December 2009
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European Athletics Indoor Championships - Men's Track Events Preview |
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04.03.2009 |
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Local hopes rest on the shoulders of 400m European
leaders Claudio Licciardello. |
The 30th European Athletics Indoor Championships commence in Torino, Italy on Friday. Here follows a preview of the men's track events.
60m: Great Britain has a stranglehold on the title with Dwain Chambers and European Under-23 champion, Simeon Williamson, leading the charge. While Chambers (6.51) has been operating in the low-6.50s all winter, Williamson (6.53) has been quietly peaking and could prove a threat. Backed up by third string, European Indoor silver Craig Pickering (6.57) there is strength in depth for the British squad.
But it is by no means a done deal. The host nation has a trio of sprinters that will be raised by home support. Fabio Cerruti (6.55) set a national record on the Oval Lingotto and with Simone Collio and Emanuele di Gregorio (both 6.60) they will be no pushover.
The German challenge will be led by Stefan Shwab (6.59), while Dariusz Kuć (POL, 6.59) and former-Briton Ryan Mosely (AUT, 6.63) should all be in the mix.
400m: David Gillick is bidding to make history and become the first man to secure a hat-trick of titles in this event. The Irishman scored an impressive victory (46.18) in his one and only indoor outing of the season in Dusseldorf and his street-fighter qualities, which are perfectly suited to the rough and tumble of the boards, will make him a tough man to beat.
Gillick defeated Claudio Licciardello in Dusseldorf, however, the Italian athlete has roared to the top of the European standings with a stunning 46.03 performance to land his national title and will not be short of home support at the Oval Lingotto.
Olympic 400m finalist Johan Wissman has not quite found his best form on the boards this year, but the blonde-haired Swede is a consistent championship performer and should not be ignored.
Licciardello's countryman, Matteo Galvan set a PB of 46.26 to finish runner-up at the national championships and could also feature. Richard Buck of Great Britain, who posted a PB of 46.22 to push World Indoor 400m champion Tyler Christopher close in Birmingham last month, is another with medal ambitions. Austria's Clemens Zeller (46.27) also poses a strong threat.
800m: Almost a second faster than anyone else in Torino, Russia's Yuriy Borzakovskiy (1:45.96), is the outstanding favourite for gold. The Russian has the armoury to win no matter what the tactics. European Indoor champion in 2000, the most talented 800m runner of the new millennium went on to win Olympic gold in Athens, as well as two World silvers and a bronze.
Spain's Antonio Manuel Reina was a late addition after his 1:46.70 in Prague, making him the second fastest European. Up-and-coming Luis Alberto Marco, Spanish champion and winner of the Indoor European Cup in Moscow last winter, could also be shooting for a medal. European Under-23 champion, Poland's Marcel Lewandowski (1:47.52) was third in Valencia recently behind Marco and should be in the mix alongside fellow Poles, European Junior bronze medallist Adam Kszczot and former winner of the this title, Pawel Czapiewski. René Bauschinger (GER, 1:47.63), Oleksandr Osmolovych (UKR, 1:47.64) and home-town favourite, Lukas Rifesser (1:47.74) hope to upset the form.
1500m: In the absence of France's Mehdi Baala, who improved his national record recently, the Spanish trio of Arturo Casado, Diego Ruiz, Álvaro Rodríguez could repeat their country's feat of two years ago and take a clean sweep of the medals.
Casado took the bronze medal on that occasion and won the Spanish national title two weekends ago but Ruiz is the fastest man on the entry list at 3:36.42. Adding extra spice is the fact that there is no love lost between the pair after a physical race in the final of the national championships which saw both men trading accusations of gamesmanship afterwards. The most likely men to interfere with the Spanish armada are Portugal's Rui Silva, a two-time former European indoor champion at the distance although at 32 he might not quite have the change of gears any more to match the Spaniards in a slow tactical race, and France's Yoann Kowal.
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Great Britain pin high hopes on red-hot Mo Farah.
Photo by Picture Alliance |
3000m: Great Britain's Mo Farah will start a firm favourite to land gold after enjoying an outstanding start to the season. On his seasonal indoor debut he lowered the British record for the distance to 7:40.99 in Glasgow and further obliterated the mark to run a world-class 7:34.47 in his last outing in Birmingham.
Two years ago at the last European Indoor Championships he tripped and fell in his heat and although he recovered to reach the final - he had to settle for fifth spot and will expect much more in Turin.
His main opposition could come from the Spanish led by their national champion Jesus Espana - the man who pipped Farah to gold at the 2006 European outdoor championships over 5000m.
Watch out too for Espana's countrymen Sergio Sanchez (7:43.41) and France's Bob Tahri (7:40.00), the 2007 European Indoor silver medallist, who trained alongside Farah in Ethiopia during the winter. The eight-time European cross country champion Sergiy Lebid has never made the same impact on the boards but the Ukrainian is entered and should not be dismissed.
60m Hurdles: Russia's erratic Yevgeniy Borisov leads the European rankings this winter with the sparkling 7.45 he ran in Stuttgart on February 7, just one-hundredth short of his year-old national record. However, his big time record is patchy. He got a bronze medal at last year's IAAF World Indoor Championships but is also prone to falling short on the big occasion, evidenced by his failure to get beyond the heats at last summer's Olympics.
The Netherlands' Gregory Sedoc, the reigning European indoor champion, and France's Ladji Doucouré, the 2005 World champion outdoors over 110m hurdles as well as the 2005 European Indoor champion, have both run 7.52 this season and are possibly better bets for a gold medal. Petr Svobada ran a Czech national record of 7.55 in the German city of Dusseldorf on February 13 while Britain's Andy Turner, fourth last time on home soil, has done 7.57 and the pair could also be in contention for a medal.
4x400m: Few countries have had an outing this winter so history and individual performances have to be a guide to who might triumph from among the six invited teams. Italy's Claudio Licciardello is the fastest 400m in the world this year and along with Matteo Galvan, who is the fifth fastest European, give the hosts a great chance of getting a gold medal in the event for the first time - or even a medal of any description - but their chances of success will rely on how their two colleagues rise to the occasion.
Great Britain, the 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships gold medallists and their predecessors Russia don't have anyone as quick as Licciardello on their teams but have the strength in depth to possibly deprive the hosts of a memorable victory. The three remaining teams are France, who will be weakened by the absence of French indoor 400m champion Leslie Djhone, Germany and Poland.
Click here for final entries
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