Ayhan lets results do the talking

We sped through our interview in little more time than it took Ayhan to win the Berlin Golden League 1,500m 10 days ago, just inside four minutes. That was the fastest of the year, until five days later.

She won again in Zurich on Friday, in a personal best 3min 55.60sec, the fastest in six years. That Ayhan is outstanding favourite to win in Paris was underlined yesterday when experienced Briton Kelly Holmes reassessed her own 1,500m chances. Holmes is considering switching to 800m, stating what is usually unthinkable to opponents: "Ayhan is going to win."

In the past 12 months, the 24-year-old from Cankiri in central Turkey has become the most famous Turkish athlete in history, and the first woman to reach international status. There is a flash of pride, almost a smile, when she admits through the interpreter, "even small children in the villages are running now, that has never been an option for them before".

The people, especially the women, in her conservative society may love her, but her rise has not been without problems. She was discovered as an ebullient schoolgirl by Yucel Kop, who has remained her coach, but is also now her partner.

Since Kop is 30 years older, and married with two sons, sections of the media, while lauding her success, point out the worldwide problem of older coaches seducing their young charges.

Ayhan admits that there has been criticism, but further probing received a firm, "no comment, my private life is my private life". This is no Svengali relationship, however. Though Kop sat beside us, he said nothing throughout the interview, and Ayhan acted like a young woman who knows and says what she thinks.

Her running certainly reflects that. She agreed to a pacemaker in Berlin, but badgered the poor woman so much that she only lasted 800 instead of the agreed 1000 metres. "I could have gone faster without her."

This was no idle boast. Ayhan ran four seconds faster in Zurich and while a tight finish might be exciting, there’s nothing more praiseworthy than seeing someone lay it on the line so blatantly, and succeed. It’s a joy to see, the more so when many of her peers, men and women, shelter behind colleagues and pacemakers, using them as springboards for their own limited ambitions.

If Ayhan is a breath of fresh air, then the other newcomers are a wind of change. Of the six sprint events, men’s and women’s 100-400m, only Ana Guevara – is an outstanding favourite, for the one lap race. We have had the spectacle of Haile Gebrselassie being beaten in three distance races out of four, and his young colleague, Kenenisa Bekele emerging to beat him, only to be brushed aside himself by Abraham Chebii of Kenya. And if the 1/100th of a second by which he won his first race in Qatari colours is any indication, then Saif Sayeed Shaheen, the steeplechaser formerly known as Stephen Cherono is going to be hounded all the way home by his Kenyan former colleagues.

There are some veterans, such as Gail Devers of the US in the high hurdles, and Ivan Pedroso of Cuba in the long jump, with justifiable expectations of adding to their numerous world and Olympic titles, while Maria Mutola (800m) and Felix Sanchez (400m hurdles) are both taking long unbeaten runs out into the wide open spaces of the Stade e France to defend. Elsewhere, it will be very similar, something old, and lots of new. But don’t miss Ayhan’s inexorable charge into history.