News04 May 2009


Trio of Beijing field event champions set for 09 season debuts in Doha – IAAF World Athletics Tour

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Tomasz Majewski unleashes a 21.51m winning throw (© Getty Images)

Events on the track often take centre stage at the Qatar Super Grand Prix in Doha each May, but with three reigning Olympic field event champions making their first outdoor appearances of the year, the infield promises to deliver quite a bit of excitement as well when the IAAF World Athletics Tour 2009 resumes in the Qatari capital on Friday (8).

Majewski vs. Cantwell and Thorkildsen vs. Kovals

The men's Shot Put will reunite Olympic gold and silver medallists Tomasz Majewski of Poland and Christian Cantwell of the US. Majewski will make his first start since taking the European Indoor title while Cantwell brings the momentum of three victories in as many appearances this outdoor season to Doha. In each of his outings, the 28-year-old has surpassed 21m, topped by his world-leading 21.53m toss on Goree Island at the Dakar Grand Prix last month.

The men's Javelin Throw as well features the Beijing 1-2, with two-time Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen topping the field. The Norwegian, who was last season's only 90m thrower, dominated the competition in Beijing, capping his performance with a 90.57m Olympic record. He'll face Latvian Ainars Kovals who produced one of the bigger surprises on the field in Beijing with his runner-up finish behind Thorkildsen.

In the women's Long Jump, Olympic champion Maurren Higa Maggi of Brazil leads a strong field which includes Portugal's Naide Gomes and Brazilian No. 2 Keila Costa. Gomes was the world leader last year at 7.12m, but faltered in Beijing where Maggi, at age 32, rose to the occasion with a 7.04m winning leap.

Vlasic shooting for three in a row in Doha

Reigning World High Jump champion Blanka Vlasic will make the first of her 17 outdoor appearances, aiming to put her disappointing performance at the European Indoor championships, where she failed to reach the podium, far behind her. The 25-year-old Croatian will be gunning for her third consecutive victory in Doha where she has jumped exceptionally well. In 2007 she cleared 2.04m, and last year sailed over 2.03m. Also in the field are Spaniard Ruth Beitia, the runner-up in Turin, and Russian Svetlana Shkolina, who was fourth at the European indoors.

Russian Yuliya Golubchikova, who was fourth in Beijing leads the Pole Vault field in her first outing since taking the European Indoor title in Torino. She'll take on German Silke Spiegelburg, the Turin runner-up who improved her career best last winter to 4.75m.

The men's Triple Jump boasts the Bahamas' Beijing bronze medallist Leevan Sands who extended the national record to 17.59m in the Chinese capital, along with Brazil's Jadel Gregorio, who was sixth in the Olympic Games last year.

Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

NOTE. a full meeting preview story will follow on Wednesday from Pat Butcher our correspondent in Doha for Friday's meeting.

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