Is It Already Track Season? 2008 in Review

By Eric.

I don’t know about you, but I’m quite pleased the Olympics only occur once every fourth year. Any other years like the one which is winding down and has long since ended in terms of competition, and I’m not sure how much emotion, turmoil, ups and downs I’d have left in the tank to offer the sport as a fan. The summer season seemed to just conclude, and already, we’re looking at Bernard Lagat attempting to win a seventh Wannamaker Mile competition in New York in about a month.

Has it already been four years since Hicham El Guerrouj flashed two fingers up at the camera in complete disbelief that he’d won not only his first, but snuck by Kenenisa Bekele to win his second-ever Olympic gold medals in the same championships?

Was that the same Bekele who smashed the socks off his competitors in the 10.000m, and, following an additional 12,5 laps of qualifying, smashed his sly Kenyan rivals to smithereens with shifty pacing and a furious kick? Were those the same Kenyans who had to endure an indescribable hell to even reach the Olympics?

Watching Bekele come through in the 5.000m was breath-taking, but nothing took hold of my attention and belief than did the performances Usain Bolt put up individually in the short sprints and collectively with Asafa Powell and compatriots in the short relay. Four months later and quickly approaching a new year, I’ve finally let off the gas and have attempted to make sense­ – any – of times, marks and efforts which defied belief.

There are only so many times in a two-week time frame one has been able to listen the Russian national anthem or watch a gob-smacking number of Jamaican fans wave their hands in the air and shed tears for a boy who turned into a man by breaking two individual world records and helping his hapless team mate turn the tables on his own bitter-sweet championship record.

The Jamaican women didn’t fare too shabbily, either, one can say.

I don’t have a desire to re-hash all the happenings from this past year, but a few stand out to my liking and recollection, though others will be higher on your own personal priority lists and lodged deeper in your memory banks.

The anticipation surrounding the medal chase is so exhausting from a distance that I can only imagine what athletes must face from the indoor kick-offs to the final dash to the finish lines at a track stadium near you as they put their years of training to the test to determine if it would net them a medal in front of the world’s biggest audience. When the roof caves in and the rain falls on your parade in front of your own home fans, as it did for former 110m hurdle world-record holder Liu Xiang, the personal tragedy can be greater than one can ever imagine – even with the wildest of thoughts.

Closer up, however, that anticipation of winning was also so great, that it has caused many an athlete to turn to the darker side of sport, namely, doping, and attempt to squeeze on by through the corridors between right and wrong straight for the medal stand, lofty pay-outs and extreme adornment despite the methods by which they were to have been achieved – mark that, stolen.

Seven Russian women went down that path of destruction this season, caught in one of the largest doping conspiracies to hit the sport in the past 20 years – a time which also happened to be an Olympic year, and a location which also happened to be held in an Asian city. Ben Johnson has long since been removed from this sport, with his steroid-enabled times replaced by legal ones which raised the hair on the arms and laid the foundation for any number of clichés, questions and superlatives to be used.

Whilst on the topic of doping, let it be known that Marion Jones, who won honour and privilege by method of fraud eight years ago in Sydney, was confined to a prison unit many worlds away from the glittering flashes capturing images of greatness by athletes competing at the Bird’s Nest. She was released about two weeks following the extinguishing of the flame – a fitting image as her career can finally be extinguished and put to rest following years of denials about her involvement in performance-enhancing drugs. Six months of thinking time didn’t make Marion Jones smarter, however, it made her deny on national television in the United States in front of Oprah Winfrey that Marion Jones can and will take full and complete responsibility for her illegal actions rather than blaming someone else.

Lyudmyla Blonska, the outcast Ukrainian heptathlon competitor who was banned following a positive test in Beijing, has made it a case to blame someone else – in this case, that someone being her husband. She’s facing a lifetime ban from the sport if she is unable to clear this case with CAS. Carolina Klüft, our Swedish star who won every major heptathlon title available and decided to concentrate on the long and triple jumps this season, has been vocal about Blonska’s inclusion back in the sport following her first ban.

I didn’t get stung by the whole Marion Jones saga, but I got hit in the head and knocked over by Yelena Soboleva, instead. I picked Soboleva as my Indoor Athlete-of-the-Year on my blog following her incredulous runs at the World Indoor Championships in March, and believed with all honesty that she was competing clean. She tested clean, but with someone else’s urine. Yep, one star athlete’s chances went right down the toilet...literally.

I was anticipating a Soboleva match-up with Pamela Jelimo, the Kenyan teenager whom I can not truly describe with any adjective which correctly sums up her ability, year and mark left on this sport. Those match-ups never occurred, with Soboleva, who ran a world-leading 1.54,85 in Kazan in June, getting temporarily banned prior to the Olympics and unable to compete in the IAAF Golden League series.

That didn’t stop Jelimo, who broke on to the scene with death-defying times and eventually went on to win the Olympics, set a World Junior Record, a Kenyan National record and record one of the top-five times ever recorded for a female over two laps. Jelimo wasn’t simply precocious. She wasn’t fast in terms of having great wheels, either. She was more than dynamic, and she was more than dominant. She went from rags to riches – one million dollars richer – in one simple season which saw her line up for 15 races (including heats, rounds and finals), and win every single competition in which she entered over the 800m distance, running under 1.57,00 on nine of those occasions.

On the topic of Russian match-ups, I had two other ones to which I was greatly looking forward this season, namely those of Yuriy Borzakovskiy and Abubaker Kaki and Yelena Isinbayeva and Jenn Stuczynski in the pole vault.

Kaki, who concluded 2007 by running a solo 1.43, gained my uttermost attention this past winter season, running a world junior record in the 1.000m 10 minutes down the street at the GE Galan at Globen and then going on to win the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Spain in March. He kicked off outdoors on a high note, running a 1.42,69 at the Oslo Golden League meeting, setting up what was to be a very high expectation for great things to come on the men’s two-lap circuit.

Borzakovskiy, who anchored Russia to a national indoor record in the 4x800m this past winter, also notched a blistering time over the two-lap distance outdoors, running 1.42,79 three weeks ahead of the Beijing Olympics, and one week after setting a national record over 1.000m here in Stockholm at the DN Galan (2.15,50).

Sadly, neither athlete was anywhere near the medal stand following Wilfred Bungei’s surprise victory. I haven’t heard from Kaki since our two meetings this summer, and Borzakovskiy has vowed to return for more at the London 2012 Olympics, though by then there will be other Kaki-type athletes who will have cropped up by then, and Kaki, if he’s healthy and not burned out by then, will be the Wilson Kipketer of this generation.

First up for either athlete, will be the opportunity afforded Jelimo in 2008, namely a stab at a portion of (or all the proceeds outright of) the $1,000,0000 prize money for winning each of the Golden League competitions.

Isinbayeva, on the other hand, was one of two Russian athletes who came through for poor, selfish me this season. I’m a fan, dammit, and wanted a world record from the queen of the vault. Wow, did I get the best of two worlds this season: Isinbayeva got great competition from a gutsy challenger in Stuczynski, and Isinbayeva was able to set one world indoor record and establish three outdoor ones, culminating with an in-your-face 5.05m clearance in Beijing – some 25cm up on the American.

Olympic steeplechase champion Gulnara Galkina, was the other Russian who shone brightly in Beijing, capturing the event with history's first sub-nine clocking - a world record.

And these Olympic Games, ladies and gentlemen, were following the Olympic-size performances prep star German Fernandez put up in June in at the California State Meet and the Nike Outdoor Nationals, where, on successive occasions, he not only outclassed the best in the Class of 2008, he obliterated national federation (8.41,10) and national records (8.36,3) in the 3.200m and 2-mile, respectively. The 3.200m time was achieved following a 1.600m race which saw the lanky kid, who now attends Oklahoma State University and has already established a line of credibility on the NCAA scene, average just over 60 seconds per segment without stopping.

Prep athletes Jordan Hasay (USA Junior Record 4.14,50 in the 1.500m) and Jeffery Demps shone outstanding at the USA Olympic Trials, with Demps setting a new world junior record (the third in the group of five juniors listed here!) in the 100m at 10,01 seconds. Hasay won the girl’s 3.200m run (9.52,13) at the state meet minutes before Fernandez set chase to Dathan Ritzenhein’s Federation record, running the second-fastest time ever by a high school girl. After enduring a long season, which brought Hasay from the West Coast of the United States to the World Junior Championships in Poland, Hasay won every cross country race she entered this autumn, capping off a season of excellence by winning her second Footlocker Cross Country championship two weeks ago – three years after earning her first victory.

Usain Bolt stole (earned) the show(boating) in Beijing, becoming an instantaneous favourite the world round. The Olympics have a way of measuring your ability to succeed on exactly the right queue, and Bolt delivered. So did André Silnov, the Russian high jumper who was not initially selected for his team, delivered a world-leading 2.38m in London a month before the Games, was then selected to compete in Beijing and brought Russia joy in winning the event.

Stefan Holm, the 2004 Olympic high jump champion, won’t have any more opportunities to push his small frame through the air and take down the giants in his path – athletes like Jaroslav Rybakov, a perennial rival. Rybakov, who won a silver in Beijing to Holm’s fourth-place finish, is still very much on the scene, alive and well, and will be for some time coming. Holm, on the other hand, announced that this would be his final season, and he gave it everything he had.

Maria Mutola, the evergreen of the 800m crop, did, as well.

Christian Olsson, our triple jump specialist and 2004 gold medal winner, is also at a cross-road in his career, one which has been terrorised by injury since his winning jump in Athens four years ago. Olsson, like Holm, may have taken his final jumps on the field.

There were also a lot of disappointing moments in 2008, with Blanka Vlasic holding top spot in that category. Vlasic, who had a 20-plus win-streak going heading into Beijing, lost her bid to add an Olympic crown to her world title, as Tia Hellebaut, who is now retired and expecting a baby, earned the coveted crown in a magnificent fashion – and at a personal best height (2.05m). Vlasic eventually lost out on the Golden League jackpot as well, one which Jelimo was able to keep completely to herself as she headed back to Kenya following the season finale in Germany.

Susanna Kallur and LoLo Jones, two of the year’s best 100m hurdlers – with Kallur the world indoor record-holder and Jones, the fastest outdoors, both running into troubles over the hurdles in Beijing and being knocked from their four-year goals of making it to the medal stand. The semi-final was a bitter moment for Kallur, as she had to again endure a defeat at the hands of circumstance rather than the competition; Kallur also had an injury during the world indoor championships in March and missed the final, which Jones won.

There were a thousand small wonders in the world of athletics which made the 2008 season special, unique and a memorable one, for sure.

Did it honestly take me this long to mention LaShawn Merritt’s accomplishments in the 400m? Undisputed heavyweight champion at 400m over the previous Olympic champion, Jeremy Wariner. Or Dayron Robles in the men’s 110m hurdles? Rachid Ramzi’s perfection when it counted in Beijing, despite his show-boat semi-final?

Turning the attention back to the women, has it taken this long to speak of Veronica Campbell over Allyson Felix, with the former running a 21,74 in the Olympic 200m final? Christine Ohuruogu in the women’s 400m after falters at the shorter sprints appeared to have derailed her plans? Last, and not least, the efforts two other Ethiopians, Tirunesh Dibaba and Meseret Defar, put up in the 5.000m and/or 10.000m this summer? When will they feed off one another instead of ducking? Will the 14-minute barrier be breached if they worked collaboratively?

What will 2009 hold which can surpass this past season in overall greatness and provide an even greater degree of amazement? Is it fair to put this expectation on the sport, the athletes and the meeting arrangers?

Will more athletes like Craig Mottram, who broke off a working relationship with his coach, follow suit as Jeremy Wariner did earlier in the year? Will Alan Webb, the world's fastest miler in 2007 who did not advance to the Olympic Games, finally split with a coach who has mentored him since high school? As American distance runners continue migrating west to Eugene, will any superstars here in Europe join forces? Then again, we don't have many superstars left, so we're waiting on the Africans to trek here for spring cleaning.

I got my world record(s) from Isinbayeva, and Bolt single-handedly brought back life, spunk and a punkishness to the sport which it desperately needed in terms of a face-lift from the past. Can he run faster than 9,69 and/or 19,30 this season, and, if he does, how much faster? Would it be a failure if he doesn’t achieve those marks, but still wins the IAAF World Championships?

Time will tell in more ways than one.

____________________

2008 Season-Leaders (Final):

Men

100m. 9,69 WR Usain Bolt JAM
200m. 19,30 WR Usain Bolt JAM
400m. 43,75 LaShawn Merritt USA
800m. 1.42,69 Abubaker Kaki SUD
1500m. 3.31,49 Daniel Kipchirchir Komen KEN
Mile. 3.49,38 Andy Baddeley GBR
3.000m. 7.31,83 Edwin Soi KEN
5.000m. 12.50,18 Kenenisa Bekele ETH
10.000m. 26.25,97 Kenenisa Bekele ETH
Mar. 2.03.59 WR Haile Gebrselassie ETH
3.000SC. 8.00,57 Paul Kipsiele Koech KEN
110mH. 12,87 WR Dayron Robles CUB
400mH. 47,25 Angelo Taylor USA
HJ. 2,38 Andrey Silnov RUS
PV. 6,04 Brad Walker USA
LJ. 8,73 Irving Saladino PAN
TJ. 17,67 Nelson Évora POR
SP. 22,12 Adam Nelson USA
DT. 71,88 Gerd Kanter EST
HT. 84,51 Ivan Tikhon BLR
JT. 90,57 Andreas Thorkildsen NOR
Dec. 8832 Bryan Clay USA
20KM W. 1.16.43 Sergey Morozov RUS
50KM W. 3.34.14 WR Denis Nizhegorodov RUS
4x100m. 37,10 WR JAM
4x400m. 2.55,39 USA

Women

100m. 10,78 Shelly-Ann Fraser JAM, Torri Edwards USA
200m. 21,74 Veronica Campbell-Brown JAM
400m. 49,62 Christine Ohuruogu GBR
800m. 1.54,01 Pamela Jelimo KEN
1.500m. 3.56,59 Yelena Soboleva RUS
Mile. 4.18,23 Gelete Burka ETH
3.000m. 8.33,66 Vivian Cheruiyot KEN
5.000m. 14.11,15 WR Tirunesh Dibaba ETH
10.000m. 29.54,66 Tirunesh Dibaba ETH
Mar. 2.19.19 Irina Mikitenko GER
3.000mSC. 8.58,81 WR Gulnara Galkina RUS
100mH. 12,43 Lolo Jones USA
400mH. 52,64 Melaine Walker JAM
HJ. 2,06 Blanka Vlašic CRO
PV. 5,05 WR Yelena Isinbayeva RUS
LJ. 7,12 Naide Gomes POR
TJ. 15,39 Françoise Mbango CMR
SP. 20,98 Nadzeya Ostapchuk BLR
DT. 67,89 Iryna Yatchenko BLR
HT. 77,32 Aksana Menkova BLR
JT. 72,28 WR Barbora Špotáková CZE
Hep. 6733 Nataliya Dobrynska UKR
10KM W. 42.29 Tatyana Kalmykova RUS
20KM W. 1.25.11 Olga Kaniskina RUS
4x100m. 42,24 JAM
4x400m. 3.18,54 USA

Soboleva Earns My 2008 Female Indoor AOY Vote

Story written by Eric.

Last week-end's NCAA Championships officially closed the lid on the 2008 indoor season, and there were no shortage of great performances and record-setting marks accomplished around the globe by athletes on the elite level down to United States prep athletes who have yet to get much press or experience on the international stage.

Three women produced world records this season, and scores of other ones sprinted, jumped and leaned their ways to superlative marks which would have made headlines and captured votes on their own merits had the super elite failed to strike gold when it counted.

Yelena Soboleva, Susanna Kallur and Yelena Isinbayeva - names which reverberated from stadium to stadium this winter as they competed at their absolute bests this indoor campaign - each etched their names in the record annuals, and were each picked for gold in Valencia two week-ends ago when the entrants were declared.

Soboleva and Isinbayeva found favour and fortune on their side during the two-day event by coming up with victories.

Kallur, who led the world at 60m hurdles, had the untimely displeasure of becoming injured following her first-round heat and was never able to make it to the semi-finals, unfortunately, knocking her from the top of my personal AOY list despite her previously undefeated season and capturing three of the top-5 times ever recorded indoors in the event.

So that left the two Valencia teammates who share the same name, Yelena, up to take the honours.

Soboleva and Kallur started off the 2008 world-record chase by breaking all-time standards on 10-February, with Kallur, competing in Karlsruhe, knocking off a dubious hurdles record set 18 years and six days earlier by Ludmila Engquist - from whose dubious shadow she was attempting to run under.

Soboleva, on the other hand, knocked a few ticks off her own 1.500m world indoor record the same evening in Moscow.

The last of the record trio, Isinbayeva, competed six days later in Donetsk, Ukraine - a meeting site where she has earlier found vaulting nirvana, and set her third-consecutive world-record at the meet which vaulting legend Sergey Bubka had arranged.

The two athletes - tied at one world-record apiece - were even on paper, but one understands clearly that Isinbayeva, the superstar, having set her fourth world indoor record in as many years, was clearly ahead of her rival.

That was until Isinbayeva's next competition brought her back down to earth and behind Russian Svetlana Feofanova at Pedro's Cup in Bydgoszcz, Poland four days later, leaving Soboleva and Kallur undefeated prior to the world championships.

Soboleva, who finished the winter campaign with three personal bests, three national records and a world record to her credit, finished undefeated in five finals and contested one more meet than had Isinbayeva.

Soboleva earns my vote for Female Indoor Athlete of the Year for 2008 for twice bettering the previous 1.500m world indoor record (3.58,05 and 3.57,71); for netting the fourth-fastest mile ever recorded (4.20,21); and for demonstrating an incredible amount of resolve in taking two seconds from her previous 800m best at her national championships, running the fifth-fastest indoor time in history (1.56,49) - all without having run a step indoors last season.

Soboleva, a 25-year-old who competes for the Trade Unions club in Moscow, opened her 2008 compaign with a low-level 2.01,61 victory at the Moscow Challenge on 20-January.

Soboleva defeated Yekaterina Martynova, a 2.00,85 800m runner, by nearly two seconds in her first race since finishing four seconds down to Bahrain's Maryam Jamal in last September's World Athletics 1.500m final in Stuttgart.

The 800m time indicated Soboleva had decent fitness following an excellent outdoor campaign, and that she was on her way to perhaps a successful indoor campaign following a one-year hiatus from the winter season.

How much Soboleva would improve could never have been wildly guessed of one's life depended on it.

Soboleva, competing in her second indoor race in two years, contested the mile at the Russian Winter Games seven days later and demonstrated for both herself and her competitors that the world indoor 1.500m record-holder was at the top of the queue and may have genuinely had something incredible in store once the season picked up, clocking a national record time of 4.20,21.

Soboleva's achievement was history's fourth-fastest ever run, and the fastest since Romania's Doine Melinte set the current world indoor standard of 4.17,14 in February 1990.

Soboleva's outdoor best, 4.15,63, was set in Moscow in 2007.

Soboleva rested after her tiring mile and prepared to contest her national championships to again be held in Moscow 11 days later. She'd been entered in both the 800m and the 1.500m, and faced considerable competion in each event as single competitions, let alone coming in a double.

The 800m race was first.

Soboleva qualified first in her heat, running 1.59,56 - a time which wasn't completely taxing, but one which would take its toll on her by the time her 1.500m final was contested the following day. Waiting in the wings for an opportunity to strike at Soboleva's strength was Natalya Ignatova, who would run only 11/100 slower than Soboleva in the heats and qualify for the final.

Soboleva returned the following day to win the four-lap final with a very hard third 200m split, breaking apart from the field and powering home to a new personal best. Ignatova (1.58,84), Mariya Savinova (1.59,46) and Mariya Shapayeva (1.59,71) all set personal bests behind Soboleva, with the top-three each ending the season with the top marks in the world this year.

Being a world record-holder does not afford one an automatic gold medal - especially if one is contesting in the fiercely competitive Russian National Championships.

Soboleva would learn that lesson a few hours following her 800m victory, as 2006 World Indoor Champion and teammate Yuliya Fomenko attempted to run the legs off of Soboleva during the middle of the race.

Soboleva, who had considered dropping out of the 1.500m due to exhaustion, hung on in the race and drew from the well one final time to rush home and stop the clock in 3.58,05 - 0,23 faster than the world record she had set two years earlier.

Five of the nine women in the field set personal bests.

Soboleva travelled to Valencia rested and barely trained following a short, yet very intense, period of racing in February which had tired her.

The 12th IAAF World Indoor Championships 1.500m final generated the top-level excitement and energy fans had come to expect and anticipate, with Fomenko and Soboleva taking care of business up front and pushing each other up the 1.400m mark where Soboleva ultimately pulled away and ran away from her nearest three rivals in fast pursuit.

Soboleva's world record-setting performance (3.57,71) dragged Fomenko (3.59,41), Ethiopia's Gelete Burika (3.59,75) and Jamal (3.59,79) under the four-minute barrier, with all four women setting personal bests, and three of them new national bests in the process.

No woman in 2008 had the impact on the sport, the record books, their nation and their fellow competitors like Yelena Soboleva did. She inspired her comeptitors to run at their fullest capabilities, and she came out on the victorious end in the three races which counted most to her: her national championships and the world championships.

Yelena Soboleva just may take off 2009 as she did 2007 following a long season, but 2008 will leave memories far and deep to last several seasons over.

Croatia's Blanka Vlasic would have gotten a strong nudge at Soboleva's level had she been able to tie or break Kajsa Bergqvist's 2.08m world-record. She will receive an honourable mention, instead.

Yelena Soboleva's Personal Records:

• 800m indoors: 1.56,49 NR
  
• 800m outdoors: 1.57,28
• 1.500m indoors: 3.57,71 WR
  
• 1.500m outdoors: 3.56,43
• Mile indoors: 4.20,21 NR
  
• Mile outdoors: 4.15,63

Yelena Soboleva's 2008 Season:

• 2.01,61 Moscow Open Championships
• 4.20,21 Russian Winter
• 1.59,56 (Q) Russian National Championships
• 1.56,49 Russian National Championships
• 3.58,05 Russian National Championships
• 4.07,85 (Q) IAAF World Championships
• 3.57,71 IAAF World Championships
  

2008 World Indoor Champs: 800m Notes & Numbers Review

Story by Eric.

Three days of hurried pace, ups and downs and spectacular athletics performances have now left an emptiness in Valencia which the Qatari capital city of Doha hopes to fill when it plays host to the 13th edition in 2010.

Now that athletes have taken their final dives at the tape, picked their feet out of the sand boxes, spun one final time on a circular concrete slab and both jumped up to and over bars with their feet and with the use of fiberglass poles, one is left to ponder exactly what took place during a packed week-end of activities which provided one world record and drew the curtain on several athletes' careers.

Yelena Soboleva earned headlines on the final day of competition with her spectacular world record run on Sunday, reaching the tape in the 1.500m in 3.57,71 to eclipse her own world indoor record set at the Russian national indoor championships in February.

Moreover, Abubaker Kaki, the surprise 800m find, dispensed of a quality field which set personal bests in all finish spots, running 1.44,81.

There was more than enough drama to fill the tabloids, but were there enough good performances to fill interest in a sport where not all the top atheltes compete - especially in an Olympic year?

The IAAF put together a handy historical blueprint of the previous world indoor championships, one which will be heavily utilised in the analysis below.

The information is not to be taken as a prediction of what is in store for certain athletes, simply as an interesting side-note to understanding how certain athletes have performed against their peers both prior to - and at - the World Championships.

So, let's continue on in the world indoor analysis and compare apples to apples (and oranges), and see what the Men's 800m had to offer at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships compared to previous seasons.


800M RUN

The Men's 800m was one of the most-anticipated events of the three-day, three-round week-end, and the final did not disappoint with Eighteen-year-old Abubaker Kaki, a former Sudanese goalie in a local league, blasting South African Mbulaeni Mulaudzi - 2004 World indoor titlist and 2006 World Indoor Championships silver medalist - 1.44,81 to 1.44,91 in a tantalizing display of youth mixed with the splendid poise of a veteran.

• Kaki tripled his lifetime total of indoor races in Valencia, and did not leave fans or his competitors in want, leading each of the six athletes in the final to personal bests.
• Kaki lowered the Sudanese record from 1.48,69 to 1.46,09 in the first indoor race of his life in Leipzig last month, then demolished his new national record by another 1,28 seconds in only his second 800m final ever contested indoors.
• Not only had Kaki made a smashing success, he left his opponents helpless by skipping completely through the 1.46 barrier in his victory in Valencia.
• Kaki tied a precedent with his victory, as no other world indoor champion had ever run fewer lifetime indoor races before earning their first championship.
• Of the 13 champions, five have won in their first-ever season of indoor running: José Luiz Barbosa (1987), Paul Ereng (1989), Clive Terrelonge (1995), Mulaudzi (2004) and Kaki (2008).
• Terrelonge is the only World Indoor Champion whose outdoor seasonal best (1.47,30) the year prior to his victory was closest to his winning indoor mark (1.47,35), but he is also the only victor who has never broken 1.45,00 in his career.
• Terrelonge and Colomán Trabado (1985) are the only two winning athletes who didn't break 1.45,00 in the outdoor season leading up to their global indoor victories, meaning that good pace and excellent judgment also play a key ingredient in successful running.

Indoor running is as much about positioning as it is with pace (see the 400m review blog for more information), although the first to the pole in the four-lap race hasn’t always been the victor.

There are many maneuvers which unfold during the 800m – a race of both speed and endurance, that it becomes nearly impossible to pick a winner simply on best qualifying time or best position when the gun sounds.

That didn’t hold true for Kaki, however, as he did what many of his predecessors were either unwilling – or unable – to do in early March: take a pace out hard, hold it and stave off any challengers. In Kaki’s case, his challengers were all but gone at the 400m mark, with Mulaudzi the only athlete hanging on.

• Kaki's time is the third-fastest winning time ever run at the World Indoor Championships - trailing on Wilson Kipketer's world-record run in 1997 (1.42,67) and Yuriy Borzakovskiy's world junior-record time of 1.44,49 set in 2001 in Lisbon. Kipketer did run a world record in the 1997 preliminaries, however, stopping the clock at 1.43,96 during the fifth heat - more than four seconds faster than any other first-round heat. Kipketer is the only athlete to ever run under 1.44 and 1.43 - a feat he accomplished on the same week-end!
• Kaki missed the four-year-old African indoor record set by Kenya's Joseph Mutua in Stuttgart by only 0,10 seconds.
• Kaki, however, became the youngest gold medalist in the event, topping Borzakovskiy's previous distinction (19 years, 333 days) by well over 14 months. Kaki doesn't have the raw 400m speed that Borzakovskiy does, but it is of note to point out that Borzakovskiy went on to run a lifetime best of 1.42,47 the outdoor season following his World Indoor title.
• Outdoors, David Krummenacker (1.43,92) was the closest match of all previous champions to Kaki's season best (1.43,90) leading up to the World Indoor Championships.
• Kaki has excellent company in front of him, and his dream of catching and surpassing Sammy Kosgei's 1.42,28 world junior record would entail passing Borzakovskiy as well.
• Kaki's winning time most resembles Paul Ereng's 1.44,84, with the precocious yearling 0,03 seconds faster than was Ereng when he won the 1989 championships at age 21. It would not be out of the question to suggest that Kaki may follow a similar pattern to Ereng outdoors as well, as Ereng went on to record a 1.43,16.
• Ereng was more than a half-second faster than was Kaki in the season prior to their world indoor titles, but Kaki's race was contested as a near solo time-trial, whereas Ereng had the benefit of being towed in a Grand Prix event; it is with near certainty that Kaki would have run faster than 1.43,90 had he been challenged or had the aid of other athletes to follow.
• Wilson Kipketer sandwiched his world indoor record between a particular exploit no other athlete has ever been able to accomplish in the history of the sport: run 1.41 over 800m in consecutive seasons (1996, 1997).
• Of the 12 previous races contested before last week-end's final, Paul Ereng is the only athlete who has successfully defended his title.
• Prior to Kaki's front-running performance, Tom McKean (1993), Kipketer (1997) and Wilfred Bungei (2006) were the only winners who were leading the race at the 400m mark, with Kipketer having the distinction of running the swiftest half-way split (50,22) and fastest final time ever recorded.
• The only athletes who have managed to break 1.45,00 at the World Indoor Championships have managed to have the pace hit 51,26 or faster at the half-way point.
• McKean's claim to fame - besides his gold medal - is being the oldest of the 13 800m champions crowned. Bungei was knocked from the all-time top-10 list with Kaki's winning time, and thrust to 12th when Mulaudzi finished a tenth of a second behind.

Below are the previous champions, with the race's official 400m split listed.

The times indicated behind their marks are the previous season's 800m best and their subsequent 800m season's best outdoors following their indoor victories. Their absolute bests are not included, simply the best time they were able to record the year leading up to the world indoor championships.

• 1985: ..... 53,05/1.47,42 (1.45,15/0.00,00 - Trabado)
• 1987: ..... 52,71/1.47,49 (1.44,10/1.43,76 - Barbosa)
• 1989: ..... 50,83/1.44,84 WR (1.43,45/1.43,16 - Ereng)
• 1991: ..... 54,00/1.47,08 (1.43,70/1.44,06 - Ereng)
• 1993: ..... 51,59/1.47,29 (1.44,39/1.46,17 - McKean)
• 1995: ..... 53,40/1.47,30 (1.47,35/1.46,58 - Terrelonge)
• 1997: ..... 50,22/1.42,67 WR (1.41,83/1.41,11 - Kipketer)
• 1999: ..... 53,70/1.45,47 (1.44,57/1.43,91 - Botha)
• 2001: ..... 51,48/1.44,49 (1.44,33/1.42,47 - Borzakovskiy)
• 2003: ..... 52,93/1.45,69 (1.43,92/1.44,30 - Krummenacker)
• 2004: ..... 50,74/1.45,71 (1.42,89/1.44,56 - Mulaudzi)
• 2006: ..... 55,65/1.47,15 (1.43,70/1.43,31 - Bungei)
• 2008: ..... 51,26/1.44,81 (1.43,90/0.00,00 - Kaki)

Sudan now has a collection of gold, silver and bronze earned at the World Indoor Championships, with Kaki taking the top spot, and Yamilé Aldama earning the bronze in the triple jump in Moscow following her silver in Budapest in 2004.

Sudan has had only one other male competitor in the World Indoor Championships, Ali Abubakr Nagmeldin, a 400m athlete who did not make it out of the first round in Budapest.

Top-10 All-time Performer list (Indoors):

1.42,67 Wilson Kipketer, DEN, 9 Mar 97
1.44,15 Yuriy Borzakovskiy, RUS, 27 Jan 01
1.44,71 Joseph Mutua, KEN, 31 Jan 04
1.44,78 Pawel Czapiewski, POL 3 Mar 02
1.44,81 Abubaker Kaki, SUD 9 Mar 08
1.44,82 Mehdi Baala, FRA, 18 Feb 03
1.44,84 Paul Ereng, KEN, 4 Mar 89
1.44,88 Nico Motchebon, GER, 5 Feb 95
1.44,91 Sebastian Coe, GB, 12 Mar 83
1.44,91 Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, SA, 9 Mar 08


Next review: Men's 3.000m


Foto credits: IAAF.org

2008 World Indoor Champs Preview: Women

The 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships take place in Valencia, Spain at the week-end, and there are a number of excellent matchups track fans around the globe are eagerly awaiting.

There have been no shortage of excellent marks this winter season, with Russians Yelena Soboleva (1.500m) and Yelena Isinbayeva (Pole Vault) setting individual world-records in their disciplines.

Athletics in the News names a few of the events and athletes among the hundreds competing whom fans should keep their eyes on as the championships unfold.

______________________________________

Pole Vault:

Yelena Isinbayeva seeks third career World Indoor Pole Vault title after bettering her own World indoor record with 4.95m in Donetsk.

Isinbayeva did surrender her 23-competition unbeaten streak to Svetlana Feofanova in Bydgoszcz, however, with her teammate primed to stake claim to the title she last won in 2003 to go along with the two bronze and one silver medal she has won indoors.

The best of the rest would appear to be US champion Jennifer Stuczynski who has cleared 4.71m while the 2003 World Indoor bronze medallist, Monika Pyrek of Poland, has a successful 4.67m clearance next to her name this indoor season and is another with medal ambitions.

========================================================
2006 World Indoor Champion: Yelena Isinbayeva, RUS, 4.80m
WR 4.95m * Yelena Isinbaeva (RUS) - Donetsk, 16/02/2008
========================================================

World Indoor Leaders in the Pole Vault 2008:

4.95m Yelena Isinbaeva RUS
4.75m Yuliya Golubchikova RUS
4.71m Jennifer Stuczynski USA
4.71m Svetlana Feofanova RUS
4.70m Jennifer Stuczynski USA
4.67m Monika Pyrek POL
__________________________________________________

60m Dash:

American Angela Williams hopes to finally land her first elusive 60m title after winning silver medals at the 2001 and 2003 World Indoor Championships. The 28-year-old won her national title in Boston in 7,11, and appears to have the gold medal within her grasp.

Williams will face strong opposition from the joint-leaders on the World Lists, however, with Nigeria’s Ene Franca Idoko and Russia’s Yevgeniya Polyakova both having run 7,09 seconds.

========================================================
2006 World Indoor Champion: Me'Lisa Barber, USA, 7,01
WR 6,92 Irina Privalova (RUS) - Madrid, 11/02/1993
WR 6,92 Irina Privalova (RUS) - Madrid, 09/02/1995
========================================================

World Leaders at 60 Metres 2008:

7,09 Yevgeniya Polyakova RUS
7,09 Ene Franca Idoko NGR
7,11 Angela Williams USA
7,13 Kelly-Ann Baptiste TRI
7,15 Kim Gevaert BEL
7,15 Kelly-Ann Baptiste TRI
__________________________________________________

1.500m Run:

Russian Yelena Soboleva, the 2006 World Indoor silver medallist, appears ready to supplant gold medallist Yuliya Fomenko after lowering her own World record with 3.58,05 to win her national championships.

Fomenko won't roll over and play dead against her teammate, however, as she did run a personal best 4.00,21 at the National Championships behind Soboleva, and has the experience to defend against Soboleva, whom she defeated by a half-second two years ago when the event was staged in Moscow.

Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain, the 2007 World Outdoor Champion, will be a contender as well, though she has only one race under her belt this indoor season.

========================================================
2006 World Indoor Champion: Yuliya Chizhenko, RUS, 4.04,70
WR 3.58,05 * Yelena Soboleva (RUS) - Moskva, 10/02/2008
========================================================

World Indoor Leaders at 1.500 Metres 2008:

3.58,05 Yelena Soboleva RUS
4.00,21 Yuliya Fomenko RUS
4.03,33 Liliana Popescu ROU
4.03,68 Yekaterina Martynova RUS
4.04,30 Maryam Yusuf Jamal BRN
__________________________________________________

3.000m Run:

Meseret Defar aims to secure a hat-trick of World Indoor 3000m titles and join Romania's Gabby Szabo as the only female athletes to accomplish this feat.

The Ethiopian, courting a 15-meet win streak at this distance, has clocked 8.27,93 to lead the world this season, and has also smashed the two-mile world best with a super 9.10,50 run in Boston.

Defar set the current world indoor record last year at the Sparkassen invitational in Stuttgart, running 8.23,72, and also owns the world-record in the 5.000m outdoors, clocking 14.16,63 at the Bislett Golden League in Oslo, Norway last season.

Defar’s countrywoman, Meselech Melkamu, should be her main rival along with New Zealander Kim Smith, who, earlier this winter, set new national records in the mile and two-mile.

Melkamu was right up on Defar's shoulders in the world-record run last winter, running 8.23,74 - two one-hundredths of a second from winning and establishing her own world-record.

========================================================
2006 World Indoor Champion: Meseret Defar, ETH, 8.38,80
WR 8.23,72 Meseret Defar (ETH) - Stuttgart, 03/02/2007
========================================================

World Indoor Leaders at 3000 Metres 2008:

8.27,93 Meseret Defar ETH
8.29,48 Meselech Melkamu ETH
8.31,94 Gelete Burika ETH16/02/2008
8.33,37 Tirunesh Dibaba ETH
8.35,86 Mariem Alaoui Selsouli MAR
__________________________________________________

60m Hurdles:

Every 60m hurdles athlete competing against Susanna Kallur have seen nothing but her back as she has one nine 60m hurdles races this season, and now holds the five-fastest times in the world this year to go along with her 7,68 world record run in Karlsruhe last month.

Kallur's main rival is likely to be US champion LoLo Jones who ran a new personal best of 7,77 for second in Karlsruhe behind Kallur.

Kallur, who is a twin sister and daughter of legendary New York Ranger Anders Kallur - a four-time Stanley Cup winner, was meant to contest her national indoor championships two weeks ago, but pulled out to rest and recuperate following a slate of all-time performance races. Kallur placed third in the 2006 World Indoor Championships contested in Moscow.

========================================================
2006 World Indoor Champion: Derval O'Rourke, IRE, 7,84
WR 7,68 * Sanna Kallur (SWE) - Karlsruhe, 10/02/2008
========================================================

World Indoor Leaders at 60 Metres Hurdles 2008:

7,68 Susanna Kallur SWE
7,77 LoLo Jones USA
7,85 Damu Cherry USA
7,89 Yauhenia Valadzko BLR
7,90 Anay Tejeda CUB
__________________________________________________

High Jump:

Blanka Vlasic, the 2007 World Championships gold medallist, is unbeaten in six competitions this winter - and has a 21-straight indoors/outdoors winning streak.

Vlasic set a new national record of 2.05m in Weinheim last Tuesday, and has her sites set on denying Russia's Yelena Slesarenko a third indoor title.

Slesarenko defeated Vlasic by 2cm in Moscow two years ago, and is also undefeated this season. Vlasic's last loss in a high jump competition was to Slesarenko at the 2007 Olso Golden League meeting in June.

Another threat in the competition will be Germany's Ariane Friedrich, who has jumped over 2.00m three times this winter - including a new lifetime best of 2.02m behind Vlasic in Weinheim.

========================================================
2006 World Indoor Champion: Yelena Slesarenko, RUS, 2.02m
WR 2.08m Kajsa Bergqvist (SWE) - Arnstadt, 04/02/2006
========================================================

World Indoor Leaders in the High Jump 2008:

2.05m Blanka Vlašic CRO
2.02m Yelena Slesarenko RUS
2.02m Ariane Friedrich GER
2.00m Yekaterina Savchenko RUS
1.99m Vita Palamar UKR

Radcliffe Awarded Laureus Prize

Laureus World Sports Awards 2008
For immediate publication

(By way of e-mail, of which I am an accredited media member with the Laureus organisation)

PAULA RADCLIFFE RECEIVES LAUREUS AWARD AND HOPES FOR GOLDEN SUMMER IN BEIJING

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, March 3, 2008 – A delighted Paula Radcliffe interrupted her pre-Olympic altitude training in New Mexico to receive the 2008 Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award.

Britain’s legendary long distance runner, who had been unable to receive the Laureus Award earlier, said:

“I’m really thrilled to receive this Laureus Award and would like to say a big thank you to the members of the Laureus World Sports Academy. I’ve been nominated four times before, and that in itself has always been a special achievement and recognition for me. To finally win it this time really means a great deal – and I thank Laureus for that.

“Hopefully, with a little bit of luck – and a lot of hard work – I’ll be back next year, having achieved what I dream of in Beijing.

“I would also like to say a big thank you to the sport network that I have, mostly my husband Gary but also my family and friends who have made my achievements possible. I think to win a Laureus is an amazing recognition.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to make the ceremony in St Petersburg, and this has been the earliest opportunity I have had to receive the Award. I know there has been some comment on that, but my training schedule here in New Mexico has made things difficult, and this has been the first opportunity.”

Radcliffe, 34, made her comeback to racing in the autumn of 2007 after two years absence to give birth to her first child and to recover from a stress fracture of the lower back. She made her return at the Great North Run half-marathon in Newcastle, UK, in September where she finished second, then five weeks later she won the New York Marathon.

She said: “I think my achievement in New York was probably the key element in me being nominated. I had my daughter Isla in January 2007 then had a few hiccups returning to training, picked-up an injury, had to sit out the World Championships which was very frustrating, then came back to run in the Great North Run which was a stepping stone to New York.

“I wasn’t surprised to win in New York; I wouldn’t have gone to New York if I didn’t feel, from the training indications that I was in shape to win the race. I certainly knew I had a lot of pent-up emotion and determination from the difficulties I’d been through, and also a lot of happiness from the birth of my daughter which contributed to a positive performance.

“I think I surprised a few people who thought that after having a baby I couldn’t come back like that, but I myself never doubted it but neither did the people around me. The most important thing is that I did win and I am now able to build upon that for Beijing.”

The challenge for a gold medal at the Olympics in Beijing is now the paramount focus of Radcliffe’s year.

She said: “I think for any athlete the Olympics is the pinnacle – it’s that little bit more special. Winning a gold at the Olympics is that much better than winning a gold at the World Championships, which I have. I think for me also, having been to three Olympics, where I feel I’ve never been able to achieve my maximum potential, there is an added fire and momentum and, yes, added pressure to perform in Beijing. I also feel that having been through what I have been through in previous Olympics, I’ve already experienced the worst that can happen and I’ve come through and survived, so for me the pressure is less.

“I actually feel that that experience will make me stronger in Beijing. I think you can go into it with a little bit too much pressure on your shoulders. I think my previous experiences will help me treat it like another marathon. What I need to do is go there 100% healthy, 100% fit and then just give it the best shot on the day.

“It will be warm in Bejing, it will be humid – which I think will be a bigger factor, but in the past I have always raced well in hot and humid conditions. Obviously, times will be slower but it will be tougher for everybody, but in some ways that will be better for me because a tougher race means the tougher racers will come to the top.

“There will be strong opposition from the Chinese in their own country, from the Japanese who have a great record at Olympic games, from the Kenyan girls and Ethiopian girls. You can’t go in looking at one single person, but at a group of people from where the danger might come, but also be prepared for someone who comes in really good shape who you might not be expecting and be ready to handle that too,” said Radcliffe.

Laureus World Sports Academy Chairman Edwin Moses, a two-time Olympic champion at 400 metres hurdles, said:

"Paula is renowned as a great fighter. She is a runner I admire enormously for her determination and her commitment. When someone is out of running for two years when they are in their 30s you do wonder if they are going to be able to come back as fit and as strong, but Paula certainly showed she was when she won in New York. I wish her all the best for the Beijing Olympics."

The other nominees for the Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award were British 400 metres runner Christine Ohuruogu, Australian 400 metres hurdler Jana Rawlinson, US golfer Steve Stricker, England rugby player Jonny Wilkinson and the Gt.Britain Rugby League Team.

The Laureus World Sports Awards is the only global sports awards honouring the greatest sportsmen and women across all sports each year. The winners are selected by the ultimate sports jury - the 45 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, a collection of the world's greatest sportsmen and women. The living legends of sport honouring the great athletes of today.

The 2008 Awards were presented in seven categories.

The winners were:

• Laureus World Sportsman of the Year: Roger Federer
• Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year: Justine Henin
• Laureus World Team of the Year: South African Rugby Team
• Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year: Lewis Hamilton
• Laureus World Comeback of the Year: Paula Radcliffe
• Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability: Esther Vergeer
• Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year: Shaun White

There were three special Awards: The Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Ukraine pole vault legend Sergey Bubka, while Dick Pound, who retired after eight years as Chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency received the Laureus Spirit of Sport Award. American brothers Brendan and Sean Tuohey were the recipients of the Laureus Sport for Good Award for their work in founding the PeacePlayers International project.

The Patron of Laureus is Nelson Mandela.
At the inaugural Laureus World Sports Awards in 2000, President Mandela said: "Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can awaken hope where there was previously only despair." This has become the philosophy of Laureus; the driving force behind its work.

Laureus is a universal movement that celebrates the power of sport to bring people together as a force for good. Laureus is composed of three core elements - the Laureus World Sports Awards, the Laureus World Sports Academy and the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation - which collectively celebrate sporting excellence and harness the power of sport to promote social change.

The Laureus World Sports Awards is the premier global sports awards honouring the greatest sportsmen and women across all sports each year. The winners are selected by the ultimate sports jury - the 45 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, the living legends of sport honouring the great athletes of today. The Awards are presented at an annual Awards Ceremony, attended by global figures from sport and entertainment, which is broadcast to 180 countries each year.

There is a two-part voting process to find the winners of the Laureus World Sports Awards. Firstly, a Selection Panel of the world's leading sports editors, writers and broadcasters votes to create a shortlist of six nominations in five categories – Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year, Laureus World Team of the Year, Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year and Laureus World Comeback of the Year. The nominations for two additional categories - the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year and the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability are produced by Specialist Panels. The members of the Laureus World Sports Academy then vote by secret ballot to select the Award winners in all seven categories.

The members of the Laureus World Sports Academy are: Giacomo Agostini, Marcus Allen, Severiano Ballesteros, Franz Beckenbauer, Boris Becker, Ian Botham, Sergey Bubka, Bobby Charlton, Sebastian Coe, Nadia Comaneci, Yaping Deng, Marcel Desailly, Kapil Dev, David Douillet, Emerson Fittipaldi, Sean Fitzpatrick, Dawn Fraser, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Mika Hakkinen, Tony Hawk, Mike Horn, Miguel Indurain, Michael Johnson, Kip Keino, Franz Klammer, Dan Marino, John McEnroe, Edwin Moses (Chairman), Nawal El Moutawakel, Robby Naish, Ilie Nastase, Martina Navratilova, Alexei Nemov, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Morné du Plessis, Hugo Porta, Vivian Richards, Monica Seles, Mark Spitz, Daley Thompson, Alberto Tomba, Steve Waugh and Katarina Witt.

The Laureus Academy members volunteer their services as global ambassadors for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which was set up to promote the use of sport as a tool for social change. The Foundation addresses social challenges through a worldwide programme of sports related community development initiatives. Its work focuses on helping young people overcome poverty, homelessness, war, violence, drugs abuse, discrimination and AIDS. Since its inception over 150,000 underprivileged young people have been helped in over 50 projects around the world.

Laureus is supported by its Founding Patrons Richemont and Daimler represented by their brands IWC Schaffhausen and Mercedes-Benz

IWC Schaffhausen
For more than a century, IWC Schaffhausen has been producing precision products of complex functionality and outstanding user-friendliness for watch connoisseurs who expect more from their watch than just having an accurate timekeeper. Since its foundation in 1868, the International Watch Company has built up a reputation as a long-established Swiss watchmaking firm with a passion for inventions, innovative solutions and technical refinements. Today the brand is more successful than at any time in its history. IWC uses this strength in a programme of corporate social responsibility initiatives at home and abroad. In 2005, IWC entered into a long-term commitment to become a Founding Partner of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.

Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz, the world's oldest automaker, can look back on a unique tradition. The premium brand stands for modern, innovative automobiles, for quality, safety, comfort and design. Mercedes-Benz enjoys an excellent reputation, particularly in the area of safety technology. Many pioneering technical innovations that are standard automotive features today were first seen in a Mercedes-Benz car. The car with the star also has an excellent reputation with regard to quality, value for money and customer satisfaction. Mercedes-Benz is a Founding Partner of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. Since the beginning of the Foundations' operations in 2000, Mercedes-Benz has shared and supported the goals and values of this worldwide charity programme where sports play the core role in the fight against social issues - Laureus has become a vital element of the corporate social responsibility programme of Mercedes-Benz

Isinbayeva's Win-Streak Ends at 23

Story written by Eric

Russian Yelena Isinbayeva stared down the runway at the indoor meeting in Donetsk on Saturday, pushed her pole up into the air and ran down the track surface toward the pit with focus and determination to please a sell-out crowd eager to see their neighbouring star make history yet again in their small indoor meeting which legend Sergei Bubka had arranged.

Isinbayeva planted her pole and vaulted herself up very high into an indoor arena in the Ukrainian city, lifting her frame 495 centimetres into the air, over the bar and landing back down on a mat. She smiled, the crowd roared, and Isinbayeva was back at it again - in the business of setting world records and collecting bonus checks for clearing heights which have eluded other athletes in her discipline.

The Volgograd native, who now lives in Monaco, had also kept her opponents at bay for the 23rd consecutive time - the 15th indoors, with only Qatar's world record-holding steeplechaser, Saif Saaeed Shaheen, owning a longer win-streak (25 competitions).

Isinbayeva's fortunes changed in the Polish town of Bydgoszcz on Wednesday night, however, with her long-time formidable foe and country mate Svetlana Feofanova, the last person to defeat her indoors, earning the right to stand atop the medal podium in the Pedro's Cup meeting after clearing a height of 4,71m on her first attempt -- 24cm below Isinbayeva's new personal best.

Isinbayeva, who won last year's competition at 4,84m, finished tied with Poland's own Monika Pyrek for second, with both athletes clearing 4,61m, respectively. Russia's Yuliya Golubchikova also cleared 4,61m, but finished fourth on misses.

Feofanova, 27, the former indoor (4,85m) and outdoor (4,88m) world record-holder, had last defeated Isinbayeva at the Tsiklitiria Iráklio meeting outdoors (4,88m to 4,65m) on 2004-July-4, and had been winless against her rival in 26-consecutive meetings following that victory.

Isinbayeva's last indoor loss, dating back to 16 competitions, was on 2004-February-2 at Athina 2004, where Feofanova cleared 4,85m to Isinbayeva's 4,50m.

Isinbayeva, who had endured a long and drawn-out vault competition in Donetsk followed by a guest appearance at the Laureus Awards in St. Petersburg on Monday, was unable to get her feet underneath her in Bydgoszcz.

"My body was not working well after much traveling and responsibilities in the last few days," she said to reporters afterward.

"Straight from Donyetsk I was flying to St. Petersburg for The Laureus Awards and then here again. I was aware that this was risky and that I would not be in the best condition, but still was thinking something around 4.80m would be enough to win today. I thought I would make it anyway, but there was nothing in my legs.

"But it was difficult to say no to any of my commitments. In this respect I am not disappointed."

Feofanova, the 2004 Olympic silver medallist and former world indoor champion who has never finished lower than third in her four IAAF World Indoor Championship competitions, beat a who's who cast of Polish athletes as well in recording her 33rd competition over 4,70m.

Isinbayeva has cleared 4,70m 20 more times than Feofanova, her athletics brides-maid, who is not on great speaking terms with her.

Pyrek, who lost her national indoor record to Anna Rogowska -- who finished fifth -- in 2006, and Isinbayeva had never before finished tied in a competition -- though they had both no-heighted once during their competitive careers dating back to 1999.

Isinbayeva will now take some needed time to recuperate from a heavy travel and competition period once she lands in Paris this week for an upcoming competition in Aubiere, where she will attempt to start a new win-streak in five days.

Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlasic has now taken over Isinbayeva's spot as the female athlete with the longest win-streak, having notched her 20th-consecutive in Split last week.
======================================

Results:

1. Svetlana Feofanova, Russia, 4,71m
2. Yelena Isinbayeva, Russia, 4,61m
2. Monika Pyrek, Poland, 4,61m
4. Yuliya Golubchikova, Russia, 4,61m
5. Anna Rogowska, Poland, 4,51m
6. Nataliya Kushch, Ukraine, 4,41m
7. Joanna Piwowarska, Poland, 4,31m
-- Fabiana Murer, Brazil, NM
-- Paulina Debska, Poland, NM

Isinbayeva (4.95m), Bekele (8.04,34) Set WR's

Story written by Eric

In her 2008 debut, Yelena Isinbayeva, 25, raised her own World record indoors to 4.95m today at the Pole Vault Stars meeting in Donetsk, Ukraine, and won a $50.000 bonus for eclipsing the top mark ever achieved indoors.

Isinbayeva, the reigning IAAF World Indoor Champion, added two centimetres to the previous indoor mark she set one year ago at the same venue, and won by 13 centimetres over teammate Yuliya Golubchikova, who finished second with a 4.72m clearance. Poland's Monika Pyrek placed third with a 4.67m vault.

Isinbayeva has now faced Golubchikova 20 times, and has gotten the better of her rival on each of those occasions - the final 13 coming as victories. Pyrek, the 2003 IAAF World Indoor bronze medallist (4.45m), has 11 victories in 63 competitions against Isinbayeva, and has not defeated her since winning the 2006 DN Galan in Stockholm.

This was the third-consecutive year in which Isinbayeva, who has leaped a world record of 5.01m outdoors, broke the indoor mark in Donetsk. Isinbayeva jumped 4.93m in Donetsk last year, and 4.91m in 2006.

Isinbayeva's winning mark today was her 22nd world record in the pole vault and was her first personal-best mark set in 12 months and 17 competitions. She also managed to clear 4.70m or higher for the 53rd time in her career. Isinbayeva had not competed since 2007-October-3 when she vaulted to a firsts-place 4.80m victory in Daegu, Korea.

Isinbayeva, who also is the reigning Olympic, World and European champion, has a 23-finals win-streak and has set world indoor records at least once during the past five seasons. She has been pre-selected to represent Russia at next month's IAAF World Indoor Championships in Valencia, where she will defend the title she won two years ago in Moscow.

Next up for the wealthy Russian is a stop in St. Petersburg on Monday to participate in the 2008 Laureus Awards, where the popular Russian will learn if she has been selected Sportswoman of the Year.

Justine Henin (Belgium, Tennis), Carolina Klüft (Sweden, Athletics), Libby Lenton (Australia, Swimming), Marta (Brazil, Football) and Lorena Ochoa (Mexico, Golf) are the other nominated stars up for the award.

Sergey Bubka, who holds the men's indoor and outdoor pole vault records and put on the meet, was on hand to witness Isinbayeva's record feat. Bubka set the still-standing world indoor mark of 6.15m in Donetsk in 1993. Bubka will also be in attendance Monday at the Laureus award show.

BEKELE BREAKS MENTOR'S 2-MILE RECORD

Birmingham, England -- Kenenisa Bekele, holder of four middle- and long-distance world records, struck again today at the Norwich Union indoor Grand Prix meeting, running two miles in 8 minutes 4.34 seconds, setting his third record at the English indoor venue.

Bekele, who earned a $30.000 bounty for breaking Haile Gebrselassie's indoor mark by a scant 0,34 seconds, was challenged by Paul Koech, the 2007 IAAF World Outdoor steeplechase champion, throughout the final mile until Bekele pulled away on the backstretch of the final lap.

Koech, who has a lifetime best of 7.33,93 outdoors in the 3.000m, ran to a new national Kenyan record of 8.06,48 in finishing second, with Abraham Chebii of Kenya finishing third in a personal-best time of 8.13,28.

Bekele and Koech lined themselves up to make it a 1-2 race following the final rabbit through the 1.600m mark, covered in 4 minutes 0,58 seconds. Bekele then assumed the pacing duties over his stalking challenger at the 2.000m mark, a split which he covered in 5.00,61. Koech appeared to bide his time as he sat back in second when Bekele put in a 59,8-second quarter split to break open the race.

Koech appeared to find a reprieve when Bekele slowed during the next 200m segment and fell off the blistering pace following a 62,9 split leading up to 2.800m, but the Kenyan finally felt the Ethiopian's pace's too much to handle once the pair hit the 3.000m marker in 7.34 -- one second off of Koech's personal best.

Bekele has done particularly well in Birmingham, having run a world record in the 2.000m (4.49,99) last season, and setting the current indoor 5.000m record (12.49,60) there in 2004.

Bekele made a valiant attempt in 2006 to break Gebrselassie's 2-mile world record -- which was also the Ethiopian national record, but fell 0,43 seconds short.

The 2008 indoor season is proving to be a highly competitive one leading up to the Olympic Games, with no less than four world records set within the past six days.

Select results from Birmingham:
Full results

1		Kenenisa BEKELE	ETH	8:04.35				WR
2		Paul KOECH	KEN	8:06.48				NR
3		Abraham CHEBII	KEN	8:13.28				PB
4		Markos GENETI	ETH	8:16.49				SB
5		Bekana DABA	ETH	8:18.92				PB
6		Mo FARAH	GBR	8:20.95				PB
7		Nick MCCORMICK	GBR	8:26.44				PB
8		Erik SJOQVIST	SWE	8:36.74				NR
9		Francisco ESPANA	ESP	8:43.31				PB
10		Adam BOWDEN	GBR	8:47.57				PB
		Javier CARRIQUEO	ARG	DNF
		Bikila DEMMA	ETH	DNF

Split Times

1000m		CARRIQUEO	ARG			2:29.66
2000m		BEKELE	ETH		(2:30.95)	5:00.61
3000m		BEKELE	ETH		(2:33.99)	7:34.60
Finish		BEKELE	ETH		(29.75)	8:04.35