Sudan's Abubaker Kaki Khamis celebrates after winning the finals of the men's 800 metres on March 9, 2008 at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Valencia. (Pierre-Philippe Marcou/Getty Images)
After three weeks of altitude training in Yemen, members of the Sudanese track and field team served notice they are ready for the Olympic campaign with victories in the MAI-Galen Invitational Meeting in Malmo, Sweden, Tuesday night.
The 2008 IAAF World Indoor 800 metres champion Abubaker Kaki opened his outdoor season with a victory over 1,500 metres in a time of 3:39.71. It was a personal best by almost six seconds recorded on a cold and very windy night.
Timothy Kiptanui, of Kenya, fourth in the 2004 Olympic 1,500 final finished second in 3:41.12 with Ethiopia’s Demma Bikila third in 3:41.46.
The 2008 African Games 800 champion Ismail Ismail of Sudan won his specialty in 1:46.91 ahead of Justus Koech of Kenya at 1:48.29.
The Sudanese athletes were late to their high altitude training camp last month after the Khartoum airport was closed due to a rebel attack on the capital.
In other notable results, Carolina Kluft, the reigning world and Olympic heptathlon champion from Sweden won the women’s long jump with a leap of 6.77. She beat Spain’s Conception Montaner who recorded 6.42.
Kluft has said she will not compete in the Olympic heptathlon and will instead focus on long jump and triple jump this season.
Canada’s 110-metre hurdler Charles Allen who was sixth in the 2004 Olympics, tried his hand in the men’s 100 finishing third in a time of 10.87 behind the winner Paull Hession of Ireland in 10.82 and Lukas Chyla of Poland in 10.86. The sprinters faced winds of 3.7 metres per second.