Olympic Champion Melaine Walker adds the World Championships title to her collection with the 400m Hurdles Championship Record and the second quickest time in history of 52.42 seconds (© Getty Images)
Twentyone medallists, including eight recently minted World champions, will converge on the Croatian capital at the Zagreb 2009 meeting on Monday (31).
The Zagreb 2009 is a Grand Prix status meeting as part of the IAAF World Athletics Tour 2009.
The centre of attention will be national heroine Blanka Vlasic, who defended her World High Jump title in the one of the most dramatic competitions of the Berlin World Championships. She’ll face silver medallist Anna Chicherova of Russia.
The most recent additions to the field include Ryan Brathwaite of Barbados, the winner of the 110m Hurdles in Berlin. In Zagreb he’ll face a strong field in the meet’s signature event which will include American David Oliver who is on the comeback from injury.
All three Berlin medallists from the men’s Hammer Throw will reunite in Zagreb – winner and Olympic champion Primoz Kozmus of Slovenia, Poland’s Szymon Ziolikowski, and Alexey Zagorny of Russia, the Berlin bronze medallist.
Steve Mullins and Michael Frater, members of Jamaica’s victorious 4x100m Relay quartet, will square off in the 100m. They’ll be joined by Richard Thompson, the Olympic silver medallist in the event who finished fifth in Berlin. Thompson also took silver in the 4x100m Relay where he and three compatriots lowered the Trinidad & Tobago national record to 37.62.
Previously announced were Melaine Walker of Jamaica and Cuban Yargelis Savigne. Walker sped to a 52.42 victory in the 400m Hurdles in Berlin to become the second fastest ever in the event. In Zagreb, she'll again face American Lashinda Demus, who took silver in Berlin. Savigne was equally dominant in the Triple Jump, winning the event by 34cm with a 14.95m leap to successfully defend her title.
Also joining the field is two-time Olympic 200m champion Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica. The Jamaican took silver in the 200m in Berlin and finished fourth in 100.
Off the track, organisers will be staging a street competition in Zagreb’s main square, Ban Jelacic, as a lead-in event on Saturday, 29 August. It will begin with a Shot Put competition featuring some of the world’s best junior shot putters, followed by another competition featuring Croatian public figures. There will also be an athletics playgroup with numerous prizes staged for children.
“I expect that a few stars of the meeting will come directly from the airport to say hello to Zagreb's citizens,” said meeting director Ivana Brkljacic.
Spectators at the meeting will also be able to participate in a contest in which the grand prize is round trip airfare and accommodation for four nights in Barcelona for the 2010 European Athletics Championships.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
The Zagreb 2009 is a Grand Prix status meeting as part of the IAAF World Athletics Tour 2009.
The centre of attention will be national heroine Blanka Vlasic, who defended her World High Jump title in the one of the most dramatic competitions of the Berlin World Championships. She’ll face silver medallist Anna Chicherova of Russia.
The most recent additions to the field include Ryan Brathwaite of Barbados, the winner of the 110m Hurdles in Berlin. In Zagreb he’ll face a strong field in the meet’s signature event which will include American David Oliver who is on the comeback from injury.
All three Berlin medallists from the men’s Hammer Throw will reunite in Zagreb – winner and Olympic champion Primoz Kozmus of Slovenia, Poland’s Szymon Ziolikowski, and Alexey Zagorny of Russia, the Berlin bronze medallist.
Steve Mullins and Michael Frater, members of Jamaica’s victorious 4x100m Relay quartet, will square off in the 100m. They’ll be joined by Richard Thompson, the Olympic silver medallist in the event who finished fifth in Berlin. Thompson also took silver in the 4x100m Relay where he and three compatriots lowered the Trinidad & Tobago national record to 37.62.
Previously announced were Melaine Walker of Jamaica and Cuban Yargelis Savigne. Walker sped to a 52.42 victory in the 400m Hurdles in Berlin to become the second fastest ever in the event. In Zagreb, she'll again face American Lashinda Demus, who took silver in Berlin. Savigne was equally dominant in the Triple Jump, winning the event by 34cm with a 14.95m leap to successfully defend her title.
Also joining the field is two-time Olympic 200m champion Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica. The Jamaican took silver in the 200m in Berlin and finished fourth in 100.
Off the track, organisers will be staging a street competition in Zagreb’s main square, Ban Jelacic, as a lead-in event on Saturday, 29 August. It will begin with a Shot Put competition featuring some of the world’s best junior shot putters, followed by another competition featuring Croatian public figures. There will also be an athletics playgroup with numerous prizes staged for children.
“I expect that a few stars of the meeting will come directly from the airport to say hello to Zagreb's citizens,” said meeting director Ivana Brkljacic.
Spectators at the meeting will also be able to participate in a contest in which the grand prize is round trip airfare and accommodation for four nights in Barcelona for the 2010 European Athletics Championships.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
