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By Bob Ramsak
BRUSSELS -- When the season began, Kenenisa Bekele said that he would take a break from concerted assaults on his own world records, choosing instead to pursue a slice of the Golden League Jackpot. When he lines up for the evening-capping 5000 at tomorrow night’s sold-out Memorial Ivo Van Damme in the Belgian capital, Bekele said he just may take a shot at his two-year-old 12:37.35 world record.
“If my shape is good, and if the weather is perfect, then why not?” Bekele said. “Of course, this year I wanted to focus on the Golden League and the jackpot. Tomorrow is the first time that I might try for a record.”
After finishing second in the six-meet series opener in Oslo in early June, Bekele has bounced back to claim victories in Rome, Paris and Zurich to remain alive in the hunt for a share of $500,000.
Last year, Bekele capped the Belgian Golden League fixture with a 26:17.53 world record in the 10,000, assisted by his younger brother Tariku, who guided him through the first 5000 in 13:09.19, just shy of the 13:07 target they had set. Tariku returns this year as well, on the heels of his world junior title over the distance in Beijing last week, and is eager to once again help set the tempo for his older brother.
“I will try for 60 to 60.5 seconds per lap,” 19-year-old Tariku Bekele said. “I think this is good for a record pace.”
Their chief competition includes Kenyan Augustine Choge, this year’s winner at the Commonwealth Games, and perennial threat Eliud Kipchoge, the 2003 world champion.
Saif Saaeed Shaheen will take another stab at his 7:53.63 world record in the steeplechase set on this track two years ago, his last assault this year. He’s fallen a little short in each of his two races this year, clocking 7:56.32 in Athens in July and 7:56.54 in Zurich a week ago, respectively the sixth and ninth fastest performances ever. The main problem the 23-year-old Kenyan-born Qatari is encountering this year, he said, is findind adequate pacemakers to help with the effort.
This time around Spaniard Cesar Perez will pace the first three laps, while the search continues for the second who can assist with the 5:15 to 5:16 pace for 2000 meters that Shaheen has requested.
“There aren’t too many candidates for sure,” said meet director Wilfred Meert. [For more on Shaheen, please see my story for the IAAF at http://www.iaaf.org/GLE06/news/Kind=2/newsId=35957.html ]
In the women’s 5000, Tirunesh Dibaba continues her quest for a perfect six-for-six record in the Golden League this year. Her chase was made easier last weekend when flight complications kept Meseret Defar, the recently-minted world record holder who defeated Dibaba at the African Championships earlier this month, from reaching Zurich. This time, Defar, who clocked 14:24.53 at Icahn Stadium on New York’s Randall Island in June, has reached her destination. Isabella Ochichi, the Olympic silver medallist, is also in the solid field.
The women’s 800 is expected to be hotly contested, with a solid field led by world champion Zulia Calatayud, Russians Svetlana Cherkasova and Svetlana Klyuka, and African champion Janeth Jepkosgei.
This year’s meeting marks several significant milestones, all of which will be celebrated in front of a crowd of 47,000 at the Stade Roi Baudouin: it’s the competition’s 30th anniversary, it will mark the 100th anniversary of the Belgian Olympic Committee, and a special race has been added to the program to remember a Belgian quartet that set a world record in the 4 x 800 relay 50 years ago.
In lieu of a men’s 800, traditionally one of the year’s fastest, organizers have pieced together a star-studded cast to challenge the 7:03.89 world record in the 4 x 800, set by the formidable British quartet of Steve Elliott, Gary Cook, Steve Cram and Sebastian Coe. The Kenyan foursome --Wilfred Bungei, Ismael Kombich, Joseph Mutua and William Yiampoy-- look to be the strongest, and will take on teams from Qatar, Spain, and the U.S., along with mixed squads from Benelux countries and an “all-star” international quartet. The U.S. squad includes David Krummenacker, Khadevis Robinson, Sam Burley and Jebreh Harris. To challenge the mark, 1:45 legs will be required, a difficult task in unpaced races.
The men’s 10,000, a regular staple in Brussels, is nonetheless a lesser draw minus Bekele, and this year will open the main evening program. 10 of the 18 fastest-ever performances in the event have come on this track, including world records by Salah Hissou, Paul Terget, and Bekele.
No one has yet dipped under 27 minutes in the event this year, but with few top notch 10,0000s contested on the international circuit, that’s a situation that’s likely to change here. Top entrants in the field include Uganda Boniface Kiprop and Sammy Kipketer of Kenya.
In all, four athletes --Jamaica’s 100 meter world record holder Asafa Powell, American 400 meter specialists Jeremy Wariner and Sanya Richards, and Dibaba-- remain in contention in the hunt for the Golden League jackpot's top prize, while Bekele and Panamanian long jumper Irving Saladino are still alive for five victories. Winners of five of the six events will share a $500,000 prize pot; winners of all six will share and additional $500,000.
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