Francis Obikwelu wins the 100m in Salamanca (© Álvaro Hernández Rivero)
A 100m battle involving a slew of sprinters capable of breaking the 10.00 sec barrier will attract much of the interest at the ‘6th Gran Premio Gobierno de Aragón’ to be held tomorrow (18 July).
This Gran Premio Gobierno de Aragón is one of a select group of Area meetings at which points can be acquired by athletes to qualify for the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final, to be held on 12-13 September in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Phillips, Obikwelu, Mullings…
The top names in tomorrow’s standout event will be Portugal’s reigning European champion and record holder Francis Obikwelu, USA’s former World and Olympic Long Jump gold medallist Dwight Phillips and the in-form Jamaican Steve Mullings.
Obikwelu set a SB of 10.10 last 8 July in Salamanca and might well take advantage of the usual tailwind over the Zaragoza track to dip under the 10s barrier but that target will also be shared by Mullings, fresh from a career best of 10.01 at the Golden League meeting in Rome a week ago. The 26-year-old Jamaican failed to make the national team for the Berlin Worlds in the 100m as he had to settle for fifth but he at least secured a berth in the 200m event by taking second in Kingston. As recently as last Wednesday, Mullings took second in Luzern with a 10.16 clocking.
The 31-year-old Phillips cruised to a 100m PB of 10.06 back in May, a speed which led him to set a career best of 8.74m one month later in Eugene at his specialist event, the Long Jump, beating reigning World and Olympic champion Irving Saladino in the process. Phillips also took top spot ahead the Panamanian in Rome (10 July) with a 8.61 leap and should be eager to match his 2005 60m indoor performance on the Spanish soil of Madrid when he recorded a remarkable 6.47 for the distance.
Bahamas’ reigning World silver medallist Derrick Adkins should also be a factor; the 25-year-old comfortably grabbed the national title with a 10.25 performance in Nassau in late June and holds a season’s best of 10.17 while Panama’s Alonso Edwards, USA’s Leroy Dixon and Qatar’s Samuel Francis complete a classy line-up.
López to rule the 800m
Cuba’s Yeimer López heads the cast in the men’s 800m. The 26-year-old Beijing Olympics’ sixth placed doesn’t seem to be in the same kind of form than last year when he posted a huge PB of 1:43.07 in the Spanish soil of Jerez. Yet, the former 400m specialist (PB of 45.11) snatched the Caribbean title earlier in July and is now fresh from a 1:44.76 fourth place in Athens last Monday while his SB remains at 1:44.10 in Havana back on 30 May.
López’s stiffest opposition should come from Dmitrijs Milkevics, who had placed fourth at the last two World indoor championships. The 27-year-old Latvian managed a SB of 1:45.00 in Athens to take fifth immediately behind Lopez. The Spanish contingent will be led by Manuel Olmedo, who beat the in-form Olympic silver medallist Ahmed Ismail in Madrid (1:45.91/1:46.08), reigning European indoor silver medallist Luis Alberto Marco and Eugenio Barrios, a 1:44.84 PB athlete.
Elsewhere…
Top Spaniards such as European 5000m champion Jesús España in the men’s 3000, reigning World 800m bronze medallist Mayte Martínez – looking for her first below 2:00 clocking this season - and European indoor silver medallist Ruth Beitia in the women’s High Jump should provide the home crowd something to cheer about as they all will kick off their respective events as hot favourites.
Emeterio Valiente for the IAAF
