Berlin Golden League will spark 2009 treasure hunt

IN athletics, perhaps more than most sports, all that glitters is gold.

POT OF GOLD: Golden League gets under way in Berlin this weekend, as the 2009 treasure hunt begins in earnest

Every single athlete that takes to the track or field does so in a relentless pursuit of gold. The ultimate prize in athletics is not a trophy or a cup, but the holy grail of gold.

Or so they would have us believe. While Olympic athletes receive nothing but the glory and the gold for winning their Olympic event; that is not the case at the lucrative Golden League meet.

The six-legged event, which gets underway in Berlin this weekend, offers a million-dollar jackpot - lavishly on show in golden ingots - to be split among those athletes capable of prevailing in their given event across all six events.

No mean feat seeing as only Kenya's 800m star Pamela Jelimo could do so in 2008 - pocketing a cool million for the privilege.

Since the Golden League series was reduced to six events in 2001 - next year it will expand to the Diamond League and encompass 12 meetings, including two in the UK - only seven athletes have achieved the feat.

Of those seven - Maria Mutola, Christian Olsson, Tonique Darling, Tatyana Lebedeva, Sanya Richards, Yelena Isinbayeva and Jelimo, only two - Mutola and Isinbayeva - also won world gold in the same year.

Richards on the other hand, floundered in 2007 and finished fourth in the US trials, ensuring she had to make do in the 200m and allowing Christine Ohuruogu to romp to gold and fellow Brit Nicola Sanders to take silver.

Jelimo of course was just as dominant in Beijing, but she is currently paying the price that now and has twice been comprehensively beaten in recent weeks.

But some, it seem, place greater importance on the medal than the pay-cheque.

There will be some notable absentees from Berlin - namely 400m Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu, who believes the series to be a hindrance in her bid to reclaim her world title in August, also in Berlin.

Jamaican sprinting superstar Usain Bolt will also not be seen in Berlin until August, while of course Dwain Chambers will certainly not be there - but not for the want of trying.

But aside from the major championships, the Golden League remains the most sophisticated level of competition.

For the most part, the cream of the crop will be in Berlin, dreaming of the bullion that awaits them when the series concludes in Brussels in early September.

Already confirmed are Isinbayeva, Kenyan distance runner Kenenisa Bekele and Richards to name but a few but the fundamental question remains, are they hindering there World Championships chances?

It all depends on whether it's the winners' medal or the bullion that's worth its weight in gold.