Are Maria Mutola’s powers deserting her?

PARIS – A year ago no one would have bet against Maria Mutola retaining her Olympics 800 metres title.

The Mozambican had just collected the richest prize in athletics, the one-million-dollar Golden League jackpot, after a season in which she consistently out-sprinted her rivals and scooped her third world outdoor gold. But at the age of 31, Mutola suddenly looks vulnerable.She laboured to victory over the unheralded Moroccan Amina Ait Hammou at the London Grand Prix on Friday, fading in the home straight.That came just weeks since Mutola suffered her first defeat since July 2002 when her 36-race winning streak was broken by Russia’s Svetlana Cherkasova in Lausanne.The only key to her patchy form has been that she is apparently nursing a sore left hamstring.Plans for an 800m/1,500m double in Athens appear to have been quietly shelved after she jogged in last in the longer event at the Paris Golden League event – a race in which she was supposed to be seeking a qualifying time.With the retirement of her main rival, Stephanie Graf of Austria, in January it seemed little could stand in the way of Mutola repeating her victory in Sydney four years ago.Now it seems Russia’s little-known Tatiana Andrianova – who ran the fastest time in the world this year in the Russian championships as Cherkasova trailed in fourth – or Slovenia’s Jolanda Ceplak could deny her.But a failure by Mutola would still represent a big upset.Her distinctive kick for home in the home straight, destroying her fellow competitors, has become one of the most familiar sights in the sport.By winning all six of the Golden League meetings last year, she became the first athlete ever to earn the jackpot to herself and promised to use some of the money to help young African athletes with their training.Mutola has funded scholarships for Mozambican teenagers to attend high school in the United States, just as she did aged 16.”It’s a lot of money even for me,” she admitted after wrapping up the jackpot in Brussels.The woman who was made an Honorary UN Youth Ambassador in 2003 believes her legacy to the sport she has graced would be a sharp rise in the strength and quality of teams from nations such as Mozambique.”It’s always very embarrassing to go to major championships with just two to three athletes,” she said.”I’d like to see Mozambique going to major championships with 15-16 athletes all with some chance of making finals if not medalling.”- Nampa-AFPBut at the age of 31, Mutola suddenly looks vulnerable.She laboured to victory over the unheralded Moroccan Amina Ait Hammou at the London Grand Prix on Friday, fading in the home straight.That came just weeks since Mutola suffered her first defeat since July 2002 when her 36-race winning streak was broken by Russia’s Svetlana Cherkasova in Lausanne.The only key to her patchy form has been that she is apparently nursing a sore left hamstring.Plans for an 800m/1,500m double in Athens appear to have been quietly shelved after she jogged in last in the longer event at the Paris Golden League event – a race in which she was supposed to be seeking a qualifying time.With the retirement of her main rival, Stephanie Graf of Austria, in January it seemed little could stand in the way of Mutola repeating her victory in Sydney four years ago.Now it seems Russia’s little-known Tatiana Andrianova – who ran the fastest time in the world this year in the Russian championships as Cherkasova trailed in fourth – or Slovenia’s Jolanda Ceplak could deny her.But a failure by Mutola would still represent a big upset.Her distinctive kick for home in the home straight, destroying her fellow competitors, has become one of the most familiar sights in the sport.By winning all six of the Golden League meetings last year, she became the first athlete ever to earn the jackpot to herself and promised to use some of the money to help young African athletes with their training.Mutola has funded scholarships for Mozambican teenagers to attend high school in the United States, just as she did aged 16.”It’s a lot of money even for me,” she admitted after wrapping up the jackpot in Brussels.The woman who was made an Honorary UN Youth Ambassador in 2003 believes her legacy to the sport she has graced would be a sharp rise in the strength and quality of teams from nations such as Mozambique.”It’s always very embarrassing to go to major championships with just two to three athletes,” she said.”I’d like to see Mozambique going to major championships with 15-16 athletes all with some chance of making finals if not medalling.”- Nampa-AFP