GER

Jones pulls the sprint for Moscow

FROM OUR REPORTER BERLIN - What a monotony, what a splendid monotony, broken only by the exceptional sprint in the 5,000 of the Romanian Gabriela Szabo, who signed, after an exciting duel with the Moroccan Ouaziz, the European record with 14'31 "48. And the World Cup of the Chinese Jiang Bo (14'28 "09) is also close. Athletics is mathematics, you can't bluff yourself, you can't hide behind your opponent and then say that the ball doesn't come.On the tracks and platforms there are consolidated values ​​that as long as the champions hold up it does not seem possible to change. Take Marion Jones, you would have to force her to run in slippers to see her lose and it's not her fault if she doesn't get anything wrong. If you look at the season of the American, there is an average of performances that no sprinter in the history of the 100 meters has ever managed to achieve, not even that extraordinary Florence Griffith of 1988, close to which it was however dangerous to smoke ... Last night, cold or not cold, she won once again in 10 "81, a normal time for her, a figure below which only 6 athletes in history have gone. Yet the public hardly noticed it, by now Marion killed this race. And the logic of Mamma Atletica says that El Guerrouj on 1,500 is alsounbeatable. The young Moroccan now always adopts the same tactic: he gets carried out of the fray by the hares and then wins in solitude. Last night El Guerrouj finished in 3'30 "23, but now for him and his opponents the energies are at a glance, but to make his race effervescent the only measure could be to start him with a backpack of stones hanging behind him However, in the splendid monotony of his triumphs, he sees the jackpot prize ever closer: "That will allow me to help my parents in the new house they are building in Berkane." And the sacred fire always seems to animate Haile too. Gebrselassie, but it also seems that fatigue has not yet discovered his address. A 3,000 Friday in Brussels, a 5,000 last night in Berlin (won,for a change in 12'56 "52) another 3,000 Saturday in Moscow: and he smiles as if to say:" The one who beats me is yet to be born. "Yesterday the Ethiopian champion changed his script. He didn't ask for record-breaking hares, but he chose a tactical race to show, to those who could still harbor some doubts, that there is currently no type of race that he is not able to control He dozed for 3,600 meters, then went to the head to give the first tug. The real attack launched him 700 meters from the finish line with the faithful squire Mezgebu to cover his back, a last lap in 56 "9 that gave Kipkosgei only the illusion of being able to catch him. Bryan Bronson also continued his dictatorship in the 400 hs, but he saw it as bad as ever this'year and beat French Diagana by just one cent, 48 "03 against 48" 04. So there will still be four contenders on Saturday for the million dollar Golden League. The math last night, in the stadium where Jesse Owens made Hitler angry, Maurice Greene broke it in the 100 meters. Not so much for the time with which he won, 9 "94, not bad with 10 degrees of temperature, but because his reaction time was officially given in 91/100 of a second, therefore below the threshold of the false start. But the starter must not have found the trigger and so that one meter of advantage that Greene stole at the start took it to the finish line mocking Drummond. Diego Fortuna, the only Italian present in Berlin, isranked sixth on the puck in a race that could very well have been an Olympic final with a throw of 62.17. "I lacked a little the nervous energy I had in Budapest".

Nebiolo: "If Clinton goes to Russia ..." BERLIN - Primo Nebiolo, president of the world athletics federation, suddenly summoned a press conference during the races of the stage of the Golden League in Berlin and wanted to clarify his thoughts on the subject of the refusal of some athletes to go to Moscow, where the final of the Golden League and the Grand Prix is ​​scheduled on Saturday 5 . "American athletes were afraid when it came to going to Sarajevo and now some say they are afraid of going to Moscow.I just don't understand them, Clinton went to the Russian capital, what fears could they have? The money for the prizes comes from the coffers of our federation, so nothing is taken away from the Muscovites, on the contrary we will carry a message of hope, this is what some champions do not want to understand. "Those who do not appear at the final lose the rights acquired during the season and then forgo the prizes.Among the Americans Marion Jones and Bronson in the running for the million dollar jackpot will go to Moscow, while Michael Johnson, who said he is tired, and Greene, Boldon and Drummond will return to the States. -------------------------------------------------- --------------- Only Bronson suffers but the company belongs to Szabo: European record In Berlin the sprinter continues to show off with 10 "81 and easily win El Guerrouj (1500) and Gebrselassie (5000). The hurdler instead takes risks with Diagana and saves himself for a penny: 48 "03 against 48" 04. In closing, the Romanian approaches the world championship of 5000 of the Chinese Jiang Bo with 14'31 "48. In the 100 victory with yellow for Maurice Greene: 9" 94 after a suspected false start. Fortuna sixth

Pierangelo Molinaro