ALL SET: An inflatable to be used at the opening ceremony hovers over the Luzhniki stadium on the eve of the World Athletics Championships in Moscow yesterday. (AFP)
AFP/Moscow
The first day of the World Athletics Championships today could not have been better organised, with two of the biggest stars lined up for action after a doping-tainted run-up to competition.
Britain’s Mo Farah is odds-on favourite to claim gold in the men’s 10,000m while Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt faces his first outing at Luzhniki Stadium in the heats for the 100m.
The day’s other final comes in the women’s marathon, featuring defending world champion Edna Kiplagat of Kenya against reigning Olympic champion Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia, who is looking for a first marathon title for her country.
Farah was one of the faces of the London Olympics after he claimed double gold in the 5,000 and 10,000m. The Somali-born 30-year-old has not run over 25 laps of the track since his triumph on home soil last August but he seems in prime form to go one better than in Daegu two years ago.
Dropping down distances to hone his speed, Farah shocked many observers by claiming a European record in the 1500m in Monaco this season. His time of 3:28.81 was the sixth-fastest ever.
Ethiopian Ibrahim Jeilan, defending world champion, did not compete in London and has been overtaken somewhat by his teammates, notably Olympic 5,000m silver medallist Dejen Gebremeskel, Abera Kuma and Imane Merga — fifth and third in Daegu two years ago.
The 100m, with the semi-finals and final to be run tomorrow, seems Bolt’s to lose. He was sensationally disqualified in Daegu after a calamitous false start in the final and now-injured teammate Yohan Blake took gold. The field for the blue riband event has been significantly diminished after the positive tests for American Tyson Gay and Jamaica’s Asafa Powell.
Gay’s main rival is Justin Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic champion and double sprint gold medallist in the 2005 Worlds who went on to serve a four-year drugs ban. Gatlin claimed bronze in the London Olympics and is the most likely source of an upset as a proven performer on the big stage and having already edged Bolt over 100m in Rome this season.
After wrapping up a unique double triple at the London Olympics, Bolt said it was not he who was the best athlete but Ashton Eaton. The 25-year-old American kicks off the defence of his decathlon title today, action in the first of the two-day event’s 10 disciplines starting with the 100m, the long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m.
Eaton, only the second decathlete to go beyond the mythical 9,000-point mark, holds world records in both the decathlon (9,039) and heptathlon (6,645) and will be looking to go one better than Daegu where he won a silver medal behind teammate Trey Hardee.
“My preparation feels good,” Eaton said. “Physically I actually feel a little more worn down (from last year). It does take a toll on your mind and your body. But I would say I’m ready to go.”
There are also qualifying events for the 800m, pole vault, hammer, and high jump for the men, and 400m, 3000m steeplechase, discus and long jump for the women.
While Bolt is a serial world record-setter and the current leader in both the 100 and 200m, another source for a likely world record will be going in the men’s high jump.
Ukrainian Bohdan Bondarenko has hit some outstanding form in the run-up to the Worlds. Cuban Javier Sotomayor’s record of 2.45m has stood since 1993, but the 23-year-old Ukrainian might just have what it takes to challenge.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE
Saturday (Aug 10): Men’s 10,000m; Women’s Marathon
Sunday (Aug 11): Men’s 100m, 20km race; Women’s 10,000m, Long Jump, Discus
Monday (Aug 12): Men’s 110m Hurdles, Pole Vault,
Hammer; Women’s Shot Put, 100m, 400m
Tuesday (Aug 13): Men’s 400m, 800m, Discus; Women’s 3,000m Steeplechase, 20km Walk, Pole Vault
Wednesday (Aug 14):
Men’s 50km Walk
Thursday (Aug 15): Men’s 400m Hurdles, 3,000m
Steeplechase, High Jump; Women’s 400m Hurdles, 1,500m, Triple Jump
Friday (Aug 16): Men’s 4x400m Relay, 5,000m, Long Jump, Shot Put; Women’s 200m, Hammer
Saturday (Aug 17): Men’s 200m, Marathon, Javelin; Women’s 100m Hurdles, 4x400m Relay, 5,000m, High Jump
Sunday (Aug 18):
Men’s 4x100m Relay, 1,500m, Triple Jump; Women’s 4x100m Relay, 800m, Javelin
100M FINALS OVER THE YEARS
1983, Helsinki
American Calvin Smith entered the event fresh from breaking Jim Hines’s 15-year old world record but he was outclassed by Carl Lewis who triumphed in 10.07. Smith took silver ahead of Emmit King in an American clean sweep.
1987, Rome
The Rome event was eagerly awaited as Lewis, who had added the 1984 Olympic title to his resume, went head to head with Canadian Ben Johnson, who had beaten him three times the previous year. In a memorable final, Johnson exploded from the blocks to virtually seal the race in the first 10 metres, powering home in a world record 9.83. A year later Johnson, having done the same thing in the Olympic final, tested positive for drugs and was retrospectively disqualified from the Rome placings. Lewis was awarded the gold, with Jamaica’s Ray Stewart and Briton Linford Christie promoted to the minor medals.
1991, Tokyo
An astonishing final saw the first six finishers break the 10-second barrier and another US clean sweep of the medals. Carl Lewis triumphed in 9.86, ahead of Leroy Burrell (9.88). Dennis Mitchell took silver in 9.91.
1993, Stuttgart
By now a biennial event, the Stuttgart final contained six of the eight men from Tokyo but this time it was 33-year-old Linford Christie who won it in 9.87. Americans filled the next three places but for once Lewis was out of the medals in fourth, behind Mitchell (bronze) and Andre Cason.
1995, Gothenburg
Donovan Bailey restored some pride to Canadian athletics when he triumphed in 9.97 — paving the way for his world record-setting victory in the Olympics the following year — with compatriot Bruny Surin second. Trinidad’s Ato Boldon took bronze with Mike Marsh’s fifth place representing America’s worst showing in the 30 years of the championships.
1997, Athens
This was the first of a hat-trick of titles for Maurice Greene as the tongue-lolling, head-rolling American won in 9.86 from Bailey and another American Tim Montgomery, who would later go on to join the long list of shamed sprinters.
1999, Seville
Greene had taken a huge chunk out of the world record when running 9.79 two months before the championships and produced the next-best legal time when taking gold in Spain in 9.80. Surin took his second silver with Briton’s 21-year-old drug-cheat-in-waiting Dwain Chambers collecting an unexpected bronze.
2001, Edmonton
In a tense final featuring three false starts, Greene’s impressive 9.82 run into a headwind led the first American sweep for a decade. However, Montgomery, who finished second, was disqualified three years later after being found guilty of doping violations, with his 2002 world record of 9.78 also annulled. Bernard Williams was promoted to silver, with Boldon getting a belated bronze.
2003, Paris
Greene’s bid for a fourth successive triumph ended with an injury in the semi-finals, opening the door for surprise winner Kim Collins to become a national hero of St Kitts and Nevis. A rare winner from the inside lane, his 10.07 was just enough to edge a blanket finish with Trinidad’s Darrel Brown and Briton Darren Campbell both timed at 10.08.
2005, Helsinki
Justin Gatlin added the world title to his 2004 Olympic gold but it was a victory clouded by his later double-suspension for doping. Unlike Johnson and Mitchell, his results of this period were allowed to stand and the American is back in Moscow this week. Michael Frater of Jamaica and Collins took the minor medals while an 18-year-old Usain Bolt finished last in the 200m final after suffering a hamstring injury.
2007, Osaka
Eight different nationalities lined up in the final but it was the United States leading them home again as Tyson Gay triumphed in 9.85. Asafa Powell went into the race as the new world record-holder (9.77) but in the first of what turned out to be many failures on the big stage, the Jamaican faded to finish third behind Derrick Atkins of the Bahamas.
2009, Berlin
Bolt had become a world superstar on the back of his exploits at the Beijing Olympics the previous year but Berlin proved to be the pinnacle of his career to date as he broke his own world records in both sprints with marks that still stand. Gay’s 9.71 would have won every previous final but left him a distant second as Bolt blasted to a mind-boggling 9.58. Powell again settled for bronze while Bolt went on to win the 200m in a world record 19.19.
2011, Daegu
In one of the sport’s biggest-ever shocks, Bolt was disqualified after a false start in a final he could probably have won in his sleep. Taking full advantage of his training partner’s absence, 21-year-old Yohan Blake, who had served a three-month drugs ban in 2009, became the youngest-ever world champion in 9.92 seconds. American Walter Dix was second, while Collins collected his third medal from his eighth championships appearance.