Teddy Tamgho debuts with a solid 17.49m leap to win in Doha (© Jiro Mochizuki)
World indoor Record holder Teddy Tamgho, the exciting young triple jumper who lit up Icahn Stadium last year with one of the best jumps in history, is returning to the adidas Grand Prix on Saturday (11), the sixth stop in the Samsung Diamond League series. His late-breaking addition to the field means the crowd will be treated to a rematch of the top three jumpers here last year: Tamgho, Phillips Idowu and Christian Olsson. Among them, they have won six World Championship titles.
Fans will also be treated to what is shaping up as the top 100m race in the world so far this season, with new Jamaican sprint star Steve Mullings challenging American Tyson Gay. Mullings’ victory at Prefontaine last weekend in 9.80 seconds was a sizzling personal best for the 2009 World Championships 4x100-meter relay gold medallist, and sets up a duel for supremacy with Gay, who recorded a world-leading 9.79 on the same day. They hold the two fastest times in the world for 2011.
Among those looking to upset the duo of Gay and Mullings are Jamaica’s Nickel Ashmeade, who owns the fastest 200m time in the world so far this year; American Mike Rodgers, the 2010 World indoor silver medalist at 60m who clocked 9.85 in the Eugene race finishing second; and 2008 Olympic relay gold medallists Michael Frater and Nesta Carter of Jamaica. Carter and Gay both ran 9.78 in 2010, sharing the top spot on the world list.
But the sprint matchups don’t end with the men. In the women’s 200m, three-time World Champion Allyson Felix of the U.S. will face 100-meter Olympic gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica. They have plenty of strong competition in American Carmelita Jeter, whose blazing time of 10.70 last weekend is among the top 10 fastest in history. In the women’s 100m Hurdles it’s another USA-Jamaica rivalry, with reigning World Champion Brigitte Foster-Hylton of Jamaica meeting two-time World Indoor 60m champion Lolo Jones and 2011 world leader Kellie Wells.
With a victory last weekend, Jamaica’s Kenia Sinclair solidified her spot as the world’s top 800m runner so far this year. Here, she will step up to the 1500m, meeting Americans Anna Pierce, Morgan Uceny and Shannon Rowbury. Also coming off a big win in Eugene is Abubaker Kaki of Sudan, who brings a world-leading time of 1:43.48 to the men’s 800m against reigning World champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi and Khadevis Robinson, the American veteran who staged an upset victory over a top field in Rome late last month.
Posting her own world-leading mark on Sunday was 2010 World Athlete of the Year Blanka Vlašic of Croatia, with her high jump of 1.97m in Rabat. Vlašic, the second-highest jumper in history, will be making her U.S. debut in New York.
Not least are Bernard Lagat and Lukas Verzbicas, both coming off 2-Mile triumphs at Prefontaine. Lagat ran a smart strategic race to defeat a world class field in 8:13.62, while Verzbicas broke the national high school record with his 8:29.46 performance. Verzbicas, considered one of the best high school athletes in history, will be headlining the adidas Boys’ High School Dream Mile in New York, going head-to-head with New Jersey’s Edward Cheserek, a local favorite and one of the few athletes to challenge Verzbicas in the past year.
Samsung Diamond League
