. Kevin Little, the indoor specialist who claimed his berth on the US team for Lisbon by finishing just behind Miller, made an even bigger jump - from 20th to 15th, and from 264th to 208th place Overall. Other Americans whose national performances helped their ranking placings were Regina Jacobs (5000m/10,000m) who climbed from 36th to 27th place, high jumper Amy Acuff, whose national victory helped her leap from 30th to 19th place, and Kelly Suttle, the pole vaulter who broke into the top 10 in her event ranking - moving from 11th to 8th place. Suttle's German rival Yvonne Buschbaum also showed she is also in form by moving from 10th to 9th. The Australian summer season has also impacted on this week's rankings. Kenyan 800m runners William Chirchir and William Yampoy have edged into the top 10 (8th and 9th place respectively) after strong performances "down under". Hammer Thrower Stuart Rendell also benefitted from his Australian and Oceania record of 78.41 set in Canberra, moving from 30th to 25th place. In the women's 800m, two athletes have moved into the Top 10 this week - Olga Raspopova (RUS) and Zuliya Calatayud (CUB) - while in the women's high jump, Bulgaria's Venelina Veneva moves up from 7th to 6th and is likely to challenge for medals in Lisbon. On a sad day for Ireland, at least there is good news for the country's favourite athlete, Sonia O'Sullivan who moves from 10th to 9th in the Overall rankings after her excellent performance at the GP II in Melbourne -when she ran 3000m in 8:43.51. Most significant movements on this week's Rankings: Men's Event Ranking: 200m Coby MILLER USA from 8th to 7th, Kevin LITTLE USA from 20th to 15th, 800m William CHIRCHIR KEN from 10th to 8th, William YAMPOY KEN from 11th to 9th, Benjamin KIPKURUI KEN from 34th to 27th, 110mH Yunier HERNÁNDEZ CUB from 36th to 30th, Peter COGHLAN IRL from 60th to 50th, 400mH Alwyn MYBURGH RSA from 26th to 22nd, Pole Vault Lars BÖRGELING GER from 20th to 18th, Russ BULLER USA from 28th to 24th, Stepán JANÁCEK CZE from 36th to 29th, Long Jump Luis MELIZ CUB from 8th to 7th, Shot Put Janus ROBBERTS RSA from 17th to 15th, Hammer Throw Stuart RENDELL AUS from 30th to 25th, Women's Event Ranking: 200m Lauren HEWITT AUS from 22nd to 18th, Gabi ROCKMEIER GER from 32nd to 24th, Heide SEYERLING RSA from 29th to 25th, 400m Heide SEYERLING RSA from 14th to 13th, Monique HENNAGAN USA from 17th to 15th, Suziann REID USA from 20th to 17th, 800m Olga RASPOPOVA RUS from 9th to 8th, Zuliya CALATAYUD CUB from 10th to 9th, 5000-10000m Regina JACOBS USA from 36th to 27th, 100mH Dionne ROSE JAM from 25th to 20th, Yahumara NEYRA BENS CUB from 34th to 23rd, Bisa GRANT USA from 60th to 43rd, 400mH Surita FEBBRAIO-LOOTS RSA from 20th to 18th, Sonia BRITO AUS from 54th to 40th, High Jump Venelina VENEVA BUL from 7th to 6th, Amy ACUFF USA from 30th to 19th, Pole Vault Kellie SUTTLE USA from 11th to 8th, Yvonne BUSCHBAUM GER from 10th to 9th, Hammer Throw Bronwyn EAGLES AUS from 15th to 11th, Tasha WILLIAMS NZL from 28th to 23rd, Men's Overall Ranking: Kevin LITTLE USA from 264th to 208th Women's Overall Ranking: Sonia O'SULLIVAN IRL from 10th to 9th, Stacy DRAGILA USA from 12th to 11th, Jearl MILES-CLARK USA from 87th to 79th, Sandie RICHARDS JAM from 104th to 98th
WORLD CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS WILL NOT TAKE PLACE IN DUBLIN - BRUSSELS STEPS IN AS ALTERNATIVE VENUE 6 March 2001 MONTE-Carlo - Monaco - The IAAF World Cross Country Championships will no longer take place in Dublin on 24-25 March, as originally planned. The decision to cancel the event at the Leopardstown racecourse was taken after long discussions between the Athletic Association of Ireland and the Irish Government, who have introduced emergency measures to prevent the spread of Foot and Mouth disease. The IAAF accepts the decision with regret but fully understands that the extraordinary circumstances left the Irish Athletic Association with no alternative but to cancel the event. Nevertheless, the IAAF is delighted to announce that the 2001 edition of the Championships will still go ahead on the same weekend of 24-25 March. As a result of successful negotiations with the Belgian Athletics Federation, supported by the City authorities and the Belgian Government, the competition will now take place in Brussels, on the course used each year for the Fortis Cross Cup, an IAAF Cross Country Permit meeting.
IAAF TO LIFT SUSPENSION OF GERMAN ATHLETES FOR CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS 2 March, 2001 MONTE-Carlo - Monaco - Following a request of the German Athletics Federation (DLV), the IAAF Council has agreed, after a postal vote, to lift the ineligibility of the eight athletes suspended after the recent German Indoor Championships to allow them to compete in the German Cross Country Championships this weekend. This applies only to this one event, with a decision on the period of ineligibility to be taken by the IAAF Council in its meeting in Lisbon. These eight athletes had competed against a suspended runner, Dieter Baumann, at the Indoor Championships with the knowledge that, in accordance with Rule 53.1 (ii), they were rendering themselves ineligible. Baumann had obtained a Frankfurt Court order allowing him to run on the eve of the event, even though the DLV was committed to enforcing the Arbitration decision of September 2000, which suspended Baumann from competition.
IAAF STATEMENT
IN THE BAUMANN CASE
MONTE CARLO
- Monaco - At the German Indoor National Championships contested last weekend
in Dortmund, the athlete Dieter Baumann competed in the 3000m despite having
been declared ineligible by the IAAF to participate in any national or
international competitions from 16 September 2000 to 21 January 2002. The
decision to render Baumann ineligible had been taken by the Arbitration
Panel in Sydney in September, a decision that is final and binding on all
parties. Notwithstanding this fact, however, on Friday, Mr Baumann sought
an injunction in the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court authorising him to
compete at the weekend. Prior to the meeting in Dortmund, the IAAF informed
the German Athletic Federation (DLV) that, in the event of Mr Baumann's
participation there, it expected Rule 53.1(ii) of the IAAF Rules to be
applied to any athlete who competed in the same competition as him. Rule
53.1(ii) states that any athlete who takes part in an event in which he
knows another athlete to be ineligible under IAAF Rules is himself ineligible.
This Rule now applies to Jan Fitschen, Carsten Schütz, Mario Kröckert,
Filmon Ghirmai, Embaye Hedrit, Guido Streit, Dennis Pyka and Michael Fietz,
all of whom chose to compete against the banned Mr Baumann in Dortmund.
Under IAAF Rule 53.2, the length of ineligibility will be decided by the
IAAF Council.
KENYAN PRESIDENT DANIEL ARAP MOI TO RECEIVE IAAF GOLDEN ORDER OF MERIT FROM IAAF PRESIDENT LAMINE DIACK 23 February, 2001 MONTE CARLO -Monaco - The President of the IAAF, Lamine Diack, is to attend the Nairobi International Cross Country tomorrow. This competition is of particular importance as it also serves as the selection trial for the Kenyan team for the 29th IAAF World Cross Country Championships, which will take place in Dublin on 24-25 March. Tomorrow's programme comprises four races, two for men (senior 12km and junior 8 km) and two for women (senior 8 km and junior 6 km), over the same distances as the World Championships. Tomorrow morning, President Diack is to present the IAAF Golden Order of Merit to the President of the Republic of Kenya, Daniel Arap Moi, in a ceremony at the State House. This prestigious award is only presented to heads of state and leading sports personalities in recognition of their great merit in promoting the sport of athletics. For many years, Kenya has played a key role in the development of athletics in Africa and around the world and President Arap Moi has always been close to Kenya's athletes, encouraging them and helping them achieve their exceptional results. The IAAF has for many years run a Regional Development Centre in Nairobi and recently opened a High Performance Centre in Eldoret, the capital of the Rift Valley made famous by the legendary Kip Keino back in the Sixties. It is in collaboration with Kip Keino, who serves today as a member of the IOC and President of the Kenyan Olympic Committee, that the IAAF opened this latest training Centre - where talented youngsters are trained by another Olympic Champion, the unforgettable 800m runner Paul Ereng - which President Diack will visit on Sunday. The presence in Nairobi of many leading figures from the Athletics world was also the occasion for the traditional meeting between the President of the Kenyan Federation, Isaiah Kiplagat, the athlete's representatives, the President of the Kenyan Olympic Committee and the IAAF Competitions Director, Sandro Giovanelli. The meeting took place in a spirit of open and complete co-operation and set the guidelines for all of the parties for the management, preparation and participation in competition of the athletes, in order to guarantee the Kenyan squad the possibility to perform at their best in the upcoming major competitions, starting with the World Cross Country Championships and, more particularly, the World Championships in Athletics in Edmonton next August.
THE LATEST EXPLOITS OF SZABO, DRAGILA, RUNYAN, TRAMMELL AND THE PROMISE OF BORZAKOVSKIY ON THE IAAF WEB SITE 19 February, 2001 MONTE CARLO - Monaco - With three weeks to go to the 8th IAAF World Indoor Championships, taking place in Lisbon from 9-11 March, a record 132 National Federations have sent in preliminary entries for a total of 780 athletes (430 men and 350 women). Lisbon looks certain to mark the start of a magnificent season of athletics, with great performances already recorded in recent days in the United States and Europe. On the IAAF official web site (www.iaaf.org) you will find reports, interviews and results from some of the leading contenders, starting with the two Olympic champions, Stacy Dragila (USA) and Gabriela Szabo (ROM), who in Pocatello and in Birmingham improved the records in the pole vault and the 3000m indoors respectively. Another particularly interesting result came from the Olympic 110m hurdles silver medallist, Terence Trammell, over 60 metres. The 22 year-old dominated both the hurdles and the flat race in Pocatello, with an impressive 6.45 timing in the sprint, beating specialists of the order of Bernard Williams and Jon Drummond. Trammell's performance confirmed his position as the season leader - improving on the 6.52 he ran in Boston on 4 February - and placed him seventh on the all-time lists. He could well be a candidate to repeat at the World Championships the exploit of Great Britain's Colin Jackson, who won both the 60m flat (in 6.49) and 60 metre hurdles (7.41) at the European indoors in Paris '94. "Szabo smashes world indoor 3000 metre record", by Chris Turner - The detailed report of this new great performance by the Romanian middle distance runner, that improved by a second the 12-year-old record of Holland's Elly van Hulst. But Szabo thinks she can go still faster. Read in the same report of rising 400m star, Britain's Daniel Caines. "Runyan breaks US indoor 5000m record" by Jack Pfeifer - The latest exploit of the legally blind 1500 metre Olympic finalist and record setter. "Russian Team set for Lisbon" by Nikolay Ivanov - Athens World Champion in the long jump with 7.05 and 1995 World Indoor Champion in Barcelona with 6.95m, Lyudmila Galkina is back in action at the Russian Championships with a 7.00 m bound, beating Tatyana Kotova. Yuriy Borzakowski, the extraordinary young talent in the 800 metres, has already run 1:44.15 this winter and is looking for 1:42.
IAAF RATIFIES
USA WOMEN’S 4X200M RELAY WORLD RECORD
14 February
2001 - MONTE CARLO - Monaco - The IAAF has officially ratified the record
time of the USA women's team for the rarely run 4 x 200 m relay. The American
team of LaTasha Jenkins, LaTasha Colander-Richardson, Nanceen Perry and
Marion Jones established a new mark of 1:27.46 in Philadelphia, USA on
29 April 2000. Their performance demolished the twenty year old record
of 1:28.15 set by the GDR team of Marlies Göhr, Romy Müller,
Bärbel Wöckel and Marita Koch on 9 August 1980.
POLE VAULTERS
DOMINATE IAAF WORLD RANKINGS MOVEMENTS
MONTE CARLO
- Monaco - Pole Vaulters highlight this week's Rankings, as Daniel Ecker
(GER) cleared 6.00m in Dortmund on Sunday and, at the same Meet, Svetlana
Feofanova (RUS) improved her European Indoor Record to 4.64m. Just a day
before - in Budapest - at another IAAF Indoor Permit Meeting, the World
Junior Indoor Record was broken by Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS, 4.47m). Meanwhile,
in Pocatello, Stacy Dragila (USA) successfully attempted 4.65m. Overall
Ranking: Men: Daniel Ecker improved 7 places to reach the 40th position.
Women: Svetlana Feofanova, as in the previous two weeks, moved up 16 places,
jumping to the 58th position. Meanwhile Yelena Isinbayeva has made an impressive
jump of 224 places from the 554th position to the 330th. Despite a World
Record Bonus of 30 points, the local status of the meeting Pocatello meant
that Stacy Dragila this time could not improve on her overall position
and remained 17th. Finishing second behind Gete Wami (KEN) in Dortmund
with a new German record, this time in the 5000m, Irina Mikitenko (GER)
has improved from the 47th position to the 40th. Event Rankings: Women:
By winning in Dortmund just two seconds outside the current World Record,
Gete Wami took the lead in the Women's 5000-10000m, overtaking Gabriela
Szabo (ROM) by just one and a half points! Jearl Miles-Clark (USA), with
an impressive run at 800m (2:01.00) in Fayetteville (part of the US Golden
Spike Tour), improved 7 places in the Women's 800m to 17th position. Yelena
Isinbayeva moved 1I places, into the 14th position in the Women's Pole
Vault Rankings. Men: By winning two Area Indoor Permit Meetings over 200m
in Chemnitz and Vienna with excellent times of 20.79 and 20.69 respectively,
Radek Zachoval (CZE) appears in the Men's 200m Rankings for the first time
taking the 30th position. Another winner in Chemnitz was Poland's Robert
Mackowiak with 46.19, who moves 4 places up into the 11th position in the
Men's 400m. The 400m winner in Dortmund, Jamie Baulch (GBR, 46.81), improves
by 5 places, going from the 19th to the 14th position.
LOROUPE AND
SKOLIMOWSKA RECORDS RATIFIED
MONTE Carlo
- Monaco - The IAAF has officially ratified two world records set during
2000. In the senior women's category, Kenyan Tegla Loroupe's performance
over 20,000 metres of 1:05:26.6, at Borgholzhausen on 3 September 2000,
bettered the previous record of Izumi Maki (JPN) of 1:06:48.8 by nearly
1 1/2 minutes. In the junior women's category, hammer throw, Kamila Skolimowska
(POL) improved on her previous record of 70.62m, with a throw of 71.16
metres during the Olympic Games in Sydney on 29 September. This was Skolimowska's
third consecutive record in the event.
NEW TALENTS
ALREADY SET FOR LISBON WORLD INDOORS - ATHLETICS WON HANDS DOWN IN SYDNEY
29 January
2001 - MONTE Carlo - Monaco - The international indoor athletics season
got off to an enthusiastic start last weekend, with a number of new talents
bursting on to the scene. We can look forward to some great action at the
upcoming 8th IAAF World Indoor Championships, taking place in Lisbon, Portugal
from 9 to 11 March. For example, can Russia's Yuriy Borzakowski, who has
already bettered his performance in the 800m to 1:44.15 in Karlsruhe, become
world champion at just 19 year old? And will Olga Kotlyarova, who won the
400m in "Russian Winter" in an amazing 50.42 - seventh best performance
all-time - be able to break the almost ancient world record of Jarmila
Kratochvilova, of 49.52 set in Milan in 1982. But there is yet more to
come: like the progression of 20-year-old Russian pole vaulter Svetlana
Feofonova and her 4.58 metre European indoor record, an 8 centimetre improvement
on her previous indoor best (and fully 18 centimetres more than her personal
best outdoors)! And the surprise appearance of another new British sprinter,
Scotland's John Skeete (6.59 in the 60m), whilst in the South African summer
Czech Republic's Radek Zachoval is making his mark with 20.10 in the 200m
at Pietersburg, with a little help from the wind. What is motivating all
this young talent in a world that appears to reject the hard training and
rigid discipline that athletics training demands? One factor may well be
the desire to emulate and the general enthusiasm generated by the recent,
spectacular athletics competitions. After the success of the Seville World
Championships in August 1999 - which drew spectacular TV ratings - athletics
really exploded in Sydney. Only in the past few days have the Australian
Olympic Committee released the final figures for Sydney 2000. They show
that athletics was watched by 1,526,049 spectators, with 99.92% of all
of the available tickets sold and a 100% sell-out on 25,28 and 29 September.
Even in the morning sessions, the spectator total never went under 99.70%
(101,503 paying spectators). The love of athletics even beat the gates
for the opening and closing ceremonies (99.77% and 99.73%) and, above all,
for Australia's beloved swimming. 196,461 spectators watched the swimming
events, 98.83% of the available capacity. Football sold 673,236 tickets,
of the 1,043,306 available for the matches held in other cities (65.53%),
whilst in Sydney, where the final was played, sales were the highest, with
299,293 of the 350,482 tickets available taken up(85.57%). A detailed look
at the Olympic Committee report confirms that the public honoured all of
the sports, but underlined, as if it were necessary, that without athletics
there would be no Olympics. So it is auspicious, not just for our sport,
but for the whole Olympic movement, that the start of the 2001 season has
brought such good news. This is certainly the result of the individual
passion of the youngsters who take up athletics, but also of a project
launched by the IAAF many years ago. This can be summed up as follows:
1)Offer everyone according to their age and level of development, a series
of high level competitions (for example, from 12-15 July, Debrecen in Hungary
will host the 2nd IAAF Westel World Youth Championships, for youngsters
born between 1984-86); 2) Giving the most accomplished the possibility
(through significant levels of prize money) to guarantee themselves a reasonable
standard of living when they have completed their competitive careers.
IAAF RATIFIES WORLD RECORD MONTE CARLO - Monaco - The IAAF has officially ratified two world record performances in the women's 3000 metre steeplechase by Romania's Cristina Iloc-Casandra during the 2000 season. The Romanian athlete set her first mark of 9:43.64 in Bucharest on 7 August and went on to improve the time to 9:40.20 in Reims on 30 August. The previous world record of 9:48.88 belonged to Yelena Motalova of Russia and had been set in Tula on 31 July 1999. This was the inaugural world record in the event, being the best performance recorded prior to 1 January 2000, the date of entry of this event into the list of Official IAAF records.
JOZSEF CSERMAK, HUNGARIAN OLYMPIC HAMMER CHAMPION SUCCESSOR OF THE GREAT IMRE NEMETH HAS DIED 15 January, 2001 MONTE CARLO - Monaco - Hungary's Jozsef Csermak, gold medallist in the hammer throw at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and gold medallist at the 1954 European Championships in Berne died on Sunday in his native city of Tapolca, at the age of 68, following a heart attack. The athletics career of this champion fits perfectly into the great Hungarian tradition in hammer throwing, headed by the legendary Imre Nemeth. Csermak was just twenty years old when he succeeded Nemeth as Olympic champion and world record holder at the Helsinki Games. With his third throw in the Olympic final, Csermak threw 60.34 metres to beat his master and team-mate's record of 59.88m and become the first athlete to throw over 60 metres in the history of the event. A history in which Hungary has continued to play a fundamental role, with that exceptional champion Gyula Zsivotzky - silver medallist in Rome 1960 and Tokyo '64, Olympic champion in 1968 in Mexico and fifth at the 1972 Munich Games - and with Balazs Kiss - gold medallist in Atlanta '96 - but also with Tibor Gecsek, European champion at Budapest in 1998. The sudden loss of Jozsef Csermak came just two days after the death of Adhemar Ferreira da Silva and little more than a month after that of the legendary Emile Zatopek, both of whom also won Olympic crowns in Helsinki.
IAAF PRESIDENT OFFERS CONDOLENCES TO FAMILY OF BRAZILIAN CHAMPION FERREIRA DA SILVA 12 January, 2001 MONTE CARLO - Monaco - The President of the IAAF, Lamine Diack, has expressed his heartfelt condolences on learning of the death, at the age of 73, of the great Brazilian triple jumper Adhemar Ferreira da Silva. "Adhemar Ferreira da Silva was one of the greatest athletes ever produced by Brazil," said Diack on learning of the death of this great champion. "Not only was he a wonderful athlete, but also a very humane and charming man, who was a great credit to his country and to our sport. My deepest sympathy and respect go to his family and to the Brazilian Federation on this sad loss." Ferreira da Silva was the only Brazilian ever to win two consecutive Olympic titles in athletics (in 1952 and 1956) and completely dominated his chosen event during the 1950s, setting four world records and winning three titles in the Pan-American Games, in addition to his Olympic titles. He set his first record (16.00) at Sao Paolo in 1950, when he smashed the 14 year old record of Nauto Tajima and his last record at the Pan-American Games in Mexico City in 1955, with a bound of 16.56 metres.
TWO MONTHS
TO GO TO IAAF WORLD INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS IN LISBON ALREADY 438 ATHLETES
ENTERED FROM 61 COUNTRIES 11 January, 2001 MONTE CARLO - Monaco - With
two months still to go until the start of the IAAF World Indoor Championships
- which will take place in the Portuguese capital Lisbon from 9 to 11 March
- sixty-one countries have already sent in their preliminary entry forms
for a total of 438 athletes (254 men and 184 women). This is a noteworthy
figure, when we consider that two years ago, at the World Indoors in Maebashi,
there were a total of 487 participants (266 men and 221 women). All the
signs would indicate that there will be a record number of entries and
competition of the highest level in Portugal. The international indoor
season will start in two weeks time with the IAAF Permit Meetings in Moscow
and Karlsruhe (GER), both scheduled for 27 January. Then, on 2 February,
there will be the traditional Millrose Games in New York, on 4 February,
Stockholm (Sparkassen Cup), 10th in Budapest the NAP Kupa, 11th in Dortmund
the Sparkassen Meeting, 15th Stockholm, thz GE Globen Galan; 18th in Birmingham
(GBR) the Norwich Union Grand Prix, on 21st the Athens "Athina 2001", 23rd
in Gent the Flanders Energizer and in Lievin on 25th the traditional Meeting
Gaz de France du Pas de Calais. There will be plenty of chances at these
meetings to check out champions new and old and follow their form leading
up to the World Indoor Championships in Lisbon, which will be followed
, on 14 March in Madrid, by the last IAAF Permit Meeting indoors of 2001,
the Memorial Jose Ma Cagical. 2001 - the Year of Athletics - is about to
start in top gear and the news coming in from the various training centres
around the world says that all the champions from Sydney have started their
preparations for Lisbon and, most specially, for the rendezvous in Edmonton,
from 3-12 August, for the 8th IAAF World Championships in Athletics - "The
Worlds". All National Federations have sent out to journalists their accreditation
forms for the 8th IAAF World Indoor Championships of Lisbon. The closing
date for the return of these forms has been set at 1 February. For further
information or in the event that journalists have not received an accreditation
form, they should contact the IAAF Media Department or the Local Organising
Committee of Lisbon 2001.