The jumping events will not be the only exciting competitions to take place on July 3 at the Pontaise stadium for what will be the 39th of IAAF Diamond League Athletissima edition. Indeed, the sprint races will draw just as much attention. In the 100m men, the vice-World champion of Moscow Justin Gatlin (USA) will be in the starting blocks. He has not been defeated yet this year and holds the world lead with 9.87 (9.76 but with too much tailwind). American sprinter Tyson Gay, three times World champion in 2007 (100-200-4x100), has chosen to make his comeback from a one-year doping suspension on July 3 at the IAAF Diamond League Athletissima meeting, where he will compete in the 100m. “Lausanne has always been one of my favourite meets, and I’m thrilled to have it be my opening meet of 2014,” said Gay, who cited his comfort with the meeting and the organization as one reason for choosing it for his return to competition. “I have run fast times here. I have been training for several months, and will be ready on July 3.” Gay’s competitions here include a 200m victory in 2007 in 19.78. Frenchman Jimmy Vicaut, indoor European champion 2013 in the 60m, will also be in the race. Vicaut, who ran a fantastic 9.95 for his outdoor season opening will certainly also be one of the athletes to watch closely.
In the 200m, Olympic silver medalist Yohan Blake (JAM) will come to Lausanne and aim at running fast. Two years ago, he set a new 100m record in 9.69 and will have similar ambitions in the 200m. A great challenge, considering that the current meeting record is held by Usain Bolt, who ran 19.58 in 2012. The Jamaican, whose personal best is of 19.26, is in good shape. With the Jamaican team, he has just set a new 4 x 200m world record at the Relay world championships last weekend in Nassau, and also won the world title in the 4 x 100m. His co-national Nickel Ashmeade (19.85) and reigning European champion Churandy Martina (NED) (19.85), winner of last year’s race, and Christophe Lemaître (19.80) will be among his opponents in the 200m.
The 400m will offer a fantastic race between reigning Olympic champion Kirani James (GRN) and reigning World champion LaShawn Merritt (USA). These two athletes have been dominating the 400m event in the past years. On Saturday in Eugene, they were separated by just a thousandth of a second, with the athlete from the Grenadine Islands winning in 43.97 (world lead). Each of them won in Lausanne once: Merritt in 2008, James in 2012. But this year will be the first time they run head-to-head at Athletissima.
The 3000m steeple will see the holders of the respectively 2nd and 3rd best times ever run in the 3000m steeple, Kenyans Birmin Kipruto, whose personal best is just 1 hundredth of a second outside the world record, and Paul Kipsiele Koech face each other. In the long jump, the top 3 of the last world championships (Aleksandr Menkov, Ignisious Geisah and Luis Rivera Morales) will be in Lausanne.
In the women’s events, Swiss athlete Selina Büchel will have a good opportunity to confirm her talent in the 800m against Kenyan runner Eunice Jepkoech Sum, the reigning World champion. The javelin event will gather the world’s best athletes, led by Australian Kimberle Mickle, Moscow silver medalist and holder of the 2 best throws of the year. Finally, the Swiss 4x100m relay will have a glimpse of what to expect at the European championships, as they will be running against Great Britain, Germany and France among others, three teams which qualified for the final at the recent IAAF World relays in Nassau.
02 June, 2014
