Friday, August 18, 2006

by Luke Phillips

ZURICH, Switzerland (AFP): Newly-crowned European sprint king Francis Obikwelu will test his mettle against 100m world record holder Asafa Powell at the fourth Golden League meeting of the season in Zurich on Friday.

The duo will head a strong field for the 100m that also includes Jamaica's Michael Frater and Kim Collins of St Kitts and St Nevis - silver and bronze medallists at last year's world championships.

One notable absentee, however, is American champion Justin Gatlin, the Olympic and world champion who admitted last month that he tested positive for testosterone at an April meet.

Powell is still in contention for a share of the one-million-dollar jackpot for athletes who can win all six meetings along with American 400m runner Jeremy Wariner, and American Sanya Richards and Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba in the women's 400m and 5000m events respectively.

Undefeated in seven races over 400m this year, Wariner has dominated his rivals, winning both the Paris and Rome legs of the Golden League by more than a full second in each.

The 22-year-old has racked up three sub-44sec performances this season, a time which only seven others have breached.

"I'd say it would be routine for me to run low-44 and sub-44 the way I've been running," the world champion said.

"As long as I execute my own race and stay healthy, I'll be able to do it the rest of the season, and I hope the rest of my career."

The Weltklasse meeting is being held for the last time in the Letzigrund Stadium, where 23 world records, 58 Swiss records, and more than 250 other national records have been set.

Gunning for a potential record on Friday will be Ethiopian running phenomenon Kenenisa Bekele in the 5000m, but the world and Olympic 10,000m champion will have his work cut out in a field that includes a dozen Kenyans, notably world 5km champion Benjamin Limo, and European champion Jesus Espana of Spain.

Saif Shaheen Saeed, the Kenyan-born Qatari, could also be on course to lowering his own world record for the 3000m steeplechase which will feature Olympic champion Ezekiel Kemboi of Kenya and European number one Jukka Keskisalo of Finland.

The women's 5000m race promises to be a cracking affair with the Dibaba sisters, Ejegayehu and Tirunesh, up against Ethiopian compatriot Meseret Defar, the Olympic champion and world record holder.

Other stand-out events include the women's high jump, where surprise European champion Tia Hellebaut of Belgium will be out to confirm her dominance over world champion Kajsa Bergqvist of Sweden and Olympic gold medallist Elena Slesarenko of Russia.

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