Posted: June 10, 2004

Athletics: Women’s 5000M WR Assault On Tap As TDK Golden League Begins

From David Monti

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

by Bob Ramsak

(BERGEN, Norway) -- An assault on the women's 5000 meter world record highlights the distance events as the six-meet TDK Golden League series gets underway this evening at the Evergood Bislett Games in the western coastal city of Bergen, Norway.

A temporary host for the country’s largest athletics event, Bergen, Norway’s second largest city, is aiming to leave its mark as it fills in for Oslo, the traditional home of the Bislett Games.

In the women’s 5000, Ethiopian-born Turk Elvan Abeylegesse, currently the world leader in the 1500 (3:58.38) and the 3000 (8:35.83), leads a field that includes a strong Ethiopian trio -- Meseret Defar, Tirunesh Dibaba and two-time Olympic champion Derartu Tulu. Last December, the 21-year-old Abeylegesse chased Paula Radcliffe to the finish at the European Cross Country Championships, less than three months after her surprising win over a strong field at the World Athletics Final. Canadian Emilie Mondor, who ran an impressive 31:10 to win the Vancouver 10K, makes her track debut. Pacemaker Oksana Belyakova's job? 69-second laps, for a 14:22.5 pace, well inside Bo Jiang's 14:28.09 world record set in Shanghai in 1997.

Designated as Golden League events this year are the men's 200, 800, 1500, 400 hurdles, triple jump and discus throw; for the women, the spotlight will be on the 100, 400, 1500, 3000/5000, 100 hurdles, and the high jump. Any athlete who wins their event in each of the six meets –Bergen, Rome, Paris, Zurich, Brussels and Berlin— can earn at least a portion of the US $1 million jackpot. But judging from the start lists, a shot at athletics’ largest prize is not high on many athletes’ agendas in this Olympic year. Notable absences from the GL distance events are Hicham El Guerrouj, Sureyya Ayhan and Berhane Adere.

The men's 800, however, is not bereft of talent. Kenyan Wilfred Bungei, last year's top two-lapper, takes on reigning world champion Djabir Said-Guerni of Algeria, Russian Yuriy Borzakovskiy, and Torino winner Florent Lacasse of France. Bungei clocked 1:44.69 to beat the Russian by one-tenth of a second in Sevilla. American David Krummenacker, who was second in his seasonal debut in Torino, is on the start list as well. Krummenacker was a distant 15th in the Ostrava 1500 on Tuesday.

The intriguing men's 1500 picture continues to unfold in Bergen; topping the list is Kenyan teen Alex Kipchirchir, who apparently likes to make Hicham El Guerrouj nervous. The 19-year-old Kenyan pushed the world record holder to the line in Rieti, Italy last September, en route to his world junior record 3:50.25. In Zaragoza, Spain on Tuesday, Kipchirchir nearly spoiled the Moroccan's debut, losing by a scant three-one hundredths of a second. Also in the field are Bernard Lagat and Ivan Heshko, 2-3 behind Alan Webb in Ostrava on Tuesday. Kenyans Sammy Mutai and David Lelei will set the pace.

The women’s 1500 features Ukraine's Irina Lishchinska, the defending Bislett champion, who has already run 4:03.74 his season. Lidia Chojecka of Poland, who held off Kelly Holmes to finish second in Ostrava on Tuesday, is looking to regain her sub-4 form from 2000, while Hengelo winner Carmen Douma-Hussar of Canada, the silver medallist at this year's World Indoor Championships, is looking to bounce back from her fifth place finish Tuesday in Ostrava.

Also on the schedule is the men’s 5000; leading the field is Ethiopian teen Mulugeta Wondimu, who was second in Kenenisa Bekele’s world record run in Hengelo, clocking a PB 13:01.28. Gebre-egziabher Gebremarian, second to Bekele in his 10,000 world record run in Ostrava, is also on the start, along with Australian Craig Mottram, who lowered the Oceania recod to 13:10.47 in Hengelo. Tariku Bekele, the world record holder’s younger brother, is also in the field.

While a charming coastal setting, surrounded by lush hills and tranquil bays, Bergen is also prone to plenty of rain; this week has been no exception. The weather forecast for tonight is gloomy, with rain expected and temperatures dipping into the mid-50s (10-15 C.) by late evening.

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