As I write this, Oslo’ Bislett Games are only a few hours away.

Meeting three in the IAAF Diamond League series, the Bislett Games scarcely need association with the new track and field showcase for credibility. Rather the reverse, I would think, given Bislett history.

One of the goals the Diamond League aims is to offer more head-to-head competition, so it’s hardly surprising that one of the featured events was the men’s 800 metres in which rising young guns David Rudisha and Abubaker Kaki were to clash.

As much by accident as design, 21-year-old Rudisha and 20-year-old Kaki find themselves at the top of an event which has stagnated since the retirement of world record holder Wilson Kipketer. Neither has achieved his potential as a senior: Kaki is world indoor champion but bombed out at both the Beijing Olympics and the Berlin world championships; Rudisha was run out in the semis in Berlin.

Rather it is the thought of what they might do that excites. Rudisha bounced back from his world championships disappointment with a string of fast times, culminating in a 1:42.01 in Rieti last September which left him behind only Kipketer, Sebastian Coe and Joaquim Cruz _ middle-distance royalty all _ on the all-time list.

Kaki has had extenuating circumstances for his two major championship blow-outs _ sick in Beijing, coming back from a hamstring injury (incurred, ironically, at last year’s Bislett) in Berlin. He looked imperious in taking the world indoor title in Doha, as did Rudisha in wins in Melbourne, Doha and Ostrava this year.

So if neither yet has the status of a Coe or a Steve Ovett, each appears capable of attaining it and it might be a canny thing for the Diamond League to get in early on what could be the next great middle-distance rivalry.

Sport thrives on great rivalries. So often great performers come along in pairs _ Nadaland Federer or Borg and McEnroe in tennis; Bannister and Landy in pursuit of the four-minute mile; Zola Budd and Mary Decker. Sometimes it’s more than two _ Joan Benoit, Grete Waitz and Ingrid Kristiansen in the women’s marathon in the mid-1980s, with Rosa Mota and Lisa Ondieki coming along in the second half of that decade; Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay currently in the sprints; Ron Clarke, Kip Keino and Michel Jazy in the 5000 in the 1960s.

And, of course, there was Coe and Ovett in the 800 and 1500 in the late 1970s _ a rivalry given sharper piquancy by the fact they rarely raced against each other.

Coe and Ovett are also an example of how great rivalries do not always play out the way expected. Only at the 1980 Moscow Olympics _ where, ironically, each man won what was regarded as the other’s specialty event _ did the two clash at both 800 and 1500 in peak condition. The scarcity of their meetings led to a series of races, immediately dubbed ‘The Covett Series’, being planned over 3000, 800 and 1500 metres in 1982.

Announced with great hoopla at the end of 1981, the series was a fizzer. Within days, Ovett seriously injured himself when he ran into some iron railings on a training run. He recovered in time to run the 3000 only of the scheduled three races; Coe fell ill in 1982 and missed all three.

Fortunately, in an athletics sense if not commercially, the first race of the ill-fated series saw the emergence of a British saviour in the form of Dave Moorcroft. A fine athlete who won the 1978 Commonwealth 1500 and 1982 Commonwealth 5000 metres titles, Moorcroft chose 1982 for his year of years. He broke Henry Rono’s world record for 5000 metres _ and almost 13 minutes _ in running 13:00.41 in Oslo (Bislett again!) and won the ‘Covett’ 3000 in 7:32.79, a few tenths outside another Rono world record.

Another rivalry which confounded expectations was that between Rob de Castella and Alberto Salazar in the marathon. Salazar ‘broke’ Derek Clayton’s long-standing world record with 2:08:13 in New York in 1981 on a course which turned out to be around 150 metres short, then defeated fellow-American Dick Beardsley in an epic duel in Boston in 1982. ‘Deek’ ran 2:08:18 in Fukuoka in 1981 then won the Commonwealth Games marathon in Brisbane.

Sports management company IMG, which represented both athletes, was desperate to arrange a ‘match race’. Of course, there was the world championships coming up in Helsinki, but the athletes would get nothing to run that and 25 percent of nothing is – nothing. After several possibilities fell through, Rotterdam 1983 saw the meeting of the big two.

It was a magnificent race, won by de Castella in a time only 20 seconds outside his world record after a last-man standing duel with his closest rival over the last five kilometres. Only problem was, his closest rival was not Salazar, but Carlos Lopes. Salazar was fifth; Lopes went on to become Olympic champion the following year and then world record holder the year after that.

Other rivalries, of course, produce great race after great race. Even the invincible Herb Elliott had Merv Lincoln dogging his heels throughout most of his career. One mile race between them was so close that both were given the same time; crucially, Elliott was given the win by an official margin of “inches”; Haile Gebrselassie and Paul Tergat at 10,000 metres; Sonia O’Sullivan and Gabriela Szabo at 5000 (and other distances); Kenenisa Bekele and Zersenay Tadese at 10,000 are others that come to mind.

Come to think of it, by the time this is posted, the result of the Rudisha-Kaki clash will be known. Which of them won? Or did someone upstage them both? Are we on the way to a new grand rivalry? Stand by.

Brought to you by Edward Ovadia who is in Berlin with official IAAF accreditation covering the championships for Runnerstribe.com

Day Three had only one session in the evening, which had a couple of big finals. First up was the Womens pole vault; where the biggest upset imaginable happened. The impenetrable force of Russia's Elena Isinbaeva didn't come to the party tonight. Isinbaeva failed to clear a height after passing up to 4.75m. She had one attempt at that height, which didn't even reach the bar. She then passed to 4.80m, which she had two failed attempts at. Which means that Isinbaeva comes away without even a medal. The gold went to Poland's Anna Rogowska, who was the only one to successfully clear 4.75m.

Rogowska: "If somebody told me this morning that I was going to get a gold medal today, I would just smile. I still do not believe I won. Maybe tomorrow I will realise it. Maybe I hoped for silver but gold is a big surprise for me."

Isinbaeva: "I have no proper explanation for what happened today. Everything was perfect, I was confident and I cleared 4.70 during the heat up. When I was laying on the ground and concertrating, I imagined my victory, and good jumps, not defeat. Something like this happened nine years ago, I did not expect it. I do not regret I did not start at lower heights because even if I cleared 4.65 it would mean nothing. I think it happened because it just must have happened. This competition was important to me but I hope that will encourage me to be great in London. I hope I will recover from this."

In the womens 400m hurdles heats, all the favourites made it through, with the fastest qualifier being Lashinda Demus of the USA, running 54.66. Olympic Champ Melaine Walker of Jamaica won her heat comfortably

The womens 100m semi finals showcased some very fast times, with the fastest going to Shelly-Ann Fraser of Jamaica, who ran a then season best of 10.79. She was closely followed by Kerron Stewart, who looked the two to beat. Fast forward to the final two hours later, and that's how it stayed. Fraser got off to a brilliant start, and Stewart was forced to play catchup. In the end she nearly did, but Fraser was too strong on the line, winning in a world leading 10.73, with Stewart in a personal best 10.75. Carmelita Jeter was third in 10.90.

The womens 800m semi finals saw another upset, as Olympic Champion Pamela Jelimo, who looked so strong two days ago in the heats, pulled out with 250m to go, after never really looking like she was in the race. Vessey, too, failed to make it through to the next round. However South Africa's Semenya again looked unstoppable, as she cruised to the line to win her semi in 1:58.66, leaving World Champion Jepkosgei scrambling to try and catch her. Semenya is clearly the one to beat, now that Jelimo is out, and we still haven't even seen Semenya actually extend herself and hit a sprint down the final straight. She is certainly in 1:56 shape, and the others will have to be too to try and catch her.

Smenya: "It's my first time on the international stage and I will try to do my best. The tactic was to go in front first, then slow down and let the other go and accelerate again closer to the finish. I used to play football as a left back. Running is just a game for me. Even next year, I can stop running if I want."

In the mens 1500m semis, Aussie Jeff Riseley had a gutsy run but missed the final, placing 10th in his heat. He positioned himself perfectly throughout most of the race, but with 300m to go, he was unable to make the move up to the front of the pack, and was left with too much too do in the final straight. Kiprop looked untroubled in striding to the front and claiming the win. So to did Lagat in the other heat, who although didn't win, looked the form runner. Those two will be very hard to beat.

Lagat: "It will be a great final, really awesome. Laalou [Lagat's heat winner] is a 800m runner, so he has a great finish. It will be a challenge for me. Yes, I looked strong and I also felt strong. I have to defent my title, but it will not be easy. The final is going to come down on the last 600m. We have three US guys; this is incredible."

Riseley: "I felt like I put myself in the right position, I didn't want to get caught out on the rail like I did in the heat, I hit a few dead ends, and I was always conscious of someone coming around me, and getting shuffled back. I tried to hold my space, and I really made a move with 450m to get back on with the leaders, and get myself in a position where I could close fast in the last lap, and get one of those top five spots. I felt like I was capable of that tonight, but I got to the 300m mark, and I just didn't have the kick I had two days ago. I was still competitive, and I still ran kind of well, but I just didn't have the gear that those guys had tonight, so I was pretty disappointed. Bolt powered to the line, and didn't pull up, and was rewarded with a time that will prove very hard for anyone else to reach anytime in the distant future. Gay got off to a good start, and ran a US record to become the second fastest person ever, in 9.71. Powell, who has become much more playful with the crowd and the camera (perhaps in an attempt to relax before big races), finally shook off his big time nerves and claimed a gallant third place. But Bolt is truly a champion, and continues to shock like never before. He is the man who can do absolutely anything.

The third big upset of the night happened in the womens steeplechase final, where Olympic Champion and world record holder Gulnara Galkina, after looking so dominant in her heat, never figured in the final. She struggled to keep up, finishing fourth in the end, just in front of a fast finishing Jennifer Barringer. Instead the win went to Spain's Marta Dominguez, who set a personal best of 9:07.32.

Dominguez: "When I ran side by side with Galkina I realised she was not breathing good and so I knew that I had a medal for sure."

The biggest race of the night was the mens 10000m, which featured the first foray of Kenenisa Bekele on this World Championship track. It was a successful one, with Bekele kicking away from Zersenay Tadesse in the final lap to take the win in 26:46.31, a new Championship record. The pace was fairly pedestrian for the first half, until Tadesse took over and started laying down 2:38 kilometres, one after the other. Slowly people dropped, until it was just four: Bekele, Tadesse, and Masai, and Kogo of Kenya. Kogo was the first to go, the Masai, and for the last five laps it was mono a mono, as we have seen so many times already - but it never gets old! Tadesse did everything he could to shake Bekele, but with one lap to go, and with Bekele still on Tadesse's shoulder, it was clear to all, including Tadesse, who the winner would be.

Dathan Ritzenhein ran a blinder of a race, coming through the field in the last few kilometres, to take sixth place in a personal best of 27:22.28. Rupp was eight in 27:37.99. Collis Birmingham, who decided to line up in both the 5000m and the 10000m, was in the mix for the first half of the race, but then slowly dropped as the pace picked up. After running in no mans land for a long time, he pulled out with four laps to go. Hopefully he will bounce back for the 5000m. Dave McNeill had an incredibly gutsy World Championships debut, coming 24th in 29:18.59. McNeill gave it his all, and worked off everyone he could, never giving an inch. His last 100m was pure agony, as the jelly legs kicked in, and the Aussie could barely stand after crossing the line, and was carried off the track with hypothermia and dehydration. A gallent effort, and McNeill should be very proud of his debut.

Bekele: "It's great to win for the fourth time. I am so happy. I planned already to stay behind until one lap is left, and then kick. [On the 5000m] I haven't decided yet. I will decide maybe tomorrow."

Tadesse: "I am very, very happy. The race was tough because for many, many laps I was in front. The problem is at the finish. I am happy because this is my first time to be second and the World Championships. The Kenayns were in front and I went to the front after 15 laps. That was my plan."

On to tomorrow! More Usain Bolt, the mens steeple final, the womens 400m final, the mens 400m hurdles final, it'll be big! See you then.

 

Share on Facebook
 

'Hills are speedword in disguise '
Frank Shorter