Stephanie Graf (centre) running to World silver, next to eventual winner Maria Mutola (left) in Edmnonton 2001 (© Getty Images)
Linz, AustriaOn Friday, Linz will become the second city in Europe to dedicate a new indoor arena this week, following the opening of the Tallinn facility on Wednesday, as it hosts a prestigious indoor athletics meeting to show off the new edifice. The ten-event celebration will serve as the final major competition prior to next week's IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham.
The Upper Austrian capital's sparkling ‘Intersport Arena’ boasts many of the features of yet another recently-opened hall--the Arena Leipzig--perhaps indicating the coming trend in European multi-purpose hall construction. In its athletics configuration, the Linz arena has a six-lane adjustable banked track, the only permanent track in Austria of that size. The wide curves incorporated into the design accommodate an eight-lane sprint apron, with the entire facility blanketed with a Mondo surface.
Built at a cost of 29 million Euros, the ‘Intersport Arena’ has a capacity of 3000 spectators for athletics events, and an audience of up to 7200 for other events such as concerts. Onlookers in the hall will be kept informed by a massive 24-square-metre LED display board for start line/result data, as well as for video replays.
Last weekend, the hall went through its final rehearsal for this weekend's grand opening, in the form of the Austrian Indoor Athletics Championships. Among the competitors putting a stamp of approval on the new venue was Stephanie Graf, the 800 metres silver medallist in Sydney, Lisbon, Edmonton and Vienna.
”It's friendly, bright, comfortable and fast,” she commented after a training session in the new arena. Graf then attached her own verification to those laudatory remarks by running a season-best 1:59.56 to win yet another of her countless national titles.
She will be the headliner in the women's 800 metres on Friday, with Hungary's Judit Varga dropping down from the 1500 metres to her former specialty for the occasion, as will Ukrainian 1500m champion Irina Lishchynska.
The men's middle-distance event will be a 1500m race featuring former Commonwealth and African winner Laban Rotich of Kenya, plus former European Indoor 3000 gold medallist John Mayock of Great Britain, and European junior champion Wolfram Müller from Germany.
Sprint events will dominate the track programme. European 100m record holder Dwain Chambers of Britain who won the continental sprint title in Munich last summer heads the field in the 60 metres, along with Edmonton bronze medallist Kim Collins of St. Kitts and American sprinters Coby Miller and Greg Saddler.
Czech Decathlon World record holder Roman Sebrle will also compete in the flat sprint event, as well as in the 60 Hurdles and Long Jump, as he prepares to defend his World Heptathlon title in Birmingham.
Miller will later return to the track to test the Intersport Arena curves in the 200 metres. Joining him will be European Indoor champion Marcin Urbas of Poland and his compatriot Marcin Jedrusinski, plus Asian champion Gennadiy Chernovol of Kazakhstan.
All eyes will be on Merlene Ottey in the Women's 60 metres, as she winds down preparation for her first world competition in Slovenian colours. Newly-crowned French indoor 60m champion Sylviane Félix will join with European indoor 200m silver medallist Karin Mayr of the host country in battling the former World Indoor Champion.
Mayr will also see double duty, as she returns to compete in her 200m speciality against reigning World Indoor champion Juliet Campbell of Jamaica, and former European indoor silver medallist Alenka Bikar of Slovenia.
Sydney winner Anier García of Cuba leads a strong field in the men's 60 Hurdles, along with African champion Shaun Bownes of South Africa, European silver medallist Stanislav Olijar of Latvia, and Asian championships victor Liu Xiang of China, still only 19 years old. García's countryman, Edmonton fourth-placer Yoel Hernández, will also compete.
The women's Hurdles will be headed by a pair of Jamaicans, last year's World Cup runner-up Brigitte Foster, and Dionne Rose.
The compact programme features only two field events in order to allow Eurosport to present stem-to-stern coverage.
Former World and Olympic silver medallist James Beckford of Jamaica will join Edmonton silver medallist Savanté Stringfellow of the US in the men's Long Jump. Also on the start list will be European silver medallist Sinisa Ergotic of Croatia, Sydney finalist Luís Meliz of Cuba, and a pair of freshly-minted national champions, Ruslan Gataullin of Russia and Schahriar Bigdeli of Germany.
The women's High Jump list is led by European indoor gold medallist Marina Kuptsova of Russia and Seville World Champion Inga Babakova of Ukraine. Last year's European indoor silver medallist, Dora Gyöffry of Hungary, plus 2001 World Junior winner Blanka Vlasic of Croatia will also see action.
Ed Gordon for the IAAF
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