World’s best runners set for Osaka showdown
Aug 20, 2007
A year out from an Olympics and major sporting events take on added significance, and none more so than the World Athletics Championships starting here this week.
OSAKA
A year out from an Olympics and major sporting events take on added significance, and none more so than the World Athletics Championships starting here this week.
Everyone who is anyone is in Japan for the final major athletics meet before the Beijing Games, with competitors using it as a crucial stepping stone to the ultimate goal in China next year.
One of the biggest names at the August 25-September 2 spectacle will be China’s Liu Xiang, who carries the expectations of 1.3 billion people on his shoulders in the lead-up to the Olympics.
His brilliant 12.88sec world record in the 110m hurdles a year ago still stands and he will be hot favourite to add gold to the bronze and silver he won in 2003 and 2005 respectively.
“I am confident about my chances at the world championships,†said the Shanghai-based star.
“I really want to see what winning the gold feels like this time.â€
Four-time champion Allen Johnson of the United States is not taking part, leaving Cuba’s Dayron Robles and US star Terrence Trammell to breathe down Liu’s neck.
In the men’s 100m, US sensation Tyson Gay will be up against world record holder Asafa Powell, whose 9.77sec mark could fall to the fastest man on the planet so far this year.
Powell withdrew from the Paris leg of the Golden League series with a groin injury but made a winning return in Rome last month to set up a hotly-anticipated race here.
Kenenisa Bekele is another runner in form, erasing any doubts ahead of the world championships with a personal best 3,000m win at the rain-lashed British Grand Prix last month.
The Ethiopian, who already has Haile Gebrselassie’s 5,000m and 10,000m records in the bag, can now take another step towards the Emperor’s 1993-1999 haul of four successive 10,000m world titles.
“It would be an honour to emulate Haile in that regard,†he said.
Benjamin Limo defends his 5,000m title after being granted a special entry after sitting out of the Kenyan trials last month.
He joins 2003 champion Eliud Kipchoge, Joseph Ebuya and the winner of the national trials Isaac Kiprono Songok in a strong Kenyan line-up for the race.
Olympic and world 400m champion Jeremy Wariner believes he is on the right track to break Michael Johnson’s eight-year-old 43.18s world record in Osaka.
“There’s a chance. The track is real fast,†said the 23-year-old Texan. “I am not going to force it, I’ll just go out there and run my race.â€
However some key names are missing, including double world 3,000m steeplechase champion Saif Saaeed Shaheen who has a knee injury, and women’s champion Dorcus Inzikuru from Uganda.
Another name out is Italy’s Olympic marathon champion Stefano Baldini, who says he wants to save himself for Beijing.
Japanese hopes rest with Olympic hammer champion Koji Murofushi, who appears invincible and clinched a record 13th straight national title last month.
Among the women, Sweden’s Olympic and world heptathlon gold medallist Carolina Kluft, unbeaten since 2000, is looking for a third straight title in the seven-sport spectacle.
But there will be no Yolanda Ceplak, the women’s world indoor 800m record holder, who tested positive for banned blood booster EPO in June.
World record hammer thrower Tatiana Lysenko is also missing, having been suspended by the Russian athletics federation.
A year out from an Olympics and major sporting events take on added significance, and none more so than the World Athletics Championships starting here this week.
Everyone who is anyone is in Japan for the final major athletics meet before the Beijing Games, with competitors using it as a crucial stepping stone to the ultimate goal in China next year.
One of the biggest names at the August 25-September 2 spectacle will be China’s Liu Xiang, who carries the expectations of 1.3 billion people on his shoulders in the lead-up to the Olympics.
His brilliant 12.88sec world record in the 110m hurdles a year ago still stands and he will be hot favourite to add gold to the bronze and silver he won in 2003 and 2005 respectively.
“I am confident about my chances at the world championships,†said the Shanghai-based star.
“I really want to see what winning the gold feels like this time.â€
Four-time champion Allen Johnson of the United States is not taking part, leaving Cuba’s Dayron Robles and US star Terrence Trammell to breathe down Liu’s neck.
In the men’s 100m, US sensation Tyson Gay will be up against world record holder Asafa Powell, whose 9.77sec mark could fall to the fastest man on the planet so far this year.
Powell withdrew from the Paris leg of the Golden League series with a groin injury but made a winning return in Rome last month to set up a hotly-anticipated race here.
Kenenisa Bekele is another runner in form, erasing any doubts ahead of the world championships with a personal best 3,000m win at the rain-lashed British Grand Prix last month.
The Ethiopian, who already has Haile Gebrselassie’s 5,000m and 10,000m records in the bag, can now take another step towards the Emperor’s 1993-1999 haul of four successive 10,000m world titles.
“It would be an honour to emulate Haile in that regard,†he said.
Benjamin Limo defends his 5,000m title after being granted a special entry after sitting out of the Kenyan trials last month.
He joins 2003 champion Eliud Kipchoge, Joseph Ebuya and the winner of the national trials Isaac Kiprono Songok in a strong Kenyan line-up for the race.
Olympic and world 400m champion Jeremy Wariner believes he is on the right track to break Michael Johnson’s eight-year-old 43.18s world record in Osaka.
“There’s a chance. The track is real fast,†said the 23-year-old Texan. “I am not going to force it, I’ll just go out there and run my race.â€
However some key names are missing, including double world 3,000m steeplechase champion Saif Saaeed Shaheen who has a knee injury, and women’s champion Dorcus Inzikuru from Uganda.
Another name out is Italy’s Olympic marathon champion Stefano Baldini, who says he wants to save himself for Beijing.
Japanese hopes rest with Olympic hammer champion Koji Murofushi, who appears invincible and clinched a record 13th straight national title last month.
Among the women, Sweden’s Olympic and world heptathlon gold medallist Carolina Kluft, unbeaten since 2000, is looking for a third straight title in the seven-sport spectacle.
But there will be no Yolanda Ceplak, the women’s world indoor 800m record holder, who tested positive for banned blood booster EPO in June.
World record hammer thrower Tatiana Lysenko is also missing, having been suspended by the Russian athletics federation.