Golden Bolt set for Zurich challenge

[shahul]

ZURICH — Treble Olympic sprint king Usain Bolt will headline a starry cast at Friday’s Golden League meeting that brings together more than 50 finalists from the recently-finished Beijing Games.

Bolt will race against six sprinters from the 100m he won in a world record of 9.69 seconds. The only sprinter missing will be compatriot Asafa Powell, his place taken by US 200m silver medallist Shawn Crawford.

Lining up to run against the 22-year-old Jamaican will be silver medallist Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago, double sprint bronze medallist Walter Dix, as well as fellow Beijing finalists Churandy Martina of the Dutch Antilles, Jamaican Michael Frater, Trinidad’s Marc Burns and American Darvis Patton.

Derrick Atkins of the Bahamas will also take part in what should be a humdinger of a race as Bolt bids to seal his reputation as the world’s out-and-out sprinting master.

Athletes competing at the Weltklasse at the sold-out 26,000-capacity Letzigrund Stadium will be arriving from Beijing with 41 Olympic medals - among them 14 gold medals - in their luggage.

In addition, 16 relay medallists and more than 50 Olympic finalists will be present, including four world record holders - Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, Bolt (100m, 200m), Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele (5000m, 10,000m), and Cuban 110m hurdler Dayron Robles.

The Olympic champions are the Kenyan duo of Pamela Jelimo (800m) and Nancy Lagat (1500m), Americans Dawn Harper (100m hurdles), Angelo Taylor (400m H) and Lashawn Merritt (400m), Belgian high jumper Tia Hellebaut, Norwegian javelin thrower Andreas Thorkildsen and Bahrain’s Rashid Ramzi (1500m).

The Weltklasse will offer a chance of revenge for Blanka Vlasic over Hellebaut, especially as the Croatian is one of just two remaining contenders for the one-million-dollar Golden League Jackpot.

The other contender is Jelimo, who won in the Chinese capital in 1:54.87, a world junior record and the first ever Olympic gold medal performance by a Kenyan woman.

She will face some tough opposition in the 800m in Zurich, however, from a high-quality field that includes Bahrain’s Maryam Jamal, Kenyan Janeth Busienei Jepkosgei, Mozambique veteran Maria Mutola and Olympic 1500m champion Nancy Lagat.

In the men’s 400m, newly-crowned Olympic champion Merritt will be up against his predecessor Jeremy Wariner.

Even though they were successful in their relays, both Allyson Felix (200m) and Sanya Richards (400m) will be out to record wins after failing in their individual events in Beijing.

The women’s 100m hurdles will see LoLo Jones and Susanna Kallur - two disappointed Olympic favourites - clashing with seven of the eight Olympic finalists, among them the three medal winners.

Jones clipped the final hurdle in the race, falling from the lead to finish seventh.

“It was not the first painful clash with a hurdle in my career,” said the American. “But to trip at the ninth hurdle in the Olympic final broke my heart rather than any bones. “I am trying to adopt a positive attitude: I learnt a lot in Beijing. But I also ran three personal bests during this season, and there are still several major competitions left.

"I do not have to prove anything. After all, I am still the fastest high hurdler this year.” There will also be a chance for fans to watch a 4x100m relay race that will pitch Jamaica against the United States, whose much-lauded team failed to qualify for the Olympic final after dropping the baton in qualifying.