OSLO — Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt completed their final preparations full of confidence that they will finish on top of the men’s 100m tonight at the ExxonMobil Bislett Games – IAAF Diamond League meeting in Oslo.
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The Jamaican superstars will clash for the second time in the Diamond League this meeting – Bolt winning the first meeting in a world-leading 9.76seconds – and he’s confident of duplicating that performance in Norway.
Besides Bolt and Powell, who finished second in Rome to his fellow Jamaican in 9.91, the event will also include Commonwealth Games champion Lerone Clarke, also of Jamaica and Great Britain’s Marlon Devonish.
Americans Tiffany Townsend and ChaRonda Williams head up the women’s race, alongside Nigeria’s Gloria Asumnu.
Townsend and Williams are also entered in the 200m, but will have stronger challenges against Jamaican Olympic Games 100m silver medallists Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart, as well as Ivory Coasts’ Murielle Ahoure.
Elsewhere on the track, world champion Amantle Montsho looks to bounce back from here defeat to American Sanya Richards-Ross at the Prefontaine over the weekend in the women’s 400m.
A pair of Jamaicans, Shericka Williams and Patricia Hall and USA’s Debbie Dunn are set to challenge the star from Botswana.
Australian world champion Sally Pearson makes her European outdoor debut in the women’s 100m hurdles, with a host of superstars, including Tiffany Porter and Jessica Ennis of Great Britain, Priscilla Lopes-Schliep and Phylicia George of Canada, and USA’s Danielle Carruthers and Lolo Jones, while Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia will take the field in the men’s 5000m again – with confidence following his seasonal best of 13:01.48 for fourth at Prefontaine.
In the field, Chaunté Lowe of USA, and Tia Hellebaut of Belgium compete in the women’s high jump, Andreas Thorkildsen and Tero Pitkämäki set for a clash with world-leader Stuart Farquhar of New Zealand in the men’s Javelin Throw, Shara Proctor of Great Britain looks for another win in the women’s long jump, Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski of Poland and Canada’s Dylan Armstrong lead the way in the men’s shot put, while American Christian Taylor heads up the men’s triple jump line up.
