Athletes holding eleven current global titles set for Doha - IAAF World Athletics Tour
Tuesday 8 May 2007
The first IAAF Super Grand Prix status meeting of 2007 takes place this Friday 11 May in Doha, Qatar, and has attracted a host of reigning individual global champions.
The 19 events (10 men’s and 9 women’s) that will be contested during the Qatar IAAF World Super Tour 2007 meeting at the Qatar Sports Club will be graced by a total of eight athletes - based upon the current entry list - who between them hold 11 current Olympic (2004) or World (2005) outdoor titles.
Virgilijus Alekna wins 2006 World Athletics Final
(Getty Images)
In the men’s 100m, there is Olympic 200m champion Shawn Crawford (USA), and Dwight Phillips (USA), the World and Olympic Long Jump champion, who has quite a turn of speed away from his championship specialty with personal bests of 6.47 seconds (60m) and 10.14 (100m) which he set in 2005.
The men’s throws highlight the infield competitions in Doha with World and Olympic title holder in the Discus, Virgilijus Alekna (LTU), and Olympic Javelin Throw champion Andreas Thorkildsen (NOR) competing.
Helsinki 2005 100m winner Lauryn Williams (USA) is set to take on compatriot Allyson Felix (USA) in the women’s dash. The latter athlete was the World gold medallist at the 200m at the same championships.
Allyson Felix just holds off a determined Sanya Richards in Stuttgart at the 2006 World Athletics Final
(Getty Images)
Unlike her Helsinki gold medal counterpart in the men’s Long Jump, Tianna Madison (USA), the reigning women’s World Long Jump champion will contest her gold medal winning event in Doha, while in the throwing circle Russia’s reigning World and Olympic Hammer champion Olga Kuzenkova will star.
Chris Turner for the IAAF
NOTE - A full preview will be published later this week