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By Bob Ramsak
GÖTEBORG, Sweden (06-Aug) -- The evening-capping final of the women's 10,000 meters promises to be the key day-one highlight as the 19th European Athletics Championships get underway tomorrow in this western coastal city.
After her impressive 30:21.67 world-leading solo run at the European Cup 10,000m in mid-April, Elvan Abeylegesse of Turkey is widely considered the favorite. But the 23-year-old Ethiopian-born Turk, who will also contest the 5000m later in the week, has raced sparingly since, and hasn't been seen in action since her double win at the low-key European Champion Clubs Cup in Valencia, Spain, in late May.
Last December, Lornah Kiplagat became the first-ever Dutch winner at the European Cross Country Championships. Tomorrow she's hoping to become only the third Dutchwoman to race to track gold, and the first since Gerda Kraan won the 800m in 1962. On July 4th, Kiplagat won the Peachtree Road Race 10 km for the fifth time, clocking 31:13.
Other key contenders include Latvian Jelena Prokopcuka, the winner of last fall's ING New York City Marathon. The 29-year-old has displayed good form recently, lowering her own national 3000 meter record oto 8:42.86 in Stockholm's DN Galan meet 12 days ago. Russians Galina Bogomolova and Lidiya Grigoryeva, both with sub-31:00 career bests to their credit, are expected to be in the hunt as well. Englishwoman Mara Yamauchi, the surprise bronze medalist at the Commonwealth Games last March, shouldn't be counted out for a podium spot, either.
The championship record and European record is 30:01.09, set by Paula Radcliffe in Munich four years ago.
Other first day action also includes the first round of the women's 800m and the semi-finals of the men's 1500m.
The Russian trio of Svetlana Klyuka (1:57.21), Svetlana Cherkasova (1:57.23) and Olga Kotlyarova (1:57.24) are the three fastest in the field, and this year among the fastest in the world. Yet Russia's unparalleled depth in the event rarely equates to dominance in major competitions, rendering a sweep highly unlikely. The only podium sweep of the event at a European Championships came in 1978 when a trio from the Soviet Union managed the feat.
The major contenders include Ukrainian Tetyana Petlyuk, who this year improved to 1:57.34 and British hope Rebecca Lyne, whose coming out year includes a 1:58.20 this season. Slovenia's Jolanda Ceplak, who missed valuable training time in the winter and spring months due to Achilles surgery last year, said she won't burden herself with her role as defending champion. But with a recent sub-2:00 under her belt, she won't count herself out either. In all, a dozen entrants have run under two minutes. History is not on Ceplak's side; no woman has ever won the event twice.
In recent years, Ivan Heshko has been the class metric miler among Europeans, but has displayed some inconsistency in recent races, setting up an intriguing scenario in the men's 1500. The World Indoor champion clocked 3:31.08 in Paris last month to defeat perhaps the finest field assembled this season, but followed up with a sixth place finish in Rome, and in Stockholm 12 days ago, crossed the line a distant tenth. Among the challengers are the strong Spanish trio led by Juan Carlos Higuero, who clocked a PB 3:31.57 for fourth in Rome, finishing ahead of Heshko. Portugal's Rui Silva, the Olympic bronze medallist and third four years ago, has obvious proven credentials in big races, and is expected to be in the hunt despite a more modest 3:34.00 season's best. Should Mehdi Baala succeed in overcoming his early season injury woes to successfully defend his title, he would become just the second repeat winner. The other was former World record holder Steve Cram.
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