Panamanian sprinter Alonso Edward in the 200m (© Getty Images)
With no Justin Gatlin or Warren Weir, this will be seen as Alonso Edward’s race to lose, and the Panamanian has certainly had an impressive season, clocking a national 100m record and running two sub-20 200s. He also knows how to win, notching up seven victories out of 10 races.
But the Diamond Race winner will have to be at his best to beat the field’s other sub-20 man, Isaac Makwala, who has been breaking Botswanan records at all three sprint distances, including a 19.96 200m. Makwala, however, will have run in the 400m a day earlier.
Jamaican champion Rasheed Dwyer is tipped to add more points to the Americas’ tally while Christophe Lemaitre leads the European challenge in the absence of Adam Gemili. Femi Ogunode is the Asia-Pacific team’s main hope after twice breaking the Qatari record this year.
Hua Wilfried Koffi broke his national record twice in two days when winning the African Championships last month, and the Ivorian will be hoping for similar success on his return to Marrakech.
This will be a big test for Ogunode’s team-mate Masafumi Naoki of Japan, while Ukraine’s European bronze medallist Serhiy Smelyk will be looking for further improvement after lowering his personal best three times this year.
Matt Brown for the IAAF
