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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
Women’s 10 000m Final – Saturday,
August 23, 2003 
Pos Bib Athlete Nat Time
1 316 Adere Berhane ETH 30:04.18 (CR)
2 325 Kidane Werknesh ETH 30:07.15 (PB)
3 178 Sun Yingjie CHN 30:07.20 (PB)
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Berhane Adere
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 |
4 764 Kiplagat Lornah NED 30:12.53 (NR)
5 960 Zhilyayeva Alla RUS 30:23.07 (NR)
6 901 Bogomolova Galina RUS 30:26.20 (PB)
7 179 Xing Huina CHN 30:31.55 (WJ)
8 45 Johnson Benita AUS 30:37.68 (AR)
9 319 Dibaba Ejagayehu ETH 31:01.07 (PB)
10 676 Prokopcuka Jelena LAT 31:06.14 (NR)
11 617 Fukushi Kayoko JPN 31:10.57 (SB)
12 1124 Drossin Deena USA 31:17.86 (SB)
13 871 Botezan Mihaela ROM 31:28.72 (SB)
14 633 Shibui Yoko JPN 31:42.01 (SB)
15 635 Tanaka Megumi JPN 31:47.00 (SB)
16 911 Grigoryeva Lydia RUS 31:49.41
17 1125 Dryer Elva USA 31:59.81
18 998 Javornik Helena SLO 32:01.57
19 653 Kosgei Selina KEN 32:09.15 (SB)
20 522 Kálovics Anikó HUN 32:15.96
21 976 Stolic Sonja SCG 33:08.87 (SB)
22 1086 Berkut Nataliya UKR 33:12.84
23 291 Centeno Yesenia ESP 33:32.50
851 Ribeiro Fernanda POR DNF
452 Mockenhaupt Sabrina GER DNF
329 Tulu Derartu ETH DNF
725 Fernández Adriana MEX DNS
542 Davenport Marie IRL DNS
Intermediate Pos Bib Athlete Nat Time
1000m 1 522 Kálovics Anikó HUN 2:59.62
2000m 1 178 Sun Yingjie CHN 6:03.41
3000m 1 178 Sun Yingjie CHN 8:59.93
4000m 1 178 Sun Yingjie CHN 12:00.16
5000m 1 764 Kiplagat Lornah NED 15:06.53
6000m 1 764 Kiplagat Lornah NED 18:07.25
7000m 1 316 Adere Berhane ETH 21:08.18
8000m 1 325 Kidane Werknesh ETH 24:11.02
9000m 1 764 Kiplagat Lornah NED 27:14.06
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