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Men’s 1500 the key attraction as IAAF Golden League resumes in Paris

Posted July 6th, 2007 at 11:17 AM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

For the crowd of 65,000 that is expected to turn out for tonight’s Meeting Gaz de France, one event will stand head and shoulders above the rest –the men’s 1500, which features French star Mehdi Baala squaring off against American Bernard Lagat.

Baala, the world leader after his solo 3:31.05 in Strasbourg last week, apparently doesn’t mind the pressure. In fact, he added to it yesterday when declaring that he’ll be chasing his own national record of 3:28.98 set in 2003.

Lagat, who will be making his ninth straight appearance here, is pleased that the spotlight will be focused elsewhere.

“That makes all of us the underdogs,” said Lagat, who has never finished lower than third in this race since he first contested it in 1999. “He’s a great national hero running against all the other guys. People will be watching and cheering for him. And it’ll make an exciting and great race.”

For Lagat, this will be his first race since his 1500/3000 double duty at the U.S. Championships, and he is anticipating another fast race, perhaps deeper even than those during the days of his rivalry with world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj.

“Now it’s different, but in a good way,” Lagat said. “There’s consistency. There are athletes who can run 3:30 all through (the season). There are always five athletes who can run 3:31. That is what we like to see. That is consistency.”

Looking to be included in that international elite is U.S. miler Alan Webb who will be making his first start over the distance since winning the national title in Indianapolis two weeks ago. The 24-year-old tuned up for the race with a 1:45.80 career best in the 800 in Malmo, Sweden, four days ago and is certainly in the finest shape of his life.

The field also includes Kenyan Suleiman Simotwo, who has already dipped under 3:32 this season, and Kenyan Shadrack Korir and Tarek Boukensa of Algeria, a pair of sub-3:33 runners this season. Not in the field is Oslo dream mile winner Adil Kaouch.

After her compatriot Meseret Defar spent the early part of the season capturing the headlines, Tirunesh Dibaba returns to action to lead the field in the 5000. The reigning 5000/10,000 world champion downplayed any attempts on Defar’s recent world record of 14:16.63.

“I’m running for the win, not the record,” Dibaba said, adding that she’s not in prime shape after struggling with injury and illness after her runner-up finish at the World Cross Country Championships in March. Dibaba, who plans to defend both of her world titles in Osaka next month, said she initially was thinking about a world record assault here, but that it’s virtually out of the question now. She decided to run in Paris anyway, she said, “Because I promised organizers that I would run.”

Meselech Melkamu, another Ethiopian, lowered her PB to 14:33.83 in Ostrava in late June, and returns to the track here.

Stealing the focus in the women’s 1500 these days is Russia’s world indoor record holder Yelena Soboleva, whose 4:15.63 in the mile in the Moscow a week ago was the third fastest ever. She followed up with an impressive victory in Athens on Monday, easily fighting off the challenge of runner-up Maryam Yusuf Jamal. Jamal, the winner in Oslo last month, is in the race as well, along with Russia’s two-time defending world champion Tatyana Tomashova.

Minus world record holder Saif Saaeed Shaheen, the Paris line-up in the 3000m steeplechase is a veritable who’s who of the event. 2004 Olympic champion Ezekiel Kemboi (8:05.50 this season) returns after his win at Monday’s Athens Grand Prix while world leader (8:01.05) Paul Kipsiele Koech follows up on his Ostrava win. Reuben Kosgei, the 2000 Olympic and 2001 world champion, continues his comeback, after his runner-up finish in Ostrava. Local attention will be clearly focused on former European co-record holder Bob Tahri of France.

The men’s 3000 is a wide open affair. Kenyans Jonas Cheruiyot (7:34.37) and Joseph Ebuya (7:34.66) have produced PBs over the distance this season.

Only six of the ten winners from the Oslo’s Bislett Games, the opening leg of the IAAF Golden League, are continuing the $1 million jackpot chase in the French capital: American Anwar Moore n the 110m hurdles, Finn Tero Pitkamaki in the javelin throw, Americans Sanya Richards (400m) and Michelle Perry (100m hurdles), and Russians Yelena Slesarenko in the high jump and Yelena Isinbayeva in the pole vault.