Athletics: Holmes aims to prove world title is within grasp
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Your support makes all the difference.Kelly Holmes is unconcerned about facing the favourite for the World Championships 1,500 metres, Sureyya Ayhan, in tonight's Zurich Golden League meeting, despite the championships being just a fortnight away.
The pair of heavyweight metric milers will be joined in the world's most élite non-championship meeting by many others with aspirations of winning in Paris. Few will bet against the Turkish revelation, a virtual unknown until 12 months ago, adding the global title to the European crown she claimed with a close, but deserved, front-running victory in Munich.
But Holmes is not fazed about lining up against Ayhan so close to the World Championships with the 1,500m final just over two weeks away. Ayhan won last weekend's Berlin Golden League meet in a world-leading 3min 59.58sec but Holmes, who ran a fast 800m time of 1:59.68 in the German capital shortly afterwards, is upbeat.
Holmes believes if she had been more decisive she could have finished runner-up to her training partner, Maria Mutola, instead of coming fourth.
"I certainly could have done better, but it was a combination of being apprehensive and cautious after not having raced for several weeks," the Commonwealth champion said.
Certainly the fast work-out showed no flaws and, most importantly, the calf injury which forced her to drop out of her last competition in Madrid on 20 July posed no problems.
Mutola continues her solo quest for the $1m (£629,000) Golden League jackpot as she targets her fifth straight 800m victory of the series. The Mozambique runner needs to win her race at the Letzigrund stadium as well as the subsequent event in Brussels on 5 September in order to walk away with the entire pot.
Holmes is the only likely British medallist for the Championships competing in Zurich, Chris Rawlinson, the Commonwealth 400m hurdles champion, and the world triple jump record holder, Jonathan Edwards, pulling out to fight fitness battles.
Dwain Chambers never intended to run, wanting to focus totally on the World Championships and leaving the British No 2, Mark Lewis-Francis, to take on the usual horde of United States and African 100m sprinters.
Rawlinson's withdrawal saw his 400m hurdles place given to Anthony Borsumato. Another late selection, Rob Newton, likewise has a chance to compete in the 110m hurdles.
The Ulsterman James McIlroy features in an interesting 800m line-up while Lee McConnell tackles last year's world No 1, the Mexican Ana Guevara, over 400m.
Ireland's Sonia O'Sullivan lines up in a loaded 3,000m race. Edith Masai, the winner over 5,000m in last Friday's London Grand Prix, searches for more glory. Whether the Kenyan can match the fleet-footed Romanian, Gabriela Szabo, the quickest over the distance this summer, is debatable.
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