Juniors gear up for Beijing champs

BEIJING – Beijing’s preparations for the athletics events at the 2008 Olympics will be under scrutiny at the World Junior Championships which start tomorrow.

The six-day event for athletes under 20 is being staged at the more modest Chaoyang Sports Centre rather than the nearby National Stadium that will be the centrepiece of the Olympics. But the championships will give local organisers a chance to put officials, administrators and transport systems to the test.History also suggests that a few of the champions here will return to the Chinese capital in two years’ time and climb the podium at the Olympics.Ethiopia’s Million Wolde and Kenya’s Reuben Kosgei went from being world junior champions in 1998, at the 5 000 metres and 3 000 metres steeplechase respectively, to winning the same events at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.Woldes compatriot Meseret Defar showed similar prodigious progress after winning the women’s 5 000m at the 2002 World Junior Championships before minting another gold medal in Athens two years ago.The prime contenders to follow in their footsteps are also likely to come from East Africa, where distance runners mature early.Kenya’s Mangata Ndiwa has already won the world junior cross-country title in March and here will contest the 5 000 metres.However, Ndiwa will have tough opposition in the shape of Ethiopia’s Tariku Bekele, the younger brother of multiple world record holder Kenenisa Bekele.Other athletes are likely to be focusing on success at the 2012 Olympics.China has five athletes who won world youth titles last year stepping up an age group and looking for success in front of a home audience, although the 2008 Olympics are likely to come around too soon in their careers for them to be able muster a repeat performance.The man grabbing most attention is high jumper Haiqiang Huang, who many pundits are predicting will eventually surpass the longstanding Asian, and former world record, held by his compatriot Zhu Jianhua.Zhu’s mark of 2,39 metres has been on the record books since 1984, the year he became the first Chinese athlete to win an Olympic medal when he got the bronze in Los Angeles – the Games which heralded China’s return to the Olympic movement.The United States, inevitably, is bringing a strong team to Beijing and their stars include sprinter Willie Perry, who leads the world this year by a long way in both the men’s 100m and 200m.Interest will also be on 800-metres runner Rebekah Noble, who is the only first-year student to have won the prestigious US collegiate women’s 800m title, a feat she achieved in June.The University of Oregon student is looking to end the United States’ sorry record of never having won a medal in the women’s events from 800 metres upwards in the 20-year history of the championships.Nampa-AFPBut the championships will give local organisers a chance to put officials, administrators and transport systems to the test.History also suggests that a few of the champions here will return to the Chinese capital in two years’ time and climb the podium at the Olympics.Ethiopia’s Million Wolde and Kenya’s Reuben Kosgei went from being world junior champions in 1998, at the 5 000 metres and 3 000 metres steeplechase respectively, to winning the same events at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.Woldes compatriot Meseret Defar showed similar prodigious progress after winning the women’s 5 000m at the 2002 World Junior Championships before minting another gold medal in Athens two years ago.The prime contenders to follow in their footsteps are also likely to come from East Africa, where distance runners mature early.Kenya’s Mangata Ndiwa has already won the world junior cross-country title in March and here will contest the 5 000 metres.However, Ndiwa will have tough opposition in the shape of Ethiopia’s Tariku Bekele, the younger brother of multiple world record holder Kenenisa Bekele.Other athletes are likely to be focusing on success at the 2012 Olympics.China has five athletes who won world youth titles last year stepping up an age group and looking for success in front of a home audience, although the 2008 Olympics are likely to come around too soon in their careers for them to be able muster a repeat performance.The man grabbing most attention is high jumper Haiqiang Huang, who many pundits are predicting will eventually surpass the longstanding Asian, and former world record, held by his compatriot Zhu Jianhua.Zhu’s mark of 2,39 metres has been on the record books since 1984, the year he became the first Chinese athlete to win an Olympic medal when he got the bronze in Los Angeles – the Games which heralded China’s return to the Olympic movement.The United States, inevitably, is bringing a strong team to Beijing and their stars include sprinter Willie Perry, who leads the world this year by a long way in both the men’s 100m and 200m.Interest will also be on 800-metres runner Rebekah Noble, who is the only first-year student to have won the prestigious US collegiate women’s 800m title, a feat she achieved in June.The University of Oregon student is looking to end the United States’ sorry record of never having won a medal in the women’s events from 800 metres upwards in the 20-year history of the championships.Nampa-AFP