Baala the big news at European Athletics Premium Meeting in Lille – European Athletics (EAA) – NEWS

French middle-distance star Mehdi Baala will probably get the biggest cheers at the Lille Metropole Gaz de France Région Nord/Pas-de-Calais Meeting on Friday, which is also a European Athletics Premium Meeting.

Baala, an impressive winner over 1,500m at the SPAR European Cup last weekend and the 2002 and 2006 European Champion over the classic distance, is a member of the Lille Metropole Club (despite originally hailing from Strasbourg) and will be running in his club colours.

The second fastest European 1,500m runner ever was originally intending to go flat out for a fast time but at this early stage in the season, with only two races behind him, he has made a late modification to his plans.

"They (the meeting organisers) had a problem getting pacemakers but this does not bother me too much because I think I need some more tactical races, which will be closer to the type of race I expect I will be facing in Beijing," explained Baala earlier this week.

Baala admitted that he is trying to learn from his tactical mistake – getting boxed and then having to push his way out clear, which then lead to his disqualification – during the semi-finals of last year's World Championships semi-final.

Baala's main opposition should be Ivan Heshko, from Ukraine, the silver medallist behind him at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Goteborg. French 3,000m Steeplechase record holder Bob Tahri, a friend and training partner of Baala, is also in the field.

The women's 100m also looks likely to be one of the highlights on the programme. Belarus's Olympic 100m Champion Yuliya Nesterenko, fresh from winning at the SPAR European Cup in a season's best of 11.17 will come up against Belgium's reigning European 100m Champion Kim Gevaert, who leads the way among European women sprinters this year with the 11.05 she clocked last month.

Also in the field will be Britain's Jeanette Kwakye, the World Indoor Championships 60m silver medallist in March.

"I'm taking a bit of time getting really sharp because the Olympics are the target, but I'm happy with the way things are going, even though I'm doing a lot of travelling at the moment," said Kwakye, after an easy-looking win in 11.36 at the European Athletics Premium Meeting in the Spanish city of Jerez on Tuesday.

French favourite Christine Arron will bring up the curtain on her Olympic season by also racing over 100m in Lille, The 34-year-old European record holder at 10.73 is already pre-selected for Beijing, so she delayed her 2008 outdoor debut after posture problems interrupted her planned speed work during training earlier in the year.
devonish__marlon.jpg
Britain's Marlon Devonish the captain of the winning
SPAR European Cup team in annecy will contest both
sprint distances in Lille.
Photo by Picture Alliance.

Another French women's sprint star on display will be Muriel Hurtis-Houairi in the 200m, who is looking for a fast outing after keeping the crowd happy with a win over her favourite distance at the SPAR European Cup last weekend.

"I was very happy with the win but I wanted to do better than my time of 22.75 so I'll be looking to improve on that in Lille," explained Hurtis-Houairi.

The men's sprints, by contrast, have a very British emphasis with SPAR European Cup 100m winner Tyron Edgar out to continue his success on French soil.

Edgar has lowered his personal best to 10.06 this year and was an impressive winner in Annecy, clocking 10.20 into a 1.8mps wind.

Lining up alongside Edgar will be his compatriots Marlon Devonish, 2007 European Athletics Under 23 Championships 100m gold medallist Simeon Williamson, and former European Athletics Junior Championships 100m winner Craig Pickering.

France's Martial Mbandjock, who finished second behind Edgar in Annecy, is also in the 100m field.

Devonish, the triumphant British men's team captain last weekend, helped his country on their way to the last ever SPAR European Cup title with a win over 200m and he will double up in Lille and also contest that distance.

In the field, perhaps the two most interesting events are the women's Triple Jump and Hammer.

In the former discipline, French record holder Tereza N'Zola comes up against Cameroon's reigning Olympic Champion Françoise Mbango while the latter has Poland's 2000 Olympic Champion Kamila Skolimowska up against two in-form French throwers: Manuèla Montebrun, who was second in Annecy, and Stéphanie Falzon.

International interest will also be generated by the appearance of Cuba's new 110m Hurdles record holder Dayron Robles of Cuba, who clocked a stunning 12.87 in Ostava, Czech Republic, two weeks ago.

Robles's opponents include the Ukrainian hurdler Serhiy Demydyuk, a finalist at the 2007 World Championships, and also Russia's Yevgeniy Borisov.

France's Samuel Coco-Villoin, the 2006 World Junior Championships 110m Hurdles silver medallist, will also be on the start line but, sadly, there will be no clash with Ladji Doucouré as the 2005 World Champion has withdrawn due to continuing problems with his left knee.

European Athletics (EAA)