Athletics Weekend round-up: Indoor running frequently starts with the blowing off of cobwebs, but not this season. A world record, two exciting attempts and a few encouraging Irish performances were among the highlights of the first major meetings of the season. Olympic countdowns have clearly begun in earnest.
In Stuttgart on Saturday, Ethiopia's Berhane Adere chopped a full eight seconds off the women's world indoor 5,000 metres record, clocking 14 minutes, 39.29 seconds.
That simply wiped out the previous mark of 14.47.35 set five years ago by Gabriela Szabo, and has given Adere, the current World 10,000 metres champion, the best possible start to her Athens preparations.
Later in the night, fellow Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele attacked the men's world indoor 3,000 metres record, despite it being the first indoor race for the 21-year-old. Pulling clear just after the 2,000 metres, Bekele was briefly tested by countryman Silehi Sihine before coming home the clear winner in 7.30.77.
Short of the 7.24.90 set six years ago by Kenya's Daniel Komen, it was nonetheless the seventh fastest in history.
In the US Haile Gebrselassie was attacking the same 3,000-metres mark. In front of a sell-out crowd of over 4,000 at Boston's Reggie Lewis Arena, the Ethiopian made a brave attempt, but again fell a little short. Passing the mile mark in 3.59.60, he maintained his world record pace up to 2,000 metres, before fading somewhat over the last few laps and finishing in 7.35.24.
Like Adere, Gebrselassie intends to use next month's World Indoor championships in Budapest - which for the first time will be staged in Olympic years - as part of his journey to Athens.
Irish interest in the World Indoors will also be strong, and Karen Shinkins is already showing the sort of form that could see her advance to the latter rounds. Running over 400 metres in Boston, she clocked 53.23 seconds in fifth place, well inside the necessary qualifying time of 53.50. Winning there was Tonique Williams of the Bahamas in 51.98.
For Paul McKee, the World Indoor bronze medallist over 400 metres, the season is clicking into place a little less convincingly, and his 47.67 run in Stuttgart, good enough for third place, was marginally slower than the 47.60 he ran in Glasgow last weekend.
Several Irish athletes on the margins of qualification were competing at the Boston Terrier classic, and among the highlights there was the 1.49.91 clocking over 800 metres for Liam Reale, who attends Providence College, and the 9.14.58 over 3,000 metres for Mary Cullen, also of Providence. Joe McAlister, who attends Iona College, also ran a personal best of 8.04.86 over 3,000 metres.
In Nenagh, meanwhile, Ann Loughnane lowered her Irish junior indoor record over the three kilometre walk with a time of 13:27.32, when winning the Irish Junior title yesterday. It means the Galway athlete has now recorded a faster indoor time than outdoors.
In Canberra, Australia, Gary Ryan, took third place over 200 metres with the encouraging time of 20.96 seconds, while also winning the 100 metres in 10.65.
