Asafa Powell beats Tyson Gay in the 100m with a time of 9.90 (© Getty Images)
Fulfilling the promise he made last year, Asafa Powell will return to the track where he set one of his four 100m World records, one of the highlights of Sunday’s (6) Rieti Grand Prix.
The Rieti Grand Prix is an IAAF Grand Prix status meeting as part of the IAAF World Athletics Tour 2009.
Powell, the World bronze medallist in 2007 and 2009 and World and Olympic gold medallist in the 4x100 relay, considers Rieti’s Raul Guidobaldi Stadium as his “home track”. Although his World record is now history due to the fabulous achievements of his compatriot Usain Bolt in Beijing and Berlin, Powell’s 9.74 dash in 2007 in the small central Italian town will remain in the memory of Italian fans for a very long time, especially because it came as a surprise after his third place at the World Championships in Osaka two years ago. The Jamaican also produced a great show in 2008 in Rieti where he won the heat in 9.77 and the final in 9.82. After his bronze medal in Berlin in the World record race Powell clocked 9.88 finishing 0.07 behind Usain Bolt in Zürich, and on Friday defeated Tyson Gay in Brussels, where he clocked 9.90 in the chilly rain.
In Rieti Powell is targeting his 9.84 seasonal best from the Berlin final. The Jamaican star, who has won four of his five appearances in Rieti, will face his fellow training partners and compatriots Michael Frater and Nesta Carter, who teamed with him in the 4x100m Relay breaking the World record with 37.10 in Beijing. World 200m bronze medallist Wallace Spearmon (19.85 in the 200 metres final in Berlin and a 9.96 PB in the 100 metres) and Michael Rodgers (9.94 PB in 2009) will lead the US challenge. Also in the Rieti line-up will be 4x100m World silver medallist Marc Burns from Trinidad and Tobago.
Again, Fraser vs. Jeter in hot womens's 100m
Other members of Asafa Powell’s famous training group who won gold in Berlin will also be on hand. Reigning Olympic and World champion Shelly Ann Fraser, who clocked 10.73 in Berlin to clock the third fastest time in history, won here last year after taking the Olympic crown and will be looking to score her second consecutive win in the meeting. She’ll go against the in-form US sprinter Carmelita Jeter who won her second consecutive world bronze medal and then clocked a winning 10.86 in Zürich, and was nearly as fast in Brussels where she dominated the field with a 10.88 performance, a full tenth of a second ahead of Fraser. Not to be written off will be Jamaican Olympic silver medallist Sherone Simpson who is returning to her best form after injury problems last autumn with two solid wins in Padua and Rovereto.
Kerron Stewart, the 100m Olympic and world silver medallist, will make a rare 2009 appearance in the 200m. On a rainy and cold night Stewart won in 22.73 in Lausanne in July into a strong headwind. Stewart will take on Berlin 400m world silver medallist Shericka Williams who improved her PB over the one-lap event to 49.32.
Berlin women’ 1500m and men’s 800m podium finishers reunite
Rieti’s great reputation as the “temple of middle distance running” will be fulfilled this year on the track which produced many world records and memorable battles.
The women’s 1500m field assembled in Rieti features a Who’s Who of the event, with the Olympic champion Nancy Lagat facing the entire Berlin World championships podium: Maryam Yusuf Jamal from Bahrain (gold), Lisa Dobriskey from Great Britain (silver) and American Shannon Rowbury (bronze). Jamal, who won her second consecutive world title in Berlin, will return to Rieti where she set her Asian record of 3:56.18 in 2006. This year the Lausanne-based runner of Ethiopian origin came very close to her PB running 3:56.55 at the Rome Golden Gala in July. Jamal also collected other World Athletics Tour wins in Athens, Monaco and Zürich. Lagat is returning to her best form and, after lowering her seasonal best to 4:01.64 in Zürich, she set her 800m PB with 1:59.17 in Rovereto on Tuesday.
The fabulous line-up will also include 2007 European Indoor champion Lidja Chojecka from Poland and Natalya Evdokimova, fourth at the Olympic Games in Athens 2004, who set her PB of 3:57.73 in Rieti in 2005. Elisa Cusma, the first ever Italian runner to reach an 800m World championships final in Berlin, will make a rare appearance over the 1500m in which she set her seasonal best this summer running 4:04.98 in Athens.
The men’s 800m has produced the world seasonal best five times in the history of the Rieti meeting. Here as well the World championships podium will reunite with gold medallist Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, silver medallist Alfred Kirwa Yego, and world 1500m champion and 800m bronze winner Youssef Saad Kamel from Bahrain. Mulaudzi and Yego know the Rieti track very well. The South African ran 1:43.09 here in 2006, while Yego won last year in 1:44.69. They are still in very good form after Berlin as shown by the Zürich race where Yego finished second his PB with 1:43.66 beating Mulaudzi, who clocked his SB of 1:44.03. The European challenge is led by Dutchman Bram Som, a World finalist in Berlin who clocked 1:44.10 in Zürich.
Kenyan olympic 5000 metres bronze medallist Edwin Soi, who finished second to Kenenisa Bekele in Zürich in a seasonal best of 12:55.03, is looking to repeat his last year’s win in the men’s 3000m against the tough opposition led by Ethiopian world 1500m silver medallist Derese Mekonnen who won in Lausanne in 7:37.62 in July.
The Kenya vs. Ethiopia battle will also mark the women’s 3000m where two Berlin silver medallists will run for the win: Ethiopian Meselesh Melkamu, second in the 10,000m and Kenyan Sylvia Kibet, runner-up in the 5000m. Silvia Weissteiner, seventh at the World Championships in the 5000m and first among European runners, will add extra Italian spice to the race.
The women’s 3000m Steeplechase is packed with talent with Kenyans Milcah Chemos Chewlya, surprising world bronze medallist in Berlin, Ruth Bisibori, fourth at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka and seventh in Berlin 2009 and 2004 world junior champion Gladys Kipkemboi, eighth in Berlin.
The men’s 1500m should be an interesting battle between Africa and Europe with Mile world junior record William Biwott from Kenya and Frenchman Bouabdallah Tahri, World bronze medallist and European record holder in the 3000m Steeplechase this year.
Di Martino the infield star
Italian hopes for a local win in Rieti are set on Antonietta Di Martino, the World silver medallist in the High Jump two years ago, who has enjoyed a solid season in which she has returned to her best after a difficult 2008 season and finished fourth in the dramatic high jump final in Berlin with 1.99m, but she narrowly missed 2.02m. The task of the Italian high jump record holder is expected to be tough because she will face former World championships bronze medallist Chauntie Howard of the U.S. who won in Rieti last year with a 2.00m leap.
The women’s Discus Throw will be a clash between World champion Dani Samuels from Australia who clinched the gold medal in Berlin in the fifth round with her PB of 65.44m, reigning Olympic champion Stephanie Trafton Brown who will try to avenge her 12th place in Berlin, and consistent Cuban Yarelis Barrios who won the Olympic and world silver in Beijing and Berlin.
Dwight Thomas, fresh Jamaican 110m Hurdles record holder with 13.16, will take on Olympic bronze medallist David Oliver who is returning after missing the World Championships and most of the season due to injury problems.
In the men’s 400m double Olympic champion and this year’s 4x400m relay World champion Angelo Taylor will line up against Cuba’s World Championships semifinalist William Collazo who won in two Italian meetings in Padua and Rovereto, and Olympic finalist Martin Rooney from Great Britain.
Olympic third and fourth placers Leevan Sands from the Bahamas, Cuban David Giralt, South American record holder Jadel Gregorio, and Fabrizio Schembri (PB 17.27m, third all-time best performer in Italy) will match-up in the men’s Triple Jump. American Funmi Jimoh (PB 6.96m) and European Indoor bronze medallist Olga Kucherenko from Russia are the top favourites in the women’s Long Jump.
The men’s Pole Vault will have a lot of Italian interest with former World champion Giuseppe Gibilisco who came back with his seventh place in Berlin and will return to the Rieti runway where he will be challenged by Olympic fourth placer Derek Miles from the USA, Maksim Mazuryk from the Ukraine and Steven Lewis from Great Britain.
Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF
The Rieti Grand Prix is an IAAF Grand Prix status meeting as part of the IAAF World Athletics Tour 2009.
Powell, the World bronze medallist in 2007 and 2009 and World and Olympic gold medallist in the 4x100 relay, considers Rieti’s Raul Guidobaldi Stadium as his “home track”. Although his World record is now history due to the fabulous achievements of his compatriot Usain Bolt in Beijing and Berlin, Powell’s 9.74 dash in 2007 in the small central Italian town will remain in the memory of Italian fans for a very long time, especially because it came as a surprise after his third place at the World Championships in Osaka two years ago. The Jamaican also produced a great show in 2008 in Rieti where he won the heat in 9.77 and the final in 9.82. After his bronze medal in Berlin in the World record race Powell clocked 9.88 finishing 0.07 behind Usain Bolt in Zürich, and on Friday defeated Tyson Gay in Brussels, where he clocked 9.90 in the chilly rain.
In Rieti Powell is targeting his 9.84 seasonal best from the Berlin final. The Jamaican star, who has won four of his five appearances in Rieti, will face his fellow training partners and compatriots Michael Frater and Nesta Carter, who teamed with him in the 4x100m Relay breaking the World record with 37.10 in Beijing. World 200m bronze medallist Wallace Spearmon (19.85 in the 200 metres final in Berlin and a 9.96 PB in the 100 metres) and Michael Rodgers (9.94 PB in 2009) will lead the US challenge. Also in the Rieti line-up will be 4x100m World silver medallist Marc Burns from Trinidad and Tobago.
Again, Fraser vs. Jeter in hot womens's 100m
Other members of Asafa Powell’s famous training group who won gold in Berlin will also be on hand. Reigning Olympic and World champion Shelly Ann Fraser, who clocked 10.73 in Berlin to clock the third fastest time in history, won here last year after taking the Olympic crown and will be looking to score her second consecutive win in the meeting. She’ll go against the in-form US sprinter Carmelita Jeter who won her second consecutive world bronze medal and then clocked a winning 10.86 in Zürich, and was nearly as fast in Brussels where she dominated the field with a 10.88 performance, a full tenth of a second ahead of Fraser. Not to be written off will be Jamaican Olympic silver medallist Sherone Simpson who is returning to her best form after injury problems last autumn with two solid wins in Padua and Rovereto.
Kerron Stewart, the 100m Olympic and world silver medallist, will make a rare 2009 appearance in the 200m. On a rainy and cold night Stewart won in 22.73 in Lausanne in July into a strong headwind. Stewart will take on Berlin 400m world silver medallist Shericka Williams who improved her PB over the one-lap event to 49.32.
Berlin women’ 1500m and men’s 800m podium finishers reunite
Rieti’s great reputation as the “temple of middle distance running” will be fulfilled this year on the track which produced many world records and memorable battles.
The women’s 1500m field assembled in Rieti features a Who’s Who of the event, with the Olympic champion Nancy Lagat facing the entire Berlin World championships podium: Maryam Yusuf Jamal from Bahrain (gold), Lisa Dobriskey from Great Britain (silver) and American Shannon Rowbury (bronze). Jamal, who won her second consecutive world title in Berlin, will return to Rieti where she set her Asian record of 3:56.18 in 2006. This year the Lausanne-based runner of Ethiopian origin came very close to her PB running 3:56.55 at the Rome Golden Gala in July. Jamal also collected other World Athletics Tour wins in Athens, Monaco and Zürich. Lagat is returning to her best form and, after lowering her seasonal best to 4:01.64 in Zürich, she set her 800m PB with 1:59.17 in Rovereto on Tuesday.
The fabulous line-up will also include 2007 European Indoor champion Lidja Chojecka from Poland and Natalya Evdokimova, fourth at the Olympic Games in Athens 2004, who set her PB of 3:57.73 in Rieti in 2005. Elisa Cusma, the first ever Italian runner to reach an 800m World championships final in Berlin, will make a rare appearance over the 1500m in which she set her seasonal best this summer running 4:04.98 in Athens.
The men’s 800m has produced the world seasonal best five times in the history of the Rieti meeting. Here as well the World championships podium will reunite with gold medallist Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, silver medallist Alfred Kirwa Yego, and world 1500m champion and 800m bronze winner Youssef Saad Kamel from Bahrain. Mulaudzi and Yego know the Rieti track very well. The South African ran 1:43.09 here in 2006, while Yego won last year in 1:44.69. They are still in very good form after Berlin as shown by the Zürich race where Yego finished second his PB with 1:43.66 beating Mulaudzi, who clocked his SB of 1:44.03. The European challenge is led by Dutchman Bram Som, a World finalist in Berlin who clocked 1:44.10 in Zürich.
Kenyan olympic 5000 metres bronze medallist Edwin Soi, who finished second to Kenenisa Bekele in Zürich in a seasonal best of 12:55.03, is looking to repeat his last year’s win in the men’s 3000m against the tough opposition led by Ethiopian world 1500m silver medallist Derese Mekonnen who won in Lausanne in 7:37.62 in July.
The Kenya vs. Ethiopia battle will also mark the women’s 3000m where two Berlin silver medallists will run for the win: Ethiopian Meselesh Melkamu, second in the 10,000m and Kenyan Sylvia Kibet, runner-up in the 5000m. Silvia Weissteiner, seventh at the World Championships in the 5000m and first among European runners, will add extra Italian spice to the race.
The women’s 3000m Steeplechase is packed with talent with Kenyans Milcah Chemos Chewlya, surprising world bronze medallist in Berlin, Ruth Bisibori, fourth at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka and seventh in Berlin 2009 and 2004 world junior champion Gladys Kipkemboi, eighth in Berlin.
The men’s 1500m should be an interesting battle between Africa and Europe with Mile world junior record William Biwott from Kenya and Frenchman Bouabdallah Tahri, World bronze medallist and European record holder in the 3000m Steeplechase this year.
Di Martino the infield star
Italian hopes for a local win in Rieti are set on Antonietta Di Martino, the World silver medallist in the High Jump two years ago, who has enjoyed a solid season in which she has returned to her best after a difficult 2008 season and finished fourth in the dramatic high jump final in Berlin with 1.99m, but she narrowly missed 2.02m. The task of the Italian high jump record holder is expected to be tough because she will face former World championships bronze medallist Chauntie Howard of the U.S. who won in Rieti last year with a 2.00m leap.
The women’s Discus Throw will be a clash between World champion Dani Samuels from Australia who clinched the gold medal in Berlin in the fifth round with her PB of 65.44m, reigning Olympic champion Stephanie Trafton Brown who will try to avenge her 12th place in Berlin, and consistent Cuban Yarelis Barrios who won the Olympic and world silver in Beijing and Berlin.
Dwight Thomas, fresh Jamaican 110m Hurdles record holder with 13.16, will take on Olympic bronze medallist David Oliver who is returning after missing the World Championships and most of the season due to injury problems.
In the men’s 400m double Olympic champion and this year’s 4x400m relay World champion Angelo Taylor will line up against Cuba’s World Championships semifinalist William Collazo who won in two Italian meetings in Padua and Rovereto, and Olympic finalist Martin Rooney from Great Britain.
Olympic third and fourth placers Leevan Sands from the Bahamas, Cuban David Giralt, South American record holder Jadel Gregorio, and Fabrizio Schembri (PB 17.27m, third all-time best performer in Italy) will match-up in the men’s Triple Jump. American Funmi Jimoh (PB 6.96m) and European Indoor bronze medallist Olga Kucherenko from Russia are the top favourites in the women’s Long Jump.
The men’s Pole Vault will have a lot of Italian interest with former World champion Giuseppe Gibilisco who came back with his seventh place in Berlin and will return to the Rieti runway where he will be challenged by Olympic fourth placer Derek Miles from the USA, Maksim Mazuryk from the Ukraine and Steven Lewis from Great Britain.
Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF
