Posted: June 9, 2005

Athletics: Some Stay Away, But Ostrava Super Grand Prix Goes On

From David Monti

© 2005 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

by Bob Ramsak

OSTRAVA, Czech Republic (09-Jun) -- A pair of strong 5000s and a steeplechase showdown between the current and former Olympic champions are among the key attractions on the distance event program for tonight's Golden Spike IAAF Super Grand Prix in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Despite a boycott of the meeting by 31 key athletics managers over payment disputes stemming from last year's highly successful competition, in which Kenenisa Bekele set a world record in the 10,000 meters, organizers have nonetheless pieced together competitive fields on the distance events program.

"That is a fact, that those managers are not here this year," said athlete coordinator Alfons Juck. "But the organizers are very happy with the fields that we've gathered."

Among the most compelling is the women's 5000, a match-up between Olympic silver medalist Isabella Ochichi of Kenya and Ethiopian Berhane Adere, the reigning world 10,000 meter champion. Ochichi, the world leader in the event after her 14:50.96 win in Hengelo, Netherlands last month, has had a strong post-Olympic campaign on the track, the road and in the mud. A week after finishing third and fifth, respectively, in the short and long course races at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Ochichi ran the second fastest ever 10-K on the roads with her 30:27 African record at the Crescent City Classic in New Orleans.

In her lone outdoor appearance this season, Adere finished a close second in the 3000 in Doha, clocking 8:39.87. Kenyan Tegla Loroupe, the former world record holder in the marathon, is in the field as well. Pacemakers have been assigned to assist with a world-leading performance.

The men's steeplechase, traditionally a strong event in this sprawling eastern Czech city of 400,000, features the two most recent Olympic champions: Sydney winner Reuben Kosgei and reigning champion Ezekiel Kemboi. Kemboi, who won the Kenyan Armed Forces title two weeks ago while Kosgei, signaling a comeback from an injury that sidelined him for the entire 2004 season, was the easy winner in the Milan Grand Prix II event last week. Another pair of Kenyans, meet record holder Wilson Boit Kipketer (8:06.14, 2002) and Richard Matelong (8:05.96) will toe the line as well, along with European co-record holder Boubdallah "Bob" Tahri of France.

In the men's 5000, Kenyans figure prominently, among them Abraham Chebii, the world's top 5000 runner in the first half of the 2003 season, who recently took runner-up honors to Kenenisa Bekele in the short course race at the World Cross Country Championships. Sammy Kipketer, the reigning Commonwealth champion is in the field as well along with Kenyan prodigy Moses Masai. Masai, who celebrated his 19th birthday on 01-June, is the national junior record holder in the 10,000 (27:07.29). Bahraini Musir Salem Jawher, the former Kenyan Leonard Mucheru, who ran a personal best 13:00.40 at last year's ISTAF Golden League meeting in Berlin, is another key entrant.

In the middle distance events, the men's 800 includes Russian Dmitriy Bogdanov, the European indoor champion and Brazilian Fabiano Pecanha, the winner at Grande Premio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo in Belém last month with a personal best 1:45.40. Kenyan unknown Gilbert Kipchoge, who will race for the first time outside of Kenya, recently notched a 1:45.9 victory at high altitude, and could be a threat as well. The start list for the women's 1000 includes Jamaican Michelle Ballentine, Cuban Zulia Calatayud, Elena Iagar of Romania, and Kenyan Caroline Chepkwony.

Rain showers are in forecast for early in the day, and an unseasonably cool evening is expected. The meet will be broadcast live by Czech, Slovak and Polish national television networks, along with Eurosport.