Jeremy Wariner powers to the finish in Berlin in 2007 (© Getty Images)
Olympic and World 400m champion Jeremy Wariner will contest his first-ever 300m race at the Golden Spike – IAAF World Athletics Tour – in Ostrava on 12 June.
“I’m ready to run a great time,” the two-time World champion said. In the back of his mind is the difficult World best of 30.85 set Wariner’s mentor and manager, Michael Johnson, at altitude in Pretoria in 2000.
This is a great way to see where I'm at right before the US Trials. As for the record, Michael ran a really fast time so I'm just trying to go out there and run fast and do the best I can."
The low altitude World best is 31.31 by LaShawn Merritt in Eugene in 2006. Wariner’s 300m intermediate time at the World Championships in Osaka was 31.58, indicating that a sub-31 second performance is well within his reach.
After 400m races at the ÅF Golden League meetings in Berlin and Oslo, Ostrava’s Golden Spike will be Wariner’s final appearance prior to the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Organisers also announced that World indoor 60m Hurdles champion Lolo Jones of the US has been confirmed for the meeting. Her target will be the long-standing meet record of 12.65 in the 100m Hurdles set by Poland’s Grazyna Rabsztyn in 1980. The mark was tied by Jamaican Brigitte Foster in 2003.
Alfons Juck and Bob Ramsak for the IAAF