Kilde: Ultramarathon World
 
Ray de Vries makes his picks for Comrades:
Vladimir Kotov (men) and Elvira Kolpakova (women)
 
Durban, South Africa (UW) - Ray de Vries says Russian athletes Vladimir Kotov, who won in 2000, and Elvira Kolpakova, who won the women's title in 2001, are his picks to win the men's and women's titles at the June 17 Comrades Marathon, the biggest ultramarathon in the world.
 
While nobody really knows what will happen in the 87-kilometre race, Kotov is in "awesome shape" and but he will be up against stiff competition from Leonid Shvetsov, who was second last year and has a "good chance" to take it all this year, de Vries writes in the Sunday Tribune.
 
"The men's field has got to be the finest ever seen in any ultra in the world," adds de Vries, the top spokesman for the Mr. Price Running Club in South Africa.
 
De Vries makes his prediction despite the fact that Takahiro Sunada, (the world 100Km record holder), will be making his Comrades debut this year and that the field includes other towering names like Dmitri Grishin and Willie Mtolo. South African stars include Andrew Kelehe and Walter Nkosi.
 
On the women's side, he says Kolpakova will face fierce competition from former champion German Maria Bak and also from Russian Yelena Razdrogina. But all of these runners could be upset by Gwen van Lingen, he adds.
 
As always, he concludes, "expect the unexpected."
 
Meanwhile, plans by Viktor Zhdanov to return to the race this year after finishing second in 1999 and then testing positive for a banned substance, could be deriled by money.
 
The Russian runner has served the suspension he was dealt after the 1999 race but he has not yet returned the R50 000 ($5,000US) in prize money he collected at the time. He has given back his medal but so far he has not come up with the cash. If he doesn't, he won't be allowed to run, Comrades officials say.