Irina Privalova (RUS) - 2000 Olympic 400m Hurdles Champion (© Getty Images)
The Russian Winter meeting in Moscow next week, Thursday 30 January, will be the first IAAF Indoor Permit meet of the 2003 calendar, and will boast the competitive return of one of the most versatile of international champions, Irina Privalova, the women's Olympic 400m Hurdles champion.
Athletes from nine countries will participate at the meeting in Moscow but there is little doubt that most eyes will be focused on the 34-year-old Privalova who has not competed since 2000. Privalova will make her return to the track at 400m against some of the best Russian one lap runners.
“It will be my first step on the way to the 800 metres and I hope it will not be the worst one. This was my same approach in the Olympic winter season of 2000, when I began running over the hurdles at the ‘Russian Winter’ meet. In my indoor competitions I will try to vary my running from 200 to 800m races.”
Privalova also confessed that she still needs to confirm in her own mind the level of performance that will be required if she is to participate successfully at 800m. However, her coach Vladimir Paraschuk is in no doubt, having already told her that she must achieve 1:56 shape to have any real chance at the top.
In the women’s Triple Jump, World Champion Tatyana Lebedeva who last weekend made her own return to competition with a 14.16m performance (+long jump of 6.39m) in Volgograd, will have her second outing at her specialist event after taking the 2002 season off to start a family.
One of the main events of the ‘Russian Winter’ meet will be the women’s High Jump, where the 2002 European Indoor champion Marina Kuptsova is ready to respond to Anna Chicherova’s new 2.04m Russian record (7 January 2003).
“I am jumping 2.00m in training and my aim is to achieve 2.05m,” confirmed Kuptsova. “I want to fight with Chicherova in the same competition with the same equal conditions for everybody. She must show her (recent) outstanding results at the serious big meetings for example at the ‘Russian Winter’. I am not afraid of her.”
Kuptsova was also surprised about Chicherova sudden rise to the top, especially that the record came so early in the year.
“I wanted to do it first, so now I must jump 2.05 or even higher. May be I’ll manage to do it at the 'Russian Winter', but my father who is also my coach thinks that it is better to wait a little bit (in such a long indoor season). I look forward very much to meeting Anna at the competitions in Stuttgart and Dortmund.
Nikolai Ivanov for the IAAF
