Duels in the Olympic crown

This duo’s one-two in the World Championships final in Seville last year produced `the race of the century’ according to former 1500m World record holder Sebastian Coe — and he wasn’t far wrong.

However, Ngeny, who only a year before had acted as a pacemaker for El Guerrouj’s 1500m World record in Rome, did get it wrong when he boldly stated afterwards that the Moroccan master would not beat him this year.

Sadly for the 21-year-old Kenyan, who robbed Coe’s last World record, the 1000 metres, to round off his 1999 season, he has lost every time he has come up against El Guerrouj this season and could not even break him when he ran a National record in Zurich.

It is hard to see the run being broken — although El Guerrouj still has the memory of falling in the 1996 final burning in his mind — but Ngeny would do well to take note of what the late Vitas Gerualitis said after dispatching Jimmy Connors in the Masters to end a losing streak to his opponent of 16 successive matches.

When asked how he had turned the formbook around the flamboyant American said: “Nobody but nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 Times in a row!”

Allen Johnson vs Colin Jackson

THIS duo are probably two of the all time great athletes and have delivered some memorable battles in the 110m hurdles over the past six years — the trouble is one would be hard pressed to have read much about it as neither have gone out of their way to court the press.

“I think our rivalry should receive more publicity,” said Johnson, who is the reigning champion and two-time World champion.

“However, because we don’t trash talk each other and have a friendly rivalry we don’t get the acres of space that other sprinters do,” the 29-year-old added.

Johnson, who likes to ride a 1000cc Yamaha when away from the track, has been in pretty good form all season, losing just three times and recording a stunning 12.97 seconds in the US trials final.

However, the man who says that if he is ahead at the fifth hurdle never loses, has been hit by a hamstring injury which could just hand the lightly-raced Jackson, the World record holder and World champion, the initiative.

For Jackson victory would complete a clean sweep of titles and records spread over a 12 year career and for Johnson it might just mean he could win himself a few extra column inches — for a day!

Ato Boldon vs Floyd Heard

A Fascinating battle between the relative youth of 26-year-old Boldon and 34-year-old veteran Heard which on Grand Prix form should go to the younger man but the weakness for Ato is he has never been very good at sealing the title.

It is certainly not the stringest duo to appear as favourites in an Olympic sprint. Boldon has been accused of thinking too much thus costing himself several titles while Heard is a second chance freshman having taken four years out of athletics selling clothes and battling with drink before returning refreshed this year.

Even now Boldon is trying to back off the favourite’s tag despite the absence of Maurice Greene and Michael Johnson, whose dual collapse on the track during the US trials 200m final let Heard in.

Johnson, no lover of Boldon’s training partner Greene, is dismissive of Boldon saying that people who are made favourites should assume the mantle and not run away from it.

Instead the current World record holder has plumped for Heard to at last receive the recognition that eluded him when he was the fourth member of the Santa Monica Club — unsurprisingly really as his teammates were Carl Lewis, future coach and former 100m World recordholder Leroy Burrell and Olympic 200m champion Mike Marsh.

Heard ran the fastest time of his career — 19.88 seconds — since 1986 in the trials final and looks far more relaxed than Boldon and ready to accept this second chance with open arms.

“It would make a great story. A good book,” Heard said — for Boldon it would be a horror story.

Marion Jones vs Heike Drechsler

While Italy’s English-born Fiona May could well take the long jump title it is the meeting of Drechsler and Jones which will make for interesting combat after spikey comments the German legend made about Jones’ chances of winning the gold medal.

The 35-year-old German, who won her first world crown aged 19 in 1983, said it was hard for an amateur to come along and win the title which wasn’t bad for the prelude to a potential catfight.

Jones, who beat all her major rivals in Zurich but then finished fifth in the Brussels Golden League meeting, plays the same old mantra time and again insisting that her shaky technique is improving.

“All it takes is one jump,” she said. It may do but with the added pressure of her bid for five gold medals there is no guarantee that Jones will pull it together come the big fight and prove the mighty Drechsler correct.