Acon wins Brazil up

By James Bakama JULIUS Acon boosted his confidence ahead of the Edmonton World Championships by winning the Brazilian Grand Prix 1500m race on Sunday. Acon, running his first international outdoor race this season, clocked three minutes 37.60 seconds in Rio de Janeiro. The time was well inside the 3:38.40 Edmonton qualification mark that he hit at the Sydney Olympics last season but short of his personal best of 3:35.68. The 1994 world junior champion's win in Brazil earned him eight points, and brightened his chances of making it to the lucrative Golden League that starts next month. Kenya's Benson Koech, a pre-race favourite and homeboy de Souza Hudson, were amongst a strong field of ten runners that fell in Acon's wake. Koech, who boasts of a personal best of 3:32.00, finished second in 3:37.81. Acon, whose next outing will be at the Osaka Grand Prix on Saturday, was confident before heading for Brazil. "I am in good shape, the kind of form that gave me the national record in 1997." He attributed the form to physical fitness expert Mansoor Esmail's sessions. "I have greatly benefited from his training especially in regard to power, which was previously my undoing." Elsewhere, another Ugandan Pascal Owor also sparkled by winning the 1000 meters in 2:22.96 in the Esch-Alzette race in Luxembourg.