Angelo Taylor leads a US sweep in the 400m hurdles (© Getty Images)
Lausanne, SwitzerlandFour more Beijing Olympic champions have confirmed their participation for next month’s edition of the Athletissima in Lausanne on 7 July.
The Athletissima is a Super Grand Prix status meeting as part of the IAAF World Athletics Tour 2009.
the organizers are pleased to welcome four additional Olympic champions who have confirmed their participation at the Pontaise Stadium in Lausanne on July 7.
Americans Angelo Taylor and Dawn Harper, Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser and Nancy Lagat will all be lining up for the meeting’s 34th edition at Pontaise Stadium. Triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt, 110m Hurdles winner Dayron Robles, long jumper Irving Saladino, pole vaulter Steve Hooker and javelin thrower Barbora Spotakova have previously been announced.
With Taylor, who won his second Olympic crown in the 400m Hurdles in Beijing, joining the field, the men’s race will feature the top three finishers from last year’s Olympic final. Kerron Clement, who is also the reigning World champion, and Beijing bronze medallist and 2005 World champion Bershawn Jackson, the level of the 400m Hurdles race will be exceptionally high.
In the women’ races, the Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser will faceher compatriot Kerron Stewart, a silver medallist in Beijing. In the Chinese capital, Fraser ran 10.78 and also won the 100m in Lausanne 10 days later.
In the 100m hurdles, Harper will run against Sally McLellan of Australia, the runner-up in Beijing. McLellan’s ran her personal best last year in Monaco, where she clocked 12.53, a scant 0.01 seconds faster than the American when she took the Olympic gold.
Last but not least, Nancy Lagat will face Maryam Jamal in the 1500m. Jamal, who knows this track very well as she trains there often, hopes to clock a very time time in her build up to the World championships. The winner in 2005, 2007 and 2008, she will be aiming for the stadium record of 3:58.60 set in 2006.
Pierre-Andre Pasche for the IAAF
The Athletissima is a Super Grand Prix status meeting as part of the IAAF World Athletics Tour 2009.
the organizers are pleased to welcome four additional Olympic champions who have confirmed their participation at the Pontaise Stadium in Lausanne on July 7.
Americans Angelo Taylor and Dawn Harper, Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser and Nancy Lagat will all be lining up for the meeting’s 34th edition at Pontaise Stadium. Triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt, 110m Hurdles winner Dayron Robles, long jumper Irving Saladino, pole vaulter Steve Hooker and javelin thrower Barbora Spotakova have previously been announced.
With Taylor, who won his second Olympic crown in the 400m Hurdles in Beijing, joining the field, the men’s race will feature the top three finishers from last year’s Olympic final. Kerron Clement, who is also the reigning World champion, and Beijing bronze medallist and 2005 World champion Bershawn Jackson, the level of the 400m Hurdles race will be exceptionally high.
In the women’ races, the Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser will faceher compatriot Kerron Stewart, a silver medallist in Beijing. In the Chinese capital, Fraser ran 10.78 and also won the 100m in Lausanne 10 days later.
In the 100m hurdles, Harper will run against Sally McLellan of Australia, the runner-up in Beijing. McLellan’s ran her personal best last year in Monaco, where she clocked 12.53, a scant 0.01 seconds faster than the American when she took the Olympic gold.
Last but not least, Nancy Lagat will face Maryam Jamal in the 1500m. Jamal, who knows this track very well as she trains there often, hopes to clock a very time time in her build up to the World championships. The winner in 2005, 2007 and 2008, she will be aiming for the stadium record of 3:58.60 set in 2006.
Pierre-Andre Pasche for the IAAF
