Posted: January 28, 2004

Athletics: Bekele And Sihine Make Indoor Debuts At Stuttgart

By Bob Ramsak

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved < RaceResultsWeekly.com>

While Haile Gebrselassie and Derartu Tulu help kick off the U.S. indoor track season in Boston this weekend, compatriots Kenenisa Bekele and Berhane Adere will help get things in full swing in Europe at Saturday's Sparkassen-Cup in Stuttgart, GER.

Bekele, the reigning world 10,000m champion, will contest the 3000m in his first ever indoor track appearance. The 21-year-old's toughest opposition should come from fellow-countryman Sileshi Sihine and Kenyan duo James Kwalia and Paul Bitok. Sihine, who finished an Ethiopian 10,000m sweep at August's world championships, will also be making his indoor debut. Saturday will the first of only two indoor races this year for Bekele. He is slated for a 5000m world record attempt at the Norwich Union Birmingham Indoor meeting on February 20 before defending his long course title at the World Cross Country Championships in March.

10,000m world champion Berhane Adere returns to the track where she set a world indoor record of 8:29.15 in the 3000m two years ago. She is planning to take a stab at Gabriela Szabo's world record of 14:47.35, set nearly five years ago in Dortmund, GER. Adere is one of only five women who have ever broken the 15-minute barrier indoors. In Stuttgart, she will face Ugandan Docus Inzikuru and Zahra Ouaziz of Morocco.

The men's 800m features four of the five fastest 800m runners from 2003 --Kenyans Wilfred Bungei and Joseph Mutua and South Africans Mbulaeni Mulaudzi and Hezekiél Sepeng. Ivan Heshko, the bronze medalist at last year's world championships, will face Kenyan Paul Korir in the 1500m. The women's 800m features Amina Aït Hammou of Morocco, Kenyan Faith Macharia and Judit Varga of Hungary.

Elsewhere, last year's top four women pole vaulters --Russians Svetlana Feofanova, Yelena Isinbayeva and Tatyana Polnova and Annika Becker of Germany-- will face-off as well. Last weekend in Glascow, Isinbayeva, the world outdoor record holder, defeated Feofanova, the world record holder indoors, with a leap of 4.76m (15-7 1/4), making her the No. 3 all-time indoor vaulter.

Distance Race start lists (as of 27-Jan):

Men:
800m:
Wilfred Bungei, KEN
Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, RSA
Hezekiél Sepeng, RSA
Joseph Mutua, KEN
Justus Koech, KEN
William Yiampoy, KEN
Sylas Kimutai, KEN
Glody Dube, BOT
Maswi Ntambe, KEN
John Litei, KEN
Christian Neunhauserer, ITA
Paskar Owor, UGA
Toni Mohr, GER
Roman Oravec, CZE
Nico Motchebon, GER
Marcus Schlecht, GER
David Fiegen, LUX
David Karonei, KEN

1500m:
Paul Korir, KEN
Ivan Heshko, UKR
Benjamin Kipkurui, KEN
Michal Sneberger, CZE
Michael Too, KEN
Franek Haschke, GER
Michael Rotich, KEN
Heiko Kupfer, GER
Mounir Yemmouni, FRA
Job Tanui, KEN

3000m:
Kenenisa Bekele, ETH
James Kwalia, KEN
Paul Bitok, KEN
Sileshi Sihine, ETH
Abiyote Abate, ETH
Jan Fitschen, GER
John Mayock, GBR
Abderrahim Goumri, MAR
Edward Mutai, KEN
Mark Bett, KEN
Sebastian Hallmann, GER
Filmon Ghirmai, GER
Hedrit Embaye, GER
Hailu Mekonnen, ETH
Ali Ezzine, MAR
Ali Saidi-Sief, ALG

Women:
800m:
Amina Ait Hammou, MAR
Faith Macharia, KEN
Judit Varga, HUN
Anja Knippel, GER
Monika Gradzki, GER
Agnes Samaria, NAM
Michelle Ballentine, JAM
Tayana Levina, RUS
Natalya Yevdokimova, RUS

5000m:
Berhane Adere, ETH
Docus Inzikuru, UGA
Zakia Mrishu, TAN
Zahra Ouaziz, MAR
Alesya Turova, BLR
Sabrina Mockenhaupt, GER
Krisztina Papp, HUN
Wioletta Janowska-Frankiewicz, POL
Natalya Sidorenko, UKR

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