MIDDLE & LONG DISTANCE EVENTS PREVIEW

Stuttgart, GermanyThe sixth edition of the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final takes place in Stuttgart, Germany, on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 September. We continue our event category previews with the MIDDLE & LONG DISTANCE EVENTS.

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The entry list of the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final (WAF) is decided according to the IAAF World Athletics Tour (WAT) Standings.

After the conclusion of the last qualifying meeting before the World Athletics Final, the 7 Athletes having the highest number of points with their best 5 results (4 for throws) will qualify for each event of the World Athletics Final. For the races of 1500m and over, 11 athletes will be qualified. The Athletes for the 8th and 12th (1500m and over) position will be invited at the discretion of the IAAF.

It is a condition that athletes have scored points in at least 3 meetings, and in the case of a tie for the qualification for the World Athletics Final, the Athlete with the best seasonal performance will be qualified. The IAAF will extend invitations, at its discretion, upon receipt of refusals or cancellations.

All qualified athletes are contacted to ascertain that they are fit and willing to compete. Not until those answers are received, wild card entries are decided, and the usual technical meeting is held on the day before the World Athletics Final, can the final start list be made available. Consequently, our previews are as accurate as possible before that time.

Click here for the IAAF World Athletics Tour Standings

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MEN

800m

In the largely unpredictable 800m wars, Alfred Kirwa Yego followed up his 2007 World championship title admirably. The 21-year-old took the bronze in Beijing, ran a season’s best 1:44.01, and most recently beat a solid field in Rieti.

But carrying the strongest momentum at the moment is Bahraini Youssef Saad Kamel, formerly Gregory Konchellah, the WAF winner in 2004 in Monaco and again last year in Stuttgart. The bronze medallist at the World indoors in March, the 27-year-old scorched an Asian record 1:42.79 in Monaco just prior to Beijing and in his last outing over the distance, powerfully defeated a strong field in Brussels.

Abubaker Kaki took the event by storm indoors this year, capped by a gun-to-tape victory at the World indoor championships. He picked up where he left off in his outdoor debut, clocking a World junior record 1:42.69 in Oslo, won again in Ostrava a few days later, and took the World junior title as well. But disaster struck in Beijing where he fizzled in the semis and hasn’t raced since.

Others to watch include Ugandan Abraham Chepkirwok, the winner in London and more recently third in Brussels; Moroccan Amine Laalou, the winner in Rome (1:44.27); and South African Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, who clocked 1:43.26 in Monaco.

1500m

In a summer of teenage middle distance running madness, Asbel Kiprop’s name was another to rise from the crowd. After a solid runner-up finish at the Kenyan Olympic Trials in Nairobi, the 19-year-old took an impressive and confident victory in Rome in 3:31.64, a personal best and the third fastest run of the season. A runner-up finish followed in Paris before a much more significant second place finish to take silver in Beijing. In recent weeks, Kiprop has been polishing up his speedwork in a few 800m outings; he notched a 1:44.71 PB with a victory in Lausanne and was third in Rieti over a distance which brought him a silver medal at May’s African championships.

Among the most prolific 1500m runners on the 2008 World Athletics Tour have been Moroccan Abdelaati Iguider and Kenyan Daniel Kipchirchir Komen. Iguider clocked a career best 3:31.88 with his second place finish in Rome, and more recently was second in Brussels. Komen, the defending WAF champion, produced a world-leading 3:31.49 in Monaco and more recently was second in Lausanne and fifth in Brussels.

A favourite in the 800, Youssef Saad Kamel could be a factor here as well. He seems quite comfortable over the longer distance, producing a pair of PBs in three races over the past two weeks. After a fourth place showing in Zurich (3:33.11), he improved to 3:32.83 with his victory in Lausanne, and took another comfortable victory in Zagreb on Tuesday.

New Zealand’s Nick Willis took bronze in Beijing, and again was third in Brussels, and will certainly be a factor this weekend.

Since he has not qualified for the World Athletics Final outright, Olympic champion Rashid Ramzi’s participation will depend on the wild card selection.

3000/5000m

Since its inception six years ago, a Kenyan or Ethiopian has won the 3000 and 5000 at each edition of the World Athletics Final, and predictably, men from these east African distance superpowers will again be taking centre stage.

Edwin Soi took an impressive 3000/5000 double here a year ago, and has the points required to defend both titles. The 22-year-old certainly produced the credentials this year to repeat his double, should he choose to attempt it. On Sunday he ran an impressive 7:31.83 career best to win in Rieti, the world's fastest time this year. In the 5000, he won the notoriously difficult Kenyan Olympic Trials and followed up with a solid 13:06.22 season's best to take Olympic bronze.

Sileshi Sihine has had the misfortune of being a contemporary of Kenenisa Bekele, spending much of his career in the shadow of his nearly invincible compatriot. He was nonetheless one of the finest distance runners in the world this season, winning four of his five outings. His only loss came at the hands of Bekele in the Olympic 10,000m, where he captured yet another silver medal. Most recently, he took a convincing victory in the Brussels 10,000.

Kenyan Moses Masai competed sparingly but competed well all season, from his 12:50.55 PB runner-up finish in Berlin in June - he also won the 5000 in Barcelona in mid-July - to his fourth place finish in the Olympic 10,000m. Most recently, he was second in the Brussels 10,000m behind Sihine.

Others possible contenders include Kenyans Isaac Songok (7:35.06 this season) and Joseph Ebuya (7:34.62) in the 3000m, and Olympic silver medallist Eliud Kipchoge and Beijing fourth placer Ugandan Moses Kipsiro in the 5000.

3000m Steeplechase

Four names stand out from a crowded field here, setting up one of the finest races of the weekend.

Kenyan Brimin Kipruto, Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad of France and Richard Mateelong of Kenya took gold, silver and bronze in Beijing and will square off again in Stuttgart. But adding to the rematch is the inclusion of Paul Kipsiele Koech, who will arrive in Stuttgart with the four fastest times of the year, topped by his 8:00.57.

Koech was fourth at the Kenyan Trials thus missing a spot on the Beijing squad, thus decided to make his mark elsewhere, and he has largely succeeded. His loss in Nairobi was his only defeat in five races this season. In Zurich he defeated both Mekhissi-Benabbad and Mateelong and in Brussels last weekend be beat Kipruto by more than five seconds. A year ago here, Koech won handily in 8:00.67, seven seconds ahead of Mateelong and more than 10 seconds clear of Kipruto.

Others to watch include Tareq Mubarek Taher of Bahrain and Kenyans Michael Kipyego and Ezekiel Kemboi who have all run under 8:10 this year.

WOMEN

800m

Much has been written about Pamela Jelimo since her international breakthrough in Hengelo in May. Simply put, the 18-year-old Kenyan phenom has redefined the women’s two-lap race in just her first season of running the event.

Four times the teenager cracked the 1:55 barrier, territory that only six others have ever entered. Unchallenged, she took the Olympic title in Beijing and last week concluded her season-long romp towards the $1million ÅF Golden League Jackpot. Her 1:54.01 in Zurich less than two weeks ago elevated her to No. 3 all-time. Her rise from obscurity is unparalleled in recent athletics history. Adding another notch to her undefeated 11 race season is the safest bet in Stuttgart this weekend.

As she has all season, World champion Janeth Jepkosgei will lead the chase. Jepkosgei ran a near-PB 1:56.07 to take the silver medal in Beijing. Jamaican Kenia Sinclair put together another solid season, capped with a sixth place showing in Beijing. Ukraine’s Yuliya Krevsun lowered her PB in the Beijing semis to 1:57.32 before taking seventh in the final. World 1500m champion Maryam Yusuf Jamal was a key figure in the 800 this season, with a pair of national records, most recently 1:57.80 in Zurich, and will be a strong contender should she decide to double.

1500m

World champion Maryam Yusuf Jamal faltered badly in the Olympic final, but despite that fifth place finish, has nonetheless produced the most consistent season in the metric mile. With victories in Athens, Paris and Lausanne, the Ethiopian-born Bahraini produced two of the season’s four sub-four minute performances to arrive in Stuttgart as the favourite.

American champion Shannon Rowbury made a notable move into the elite ranks this season, and will be looking to cap her season on a high. Entering 2008 with just a 4:12.31 best, she immediately went to work on that mark, lowering it to 4:01.61 in Carson, Calif., in early May before impressing international observers with a strong runner-up finish to Jamal in Paris where she clocked 4:00.33. After her seventh place finish in Beijing, she’s continued to race well, finishing second in Lausanne and third in the mile (4:20.34) in Rieti.

Ethiopian Gelete Burka could also be a factor. The 22-year-old, who took bronze at the World Indoor championships in March, didn’t make it to the final in Beijing, but has 4:00.34 this year, and most recently, kicked past Jamal to take the mile in Rieti in 4:18.23, an African record.

Briton Lisa Dobriskey and Morocco’s Btissam Lakhouad, fourth and 12th in the Olympic final, and of course, surprise Olympic champion Nancy Langat, should she be given a wild card, will round out a solid field.

3000/5000m

While double Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba has apparently ended her season, her arch rival Meseret Defar has not and will certainly figure prominently in Stuttgart once again.

The World champion in the 5000, Defar has won the last four editions of the World Athletics Final 3000m, and will be eager to put her disappointment from Beijing, where she took bronze, behind her. Although she improved her PB in the 5000m to 14:12.88 this year, Defar didn’t quite follow-up on her 2007 Athlete of the Year season as she would have hoped. Besides her defeat in Beijing she was surprised in the homestretch in the Brussels 5000 last weekend by Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot and may be looking for revenge this weekend.

With many women qualified for both distances, it’s yet unclear who will contest which distance, or as Defar has done in the past, contest both.

Cheruiyot will have a double option, and has proven strong this season at both distances, with a world leading 8:33.66 in the 3000 and a season’s best of 14:25.43 in the 5000.

Kenyan Linet Masai finished fourth in the Beijing 10,000m with a World junior and Kenyan record 30:26.50, and more recently was a distant third in the Brussels 5000. Kenyan trials winner and Olympic 5000m finalist Priscah Jepleting, Olympic 10,000m finalist and Paris 5000m winner Lucy Kabuu Wangui, and Ethiopia’s African 5000m champion Meselech Melkamu could all be factors.

3000m Steeplechase

The women’s 3000m Steeplechase in Beijing was memorable for two key reasons; it was the first time the event was contested in the Olympic Games and produced the first World record of the Games.

Russian Gulnara Samitova-Galkina, already the event’s standard bearer, brought her event into new territory with her 8:58.31 performance, the first sub-nine minute run in history. Behind here, Kenyan Eunice Jepkorir lowered the African record to 9:07.41 to become the third fastest women in history while World champion Yekaterina Volkova’s 9:07.64 for bronze was the fifth fastest run in history. All three are expected to reunite again in Stuttgart.

Samitova-Galkina is undefeated in five races this season and will start as the clear favourite. Jepkorir collected three victories of her own this season, before finishing behind the Russian in Beijing and most recently at the Russian Challenge in Moscow. Meanwhile Volkova has been the season’s clear No. 3.

The field can also boast of the next four finishers from the Olympic final: Cristina Casandra (9:16.85 SB) of Romania, Ruth Bisibori (9:17.35), Ethiopian Zemzem Ahmed, and Wioletta Frankiewicz of Poland. Bisibori most recently took a victory in Rieti beating Volkova while Frankiewicz finished second. Jepkorir is the defending WAF champion.

Bob Ramsak for the IAAF