Posted: March 17, 2006

Athletics: Commonwealth Games Looking For Next Big Star

From David Monti

© 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

MELBOURNE (17-Mar) - The license plates on the cars here say it all: "Victoria - The Place to Be."

And who would argue? The Commonwealth Games opened here on Wednesday at the sprawling Melboure Cricket Grounds, and nearly 70,000 tickets were sold for just the opening ceremony, according to reporting by the newspaper, The Age. Down on Flinders Street, the sidewalks are teeming with sports fans here to see the 18th edition of this Olympic-style competition. Even U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is here, and handed out medals today in the swimming venue.

But the big question on just the second day of the Games is who will be the big star? Swimming hero Ian Thorpe, who has ten Commonwealth Games gold medals to his credit, isn't competing because of injury, a big blow to the organizers who had counted on his star power to lure fans. Paula Radcliffe was also expected to compete, but she's out with a foot injury. Sprinter Kim Collins, the Games' defending champion in the 100m is out with a groin injury; that could help propel Asafa Powell to top-star status.

But, could distance runner Craig Mottram become the biggest star of the Games? It is certainly possible. On Monday night, the former diver and triathlete, who is from nearby Geelong, will line up for the 5000m final, and hopes to bring gold to Australia in this event for only the second time in Commonwealth Games history (Andrew Lloyd won in 1990). But he doesn't plan to stop there. It is his intention to come back on next Friday for the preliminary round of the 1500m and try to take a second gold in that event next Saturday night. The legendary Kip Keino is the only athlete to ever win that golden double, and Australia hasn't won the Commonwealth 1500m title since one of their own legends, Herb Elliott, did it back in 1958.

"I'm a lot quicker than people think and I reckon I could run 48sec for the 400m," Mottram told reporter Jon Anderson of the Herald Sun last week. "Once I'm going, my maximum speed is as quick as anyone in middle-distance running but because I'm bigger it takes that little bit longer to get up to speed."

But Mottram's victory in the 5000m is anything but assured. He'll have to beat a trio of Kenyans, including reigning world 5000m champion Benjamin Limo, and last year's world junior cross country champion, Augustine Choge. Ugandan Boniface Kiprop and Tanzanian Fabiano Joseph could also be in the hunt for a medal.

In the 1500m, Mottram's key rivals include former NCAA stars Nick Willis of New Zealand and Nate Brannen of Canada. Those former University of Michigan runners will have a hard time beating the big man from Geelong.

"I honestly don't know the start list for the 1500m," Mottram told the Herald Sun, "but they're going to find it hard to get away from me, hard to stop me from coming around them."

Mottram is both managed and coached by Nic Bideau who calls his athlete both "a beast" for his training ethic and physical strength, and "intelligent" for his ability race tactically.

The athletics portion of the Commonwealth Games opens on Sunday morning with the men's and women's marathons, which begin 45 minutes apart, and go though the following Saturday. RRW will have daily reports through next Tuesday from Melbourne.

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