Media Room
Press ReleasesMay 23, 2006
800 Metres Will Prove A Pivotal Event On Jerome Meet's Pacific World Cup card
The 800 metres has long been a highly competitive event at the annual Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic. The two-lap event for the 2006 meet on June 8 – featuring the People's Republic of China versus Canada for the Pacific World Cup – is no exception as entries include the world's top-ranked junior woman for 2005, the Canadian women's record holder, a Commonwealth Games silver medallist and a Chinese National Games champion.
Should conditions permit, the women's meet record of 1:59.78 could well be in jeopardy this year as Canadian and Jerome meet record holder Diane Cummins of Canada will line up against Chinese wunderkind Liu Qing in what appears to be one of the most competitive matches in the Pacific World Cup competition.
On paper, it is a clash of the two-lap titans. Cummins' personal best is a 1:58.39 and she set the current meet record of 1:59.78 two years ago. Liu's personal best is a 1:59.74 – recorded last October at the Chinese National Games. The mark vaulted Liu into first place in the 2005 world junior rankings for the distance and she is clearly one of her country's bright hopes for the future as Beijing prepares to play host to the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Cummins, a seven-time Canadian champion (1998, 2000-2005), comes into the Jerome meet with an early outdoor season best of 1:59.31, earned in finishing fifth at the March Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.
Nineteen-year-old Huang Jing will join 20-year-old compatriot Liu at the women's 800-metres at Swangard Stadium. Huang ended 2005 as the third best junior woman on the IAAF 1,500-metre rankings (4:10.13) and with a personal best 2:05.35 over 800 metres.
Joining Cummins is Commonwealth Games teammate Aimee Teteris, a semi-finalist at the Games in Melbourne. Teteris finished fourth in last year's Jerome meet. Her personal best is a 2:01.68 earned in Belgium in 2004.
This year marks the second time athletes from Canada and the People's Republic of China will compete for the Pacific World Cup at the Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic. In 2005 China sent a small contingent of athletes to compete in what was essentially a small dual meet within the larger international Jerome meet.
The 2006 event is a full dual meet with China sending a national team of 34 athletes – 18 men and 16 women – to compete against Canada on June 8 at Burnaby's Swangard Stadium. Alberta and British Columbia are also fielding provincial teams to the event as their athletes compete alongside the Canadian and Chinese athletes in a corresponding provincial dual competition.
Commonwealth Games silver medallist Achraf Tadili leads Canada on the men's 800-metre list for June 8. Tadili, 25, clocked 1:46.93 in the final at Melbourne and was a member of the 2004 Canadian Olympic team. His personal best remains the 1:45.05 he clocked en route to winning the gold medal at the 2003 Pan-American Games.
David Gill, a two-time Canadian Interuniversity Sport male track athlete of the year, joins Tadili in the 800 metres. His current 800-metre best is a 1:47.35 earned at the 2005 Canadian championships.
Chinese National Games champion Liu Xiangyu, 20, brings his recent PB 1:47.30 to Swangard Stadium. He will be joined by compatriot Tang Baojun, the 1,500-metre silver medallist and 800-metre bronze medallist from the 2005 Chinese National Games. Tang brings a best of 1:48.90 to this year's Jerome meet.
The 2006 Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic, featuring the Pacific World Cup, is part of the PacifiCanada Track and Field Series. Other meets in the series: Abbotsford (June 4), Richmond (June 6) and Victoria (June 11).
For media inquiries contact:
Diane Clement
(604) 261-6220 / dclement00@hotmail.com
For athlete information contact:
Marek Jedrzejek
(604) 822-6259 / marekj@interchange.ubc.ca
or
Doug Clement
dclement00@hotmail.com
