Simon selected for Monaco World Athletics FinalSeptember 16th 2004 - At the last minute, Simon has been selected by IAAF to participate in the World Athletics Final in Monaco, next Sunday August 19th. After fellow European record holder Tahri had to pull out of the race, Simon obtained the free spot despite being second in line on the waiting list. "For IAAF, the fact that I am the European record holder and finished 6th in the Olympics, was enough reason to grant me access to the race. What also counted was the fact that morally I would have automatically qualified anyway, being number 12 on the world ranking before my Hengelo result got disqualified for very dubious reasons. IAAF knew this. They also knew that the European public in Monaco would likely not be all that excited to see just 1 European (Luis Martin) among 11 Africans at the start line. This has nothing to do with skin colour or geographical origin, let me be clear on this. It has all to do with diversity in general, something that makes our sport so beautiful. Simon had more or less stopped training a few days ago, when he did not believe he would participate in Monaco any more. He still has a few days to motivate himself again for this last task of the season - and no doubt he will be professional enough to be ready when the gun fires. Evaluation: Sunday night! Race info| Date | 19-sep-2004 | | Event | World Atheltics Final | | City | Monte carlo (MON) | | Distance | 3000m steeple | | Result | PM((9.34)) (12) | | Complete result | 1. Shaheen 7.56
2. Kemboi 8.01
3. Koech 8.02 |
Reactions on this newsitemErik
September 17th 2004
| Ok Simon, dat is op de valreep mooi nieuws! Nog één keer knallen en dan mag je wat mij betreft volgend weekend uitslapen :-) |
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