December 2000

7th European Cross Country Champs 2000
December 10.  Paolo Guerra of Portugal won the European Cross Country title for 2000 today in Malmoe, Sweden, while Hungarian Szentgyorgy won the women's race. France and Portugal dominated the men and women country standings. Portuguese Jessica Augusto and  German Wolfarm Mueller won the juniors women and men races, where Great Britain and Portugal toped the country standings. Greek runners Antonios Papantonis was 46th and Maria Protopapa  62nd. The junior athlete Panayotis Economou was the best Greek as he placed 41st in the junior men's race

Kenteris and Thanou in Golden Leaque series 2001
December 02. Two of the Greek Sydney's medallists, Konstantinos Kenteris and Katerina Thanou are to strart their preparation for the next year in a few days. Althought their participation in indoor meetings is doubtful, both aim to the Golden League series and of course to the World Champs of Edmondon. Kenteris will run 100 m. races in the GL meetings, where his personal best is 10"16. set in the previous season, while he will do again 200 m. in Canada.

The Golden Order of Merit to an immortal myth of athletics.
December 01. The IAAF decided to honour, posthumously, Emil Zatopek with the Golden Order of Merit, in recognition of his outstanding achievements in athletics. IAAF President Lamine Diack, will travel with IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch to the State Funeral planned for Zatopek in Prague on December 6. During his legendary career, Emil Zatopek won four Olympic golds, and broke 17 world records in the period 1951-1955.
World Records: 13.57.2 (5.000 m.,1954), 28.54.2 (10.000 m., 1954), 27.59. 2 (6 miles, 1954), 48.12.0 (10 miles, 1951), 59.51.8 (20.000 m., 1951), 1:14.1.0 (15 miles, 1952), 1:16.36.4 (25.000 m., 1955), 1:35.23.8 (30.000 m., 1948)
Olympic Games: London 1948, 10.000 m. Gold Medal and 5.000 m. Silver Medal.
Helsinki 1952, Gold Medals of 5.000 m., 10.000 m. and Marathon.
Melbourne 1956, Marathon sixth place.
European Championships: Two gold medals in 1950 (5.000 m. and 10.000 m.), one gold (10.000 m.) and one bronze in 1954.

November 2000

Jan Zelezny and Trine Hattestad won the Waterford Crystal Trophy 2000.
November 25. Two javelin throwers won the Waterford Crystal Trophy 2000, based on a public poll organized by the European Athletics Association. Zelezny won the men title with 1935 points followed by Jonathan Edards and the greek 200 m. Olympic Champion Konstantinos Kenteris. Hattestad dominated the women list, while second was Heike Drechsler and third Irina Privalova. Katerina Thanou, the Sydney's 100 m. silver medallist, placed on 5th position.
MEN 1.Jan Zelezny (CZE) 1935; 2. Jonathan Edwards (GBR) 1444; 3. Konstantinos Kenteris (GRE) 1370; 4. Robert Korzeniowski (POL) 1052; 5. Erki Nool (EST) 989; 6. Virgilijus Alekna (LIT) 966; 7. Nils Schumann (GER) 886; 8. Arsi Harju (FIN) 446; 9. Maksim Tarasov (RUS) 403; 10. Mohammed Mourhit (BEL) 372
WOMEN 1. Trine Hattestad (NOR) 1806; 2. Heike Drechsler (GER) 1772; 3. Irina Privalova (RUS) 1434; 4. Gabriela Szabo (ROM) 1284; 5. Ekaterini Thanou (GRE) 1010; 6. Denise Lewis (GBR)  666; 7.  Kjersti Platzer (NOR) 410; 8. Stephanie Graf (AUT) 316; 9. Tereza Marinova (BUL) 280; 10. Violeta Szekely (ROM) 260

No News is Good News...
However, we received a letter, signed by mr. Dimitrios Filis, Legal Counsellor of the "Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games - Athens 2004". It is news, so it is bad news:
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Dear Mr. Christopoulos,
we are the "Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games - Athens 2004" (Athens 2004 for the rest of the letter) and you refer to us at your website at "www.athletix.gr".

As you may be already aware of, the Organizing Committees of the Olympic Games have the exclusive right to use the names that are linked to the Olympiade they organize. As far as Athens 2004 is concerned, after the Laws 2598/1998 p.3 and 2819/2000 p.2, the Olympic Emblem, as well as terms like, indicatively, "Olympic", "Olympiade", "Athens 2004", "Olympic Games - Athens 2004", "Olympic Games - Greece" and any other relevant term in greek or any foreign laguage is protected by the law over emblems. Any use of the Emblem and the above terms, in the Internet, or anywhere else, without the written permission of Athens 2004 is, after the above, a legal crime, threatened by harsh penalties.

Therefore, the use of the emblem, the alteration or copying of it, as well as any link to our website is allowed only after a written applocation to our Company's Marketing Section and is you are granted the permission, you may use them.

[...]

With reference to our goals (they are described at the part of the letter we omited) we ask you to withdraw the emblem of "Athens 2004" and all links to our website though the emblem or any relevant term or any alteration of it, which are acts that cause confusion to the users and harm us both morally and financially.

We hope that you will fulfill our wish immediately and will stop using the above, without furthetmore annoyance from us or legal activities and will help in this way the common greek goal.

Anticipating to your positive answer, we thank you a priori.

Regards,
for the "Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games - Athens 2004", Dimitrios Fiklis, Legal Counsellor.
6.11.2000
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After the above, "Athletix.Gr" aware of its responsibilty before "the common greek goal" removed from its webpages the Emblem as well as all links to the official website of "Athens 2004", in order not to "cause confusion to the users and harm both morally and financially" the company "Athens 2004".
In addition, we ask a public apology for the use of the emblem in order to link to the official site of "Athens 2004".
Also, we would like to congratulate the company "Athens 2004" for its -at the proper time- facing of the major problem of unauthorized links to its webpage. something like that proves that allegations like the ones the media often calls against it as far as the organization of the Olympic Games of 2004 is concerned, are completely groundless. We hope it will continue to confront with the same passion all the problems it still has to face,less than 4 years before the organization.
However, we declare that we shall continue to use terms as, "indicatively", "Olympic", "Olympiade", "Olympic Games" because we are not aware of any other term that describes the athletic event towhich we refer, without harming the commercial trading upon it by the company "Athens 2004".
We also ask all those who are touched by the use of links that "Athletx.Gr" has to their sites, to inform us, and we are sorry if we have harmed them in the way we did it to the Company "Athens 2004".

PANAYOTIS CHRISTOPOULOS
MICHALIS NIKITARIDES

Kenteris, Thanou and Gatsioudis on the top of the European Lists 2000
November 04. Three Greek champions dominated the European Lists 2000, while a total of 13 athletes and relay teams are among the top 10 of their events, two less than the previous year. Three more athletes get a position among #11 and #15. Mirella Tzelili is the best Greek at the European all time list, as she is second behind Hattestad, where this year we had the new entry of Konstantinos Kenteris who is now the 5th all time European 200 m. runner.

October 2000

Kenyan domination at Junior Champs
October 22. Kenyan runners added two more golds  to their collection, on the last day of the World Junior Championships, and led their country to the top of the medal table. Kenya won 14 medals in total 7 of which are gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze. Second was Russia with 4 gold and third the Republic of South Africa with also 4 gold.

Khannouchi broke the USA Marathon Record
October 22. Chalid Khannouchi won the Chicago Marathon breaking the American record in 2: 07' 01. It was his first race as citizen of the USA. Kenyan Catherine Ndereba won the women race in 2: 21' 33.

Sandiago, Chile. Have we been there?
October 21. The World Junior Championships is already over for the Greek athletes, as the last of them disqualified from the finals, in the morning preliminary rounds. Now, the objectives we heard all the previous week, about three medals and ten finals, seem to be a joke. Definetely, there was the exceptions of Stamatogiannis and Tzoumeleka, two well known talents in Greece, but they are not enough to change the picture of the total failure and the fact that none of the else could even approach his personal best. Of course there will be enough excuses for what happened in Chile. The end of the season, the remote location, the weather conditions, the bad luck and who knows what else. But no excuse can hide the lack of planning at the juniors level, in a country responsible to host Olympic Games in less than four years.

Historical doubles in Santiago
October 21. After her win at 100 m. the Jamaican sprinter won the 200 m. final in on the 5th day of the Championships with a champs record at 22" 87. Few minutes later, Australian Jana Pittman became the first athlete who won the 400 m. and the 400 m. hurdles in the the same championships, running the low hurdles race in 56" 27.

Juniors of Kenya at the top. Tzoumeleka placed 4th at women's walk
October 20. Kenyan athletes won both 800 m. races of the fourth day of the WJC and now dominate the medals table with 3 golds, followed by Russia, Germany and Croatia which have won two. Athanassia Tzoumeleka was fourth at 10.000 m. walk, breaking the national juniors record for Greece in 47' 10" 96.

Trine Hattestad announced her retirement
October 20. The Olympic Champion and world record holder of javelin throw, Norwegian Trine Hattestad, anounced yesterday her desicion to retire, while she reached the top of her brillant carreer last month in Sydney. Hattestad, born in 1966, participated in five consecutive Olympics, being gold medallist in Sydney, bronze in Atlanta and 5th in Barcelona and Seoul. She won gold medals at the World Championships in 1993 and 1997 while she was second in Sevilla 99. She was also European Champion in 1994 and won the IAAF Grand Prix in 1992 and 2000 as well as the World Cup in 1994. This year she broke twice the world record at 68, 22 m. and 69, 48 m.

Michalis Stamatogiannis placed 9th at the shot put
October 19. Michalis Stamatogiannis was qualified for the shot put final, setting the 11th performance, in the morning qualification round and few hours later placed 9th in the final with a personal best at 18, 12 m. Both triple jumpers, Dimitris Tsiamis and Nikos Lagos failed to qualify for the final. Gold medals for South African Jacques Freidag at high jump, Deuch Rutger Smith (shot put), Mexican Cristian David Berdeja (10000 m. walk), German Dennis Leyckes (Decathlon), Indian Antil Seema (women's discus) and Swedish Susana Kallur (100 m. hurdles)

The faster juniors of the world
October 18. A British and a Jamaican athlete are the winners of the 100 m. races on the second day of the World Junior Championships, both with new championships records; Mark Lewis-Francis  at 10" 24. and Veronica Campbell at 11" 12. Gold medals for the Turkish Esref Apak (hammer throw), Croatian Ivana Brkljacic (women's hammer throw), Spanish Concepcion Montaner (long jump) and Russian Yelena Isinbayeva (pole vault). As yesterday, all the greek athletes who competed tonight were dissapointing.

Kamila Skolimovska out of the hammer final in Santiago
October 17. The Olympic Champion of the hammer throw, Polish Kamila Skolimovska failed to qualify for the final of the World Junior Championships. Michalis Perrakis, the first greek who competed today failed to pass the qualification round of the 100 m., while the girls of shot put were at the last positions of their event. The first gold medal of the games went to a girl of Uganda, Dorcus Inzikuru, the winner of 5.000 meters and Kathleen Kluge of Germany won the shot put world title.

A new stadium for the Olympic Champion
October 10. The latest built stadium of Mitylene, the island of Costas Kenteris' orginin, will be named "National Stadium Costas Kenteris" in honour of the 200 m. Sydney's Olympic Champion. The new stadium, which is the most modern in greek islands will open next week for the Aegean Sea Games. Kenteris visited the island last weekend where he was deified by the local population. Meanwhile all Sydney's medallists are joint now the grants scheme established by the Government in the last years. The Olympic champions of all sports will receive a total amount of about $220.000, $165.000 is the bonus for each silver medal, while lower amounts are paid for the athletes placed from 3rd to 8th position.

Angelo Taylor and Trine Hattestad won the Grand Prix 2000
October 05. The Grand Prix Final, held in Doha tonight was crucial for the title of the Grand Prix winner 2000, as Angelo Taylor who was third in the overall standing before the final, won the 400 m. hurdles race and got the top (104 p.) taking advantage by the withdrawal of Greene and the failure of Yuriy Belonog who was only 4th tonight in the shot put final. Finally, the Ukrainian shot putter placed second (94 p.), followed by Nelson Adam of USA (93 p.). Trine Hattestad lost the final by Cuban Bisset who was only 1 cm better, but won the Grand Prix title with 110 p. followed by Americans Gail Devers (104 p.) and Marion Jones (104 p.)

Major changes in IAAF's rankings after Sydney
October 04. The Olympic Games resulted several rearragnements of the IAAF's ranking lists. Maurice Greene, after his 100 m. win, had not problems to keep the first position, while Jones recaptures the top of the women's list. Alekna, Bolton and Garcia are now into the top10 athletes, after the medals they won in Sydney. Some Greek athletes are also among the first tenth of their events. The Olympic Champion Kostas Kenteris is now 8th of the 200 m. list, having won 127 positions in the overall list. Gatsioudis, the best greek athlete so far, is 3rd in javelin. More impressing is the improvement of women who participated in the finals of their events. Mirella Tzelili, who won 269 positions in the overall list, is now the second Greek athlete, following Katerina Thanou who is 15th. Olga Vasdeki, Anastasia Kelesidou, Stella Tsikouna andKalliopi Ouzouni had also huge gains as all of them won more than 200 positions.
 

September 2000

Second all time best by Lebedeva
September 09. Russian Tatyana Lebedeva, set the second world all time best mark of triple jump, jumping 15, 32 m. in the meeting of Yokohama, proving that she is the stronger candidature for Sydney's gold medal. Voronin won the high jump, beating Austin and Sotomayor, while Redroso and Edwards dominated their events with 8, 32 m. and 17, 32 m. respectively.

Easy win for Michael Johnson in Rieti
September 03. Michael Johnson won easily the 400 m. race in Rieti with 44" 46. Francis Obikwelu dominated the 200 m. race in 20" 21. while Noah Ngeny ran a 3' 30" 42 to win the 1.500 m. and Danile Komen the 5.000 in 13' 04" 43.

The Greek Olympics team was announced today.
September 03. The Greek Federation announced the national athletics team for Sydney, the most numerous team of the greek athletics history. The team was verified just after the international meeting of Patra, the last test for the champions into the country and consists of 48 persons, 27 men and 21 women. The most of the athletes included in the team have set the high Sydney's standard, while only four of them go to Olympics having achieved the low standard. Meanwhile, Thaleia Iakovidou, less than 24 hours after breaking the pole vault national record, improved it again to 4,22 m. in the Diagoria meeting, held in Rodos.

Tofalia 2000 International Meeting
September 02. The International Meeting "Tofalia 2000" held tonight in Patra, Greece and it was the last chance for the greek athletes to make olympic standards. Seville's silver medallist Niki Bakogianni returned succesfully after a long period of injuries and with a jump at 1,88 m. assured her participation to Sydney's Olympics. Good marks by Vita Styopina (1, 94 m.), Tanya Koleva (4, 31 m.), Sergey Dymtcheno (2, 30 m.). Thaleia Iakovidou impoved the pole vault national record for Greece to 4, 21 m.

The faster sprints of the year in Berlin
September 01. Maurice Greene and Marion Jones stole the show in Berlin Golden League as they set world leading marks at 9"86. and 10"78. respectively. This time Alekna was beaten by Lars Riedel, while Szabo also lost the 5.000 m. race by Kenyan Leal Malot. The USA 4X100 m. relay team set a world  mark at 37" 65. Gail Devers, Hicham El Guerrouj, Maurice Greene, Tatyana Kotova and Trine Hattestat shared the jackpot of 50 kgs of gold.

August 2000

IOC accepted blood tests
August 29. The International Olympic Committee decided yesterday in Lausanne to introduce blood tests at the upcoming Olympic Games, for the first time in the Olympics history. The test is based on scientific qualifications of a newly proposed method able to detect recombinant, or synthetic, erythropoietin, EPO. IOC medical commission chairman Prince Alexandre de Merode said at least 400 EPO tests will be conducted from Sept. 2, the day the athletes' village opens in Sydney, until the close of the games on Oct. 1. In addition, 3,400 standard urine tests will be carried out, he said. During the meeting of the Executive Board of the IOC the shorlist of the candidate cities for the Olympic Games 2008 was also decided. The IOC said that Beijing, Osaka, Paris and Toronto reached an overall grade above the established benchmark for Olympic bid cities, while the board also accepted a recommendation of a working group to include Istanbul, making a third consecutive bid, as a fifth candidate.

Hattestad replaces Jones at the top when top athletes are gathered in Thessaloniki.
August 29. Marleen Ottey arrived to Thessaloniki in order to participate in the Olympic Meeting 2000, to be held tomorrow. Donovan Bailey, Deon Hemmings, Niurka Montalvo, Karsten Kobs, Yago Lamela, Franka Dietzsch, Natalya Sadova, Christy Gaines, Eric Thomas and many more top athletes are among the participants of the meet. But, tonight we had a major change in IAAF's world ranking table. As a full year has now elapsed since the end of Sevilla World Championships (and so the results of the champs are not counted for the rank) Trine Hattestad is leading now the overall women list following by Jones, Devers and Szabo. This process occurs significant changes also to the position of greek athletes in the rankings.

Edwards impresses again in Gateshead
August 28. Jonathan Edwards jumped 17, 48 m. in Gateshead Grand Prix II meeting, to verify his form about three weeks before the Olympic Games. Dwain Chambers run a 10"11 to win the 100 m. race and leave Maurice Greene at third position, while Cathy Freeman beated Inger Miller in 200 m. and Deon Hemings won clearly the low hurdles in 54" 64. Christian Malcolm doubled the British wins in dash races leaving behind the USA 200 m. olympic team.

Mohammed Mourhit breaks another European Record
August 25. The Belgian runner broke the European Record of 5.000 m. in Brussels with 12' 49" 71. The previous record holder was Dieter Bauman who had run the distance in 12' 54" 70 in 1997. In the same Golden Leaque meeting Marion Jones won the 100 m. race in 10" 83. although she had to face with a strong wind (-1.3 m/s) and Greene run a wind aided 9" 88.  World leading marks set by Ibrahim Lahlafi (5.000 m.:12'49"28.) and Paul Tergat (10.000 m.: 27'03"87).

The world's top stars to compete in Thessaloniki
August 20. The IAAF permit International Meeting of Thessaloniki (August 30) attracts many of the expected Sydney's champions. Among the early entries announced today are the names of Donovan Bailey, Bruny Surin and Coby Miller, Alvin Harrisson, Mark Everett, Eric Thomas, James Carter, Marleen Ottey, Yurka Montalvo, Lyudmilla Galkina, Anzhela Balakhonova; Pavla Hamackova, Bituane, Ramas Urbas. The competition of men's hammer throw and women's dicus throw include the top 10 athletes of world list as both events are included in the grand prix series for this year. Also the best greek athletes of the season will have the last test before the Olympics.

Vasdeki starts with 13, 82 m.
August 19. As expected, Olga Vasdeki started the season today in Kalamata, jumping 13, 82 m., but the most important in this case is that she seems to have completely overcome the latest injury problems. Christos Meletoglou jumped 16, 49 m., Niki Xanthou won the long jump with 6, 78 m. and Thaleia Iakovidou the pole vault with 4, 00 m. Ismail Ibrahim of Qatar won the 400 m. race in 44" 75. Finally, Nikos Pollias won the Helsinki Marathon in 2: 18' 47. but failed to meet the olympic standard.

A hundredth far from the top
August 18. Gail Devers won the 100 m. hurdles race tonight in Monaco Golden League in 12" 54. but she has'n climbed to #1 of the world list. Given the negative wind reading (-0.1), the World Champion and twice Olympic gold medallist wanted a 12" 53 to overtake Marion Jones. The men's 3.000 m. was the faster this year. The winner Ali Saodi Sief crossed the line in 7' 25" 02., while Mohammet Mourhit of Belgium placed second in 7' 26" 62., smashing Viciosa's european record (7' 29" 34.). The 3.000 m. steeple race brought not only the best time of the year, by Bernard Barmasai, but also a world juniors' record at 8' 03" 04., set by Kenyan Raymond Yator who placed 3rd and national records for Maroko (Boulami 8' 02" 90) and Spain (Martin 8' 09" 77). This time Trine Hattestad, despite her throw at 66, 12 m., was behind Tatyana Shikolenko who set the second all time world performance at 67, 20 m. Michael Stolle cleared 5, 95 m. to win the pole vault, where Bubka was 9th with 5, 55 m. Finally Sotomayor dominated the high jump at 2, 30 m. and Irina Privalova won her new event, the 400 m. hurdles in 54" 04., the third world mark for this season.

Olga Vasdeki returns to field
August 16. Olga Vasdeki will participate in the meeting of Kalamata, on Saturday August 19. The European Champion and Sevilla's bronze medallist haven't participated in any meeting after Sevilla's final last year, as she had to face with injury problems. Vasdeki will try to verified her form few weeks before Sydney. In the meeting of Kalamata will also participate Niki Xanthou, Tereza Marinova, Petko Yaknov and few more Greek champions who try to make the Olympics standards. Untill today 23 men and 18 women have met the A standrard while around 10 have exceeded the B standard and hope to make the high one in the next days. Their last chances will be at the IAAF permit International Olympic Meeting (Thessaloniki, August 30th) as well as the "Tofaleia International Meeting" of Patra.

Devers into the second position of IAAF world lists
August 15. Gail Devers, after the brillant race in Zurich rised to #2 of world lists, according to the update announced by the IAAF today. Hattestad continues improving as she has reached #5. The Greek athletes show falling tendency, as they didn't participate in meetings last weeks, although the results of Greek U23 champs haven't been incorporated yet into the ranking system.
World Top 10
Men1. El Guerrouj, 2. Greene, 3. M.Johnson, 4. Ngeny, 5. W.Kipkteter., 6. Tarasov, 7. Pedroso, 8. Barmasai, 9. B. Limo, 10. Ezzine
Women1. Jones, 2. Devers, 3.Miller, 4. Szabo, 5. Hattestad, 6. Masterkova, 7. Mutola, 8. Bituane, 9. Hemmings, 10. Ouaziz
Greek Top 10
Men 1. Gatsioudis, 2. Polychroniou, 3. Pavlakakis, 4. Papadimitriou, 5. Kenteris, 6. Theodoridis, 7. Lenis, 8. Iakovakis, 9. Papakostas, 10. Goussis
Women 1. Thanou, 2. Tsiamita, 3. Tzelili, 4. Vasdeki, 5. Kelesidou, 6. Xanthou, 7. Koffa, 8. Tsikouna, 9. Tambaki, 10. Goudenoudi

Devers, Szabo and El Guerrouj shine in Zurich
August 11. The Weltklasse Zurich Golden League, the most expensive of all athletics meetings, once again confirmed its legend with some exciting performances and records by the athletes expected to star in 40 days in Sydney. Gabriela Szabo came round from a defeat at the 1500 m. in London to win the 3km in Zurich with a world best at 8' 26" 35. followed by Sonia O' Sullivan who clocked 8' 27" 58. Marta Dominguez broke the Spanish NR with 8' 28" 80. at the fastest race of the year where the first five clocked under 8' 30". Gail Devers continued her impressing performances with a 12" 39. 110 m. hurdles race. Hicham El Guerrouj beated Noah Ngeny once again in yet another fantastic duel between the two that produced a really fast 1500 m. Bernard Lagat was the surprise of the day, with the first three clocking 3' 27" 21., 3' 28" 12. and 3' 28" 51 (top 3 at the world list for 2000). Lars Riedel did not manage to win in Zurich for the 8th consecutive time (remained 4th), however Virgilius Alekna did not manage to break Jurgen Schult's WR as he showed he can do with his 73, 88 m. at Kaunas 3 days ago. He threw 71, 12 today and won easily the event. Home favorite and Lausanne winner Andre Bucher dominated the 800 m. also in Zurich with 1' 43" 72. and kept his place at the top of the world list for 2000. It was an incredible race with more than six athletes fighting for the win at the last 100 m. Jonathan Edwards seems to be in top form making another win with a jump at 17, 36 m. Maurice Greene ran a 9" 94. despite the headwind while Marion Jones needed the photo finish to confirm her win over Inger Miller at 10" 95. after an awfull start. However, she doubled her wins later, again only 1/100 better that Prandzheva, by winning the Long Jump with 6, 93 m. Angelo Taylor with 47" 90. and Lwellyn Herbert with 47" 93. ran a very fast 400 m. hurdles race. The women's Middle Distances where also fantastic with 9 athletes under 2 minutes at the 800 m. and 8 athletes under 4' 03" at the 1500 m. Mutola won with 1' 56" 90. and Graf followed at 1' 57" 34. at the 800 m. while Chojecka clocked 4' 00" 37. at the 1500 m. Danny Ecker won the Pole Vault with 5, 85 m., while Sergey Bubka was restrained at 5, 50 m.

Balakhonova breaks Pole Vault ER
August 08. Angela Balakhonova broke the Pole Vault European Record with 4, 56 m. at the Linz Grand Prix II of Austria and seems the to be hardest challenger for Stacey Dragilla for the Olympic title. Other results include 12" 72. by Michelle Freeman at the 100 m. hurdles  66, 11 m. by Franks Dietzch at the Discus and the win of Kareem Streete Thompson over Pedroso at the Long Jump.

Tassos Goussis breaks 400 m. NR and Zalaggitis flies at 17, 18 m.
August 05-06. The Greek U23 Championships were held in Kastoria and two young athletes who will compete in Sydney were the stars of the games. Tassos Goussis broke Kenteris' NR at the 400 m. with 45" 55. Kenteris now holds only the NR at the 200 m. which will be the event in which he will compete in Sydney. Kostas Zalaggitis jumped 17,18 m. at the triple Jump and had another great jump at 17,21 m. with a wind of 2.2 m./sec.

2,40 by Voronin in London
August 05. Vyacheslav Voronin passed the 2,40 m. height and placed himself to the second position of the European Alltime list after the legendary Patrick Sjoberg. Hicham El Guerrouj's mile was the other result of the London Grand Prix that impressed. He won by running 3' 45" 96. followed by Ngeny. Jonathan Edwards came back with a 17, 34 m. jump and Marion Jones continued her impressive performances with a 100 m. race at 10" 78. Gabriela Szabo lost to Violetta Beclea at the 1500 m. and seems as if this year she is not as invulnerable as before.

IAAF reduces Sotomayor's sanction
August 02. During an extraordinary meeting in Monaco today, the IAAF Council has decided, due to exceptional circumstances, to reduce the doping suspension of Javier Sotomayor from 2 years to 1 year. It is about time that the IAAF should decide on a real drug policy and stop playing games...

10"68. Jones was flying in Stockholm
August 01. Marion Jones had a perfect race tonight in Stockholm, running a slightly wind aided 10" 68. It's the second faster race in Jones' career, after her personal best at 10" 65. Trine Hattestad, already #10 of world list,  impressed again with her throw at 67, 92 m. while Anzhela Balakhonova won the pole vault competition at 4, 50 m. and attempted unsuccessfully for a new European record. Outstanding performances by Dawn Burrell who won the long jump with 6, 98 m. and Kajsa Bergqvist who overcoming the latest injury problems returned to victories.

July 2000

"The sun always shines on Bislett"
July 28.  During this year's edition of Bislett Games, one more world record added to the brillant collection of 60 broken records in this stadium. Norwegian Trine Hattestad sent the javelin to 69, 48 m. to better her own javelin record in front of her crowd. Hicham El Guerrouj, the #1 world athlete according to IAAF's rankings, won the dream mile in 3' 46" 24., far enough from the world record of the event. Suzy Hamilton was impressing as dominated the 1.500 m. race in a world leading time of 3' 57" 40. Adam Nelson, the first qualifier of USA Trials, beated again C.J. Hunter, senting the shot at 21, 43 m. and Zhanna Pintusevich ran her first under 11" race of the season, winning the 100 m. in 10" 93. Jan Zhelezny exceeded 90 meters once more, while the men's 5.000 m. race was a fast one as the first eight runners were under 13 minutes.

The fiasco of the year: Finally both pulled out!!
July 24. The mostly expected event of the USA Olympic trials had the most unexpected final. After a one-day reporting of international media, according to which Johnson's participation was doubtfull because of a strain, Johnson and Greene took their positions at the start line, but both pulled out during the race! Johnson pulled up 50 meters into the race, grabbing his right thigh and falling to the track with a muscle cramp. A moment later, Greene limped to a halt, althought not as obviously injured as Johnson, with a left hamstring strain. Maybe all these who believe that Johnson and Greene will never meet on the track are now justified. Far from any practice of play-acting, a quiet sprinter, John Capel, ran a 19" 85. to win the ... historical race. On the last day of the meeting, Stacey Dragila improved her own world record to 4, 63 m. while Gail Devers smashed the American 100 m. hurdles record in an impessing 12" 33. Marion Jones set a season's best running 200 m. in 21" 94.

Budapest and Chemnitz results
July 23. Japanese Koji Murofushi sent the hammer to 80, 38 m. on the last throw to beat Olympic champion Balazs Kiss and European champion Tibor Gecsek, on Saturday at the IAAF permit meet of Budapest. Panayotis Stroubakos was 5th in 800 m. (1' 46" 74). Maria Protopapa placed 4th in 1.500 m. (4' 17" 95.) and Stella Tsikouna was also 4th in discus throw (59, 27 m.). Colin Jackson set a 13" 20 in Chemnitz, the best european mark for this season.

Major surprises come from Kenya. Ottey fails in sprint
July 22. The world 3.000 m. record holder Daniel Komen, the world champion of steeplechase Chris Kosgei, but also Sammy Kipketer, Eliah Langat and Moses Tanui are not included in the Kenyan Olympic team. Komen abandoned the 5.000 m. race of Kenyan trials, while Kosgei was 10th at the final of 3.000 m. steeple. Langat and Tanui excluded from Olympic Marathon. Meanwhile, Marlen Ottey won't participate in 100 m. of Olympic Games as she placed fourth at Jamaican trials. Ottey clocked 11" 27, being enough slower than in the heats and her hopes are now focused on 4X100 relay team. The Jamaican 100 m. team consists of Peta-Gaye Dowdie, Beverley McDonald and Tanya Lawrence.

Regina Jacobs broke the American Record at 5km
July 22. Regina Jakobs ran the 5.000 m. final race of Olympic Trials in 14' 35" 35. to break the American Record and confirm her participation in Olympics. Tom Pappas dominated decathlon with 8.467 p. Marion Jones (22" 62.) and Michael Jonhson (19" 89) were impressing in 200 m. preliminaries.

Jones at 7, 02 m. Johnson ran a 43" 68
July 17. The action is going on in Sacramento, US with Marion Jones to ecxeed 7 meters in long jump and Michael Johnson to ran 400 m. in 43" 68. A blind athlete, Marla Runyan, placed third in 1.500 m. final and qualified for Olympics.

Great Britain and Russia won the European Cup 2000
July 16. The British men's team won the European Cup at the last event, leaving Germany just 0.5 point behind, while the Russian team dominated easily the women's standing. Greek men placed 6th to retain a position among top 8 nations of Europe, while women relegated to the first league. On the second day championships records set by Sergey Makarov (89, 92 m.) and Tatyana Lebedeva (14, 98 m.). Katerina Thanou and Darren Campbell honoured as the best athletes of the Games.

Marion Jones and Maurice Greene on the road to Sydney
July 16. Jones and Greene passed the first test for Sydney as they won 100 m. at USA Olympic Trials. Jones won the race in 10"88. in front of Inger Miller and Chryste Gaines. Gail Devers placed fourth missing the chance for a third 100 m. Olympic gold medal. The USA men's 100 m. team consists of Maurice Greene, Curtis Johnson and John Drummond.

USA Olympic Trials
July 15. The USA Olympic Trials started yesterday in Sacramento and will last for eight days, a celebration of American and International Athletics. The first day marked by a huge surprise as Jeff Hartwig, with a world leading mark at 6, 03 m. failed to qualify for the pole vault final and lost the Olympic Games.

Four Olympics, four events, one  athlete: Voula Patoulidou
July 9. Voula Patoulidou, the 100 m. hurdles Olympic Champion of Barcelona made the standard for Sydney, running 100 m. in 11" 32. Thus, she became the first Greek athlete to participate in four Olympic Games. Patoulidou was a member of 4X100 m. team in Seoul, won the gold medal in Barcelona at 100 m. hurdles, qualified for the long jump final in Atlanta and now is ready to run 100 m. and 4X100 relay in Sydney. Patoulidou, who marked the spring of Greek athletics being the motive for the younger athletes during the last decade, is 35 years old and is still here...

Greek NC 2000
July 8. The Greek National Championships have started today at the Olympic Stadium of Athens and seem to be the best of the last years. The first day was marked by impressing dash races where top marks were set by Katerina Thanou (10" 93.), Angelos Pavlakakis (10" 13.) and Kostas Kenteris (10" 16.). Kalliopi Ouzouni broke the shot put record with 18, 59 m. while Anastassios Goussis ran the 400 m. race in 45"63. Double hammer record by Amalia Laboura (62, 69 m.) and, few minutes later, by Evi Tsamoglou (63, 20 m.)

Perec again in the track
July 8. Marie Jose Perec ran her first 400 m. race after 1996 in Nikaia 2000. She placed third in 50" 32. a promising time for the rest of the period.

Athletissima once again a fabulous meeting
July 5. The Lausanne Grand Prix had been for yet another year one of the most interesting Track and Field competitions. Allen Johnson not only beated Anier Garcia, but also bettered his world leading mark for the 110 m. Hurdles to 13" 04. At this period of years he seems to be a strong favorite for doubling his Olympic golden medals. Home favorite Andre Bucher, after an impressive run in Rome last week, was in fantastic shape tonight, beating Said Guerni and marking 1' 43" 12., by far the best performance in the world this year. Mark Eplinius, the pacemaker clocked 48"+ at the 800 m. and was immediately surpassed by the Algerian Guerni who seemed at that moment willing to challenge Kipketer's world record. However, his legs stiffened after the 600 m., allowing Bucher to catch him at the straight and to beat him at the last meters.  Guerni ran 1' 43" 32. Ato Boldon won both the 100 m. and the 200 m. (9"95. and 19" 97.). Noah Ngeny had no problem at the 1500 m., where he clocked 3' 31" 61. Lwellyn Herbert ran a great 400 m. Hurdles, just under 48" (47" 98.) and youngster Sammy Kipketer won the 5km with a strong finish at 13' 01" 93. Katerina Thanou was dominating once again at the 100 m., beating Pintussevich, Ferguson and Arron with 10" 91. Debbie Ferguson came back to win the 200 m., a race that was marked by the return of Marie Jose Perec who finished second. Cathy Freeman's 49" 56. at the 400 m. is the world's best for 2000 and a clear sign to everychallenger that the world champion is not willing to lose at home, in Sydney. Gail Devers had another great race at the hurdles, at 12" 50. Errica Johansson flew at 7, 04 m. at the long jump, followed by Niki Xanthou (6, 81 m.) who returned to good performances after more than a month. The other Greek contester of the night was Costas Gatsioudis who placed second at the Javelin after Jan Zelezny. Dmitry Markov won the Pole Vault with 5, 85 m. but failed to jump 6, 05 m. as he tried later. A fantastic battle was held at the Long Jump where Pedroso beated Streete-Thompson at his last attempt, with 8,33 m.

Close races in Zagreb
July 3. The Zagreb Grand Prix II was held today with an impressive comeback for Obadele Thompson who won both the 100 and 200 m. The meeting was full of hard fought races with athletes striding alongside until the finish line in almost all events. Even the Steeple race was judged by the photo finish. Allen Johnson had the best mark of the day at 13" 10., while Boateng cleared 2, 34 m. at the High Jump and Daimi Pernia ran the 400 m. Hurdles at 54" 14. Menendez was once again dominating at the Javelin, throwing 65, 20 m.

IAAF arbitration panel clears Ottey
July 3. The IAAF arbitration panel decided to let Merlene Ottey compete again, unlike Sotomayor who is suspended until 2001. The decision on Sotomayor was taken on June 27th and was negative for the athlete. However, the panel decided today that there were no grounds on maintaining Ottey's suspend. For more details, read the IAAF Press Releases page.

Korkizoglou breaks national record and makes Sydney's standard.
July 2. Prodromos Korkizoglou dominated the First League of the European Combined Events Cup, held in Switzerland, with a national record at 8.069 p. The Greek team placed second and promoted to the Super League. The women team placed also second in the Second League, held in Denmark and promoted to the first league.
Links:[Second League]

Tsikouna throws 64,22 m. in Kavala.  Tsiliggiri breaks pole vault record.
July 1-2  Stella Tsikouna set the best mark of the first day of Balkan Games, held in Kavala, Greece. Tereza Marinova jumped 14,44 m. and Georgi Guset threw 19,97 m., while Marios Evaggelou cleared 5, 40 m. to break national junior's record for Greece. On the second day Georgia Tsiliggiri broke pole vault national record with 4, 20 m.

Tsiamita won't be in Sydney
July 1. The injury problem the world champion suffers last months obliged her to undergo a surgical treatment. Tsiamita announced today her decision to go on with the operation immediately and start training again later this year in order to be ready for her obligations in 2001.

June 2000

Athens Grand Prix - Tsiklitiria Delta 2000
June 28. Athens Grand Prix Tsiklitiria 2000 is over with a season's best at women 3.000 set by Chinise Dang, while Anier Garcia ran a wind aided 13" 06 at 110 m. hurdles. Four women attempt to break european record of pole vault. Ato Bolton won first 100 m. race with 10" 07, but Francis Obikwelu was faster as he won the second heat in 10"01. Saddler was the unexpected winner of 100 m. all stars race in 10" 08, leaving Ato Bolton second and Maurice Greene fourth. Thanou won her race in 11" 00. while Gaines was impressing in the first heat as she ran a 10" 97. Komen won 3.000 m. in 7' 31" 99. , De Araujo the 400 m.h. race in an impressing 48" 25., Freeman the 400 m. in 50" 04 and Gatsioudis the javelin at 88, 46 m. Cuban Menendez won the javelin with a throw at 66, 35 m. leaving second the world record holder Mirella Tzelili who threw 64, 51 m. [Chronicle][Official Site][IAAF's results]

IAAF announced World Rankings
June 27. IAAF anounced the new world rankings system, based on the five best performance scores of each athlete and the final placing the athlete achieves in a competition during last year. According to the rankings Hicham El Guerrouj is the best world athlete (1.487,00 p.) followed by  Maurice Greene (1. 483,23 p) and Michael Johnson (1.459,92 p.). Marion Jones is the best woman with 1.429, 74 p. while Gabriela Szabo ranked 2nd with 1.425,87 p. and  Inger Miller 3rd with 1. 418,23 p. Paraskevi Tsiamita holds the best position among Greek athletes as she ranked 8th in the overall woman list and 1st triple jumper. Costas Gatsioudis is also 1st in javelin and 20th in the overall men classification, while Katerina Thanou is 2nd in 100 m. and 30th in the overall classification. Among Top 1000 athletes 30 men and women of Greece are included.

Costas Gatsioudis throws a historical 91, 69 m. in Finland
June 24. Costas Gatsioudis smashed the national record for Greece, throwing 91, 69 m. today in Kuortane, Finland, the best world mark for this season. The former world juniors record holder is now the fourth world all time  javelin thrower. In the same meeting Aki Parviainen threw a 90, 97 m. and Jan Zhelezny was third at 87, 80 m. Meanwhile, Stamatis Lenis broke the triple jump national record with 17, 20 in the international meeting of Istanbul.

Interesting Track Events in Eugene
June 24. Some good results were achieved today in Eugene, at the Prefontaine Classic Grand Prix. Most of the action was taken in the track with some very good sprints and mid-distances. Maria Mutola and Gabriela Szabo won the 800 m. and 1500 m., however not with their usual ease, as Americans Jacobs and Hamilton fought a fantastic fight for the win. The illegal wind helped the sprinters to run fast. Greene won the 200 m. in 19" 93. and Miller the 100 m. in 10" 00. Michael Johnson had yet another race under 44" in the 400 m., while Marion Jones dominated both the 100 m. (10" 93.) and the Long Jump (6, 97 m.).

Golden League series start in Paris with four season's leading marks
June 23. The first meeting of Golden League 2000 was held tonight in Saint Denis, and Hicham El Guerrouj won the 1.500 m. in 3:30.75, a world best for this season. Algerian Djabir Said-Guerni won the 800 m. slow race leaving Ngeny at second place and Borzhakovskiy at fourth. His compatriot Sief Ali Saidi won the 3.000 m. in a world leading time, beating Daniel Komen and Wilson Wolde. Also season's best marks set by Ali Ezzine (3.000 m. steeple, 8:03.57) and Lidia Chojecka (3.000 m.: 8:33.35). Tatyana Kotova won the long jump with 7, 04 m. where Niki Xanthou was 6th jumping 6,69 m. It is the beginning of a tricky period for the Track and Field athletes as a lot of the stars that will shine in the GL series may not perform equally well in Sydney, while others will enter as few as possible GL meetings in order to be in top form for Sydney. The absences of Marion Jones, Maurice Greene, Wilson Kipketer, Gabriela Szabo and Haile Gebresselasie among others were rather obvious in Paris. Do not forget that the Olympics are scheduled for late September and the weather in Australia will be quite cold at that period of time.

90, 80 m.: Season's best throw by Aki Parviainen
June 20. Sevilla's world champion won the Golden Javelin Meeting held at Vantaa, Finland with the season's best throw at 90, 80 m., leaving Costas Gatsioudis second (87, 93 m.) and Patrick Boden third (83, 76 m.).

Russia's Irina Mistyukevich ran 800 m. in 1' 57" 49 in St. Petersburg
June 19. Mistyukevich set a world leading mark of 800 m., running the distance in 1' 57" 49. in St. Petersburg, where Yuriy Borzhakovskiy started the season breaking his 400 m. personal best at 46"14.Daniel Komen won 3.000 in 7' 38"37 at Ingolstadt.

Chandra Sturrup was the long jump winner of Raleigh GP, leaving Jones at second place.
June 17. The well known spinter of Bahamas was the unexpected winner of long jump competition of Raleigh GP with 6, 70 m. leaving Marion Jones at second place. C.J. Hunter threw 21, 86 m. to beat Adam Nelson who placed second at 21, 40 m. Stacey Dragila was fourth with 4, 10 m. at pole vault. Monica Iagar jumped 2, 02 m. in Villeneuve D' Ascq, a world leading mark for this season. James Beckford jumped a 8, 41 m. and Christine Aaron won 100 m. in 11" 18.

Brian Lewis wins Helsinki Grand Prix beating Maurice Greene.
June 15. Brian Lewis was the winner of 100 m. race in Helsinki GP II in 10" 06., leaving Maurice Greene at second place. Anier Garcia won 110 m. hurdles with a world leading mark at 13"19. while Wilson Kipketer, won 800 m. with 1' 44" 27. and Kostas Gatsioudis threw 88, 74 m. to win the javelin throw.

World leading marks for Tatyana Lebedeva, Wilson Boit Kipketer and Allen Johnson in Chania.
June 14. The 52nd edition of Venizeleia International Meeting was the most succesfull international meeting held so far in Greece in 2000. During the meet three world leading marks set by Tatyana Lebedeva (15, 01 m.), Wilson Boit Kipketer (8" 07. 64.) and Allen Johnson (13" 22). Katerina Thanou won 100 m. in 10" 93. and Tim Montgomery the men's race with 10" 06. Three women exceeded 67 m. in discus throw where Franka Dietzsch was the winner with 68, 08 m. Deon Hemings won 400 m. hurdles with 54" 41., Svetla Dimitrova the high hurdles with 12" 78., Yuriy Belonog the shot put with 20, 74 m., Shadrak Langat the 1.500 m. in 3'35"66. and James Beckford the long jump with 8, 28 m. Kostas Kenteris dominated 200 m. race with 20" 34. and Chryssoula Goudenoudi broke 400 m. hurdles record for Greece with 56" 90. Link to Venizeleia 2000 official site

Kostas Kenteris breaks Greek 200 m. NR: 20" 25. Zhelezny wins with 88, 84 m.
June 10. By running one of the best races of the "Vardinoyaneia" Meeting, Kostas Kenteris broke the Greek National record of the 200 m. with 20" 25. The previous record was 20" 28. by Thomas Sbokos since 1995. The strong wind (-3.7 m/s) destroyed the 100 m. race where Bruny Sourin won in 10" 32. leaving Donovan Bailey at second place with 10" 34. Ellina Svereva won at her last attempt the discus throw with 65, 03 m. Jamaikan Davian Clarke won 400 m. 45" 52. and his compatriot Kemel Thompson the 400 m. hurdles in 49" 52. Tereza Marinova and Tatyana Lebedeva had wind assisted marks at 15, 07 m. and 15, 00 m. respectively.

Michael Jonhson at 19"91 in Sevilla
June 9. Johnson won 200 m. in Sevilla Grand Prix II meeting with 19"91, where Noah Ngeny set a  7' 35" 46. and Hicham El Guerrouj won 1.500 m. in 3' 33" 48. Christos Polychroniou was seventh with a throw at 77, 16 m.

Stavros Tsitouras breaks pole vault record
June 9. Stavros Tsitouras cleared 5, 61 m. in a meeting held in Belarus to break the national record for Greece and meet the standard for Sydney. In the same meeting Cypriot Fotis Stefanis broke his own national record with 5, 56 m.

Jumpers of Italy at the top of world lists
June 8. Fabrizio Donato won triple jump competion of International Meeting of Milano jumping a national record at 17, 60 m., while Paolo Camosi placed second with 17, 45 m. Fiona May jumped 7, 07 m. to dominate women long jump.

Venelina Veneva and Tereza Marinova set world leading marks in Kalamata
June 4. Bulgarians Veneva and Marinova shined in Papaflesseia 2000, held in Kalamata, Greece tonight. Veneva jumped 2,01 m. and then had three failed attempts at 2, 05 m. and Marinova won triple jump with 14, 90 m. Costas Gatsioudis dominated javelin competition throwing 88,76 m. while Schurlatov finally won the long jump with 8, 21 m. followed by Schurenko (8,13 m.) and Lukasevich (8,11 m.). Dragutin Topic cleared 2, 31 m. and Pauline Davis ran 200 m. in 23" 04. Tatyana Kotova had a jump at 6,90 m.

Ivan Pedroso set world best in Jena
June 3. Cuban Pedroso jumped a 8,65 m. at Jena, Germany to set the best world mark so far. Virgilius Alekna won discus throw with 67,27 m.

May 2000

Christos Polychroniou second in the only competition held in Hengelo
May 28. Andrian Paulen Memorial meeting was cancelled as a big storm approaches the area of Hengelo. The only event held in the morning was the hammer throw where Christos Polychroniou was once more close to 80 m. as he threw 79,12 m. to be second, after Igor Astapkovich who threw 80,90 m.

4, 62 m.: Stacey Dragila alone at the top
May 27. The American pole vault champion broke the world record on Friday night in Phoenix, less than two weeks after equalling the old George's record. She cleared 4, 62 m. and now she holds both indoor and outdoor records at the same height.

Kelesidou throws 66, 86 m. in Halle
May 27.  Anastassia Kelesidou opened the season with a throw at 66,86 m. in Halle International Throw Meeting. She placed 2nd after Franka Dietzsch (67,13 m.). Cubans Menendez and Moreno won the javelin throw with 64, 64 m. and the hammer throw with 69, 09 m. respectively, while Lars Riedel threw a 66,89 m. to win the discus throw. The Greek Spring Champs 2000 started today in Thessaloniki, but most of top Greek athletes did not participate in them. Costas Zalagitis jumped 16,50 m. and Dimitrios Pietris set a personal best at 110 m.hurdles running in 13"92. Finally young sprinters were the best greek athletes of the Four-Nation Juniors Meeting, held in Nicosia, Cyprus as Michalis Perrakis ran a 10"66 (-0.9) and Athanassia Eustratiadou won the women race with 12"15 (+1.9)

World's Bests at Russian Walk Championships
May 22. During the Russian Walk Championships, Valeriy Spitsyn walked the 50 km distance at 3 hours 37' 26", Victor Burayev walked the Junior's 10 km at 38' 46" 4., Aleksandr Raskazov walked the 20 km at 1h. 17' 46", and Tatyana Gudkova led five women under the old world record with a time of 1h.25' 18". All the above performances are World Bests for the Events!

Kenyan Chemoiywo won in Prague
May 21. Kenyans won the Prague Marathon as Simon Chemoiywo was the winner in 2:10' 35" followed by compatriots Kiprono 2: 10' 38" and Kandie 2: 11' 48". Alina Ivanova won the women's race in 2: 27' 44" leaving at second place Czech Peterkova and third Italian Fiacconi (ITA) 2:32:00. Nikos Pollias was 12th in 2: 16" 47.

Donovan Bailey to compete in Rethymno
May 20.  Olympic Champion Donovan Bailey dominates the list of athletics stars who will participated in the International Meeting of Rethymno, on June 10th. Brunny Surin and Michael Greene have also verified their participation. Zhanna Pintusevich and Sevatheda Fynes, Natalia Sadova and Nicoletta Grasu, Debbie Ferguson, Milton Mallard, Ken Harden, Dion Hemings are few of the top athletes who will be there. Entry lists so far

Stacey Dragila ties pole vault world record
May 14. Stacey Dragila tied her own world record (4, 60 m.) at the Modesto Relays. Dragila equalled record at her second attempt and then failed three times at 4, 70 m. Jeff Hartwig  cleared 5,92 m.
Link to Modesto Relays official site

Fiona May jumped 7, 09 m. and Sanderlei Parella clocked 45"00 in Rio de Janeiro
May 14. Fiona May set the best mark of the Grand Prix Brasil d' Athletismo, jumping 7, 09 m., where Sanderlei Parella ran 400 m. in 45" 00., Anier Garcia won 110 m. hurdles in 13" 48. and Okert Britts cleared 5, 80 m. Yelena Antonova won discus competition with 66, 67 m.

9"91 for Greene, 10"84 for Jones in Osaka
May 13. Maurice Greene and Marion Jones made the best strart of the season at Japan Grand Prix 2000 held in Osaka. Greene ran a 9"91/-0.4, while Jones won the race in 10" 84/-0.7, but failed to make a significant attempt at long jump where she was 4th with 6, 27 m. Good marks for Japheth Kimutai (1.500 m. 3' 34"14.) and Elina Zvereva (discus throw 65, 51 m.)

Rod DeHaven won USA Olympic Marathon Trials
May 7. Rod DeHaven won Pittsburg Marathon in 2:15' 30", followed by Peter De La Cerda (2: 16' 18") and Mark Coogan (2: 17' 04"). None of three first runners made the high olympic standard and, thus, only DeHaven will compete in Sydney.

Khalid Khannouchi becomes U.S. citizen
May 2. Morrocan born Khalid Khannouchi was sworn in as a U.S. citizen today in Houston. The Marathon world record holder is now eligible to compete in U.S. Marathon trials next Sunday or in 10.000 m. race of the Olympic Athletics Trials, to be held in Sacramento.

April 2000

Marion Jones runs 400 m. in 49" 59.
April 17. Marion Jones came back to track, eight months her dramatic injury in Sevilla, with an impressing 400 m. performance at 49" 59. at Mt. Sac Relays. C.J. Hunter threw a 21, 74 m. while Mike Marsh and Chandra Sturrup set wind assisted marks at 9" 90. and 10" 95. respectively. Eljiah Lagat (2:09'47") and Catherine Ndereba (2: 26' 11") dominated Boston Marathon.

Antonio Pinto smashes Marathon European Best in London.
April 16. Portugese Antonio Pinto dominated Flora London Marathon in 2: 06' 36" to break European Best and become the first european runner under 2:07'. El Mouaziz was second in 2: 07' 34" and Khalid Khannouchi third in 2: 08' 37". Kenyan Tegla Loroupe won the women race in 2: 24' 33" followed by Lidia Simon of Romania. Kenya Cheruyiot won the Rotterdam Marathon in 2: 08' 22" where Panayotis Charamis was 21st in 2: 13' 32", a personal best for the Greek Marathon Runner. Isabel Alonso of Spain won the women race in 2: 30' 21"

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March 2000

Mohammed Mourhit won the world titile in Villamoura. Great race at 4.000 m. women where Ethiopian Dulecha won at the final straight.
March 19. Belgian Mihammed Mourhit became the first European runner who wins the world title. Ex Morrocan won the long race of the World XC Championships 2000 leaving Ethiopian Assefa Mezegebu at second and the favorite Paul Tergat of Kenya at third place. Ethiopian Kutre Dulecha won the race of 4.000 m. just on the finishing line. Three first runners clocked at 13' 00". while Paula Radcliffe placed fourth in 13' 01".

Departu Tulu won women's long race and John Kimbonen men's short race. Impressing performance by Kenyan teams.
March 18. Ethiopian Departu Tulu won the long race of the World XC Championships 2000 in 25" 42. followed by Kenyans Wami, Chepkemei and Cheromei. African runners left Paula Radcliffe at 5th place. John Kimbonen was the winner of men' s short race in front of four more Kenyans: Sammy Kipketer, Paul Kosgei, Leonard Mucheru and Abraham Kosgei. Girls of Kenya won first three positions of junior's race where Vivian Cheruiyot was the winner in 20" 34. Kenyan runners had to compete with the strong Ethiopian team whose athletes were at 4th, 5th and from 7th to 9th places. Russian Usmanova Zina was the best European taking the 21st place.

The 28th World Cross Country Championships in Vilamoura
March 18. The World Cross Country Championships are held this weekend with the participation of 81 countries which is a new record for the event. The games are held in Vilamoura of Portugal. Six races are scheduled for March 18-19. On Saturday, the Opening Ceremony is at 10:25, followed by the Junior Women's race at 11:00, the Senior Men's short race (4km) at 11:40 and Senior Women's long race (8km) at 12:10. On Sunday, the Junior Men's race starts at 10:30 followed by the Senior Women's short race (4km) at 11:15 and the Senior Men's long race (12km) at 11:55. For more information on the event, you can check the IAAF Web Site and our IAAF Press Releases page. Results will be posted shortly after the races.Here are the results of the previous two competitions: '99 (Belfast) '98 (Marrakech).

Stacey Dragila does it again
March 05. Stacey Dragila broke the pole vault world indoor record, clearing 4, 62 m. during the USATF Indoor Championships 2000. Best marks by John Drummond (6"46.) and Tim Harden (6"48.), James Davis (400 m.: 45"54.), Andrew Bloom (shot put: 21,60 m.), Matt Hemingway (high jump: 2,38 m.), Nanceen Perry (200 m.: 22" 65.), Melissa Morrison (60 m.h.: 7" 86.) and Tisha Waller (high jump: 1,96 m.).

First IAAF Grand Prix Meeting in 2000
March 02. IAAF Grand Prix Series 2000 started today with the Grand Prix Meeting II in Melbourne, Australia. Melinda Gainsford Taylor was the star of the meeting, winning 100 m. in 11" 16. David Lelei ran the 800 m. in 1' 43" 97. and Peter Burge flew at 8, 30 m. at the Long Jump.

February 2000

Jason Gardener verified the forecasts and won european title. Silver medal for Georgios Theodoridis and bronze for defending champion Angelos Pavlakakis
February 27. European record holder, Jason Gardener, ran a 6"49. to win 60 m. final, the first gold medal in the career of the great British Champion. Greeks got the other two medals; Georgios Theodoridis the silver with 6" 51. and defending champion Angelos Pavlakakis the bronze in 6" 54., both equalled their personal best. The last day of the European Indoor Championships is also marked by an impressing running of Yuriy Borzakovskiy (1' 47" 92.), the performance of Aleksander Bagach who won one more gold medal (21, 18 m.), the win of Vyacheslav Voronin in the high jump with 2, 34 m. -the same performance with second Martin Buss and third Dragutin Topic, the gold medal of Czech Pavla Hamakova (4, 40 m.) and the failure of Bartova in the pole vault and the gold medal of Charles Friedek (17, 28 m.)

Katerina Thanou won 60 m. gold medal
February 27. Katerina Thanou won the 60 m. final in 7" 05. Maebashi's world champion had a very slow start but accelarated after first meters to win the race in front of Bulgarian Petya Pedareva and Ukrainian Iryna Pukha. Thanou was also European Indoor Champion in 1998.

Erica Johansson continues the brilliant performance of Swedish team
February 27. Erica Johansson added another gold medal to the Swedish team, on the 3rd day of European Indoor Championships. She won the long jump competition breaking once more the national record at 6, 89 m. Heike Drechsler got the silver medal and Iva Pradzheva won her second bronze in this championship, while Niki Xathou was 8th with 6,51 m. Prospelova and Nazarova achieved a Russian double win at 400 m. and Bulgarian Ilya Tzevontov was the suprising winner of men's 400 m. leaving the favorite David Canal at second place. Gabriella Szabo got the european title of 3.000 m., Polish Lidia Chocheka was second and Marta Martinez of Spain won her third straight bronze medal in european champs. Katerina Thanou, Georgios Theodoridis and Angelos Pavlakakis qualified for 60 m. finals.

Tomas Dvorak broke heptathlon European Record
February 26. Decathlon world record holder Tomas Dvorak of Czech Republic steals the show of the 2nd day of European Indoor Champs, as he won the gold medal with 6.424 p. setting a new European Record. His compatriot Roman Serble took the silver and Erki Nool the gold medal. Prodromos Korkizoglou placed 6th with 5.855 points. Romanian Violeta Szekely got European title of 1.500 m. in 4' 12" 82. followed by Russians Olga Kuznetsova and Yulia Kosenkova. Tatyana Lebedeva won triple jump with 14, 68 m. Kajsa Berqvist equalled Swedish record at 2,00 m. and won high jump competition. Tim Lobinger failed to clear 5,50 m. and former Russian Aleksander Averbukh won the gold medal with 5, 75 m., representing Israel, followed by Swedish Martin Eriksson and Rens Blom of the Netherlands. Eleven years after Ade Mafe Great Britain won a 200 m. gold with Christian Malcolm (20" 54) while France dominated women 200 m. with Muriel Hurtis and 60 m. hurdles with Linda Ferga (7"88.) and Patricia Girard (7"98.). Gold medals also won Spanish Jose Redolat (1.500 m.); Estonian Stanislavs Olijars (60 m. hurdles) and Bulgarian Petar Dachev (long jump)

February 26. Niki Xanthou in the final. Katerina Thanou, Angelos Pavlakakis, Georgios Theodordis, Christoforos Choidis qualified for 60 m.
Semifinals.
 Niki Xanthou placed 6th in the qualification round of the long jump (6, 57 m.) and qualified for the final. Erica Johansson with a jump at 6, 80 m. broke the Swedish National Record. Katerina Thanou ran a 7" 13. to secure easily her participation in semifinals. Good races for Georgios Theodoridis (1st in 3rd heat in 6" 59.), Angelos Pavlakakis (1st in 4th heat in 6"62.) and Christofors Choidis (4th in 6th heat in 6"72.); all qualified for 60 m. Semifinals. Timo Aaltonen of Finland set a personal best at 20,57 m. to dominate Shot Put qualification round, where Mika Halvari had three fault throws and failed to qualify.

February 25. German Karin Ertl won European gold in Pentathlon
Karin Ertl of Germany won the gold medal of Pentathlon (4.671 p.), the only final of the 1st day of European Indoor Championships. Silver medal for Russian Irina Vostrikova (4.615 p.) and bronze for Urszula Wlodarczyk of Poland (4.590 p.). Gabriela Szabo ran a 8' 50" 44. to dominate a qualification race marked by 4 national records. Mohamed Mourhit of Belgium was the faster 3.000 m. runner with  7' 54" 09. while Stefie Graf (2' 00" 90.) and Yuriy Borzakovskiy (1' 48" 57.) had no problems; both set the best times in 800 m.

February 25. Costas Kenteris in 200 m. final
Costas Kenteris was second in the third semifinal of 200 m. with 20" 94. and qualified for the final. Belgian Stevens (20" 66.), British Christian Malcolm (20" 77.) and Cypriot Anninos Markoulidis (20" 77.) were impressed in the semifinals. Bulgarian Tzevontov was the faster (47" 12.) of the 1st round of 400 m. where Anastassios Goussis qualified for the seminals with 47" 35. Periklis Iakovakis placed 3rd in second heat and left out of the next round. Costas Koukodimos was 9th in Long Jump qualification round with 7, 83 m. one cm less than the last qualifier, Dimitrios Serelis 16th and Dimitrios Filindras 21st.

February 25. Easy morning for favorites in Ghent
The Indoor European Champs started in Ghent with almost all the favorites to continue for the finals. Iva Pradzheva and Larisa Peleschenko were the best qualifiers for triple jump and shot put, while Otto and Lombinger cleared 5,50 m.in pole vault and Kajsa Bergvist dominated easily the high jump qualification round, while Olga Bolshova and Antonella Bevilaqua are out of the final. Costas Kenteris won a 200 m. race with 20"93 and will participate in semifinals. In contrast, Katerina Koffa and Kalliopi Ouzouni were dissapointing, while young athletes Christos Magos and Dimitra Markou were also disqualified.

February 20. World Records by Kipketer and Mekkonen in Birmingham
Wilson Kipketer broke once more 1.000 m. world record in 2' 14" 96. in Birmingham, while Ethiopian Haylu Mekkonen broke 2 miles record with 8'09"66.  Maurice Greene dominated 60 m. in 6" 47. and Stefanie Graf improved her world leading mark to 1' 57" 80, the 7th world all time performace of 800 m.

February 19. Stacey Dragila breaks pole vault World Record in Idaho
Stacey Dragila broke the World Record of Pole Vault, clearing 4, 61 m. at the Golden Spike Invitational in Holt Arena. Jearl Miles-Clark smashed the world best in the 500-yard with 1'00"61.

February 18. World leading marks for Stefanie Graf in Stockholm and Artur Partyka in Spala. Fynes clocked 7" 01 in Madrid, where Thanou ran a 7"08. and Xanthou jumped 6,64 m.
 Artur Partyka jumped 2, 37 m. in Spala tonight to set a world leading performance and a personal best at the High Jump meeting held there. Stefanie Graf won 800 m. in Stockholm in 1' 58" 43. to improve her own world leading mark for 2000 while Natalya Tsiganova was second with 1' 58" 86., American hurdlers Tony Dees and Kim Carson dominated high hurldes events in Mardid, setting the second season's marks at 7" 40 and 8" 82. Gardener won 60 m. race in 6" 48. and Fynes the women's race in 7" 01. Katerina Thanou placed second with 7" 08. while Niki Xanthou was also second following Heike Drechssler.

February 15. Season's best for Kajsa Berqvist and African Record for Antony Inteata in Patra
 Swedish Kajsa Berqvist cleared 2, 00 m. to set a world leading performance in the International High Jump Meeting of Patra. Nigerean Antony Inteata broke national record at 2, 32 m. the same height with the second placer Dragutin Topic, while Wolfgang Kreissig (GER) and Vyacheslav Voronin (RUS) were third with 2, 30 m. Venelina Veneva (BUL) was second with 1, 96 m. followed by Ukrainian Victoriya Palamar (1, 94 m.), Russian Yelena Guylayeva (1, 91 m.) and the second Ukrainian Tatyana Nikolayeva who was fifth with the same performance.

February 15. Mirela Maniani Tzelili is acknowledged by the IAAF as the Javelin World Record holder
Mirela Maniani Tzelili, the Greek World Champion of Women's Javelin in Sevilla is acknowledged by the IAAF as the World Record holder for the event, as the new Javelin record was decided yesterday. Tzelili threw 67, 09 m. in Sevilla last August, but it was Trine Hattestand's performance of 68, 19 m. that was the top for last year, the first year of the new javelin. However, Hattestand did not pass a doping test in Bergen, where she performed her effort, so the IAAF decided to grand Tzelili the title of the WR holder. The WR for the old javelin is 80 m., by Petra Felke.

February 14. World Athletics action covered by The Athletics Site
If you are a big fan of Athletics you wouldn't like to miss any results of any kind of event worldwide. The Athletics Site does not offer only full coverage of the major meetings and statistical analysis of the top happenings... You may have noticed that we have created pages that combine results from all over the world and offer you a global eye on the world of Athletics. Try browsing over the Various Indoor Results page, and you shall find results from National Championships, some good performances by top athletes that competed in minor meetings and also a lot of promising performances by young athletes who will be the stars of tomorrow. At our Winter Marathons (and Cross and Road races) page we have included all the International Marathons held the last months, as well as the best Cross Country and Road Races, like the European Cross Club League from Spain or some famous Half Marathons. Our latest addition is that of the American Meetings page, where you will find mostly college results.

February 14. IAAF takes action on Nandrolone cases
 The IAAF Council during an extraordinary meeting held on February 12 in Monte Carlo decided to amend rule 59.2. As of midnight on February 13, any athlete who has been cleared by his or her national federation of a doping offence, but whose case has been sent to Arbitration by the IAAF, will now be suspended from competition until the conclusion of that Arbitration. This action was taken due to the latest nandrolone cases of British athletes like Mark Richardson and Doug Walker, as well as the legal problems caused by Sotomayor's and Ottey's cases. Read more at the IAAF Press Releases page.

February 13. Fast sprinters in Ghent. Merceen Perry set a 200 m. 22" 52 in Lievin
 Sprinters were the stars of Ghent Meeting as Philomena Mensah set a 60 m. world leading time in 7" 02, Nanceen Perry ran 200 m. in 22" 96. and Gregg Saddler and Fredy Mayola set a 6" 51. American Merceen Perry clocked at 22" 52 in Lievin where Iva Pradzheva jumped a 6, 80 m. Niki Xanthou was 8th with 6, 57 m. The Balkan Indoor Championships held yesterday in Pireaus with Turkish sprinter Nora Guner to be the best athlete of the games. Guner won 60 m. in 7" 33 and 200 m. in 23" 12 breaking both records for Turkey. Nora Guner is the former well known Bulgarian athlete Nora Ivanova. Angelos Pavlakakis won 60 m. with 6" 59., Georghe Gouset seems to be in shape as he won with a throw at 20, 42 m., while Christina Nikolaou dominated triple jump with 14, 34 m. and Tanya Koleva the pole vault with a national record at 4, 25 m.

February 11. Stacey Dragila jumps 4,55 and attemps a world record in Brisbane
American pole vault champion tried to break world record, after winning the competition in Optus Grand Brix held today in Brisbane. Emma George placed second with 4, 45 m. and now the record contenders are waiting for their next meeting on Sunday. Melinda Gainsford - Taylor clocked at 11" 37 and 22" 59, while Lisa -Maria Vizaniari threw the discus to 64, 62 m.

February 09. Five world leading marks in "Athina 2000"
The International IAAF permit meeting Athina 2000 was marked by five world leading performances, set by Alejandro Gardenas (45" 93.), Anier Garcia ( 7" 37.), Javier Sotomayor (8, 40 m.), Tatyana Lebedeva (14, 78 m.) and Sevatheda Fynes (7" 03.)  Deon Hemmings won women's 400 m. in  52" 11 and Glory Alozie the 60 m. hurdles in 7" 89., Higa Maggi the long jump with 6, 66 m., Alexander Averbukh the pole vault with 5, 80 m. and Jason Gardener the 60 m. in 6" 51. Georgios Theodoridis of Greece was a surprise as he was second in 60 m. with 6" 51, the same time with the winner, leaving behind Mayola, Surin and Chambers. Donovan Bailey participated in second heat but disqualified because of two fault starts. Promising race for Katerina Thanou who was second with 7" 06. althought she does not prepare for indoor races this year. National 400 m. record for Chryssoula Goudenoudi (53" 50.) and impressing race for Constantinos Kenteris who won 200 m. in 20" 79.

February 06. Kipketer breaks 1.000 m. World Record
 Wilson Kipketer broke the World Record of 1.000 m. in Stuttgart yesterday, running in 2' 15" 25. The previous best of 2:15.26 was set by Algerian Noureddine Morceli in February 1992 in Birmingham. Jason Gardener flied to 6" 49. and now the his meeting in Athens 2000 with Bailey and Surin is even more interesting. Greek Juniors Championships finished also yesterday with a national relay record for Greece.

February 06.Emma George jumps 4, 50 m. in Perth
Emma George was the top star in Perth outdoors meeting. She won pole vault competition with 4, 50 m. and then tried to improve world record at 4, 61 m. Konstantin Matusevich cleared 2, 36 m. and Olga Kuzenkova sent the hammer to 66, 70 m. Meanwhile the Greek Indoor Juniors Champs started yesterday in Pireaus.

February 04. Millrose Games: 6" 45 for Maurice Greene
Greene was impressing in Millrose Games as he set a world leading performance at 6" 45.  John Drummond was second in 6" 50 and Ato Bolton sixth with 6" 68.

February 04. Come back for Bubka with 5, 60 m.
Sergey Bubka returned to track after 18 months of absence to win Valencia International Meeting with 5, 60 m. Venancio Jose of Spain won the 60 m. final against Bailey, Ottey ran a 7"15. and Nurka Montalvo set a national record for Spain, jumping 6, 78 m. Ivan Pedroso jumped a 8, 27 m. to set the best mark in Erfurt International Meeting.

February 03. Athletics attractions in Greece
The focus of international activity turns to Greece as two important meetings will take place on the next days. In "Athina 2000" IAAF permit meeting (February 8th) Olympic and World Champions will compete. Among them Bruny Surin, Donovan Bailey and Jason Gardener, Katerina Thanou and Zhanna Pintussevich, Natalia Nazarova, Sandie Richards and Deon Hemmings, Ivan Pedroso, Tony Dees and Duane Ross, Christian Malcolm. The International High Jump Meeting in Patra (February 15th) concentrates all the top stars of the event and honours the legends of the last decades.
Latest News: [Athina 2000] [International High Jump Meeting]

February 01. Sergei Bubka back in action! VALENCIA, Spain (Reuters)
Six times world champion Sergei Bubka admitted to feeling unusually edgy Tuesday ahead of his first pole vault competition for 18 months. "After such a long break this is a big competition for me," said the man who has set 35 world records. "Mentally I feel fine -- I want to compete -- but I am a little nervous about my foot." The incomparable Ukrainian makes his comeback Wednesday after being out of action since early August 1998 because of a serious heel injury. Retirement speculation has been rife. Bubka only returned to training in September and confessed to not yet being 100 per cent fit. "I can still feel something in the foot but the best way to discover what I am capable of is in competition." Bubka's training has also been interrupted by other activities, including his election to the International Olympic Committee in December and to the International Amateur Athletic Federation Athletes' Commission. He made the decision to compete indoors only two weeks ago. "Sometimes all the meetings make it a little difficult for me but I'm happy because it prepares me for the day when I retire and it means I will stay involved with sport." Bubka has been adamant that he was going to quit after the Sydney Olympics this year. But the 36-year-old veteran said: "Maybe I will still retire then but I might also stay on. However, 2001 will be the limit." Bubka watched last year's world championship pole vault victory by Russia's Maxim Tarasov on television at his Monte Carlo home. It hurt. He admitted that being a spectator for the first time since the championships were inaugurated in 1983 -- he won all six crowns between 1983 and 1997 -- had been a frustrating experience. "During the women's pole vault I was shouting at the television, pointing out their mistakes. My wife said I should go off to the nearby stadium rather than hang around the house. "Watching the men's competition was not so easy either... but that's life." Bubka dismissed the possibility that the current crop of vaulters would challenge his world records of 6.15 meters indoors and 6.14 outdoors. "That's a new level for them. They would need to do something new, they would need new technical expertise."
He was also critical of the decision by Valencia meeting organizers to invite Jamaican sprinter Merlene Ottey to run while embroiled in a doping controversy after testing positive. Her case is currently being considered by the IAAF after she was cleared of any wrongdoing by her national federation in November."I don't think it is a good idea that she competes," Bubka said.

January 2000

January 30. Bruny Surin runs a 6" 53. in Karlsruhe
 Surin won the 60 m. in Karlsruhe, while Donovan Bailey was sixth with 6" 71, although he had run a 6" 64. in heats. Million Volde set a 7' 38" 12 in the 3000 m. race; while impressing marks achieved by Petya Pendareva (7" 11.), Natalia Tsyganova (1' 59" 65.), Tatyana Lebedeva (14, 66 m.), Roland Nemeth (6" 57.) and Gabor Dobos (6" 58.), Marcin Urbin (20" 84.), Luis Meliz (8, 12 m.). Niki Xanthou placed third with 6,68 m. following Erica Johansson (6, 79 m.) and Eunice Barber (6, 76 m.) and Olga Vasdeki fourth with 14, 16 m

January 30. Outdoors activity in progress in Australia
Melinda Gainsford - Taylor dominated Hobart Meeting, winning 100 m. in 11"32. and 200 m. in 22"43. Lidia Simon won Osaka Marathon in 2: 22' 54"; a new Romanian and Balkan record. Finally Christos Polychroniou won oudoors Hammer Throw competition, held yesterday in Athens, with 72, 71 m. followed by Christos Tsintzios (68, 06 m.) and Ioannis Mylonas (60,88 m.)

January 29. Marina Vassarmidou returns from dash races to 400 m. and breaks  national record.
 Ten years after her last national record breaking, Marina Vassarmidou returned to 400 m.from dash races and ran in 53" 54. to smash Panagou's record. Pole Vaulter Constantinos Tsatalos, being in great shape jumped over 5, 50 m., while Angelos Pavlakakis ran a 6" 64. But young and promissing athletes shined tonight in Pireaus Indoor Meeting: Constantinos Zalaggitis, the 20 year-old jumper set a personal best at 16,42 m. and seems able to jump even longer in this season. Dimitra Emmanuel, born in 1984, improved U18 Pole Vault national record twice to clear 3,70 m. Finally, a 19 year-old triple jumper, Dimitra Markou seems to follow the steps of Voula Tsiamita and Olga Vasdeki. She had a jump at 13, 80 m. to become the third all time greek athlete.
Related pages: [Greek National Indoor Records][Greek National Records in 2000][Greek all time indoor lists: men, women][Greek best performances in 2000][Statistics]

January 29. 2, 34 m. for Vyacheslav Voronin in Arnstadt
 Athletics for this weekend activity started yesterday with the High Jump Meeting in Arnstadt, where Vyacheslav Voronin won with a season's best at 2, 34 m. The agenda also includes major International Meetings in Karlsruhe and Dortmund, two indoor meetings in Pireaus and Thessaloniki, an outdoor Hammer Throw competition in Athens and the European Clubs Cross Country Cup in Spain.

January 28. "Russian winter 2000" began in Moscow
 The Russian Winter 2000 indoor series started yesterday in Moscow, with enough impressing standards achieved by Russian athletes. Larisa Peleshenko threw a best world mark at 20, 39 m., Yuriy Borzakovskiy was once more very strong running