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Neither Hicham El Guerrouj (amazingly) nor Hestrie Cloete (unsurprisingly) went through 2003 unbeaten, but it is testament to their competitive power that they won the ones that count, the World titles in their specialities.
Their consistency has also earned them the World Athlete of the Year awards and the $100,000 that goes with it. In El Guerrouj's case, the Moroccan has uniquely won the award for a third consecutive time, while Cloete takes her first.
It would be amazing if a field eventer could go through a whole season or year unbeaten, given the little things that can go wrong technically on any given day. But Hestrie Cloete's consistency has been such that she recorded 22 wins in 26 High Jump competitions throughout 2003 - so far!
It is a conundrum, yet to be explained, that the higher the altitude, the lower the winning height for Cloete, formerly Storbeck. But, given the lengthy season that the South African from Germiston has had, she has evidently been pacing herself better than El Guerrouj.
The competitive year began at home in Potchefstroom on January 31, and, apart from a flying, successful visit - victory in 1.96 metres - to the Banamex Meeting in Mexico City, she remained unbeaten at home in ten straight meetings through to Pretoria on April 4.
Cloete's lowest winning height was 1.90m - three times, including the national title in Port Elizabeth on April 26, and her best came with a 1.97m in Durban on April 11.
She got a bit of a shock when she came on the circuit, and bumped into her international colleagues, three of her four defeats came in a row - 1.92m for 10th (!) in Oslo on June 27, 1.97m, equal second in Lausanne on July 1, and 1.99m for second in Paris on July 4.
But the bar and the temperature were rising. Apart from a fourth place in 1.98m in Eberstadt on July 26, the rest of the season belonged to Cloete. She equalled her African record with 2.05 metres in Berlin on August 10, and buried the opposition in Paris, when she cleared every height first time, up to her 13th African record of 2.06m.
A 2.03m in Brussels and a 2.01m in Monaco were sufficient to earn her another first, female World Athlete of the Year 2003.
In an emotional address to the assembly at the prize-giving ceremony at the Forum Grimaldi, after receiving her award from HRH Prince Albert, she said, "It's been a great year for me, I couldn't have asked for better".
She thanked husband, family, coach, agent, everyone who supported her, including the IAAF, ending with, "It makes it all worth living for". And we cannot say better than that! - IAAF
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