Bucher
raises the rafters at the Weltklasse
Nick Davies for the IAAF
17 August 2001 - Zurich - You can’t beat the Letzigrund Stadium for
atmosphere. Especially with more than 22,000 people packed in like sardines, and
the cries of encouragement echoing off the corrugated iron roofs of its terraced
stands, but when newly crowned world champion Andre Bucher kicked for home in
the 800m, the noise was deafening.
Befitting a national hero, Bucher did not just win, but improved his own personal best and Swiss record to 1:42.55. More impressive though was the way that Bucher, who sped through the first 400m in 49.3, dug in to maintain his lead as his legs began to tire in the last few metres, and the chasing pack closed in. At the finish, Bucher was a fraction ahead of Jean-Patrick Nduwimana, who set a new Burundian record of 1:42.81, with Kenya’s Wilfred Bungei third in 1:42.96 and William Yiampoy fourth in 1:43.00. Poland’s Pawel Czapiewski set a new national record in fifth with 1:43.22, just ahead of Yuriy Borzakovskiy with 1:43.30. The quality of this race can be seen in the fact that Olympic champion Nils Schumann finished seventh, but still ran 1:44.32 – just 1/10th slower than his personal best. “Everything went to plan, and the pacemaker did a perfect job. Everything was perfect. As for the world record, I’ll start dreaming of it next year,” said Bucher.
Violeta Szekely became the first person to win a share of the Golden League Jackpot (50kg of gold) by winning her 5th consecutive victory at 1500m with 3:59.94. The Romanian, continued her win-streak in impressive fashion, shadowing the Russian Natalya Gorelova around the last two laps, before striking for home around the last bend. Although put under pressure by 1997 world champion Carla Sacramento, the 2001 world silver medallist accelerated clear with a final 200m of around 30.8. “After the third win, I started to think about the Jackpot,” admitted Szekely: “Now I have made it, but I’m sure there will be other athletes too. Today it was really hard though as I am tired after travelling back from Edmonton.”
Olga Yegorova could yet join Szekely on the Jackpot podium, winning the 3000m convincingly, for her third win of the season. She was given much more of a race this time by Gabriela Szabo though, with the Romanian almost catching the Russian in the final 100 metres. Yegorova had kicked emphatically with 200 metres to go, dropping Adere Berhane and Gete Wami, but a healthy Szabo also kicks like a mule and, to the crowd’s delight, closed to a couple of strides in the home straight. Yegorova needed to run her fastest time of the year, 8:23.26, also a meeting record, to keep Szabo at bay. “It was a tough race because the pace was so fast at the beginning,” said Yegorova, “I didn’t expect such a fast time. I was sure I had won only after I crossed the finish line. I would like to thank the crowd for showing their support. I have come through a really tough period but think I’m able to cope with everything around me.” Szabo ran a national record of 8:24.19 in second with Adere setting a new African record of 8:25.62 in third.
Felix Sanchez showed a champion’s nerves by fighting off a tough challenge from Olympic champion Angelo Taylor in the 400m hurdles. Taylor went off hard from the gun and held an advantage into the eighth hurdle when Sanchez began to surge. As Taylor faded, the world champion eased clear to stop the clock at 47.38 – a new personal best and Area record. World silver medallist Fabrizio Mori finished strongly, but could not catch Taylor who clocked 48.21 to the Italian’s 48.52.
Hicham El Guerrouj may be intending to step up to the 5000m but tonight, as in Edmonton, he demonstrated that he is still capable of destroying a world class field at 1500m. “It’s hard to run again, even one week after the World Championships,” said El Guerrouj. Although the Olympic champion Noah Ngeny was racing the Moroccan for the first time since that dramatic race in Sydney, El Guerrouj’s toughest rival proved to be Bernard Lagat, who stayed a few steps behind until the Moroccan kicked hard for home half way around the final lap. El Guerrouj’s time of 3:29.06 was achieved with a 56 second final lap, while Lagat held on to second place with 3:30.61, ahead of four of his countrymen. Unfortunately, they did not include Ngeny, who finished last with 3:42.80.
Her defeat to Zhanna Pintusevich-Block was the upset of the World Championships, but Marion Jones bounced back in Zurich by winning the 100m in 10.94, from training partner Chandra Sturrup (10.99) and Ekaterni Thanou of Greece. Pintusevich-Block started poorly, with Jones edging clear in the middle part of the race. Jones needs to win just one more GL race for a share of the Jackpot.
Allen Johnson took another big step towards the Jackpot, winning his fourth GL 110m hurdles race in 13.18, with the man he beat in Edmonton for the world title, Anier Garcia, finishing third after a poor start.
World champion Maria Mutola has probably come to expect tight finishes in her 800m races, but tonight she was in a class of her own, running 1:56.85 – more than a second faster than Kelly Holmes (1:57.88) with “Silver Stephanie” Graf coming home third in 1:57.98. Mutola has now won 9 consecutive races at the Weltklasse, an amazing feat.
Among the many world champions to bite the dust in Zurich was Konstandinos Kenteris, who could only finish third in the 200m. Bernard Williams, AKA “Mr Hollywood”, may be better known as a 100m man but he ran an excellent bend to enter the straight 2 metres clear of the field. He held on to clock 20.19 – a stride ahead of Christian Malcolm (20.24) with Kenteris (20.28) closing fast.
World champion Lars Riedel, who finished fifth in a discus competition won by the Olympic champion Virgilijus Alekna with 69.95. Riedel’s managed 66.14 in the third round but fouled his last three throws. Another world champion thrower to struggle was Jan Zelezny who was beaten in the javelin by Germany’s Raymond Hecht, who achieved 88.88, to the Czech’s 87.62.
Eunice Barber – who made a catastrophic exit from the world championship heptathlon – gained some small revenge by beating Fiona May, the reigning world champion in the long jump, at her specialist event. Barber’s best of 6.97 was enough for victory, with May only managing 6.77 for second place.
Tim Montgomery proved that he is second only to Maurice Greene this season at 100m by running 9.90 – a meeting record – to finish well clear of Britain’s Dwain Chambers (10.09) and Abdul Aziz Zakari of Ghana (10.15).
Morocco’s Brahim Boulami – the fastest ever non-Kenyan – made up for his disappointment at finishing 10th at the steeplechase in Edmonton by trouncing an excellent field to set a new national record, and meeting record of 7:58.50, and finish almost 15 metres clear of recently crowned World Champion Reuben Kosgei (8:03.22). Boulami made his decisive move on the penultimate lap, accelerating hard to open up a 20-metre gap on the pursuing pack. The Moroccan held his nerve and form, and a last lap of 60.2 seconds helped him improve his personal best by over 4 seconds. Wilson Boit Kipketer – who has won three Golden League meetings this season, looked completely out of sorts tonight, finishing 9th. Theoretically, he still has a chance of winning a share of the Jackpot.
In the women’s 100m hurdles, Gail Devers ran a blistering 12.53, despite a 1.2 mps headwind, to finish a stride ahead of World Champion Anjanette Kirkland (12.64), with Jenny Adams finishing third (12.78) to ensure a US clean sweep. Glory Alozie, in her second race for her adopted country of Spain, set a national record of 12.87 in fourth place.
By finishing third in the women’s high jump, behind world champion Hestrie Cloete (2.01) and Viktoriya Palamar, Kajsa Bergqvist drops out of Jackpot contention, as does Paul Bitok, who finished fourth in the 5000m, a race won by world champion Richard Limo (12:56.72). Other contenders to crash out were Edith Masai (3000m/5000m) and Tatyana Tereshchuk, who finished second to Nezha Bidouane in the women’s 400m hurdles.
