Olympic 100m champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser (© Getty Images)
Ten Olympic medallists from Beijing including two individual gold medal winners, along with two potentially great competitions in the Triple Jump and Shot Put will highlight the Palio della Quercia EAA Permit meeting in Rovereto, which is the oldest Italian one-day meeting.
Rovereto which celebrates its 44th edition on Wednesday 10 September has attracted two individual Beijing gold medallists Valerie Vili from New Zealand (women’s shot put), Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser (100 metres), and two relay champions, Michael Frater (4x100 relay) and Yevgeniya Polyakova (women’s 4x100).
The Palio della Quercia in Rovereto is the last meeting of a select group of Area fixtures at which points can be acquired by athletes to qualify for the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final, to be held on 13-14 September in Stuttgart, Germany.
Fraser has assumed the mantle of Olympic champion with assurance
Shelly-Ann Fraser comes to Rovereto as Olympic women’s 100m champion having led home an historic Jamaican medal sweep in Beijing when equalling the fastest time in the world this year (10.78). Fraser has since run a solid campaign in the european circuit second in gateshad and winning in Lausanne and Rieti. The Jamaican should be the outstanding favourite against Yevgeniya Polyakova and British record holder Montell Douglas (11.05).
But the main interest in the 100m for the Italian crowd will be focused on Vincenza Calì who dipped under the 23 seconds barrier for 200m last weekend in Rieti with 22.98, the third fastest time in history in Italy.
Lebedeva vs Devetzi
The most exciting competition of the Palio della Quercia should be the women’s Triple Jump which features 2008 Long and Triple Jump olympic silver medallist Tatyana Lebedeva from Russia and Olympic bronze medallist Hrysopiyi Devetzi from Greece.
Lebedeva won last year in Rovereto setting the meeting record with a leap to 14.97m and comes to Rovereto in good shape after her win in Rieti with 14.94.
Rovereto has also attracted some other stars of the fabulous Olympic final of Beijing where 15.03 was not enough to finish better than sixth. The field line-up also features olympic fourth placer and asian record holder Olga Rypakova from Kazakhistan (15.11), World indoor bronze medallist and Olympic sixth placer Maria Sestak from Slovenia, Viktoriya Gurova from Russia (seventh), Olga Saladukha (ninth) plus Olympic Long Jump sixth placer Oksana Udmurtova who beat Lebedeva in Padua in the Triple Jump.
Vili, the outstanding favourite
Valerie Vili, who has won everything an athlete can dream of by taking Olympic, World outdoor and indoor titles plus World junior and youth gold medals during her still young career, will face Olympic silver medallist Nataliya Miknevich from Belarus in a re-match of the Olympic final. Also in the field there are Olympic fourth placer Misleydis Gonzales and Italian record holder Chiara Rosa, 13th in Beijing.
The women’s middle distance running races will be also in the spotlight. Olympic and World fourth placer Sylvia Kibet from Kenya starts as favourite against a good-quality 1500m field. The top European entered is World junior 1500m champion Stephanie Twell from Great Britain.
Italian Elisa Cusma, World indoor finalist in Valencia in the women’s 800 metres and Olympic semifinalist, will be looking to score a second consecutive win over the two laps in Rovereto. Cusma, who is currently seventh in the World Athletics Tour ranking after her fourth place in Brussels, should take part in this weekend’s World Athletics Final in Stuttgart. In Rovereto Cusma will battle against former world junior 400m Hurdles champion Yekaterina Kostevskaya from Russia, who ran 1:56.67 and Britain’s Jennifer Meadows.
Nick Symmonds, one of the best US 800 metres hopes with a 1:44.10 PB, will be pursuing a fast two-lap men’s race against Briton Michael Rimmer (PB 1:44.68) and Dutch Robert Lathouwers (PB 1:44.75) and Kenyans Ismael Kombich and Justus Koech. The most cheered athlete of the evening will be local favourite Christian Obrist, a surprising finalist in the Olympic Games in Beijing in the 1500 metres.
The men’s 5000 metres which features 13:04.06 Monder Rizki from Belgium, Kipruto Sylas (13:02.86) and James Qwalia from Qatar (13:04.70) is expected to be a fast race.
Michael Frater, a member of the formidable Jamaican 4x100 relay team who broke the World record with 37.10 in Beijing, will face former World junior champion Harry Aikinees Aryetey from Great Britain and USA’s Michael Rodgers.
The men’s Triple Jump promises a high-quality competition with Olympic bronze medallist Leevan Sands up against last year’s World silver medallist Jadel Gregorio from Brasil who made up somewhat for his sixth place in Beijing with a notable win in Lausanne last week with 17.30.
Another 2008 Olympic medallist expected to compete in the Palio della Quercia is Pole Vault bronze medallist Denys Yurchenko from the Ukraine who will be challenged by compatriot Maksim Mazuryk and US veteran Jeff Hartwig.
Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF
