# Track and field at the 2003 Military World Games

At the 2003 Military World Games, the track and field events were held at the Stadio Angelo Massimino in Catania, Italy, from 6 – 8 December 2003. The marathon races were held outside of the stadium, taking place in neighbouring Palermo. A total of 35 events were contested, of which 22 by male and 13 by female athletes.
Russia topped the medal table with nine golds and 23 medals in total – more than double their nearest competitor. The hosts Italy took second place on the medal table with four golds and nine medals in total. Kenya was the next most successful nation, having won four golds in men's track events, although they also secured a silver in the men's 4×100 metres relay – an event the country is historically weak at.
Compared to previous editions, several changes were made to the events programme: the men's 20 m road walk was replaced with a 10,000 m track walk, while the women's programme saw the addition of the 400 metres hurdles, triple jump, hammer throw and 5000 m track walk. The women's shot put contest was dropped for this addition. Wind and downpours of rain affected much of the competition, with Ryan Kirkpatrick of the United States remarking that "the conditions are just above miserable". As a result, performances were below usual standards and although seven new Games records were set, five of these were in newly introduced events. Mihaela Botezan of Romania was the only Games record-breaker at the Angelo Massimino stadium, completing the 5000 metres in 15:10.69, while the other Games record was broken by Francesco Ingargiola in the men's marathon in Palermo.

## Records

| Name | Event | Country | Record | Type |
| Francesco Ingargiola | Marathon | Italy | 2:14:51 | GR |
| Alessandro Gandellini | 10000 m track walk | Italy | 39:29:45 | GR |
| Mihaela Botezan | 5000 m | Romania | 15:10.69 | GR |
| Irêna Žauna | 400 m hurdles | Latvia | 57.35 | GR |
| Cristina Nicolau | Triple jump | Romania | 13.45 m | GR |
| Zhang Wenxiu | Hammer throw | China | 69.89 m | GR |
| Yelena Nikolayeva | 5000 m track walk | Russia | 22:11.69 | GR |
| Key:0000WR — World record • AR — Area record • GR — Games record • NR — National record |||||

## Medal summary
### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres (wind: −1.8 m/s) | Bruno Pacheco (BRA) | 10.53 | Rodrigo de Araújo (BRA) | 10.57 | Salem Mubarak Al-Yami (KSA) | 10.58 |
| 200 metres | Evgenios Papadopoulos (GRE) | 21.76 | Bruno Pacheco (BRA) | 21.77 | Roman Smirnov (RUS) | 21.77 |
| 400 metres | Vincent Mumo Kiilu (KEN) | 46.39 | Matija Šestak (SLO) | 46.88 | Johnson Kubisa (BOT) | 46.98 |
| 800 metres | Joseph Mutua (KEN) | 1:48.84 | Rashid Mohammed (BHR) | 1:49.28 | Michael Rotich (KEN) | 1:49.70 |
| 1500 metres | Abdelkader Hachlaf (MAR) | 3:55.12 | Fabio Lettieri (ITA) | 3:55.66 | Tarek Boukensa (ALG) | 3:56.47 |
| 5000 metres | Sammy Kipketer (KEN) | 13:59.30 | Benjamin Limo (KEN) | 13:59.43 | Günther Weidlinger (AUT) | 14:00.83 |
| 10,000 metres | John Cheruiyot Korir (KEN) | 28:38.93 | Dieudonné Disi (RWA) | 28:49.63 | Francesco Bennici (ITA) | 28:50.20 |
| 110 metres hurdles | Artur Kohutek (POL) | 14.12 | Mubarak Ata Mubarak (KSA) | 14.16 | Alexandru Mihailescu (ROM) | 14.30 |
| 400 metres hurdles | Ibrahim Al-Hamaidi (KSA) | 51.44 | Sanderson dos Santos (BRA) | 51.62 | Panayotis Andriopoulos (GRE) | 52.03 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase | Abel Yagout Jawher (BHR) | 8:42.97 | Jan Zakrzewski (POL) | 8:43.85 | Abraham Cherono (KEN) | 8:45.36 |
| 4×100 metres relay | Italy (ITA) Alessandro Vecchi Gianluca Capati Stefano Bellotto Maurizio Chechucci | 41.07 | Kenya (KEN) Levi Wasike Victor Kibet Vincent Mumo Kiilu Stanley Towett | 41.33 | Saudi Arabia (KSA) Y. Habib Mubarak Ata Mubarak Salem Mubarak Al-Yami Hamdan Odha Al-Bishi | 41.53 |
| 4×400 metres relay | Poland (POL) Marcin Marciniszyn Jacek Bocian Piotr Rysiukiewicz Robert Maćkowiak | 3:11.24 | Kenya (KEN) Joseph Mutua Victor Kibet M. Rotich Vincent Mumo Kiilu | 3:11.47 | Colombia (COL) Jhon Chávez Wenceslao Ferrín J. Moreno Julio César Rojas | 3:13.05 |
| Marathon | Francesco Ingargiola (ITA) | 2:14:51 GR | Lim Jin-Soo (KOR) | 2:17:10 | Jumah Omar Al-Noor (QAT) | 2:17:22 |
| 10,000 m track walk | Alessandro Gandellini (ITA) | 39:29.45 GR | Ilya Markov (RUS) | 39:33.16 | Ivan Trotskiy (BLR) | 39:34.99 |
| High jump | Yuriy Krymarenko (UKR) | 2.18 m | Pyotr Brayko (RUS) | 2.15 m | Kyriakos Ioannou (CYP) | 2.15 m |
| Pole vault | Igor Pavlov (RUS) | 5.45 m | Pavel Gerasimov (RUS) | 5.30 m | Artyom Kuptsov (RUS) | 5.15 m |
| Long jump | Ruslan Gataullin (RUS) | 7.81 m | Hussein Taher Al-Sabee (KSA) | 7.80 m | Kirill Sosunov (RUS) | 7.77 m |
| Triple jump | Aleksandr Sergeyev (RUS) | 16.23 m | Hussein Taher Al-Sabee (KSA) | 15.98 m | Fabrizio Schembri (ITA) | 15.69 m |
| Shot put | Milan Haborák (SVK) | 19.55 m | Roman Virastyuk (UKR) | 19.30 m | Leszek Śliwa (POL) | 18.86 m |
| Discus throw | Diego Fortuna (ITA) | 60.16 m | Aleksandr Borichevskiy (RUS) | 59.14 m | Jo Van Daele (BEL) | 58.59 m |
| Hammer throw | Miloslav Konopka (SVK) | 75.59 m | Vladislav Piskunov (UKR) | 74.88 m | Ilya Konovalov (RUS) | 72.86 m |
| Javelin throw | Aleksandr Ivanov (RUS) | 78.13 m | Vadims Vasilevskis (LAT) | 77.81 m | Tero Järvenpää (FIN) | 74.32 m |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Yuliya Timofeyeva (RUS) | 12.11 | Yekaterina Grigoryeva (RUS) | 12.29 | Francesca Cola (ITA) | 12.33 |
| 200 metres | Yuliya Timofeyeva (RUS) | 24.70 | Jani Chathurangani Silva (SRI) | 24.80 | Olga Goncharenko (RUS) | 25.27 |
| 400 metres | Awatef Ben Hassine (TUN) | 54.37 | Olga Maksimova (RUS) | 54.40 | Omolade Akinremi (USA)† | 54.44 |
| 800 metres | Seltana Aït Hammou (MAR) | 2:06.86 | Brigita Langerholc (SLO) | 2:07.38 | Svetlana Klyuka (RUS) | 2:07.84 |
| 1500 metres | Tatyana Buloychik (BLR) | 4:27.67 | Élodie Olivares (FRA) | 4:27.97 | Leïla Hmatou (MAR) | 4:29.07 |
| 5000 metres | Mihaela Botezan (ROM) | 15:10.69 GR | Zhor El Kamch (MAR) | 15:15.41 | Restituta Joseph (TAN) | 15:19.53 |
| Marathon | Jo Bun-Hui (PRK) | 2:36:54 | Oh Song-Suk (PRK) | 2:40:03 | Heléne Willix (SWE) | 2:40:16 |
| 400 metres hurdles | Irêna Žauna (LAT) | 57.35 GR | Omolade Akinremi (USA)† | 58.82 | Lara Rocco (ITA) | 58.93 |
| High jump | Anna Chicherova (RUS) | 1.89 m | Olga Kaliturina (RUS) | 1.89 m | Oana Pantelimon (ROM) | 1.86 m |
| Long jump | Tatyana Ter-Mesrobyan (RUS) | 6.03 m | Livea Pruteanu (ROM) | 5.95 m | Cristina Nicolau (ROM) | 5.93 m |
| Triple jump | Cristina Nicolau (ROM) | 13.45 m GR | Livea Pruteanu (ROM) | 13.29 m | Anja Valant (SLO) | 12.65 m |
| Hammer throw | Zhang Wenxiu (CHN) | 69.89 m GR | Ester Balassini (ITA) | 65.70 m | Tatyana Lysenko (RUS) | 56.50 m |
| 5000 m track walk | Yelena Nikolayeva (RUS) | 22:11.69 GR | Cristiana Pellino (ITA) | 22:35.78 | Olga Kardopoltseva (BLR) | 22:36.27 |
* † Note: Omolade Akinremi represented the USA as a member of the United States Air Force, although she holds Nigerian nationality.

## Medal table

* Host nation (Italy)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Russia | 9 | 7 | 7 | 23 |
| 2 | Italy* | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 |
| 3 | Kenya | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| 4 | Romania | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 5 | Morocco | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Poland | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Slovenia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | Slovakia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Saudi Arabia | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 10 | Brazil | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 11 | Ukraine | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 12 | Bahrain | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | Latvia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | North Korea | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 15 | Belarus | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 16 | Greece | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 17 | China | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Tunisia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | France | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | Rwanda | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | South Korea | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | Sri Lanka | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 23 | Algeria | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 23 | Austria | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 23 | Belgium | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 23 | Botswana | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 23 | Colombia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 23 | Cyprus | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 23 | Finland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 23 | Qatar | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 23 | Sweden | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 23 | Tanzania | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (32 entries) | Totals (32 entries) | 37 | 32 | 34 | 103 |