Posted: September 11, 2004

Athletics: Still Riding High, Holmes Tops The Field In Berlin

From David Monti

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

By Bob Ramsak

BERLIN -- After her historic double gold medal performance in Athens, Kelly Holmes just wants to relax. But with a solid field on tap in the 1500 meters at tomorrow’s 63rd ISTAF meeting in the German capital, the final leg of the TDK Golden League will not allow an opportunity for the 34-year-old to wind down quite yet.

“I think Sunday’s going to be a really tough race,” said Holmes, who will face Russian Tatyana Tomashova, the Athens silver medallist, on a brand new track in the beautifully refurbished Olympic stadium. “It’s a great field. For me it’s going to be quite hard to refocus on racing again since the Olympic Games.” Tomashova’s 3:58.12 Olympic performance is second this year only to Holmes’s winning 3:57.90. Russian Natalya Yevdokimova, Lidia Chojecka-Okninska and Wioletta Janowska of Poland, fourth, fifth and seventh respectively in Athens, are also in the field.

After nearly two weeks of non-stop media appearances and celebrations in Great Britain, Holmes admits that fulfilling the duties required of her instant celebrity has sapped her of the competition emotion she’ll need when stepping onto the track tomorrow afternoon.

“I’ve had so many things to do in Britain,” Holmes continued, reeling off a long list of television appearances and magazine photo shoots. At her hometown of Hildenborough, a town of 40,000, more than 80,000 people turned out for a victory parade. “I’ve kept training, but combining all the media stuff with training has been really tough. But it’ll be great for me because I can go and really enjoy the race rather than feel under pressure.”

Now, she plans to enjoy that lack of pressure.

“Well I don’t really know where I’m going from here. It was totally unexpected to win two golds. I’m still kind of coming to terms with it myself to be honest,” she said. “I’m just going to finish the season and enjoy the running rather than just being on the track. Now I can kind of enjoy what I do. Maybe have a smile on my face on the track for once.”

Elsewhere, the Ethiopian Athletics Association’s threatened six-month suspension of Berhane Adere didn’t come to pass; last year’s 10,000 meter world champion is in Berlin to head the field in the 5000. Her stiffest challenge will come from Kenyans Isabella Ochichi, the Olympic silver medallist, and Edith Masai, who lowered his personal best to 14:42.64 with her win in Brussels last weekend.

Athens finalists Wilfred Bungei of Kenya, the world leader, and Moroccan Mouhssin Chehibi of Morocco lead the field in the men’s 800, while the 1500 features five men who have dipped under 3:31 this season, including Olympic silver medallist Rui Silva, and finalists Timothy Kiptanui, Ivan Heshko, Gert-Jan Liefers and Isaac Songok. Boniface Kiprop of Uganda, fourth in the Olympic 10,000 and the world junior champion, leads the field in the 5000.

The winners, if any, of the TDK Golden League million dollar jackpot will be decided on Sunday as well. A pair of Olympic champions --400 meter runner Tonique Williams-Darling of the Bahamas and triple jumper Christian Olsson of Sweden— remain in the hunt.

More than 53,000 advance tickets have been sold, virtually assuring a record turn-out as the ISTAF, Germany’s biggest annual athletics event, returns to Olympic Stadium, site of the 1936 Olympic games. 37 medallists from the Olympic Games, including 15 champions, will compete.