The second half of the Diamond League final in Brussels offers the best opportunity to see some final match ups before the season comes to an end. As I look at the provisional start lists there should be some exciting head to heads.
Let’s start with the men’s 200 where we get a final look at Yohan Blake – on the track where he dropped his 19.26 and became a household name. It would have been nice to see him and Bolt go head to head here – hint hint. Instead we get to see him against Christophe Lemaitre, Warren Weir, and Jason Young and reserve ourselves to comparing his performance against this group to Bolt’s recent races against them. Given Blake’s recent form expect something closer to his MR than Bolt’s recent 19.66. As a matter of fact, Blake is considerably faster today than he was when he ran the 19.26 – and his turn has certainly improved. Dare I suggest? Nah. Dix made him run and no one in this race will be that close.
Of course in the recent style of racing avoidance, if Blake is in the deuce then Bolt is in the century. This time Bolt goes up against Ryan Bailey (who’s run well in non Bolt/Blake races); Nickel Ashmeade (who’s coming off a 200 PR); and Nesta Carter (9.95 SB in his last two outings). The competition is solid, but this race will still be more about Blake than the athletes on the track, and the question on the table will be whether or not he matches Blake’s recent 9.69 PR.
We do get an actual head to head in the women’s 800 where Pamela Jelimo and Mariya Savinova go at it one more time. This has been one of the more interesting match ups on the year as their races tend to be blow outs one way or the other. I thought that Jelimo was going to be THE stud in the event this year given her strong early start, but Savinova is perhaps the best kicker in the game. Once she makes her move, Savinova buries the competition and doesn’t look back. So the question here is will Jelimo run away from Savinova or wait to be buried?
The field events have their share of match ups too. I’m liking the women’s high jump with Anna Chicherova, Chaunte Lowe, and Svetlana Shkolina – a nice trio of 2m jumpers. These women jump high, but more importantly they are very competitive. So we should get some outstanding results. I won’t be surprised if the winner is decided on count back – so keep an eye on those early misses. My spidey senses feel something in the 2.02m/6’ 7.5” range for the win.
And if three is good, then four must be better. We’ll find out in the women’s javelin as Mariya Abakumova, Christina Obergfoll, Barbora Spotakova, and Sunette Viljoen send the spear sailing down the middle of the infield. Spotakova trends to be my favorite but Obergfoll has looked very relaxed lately – and relaxed athletes tend to unleash outstanding performances. We’ll see if that plays out in Belgium, especially if one of these women hits something big early.
The two events I’m most looking forward to however, are the men’s 1500 and 110 hurdles. Yes I said the 1500. For starters the field is stacked with Nixon Chepseba, Asbel Kiprop, and Taoufik Makhloufi – which should ensure a fast race. Given it should be fast I’m excited to see Leo Manzano and Matthew Centrowitz in there – because I think both are primed to PR. Especially Centrowitz who’s coming off a PR 3:31.96 run in Lausanne. This race could cement his status as America’s premier miler.
Of course the 110 hurdles is a no brainer. First of all because without looking at the start list you know that it will be a competitive race – these guys race with frequency. Then looking at the start list we see Aries Merritt, Jason Richardson, David Oliver, Hansle Parchment, and Sergei Shubenkov – there have been Olympic finals with less talent! The big story will be Merritt and Richardson. Richardson has 3 sub13’s to his credit this year and though he trailed Merritt often, has always been in striking distance. Then there is Merritt – 7 straight sub13’s and counting. This race could/should be historical. One, from the standpoint of the sheer numbers of sub13’s, as one more will give him solo lead for a season. The other reason is that Merritt has been running so well that he is a legitimate threat to break the WR – though that seems to be one of those things that just “happens” in this event.
Should be a good end to the Diamond league season. We still have Rieti before we can really draw a close on things, but for all intents and purposes we’re at the end of the road. Here are the start lists. Be back after the meet.
Tags: Brussels, Diamond League