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| The Polish duo of Marcin Lewandowski and Adam Kszczot are looking to add indoor medals to their outdoor crown in Barcelona last year. |
European Athletics presents the fourth in a series of previews leading up to the Paris 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships to be held from 4-6 March.
800m
Spaniards and Poles are set to battle for the men’s 800m in the absence of Russia’s Yuriy Borzakovskiy who’s not defending his title.
Luis Alberto Marco took the silver medal two years ago, while Manuel Olmedo was fifth in the Torino final, and both feature among Europe’s top ten this year.
But with Olmedo in the 1500m this time, Spain’s biggest hope over four laps could be Kevin López, the 2009 European junior champion who beat Olmedo in Seville by one hundredth of a second. The 20-year-old’s winning time of 1:46.06 was an indoor personal best making him the quickest European of the year.
Barcelona champion Marcin Lewandowski also looks well-placed as he seeks to add the European indoor crown to the outdoor title he won on Spanish soil last summer. He finished sixth two years ago, while his young Polish teammate Adam Kszczot just missed a medal in fourth.
Lewandowski sits third on the European lists this year with 1:46:16 from the Sparkassen Cup in Stuttgart, while Kszczot’s season’s best of 1:46.85 came in Düsseldorf, less than a second outside his PB. The 21-year-old was European under 23 champion two years ago, and took bronze medals last year at the World Indoor Championships in Doha and the European Championship in Barcelona, so he’s in the habit of reaching podiums.
As many as nine European men have run under 1:47 this year, including the Germans Robin Schembera and Sebastian Keiner, and the Czech record holder Jakub Holusa, all of whom benefited from that swift race in Stuttgart.
Schembera, the European junior champion in 2007, broke his PB at the Sparkassen meeting running 1:46.35, as did Keiner with 1:46.72. But Holusa could be the quickest of the lot if he’s on form. His PB is 1:46.09.
Britain’s Andrew Osagie has also been in good form with personal bests over 800m at the DL Galan in Stockholm, when he clocked 1:46.59, and 1000m at the Birmingham Grand Prix when he was fourth behind double world indoor champion Abubaker Kaki. Joe Thomas, who defeated Osagie at the national championships, will also be in the hunt for a final place.
Russia have high hopes too, even without Borzakovskiy. Ivan Tukhtachev won the national trials in 1:46.89 from Stephan Poistogov. Italy’s Mario Scapini, the 2007 European junior 1500m champion, and Irishman Darren McBrearty should not be discounted either, while Frenchman Hamid Oualich will hope for home support to carry him to the final.
1500m
While a training track injury has forced French favourite Mehdi Baala out of the championships, the hosts maintain high hopes in the men’s 1500m thanks to Yohann Kowal.
Baala is by far the swiftest European this year after running 3:35.97 when second behind in Karlsruhe. But Kowal will be keen to ensure the experienced 32-year-old is not missed by home fans. Kowal took bronze in Turin when just 21 and is in good form this year with personal bests over 1500m and 3000m.
He’ll be the quickest man in the field with his 3:38.07 from Stuttgart, where he was third just ahead of Diego Ruíz, the Torino silver medallist. Ruíz leads a powerful Spanish trio that includes Manuel Olmedo and the experienced Juan Carlos Higuero.
At 32, Higuero is looking to regain the title he won in 2007, while he’s also won silver twice and bronze once in this event, as well as a world indoor bronze in 2008. His best this year is 3:46.14 when third at the national championships and he’s also run an indoor PB at 800m.
Poles could feature well in this event too, especially Bartosz Nowicki who broke the national record finishing two spots behind Baala in Karlsruhe in 3:38.90. Nowicki won the European junior title back in 2003 but has since struggled to make a major impact as a senior. The Polish champion, Mateusz Demczyszak, may also figure.
Reigning champion Rui Silva has opted to take on Britain’s favourite Mo Farah at 3000m. Britain’s chances in the 1500m rest with Colin McCourt and Nick McCormick who both ran PBs behind Augustine Choge’s world leading performance at the Birmingham Grand Prix two weeks ago. McCourt’s 3:38.71 makes him the third fastest in the field.
Belgium’s Kristof Van Malderen is another man in sub-3:40 form, as are the German pair Carsten Schlangen and Christoph Lohse, and Ukraine’s Oleksandr Borysyuk.
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| British middle distance star Mo Farah will be an overwhelming favourite to defend his 3000m title in Paris. |
3000m
There’s only one question concerning the men’s 3000m – can anyone stop the rampant Briton Mo Farah defending his title?
Farah’s victory in Turin was decisive as he left Frenchman Bouabdellah Tahri adrift by two seconds. And it was Tahri’s European 5000m record that Farah obliterated in Birmingham last month, the latest in a growing list of achievements that have made the Somali-born west Londoner the leading European distance runner of his generation.
After winning double gold at 5000m and 10,000m in Barcelona last summer, Farah went on to Zurich where he broke the British outdoor 5000m record which had stood for 28 years. And he returned to action this winter in similar form with a speedy 3000m in Boston where he was second in 7:35.81.
That’s more than six seconds quicker than any other European this year, making Farah one of the biggest favourites of the championships. Not that victories on an indoor circuit are ever straightforward.
Farah will face his old nemesis Jesús Espaí±a, the man who beat him to the European outdoor title in 2006, plus a bunch of motivated Frenchman, a talented Azerbaijani and an in-form Turk.
Espaí±a has taken bronze three times at this event, including two years ago, and comes to Paris as Spanish champion with the valuable support of compatriots Víctor García and Javier Alves.
Kowal teams up with Florían Carvalho, Yohan Durand and Noureddine Gezzar to run for the hosts, while Hayle Ibrahimov and Halil Akkas are two other men in the field who have broken 7:50 this year.
Ibrahimov ‘did a Farah’ when he won 5000m and 10000m at the European junior championships in 2009, and was third behind the Briton in the Barcelona 5000m final last summer. The 21-year-old prospect is improving all the time, and he lowered his Azerbaijani record in Karlsruhe last month when he recorded 7:42.54.
Akkas has been around a bit longer, but the 27-year-old Turk will also be a threat after running close to his best with 7:48.41 in Gent recently.
Then there’s the Russians Sergey Ivanov and Valentin Smirnov, and Farah’s teammate Andy Baddeley who recorded a 1500m PB in Birmingham two weeks ago and has a best over 3000m of 7:45.10.