{"id":1852,"date":"2013-05-16T10:25:21","date_gmt":"2013-05-16T17:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1852"},"modified":"2013-05-16T10:25:22","modified_gmt":"2013-05-16T17:25:22","slug":"shanghai-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1852","title":{"rendered":"Shanghai Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Placeholder\"<\/a>It’s time for the second installment of the Diamond League, and if Doha was any indication of how the year is going to go then Shanghai should be a real humdinger! Looking at the start lists, things should once again be exiting from start to finish. As usual however, there are some events that I am especially looking forward to:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Men’s 110 Hurdles<\/font><\/p>\n

Aries Merritt, David Oliver, Jason Richardson<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

This is one of those wonderful events where the best compete head to head quite often – and the anticipation never drops. That said, this trio could end up being the threesome that represents the US in Moscow, and Shanghai could be the start of several meetings between these men on the season. Oliver needs a good race here as Merritt and Richardson pretty much dominated the event last year, Merritt having one of the best seasons ever. Look for something under 13.10 here given solid conditions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Men’s 200<\/font><\/p>\n

Justin Gatlin, Darvis Patton, Wallace Spearmon, Warren Weir, Jason Young<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

No Bolt, Blake or Gay – the current Holy Trinity of the sprints – but this still shapes up add one of the most important  sprints matchups of the early season. Three reasons. One, Patton and Gatlin used to be outstanding 200 runners before focusing on the 100.This field will be a good test to see if they "still have it" in this event. Two, Weir and Young – asking with Nickel Ashmeade – are vying for the third spot on the Jamaican team in this discipline. Both will be looking for an edge in Shanghai. Three, Spearmon needs too start separating himself from the pack if he goes to challenge for a medal this summer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Men’s 400<\/font><\/p>\n

Kirani James, LaShawn Merritt, Jonathon Borlee, Lalonde Gordon<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The last two Olympic and World champions go head to head very early this year – and I’m not complaining. James currently leads the world at 44.73. Merritt has shown that his speed is sharp with a 20.23 deuce. Healthy Merritt has consistently been the world best, but the last two seasons have found him hurt or recovering from injury at championship time. Take nothing from James as Merritt would have had to be at his best to win either title, but its nice to see both men pong the track and healthy. So, let’s see who takes round one. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Men’s Long Jump<\/font><\/p>\n

Ngoni Makusha, Dwight Phillips, Irving Saladino, Mitchell Watt, Greg Rutherford<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This could be one of the most interesting competitions of the meet.  The long jump has seen better days.  Currently if you can jump close to 27 feet you’re a major contender.  That’s a long way from the days when it took 28 feet to be in contention for a title. This event is waiting for someone to step up and take over, and this meet has a unique combination of old and new.  Phillips And Saladino have both won titles and jumped over 28 feet.  Rutherford won In London but only needed to edge over 27 feet. Makusha has outstanding speed and may yet get out to 28 feet. Watt has touched 28 but seems to be missing something in the big ones. There are several others that could be in contention in this wide open event, so important for someone in this group to begin to assert themselves.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Women’s 100<\/font><\/p>\n

Carmelita Jeter, Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce, Blessing Okagbare, Jeneba Tarmoh<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n

Unlike the men, the two fastest women on the planet have no problem going head to head often – thank you – men take note. Shanghai will feature there written for the first time in 2013, with both coming of impressive victories. SAFP with an easy 200 win, Jeter a world leading 10.92. Their races tend to be classic starter vs finisher type events with the best execution usually winning big!  Both women are running well so look for something fast! Planner could challenge and play spoiler if either falters. Tarmoh should be interesting. She looked ready fire the big time until the controversy over her photo finish with Felix – she hasn’t been the same since. She could use a competitive race here.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Women’s 400 Hurdles<\/font><\/p>\n

Lashinda Demus, Zuzana Hejnova, Kaliese Spencer<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

We don’t often get to are Demus this early, so this could be a treat. Especially with a couple of very talented young ladies in the field. Spencer has run under 53 seconds in the event and has very good flat 400 speed. Hejnova is another talent who’s been improving rapidly and is near breaking 53 herself. These three women should be at the heart of the event in Moscow, so it’s nice to get an early look at them. Demus is part of the old guard of the event, so she’ll have to hold off the youngsters – which is why in actually surprised to see her in competition this soon. She must be ready, and that means trouble for the kids.<\/p>\n

There are several other events that catch my eye. Like the high jump with Jesse Williams & Robbie Grabarz; the women’s 800 with Pamela Jelimo & Janeth Jepkoskgei; and the steeple with Brimin Kipruto & Paul Koech.  Another trio of what should be some great head to head match ups. All in all this is looking like a great follow up to the opener in Doha. <\/p>\n

So set your clock for an early rise – 5am here on the West Coast – get your breakfast together, and prepare for more outstanding track and field! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s time for the second installment of the Diamond League, and if Doha was any indication of how the year is going to go then Shanghai should be a real humdinger! Looking at the start lists, things should once again be exiting from start to finish. As usual however, there are some events that I am especially looking forward to:   Men’s 110 Hurdles Aries Merritt, David Oliver, Jason Richardson This is one of those wonderful events where the best compete head to head quite often – and the anticipation never drops. That said, this trio could end up being the threesome that represents the US in Moscow, and Shanghai could be the start of several meetings between these men on the season. Oliver needs a good race here as Merritt and Richardson pretty much dominated the event last year, Merritt having one of the best seasons ever. Look for something under 13.10 here given solid conditions.   Men’s 200 Justin Gatlin, Darvis Patton, Wallace Spearmon, Warren Weir, Jason Young No Bolt, Blake or Gay – the current Holy Trinity of the sprints – but this still shapes up add one of the most important  sprints matchups of the early season. Three reasons. One, Patton and Gatlin used to be outstanding 200 runners before focusing on the 100.This field will be a good test to see if they "still have it" in this event. Two, Weir and Young – asking with Nickel Ashmeade – are vying for the third spot on the Jamaican team in this discipline. Both will be looking for an edge in Shanghai. Three, Spearmon needs too start separating himself from the pack if he goes to challenge for a medal this summer.   Men’s 400 Kirani James, LaShawn Merritt, Jonathon Borlee, Lalonde Gordon The last two Olympic and World champions go head to head very early this year – and I’m not complaining. James currently leads the world at 44.73. Merritt has shown that his speed is sharp with a 20.23 deuce. Healthy Merritt has consistently been the world best, but the last two seasons have found him hurt or recovering from injury at championship time. Take nothing from James as Merritt would have had to be at his best to win either title, but its nice to see both men pong the track and healthy. So, let’s see who takes round one.   Men’s Long Jump Ngoni Makusha, Dwight Phillips, Irving Saladino, Mitchell Watt, Greg Rutherford This could be one of the most interesting competitions of the meet.  The long jump has seen better days.  Currently if you can jump close to 27 feet you’re a major contender.  That’s a long way from the days when it took 28 feet to be in contention for a title. This event is waiting for someone to step up and take over, and this meet has a unique combination of old and new.  Phillips And Saladino have both won titles and jumped over 28 feet.  Rutherford won In London but only needed to edge over 27 feet. Makusha has outstanding speed and may yet get out to 28 feet. Watt has touched 28 but seems to be missing something in the big ones. There are several others that could be in contention in this wide open event, so important for someone in this group to begin to assert themselves.   Women’s 100 Carmelita Jeter, Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce, Blessing Okagbare, Jeneba Tarmoh Unlike the men, the two fastest women on the planet have no problem going head to head often – thank you – men take note. Shanghai will feature there written for the first time in 2013, with both coming of impressive victories. SAFP with an easy 200 win, Jeter a world leading 10.92. Their races tend to be classic starter vs finisher type events with the best execution usually winning big!  Both women are running well so look for something fast! Planner could challenge and play spoiler if either falters. Tarmoh should be interesting. She looked ready fire the big time until the controversy over her photo finish with Felix – she hasn’t been the same since. She could use a competitive race here.   Women’s 400 Hurdles Lashinda Demus, Zuzana Hejnova, Kaliese Spencer We don’t often get to are Demus this early, so this could be a treat. Especially with a couple of very talented young ladies in the field. Spencer has run under 53 seconds in the event and has very good flat 400 speed. Hejnova is another talent who’s been improving rapidly and is near breaking 53 herself. These three women should be at the heart of the event in Moscow, so it’s nice to get an early look at them. Demus is part of the old guard of the event, so she’ll have to hold off the youngsters – which is why in actually surprised to see her in competition this soon. She must be ready, and that means trouble for the kids. There are several other events that catch my eye. Like the high jump with Jesse Williams & Robbie Grabarz; the women’s 800 with Pamela Jelimo & Janeth Jepkoskgei; and the steeple with Brimin Kipruto & Paul Koech.  Another trio of what should be some great head to head match ups. All in all this is looking like a great follow up to the opener in Doha. So set your clock for an early rise – 5am here on the West Coast – get your breakfast together, and prepare for more outstanding track and field!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[113,70,119,155,266,53,11,12,36,30,57,90,257,23,88,466,34,154,71,54,33,388,359],"class_list":["post-1852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-borlee","tag-demus","tag-fraser","tag-gatlin","tag-gordon","tag-hejnova","tag-james","tag-jeter","tag-makusha","tag-merritt","tag-okagbare","tag-oliver","tag-patton","tag-phillips","tag-richardson","tag-rutherford","tag-saladino","tag-spearmon","tag-spencer","tag-tarmoh","tag-watt","tag-weir","tag-young"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa3DCY-tS","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":607,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=607","url_meta":{"origin":1852,"position":0},"title":"2011 in Review \u2013 Men\u2019s 110 Meter Hurdles","author":"CHill","date":"November 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This was supposed to be one of those \u201csuper events\u201d with the three fastest men in history going head to head for hurdle supremacy in 2011. And for a quick minute it seemed like that was going to be the case \u2013 but at the end of the day things\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"110 Hurdles\"","block_context":{"text":"110 Hurdles","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=110-hurdles"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1855,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1855","url_meta":{"origin":1852,"position":1},"title":"Kirani James’ 44.02 Highlights Shanghai DL","author":"CHill","date":"May 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Perhaps Doha raised the bar a bit high, but I didn't come away from Shanghai with the same WOW factor that I had following the Diamond League opener. A nice set of marks were turned in, but that special something was missing in most of the events on the track.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Fraser\"","block_context":{"text":"Fraser","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=fraser"},"img":{"alt_text":"Kirani James","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Kirani-James_thumb.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1580,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1580","url_meta":{"origin":1852,"position":2},"title":"Brussels Has Some Good Match Ups","author":"CHill","date":"September 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Brussels\"","block_context":{"text":"Brussels","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=brussels"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sprinter Shadow","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Sprinter-Shadow_thumb.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1033,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1033","url_meta":{"origin":1852,"position":3},"title":"A Crowd is Starting to Form in the Hurdles","author":"CHill","date":"April 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s early in the season, and few of the top athletes have made it to the track yet, but the 110 hurdlers are doing what they do \u2013 compete! I love the hurdlers. For starters it\u2019s one of the most exciting events on the track. There\u2019s speed. The technique of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"110 Hurdles\"","block_context":{"text":"110 Hurdles","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=110-hurdles"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hurdle Trio","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Hurdle-Trio_thumb.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1561,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1561","url_meta":{"origin":1852,"position":4},"title":"Aries Merritt Back on Track in Birmingham","author":"CHill","date":"August 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The double meet weekend that started Thursday in Lausanne, ended early today in Birmingham - and just as it was in Lausanne, speed was on display in Britain. In a meet with several Olympians in attendance the highlight of the day was turned in by Aries Merritt who is on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Fraser\"","block_context":{"text":"Fraser","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=fraser"},"img":{"alt_text":"Aries Merritt","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Aries-Merritt_thumb.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1189,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1189","url_meta":{"origin":1852,"position":5},"title":"Liu (12.97) and Dibaba (3:57.77) in Shanghai","author":"CHill","date":"May 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The Doha Diamond League event set a standard that may be difficult to match. And it didn't help that the weather wasn't very cooperative in Shanghai, as it was rainy throughout, keeping performances down.That made the world leading races by Genzebe Dibaba (ETH) and Liu Xiang (CHN) that much more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Dibaba\"","block_context":{"text":"Dibaba","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=dibaba"},"img":{"alt_text":"Liu Xiang ","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Liu-Xiang-_thumb.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1852\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}