This could be one of the events of the championships. The decision by Allyson Felix to skip the 100m and concentrate on her title defence in the longer sprint is an indication of just how tough it will be to emulate Merlene Ottey and win two successive 200m golds.
Ottey took the title in 1993 and 1995, but in both cases only by the narrowest of margins. Felix tops the world for the event this year thanks to her 22.18 run in Carson, California, back on 20 May, and won the closely fought US trials race in June in 22.34.
Perhaps more signifcantly, she was just 0.01s slower at the rain-drenched Grand Prix meeting in Sheffield in mid-July when she beat the 2006 athlete of the year Sanya Richards, the world’s top 400m runner. Richards has said, emphatically, that she’s going to win the 200m here to make up for missing out on a shot at the one-lap crown.
Indeed, she and Felix have brewed up something of a rivalry over both distances this year. Richards’ quickest 200m, 22.43, came when losing to Felix at the US championships, placing her eighth in the world, but she was just a hundredth slower when Felix pipped her to the line in Sheffield.
She also clocked an impressive 100m personal best 11.05 in Stockholm, so clearly has the speed to rival the sprint specialists. Felix, on the other hand, has been building her stamina, running five 400m races since April, including a career best of 49.70 to beat Richards by 0.02s at that same Stockholm meeting.
But it won’t all be about the two Americans. Olympic champion Veronica Campbell, fresh from her 100m triumph here on Monday, will be aiming to become the third woman to win the sprint double following Silke Gladisch in 1987 and Katrin Krabbe in 1991.
The 25-year-old clocked 22.39 at the Jamaican championships, placing her fifth on the world lists. She was third behind Felix and Richards in Sheffield but looked an impressive winner at the London Grand Prix at the beginning of August.
Others to watch out for include Torri Edwards, third in the US trials, and a disappointing fourth in the 100m final after she had looked favourite for gold.
Apart form Americans and Jamaicans, there’s the French pair Muriel Hurtis-Houairi and Christine Arron. Hurtis-Houairi ran the world’s fourth quickest time of the year at her national championships while Arron is clearly in form judging by her sixth place in the 100m.
And don’t discount the European champion Kim Gevaert from Belgium, who narrowly missed a medal in the 100m and has dipped under 23 seconds three times this year.
Osaka 2007 News Team/mkb
