10 June 1999 – Milan, Italy (AP) – Queen of the Night in Milan on Wednesday, Fiona May, the English born Italian stunned the crowds with a fantastic 7.02m in her speciality, the long jump. May and her husband and coach Gianni Iapichino were very pleased with her performance as she commented:
"I would even have been happy with 6.80 - 6.90, my winter training is still in its final stages and I am still not technically perfect, but I am very happy with this results which is more than I expected."
The Moroccans offered several other highlights to the evening. Hicham El Gerrouj, the 1500m world record holder, was true to form with a world best of 3:31.34, but the star of the Moroccan camp was undoubtedly Salah Hissou, whose victory at 5000m with 12:52.53 is the best performance of the year so far. The 1996 Olympic Champion proved that he is back on top by defeating World Champion Daniel Komen of Kenya.
Both Hissou and El Gerrouj spent the winter months training at altitude in Ifrane, Atlas Mountains and the results show. The group coach Abdel Kader Kada was particularly pleased with Hissou’s result:
"I understood that he could recapture his form of two seasons ago when I saw him training in Ifrane with El Gerrouj. Salah had no problem keeping up with El Gerrouj’s quick pace."
Monica Iagar-Dinescu of Romania also produced the best world performance of the year in the women's high jump, clearing 6 feet, 7 inches.
Four false starts and a lack of competition kept World Champion Maurice Greene far off the world record but didn't stop him from winning the 100m. Greene clocked 10.16, beating Nigeria's Innocent Asonze, runner-up at 10.27.
Greene, ranked No. 1 in the world last year, was .32 seconds off the world mark of 9.84 held by Canadian Donovan Bailey.
``I'm not obsessed with the world record,'' said Greene, who blamed the series of false starts for a lack of concentration and for failing to clock a faster time.
Inger Miller made it a sweep for U.S. sprinters, winning the women's 100 in 11.14. She beat Susanthika Jaysinghe, the silver medallist at the 1997 World Championships,who timed in 11.39.
