Welcome to Helsinki 2005 Day 3

Day 3 of the Helsinki 2005 World Track Championships, would see the semi-finals of the Women's 800m and the heats of the Men's SteepleChase.

Men's 1000m Final :
The Ethiopian, Kenenisa Bekele, continued buidling on his reputation and in the process further enhanced the talk of him being the "greatest distance runner ever." His win was not so much convincing as adequate, there was no display of power running by the Ethiopian contingent that destroyed the field at the Athens Olympics, but more a case o0f doing enough to simply win.

The tempo of the race faltered on numerous occasions and the brilliant Bekele was content to sit amongst his rivals awaiting his moment of reckoning. The knowledgable Finnish crowd would have appreciated an even greater display of brilliance and were cheering for any mere morsels that were flung their way. Early on when Japan's Terukazu Omori went to the front to open a gap of 30m the crowd roared their approval, this proved to be a false dawn and the 2k was reached in 5:36.67, barely a 28:00 pace. Then eventual silver medalist, Sileshi Sihine injected some pace into affairs, however this was still not the aggressive assault a great many of the crowd were expecting and the race laboured into an affair of counting down the laps. The race itself had its first casualty in the form of the USA's Mebrahtom Keflezighi and thereafter the field began to splinter with a pack still engulfed around the Ethiopian track star, awaiting his attack on the field.

5k passed in 13:51.10, an up in tempo towards a 27:40 pace, and still Bekele waited. Only after 17 laps did the 'small in stature large in heart' athlete venture to the front, but this was not to up the tempo but purely to provide a momentum to the race. Others consider it more as a passing on of instructions. 7k with Bekele at the fore was passed in 19:11.55, thereafter he returned to the pack.

There was a fair amount of shuffling amongst the pack and one would have been forgiven for thinking that someone would attack with 1K to go. Nope, the 9k marker [24:39.36] came and went, and still no sudden movement. The magic 600m to go came; the mark Haile Gebrselassie favoured for his moment of attack, and went by with nothing to write about. The only happening of evident was Moroccan, Abderrahim Goumri, causing a few anxious moments by way of slight bumping.

Then with 400m to go, we had Bekele at the fore, with his two trusty companions running shoulder to shoulder behind, with Kenya's Moses Mosop tucked in behind but slightly boxed in, he would have to go to the outside of lane 2 to pass.

And then, Bekele finally made his decisive move accelerating around the bend and establishing a lead which would not be yielded. Mosop took 3rd and was only 100's of a second off the 2nd placed Sihine.

Bekele had won, he had trusted his tactics till the last 200m and had retained his title won in Paris 2003. What next?. | results |

Men's 1500m semi-finals :
The Men's 1500 semi-finals were so different in contrast and tactic that it so easily could have represnted the heads and tails of a coin.

The great shock of the semis was the demise of France's Mehdi Baala, who on day1 had impressed with his tact and presence. He looked the part of a medal contender. Such is the cut and thrust at this level that a slight mistake can contest you reaching the final or a medal at the last stage. In the 2nd semi, America's Alan Webb took up the running in an attempt to secure a berth in the final. It was brave running and if he failed he would certainly have been castigated via the US media and audience. Bahrain’s Rashid Ramzi once again showed superior form to that of his opposition and it with interest that we approach the final on Wednesday evening.

Also in the final are the main protagonists, Qatar's Daham Najim Bashir, Ukranian Ivan Heshko, Kenya's Alex Kipchirchir and Portugal's Rui Silva | results |

Women's 3000m SteepleChase Final :
Uganda's Docus Inzikuru confirmed the pre-race billing as the favourite to take the first available Gold medal for the inaugural Women's SteepleChase title. The first kilometer was covered at pace below the World Record and Russia's Yelena Zadorozhnaya was more than willing to challenge the Ugandan favourite. The Russian athlete who has been a major contender over the years had moved to the Steeple to attempt to realise her ambition of capturing a World medal, this was not to be a she looked a sorry figure as she fell at the waterpoint and stumbled on occasions around the bend, eventually fading to a forlorn 9th place in 9:37.91.

Poland's Wioletta Janowska who was fancied for silver also 'died a sudden death' and fading to finish 14th in a time of 10:00.03. More fortunate was the other Russian athlete, Yekaterin Volkova, who had run a steady race and moved into position to capture the silver, never troubling Inzikuru who was comfortable and in control of her Gold medal destiny.

Kenya's Jeruto Kiptum claimed Bronze in National Record (NR) time of Kiptum Jeruto KEN 9:26.95 with Jamaica's Korene Hinds performing admirably in securing 4th in 9:33.30 a further NR. The race was absorbing as a contest and provides an intrigue that adds to the lure of the Track Championships, long may it blossom.

The Ugandan athlete was gracious in victory and will hopefully go on to challenege the sub 9 minute barrier in the near future, thus providing further status to the event. | results |