The Electronic Telegraph
Tuesday 31 July 2001
Tom Knight
AS ONE of the biggest stars in athletics, Britain's Jonathan Edwards can
usually expect something approaching the red carpet treatment when he turns
up for a competition.
There was no such welcome on Sunday, however, when the Olympic triple jump
champion arrived in Edmonton for the World Championships.
Having queued patiently at the airport to receive his championship
accreditation, Edwards was quizzed by a couple of Edmonton volunteers who
were clearly in the dark as to the identity of the superstar sat before
them.
Their grasp of geography was also alarmingly slight.
"Are you from Great Britain or Northern Ireland?" one asked. "Are you a
member of the media?" another asked.
Edwards, of course, accepted his anonymity with good grace, his sensitivity
having been dulled somewhat by the gruelling nine-hour transatlantic flight.
The weather did not help either. After leaving the sweltering temperatures
of London, Edwards was greeted here by driving rain, gusting wind and a
climate more reminiscent of Gateshead than a World Championships venue.
We are promised better weather in time for Friday's opening ceremony at the
Commonwealth Stadium, which will be performed by Prince Edward.
Given that the 60,000-seat stadium has no cover whatsoever, a sea of
umbrellas would not present the image the Alberta Tourist Board would want
transmitting around the world.
Early crumbs of comfort include the fact that the mosquito infestation which
plagued the 1983 World Student Games is unlikely to be repeated.
This is, of course, a country where athletics is not exactly a mainstream
sport, despite Donovan Bailey's world and Olympic 100 metres titles of 1995
and 1996.
Scarred from the Ben Johnson drug scandal of 1988, Canadians are still
easing themselves back into a sport which yielded their country no medals at
the Sydney Olympics.
Such is the level of knowledge expected among spectators that the local
newspaper, the Edmonton Journal, yesterday offered "a dummies' guide to
international track and field", complete with a glossary for the
uninitiated.
The list of terms began with doping. This might be considered essential
given the events of two years ago. Then, the championships in Seville were
rocked by the withdrawal of Merlene Ottey, the Jamaican sprinter who had
tested positive for nandrolone, though she was subsequently successful in
avoiding a two-year ban.
The list also includes terms as basic as false start, kick and lapped.
The hosts' cause has not been helped, either, by the soap opera surrounding
Bailey and Bruny Surin, the sprinter who has won two silver medals at these
championships; behind Bailey in 1995 and Maurice Greene in 1999.
Canada's two biggest stars have been involved in a long-running tiff with
the team's head coach, Les Gramantik, over practice times for the 4 x 100m
relay squad.
It started when Bailey and Surin balked at an apparent ultimatum from
Gramantik that if the pair did not turn up for practice in Calgary last
week, they would be bumped off the squad.
Bailey, who will retire after Edmonton, chose to stay at his training base
in Texas, while Surin claimed that Gramantik should be sacked.
The spat was hardly good for team morale. But, happily, the dispute has been
resolved with Bailey and Surin being allowed to prepare for the
championships any way they want, while Gramantik will go through baton
drills with the junior members of the squad.
At least Bailey and Surin, together with the rest of the world's sprinters,
may not have to worry about changes to the rules concerning false starts.
Those changes, which are among a raft of proposed amendments to the rules
due to be discussed this week by the International Amateur Athletic
Federation council, may be postponed for a year.
An IAAF source said: "The IAAF's technical commission could say we have to
do more experiments. Next year we don't have a major competition and we
could do more trials."
The changes are designed to stop unnecessary delays in sprinting events and
to speed up field competitions. Under the proposals, sprinters would no
longer be allowed any false starts, a rule already applying in US college
athletics.
Pole vaulters and high jumpers would be allowed no more than two attempts at
each height instead of three, while long jumpers, triple jumper and throwers
would have a maximum of four turns instead of six.
Last month, the United States federation, USA Track and Field, voted
unanimously to oppose the changes. Bill Roe, their president, said: "We have
special concerns for the vertical jumps proposals. There's no way on God's
green earth they should be approved."
Several leading sprinters, including Greene and Marion Jones, who won the
Olympic 100m titles in Sydney, have signed a petition opposing the proposal
for abolishing false starts.
Stacy Dragila, the Olympic women's pole vault champion, is opposed to
changes in the rules for her event. "I don't think this is going to work,"
she said. "Spectators want to see a world record. They are not going to see
it with two attempts at each height."
Eamonn Condon
www.RunnersGoal.com
