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Diamond League update as a prelude to the Olympics

Roar Guru
6th June, 2012
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It’s only 60 days until the start of the Olympic Track and Field program. Four meets into the Diamond League series, it’s a good time to start having a look at some of the main events as a prelude to the Games.

Oslo (Bislett Games) and New York are both on in the next 4 days, and there are three more Diamond League meets in the first half of July, before the Olympics.

Men’s Sprints
After a season-opening 9.82 and then an indifferent run in Ostrava (10.04), the big man Usain Bolt showed he is back close to his best with a world leading 9.76 in Rome. We haven’t seen Tyson Gay or Yohan Blake run in earnest yet this year, but if Bolt is building for the Games, it’s hard to see him being bettered.

He’s running in Oslo in two days’ time, against Powell again.

Men’s Sprint Hurdles
This is looking like one of the events of the games. With China’s hero Liu Xiang equalling the world record (12.87) in Oregon, albeit slightly wind-assisted, we’re potentially looking at an event where the world record could go in an Olympic final given the right conditions. The American trio of David Oliver, Aries Merritt and Jason Richardson are all going well, while we are yet to see the Cuban reigning Olympic Champ Robles, who was sensationally disqualified after winning the world champs last year, for hitting Liu Xiang with his arm.

Men’s Distance
Britain’s Mo Farah, the men’s distance runner of the year in 2011, set a 5km marker in Oregon, using his customary last lap sprint to run a world leading 12.56. He didn’t look quite as sharp as he did last year, or else still had a bit in the tank, but his form was still impressive two months out from the biggest event of his life.

Reigning Olympic 10km champ, the great Ethiopian 5km and 10km world record holder Kenenisa Bekele, improved in Oregon with a highly respectable 13.02, fourth behind Farah.

He’s got another two months to improve, so he can’t be counted out. Also, he lost contact when avoiding a fall 700m from the finish. The Kenyans will be up there as always, so the 5km and 10km look like classic Olympic events, with a lack of official pace maker likely to favour the faster types like Farah and Bekele (Kenenisa, not his brother Tariku who is also running).

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Aussies
Our big name, Sally Pearson, has her first overseas hit out in Oslo on Friday morning our time, after some scintillating local form. She has a heat then a final to negotiate, and will meet quality athletes like America’s Lolo Jones, Canada’s Priscilla Lopes-Schliep and Britain’s Tiffany Porter.

Oslo (Bislett Games)
The next Diamond League meet, the Bislett Games in Oslo, is on Eurosport at 4am Friday morning. The main events to look forward to, apart from of course the women’s 100 hurdles from an Aussie perspective, are: the men’s five kilometres, with the Bekele brothers and an overall seven runners who have run 13.01 or better; the men’s 100m (Bolt v Powell); and the Men’s mile, which will contain the usual smattering of quality Kenyans and Ethiopians plus Aussie Ryan Gregson.

The start lists have just been released, and include Rudisha v Kaki in the 800, and the the Aussie long jumpers (Watt, Lapierre and Frayne).

The next update will include Men’s middle distance and women’s sprints.

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