KAWASAKI, Japan – World Championships pole vault champion Shawn Barber of Canada has been added to the Golden Grand Prix – IAAF World Challenge meeting in Kawasaki on 8 May, organizers said on Wednesday.
Barber, the 2015 IAAF World Championships gold medallist from Beijing, will be making his first appearance in Japan.
The Canadian set a world lead, meeting and stadium record of 5.91m when winning the men’s pole vault competition at the Texas Relays on Saturday (2).
This means he should be in good condition to challenge the Kawasaki meeting record of 5.75m, which is jointly held by three men; Brad Walker, Dmitri Markov and Paul Burgess.
World championships long jump champion Tianna Bartoletta of USA has also been added to the field for that event at Todoroki Athletics Stadium.
Bartoletta leaped 7.14m to win the women’s long jump crown in Beijing, last summer and jumped three of the top six best marks last season.
The American sprinter/jumper is set to make her fourth appearance at this meeting, having won the 100m in 2010 and 2014. She also won the long jump in Kawasaki in 2015.
Also already listed for the meeting is American sprinter Justin Gatlin.
Gatlin, who finished behind Usain Bolt in both the 100m and 200m sprints at the IAAF World Championships last year in Beijing, is listed to run in the men’s 100m.
He will face China’s Bingtian Su, a finalist in Beijing, and has a personal best of 9.99 seconds.
