Jamaicans Campbell and Brooks head for Dakar in search of sprint glory
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| Published on Saturday, May 17, 2008 |
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By Gary Smith
Caribbean Net News Sports Correspondent
Email: gary@caribbeannetnews.com
DAKAR, Senegal: Commonwealth Games 100m champion Sheri-Ann Brooks and her Jamaican countryman Clement Campbell will be seeking sprint doubles at the 2008 Meeting Grand Prix IAAF de Dakar on Saturday.
Early results
In field events on Friday, Jamaican shot put competitor, Dorian Scott went back to winning ways, after his defeat in Doha. Scott heaved the shot at 20.52m to beat Ukraine’s Yuriy Bilonoh, whose effort of 20.24m saw him edging out Slovak’s Milan Haborák (20.14m).
Brooks tries to repeat last year’s feat
On the women’s side, Brooks looks to defend her sprint double title, after winning both the 100m and 200m races last year. On the straight-away, the Jamaican World Championships relay medallist will match strides with Nigeria’s Damola Osayomi and Ghana’s Vida Anim, who were the top finishers at the African Championships in Addis Ababa.
Two other contenders in the race will be Gloria Kemasuode of Nigeria, who finished fifth in Addis Ababa and home favourite Aminata Diouf.
Brooks will have it all to do again when she races in the 200m, as her competitors will arrival in just about the same order to make her evening more interesting.
Apart from the Africans, the race will also see Great Britain’s quarter-miler Donna Fraser and American Moushaumi Robinson competing. Brooks may even have to run a seasonal best to retain this title, seeing that both Camara, who ran a national record of 22.70 for silver in Addis Ababa and Osayomi (22.83) for bronze, have both gone faster than the Jamaican.
Campbell going for the double too
In the men’s short sprints Campbell will start strong favourite for both titles. The Jamaican, who ran a personal best of 10.02 for the 100m during an exciting season for him last term, enters the meeting with seasonal bests of 10.3 and 20.99.
The trip to Dakar will see him competing against Hitjivirue Kaanjuka, a finallist in the sprints at the African Championships, as well as Obinna Metu (20.73) of Nigeria and Senegal’s Abdourahmane Ndour.
Moncur in Dakar for quarter race
Former Bahamian world champion Avard Moncur will look to break up the Africans on their own turf when he lines-up in the men’s 400m dash.
Though the contest is expected to stay focus on those around him, which includes Botswana’s African best Isaac Makwele and 2003 World Indoor champion American Tyree Washington, Moncur, drawn in the middle of the field for the encounter, is expected to make his presence known.
The race will also include defending champion Young Talkmore Nyongani from Zimbabwe, Senagal’s Mamadou Gueye and Mathieu Gnanligo of Benin.
Phillips will be tested here; Lewis looking for another win
The men’s obstacle version of the event will feature Jamaican Isa Phillips, a third place finisher in Doha, during the Qatar Grand Prix last weekend.
Mali’s Ibrahim Maïga (49.84), Algeria’s Abderahmane Hammadi (49.84) and American LaBronze Garrett (49.39), will challenge the Jamaican, who has a 2008 best of 49.71.
There will be some excitement for the Caribbean as well in the field, as Grenadian jumper Randy Lewis will bring over his form from Doha, to Dakar, in search of more success in the triple jump.
The Caribbean representative will be up against Senegalese jumper Ndiss Kaba Badji, who has already jumped 17.07m this season and Great Britain’s Nathan Douglas (16.73m).
In Doha, last Friday, Lewis leapt to a winning mark of 17.44m. However, he was assisted by a 2.4 m/s wind. | | | | Reads : 251 | | | |
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