Andre Sammartino wrote:
<<I think i may have managed to manoeuvre my way through the
impenetrable mass that is the official Olympics site and find the fields
for the various track and field events.>>
This was a great post, most useful. I checked out the women's
1500, which I've been examining in detail. Since Andre's post, Alan
Shank has commented on the mistaken continued listing of Regina
Jacobs.
Comments by nation below, focusing mostly on issues of who actually
will be on the starting line and who won't. Ages are as of September
27 when the heats get underway.
ALGERIA - Nouria Merah Benida (29)
Numerous A qualifiers, most recently 4:01.23 for 3rd at Van Damme.
ANDORRA - Silvia Felipo (33)
She ran 4:50.45 for last (13th) at the IAAF Permit Meeting in Barcelona
on July 25. PR is 4:42.55, according to the biographical date on the
official Olympic website. I guess she gets in under the rule, as I
understand it, that a nation can have one entry for the entirety of
track & field even absent any B qualifiers.
AUSTRALIA - Margaret Crowley (33), Sarah Jamieson (25), Georgie
Clarke (16), Benita Willis (21)
Crowley, Jamieson, and Clarke went 2-3-4 at the Australian Trials, won
by Toni Hodgkinson of New Zealand. Throw out Willis, who was 5th
but then won the Trials 5000. She'll compete there instead.
Presumably this is as an alternate listing, because Willis also has the
A standard.
BELARUS - nobody
Alesya Turova (20), with a 4:05.99 for 7th at the Znamenskiy Memorial
in St. Petersburg on June 18, isn't listed.
BELGIUM - Veerle DeJaeghere (27)
A standard, her best a 4:05.77 for 4th in Heusden on August 5.
BULGARIA - Daniela Yordanova (24)
A standard. Won on Sofia on June 10 with a 4:03.89. Strong 2nd
later (4:03.83) to Lidia Chojecka of Poland in Bydgoszcz on July 9.
CANADA - Leah Pells (35)
Robyn Meagher ran A qualifiers last year and competed at the 1999
World Championships, but hasn't been active lately. Pells, the Trials
winner, has a season best of 4:07.88 for 3rd at Prefontaine.
CHINA - nobody
Lan Lixin (21), Yin Lili (20), and Li Jingnan (17), all with A qualifiers,
were removed from the team recently. Lan Lixin and Yin Lili, as
teenagers, had reported sub-3:55s in 1997.
CZECH REPUBLIC - nobody
Andrea Suldesova has an A qualifier from last year and a B qualifier
from this year (the latter just barely, a 4:12.00 to win in Lisbon on
August 5). But she doesn't show up in the list.
DENMARK - none
Heidi Jensen (34) isn't listed. In the twilight of her career, looks like.
I would think she should get to go. B qualifier 4:08.32 for 3rd in
Leverkusen on August 20. Close to the A standard, and the Danes
don't have anybody else. Plus I can't find that she's ever competed
at the Olympics.
ETHIOPIA - Kutre Dulecha (22), Abebech Negussie (17), Hareg
Sidelil (19)
One of the few three-entrant nations. All their A standards are from
this year. Dulecha slipped to 7th about the last curve at Bislett,
then found a hole on the inside on the final straightaway to place
4th (4:00.60). Since then, she's been 2nd at Zurich (4:00.92) and
Brussels (3:59.02). Wins previously at St.-Denis, Rome, and
Lausanne. Negussie was 12th in Oslo (4:06.20). Sidelil has dipped
under the A standard twice, most recently at Weltklasse where a
season best 4:07.02 likewise only got her 12th.
FRANCE - nobody
Despite three B qualifiers from this year (Patrica Djate, Fatima
Yvelain, Laurence Duquenoy) and an A qualifier (Frederique Quentin)
and a B qualifier (Yamna Belkacem) from 1999. Belkacem is listed in
the 5000, an event in which she placed 8th at the 1999 World
Championships.
GERMANY - nobody
They have five A qualifiers. Irina Mikitenko is running the 5000.
Kathleen Friedrich and Kristina da Fonseca-Wollheim are both running
fairly well lately. Friedrich, the German champion, has a season best
of 4:05.97 from a win in Neustadt on August 6. Da Fonseca, the
runnerup at the national meet, was 3rd in Berlin on September 1
(4:05.13) and 2nd in Rieti two days later (4:05.65). Carmen
Wustenhagen and Maite Zuniga got A qualifiers last year. The
Germans have tough internal selection standards, it seems.
GREAT GRITAIN - Hayley Tullett (27), Helen Pattinson (26), Kelly
Holmes (30)
Tullett and Pattinson finished 1-2 at the British Trials. Holmes won the
800, but I read that British officials added her as a 1500 wild card. Her A
qualifier is from 1999.
HUNGARY - nobody
Judit Varga has a B qualifier from last year. She doubled in the 800
and 1500 at the 1999 World Championships but is sticking to the 800
at the Olympics.
INDIA - Sunita Rani (20)
Great talent. B standard, 4:08.1, as a collegiate sophomore equivalent
in 1999. Interesting that she's listed here, because earlier this summer
she had a stress fracture of the femur and was considered out of the
Olympics for sure. I read something just the other day in an Indian
online newspaper that reconfirmed that status. So I seriously doubt this
entry is going to happen. Her coach thought, before the injury, that
she could get down to the 4:03 range in a good international field.
IRELAND - Sinead Delahunty (29), Una English (30), Geraldine Nolan
(30), Sonia O'Sullivan (30)
Eamonn Condon hopefully can clarify. I've read Irish reports that
O'Sullivan is aiming for a 5000/10000 double if anything, not a 5000/
1500. I'm unfamiliar with English and Nolan, but rather was under the
impression that Delahunty is the only Irishwoman besides O'Sullivan
with a 1500 A standard (4:05.28 for 3rd in Barcelona on July 25).
However, I don't think Delahunty ran in the Irish Championships,
so her status in my mind at least is unclear. So either English and
Nolan are B standard alternatives, or one or both have gotten recent
A qualifiers. The IAAF website doesn't show them with A qualifiers
as of September 9.
ITALY - nobody
The Italians had a 1999 B qualifier, Ilaria Di Santo (23). I haven't seen
any 2000 stats on her in Track Newsletter.
JAMAICA - Mardrea Hyman (27)
Former University of Texas runner. Earlier, she didn't show on the
Jamaican team. But then she ran a pair of pre-Olympic races against
Marla Runywan in the last two weeks. So she's over in Australia, plus
she has a B standard.
KENYA - Naomi Mugo (23)
Teenager Jeruto Kiptum (18) ran a B qualifier at altitude, July 22, to
defeat Mugo in the Kenyan national championships. However, Kiptum
never could obtain an A qualifier at lower elevations. She's going for
the world juniors. Mugo with better times (4:01.64 for 4th in Zurich)
runs instead.
LITHUANIA - Irina Krakoviak (22)
Had an A qualifier last year (4:07.99) at the Golden Spike meet,
Ostrava, Czech Republic. Ran 4th (4:12.29) in Cottbus, Germany, on
August 23.
MACEDONIA - Daniela Kuleska (19)
The biographical page on the official Olympic site shows her with a
PR 4:28.19, well off the B standard. Better than Felipo of Andorra
apparently, but an entry on the same basis.
MOROCCO - Hasna Ben Hassi (22), Seloua Ouaziz (26)
Ben Hassi is mostly an 800 speciallist. I don't show her with even a B
qualifier the last two years, although she has a bunch of sub-twos in
the 800. Zahra Ouaziz is hurt. This is Seloua. She has a B qualifier
(4:08.18) from the Golden Gala in Rome on June 30, where she was
14th. She was the only Moroccan I was anticipating as competing in
the 1500.
MOZAMBIQUE - Maria Mutola (27)
I only show two 1500s this year, a 4:06.42 for 3rd at the British Grand
Prix in London on August 5, and a 4:02.39 for 4th in the Herculis
Zepter meet in Monaco on August 18. A tough double if she tries it,
coming back from the 800. If she wins that event, she may decide
she doesn't need this one.
NETHERLANDS - nobody
Two B qualifiers, including Sylvia Kruijer in 199 and most recently
Grete Koens on August 20. But see Erik van Leeuwen's post from
September 11.
http://wso.williams.edu/listserv/t-and-f/msg00435.html
NEW ZEALAND - Tony Hodgkinson (28)
A standard, her season best a 4:06.23 to win the Melbourne Track
Classic on March 2. I read somewhere that she was definitely
doubling (800/1500).
PAKISTAN - Shazia Hadayat (24)
Not even a B qualifier. PR of 4:48.79. Same situation as Felipo of
Andorra, apparently. May have to hustle to not get lapped, even in the
first round. I saw a Reuters news story on her a while back on the
Olympic website, but the link is dead currently. A welcome entry
Islamic-feministically if not athletically.
POLAND - Lidia Chojecka (23), Anna Jakubczak (27)
Both with A qualifiers, obviously. Chojecka moved up gradually from
the back of the pack to finish 2nd at Bislett. She won Weltklasse but
then was 3rd at ISTAF. Her teammate's season fastest is a 4:07.62
for 12th at Rome on June 30.
ROMANIA - Gabriela Szabo (24), Violeta Szekely (35), Elena
Buhaianu (25)
I thought this was probably the team, but wasn't sure. Paula Ivan (37),
the Olympic Record holder from Seoul in 1988 (3:53.96), has been
running fairly well recently, her season best a 4:40.66 in Monaco on
August 18 for 5th. The online Capital Times (Madison, WI) yesterday
speculated that Szabo might focus on and possibly stick solely to the
5000, I guess given her 5000 lost to Leah Malot of Kenya in Berlin
on September 1. But there's really no need, I would think, if the
5000 comes first, to ditch the 1500. Szekely has been hot in her
last four races, with two wins and a 2nd and 3rd, none slower than
4:02.80. She's been sub-four three years in a row. Buhaianu won
World University Games gold in 1999. Missing from the Romanian
team also is Maria Cioncan (23), who beat Ivan in Bucharest on
June 25 and won the Balkan Games a week later.
RUSSIA - Svetlana Masterkova (32), Lyudmila Rogachova (33),
Natalya Gorelova (27), Lyubov Kremlyova (38).
Four entries listed. Rogacheva and Gorelova went 1-2 at the
Russian Championships and ran the 800 in Yokohama the other day
and presumably are definitely on the team. Masterkova has long
been listed as the wild card, similar to the British selection system
(two from competition and another reserved to be picked by officials).
Kremlyova was 3rd at the Russian Championships and would seem
then to be the alternate. The fact that they're even listing an alternate
was a bit interesting, given that Masterkova scratched in her last
scheduled appearance, in the DN Galan on August 1. But that
presumably was just to go home and train harder after a 5th in the
1500 in Oslo. The Russians have numerous A qualifiers in the 1500
who won't run in Sydney.
SLOVENIA - Helena Javornik (34)
An A qualifier. She ran 3rd (4:06.77) behind Chojecka and
Yordanova in Bydgoszcz on July 9.
SPAIN - Natalia Rodriguez (23), Natalia Fernandez (24), Marta
Dominguez (24)
Last thing I read about Spain, it's a two-entrant 1500 team, with
Dominguez instead running the 5000. Again, this may just be a listing
as an alternate. Of course, the 5000 comes first, and then the 1500,
so there's nothing stopping her right now from competing in both.
Rodriguez and Fernandez went 1-2 in the Spanish Championships
1500.
SWEDEN - nobody
Malin Ewerlof (28) on the U.S. telecast limped off the track at the
Bislett Games with an injury. Reports are, from a query I posted
earlier on the list, are that she won't be back probably until next
year's outdoor season.
SWITZERLAND - Sabine Fischer (27), Anita Weyermann (22)
Tough rules, the Swiss: Both athletes had to make the A standard
twice, this year, to satisfy internal team-eligibility requirements.
Weyermann is on the comeback from a bike accident and fracture
earlier this year. She has been kind of erratic recently, with a pair of
4:05s sandwiched between a pair of 4:25s.
TUNISIA - Fatma Lanouar (22)
She met the A standard with a 4:06.91 for 5th at the Romanian
Championships in Bucharest on August 6.
TURKEY - Sureyya Ayhan (22)
Led boldly early at Van Damme. Finished 5th with an A qualifier
4:03.02. I think Larry Rawson said that she previously had a
4:05+ somewhere. Strong career improvement, because I think
her PR coming into 2000 was only 4:14.8, run last year in Turkey.
UKRAINE - Tatyana Krivobok (28)
This is interesting. Ukraine has a 2000 A qualifier, Zoya
Kaznovskaya (34), and two others from 1999, Yelena Gorodnicheva
(30) and Olga Nelyubova (27). Gorodnicheva and Nelyubova
(not the same as the Russian Olga Nelyubova) haven't done much
this year, but Kaznovskaya has a seson best 4:05.76 from a June 27
win in Strasbourg, France. Krivobok's A qualifier is from 1999, to
place 3rd at last year's Ukrainian Championships. This year she won
the national title.
UNITED STATES - Suzy Favor Hamilton (32), Marla Runyan (31),
Shayne Culpepper (26)
Making the correction Adam Shank mentioned. Culpepper was just
under the A standard with a season best 4:07.99 to win the Jerome
Classic in British Columbia on June 4.
ZIMBABWE - Julia Sakara (31)
She had a B qualifier in 1999 and competed in the 1500 at the World
Championships. I haven't seen a single clocking for her in this year's
Track Newsletter. Probably a bona fide entrant, but then probably too
not a semifinalist.
Chris Kuykendall
Austin, Texas
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
