Where Your Dreams Become Reality
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Where Your Dreams Become Reality |
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SHAHEEN'S WR ASSAULT HIGHLIGHTS FINAL DAY OF WORLD ATHLETICS FINAL By Bob Ramsak (c) Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved September 19, 2004 MONTE CARLO, MON - Saif Saaeed Shaheen came tantalizingly close to his own world record in the steeplechase to highlight the second day of the IAAF World Athletics Final in Monte Carlo. Demoralizing Ezekiel Kemboi, Brimin Kipruto and Paul Kipsiele Koech, the Kenyan trio that swept the podium at last month's Olympic Games, Shaheen stopped the clock at 7:56.94, the fifth fastest performance ever. Of the Kenyan trio, Kemboi was closest, finishing a distant second with a season's best 8:02.98. "My goal for the race was to run 7:45," said Shaheen, who lowered the world record to 7:53.63 at the Van Damme Memorial in Brussels two weeks ago. "I wanted to make sure my world record was in a safe place. But we ran so fast in the second kilometer." The 'we' he referred to were unofficial pace setters Simon Vroeman of Belgium and Spaniard Luis Miguel Martin, who guided the 21-year-old Shaheen through the first kilometer in 2:38.81 and 5:14.53 for the second. So fast was the pace that Shaheen's 2000 meter split was just one-tenth of a second off of Julius Kariuki's world best for the rarely-run 2000 meter steeplechase, set 14 years ago. Kipsiele Koech, Kemboi, Kipruto and another Kenyan, Kipkirui Misoi, tagged along initially, but with three laps to go, only Kemboi was still in the chase. A lap later, Shaheen opened a six second gap on his rival, and added a couple more on the next lap. But the effort drained Shaheen, the former Kenyan Stephen Cherono, drastically, as he was able to manage a final lap of just 65.1, well off of his scorching 60-second finishing lap here last year. Kipsiele Koech was third in 8:03.21, well ahead of Misoi's 8:12.99 season's best. Eight of the 12 finalists -nine counting the Kenyan-born Shaheen-were from Kenya. After the race, Koech embraced and congratulated his rival. To their credit, both Vroeman and Martin finished the race. With Olympic champion Kelly Holmes, the winner of yesterday's 1500, choosing to watch the 800 from the stands, the way was paved for silver medallist Hasna Benhassi to shine, and the diminutive Moroccan did not disappoint. Completely rested from her own Olympic double, the 26-year-old turned in a perfectly executed homestretch finish en route to a 2:01.42 win. "It was really an easy race for me," said Benhassi, who won the 800 at Stockholm's DN Galan in similar fashion in July. "I just followed the pace and kicked in the last 100 meters." As she did in the final in Athens, ageless American Jearl Miles Clark took control just 200 meters into the race, and led the field through the first half in a modest 1:02.67, tailed closely by Romanian Maria Cioncan, the Olympic bronze medallist at 1500 metres, and Tatyana Andrianova, whose 1:56.23 win at the Russian championships paces the world this year. Biding her time behind them was Benhassi, who moved from fifth to third down the back straight, and into second halfway through the final turn. The American held her ground until the final 60 meters when Benhassi ran by, raising her arms as she crossed the line in 2:01.42. Miles Clark, who qualified for her fifth Olympic team this summer, held on for second in 2:01.73, fifteen days after celebrating her 38th birthday. "I didn't want to take the lead, but no one else did and it was really slow," Miles Clark said. "I didn't feel anyone until the last 30 meters, and then I just tried to stay with her." Olympic semifinalist Amina Ait Hammou fought her way from sixth to third down the homestretch, clocking 2:01.78.Russian Svetlana Cherkasova heading the chase pack, was fourth in 2:02.47, with Elisabeth Grousselle of France fifth in 2:02.99. Andrianova, who was fifth in Athens, faded here as well, finishing well back in seventh, clocking 2:03.70. Reinforcing the power that propelled her to Olympic gold in the 5000 meters, Meseret Defar cruised to a commanding win in the 3000, setting a competition record 8:36.46 -the fifth fastest performance in the world this year-- in the process. Playfully toying with the field, the 20-year-old Ethiopian remained near the front throughout the race, waiting for the moment to strike. Margaret Maury of France was the ad hoc pacesetter, bringing the field through the first kilometer in 2:54.89 and to the second in just over 5:51. Russia's Yelena Zadorozhnaya, third is yesterday's 1500, led the five-woman lead pack through the bell, but Defar, just off her shoulder, soon forged ahead unchallenged for the comfortable win. The Russian held on for second in 8:37.65, a seasonal best, with Polish standout Lidia Chojecka third in 8:39.16, also a seasonal best. Briton Jo Pavey, fifth in Athens, improved a notch here, reaching the line in 8:40.22, well ahead of Ethiopian number two, Sentayehu Ejigu, who clocked a personal best 8:42.63. A Kenyan threat for a podium spot never materialized. Alice Timbilili, an Olympic finalist in the 10,000, was a distant seventh in 8:50.46, with Sally Barsosio, the former World champion in the 10,000, was 10th (8:56.49). After a leisurely pair of 67 and 63-second opening laps, the men's 1500 was a brilliantly tactical affair. Emerging victorious from the mass drive for home was Ukraine's Ivan Heshko. "It was exactly the kind of race I expected because there was no pacemaker," said Heshko, who held off the late race blitz of Kenyan quartet Alex Kipchirchir, Laban Rotich, Olympic bronze medallist Bernard Lagat, and Paul Korir en route to his 3:44.92 win. "Nobody wanted to take the lead so the race was slow and tactical, as I like them." Elsewhere, Olympic 10,000 meter silver medallist Sileshi Sihine outkicked compatriot Dejane Berhanu to win the 5000 in 13:06.96.
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Cross Country Spikes 10% off Injured?
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