Melissa Rollison of Australia won the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Goodwill Games in a fabulous time of 9:30.70 (the second-fastest ever). American Elizabeth Jackson finished just out of the medals in 9:41.94, the fastest run ever by an American. For Jackson it has been a landmark season. She won the NCAA Championships, ran second in the USA Championships, and has broken the American record several times.

Unfortunately, we did not see Jackson or Rollison at the recent World Championships in Edmonton, despite the inherent spectator appeal of the event (ie. thrills and spills). It's still a relatively new event, and proponents of it are finding rough going in trying to get it included into all championship meets.

The NCAA added the event this year, and that has been a huge boost for steeplers. The event had languished for years as an exhibition at the USA Championships, and female runners saw little incentive for risking their knees on a pastime that offered no money, medals, or spots on a World or Olympic team. Thanks to gender equity, suddenly scholarship money came into play, and Jackson, a BYU product, has led the charge into uncharted territory.

Now the problem is getting the steeplechase into the big meets. It's not slated to be contested at a World Championships until 2007. That could well be after Jackson has left the world of competitive running. But according to Janet Heinonen's "Keeping Track" newsletter, Istvan Gyulai, general secretary of the IAAF, says that "smart maneuvering" may help to get the steeple into the 2005 championships.

Apparently, IAAF guidelines call for new events to be contested at continental championships prior to their inclusion in the big show. But the European Athletic Association says it won't include the event until 2006, while the Asians aren't interested in it at all. In his comments to Heinonen, Gyulai indicated that the IAAF women's committee is not pleased with the foot-dragging.

If Gyulai has his way, maybe we'll see the steeplechase in 2005 in London ... or perhaps Berlin.

The business of big meets is sometimes bad business
London's woes in organizing the 2005 Worlds have got the IAAF threatening to move the meet elsewhere. Unless the British meet their next deadline in four weeks, the IAAF will look at staging the meet in Berlin, president Lamine Diack said on Saturday.

The comments came after Diack was asked if he thought Berlin, the host of a recent Grand Prix meet, might host the 2009 Worlds. He said, "Perhaps Berlin will host a world championships sooner. London wants to host the championships in 2005, but the bid and the stadium aren't finished. They have four weeks to turn everything in on time. I'm going to wait and see."

Other reports have the southern German city of Stuttgart tabbed as a possible replacement venue. Stuttgart hosted the 1993 edition, and yielded some of the biggest crowds ever for a Worlds.

Perhaps there are folks in Phoenix who can relate to London's worries. They don't have the stadium woes and the big pressure on them yet, but their hopes of having their town announced as the next host of the Goodwill Games are fading fast.

Time/Warner, organizer of the multi-sport extravaganza, is reportedly disappointed with the revenue picture for the current Brisbane event. The decision has been made to postpone any announcement of future Goodwill Games. Phoenix was expected to host the meet in 2005.

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