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Wednesday, July 21, 1999

Arron threat looms large over Marion

Rex Gowar  
PARIS, JULY 20: Marion Jones, unbeaten in 17 races over the distance in three years, meets one of her chief sprint rivals Christine Arron in the 200 metres at the Paris Golden league meeting on Wednesday.

The Frenchwoman lost to the American in the 100 metres in the same meeting at Charlety a year ago when Jones won in 10.88 seconds.

Arron then went on to win the European Championship title with a continental record of 10.73 and is emerging as the woman most capable of challenging Jones in the World Championships in Seville in August and next year's Olympics in Sydney.

In a strong field, the pair will be running against Jamaicans Debbie Ferguson and Beverly McDonald and American Inger Miller, who have all run faster 200s than Arron this year.

Men's world 100 metres record holder Maurice Greene will be racing the 200 without training partner and chief rival Ato Boldon who is unwell.

Like Jones, several middle-distance runners are still in contention for the one million dollar jackpot that goes toanyone winning their event in all seven Goldean League meetings.

Romanian Gabriela Szabo should add to her victories in Oslo and Rome where she set the year's two best times as she won the 3,000 metres.

Wilson Kipketer did likewise over 800 metres and he will be looking for one minute 42 seconds in Paris.

But the naturalised Dane said he was not thinking about the one million dollar prize.

``I don't think about it, I only run for the pleasure,'' Kipketer said.

Kenya Bernard Barmasai has also set the year's two best times in the 3,000 steeplechase at Oslo and Rome, but both were well short of his world record of 7:55.72 set two years ago.

Russia's double Olympic champion Svetlana Masterkova, who added a 1,000 metres victory in Nice on Saturday to her wins in the 800 at Oslo and Rome, will be looking to stay in the hunt for the prize she narrowly missed last season in the 1,500.

Americans Allen Johnson and Erick Walder, in the high hurdles and long jump respectively, have also notched up two winseach so far.

Johnson's biggest threat comes from compatriot Larry Wade, who like him has run a personal best for 1999 of 13.01 and beat the Olympic champion at Eugene early in the season.

Cuban Ivan Pedroso has made a poor start to the season but the twice world champion remains Walder's biggest threat.

A major absentee will be mile world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj. The Moroccan pulled out of the Nice and Paris meetings last week with a minor complaint.

This leaves new Kenyan hope Noah Ngeny on his own looking for a shot at El Guerrouj's 1,500 metres world record.

Ngeny ran the second fastest time ever in the mile when El Guerrouj broke the record in Rome two weeks ago. The Kenyan followed that with the second fastest 1,000 metres as he just failed to beat Sebatian Coe's 18-year-old world best in Nice at the weekend.

Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.


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