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From David Monti
© 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com
By Bob Ramsak
VIENNA, Austria -- Returning to the venue that witnessed her electrifying 1:55.82 world indoor record five years ago, Jolanda Ceplak returned wearing Bib #1 and lived up to her billing at the AthleticBet.com Indoor Classic tonight in the Austrian capital.
Running an extremely even tempo throughout, and aided by a 58 second pacing effort for the first 400m, Ceplak reached the line in 1:59.33 in her first indoor appearance since March 2005.
“I have really good memories from here,” said Ceplak, who needed nothing less than a world record to capture her 2002 European indoor title. “I really did miss having some competition tonight, but it was a good opening effort.”
In that 2002 race, both she and Austrian Stefanie Graf dipped under the previous world record that had stood for more than 14 years, and Ceplak admitted that she missed Graf in this race.
“I heard that she’s back in training so I really hope to see here racing soon,” the 30-year-old Slovenian said.
Dogged by injury the past several seasons, the 2004 Olympic bronze medallist said she’s on the mend, and recently finished her first complete fall training stint in two years, and was pleased with the outcome.
“I ran a very even tempo and I wasn’t really tired at all.” Her performance is the second fastest in the world in the young season, but perhaps more telling is that this was her first sub-2 minute indoor debut since her record-setting 2002 season. She races next in Stuttgart on Sunday, where she will face some of the stiff competition she’s looking for.
In the men's 3000, the longest event on the long afternoon and evening program, 26-year-old Martin Steinbauer produced a solid victory for his home town crowd, clocking a career best 7:56.47, and also dipping under his outdoor best of 7:57.16 from 2005. Briton Adam Bowden was a distant second (8:05.47).
Ceplak's compatriot Sonja Roman displayed notable early season form, wining the 1500 by more than 13 seconds in 4:10.88 in her 2007 debut over the distance. Her gun-to-tape solo run knocked nearly a full second from her previous career best set nearly three years ago, and is also the fastest in the world thus far this year. The 27-year-old, who hails from a small village on Slovenia's border with Hungary, was surprised by her solo PB effort, and said it bodes well for the remainder of her indoor campaign.
"No, I was definitely note expecting to run that fast!" Roman said. "In the past several seasons, I've worn myself out chasing standards, so then had nothing left in the major competitions. Now I can spend the winter more relaxed in races." In her run-up to the European Indoor Championships in early March, Roman says she'll tune-up with several 800 and 1500 outings, and perhaps a 3000 as well.
Unlike Roman's run the men’s contest was hotly contested, with Italian Christian Neunhauserer running down a tightly-knit pack over the home straight to win in 3:43.55. Dutchman Michiel Loschner (3:43.71) was second, just a hair ahead of Briton Chris Warburton (3:43.92).
The meet title sponsor, AthleticBet.com, is a new online betting operation focusing solely on international track and field and road racing. The site, which went live on Monday, is operated by Austrian Robert Wagner, also an international athlete manager.
"We're hoping it will be another great way to publicize the sport," said Wagner, adding that the website will sponsor several other upcoming meets.
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