Dayron Robles blasts 13.05 in Linz (© Photo Plohe)
The fifth edition of the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final takes place in Stuttgart, Germany, on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 September. We continue our event category previews with the HURDLES.
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The entry list of the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final (WAF) is decided according to the World Athletics Tour (WAT) Standings. The top 7 athletes with the greatest number of points from their five best results (4 for throws) will qualify for each event of the WAF. For races of 1500m and over, 11 athletes will be qualified. The IAAF reserves the right to invite a maximum of 1 wild-card Athlete per event.
It is a condition that athletes have scored points in at least 3 meetings, and in case of a tie the athlete with best seasonal best qualify for the Final. There have also been a number of Area Permit Meetings at which points could be scored for the World Athletics Final.
After the last qualifying meeting, the IAAF Golden League meeting in Berlin (Sunday 16 September), the process began to contact all the athletes concerned to ascertain that they are fit and willing to compete. Not until those answers are received, wild card entries are decided, and the usual technical meeting is held on the day before the World Athletics Final, can the final start list be made available. Consequently, our previews are as accurate as possible before that time.
Click here for the final World Athletics Tour Standings 2007
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Men
110m Hurdles
There’s no denying that the athlete with the finest late summer momentum is Cuban star Dayron Robles. Since his fourth place finish in Osaka, the 20-year-old Pan-American Games champion has been unbeaten in four races, taking contests in Zurich, Linz, Brussels and Dubnica. Particularly impressive was his 13.05 run in Linz, his season’s best, considering the wet, windy and chilly conditions.
Robles has fond memories of Stuttgart, where last year he produced a 13.00 Central American and Caribbean record in a sensational duel with World record holder Liu Xiang, who won in 12.93. The Chinese star, preparing for the upcoming Shanghai Grand Prix in his hometown, most likely won’t be in Stuttgart to defend his title, but his absence won’t preclude yet another showdown to savour in Stuttgart.
The field will likely include a quartet of powerful Americans, including Osaka silver medallist and U.S. champion Terrence Trammell, who has twice - 12.95 and 12.99 - dipped under 13 seconds this season. David “off the plane” Payne took a surprise bronze in Osaka with a career best 13.02 just a few days after being told he was on the U.S. team. Anwar Moore, who was fifth in the grueling U.S. trials, has been a scrappy competitor all summer, winning at Rome’s Golden Gala and collecting runner-up finishes in quick races in Paris, Lausanne and Brussels. In the meantime, 36-year-old Allen Johnson remains a solid force, shown with his victory in Berlin last weekend. It should be noted that last year, Johnson saved his best for last when he took the IAAF World Cup title in a blistering 12.96 at age 35.
400m Hurdles
The full-lap hurdles features one of several podium rematches from Osaka. In Japan, Kerron Clement came through on the promise he’s displayed for the past few seasons with a dominating 47.61 performance to take the World title. He won by more than half a second over Felix Sanchez, the two-time World champion whose boasts that he’d be ready in Osaka certainly held true. Clement’s time in Osaka was the fastest of the season, and the American, still just 21, has produced two of the season’s three sub-48 clockings. Notable too was that his race at Nagai stadium was his only victory of the year.
Despite yet again finishing out of the medals at a major competition, James Carter has produced the most solid all around record on the World Athletics Tour. The U.S. champion collected wins in New York, Paris and Lausanne, and more often than not, has remained in the hunt over the tenth barrier.
Poland’s Marek Plawgo took a somewhat unexpected bronze in Osaka, and recently followed up with a nail-biter of a win in Berlin. His 48.12 national record in Osaka has only been bettered by four men this season, clearly leaving the 26-year-old in the hunt for victory.
Although he exited early from Osaka, South African LJ van Zyl, second in Stuttgart last year, has had his moments on the Tour, including a 48.24 victory over a strong field in Rome. Angelo Taylor, the 2000 Olympic champion, put his summer focus on the flat 400, and was rewarded with a bronze medal in Osaka. Should he choose to double in Stuttgart, he’ll certainly be a viable threat.
Women
100m Hurdles
When the Golden League series took a break prior to Osaka, Michelle Perry appeared to be in the event’s driver’s seat. With three victories in the GL meetings, including a world-pacing 12.44 in Rome, she arrived in Osaka as a solid favourite to defend her World title. She succeeded at Nagai stadium but since the momentum has shifted dramatically.
Swede Susanna Kallur, fourth in Osaka, has been on fire since, taking victories in Zurich, Brussels and Berlin, the latter quite decisively with a career best 12.49, nearly 0.2 seconds clear of Perry. “The rhythm is perfect for me right now,” Kallur said in Berlin. “I’ll just try to stick to the rhythm I’ve found in these last few days.”
Perry is the defending WAF champion, with Kallur finishing fourth a year ago. Third last year was Canadian Perdita Felicien, who this year has been enjoying her finest season since 2003 when she took the World title in Paris. She took the silver in Osaka, and is expected to be in the hunt here as well. Delloreen Ennis-London, third in Osaka with a PB 12.50, could be a threat along with American Lolo Jones, sixth in Osaka, who generally finds herself in the thick of things at the line.
400m Hurdles
Jana Rawlinson’s return from maternity leave has certainly been an unabashed success. In eight competitions over the barriers race, she’s lost only once, and in Osaka regained the World title she won in Paris four years ago. Her 53.31 in Osaka was a season’s best for the 24-year-old Australian, which followed up solid victories in Rome, Sheffield and Monaco.
Poland’s Anna Jesien, third in Osaka, ran a 53.86 national record in the semi-finals, has competed consistently on the Tour, and post-Osaka collected victories in both Rieti and Rovereto, suggesting she’ll be sharp in Stuttgart where she finished fourth last year.
Others in the mix include Jamaican champion Melaine Walker, who despite missing the Osaka final, has an impressive streak of top-three finishes, and a season’s best of 54.14 from her victory at the Prefontaine Classic in June. World leader Tiffany Williams (53.28) wasn’t at her best in Osaka, where she finished a distant seventh, and in Stuttgart will be looking to regain the form that carried her to several impressive early-season victories.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF