Saturday, 11 July 2009 Wariner vs Merritt in the 400 tops a strong bill in Athens – Preview – World Athletics Tour
Athens, Greece – The first face-off the season between Olympic 400m champion Lashawn Merritt and two-time World champion Jeremy Wariner will be among the many highlights at the 12th edition of the Tsiklitiria Grand Prix in the Greek capital on Monday (13).
According to organisers, 65 Olympic, World and European champions are entered in the Tsiklitiria Grand Prix, a Super Grand Prix status event as part of the IAAF World Athletics Tour.
Focus on Wariner vs. Merritt
Currently on the top of the world list with 44.50, Merritt will race in Athens for the first time. “I feel very well and very strong. Jeremy Wariner is a big opponent, but everybody wants to win and I am not underestimating anyone. Every time I get in a race, I get in to win.”
Wariner is currently the second 400m runner this year with 44.66 he set in Carson in May and he is aiming to repeat the performance from five years ago in the same stadium where he won the Olympics gold along with a second gold as a member of the U.S. 4 x 400m Relay team. As the owner of the world title, the 25-year-old was assured of participation in the World Championship in Berlin and didn’t compete in the USA trials and thus the first competition of the year between the two best 400m runners in world will take place in Athens on Monday.
Besides the Big 2, the field includes Belgium’s Jonathan Borlee, the best European performer this year (44.78), and Gary Kikaya of the Deomcratic Republic of Congo, the African record holder.
Campbell tops women’s 100m field
Jamaican Veronica Campbell, who has collected a dozen medals in the Olympic and World championships competition, is one the meet’s biggest attractions. The two-time defending Olympic 200m champion and reigning World 100m champion arrives in Athens in terrific form, on the heels of her 200m victory at the Jamaican championships where she clocked 22.40. In the 100m, she’s clocked 11.04 this year.
She’ll face American Carmelita Jeter, who’s run 10.96 this year and most recently finished fourth in Rome in 11.01, and Bahamian Chandra Sturrup who was third in Rome in 10.99.
The men’s race has a strong tradition at the Tsiklitiria Meeting. On 16 June 1999, in this very same stadium, American Maurice Green became the world’s fastest man with his 9.79 Worl record. Six years later, on 14 June 2005, Asafa Powell covered the distance in 9.77, breaking the world record again.
This year four out of eight American trials finalists will reunite. US champion Michael Rodgers (9.94 this season) leads the field, and will face Shawn Crawford, Travis Padgett and Ivory Williams, the latter two fourth and seventh at the US championships. Also in the field is long jumper Dwight Phillips, who leaped 8.61m in Rome, who will be gunning for his 10.06 personal best.
Crawford (20.19 this season), who captured the Olympic 200m title here in 2004, will double back over the half lap where he’ll face former 100m World champion Kim Collins and Japan’s Shinji Takahira, who has run 20.22 this season.
Rounding out the sprints is the women’s 400m, topped by Jamaican Novlene Williams – Mills.
Galkina to chase her own steeplechase World record?
Olympic 3000m Steeplechase champion Gulnara Galkina arrives in Athens with her own World record of 8:58.81 on her mind. The Russian has won here three times already, with her 2004 victory a then-World record.
On Monday she’ll face Ethiopian Mekdes Bekele whose season’s best stands at 9:28.88, her compatriot Itaa Korahunish (9:29.52), and Portugese Jessica Augusto who ran the distance in 9:22.50 last year. More entrants of the race are Tunisia’s Habiba Ghribi (9.31.24 this year).
Kenya’s Ezekiel Kemboi, this year’s world leader with 7:58.85, tops the men’s field. The silver medallist in the last three global championships will face his compatriots Brimin Kipruto (8:06.46 ’09), Elijah Chelimo (8:10.63) and Mike Kipyego (8:13.11).
Ukhov, Williams and Ioannou top strong High Jump field
Six of the entrants in the men’s High Jump have leaps better than 2.30m this year. American Jesse Williams and Russia’s Ivan Ukhov have topped 2.34 this season, and will start as c0-favourites. Ukhov set an overall personal best of 2.40m in the indoor meeting “Athina 2009” last winter and besides his European gold he won last year in Torino, he has also demonstrated 26 competitions over 2.32m in his career!
The best all-time Cypriot athlete, Kyriakos Ioannou is increasingly improving his form, as on 1 July he won Mediterrannean Games gold in Pescara with a leap at 2.30m. Now he is preparing for Berlin where he wants to win “something better” - as he says - than the bronze medal he captured in Osaka two years ago.
Czech Jaroslav Baba, Swede Linus Thornblad and Ukraine’s Yuriy Krimarenko, all at 2.31m this season, will be strong opponents in this event. Greek Konstantinos Baniotis who set a personal best of 2.28m in Mediterranean Games to win the silver, is also in the field.
Russia’s Svetlana Shkolkina and Viktoryia Klyugina, Americans Chaunte Howard and Amy Acuff and Swede Emma Green are the main entrants in the women’s competition.
Russians Yuliya Golubchikova and Svetlana Feofanova are the big names in the women’s Pole Vault, where they will face 38-year-old American Stacy Dragila. In the absence of Yelena Isinbayeva, Golubchikova won the European indoor title last winter in Torino, while Feofanova was bronze medallist in Beijing. The two finished second and third in Rome, each clearing 4.70m. Greek eyes will be on Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou, the winner of the Mediterranean Games with 4.50m.
Fast hurdles races expected
Berlin-bound Americans David Payne (13.12) and Aries Merritt (13.15) are the favourites in the men’s 110m Hurdles, where they meet again with their compatriots Eric Mitchum (4th in US trials with 13.24), Joel Brown (13.37 this year) and Ryan Wilson (13.21).
World champion Kerron Clement and Rising Jamaican star Isa Phillips waged a good battle in Rome on Friday, with the American winning in 49.09 by just 0.02. The pair return to action on Monday. The field also includes the experienced Danny McFarlane of Jamaica, the silver medallist in Athens Olympic, and Athens Olympic winner Felix Sanchez. The local favourite will of course be 2006 European champion Periklis Iakovakis of Greece.
Kiprop and Jamal lead the middle distances
Bahrain’s Maryam Jamal is the big name in the women’s 1500m race. The reigning World champion’s appearance will be a follow-up to her 3:56.55 world leader in Rome. Morroco’s Siham Hilali and Mariem Selsouli, the Europeans Elisa Cusma from Italy, Lidia Chojecka from Poland, and Sonja Roman from Slovenia, as well as Americans Erin Donohue and Treniere Clement are Jamal’s main opponents.
Also following up on a Rome 1500m victory is Olympic silver medalist Asbel Kiprop, who’ll step down in distance to the 800m where he is the fastest man in the field at 1.43.17. His main opponents will be the Olympic silver medallist Ahmed Ismail (1:44.31 ’09), and Cuban Yeiman Lopez (1:44.10).
Elsewhere
Another world leader, Cuba’s Yargelis Savigne (14.97m) leads the field in the Triple Jump and Australian Fabrice Lapierre (8.35m), third in Rome on Friday, leads the men’s Long Jump where Greek Luis Tsatoumas (8.20m) will have home field advantage.
Olympic silver medallist and World leader (90.71m) Vadims Vasilevskis leads the field in the Javelin throw where his chief opposition will be German Mark Frank (83.86m) who finished third in Rome.
Finally, Bejing’s shot put bronze medallist Belarus’s Nadezhda Ostapchuk and the silver medallist of Athens’ Olympics Germany’s Nadine Kleinert are the favourites of the women’s shot put. Belarussian has thrown 19.88m this year, being slightly better than the German whose best throw has been at 19.80.
Michalis Nikitaridis for the IAAF
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