Turnbull’s 1,500m field is low on quantity but high on quality

GARETH TURNBULL may not have to run first round heats tomorrow in the men’s 1,500m, as entries for the event at the world championships in Paris have hit a new low.

In terms of quality, the entry is top drawer, and the final should produce an exciting contest between Hicham El Guerrouj, world champion since 1997, the European champion Mehdi Baala - who has been groomed for a home victory since last year's sensational finish to the 1,500m in Munich - and Bernard Lagat of Kenya.

But in terms of quantity, there was an entry of just 31 as of last night, and at least one of those, James Nolan, will be withdrawn later today, as he was entered with Turnbull in advance of the national championships.

The talented El Guerrouj is the only Moroccan in the field, and there is no Ethiopian at all. At the bottom of the list are several athletes who have not broken 3:49 this year and a couple who have not broken four minutes.

As it stands, there are three first round heats, with the first six in each and the six fastest losers to go through to the semi-finals on Monday.

"As I see it, it is impossible for them to run first round heats. They are going to need at least 37 runners to do that," Turnbull insisted last night.

Turnbull who won silver at the world student games two years ago, bronze at the European junior championships, silver at the European youth Olympics and bronze from the European junior cross-country championships insisted he will not be unduly worried whether or not the heats go ahead.

He said: "I am going to race when I am going to race. I could argue for and against having to run heats before the semi-finals, but the principle remains the same, that I still want to do the very best I can."

The Irish team manager, Michael Quinlan from Bandon, said the low entry in the event could be attributed to the fact that standards were increasing in recent times. Since the championships were inaugurated in 1983, there have been at least three and usually four first round heats.

But this year there is an A standard of 3:34.90, and only 14 athletes in the field have achieved that. The B standard is 3:37.10 and, with the Olympic Council of Ireland insisting on A standards all round for Athens next year, Turnbull will be hoping that he can come close to that mark.

Other events like the women's 100m hurdles and the men's 110m hurdles will also have the first round heats scrapped. This means that both Derval O'Rourke and Peter Coghlan will go straight through to the quarter finals of their events.

Quinlan said: "Really we would have liked to have had two athletes in the 1,500m here and two in the 200m, but the standards are so difficult that it just was not possible. The standards need to be looked at."