Ok, we’re nearly at the end of the first half of the season. Tomorrow Oslo, Saturday New York – and then National Championships & Olympic Trials. We’ve pretty much seen most of the major players, so not sure we will learn much more before the Trials in a couple of weeks. Still, there is nothing like great competition, and Oslo and New York should provide that in bunches. And there are some things I’ll be watching over the next few days.

 
First up will be Oslo, where the following matchups will be interesting:

• Christian Taylor (US) v Sheryf El Sheryf (UKR) in the triple jump. We know that Taylor is ready, I’m curious to see where El Sheryf is right now. He emerged last year with a NJR 17.72m/58’ 1.75” leap in Ostrava, then only finished 12th in Daegu. He has yet to jump so this will be his debut. He could be a player in London, or not. I’m curious to see how well he jumps tomorrow.

• Sally Pearson (AUS) is going to contest her first hurdle race outside of “Oz” this year. Among the competition will be Daegu silver medalist Danielle Carruthers (US), Lolo Jones (US), and Tiffany Porter (GBR). Sally ran her WL 12.49 way back in March – and since then the world has slowly crept up on her. She just ran 12.74 last week in Australia. I imagine she would like to make a statement before everyone else goes to Trials.

• Ariane Friedrich (GER), Tia Hellebaut (BEL), and Chaunte Lowe in the HJ. Many assume that the battle for gold in this event will go through Anna Chicherova (RUS) & Blanka Vlasic (CZE) – and they will certainly have something to say about how the medals are distributed. But Friedrich (2.06m), Hellebaut (2.05m) and Lowe (2.05m) have all jumped well above 2.00m/6’ 8.25”, and should also have a say in the matter. Oslo could be the beginning of establishing a pecking order for this event.

• Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) will contest another 5000 as he continues to work his way back to form. His goal is London, and the key in these races he’s been running (at least IMHO) is less about whether he is winning, but whether or not he is improving. This will be another strong field, and after a solid 13:01 at Pre if Bekele drops under 13:00 I would begin to worry a bit if I were a 5000/10000 runner.

• Morgan Uceny (US) v Abeba Aregawi (ETH), Genzebe Dibaba (ETH), and Helen Obiri (KEN) + Anna Pierce in the 1500. Man the last time this foursome ran fireworks happened – for Aregawi! My guess is that Dibaba will NOT want to let that happen again – so I expect an even more aggressive race from her. I’m not sure I’m ready to predict a win from Uceny, but if she is going to be a factor in London, she’s going to have to be ready to PR tomorrow – to be competitive. She’s got time before London, and she’s clearly the best American right now, but she’s got to be thinking about that last outing in Rome right about now. And Pierce has got to show she’s ready to be a factor in Eugene. There’s a tight bunch behind Uceny right now, and it’s time to separate from the pack.

• Bolt v Powell. Barring catastrophe, we know how this one is going to end. The key to this race will be how well Powell competes against Bolt. Because this event is going to be deep at the Jamaica Trials – and if it weren’t deep enough already, Nickel Ashmeade threw his hat into the ring last week with his 9.93 performance. With Bolt and Blake looking pretty solid this season, there could be seven running for one spot in Kingston! Time for Powell to either join B & B or become the lead dog in the fight for the final spot.

Then we get a days rest before heading to New York, where I’ll be taking a close look at the following:

• The high school boys 100 meter dash with the greatest field of preps every assembled in one race with: Tyreek Hill (10.19), Abraham Hall (10.19), Marvin Bracy (10.25), Raymond Bozmans (10.27), Tremayne Acy (10.35), and Levonte Whitfield (10.35). That group could contend for Olympic berths in all but a handful of countries! Saturday they’ll be running for bragging rights as the best prep in the nation – and depending on the results we could see one or two of them qualify for the Olympic Trials themselves! It’s rare that one can make that statement about a high school competition at any distance.

• We get Tyson Gay and Yohan Blake in the 100, although in different heats. With Tyson I’ll be looking at health and fitness. With Jamaican compatriots Bolt and Powell competing against each other on Thursday, Blake will most likely be looking to respond to whatever goes down in Oslo! So we should be treated to three sterling male 100 meter races on Saturday.

• Allyson Felix (US), Carmelita Jeter (US), Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce (JAM), Blessing Okagbare (NIG) and Tianna Madison (US) in the 100 meters. OK, let’s make that four sterling 100 meter races, because this one should be a burner. Felix has been hot, and has run 10.92. Jeter leads the world at 10.81 and is coming off a loss to Felix over 200 last week and she doesn’t like to lose. Madison was the hottest thing going for much of the indoor season and will be looking to stake a claim to a ticket for London at the upcoming Trials – so she will be looking for a sub 11 performance. And Fraser, the defending Olympic champion, has looked anything but, and needs a solid race under her belt before she heads to Kingston and the Jamaica Trials in a couple weeks. Motivation and opportunity – that’s what this race presents on Saturday.
• Greg Rutherford (GBR) and Mitchell Watt (AUS) in the LJ. Rutherford is the current world leader while Watt, who won everything in sight until Worlds last year, sits at =10th. With the Olympics literally weeks away, any head to heads become meaningful, if only psychologically. I would look for both athletes to try to put something “out there” for the rest of the world to think about.

• Maggie Vessey (US) v Fantu Magiso (ETH, 1:57.56), Molly Beckwith (US) and Jenny Simpson (US) in the 800 meters. Vessey’s season’s best is only 2:00.19, run a couple of weeks ago in Ponce. If she intends on getting a golden ticket to London, she’s going to have to go a bit better than that. And she’ll need ot Saturday as Magiso has been solid in every race she’s  run – and that 1:57.56 took down Pamela Jelimo! Beckwith was the american leader until Montano blew the cobwebs off in Eugene, so this could be somewhat of a Trials preview. I’m not expecting Simpson to win this, or even be among the top few, but she needs to show a turn of speed Saturday if she hopes to contend in the 1500 in Eugene.

• David Rudisha (KEN) v Abubaker Kaki (SUD) + Robby Andrews (US) in the 800. Abubaker Kaki just won in Eugene at 1:43.71 – and was waving his finger in the air signifying #1! He’ll find out just how close he is to being #1 Saturday as he gets to take on WR holder David Rudisha – and man who’s only lost once in the last two seasons. This should be a hard fought race as Kaki needs to beat, or at least be extremely competitive with Rudisha if he hopes to have any shot in London – the WR holder has got to be in head by now!

Both meets have very good fields – all of which deserve attention. These just happen to be the events holding the most interest to me heading into the weekend. Now it’s time to watch the NCAA meet as from now until Saturday night is going to be track and field heaven!

Tags: New York, Oslo