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1997: Going for gold— in medals and money

Phil Minshull writes from London
Nearly 2,000 competitors from 200 countries are expected to converge on Athens in August for the World Athletics Championships. the most prestigious event in the sporting calendar after the Olympics and soccer World Cup.
Many of the Olympic heroes from Atlanta will be there.
United States' sprinter Michael Johnson will defend both the 200m and 400m titles he won in Gothenburg two years ago. a feat he repeated to worldwide acclaim in Atlanta.
But even the Incomparable Johnson may have the plaudits stolen from him by Russian pole vaulter Sergei Bubka, who won his first world title at the inaugural Championships in 1983, when only 19. Bubka has gone on to win his even at every subsequent World Athletics Championships.
Another eagerly anticipated appearance is that of US Olympic long-jump champion Carl Lewis. He will be attempting to add to his impressive collection of eight World Championships gold medals.
Long distance events promise exciting African clashes, with Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie. Kenya's Paul Tergat. Burundi's Venuste Niyangabo. and Morocco's Salah Hissou vying to step up to the medal podium.
In the women's events. Russia's Svetlana Masterkova. Olympic gold medallist in the 800m and 1,500m and a double world record breaker In 1996. will be under scrutiny to prove that she is more than a one-year wonder.
Syria's Ghada Shouaa will be out to consolidate her reputation as the top sportswomen in the region and retain her'hep-tathlon title. In addition. Shouaa has her sights on US track star Jackie Joyner-Kersee's eight-year-old world jesprd for the event.
May will see the head-to-head duel between Michael Johnson and Canadas Donovan Bailey, who set a world . 100m record of 9.84 seconds when winning the Olympic title. The Toronte confrontation takes place over the unusual distance of 150 metres. The one million dollars prize is the richest ever awarded in athletics.
Soccer enthusiasts will get most of their kicks at the club level. The European Cup Champions' League is heading for an outstanding climax with former winners England's Manchester United, Holland's Ajax Amsterdam and Italy's Juventus among the favourites.
Argentina s River Plate aims to retain the Libertadores Cup for South America’s top club.
while Africa will inaugurate the new Champions' League. Egyptian club Zamalek start as favourites after their 1996 Champions Cup victory.
The 1998 World Cup qualifiers will be played throughout the year, with trouble already looming for the Czech Republic. Ghana, Spain. Tunisia and Uruguay, who have already dropped points and face some tricky opponents in the months ahead.
Motor racing looks set for its fnost open season for years. Reigning world champion Damon Hill has moved from Williams to the unheralded Arrows team, and Germany's Michael Schumacher is still finding his feet at Ferrari. Canada's Jacques Villeneuve. Hill's former Williams teammate. is bidding to put a new name on the World Championship trophy.
Super-middleweight boxer Roy Jones is pound-for-pound the most exciting man in the ring, but the big question for fight fans is whether heavyweight Mike Tyson can regain his poise and world title after his November knock-out by Evander Holyfield. Iron Mike is looking a bit rustier these days, but a rematch with Holyfield, tentatively scheduled for June, could net each boxer 40 million dollars.
Not that Tyson needs the cash. Forbes magazine estimated that he was the highest-earning sportsman in the world last year, with 75 million dollars.”
A little way behind him was basketball star Michael Jordan, with earnings of just over 50 million dollars. His team, the Chicago Bulls, hope to remain National Basketball Association champions, but the Houston Rockets — winners in 1994 and 1995 — have announced themselves as early season contenders. How much Hakeem Olajuwon can contribute. however, has become questionable after two recent heart scares.
American football and baseball champions have a tendency to stay on top only for a year Do not expect either the Dallas Cowboys or New York Yankees to retain their titles. The Green Bay Packers and the Atlanta Braves could Instead be the teams to watch in 1997.
Tiger Woods looks set to shake up golf. The 20-year-old American is the sport's brightest star for 30 years and has already won two tournaments since turning professional last summer.
Europe still has strong con tenders for the mantle of the world's No 1 golfer with the British duo of US Masters winner Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie. South Africa's
Ernie Els. Zimbabwe's Nick Price and Japan's Masashi Jumbo" Ozaki could also challenge strongly for golfs big prizes.
The Ryder Cup at the Span ish course of Valderrama in September should again be an exhilarating occasion as the US tries to turn the tables on Europe. narrow victors in 1995.
Men's tennis is going through a similar revival of interest. after several years of stagnation. Germany's Boris Becker started 1996 by winning the Australian Open and finished it in December by taking the 1.7 million dollars first prize at the Compaq Grand Slam Cup. Mix in world’s No 1 Pete Sampras, French Open champion Yvgeny Kafelnikov. Holland’s Richard Krajicek, and volatile but talented crowdpleasers such as Croatia's Goran Ivanisevic, and men's tennis has an exciting year ahead.
By contrast, there are few new faces among the women. Monica Seles and Steffi Graf still dominate the top echelon of the game, despite persistent injuries. There is a huge gulf below them, which only Swiss teenager Martina Hingis seems to have a chance of breach.
Cyclings Tour De France offers one of the toughest challenges in world sport, and Spain's Miguel Indurain is still playing cat-and-mouse over whether he will make a serious efforts to regain the title he won five times between 1991 and 1995. Perhaps his day has passed. Denmark's Bjarne Riis will try to repeat his 1996 victory in the gruelling three-week trek with Abraham Olano of Spain and Russia's Yevgeni Berzin among the main cnal-
Lgby Union fans will see the British Lions go to South Africa for the first time in 16 years. They play three Tests in June and July to decide whether northern or southern Hemisphere rugby has got the upper hand.
The ancient cricketing ri valry between England and Australia will also be rekindled in the summer when the Ashes are contested on English turf.
Inevitably, there will be scandals and shocks in 1997. Every year brings its drug revelations or tragedies such as the Guatemala crowd disaster that left 81 dead. But most fans will be looking forward to the coming year for what happens on the field of play rather than off it — Gemini
About the Author PM Min-s hull Is a top British sports uiLUimlirii Aful
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