World sprinters to higlight Bob Hasan track and field meet

JAKARTA (JP): The owners of 14 of the world's swiftest feet will be the highlight of the second Bob Hasan Track and Field Invitational Meet on May 4 at the Senayan Madya Stadium.

Four are in the men's division: sprinters Dennis Mitchell and Vincent Henderson of the United States, Glenroy Gilbert of Canada and Patrik Strenius of Sweden.

Mitchell ran his fastest 100m time, 9.94 seconds, in 1994. Henderson's best time is 10.00, Gilbert's 10.10 and Strenius's 10.43.

The other three are in the women's division. They are 1992 Barcelona Olympics 100m silver medalist Juliet Cuthbert of Jamaica, whose personal best is 10.83, Savatheda Fynes of Bahamas (best time 11.10) and Ester Jones of the United States (best time 11.11).

The seven sprinters are among the 45 world-class athletes who had confirmed their participation in the meet by last night.

Sprinting is the theme of the one-day meet, as confirmed yesterday by Indonesian Track and Field Association chairman Mohammad (Bob) Hasan, after which the meet was named.

Speaking at a press conference, Hasan reiterated that sprinting is the mother of all track and field disciplines.

He cited an example that world number one pole vaulter Sergei Bubka was a fine sprinter before he switched disciplines. The Ukrainian's best time for the 100m is 10.2sec.

Therefore, Hasan urged schools all over the country to start focusing on the 100m dash instead of long-distance events. "Once our would-be athletes are good at short-distance running, we can hope that they will be as good in other sports," he added.

Hasan said he was hopeful that Indonesia would finally qualify for an athletics Grand Prix after successfully staging the meet -- officially called the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) permit meet -- three or four times more.

Japan is the only Asian country to stage a Grand Prix, which will be held in Osaka on May 11 this year.

The IAAF gives a country the right to host a Grand Prix, if it manages to organize a tournament which attracts at least 6,000 spectators, enjoys extensive media coverage, has participants from at least 12 countries and prompts no world-class athletes to lodge complaints.

To draw such huge crowds, Hasan said, the meet will be held in just two hours (from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.) for free. All junior and senior high schools throughout Jakarta have been asked to send their students to spectate. (arf)