Jepkosgei prepares response to Jelimo's run of the decade

Mike Rowbottom
Friday 06 June 2008 00:00 BST
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At the age of 19, Kenya's Pamela Jelimo has run the 800 metres more than a second faster than 2004 Olympic champion Kelly Holmes ever managed – her time of one minute 54.99 seconds in Berlin on Sunday put her fifth on the all-time world list – and she could go faster still tonight when the Golden League caravan moves on to Oslo.

Jelimo, who finished four seconds clear of a top quality field in Germany to record the fastest time in over a decade at her event, will be an obvious target for her fellow countrywoman Janeth Jepkosgei, who finished third on Sunday in 1min 59.13sec. But how close will the current world champion get ?

The women's 5,000m also promises to be exceedingly swift, with Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba seeking to break the world record of 14min 16.63sec set by compatriot Meseret Defar in Oslo last year. Britain's Jo Pavey is hoping to benefit from the pace as she seeks to better the Olympic qualifying time of 15min 24sec to give herself a back-up event to the 10,000m.

Meanwhile, Justin Gatlin is expected to hear this afternoon whether he has been successful in his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to have his four-year doping ban halved, which would allow him to defend his Olympic 100m title in Beijing in August.

Britain's Dwain Chambers, also prevented from competing in Beijing through a doping punishment, may seek to challenge the British Olympic Association ban in the High Court next week .

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