By Bob Ramsak
PARIS -– The chase for the $1 million ÅF Golden League Jackpot resumes at the Stade de France outside of Paris on Friday night, putting the primary focus of the Meeting Gaz de France Golden League fixture squarely on the shoulders of two women who have come to dominate their respective events. For middle & long distance fans, that means this year’s breakout phenom, Kenyan teenager Pamela Jelimo.
Jelimo, just 18, has been among the biggest stories in the sport this spring and early summer, keeping busy rewriting the all-time 800m lists in this, just her first season of running the event. She’s run under 1:56 three times already, capped by her 1:54.99 run in Berlin to become the African record holder. Only five women have ever run faster.
For Jelimo, the nearest threat is compatriot and reigning world champion Janeth Jepkosgei, who will be trying valiantly to come within three seconds of the rising star; that’s been the average victory margin for Jelimo in her last six races.
While the fields are uncharacteristically thin on many of the events --indeed, several fields were severely depleted over the course of the week-- the slate includes a pair of solid 1500m contests.
The strongest field on the men’s side of the meet program will be in the 1500m, led by world leader Augustine Choge and Rome winner Asbel Kiprop, the pair who will lead the Kenyan charge in Beijing. Choge won the Berlin leg of the GL in 3:31.57, a personal best for the 21-year-old whil Kiprop, still a junior at 19, impressed many observers with his confident homestretch drive to handily win the Golden Gala in 3:31.64, also a PB.
Another Kenyan expected to contend is Shedrack Korir, the world championships bronze medallist, who has also dipped under 3:32 this summer.
Early start lists included American Alan Webb, the winner here last year, but his manager Ray Flynn told BBC statistician Mark Butler that Webb was never confirmed for the race and will not be in the Stade de France tonight.
The women’s metric mile field is a solid one as well, led by world champion Maryam Jamal. The 23-year-old Bahraini arrives on the heels of her debut over the distance in Athens last Sunday, where she clocked a solid 4:00.67.
Others looking to challenge include Ukrainian Iryna Lishchynska, the 2007 world bronze medallist who won in Madrid this year; Ethiopian Gelete Burka, the bronze medallist at the world indoors in March, who was apparently selected for Beijing; and Australian Sarah Jamieson, who's clocked 4:02.44 this season.
Of particular interest to Americans will be recently-minted national champion Shannon Rowbury's first outing over the distance since Eugene. The 23-year-old has already knocked nearly 12 seconds from her pre-2008 best, improving to 4:01.61.
The wide open men’s 3000m is almost exclusively an African affair. The standout name is Edwin Soi, the 3000/5000m winner at last year’s World Athletics Final and the 5000m winner at the Kenyan trials.
With Olympic champion Ezekiel Kemboi not racing, the spotlight will focus on Richard Matelong, world championships bronze medallist, in the steeplechase. The 24-year-old has chiseled together an impressive season, with victories in Doha, Hengelo and at the African Championships before finishing third at the Kenyan Trials. The European focus will be on continental champion Jukka Keskisalo of Finland and Swede Mustapha Mohamad, who was fourth at the world championships last year.
The women’s 5000m was hit particularly hard with cancellations, most notably by the Ethiopian federation’s decision to not send the Dibaba sisters --world record holder Tirunesh, Ejegayehu and junior Genzebe-- leaving a field of just five and a pacesetter.
The focus thus falls on Kenyan trials winner Priscah Cherono, third in Rome last weekend, and Lucy Wangui, the Kenyan trials 10,000m champion.
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