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Welcome to the Paris 2003 Day 1 |
Day 1 of the Paris 2003 World Track Championships, would
see the major race being the final of the Women's 10 000m,
where Berhane Adere of Ethiopia would line up as favourite.
Also on the card for the 1st day was the heats of Women's
800m, Men's 1500m and SteepleChase.
Women's 10000m Final :
If Berhane Adere thought she would be getting an easy ride
in the Women's 10K final, she was mistaken. From the outset
it was evident that the women had come to Paris to post fast
times. From the gun, Anikó Kálovics (HUN) assured
that the 1st K was covered in 2:59.62, she would eventually
finish 20th in 32:15.96.
Then China's Yingjie Sun made sure the opening salvo was
not to drop again, by taking the pace within the 2nd K and
maintaining a speed similar to the opening kilometer through
to the 4K mark in 12:00.16.
The Chinese athlete, who first came to the fore as a marathon
athlete, is known more for her awkward 'arm carriage' than
for previous performances. [ That was before tonight
] Lornah Kiplagat formerly of Kenya, and now representing
Holland joined the party, taking the lead through 5K in 15:06.53
Kiplagat was running a stormer, and was yet another athlete
known more for her road pedigree than her track exploits.
She upped the tempo to a 3:02 K with 3 Ethiopians and 1 Chinese
athlete in contention. 6K covered reached in 18:07.25.
Around 7k, 2001 Champion Derartu Tulu, withdrew. This did
not alter the shape and the 4 athletes in the lead continually
exchanged the lead.
Passing through 9K, the tempo had slowed to 27:14.06. With
2 laps to go, approaching the bend with 750m to go, Sun attempted
to inject further pace and the lap was recorded in a shade
over 68 seconds. With 1 lap to go, all 4 were still in contention,
approaching the backstraight Adere switched to Sun's shoulder
preparing for her final assault.
The Chinese athlete attempted to up the tempo again, but
when Adere bolted past her, the result was never in doubt.
Kiplagat was dropped by the pure speed of the medal contenders
and had to settle for 4th in a PB 30:12.53, which is a new
NR [National Record] for Holland and would also have been
a record for Kenya, such was the quality of the race.
Adere covered her last K in 2:50, to win in a time of 30:04.18,
a new CR [Championship Record] NR and Area record.
Werknesh Kidane outdipped the Chinese athlete for silver,
with their finishing times of 30:07.15 and 30:07.20 respectively
they moved into 4th and 5th all time best lists.
The standard of this 10 000 was something special with a
New World Junior Record being established by Huina Xing of
China, 30:31.55 in 7th. Alla Zhilyayeva [ Russia] established
a NR with 30:23.07 in 5th with Benita Johnson setting an Australian
NR in 8th with 30:37.68.
Radcliffe's 30:01 10 000m at last Munich's European Champs
has shown the women what is possible, and this race has indicated
the positive response to the challenge. | results
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Women's 800m Heats :
The main speaking point would be the withdrawal of Jolande
Ceplak of Slovenia, one of the very few who could challenge
Mozambique favourite Maria Mutola.
Also witnessed was the very possibility of Mutola crashing
out due to being clipped from behind by Joanne Fenn of Britain.
This was to be the only danger of the powerfully built athlete
of Mozambique not progressing to the next round.
Stephanie Graf of Austria, looked very impressive over the
last 100m and goes into the next round as one of the medal
favourites. Kelly Holmes made a surprise appearance in the
800's and moved through after a powerful burst over the last
50m. | results
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Men's 1500m Heats :
The main loss to this event was the withdrawal of Bernard
Lagat of Kenya due to virus. This opens the door even further
for Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco to defend his title.
The Moroccan progressed smoothly winning his heat at ease.
His main competition may come from Mehdi Baala of France,
who went through with great composure. | results
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Men's 3000m SteepleChase Heats :
The favourite for this event is ex-Kenyan Stephen Cherono,
who is now know as Saif Saaeed Shaheen of Qatar. Shaheen progressed
without much stress. Most impressive in this heat was Finland's
Jukka Keskisalo, who recorded a PB of 8:22.41 in 2nd place.
In the final, the main challenger to Shaheen is expected
to come from Kenyan Ezekiel Kemboi who won his heat in 8:18.09
closely followed by Holland's Simon Vroemen and Spain's José
Luis Blanco | results
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