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Athletics
Highlights
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Athletics |
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Previews by Simon Mills
(e-mail: simon@sportlist.com)
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Olympic
Games: Sydney: Men's 100m
If all goes to plan, this will be where the golden-footed
Maurice Greene fulfills all of his ambition - and
potential, with the ultimate 10 seconds of his life.The
world record holder has had a patchy summer, with
an injury in the 200m Olympic trails knocking any
intention of a sprint double on the head, but a recent
9.86 in Berlin has showed the rest of the world that
he's back to his best. |
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Olympic
Games: Men's 110m Hurdles
It's
well within Colin Jackson's capabilities to
emerge from 13 seconds of mayhem with a long-awaited
Olympic gold medal, the only major title to elude
the 33-year-old Welshman throughout his illustrious
career. |
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Olympic
Games: Sydney: Men's 200m
This
event was thrown wide-open at the US Olympic trials
when the anticipated showdown between world champion
Maurice Greene and world record holder Michael Johnson
didn't take place. Injury sidelined
the 100m world record holder before the event, whereas
Johnson pulled out halfway round with a strain.
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Olympic
Games: Sydney: Men's 400m
Maybe,
just maybe, Michael Johnson's injury in the 200m US
Olympic Trials turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
There's nothing worse than biting off more than you
can chew, and although Johnson would have been more
than capable at doubling up over 200 and 400m, his
efforts must surely be more focussed now he's only
got 1 lap of the track to concentrate on. |
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Olympic
Games: Sydney: Men's 800m
This
is a close one to call, but Denmark's Wilson Kipketer,
world record holder and reigning world Champion, will
be the athelete that everyone else will want to beat.
The 29-year-old defected from his native Kenya four
years ago, causing him to miss out on the chance to
compete in Atlanta. |
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Olympic
Games: Sydney: Men's 1500m
The
class of the field in the Men's 1500m is undoubtedly
Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj - the world record holder,
reigning World Champion, fastest
man in the world this year, and world ranked number
1. He's a prize scalp - which will make it
doubly exciting for someone else if they manage to
beat him to the Olympic gold. |
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Olympic
Games: Sydney: 3,000m Steeplechase
Even
Kenya's legendary omnipotence in this - one of the
events that pioneered their arrival as a world-class
atheletic nation - has started to signs of slowly
being eroded over recent years. |
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Olympic
Games: Sydney: Men's 5000m
The
fastest man in the world this year is Morocco's Brahim Lahlafi - and the 32-year-old
will be especially determined in Sydney, having missed out on a medal in Seville
last year by 29/100ths of a second, despite setting his personal best in the
process.
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Olympic
Games: Sydney: Men's 10,000m
Haile
Gebrselassie is the undisputed present-day king of the 10,000m, and if all
goes to plan, he'll be crowned as Olympic Champion for another four years
on Wednesday 26th. In the four years leading up to the
1999 World Championships in Seville, his ethos erred in favour of quality
rather than quantity.
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Olympic Games:
Sydney: Men's Marathon
With over 100
entrants, the Olympic Marathon is a difficult event to call - also because
there is so much scope for the unexpected to take place. But having said
that, it also provides such a greatest test of endurance, ao therefore,
the cream has the greatest opportunity to rise to the top.
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