Istanbul, Turkey — Caribbean stars Kirani James and Lerone Clarke bows into action at the IAAF World Indoor Championships inside the Atakoy Arena in Istanbul this morning.
Both sprinters have been in excellent form so far this season and have been tipped as gold medal favourites in their respective events.
Grenadian world outdoor champion James is the hot favourite to striker gold in the men’s 400m dash, an event in which he leads the world with a time of 45.19 seconds.
James will open his quest for gold in heat 2 against Dominican Republic’s Luguelín Santos, who has gone 45.92secs this season.
Defending champion Chris Brown from the Bahamas will ran in the last heat against American Calvin Smith.
USA’s Sanya Richards-Ross, Patricia Hall of Jamaica, Russia’s Aleksandra Fedoriva and Bulgaria’s Vania Stambolova will lead the women’s line-up.
Meanwhile, Jamaica’s Clarke will start his hunt for the gold medal in the men’s 60m dash when he opens in the third heat. The Commonwealth Games champion has a time of 6.47secs, the second quickest this season behind American Trell Kimmons, who runs in heat 6.
Kimmons has a personal best and world-leading mark of 6.45, achieved at the American championships. Former world champion Justin Gatlin has also run 6.47secs this season and will be a key figure to watch.
Defending champion Dwain Chambers of Great Britain, Nesta Carter of Jamaica, Canada’s Justyn Warner are also entered in the event.
