{"id":389,"date":"2010-08-26T08:42:00","date_gmt":"2010-08-26T15:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=389"},"modified":"2010-08-26T08:42:00","modified_gmt":"2010-08-26T15:42:00","slug":"preview-brussels-diamond-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=389","title":{"rendered":"Preview \u2013 Brussels Diamond League"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday will mark the end of the inaugural Diamond League with the Ivo van Damme meeting in Brussels. This meet will mark the second half of the \u201cfinals\u201d that began in Zurich, with the final \u201cDiamonds\u201d being awarded. As in Zurich all the fields are loaded, so the events that follow are those that I expect may stand out a bit from the rest.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Men\u2019s 100<\/td>\nWL: 9.78, Tyson Gay \u2013 USA <\/td>\nBest Entry: 9.78, Tyson Gay \u2013 USA <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Tyson Gay has been the dominant 100 meter sprinter this year with wins over Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell as well as the world\u2019s fastest time on the season. His goal in Brussels is a PR \u2013 which means something faster than 9.69. However with temperatures expected to be in the mid to high 60\u2019s a more realistic goal could be the meet record of 9.77 set by Bolt in last year\u2019s meeting. With both Bolt and Powell now out for the rest of the season the race within the race should be between improving Jamaicans Nesta Carter and Yohan Blake for what could end up being the #2 position behind Bolt next year. With Gay showing an improved start this season and seemingly healthy, this race could be over by 50 meters. If that\u2019s the case look for something in the neighborhood of 9.75 with the weather being more like London than ideal sprinting weather.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Women\u2019s 200<\/td>\nWL: 21.98, V. Campbell Brown \u2013 JAM <\/td>\nBest Entry: 22.02, Allyson Felix \u2013 USA <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Only yearly leader Veronica Campbell Brown has beaten Allyson Felix this year \u2013 her first win over Felix that was not in the Olympic Games. With \u201cVCB\u201d not competing here this race is almost a \u201cgimme\u201d for Felix. Should she do the expected and win it will give her Diamond League trophies in both the deuce and the quarter and set up an interesting 2011 season \u2013 will she attempt the double in Daegu? If she attempts the double she will have the daunting task of facing VCB in the deuce and potentially Sanya Richards in the quarter. Potentially the biggest story of 2011. The drama here in Brussels will be whether or not she can run under 22 seconds with much of her recent focus on the 400.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Men\u2019s 800<\/td>\nWL: 1:41.09, David Rudisha \u2013 KEN <\/td>\nBest Entry: 1:41.09, David Rudisha \u2013 KEN <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Rudisha has been THE standout in this event since his first race of the year, and is fresh off his WR run. Abubaker Kaki attempted to challenge Rudisha earlier in the season in Oslo only to just fall short 1:42.04 to 1:42.23 \u2013 a PR for Kaki. Since then their seasons have taken different directions. Rudisha has continued to improve his times while Kaki has reverted back to running 1:44\u2019s. Kaki will have to be at least the runner that was in Oslo to have a chance at competing with Rudisha. This is a very important race for Kaki, as he needs to stay close and be competitive or he risks giving up a huge psychological advantage to Rudisha heading into next eyar\u2019s World Championships. If the pace goes 50 flat or better it will most likely take at least a 1:42 to win \u2013 and the way Rudisha has been running possibly a 1:41.xx.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Women\u2019s 800<\/td>\nWL: 1:57.34, Alysia Johnson \u2013 USA <\/td>\nBest Entry: 1:57.34, Alysia Johnson \u2013 USA <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Alysia Johnson has been the best on the clock, twice running under 1:58 this year. Mariya Savinova (RUS, 1:57.56) that has been the big winner this summer with the European title and wins at Znamensky, Pre and London. But it\u2019s Janeth Jepkosgei (KEN, 1:57.84) who enters the finale with a 1 point edge over them both! This trio has the best shot at the Diamond League trophy in this event, but the bigger story here may be the entry of Caster Semenya in the field. Semenya, who has recently returned to the track, is rapidly improving with an eye on the Commonwealth Games in a bit more than a month. Given her current rate of race improvement this could be the only shot these women have of defeating the Olympic champion. Expect at least a 1:57 here as the pace should be fast to try and offset Semenya\u2019s strength.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Men\u2019s 400H<\/td>\nWL: 47.32, Bershawn Jackson \u2013 USA <\/td>\nBest Entry: 47.32, Bershawn Jackson \u2013 USA <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Bershawn Jackson has dominated this event since the national championships. He\u2019s beaten all comers, run under 48 second on 5 occasions this year, and leads the world at 47.32. Like Tyson Gay in the 100, Jackson believes he can go faster. He should get a good challenge in Brussels from Angelo Taylor who is coming off a seasons best 44.72 in the open 400 in Zurich. If his steps are on he should be able to pressure Jackson. This race should be a test of Jackson\u2019s 15 step rhythm vs Taylor\u2019s pure speed. So far Jackson\u2019s rhythm has won out though they did finish within .01 in Monaco. If Taylor can surpass his season\u2019s best 47.79 he can put some serious pressure on Jackson \u2013 either resulting in a win or a new best for Jackson.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Women\u2019s 100H<\/td>\nWL: 12.52, P. Lopes Sliep \u2013 CAN <\/td>\nBest Entry: 12.52, P. Lopes Sliep \u2013 CAN <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The power base in this event seems to have shifted this season. Long a staple of the US, Priscilla Lopes Sliep has become a very powerful and dominant force over the summer. And while not yet a force, Australia’s Sally Pearson has emerged as a viable threat and has been very competitive of late. Both will get to take on American Lolo Jones who appeared on the verge of becoming THE dominant force just a couple of season\u2019s ago \u2013 until she crashed the hurdle in Beijing.  Jones and Lopes Sliep are tied for the Diamond lead and this race will settle things one way or the other, but watch for Pearson to potentially win the race. The key will be the start. The woman leading over hurdle #2 should cross the line first.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This should be yet another good set of competitions with all fields being loaded. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we get some solid marks to go with the high level of competition. There should be some good stories to talk about once the final event is complete. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friday will mark the end of the inaugural Diamond League with the Ivo van Damme meeting in Brussels. This meet will mark the second half of the \u201cfinals\u201d that began in Zurich, with the final \u201cDiamonds\u201d being awarded. As in Zurich all the fields are loaded, so the events that follow are those that I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":[],"class_list":["post-389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa3DCY-6h","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389","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=389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}