Posted: July 8, 2004

Athletics: Mutola's Win Streak Ends, Close Call For El Guerrouj In Lausanne

By Bob Ramsak, Track Profile

(c) 2004 Track Profile all rights reserved TrackProfile.com

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- In a stunning upset, Svetlana Cherkasova put an end to Maria Mutola’s 36-race win streak while Hicham El Guerrouj halted his losing streak at one, but only by the narrowest of margins at the Athletissima Super Grand Prix in Lausanne, Switzerland Tuesday night.

Mutola, whose streak, including heats, began at the Commonwealth Games in late July 2002, took control of the race from the outset, immediately tucking in behind pace maker Mireille Nguimgo with Brazilian Luciana Mendes and Amina Ait Hammou in tow. Mendes, who ran her first sub-2:00 since 2001 in the ‘B’ race in Rome’s Golden Gala meeting Friday night, was just a step behind with 200 meters to go, and actually gained on the Olympic champion, running stride-for-stride on the outside as the pair came off the final turn. With Mendez faltering slightly, Mutola appeared to be home free, until the 26-year-old Russian began her attack 80 meters from the finish. Making up a significant deficit, Cherkasova was within half a meter of Mutola with 40 meters remaining. With Mutola straining visibly, Cherkasova caught the Olympic champion in the final five meters, crossing the line in 1:58.91, 15/100s ahead of Mutola. Mendes held on for third, clocking 1:59.11, a season’s best. Visibly upset, Mutola uncharacteristically rushed through the media mixed zone, refusing to speak with reporters.

In her last race, Cherkasova, one of Russia’s plentiful crop of sub-two-minute half milers, pushed Jolanda Ceplak to a world-leading 1:57.68 in Rome on Friday. Her personal best, 1:57.59, dates back to 2001.

Mutola’s was the third significant win streak to come to an end in the last four days. In Rome on Friday, Bahamian Tonique Williams-Darling ended Ana Guevara’s 28-race win streak in the 400 meters while Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain defeated Hicham El Guerrouj in the 1500m, the Moroccan’s first loss since the 2000 Olympic Games.

Here, El Guerrouj bounced back from his devastating loss in Rome, but it didn’t come without a brutal fight.

The Moroccan and Ivan Heshko were the only two to follow the two pacemakers, reaching 800 meters in 1:52.33. When second pace setter Osmar dos Santos called it a day with two laps to go, El Guerrouj took immediate control of the race, building a ten-meter gap on Heshko and Kenyan Isaac Songok and carrying a substantial lead through the bell. But heading into the final turn, the 20-year-old Kenyan passed a slowing Heshko, and relentlessly challenged for the lead. He quickly narrowed the gap, running less than a meter behind El Guerrouj, but the Moroccan survived the challenge by just two-one hundredths of a second, reaching the line in 3:32.20. Heshko was third in 3:33.00.

Felix Sanchez continued his win streak with a 47.86 win, the first sub-48 of the season. Already leading heading into the second hurdle, the two-time world champion was on fire down the backstretch, fighting a headwind that slowed him down midway through the final turn. South African Llewelyn Herbert made up significant ground coming into the homestretch and briefly challenged Sanchez, but fell short in the waning stages. His 48.03 performance was his fastest since the Sydney Olympic Games.

‘It was windy down the backstretch,” Sanchez said, “but I was able to still push it hard because I felt [Dai] Tamasui out there, and I was able to keep my composure and my technique and keep Llewelyn Herbert from passing me in the end.” Last year in Lausanne, Sanchez cruised to his first sub-48 of the season as well.

In the high hurdles, Allen Johnson ended his first seasonal tour of Europe with a world-leading 13.05 before leaping immediately into the arms of appreciative fans in the stands. Johnson took out just five hurdles, a notable improvement from the eight he battered in Rome on Friday.

“That’s one thing I wanted to concentrate on here,” Johnson said, smiling. “I wanted to come here and run a cleaner race, and I felt like I did that.”

Stanislav Olijar nearly pulled even at the midway point, but wasn’t a match for Johnson’s closing power, and eventually finished second in 13.21.

In the ‘B’ race, former Jamaican national record holder Chris Pinnock pulled to a slight lead after hurdle six and maintained it to win in 13.57 over Germany’s Falk Balzer. Chris Phillips, fifth at last year’s World Championships before being disqualified for modafinil, was a distant 6th in 13.80, the first time in his last four races that the 31-year-old broke 14 seconds.

With lightning speed from the blocks (0.112 reaction), Delloreen Ennis-London maintained her advantage to win the women’s 100m hurdles handily in 12.57, with Spaniard Glory Alozie, the winner in Rome, nipping Brigitte Foster in the photo for second. Both clocked 12.69.

Despite a slow stumbling start out of the blocks, Asafa Powell took a close 100m in 10.00, holding off Francis Obikwelu’s 10.02 Portuguese national record. Aziz Zakari well back in 10.13.

“I’ll get it right next time,” Powell said of his slip at the start. His goal was Leroy Burrell’s 9.85 meet record. Was Powell, who sped to a 9.91 Jamaican national record last month, in 9.84 shape? “Yeah,” he said, “I think so.” His next race is the London Super Grand Prix on July 30.

In the women’s short dash, Christine Arron sped to a 11.01 season’s best effort for an easy win over Aleen Bailey (11.13). 2001 World Champion Zhanna Block was a distant fifth in 11.25.

The women’s 1500 was a Russian parade for the first three laps, with Yuliya Kosenkova, world champion Tatyana Tomashova and Yelena Zadorozhnaya following in pace setter Nadezhda Vorobyeva’s draft for the first two laps. Kosenkova dropped out at the 1200 meter point when another Russian, Olga Yegorova, burst past Zadorozhnaya as she powered through the final turn to claim her fifth win this season in as many races. Yegorova, the 2001 5000 meter world champion, clocked 4:01.41, 31/100s ahead of Zadorozhnaya. Lidia Chojecka of Poland ran down Tomashova in the final 12 meters to take third in a seasonal best 4:02.83.

Mushir Salim Jawher, the former Kenyan Leonard Mucheru, turned in a solid solo effort to win the 5000 in 13:02.47, ahead of a pair of Ethiopians –Mulugeta Wendimu (13:02.78) and Abiyote Abate (13:03.33). Double world record holder Kenenisa Bekele was scheduled to race, but with some minor calf problems, withdrew as a precautionary measure.

The men’s 800 came down to a furious sprint finish, with Joseph Mutua prevailing in 1:44.50, ahead of fellow-Kenyan William Yiampoy (1:44.78). Bahraini Youssef Saad Kamel, the former Kenyan Gregory Konchellah, was third with a personal best 1:44.99. Kamel, who never represented Kenya internationally, will represent Bahrain at the Olympic Games.

Propelled by a strong final 40 meters, Frank Fredericks won the 200 in 20.21 from Stéphane Buckland (20.27) while world leader Alleyne Francique of Grenada easily dispensed of the 400 field with his 44.75 effort. Leslie Djhone of France ran his first sub-45 of the season, a 44.98 to finish second.

Tatyana Lebedeva fell just a centimeter short of her own world-pacing mark in the triple jump with her 15.33 winning leap, well ahead of the Cuban-born Sudanese Yamilé Aldama (14.95). World-leader Yelena Slesarenko bested a quality field in the high jump, reaching 2.03, with a solid attempt at 2.05. Croatia’s Blanka Vlasic was second with a 1.98 best, while two-time world champion Hestrie Cloete couldn’t manage better than 1.95 to finish third.

With the absence of world leader and Golden League Jackpot contender Tonique Williams-Darling, Russian Olga Kotlyarova took the spotlight with her 50.09 win, well ahead of Williams’ Bahamian compatriot Christine Amertil (50.65).

"I managed to reach the time I wanted," Kotlyarova said. "My goals now are the Russian Championships and then the Olympic Games, but both will be very difficult."

Elsewhere, Ezekiel Kemboi won the steeple in 8:17.46, just ahead of compatriot Julius Nyamu (8:17.85) with Spaniard Jimenez a distant third (8:19.55); Saudi Arabian Hussein Taher Al-Sabee took top honors in the long jump with an 8.19 best, with rambunctious Ghanaian Ignisious Gaisah second with an 8.14 best effort.

The TRACK PROFILE REPORT is a news and feature service published by the Track Profile News Service. In addition to regularly dispatched news, profile and interview features, subscribers also receive exclusive on-site updates from major national and international competitions, usually within 24 hours. Copyright (c) 2004 by Bob Ramsak and TRACK PROFILE. All rights reserved. Reproduction, republication, reposting and retransmission in ANY form is strictly prohibited without express permission from the editor.