Wilson Kipketer of Denmark
and Marion Jones of the USA have been voted Athletes of the Year by the
Council of the International Athletic Foundation (IAF), whose Honorary
President is the Hereditary Prince Albert of Monaco. The result was announced
by IAAF President Dr Primo Nebiolo in a press conference at the Hotel Loews.
The Chinese National Championships were held in Shanghai with a lot of fantastic records, especially in the Women's events. The discussion over the possibility of such records by the Chinese started once again, after the 1993 championships. Track & Field fans worldwide express their doubt over the new records. Their questions are: Was the track shorter? (Its seems that the Chinese perform so well only on Chinese ground...), Do they use banned substances? (Remember the Turtle Blood arguments...), It is October after all, isn't it? (It is the end of a long period but the Chinese women are in top form right now...), Where were all those girls when the World Championships were held in Athens? (Only few of the athletes appeared in Athens -and those who appeared did not have the success that such times should provide...). Those in favor of the Chinese say that it is possible for such a huge country to have so many top athletes that perform so well at this time of the year, because they prepared especially for the National Championships, which (in China) are supposed to be more important than the World Championships... Maybe they 're right, but this site is not ready to acknowledge the 12 new World and the 6 new Asian Records held in Shanghai, yet. Maybe later!
4. 10. 97: Shem Corroria and Tegla Loroupe of Kenya are the World Champions in Half Marathon
It was a fast race for the
male competitors and Shem Corroria had to make a pretty good finish to
beat his fellow Kenyans Moses Tanui and Kenneth Cheruiyot. The first two
managed to run the distance faster than one hour. The Kenyan team, as it
is obvious was the absolute winner in Men. But, although Tegla Loroupe
won the Women's title, it was the Romanian team with Pomacu, Simon and
Olaru that won the Team title. The full
results are posted on our site. For more details you can visit the
IAAF
site.
Wilson Kipketer of Denmark and Astrid Kumbernuss of Germany are the Grand Prix overall champions, after the Finals that were held in Fukuoka today. Kipketer was undefeated in Men's 800 m., while Kumbernuss was the star at Women's Shot Put. The interesting results of the day were Fredericks' 19" 81, Hansen's 15, 15 m. and Bubka's 6, 05 m.
5. 9. 97: Athens to host the 2004 Olympics.
Today the IOC has decided
to award the 2004 Olympics to the city of Athens. It is considered as an
historical decision as the Olympic games will return to their home, Greece,
after 108 years. Athens had hosted the first modern Olympics at 1896. The
Greeks were very excited to hear the news, especially after the negative
decision for Athens 1996, some years ago, when Atlanta was awarded the
centennial Olympics. You can find out why the IOC has chosen Athens and
Greece by visiting the Athens 2004
site.