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.

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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

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

IAAF World Championships: Soboleva Crushes WR

Story written by Eric.

Russia's Yelena Soboleva established her second world record at 1.500m this indoor season, running 3 minutes 57,71 seconds to win her first World Indoor title at the IAAF Championships in Valencia.

Soboleva, who finished second two years ago to teammate Yuliya Fomenko, out-sprinted her rival with a powerful kick the final 100m over the 200m track, and won going-away, taking off 0,34 seconds from the record she set at the Russian Indoor National Championships two weeks ago.

Soboleva, 25, ran to the front of the race during the first 100m, and was followed by Bahrain's Maryam Jamal and Fomenko early in the race. Soboleva ran a controlled 30,95 split at the 200m mark and continued running what appeared to be content and effortless through at first-lap split of 63,26.

There was no change in the top-3 order until the 600m mark, reached in 1.35,66, with Fomenko taking over pacing duties.

Fomenko and and Soboleva towed the field through a very respectable 2.07,89 to drag Jamal and Ethiopian Geleta Burka with them in a front pack of four.

Fomenko reached the 1.000m mark just under 2.40, splitting 2.39,90 off of a 32,01 segment from the 800m mark. Soboleva continued to look content to bide her time in second as they passed the clock with 400m remaining in an incredible 2.55 on the clock.

Fomenko continued her excellent running and attempted to take the kick out of her teammate, hitting the 1.200m split in 3.11,53 (31,63), and then surged very hard to attempt to deflate Soboleva's 1.56 800m speed.

Soboleva didn't relent, however, and took the lead at 1.300m (3.27). Soboleva's move was a decisive one, and she took the field through a 3.42,27 for 1.400m (30,74 split).

Needing to run just under 16,00 to break the world record, Soboleva ran 15,44 over the final turn and straight to finish in world-record time.

Fomenko finished second in a new personal best time of 3.59,41, with Burka third in an African record time of 3.59,75. Jamal, the 2007 IAAF World Outdoor champion, finished without a medal, but could be content with setting a new personal best of 3.59,79.

Four women in all finished with new national records. Soboleva earned a bonus of $50.000 for setting a world record, and pocketed $40.000 for the victory.

Soboleva's was the only world record set at the championships, which concluded this evening.

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IAAF World Indoor Championships

Women's 1.500m Final

1, Yelena Soboleva, RUS, 3.57,71 (WR); 2, Yuliya Fomenka, RUS, 3.59,41 (PB); 3, Gelete Burka, ETH, 3.59,75 (AR); 4, Maryam Yusuf Jamal, BRN, 3.59,79 (AR); 5, Daniela Yordanova , BUL, 4.04,19 (NR); 6, Liliana Popescu, ROM, 4.07,61; 7, Bouchra Ghézielle, FRA, 4.08,66; 8, Siham Hilali MAR 4.15,54; Sonja Roman, SLO, DNF

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KAKI CAPS SENSATIONAL DEBUT WITH VICTORY

Abubaker Kaki entered the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships with exactly three races under his belt: an 800m in Leipzig which netted him the second-fastest time of the year (1.46,06), and two 1.000m races - the first which nabbed the 18-year-old the world junior record in Stockholm (2.15,77).

Kaki tripled his lifetime total of indoor races in Valencia, and did not disappoint in his attack on a truly stellar field, winning a stunning race against South African Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, 1.44,81 to 1.44,91.

Mulaudzi was the 2004 world indoor champion and Olympic silver medallist behind Yuriy Borzakovskiy in Athens, and had possessed the most experience and the highest credentials of the contestants in the final.

Though Mulaudzi was only able to equal his standing set two years ago in Moscow, he did set a new national record tonight in the process.

Bronze medallist Yusuf Saad Kamal of Burundi (1.45,26) and fourth-placer Dmitrijs Milkevics (1.45,72), who had the third-fastest time in the world entering the final (1.46,09), also set national records in a race won with the third-fastest time ever run in the World Indoor Championships.

The field was so deep that fifth-placer, Russian Dmitry Bogdanov (1.45,76) and American Nick Symmonds (1.46,48), who had looked very strong in his heat and semi-final races, set personal records in what was truly one of the highlights of the evening behind Soboleva's world record run mentioned above.

Symmonds' time was only 0,01 of a second from equalling the best mark for sixth place in the championships.

Kaki stated prior to the opening race that he wouldn't underestimate his competitors, but the strong Sudanese took the lead from the gun and split 24,92 - 51,26 the first two laps before Mulaudzi gave chase.

Entering the final lap, Kaki split 1.18,28 at the 600m mark, and all eyes in the stadium were on the fast-kicking Mulaudzi as he prepared to overtake his junior runner. Mulaudzi pushed Kaki hard down the backstretch, and it appeared that Kaki would not find the strength to hold off Mulaudzi, who has a 1.42,89 outdoor best.

Kaki came off the final turn with his arms pumping hard, his neck strained and his eyes on the finish line as Mulaudzi, running to his right in lane two, came up even with him, and attempted to overtake him with the remaining metres to the finish line in sight.

Malaudzi was unable to negotiate a better finishing spurt than Kaki, however, and the 18-year-old claimed his sixth victory in as many races this indoor season, running the second-fastest world junior time in history behind Borzakovskiy's 1.44,35 -- and the fastest time in the world since 2004.

Kaki's superlative mixture of strength and speed will make it very challenging for anyone to match strides with him as he takes a break, rests and prepares to translate his new-found talents to the outdoor oval.

Kaki shouldn't have too difficult a time with that, however, as he ran a solo 1.43 800m in November to fly under the radar nearly two months following the conclusion to the normal Grand Prix season.

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IAAF World Indoor Championships

Men's 800m Final

1, Abubaker Kaki, SUD, 1.44,81 (WL); 2, Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, RSA, 1.44,91 (NR); 3, Yusuf Saad Kamel, BRN, 1.45,26 (AR); 4 Dmitrijs Milkevics, LAT, 1.45,72 (NR); 5 Dmitriy Bogdanov, RUS, 1.45,76 (PB); 6 Nick Symmonds, USA, 1.46,48 (PB)

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TARIKU BEKELE (7.48,23) STEPS OUT OF SHADOWS

The men's 3.000m featured a stunning field which included Australian Craig Mottram, Kenya's Paul Koech and Ethiopians Tariku Bekele -- the 2008 world indoor leader at this distance, and teammate Abreham Cherkos, who holds the world youth best for the outdoor 3.000m (7.32,37), and the 5.000m (12.54,19), and who also set the World Junior record at this distance (7.38,03) in Stuttgart on 2-February.

Mottram, who holds a 3.48 mile best and set a national record in the 3.000m last month with a 7.34,50, and Koech, the 2007 World Outdoor Champion in the steeplechase, were expected to be Bekele's biggest challengers.

All seemed to play into the kickers' race the first kilometre, covered in 2.48,58 - a pace which Ethiopian women's winner, Meseret Defar, could have managed without difficulty.

Koech, who ran 8.06,48 over two miles in finishing second to Bekele's older brother, Kenenisa, in Birmingham on 16-February, took over the pacing charge to lead the field through a sub-par 5.25,71 (2.42,88 pace) - but one which surprisingly begun stringing out the field a bit as Bekele began to position himself for a long drive home to the finish.

Bekele made a terrific move with three laps remaining, and inflicted a great deal of hurt on the kickers in the race, covering his final 1.000m in 2.22,5 and finishing off his final 1.500m in 3.40 - a pace which would have kept him in contention in the open 1.500m race contested the prior evening!

Bekele's winning time of 7.48,23 wasn't the fastest winning time in history, but his closing 1.500m segment was six seconds faster than was Saïd Aouita's 3.46,4 in his 1989 victory (7.47,94) in Budapest.

Koech, who fought valiantly to hold off Cherkos, finished with the silver medal, running 7.49,05, with Cherkos nabbing the bronze (7.49,96).

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IAAF World Indoor Championships

Men's 3.000m Final

1, Tariku Bekele, ETH, 7.48,23; 2, Paul Koech, KEN, 7.49,05; 3, Abrehem Cherkos, ETH, 7.49,96; 4, Edwin Soi, KEN, 7.51,60; 5, Craig Mottram, AUS, 7.52,42; 6, Mohammed Farah, GB, 7.55,08; 7, Ali Maatoui, MAR, 7.58,93; 8, Sergio Sanchez, ESP, 7.59,74 (PB); 9, James C'Kurui, QAT, 8.00,44; 10, Kamal Boulahfane, ALG, 8.04,73; 11, Jonathan Riley, USA, 8.05,59; 12, Arne Gabius, GER, 8.11,21.

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In other developments, Russia's Evgeniy Lukyanenko raised his world-lead up to 5,90m in winning the pole vault, holding back American Brad Walker (5,85 PB), the reigning world indoor and outdoor champion.

Phillips Idowu finally lived up to his promise in the triple jump, setting the Spanish crowd ablaze with astonishment with a second-round leap of 17,75m - the 2008 world lead, and only eight centimetres behind Christian Olsson's world record.

Canadian sprinter Tyler Christopher ran an excellent final 50m to take the victory from Sweden's Johan Wissman, who led at the gun in 21,10 seconds. Christopher made a big move down the stretch to run the fastest time in the world this season, 45,67. Wissman finished with the silver in an indoor personal best of 46,04 .

Maria Mutola was denied an eighth world indoor title when Australia's Tamsyn Lewis sprinted past the field and surprised leader Tetiana Petlyuk to win in 2.02,57 - the slowest winning time in meet history. Mutola won her first indoor title in 1993, running 1.57,55 in Toronto, and defeating Russian Svetlana Masterkova and American Joetta Clark in the process.

Mutola is retiring at the end of the outdoor season.

(The women's high jump will be featured in a separate report on Monday).

Foto Credits: IAAF.org

2008 World Indoor Champs Preview: Men's 800m

Story written by Eric.

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.

The women's fields are loaded with superstars which make these championships worthy of their name, and the men have no lack of stars to fill the seats, either.

Two particular match-ups I am looking forward to are the men's 800m and the high jump, with the 800m the first up to be profiled before the week-end's action gets underway.

The first will offer an excellent matchup between experienced veterans against a new player in the game, with the latter a very good possibility of producing a break-through performance between two very fiercely competitive and driven European rivals.

Though the fields are strong across the boards - including the shot put, the 3.000m and the 60m hurdles, Athletics in the News will focus specifically on four athletes among the hundreds competing whom fans should keep their eyes on as the championships unfold.

Sit back, enjoy the upcoming coverage provided by a number of excellent media outlets and take advantage of the excellent information provided in this report.


MEN'S 800M - ABUBAKER KAKI:
Final: Sunday, 9-March at 18.40 CET

Yuriy Borzakovskiy came out to play this season, though not the usual game of sit-and-kick that had been most ineffective for the Russian star the past three years following his 2004 Olympic victory.

Borzakovskiy continued to wait until the final 200m - or last lap - to run down opponents, but the difference this season is the 26-year-old has made a concerted effort to stay in the lead pack through 400m instead of attempting to dash from last-to-first. His quick decision-making steps towed plenty of fields to quick times.

Borzakovskiy, the world 800m leader, is not making the trip to Valencia, however, despite only suffering one loss in the indoor season from events ranging from 400m to 1.000m.

Wilfred Bungei, who defeated Borzakovskiy in Stockholm two weeks ago, will also not make the trip to Valencia due to injury.

The absence of both Borzakovskiy and Bungei -- though a blow to a stellar field -- will be quickly forgotten if a young protégé from Africa is able to live up to the exceptional promise he has demonstrated in an abbreviated indoor campaign.

That young man's name is Abubaker Kaki - one which will echo in stadiums near you as the Olympics approach later this summer.

Kaki, 18, is an inexperienced - yet excellent quick-study Sudanese who has a grand total of three indoor races under his belt in his career, but an athlete who has made the transition to indoor running a smashing success.

Kaki, a former goalee who was discovered by an athletics coach in Sudan only three years ago, has earned terrific international respect after having run-away victories at 800m in Leipzig, Germany (1.46,06), setting an IAAF World Junior record in the 1.000m run here in Sweden (2.15,77) two weeks ago, and following that effort up with a 2.16,15 on 24-February.

Kaki became the fifth-fastest athlete at the 1.000m distance after his victory in Stockholm, and trails world record -holder Wilson Kipketer's leading standard by a mere 0,81 seconds.

The potential match-up with the finalists I expect to round out the field will produce an excellent fight to the finish between a hungry and un-afraid new-comer and athletes who are experienced, and have multiple international championship medals to their credit - including world indoor, world outdoor, European and Olympic Games.

South African Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, the 2004 world indoor champion and Olympic silver medallist behind Borzakovskiy in Athens, has the most experience and the highest credentials of the contestants attempting to make the final.

Mulaudzi, the top returner from the 2006 IAAF World Championships held in Moscow (silver medal), has raced very sparingly this season, recording a 1.45,25 at altitude, and a 1.46,13 four days ago at Oudtshoorn, South Africa - a race he nearly won by two seconds in a tune-up for Valencia.

Mulaudzi gained world-class status seven years ago when he ran a 1.44,01 at the Zürich Weltklasse meeting. His best time ever recorded indoors is a 1.45,43, with his outdoor best an outstanding 1.42,89 set five years ago in Bruxelles.

As with Kaki, Mulaudzi set his 1.000m personal best and national record, 2.15,86, in Stockholm - though outdoors at last season's DN Galan.

Kaki sped the final 200m of his world junior-record race indoors in Stockholm in 26 seconds, and was the 1.500m bronze medallist at the 2005 World Youth Championships.

Having that type of enduring speed under his belt, Kaki may not be caught by pursuing company if he is left out front with one lap remaining, despite the difference in personal bests between the top-ranked athletes like Mulaudzi and their freshman star.

Another contestant with a very impressive athletics CV is Latvia's Dmitrijs Milkevics, third on the world indoor list this season - 0,03 behind Kaki.

Milkevics, the Latvian 800m record-holder, was a star with the University of Nebraska, winning the 2005 NCAA Championships held in Sacramento in 1.44,74.

Milkevics holds a 1.43,67 outdoor personal best set two years ago in Athens.

The IAAF World Indoor Championships have not been viewed by all of the world's top athletes to be a priority to contest - especially in an Olympic year as this one.

That has not stopped great stories from developing in the 12 previous editions, however, nor has it put the breaks on fast running - evidenced by Wilson Kipketer's 1.42,67 world record set 11 years ago in Paris.

The IAAF, who are the sport's world governing body, recently released a statistics booklet for the World Championships which is rich in historical information including trend analysis. Contained in that booklet are winning times and marks as well as other pertinent information any fan would like to have in their collection.

The 2008 field, led by Kaki's 1.46,06 personal best, would not be sufficient to win in most years the event has been contested; six of the 12 finals races have been won with times under 1.46,00.

Kaki, who has stated that he doesn't underestimate his competitors, is likely to challenge the leaders through the 400m mark in about 52 seconds, then make an extended surge for position at the bell. His superlative mixture of strength and speed will make it very challenging for anyone to match strides with him - especially true following his two excellent 1.000m runs over the past two weeks.

If Kaki is able to stay out of trouble and not make mistakes during his race, expect the teenager to run in the neighbourhood of 1.44,7 in the final - a winning time which has only been bettered twice in the World Championships.

First, however, he'll need to make it through the first-round heat on Friday and a tougher semi-final on Saturday, where, historically, athletes this decade who have run in the neighbourhood of 1.47,60 have been unsuccessful in advancing to the final.

Kaki is a precocious star with very high ambitions for himself this season and well into the future. An athlete who enjoys running on the indoor surfaces, Kaki may surpass the record for most championships contested at this distance - a mark which Argentina's Luis Migueles holds at five.

The world indoor championships are contested every other season. The first edition was contested in Paris in 1985.

Trivia: The oldest 800m medallist to-date is Brazil's Osmar dos Santos, who, at 35 years 139 days, won bronze at the 2004 meet in Budapest, Hungary.

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2006 World Indoor Champion: Wilfred Bungei, KEN, 1.47,15
WR 1.42,67 Wilson Kipketer (DEN) - Paris, 1997-03-09

World Indoor Leaders in the 800m 2008:

1.45,58, Yuriy Borzakovskiy, RUS.
1.46,06 Abubaker Kaki, SUD.
1.46,09 Dmitrijs Milkevics, LAT.
1.46,24 Dmitry Bogdanov, RUS.
1.46,33 Richard Kiplagat, KEN.

2006 IAAF Indoor World Championships:

Gold: Wilson Bungei, KEN, 1.47,15
Silver: Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, RSA, 1.47,16
Bronze: Yuriy Borzakovskiy, 1.47,38

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Listen to a short synopsis of the information contained above:

Fireworks and a World Jr. Record at GE Galan

Story written by Eric

A cool wintery evening in the Swedish capital of Stockholm could not stop Sudan's latest track phenom from burning up the track tonight in his second-ever indoor competition.

Abubaker Kaki, 18, ran away with the World Junior record in the 1.000m run, clocking two minutes 15,77 seconds in a solid run in front of a capacity crowd of 10.641 - the largest ever assembled for a competition in our Scandinavian nation.

Kaki, a former goalee who was discovered by an athletics coach in Sudan only three years ago, became the fifth-fastest athlete at the distance, and trails world record -holder Wilson Kipketer's leading standard by a mere 0,81 seconds. Noureddine Morceli, the previous world 1.500m record-holder, has the fastest African time ever recorded indoors at 2.15,26.

Kaki ran with such confidence that he was able to unleash a very powerful final lap kick away from pursuing Kenyan Richard Kiplagat, closing in 26 seconds following his 1.49 opening 800m segment. The precocious young adult has high ambitions for himself outdoors - including breaking Sammy Koskeis 1.42,28 African record, and winning the Olympic final - two goals no one in attendance tonight will doubt he his capable of achieving following his excellent run.

Kenyan Sylas Kimutai held the former world junior record of 2.17,96 -- a mark which he set in Athens six years ago.

Kenyan 2000 Olympic 1.500m champion Noah Ngeny holds the world outdoor record of 2.11,96 set in 1999 in Rieti, with Kenyan Benjamin Kipkirui the fastest junior outdoors with a 2.15,00 set one month earlier in Nice, France.

The two-hour event offered great entertainment for our national stars, with Sanna Kallur and Johan Wissman taking home victories. One down side to the evening was Carolina Klüft's withdrawal from both the 60m hurdles and the long jump from a thy condition she stated gave her great pain.

Klüft, the reigning IAAF World Indoor pentathlon champion, will miss this weekend's Swedish Indoor Championships in Malmö, and her world title defense in Valencia is also questionable at this point.

Klüft is scheduled to have an MRI on Friday.


Kallur Continues Dominance

Kallur, the newly-minted world record-holder at 60m hurdles and defending IAAF World Indoor champion at the distance - unbeaten in her five previous competitions this this indoor season, ran another blistering time, stopping the clock 7,74 seconds after the starter fired away and sent her toward another record chase.

Kallur got a first-hand look and feel for the new, quicker track surface which is being used at next month's world championships, and also at the Olympics later this summer in Beijing, but shrugged off any suggestion the track adds significance.

"Everyone is talking so much about the lanes," she would say to Dagens-Nyheter, "but I don't think they have such importance."

What was remarkable about Kallur's time was that she reacted quite late to the starter's pistol, getting left in the blocks and forced to make up a deficit already at the first hurdle.

Kallur jumped a little too close to the first hurdle, which set her on a course against her natural rythym, and she didn't break free from the field until her first two steps over the second hurdle. Spain's Josephine Onyia staying closest to the 27-year-old, finishing second in a season's best 7,91 with Jamaican Lancena Golding-Clarke third in 7,93 - also her fastest of the year.

Unsurprisingly, Kallur is feeling some of the effects of having run eight of the 10 fastest times in the world this year, and is looking forward to two weeks of training ahead of the world championships once she competes at the national championshps this weekend.

"I've been a little bit tired in the last few days, but I felt good before tonight's race," Kallur said.

"I will see how I feel after dinner tonight [read Thursday]. If I can get up, then I will go [to the Swedish national championships]. If I am still seated, there won't be any nationals. I don't know right now - I have just run a victory lap and gone up a set of stairs."

Kallur's performance - her 48th under the eight-second barrier - concluded a good night of competition the GE Galan organisers put together, one which saw a powerful effort from Olympic and IAAF World Championship medalists in each of the 12 disciplines on tap for the evening.


Wissman Puts Exclamation Point on Evening

Another fantastic matchup was the men's 400m, where our own Johan Wissman took on Tyler Christopher, who set a new Canadian record in winning last weekend's Birmingham race in what appeared to be particularly easy fashion. Christopher and Wissman finished sixth and seventh at last year's world outdoor championships, separated by 0,01 seconds.

Tonight's final had Wissman in lane three, Christopher in four - with Dominican Arismendy Peguero and the Bahama's Chris Brown - who finished fourth in a national record 44,45 in Osaka - filling in the inner two lanes.

Brown got out quickest, and held the lead as the pack was approaching the bell. Wissman took over at the 200m mark and appeared to switch gears down the backstretch - a move which only Brown was able to cover. Wissman held on off the curve, but looked vulnerable to Brown's kick, with the Bahamian closing back in on the one-metre lead Wissman held. Brown was able to catch Wissman's back side, but did not have enough to pass him, as Wissman crossed the line in a season's best, 46,30.

Brown finished 0,01 behind, with Christopher third in 46,75 - nearly a second off his one-week-old personal record.

The victory was especially convincing for Wissman, who will double at the 200m/400m during this weekend's national indoor championships.

"It means I can beat anyone," he told Dagens-Nyheter.

"I have met all of the top athletes in the world - and beat them. That means a lot. The [winning] time doesn't matter. I would rather take a bad time and win the world championships."

The stakes are now at their highest for the trio, with the winner at the IAAF World Indoor Championships taking place 7-9 March in Valencia, Spain, earning bragging rights and a better lane draw against American Jeremy Wariner in the outdoor season's bigger, more illustrious meetings here in Europe.


Lagat Makes Good on 3.000m Promise

American Bernard Lagat, who won an unprecedented 1.500m/5.000m double at last season's world outdoor championships in Osaka, had promised a fast race, and had hoped running against steepler Paul Koech could spurn the field on to break Kenenisa Bekele's meet record of 7.30,51 set in last year's meeting.

"It will be a good race," Lagat said.

"Everyone knows how well Paul Koech ran in Birmingham on Saturday - a fantastic race! But I am prepared to meet them and I want to really run fast - down toward 7.30 - in my first race in Stockholm."

Lagat was unable to break the meet record, but he was able to hold off Koech's last lap charge and power home with exceptional speed during around the final curve and through to the finishing tape. Lagat's time of 7.34,65 was just two seconds shy of his personal best of 7.32,43 set last year when he also set the American record.

Koech ran a 7.36,24 for second - nearly the same time he ran on Saturday in Birmingham en-route to his national record in the 2-mile, with Kenyan compatriot Abraham Chebii setting a personal record of 7.38,63 in third.


Borzakovskiy Suffers First 800m Defeat in 2008

Another athlete who hadn't put on the brakes thus far this season was reigning 800m Olympic champion, Yuriy Borzakovskiy from Russia, who holds the GE Galan meet record with a 1.44,34 set in 2003.

Borzakovskiy, 26, had run the swiftest indoors this season, stopping the clock in 1.45,58 in Stuttgart 20 days ago, and anchored Russia to a new national 4x800m record (7.15,77) two weeks ago, splitting 1.44,5 on his anchor leg. He was undefeated this season at 800m - and had a four-meet win-streak in the event - in addition to having won each of his eight races ranging from 400m to 1.000m on the season.

Borzakovskiy slipped back into a last-to-first mode during the four lap race, but made a speedy challenge down the backstretch on the fourth lap to overcome a move made by teammate and training partner Dmitriy Bogdanov, who had the third-fastest time this season (1.46,24) entering the meet.

Kenya's Wilfred Bungei, who won the world indoor championships at this distance in Moscow two seasons ago, played it safe and ran in third the first 600m of the race before the lead pack split 1.20 at the 600m mark. Bungei was able to make a move which Borzakovskiy couldn't cover, and hold off his nemesis for the first time this season, winning in a relatively modest 1.47,16 to Borzakovskiy's 1.47,22.

Latvia's Dmitrijs Milkevics won the earlier "B" heat in 1.46,09 and missed the national record Einars Tupuritis set in Indianapolis in March 1996 by 0,29 seconds, and is the third-best time run this season.

Borzakovskiy is now 21-13 against Bungei in his career.


Mutola Finishes Perfect at 800m in Globen

African 800m queen Maria Mutola, who set her 800m indoor best - 1.56,36 - 10 years ago in Liévin, contested her final race under the lights at Globen, a venue which saw her set two 1.000m world records (2.31,23 in 1996 and 2.30,94 in 1999) in her previous five contests here.

Mutola is the reigning 800m world indoor champion, and was thought to have stiff competition from a formidable foe in Russian Olga Kotlyarova, the 600m world record-holder (1.23,44) who was also the 2006 European outdoor champion and fifth-place finisher at the 2006 World Indoor Championships, but was Great Britain's Jenny Meadows who braved the storming sprinters behind her and towed the field through the race when the rabbit stepped off to the infield.

Kotlyarova finished sixth in 2.02,74.


Holm's Unshakable Confidence

Field events also offer the partisan crowd an opportunity to cheer for two of its own, as Stefan Holm, the last high jumper to clear 2,40m (2005 European Championships in Madrid), led a field including teammate Linus Thörnblad and a Russian duo of Andrey Silnov and Ivan Ukhov, who are second and third on the yearly list with 2,37m and 2,36m clearances, respectively.

Holm, who has jumped 2,30m or higher in each of his five competitions this winter, won last year's contest with a 2,33m jump, with Thörnblad finishing second with a 2,30m clearance.

Holm made a daring move before the competition began, exchanging his original competition bib number for the number 119, the significance being the number of competitions in which he would have jumped 2,30m or higher had he cleared that height tonight.

The onus was on Holm to live up to expecations in not only clearing the height and surpassing Swedish record-holder Patrik Sjöberg's career total, but in ensuring that final height he cleared on the evening would be good enough for the victory.

Holm lived up to all expectations on the evening, first-attempt clearing four heights -- 2,22m, 2,26m, 2,30m and 2,33m -- before missing three tries at 2,37m. His closest competitors on the evening, Silnov, Tereshin and Cyrpus's Kyriakos Ioannou - the 2007 IAAF World bronze medalllist who had improved his indoor best to 2,32m earlier this month, were left 3cm behind at the competition's conclusion.

Thörnblad was left on the fifth spot after clearing only 2,26m -- 12cm under his personal best set last year.


Robles Continues to Near Record

Dayron Robles, contesting the 60m hurdles, was unstoppable by his foes, adding one more victory on the season in a relatively easy race for the Cuban. Robles stopped the clock in 7,44 seconds, and for the eighth time this season added his name to the top-10 60m hurdles world indoor list this season.

Robles leads the world heading to Valencia in two weeks, carrying a national record 7,33 seconds - the second-fastest ever, and a mere 0,03 seconds from Colin Jackson's indoor world record.


Nail-biter in Women's Long Jump

Russian Irina Simagina, who had the top-two jumps on the season at 6,94m and 6,92m, faced off against Portugal's Naide Gomes, the 2006 bronze medallist at the World Indoor Championships and third on the indoor list at 6,90m entering competition this evening.

The competition got off to a great start with Tatyana Kotova, the three-time world indoor champion and double world indoor silver-medallist, jumping 6,76m on her first attempt - a mark which was only 1cm off her season's best.

South African Karin Mey couldn't respond with an improvement on Kotova's mark, but had a safe jump at 6,64m ahead of an awaiting Gomes and Samagina, last in the jumping order. Gomes fouled on her first attempt, but appeared to had gotten off a very good jump - one which pressured Samagina to respond with a 6,69m - good enough for second after one round of jumping.

Kotova improved two centimetres on her next jump, with Mey making the jump of her life out to a personal best 6,85m and the lead in the competition; this is Mey's debut season indoors. Gomes, who had no mark at this point, planted safely and took over the lead with a 6,86m effort with Simagina again pressured to respond. Samagina answered with a foul as the athletes headed into the third round.

Kotova's third-round effort of 6,76 kept the fuel lit in the competition, with Mey stepping through her jump and Gomes fouling her attempt - which left Simagina under less pressure as she followed with a 6,79m effort and her first lead of the night.

Mey regathered her composure on the fourth round following a Kotova mis-step, and notched a 6,73m, with Gomes responding with a leading 6,88m on her second good jump of the four she had taken up to that point. Simagina didn't buckle under the pressure, recording a 6,83m to position herself into third with two jumps remaining.

Simagina made the only improvement in the fifth round, landing 6,89m into the pit - one centimetre ahead of Gomes' previously leading mark, and made for a great final round build-up as Mey, Gomes and Simagina had all cleared at least 6,85m with one jump remaining.

Kotova fouled her final attempt of the evening - ending the night with three-consecutive poor jumps, leaving Mey with a clear shot in the spotlight in the top of the order. Mey's final jump of 6,79 assured that neither Gomes nor Simagina would be threatened at the top, with the only question remaining of which one would win.

Gomes looked one final time down the runway and powered down to find the board with a good safety margin to spare. She jumped...then landed... 6,93m into the sandbox for the lead, a new personal best and a Portuguese national record. Simagina, jumping under pressure as she had from the outset, responded with the best jump of the evening, reaching out to 6,96m on her final jump - a mark which not only was a personal best for the 25-year-old Russian, but established a new meet record in the process.


Jamal's Debut a Success, Lukyaneko Wins Vault

Bahrain's Maryam Jamal, the 2007 IAAF World 1.500m champion, made her season's debut a victorious one, winning the event in Globen in 4.04,30 -- a time not too far shy of her national and African record best of 4.01,82.

Jamal's strongest competition during the race was from Ethiopia's Gelete Burka, the African Junior record-holder (3.59,60), who was also making her season's debut.
Burka, who was the third-fastest female 1.500m runner outdoors in 2007, finished second in 4.04,37 after a strong closing lap in which she was able to match kicks with the former Ethiopian national.

Russia's Yevgeniy Lukyanenko won the men's pole vault on countback against Tim Lobinger, with both athletes clearing 5,81m. Lukyanenko made a daring move to skip his final attempt at 5,71m and save it for 5,76m, which he cleared on his one and only attempt. Lobinger passed at 5,76m, and, like Lukyanenko, cleared 5,81m on his third and final attempt.

GE Galan has at present seen six world records and 22 Swedish records established at the venue. The GE Galan was shown on television in 35 countries.

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GE Galan Results from Stockholm's Globen Arena
Thursday, 2008-February-21:

400_1, Johan Wissman, Sweden, 46,30. 2, Chris Brown, Bahamas, 46,31. 3, Tyler Christopher, Canada, 46,75. 4, Arismendy Peguero, Dominican Republic, 47,83.

800_1, Wilfred Bungei, Kenya, 1.47,16. 2, Yuriy Borzakovskiy, Russia, 1.47,22. 3. Dmitri Bogdanov, Russia, 1.47,71. 4, Ismael Kombich, Kenya, 1.47,74.

1.000_1, Abubaker Kaki, Sudan, 2.15,77 (World Junior Record, old record 2.17,96, Sylas Kimutai, Kenya, 2002). 2, Richard Kiplagat, Kenya, 2.16,96. 3, Abdelsslam Kennouche, Algeria, 2.17,78. 4, Johan Cronje, South Africa, 2.18,48.

3.000_1, Bernard Lagat, United States, 7.34,65. 2, Paul Kipsiele Koech, Kenya, 7.36,24. 3, Abraham Chebii, Kenya, 7.38,63. 4, Brimin Kipruto, Kenya, 7.46,05.

60 hurdles_1, Dayron Robles, Cuba, 7,44. 2. Yoel Hernandez, Cuba, 7,68. 3, Robert Kronberg, Sweden, 7,70. 4, Igor Peremota, Russia, 7,71.

High Jump_1, Stefan Holm, Sweden, 2,33m (7-7 3/4) (119th competition over 2,30m). 2, Andrei Silnov, Russia, 2,30m (7-6 1/2). 3, Andrei Tereshin, Russia, 2,30m (7-6 1/2). 4. Kyriakos Ioannou, Cyprus, 2,30m (7-6 1/2).

Pole Vault_1 (tie), Yevgeniy Lukyanenko, Russia, and Tim Lobinger, Germany, 5,81m (19-0 3/4). 3. Leonid Kivalov, Russia, 5,71m (18-8 3/4). 4 (tie), Alhaji Jeng, Sweden, and Denys Yurchenko, Russia, 5,61m (18-5).

Women

800_1, Maria Mutola, Mozambique, 1.59,82. 2, Jenny Meadows, Great Britain, 2.00,42. 3, Mayte Martinez, Spain, 2.00,68. 4, Ewelina Setowska, Poland, 2.00,75.

1,500_1, Maryam Jamal, Bahrain, 4.04,30. 2, Gelete Burka, Ethiopia, 4.04,37. 3, Olesha Tsumakova, Russia, 4.07,42. 4, Lisa Dobriskey, Great Britain, 4.08,88.

60 hurdles_1, Susanna Kallur, Sweden, 7,74 (48th competition under 8,00). 2, Josephine Onyia, Spain, 7,91. 3, Lancena Golding-Clarke, Jamaica, 7,93. 4, Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, Canada, 7,93.

Long Jump_1, Irina Simagina, Russia, 6,96m MR (22-10). 2, Naide Gomes, Portugal, 6,93m NR (22-9), 3, Karin Mey, South Africa, 6,85m (22-5 3/4). 4, Tatiana Kotova, Russia, 6,78m (22-3).

High Jump_1, Antonietta Di Martino, Italy, 1,97m (6-5 1/2). 2, Emma Green, Sweden, 1,94m (6-4 1/4). 3 (tie), Tatiana Kivimyagi, Russia, and Svetlana Shkolina, Russia, 1,94m (6-4 1/4).

(Foto credit: GE Galan homepage)

2008 GE Galan Preview

Story written by Eric

The Swedish capital of Stockholm is preparing to add to the wave of incredible momentum created this indoor season when it hosts the GE Galan tomorrow evening, with all 13.000 tickets to the two-hour event sold out in anticipation of watching one of its own national stars, Sanna Kallur, continue her own wave of excellence as she laces up for the second time this winter for a race in her home country.

Kallur, the newly-minted world record-holder at 60m hurdles and defending IAAF World Indoor champion at the distance, is unbeaten in five competitions this this indoor season, running seven of the eight fastest times recorded, as well as two of the top-10 all-time. Teammate Carolina Klüft is also entered in the 60m hurdles as well as the long jump.

Kallur's is one of five world indoor records set during the past three weeks of competition, and GE Galan organisers, who have witnessed several world indoor records set on their track - including the current men's 5.000m standard, have assembled a stellar line-up of action featuring reigning Olympic and IAAF World champions set to compete the 12 disciplines on tap for the evening.

They've also purchased a new, quicker track surface - the same kind which is being used at next month's world championships, and also at the Olympics later this summer in Beijing.

Fast 3.000m Promised

American Bernard Lagat, who won an unprecedented 1.500m/5.000m double at last season's world outdoor championships in Osaka, is entered in the men's 3.000m run - a race which also features the reigning world steeplechase champion, Paul Koech from Kenya.

Lagat and Koech both competed at the weekend in Birmingham, with Lagat winning the 1.500m in the second-fasest time of the season. Koech ran an incredibly strong 2-mile race to place second behind Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele, with both men setting new national records - and Bekele breaking the world record.

Lagat, the highest-ranked returning Olympic 1.500m finalist, spoke at the GE Galan press conference yesterday, and stated that his training is going exceptionally well, and he even feels lighter on his feet. Lagat is promising a fast race, and has hopes of running even with Bekele's meet record of 7.30,51 set in last year's meeting.

"It will be a good race," Lagat said. "Everyone knows how well Paul Koech ran in Birmingham on Saturday - a fantastic race! But I am prepared to meet them and I want to really run fast - down toward 7.30 - in my first race in Stockholm."

Borzakovskiy Unstoppable?

Another athlete who hasn't put on the brakes thus far this season is reigning 800m Olympic champion, Yuriy Borzakovskiy from Russia, who holds the GE Galan meet record with a 1.44,34 set in 2003.

Borzakovskiy has run the swiftest indoors this season, stopping the clock in 1.45,58 in Stuttgart 18 days ago, and anchored Russia to a new national 4x800m record two weeks ago, splitting 1.44,5 on his anchor leg. He's undefeated this season at 800m, and has won each of his eight races ranging from 400m to 1.000m.

Borzakovskiy will be challenged tomorrow by national teammate Dmitriy Bogdanov, who has the third-fastest time this season (1.46,24) and Kenya's Wilfred Bungei, who won the world indoor championships at this distance in Moscow two seasons ago.

Precocious Kaki Aiming High

One athlete who has begun to make a name for himself over the past three months is 18-year-old Sudanese Abubaker Kaki, a former goalee who, in his first-ever indoor competition on Sunday, ran the year's second-fastest time (1.46,06) in defeating a stellar field including Nils Schumann, the 2000 Olympic 800m champion.

Kaki been competed in athletics for only three years - winning a bronze medal at the 2005 IAAF World Youth Championships in Marrakech in his first year in the sport, but made a phenominal breakthrough in November, running a near solo 1.43,90 (the fourth-fastest of 2007) to win in Al-Qâhirah.

Kaki, who is contesting the 1.000m tomorrow, has high ambitions for himself outdoors - including breaking Sammy Koskeis 1.42,28 African record, and winning the Olympic final.

Mutola Aims to Finish Perfect in Globen

African 800m queen Maria Mutola, who set her 800m indoor best - 1.56,36 - 10 years ago in Liévin, is set to contest her final race under the lights at Globen, a venue which saw her set two 1.000m world records (2.31,23 in 1996 and 2.30,94 in 1999) in her previous five contests here.

Mutola is the reigning 800m world indoor champion, and is up against a formidable foe in Russian Olga Kotlyarova, the 600m world record-holder (1.23,44), 2006 European outdoor champion and fifth-place finisher at the 2006 World Indoor Championships. Great Britain's Jenny Meadows may also clash with the titans up front for a chance at victory.

Other Key Matchups

Field events will also offer the partisan crowd an opportunity to cheer for two of its own, as Stefan Holm, the last high jumper to clear 2,40m (2005 European Championships in Madrid), leads a field including teammate Linus Thörnblad and a Russian duo of Andrey Silnov and Ivan Ukhov, who are second and third on the yearly list with 2,37m and 2,36m clearances, respectively.

Holm, who has jumped 2,30m or higher in each of his five competitions this winter, won last year's contest with a 2,33m jump, with Thörnblad finishing second with a 2,30m clearance.

Another fantastic matchup on tap during the two hour 15 minute schedule will be the men's 400m, where Sweden's Johan Wissman takes on Tyler Christopher, who set a new Canadian record in winning last weekend's Birmingham race in what appeared to be particularly easy fashion. Christopher and Wissman finished sixth and seventh at last year's world outdoor championships, separated by 0,01 seconds.

Cuba's Dayron Robles, contesting the 60m hurdles, will be one of the featured athletes of the evening. Robles has been unstoppable by his foes, having collected seven of the 10-fastest 60m hurdles this season - including a list-leading 7,33 seconds - the second-fastest ever, and a mere 0,03 seconds from Colin Jackson's indoor world record.

Other matchups which should spark great competition are the women's long jump and the women's 1.500m.

Klüft, who has overcome an uncomfortable disk problem in her back, will oppose Russians Tatyana Kotova and Irina Simagina as well as Portugal's Naide Gomes in the long jump among others. Samagina holds the world lead with a 6,94m jump - and also has a 6,92m to her credit, with Gomes, the 2006 bronze medallist at the World Indoor Championships, third on the indoor list at 6,90m.

Bahrain's Maryam Jamal, the 2007 IAAF World 1.500m champion, will be making her season's debut in Globen, but has a lifetime best of 4.01,82 - a time which serves as both her national record and the African record. Jamal's strongest competition should be from Great Britain's Lisa Dobriskey and Ethiopia's Gelete Burka, the African Junior record-holder (3.59,60) making her indoor debut.

For the ninth-consecutive year, GE is the main sponsor for this meet, which has at present seen six world records and 22 Swedish records established at the venue. The GE Galan will be shown on television in 35 countries, and will show on TV4 in Sweden.

We've been very fortunate to have such a prestigious event staged in our backyard and play host to a wonderful array of athletes.

The GE Galan will air on RAI Sport (Hotbird 2 13°E 11804 V) between 19.40 and 21.30.

Full start lists here

(Foto credit: GE Galan homepage)