Carson, California, USA -- Jeremy Wariner, the World and Olympic 400m gold
medallist would like to make an attempt at his first sub-44 clocking on U.S.
soil in the adidas Track Classic at the Home Depot Center in the Los Angeles
suburb of Carson on Sunday 20 May.
The adidas Track Classic, is one of a select group of Area meetings at which
points can be acquired by athletes to qualify for the IAAF / VTB Bank World
Athletics Final.
Also headlining in Carson which is an NACAC permit meet, will be Olympic gold
medallists Maurice Greene, Stacy Dragila, Allen Johnson, Shawn Crawford and
Meseret Defar, and World champions Allyson Felix, Ana Guevara, Michelle Perry,
Adam Nelson and Christian Cantwell, and of course the "X Man", Xavier
Carter.
'Buckle down' if you want to beat Wariner
"My confidence is great right now," said Wariner (PB 43.62). "For me all I
have got to do is run my own race and keep trying to get under 44 as many times
as I can. My competitors are really going to have to buckle down and run PRs to
beat me.''
Wariner is well acquainted with the Carson facility, running a 200m PB of
20.19 at the 2006 adidas Track Classic and winning the 400m in 44.20. In 2005,
Wariner ran 44.20 here and 44.53 in the USATF Championships.
He dipped under 44 three times last season but the closest he came in the
U.S. was a 44.12 on his home track at Baylor University in Waco, Texas (22 April
2006).
Wariner, who is coached by World 200m / 400m record holder Michael Johnson's
coach Clyde Hart, is coming off a 44.02 clocking at the IAAF Osaka World
Athletics Tour on 5 May – the fastest ever in May – despite starting his kick
too late after misjudging the short straightaways.
"I really wasn't paying attention to where I was on the track and when I got
on the straightaway, it was too late," Wariner said. "It shows that if I ran my
race the way that I really do, I would have gone 43 there.''
In Carson, Wariner will be challenged by 2004 U.S. Olympic gold medal 4 x
400m Relay team-mates Andrew Rock and Darrold Williamson and John
Stephenson.
Greene and Carter Headline 100m and 200m
Former three-time World 100m champion Maurice Greene will make his season
debut in the 100m against Tyson Gay, the top 100m-200m combination sprinter in
history, and Leonard Scott, the 2006 World Indoor 60m champion and his training
partner. Marcus Brunson is the defending adidas Track Classic champion.
The 200m will pit Carter with 2004 Olympic champion Shawn Crawford and 2005
World Silver medallist Wallace Spearmon. Carter was the world leader lasst year
with his 19.63 clocking in Lausanne, which placed him second on the all-time
list.
Felix and Campbell lead women's sprints
Allyson Felix, who posted a 11.27 100m and 50.40m 400 double in the Qatar
IAAF World Super Tour meeting last Friday (11 May), will make her season debut
in the 200m. The 21-year-old will face 2005 Helsinki silver medallist Rachelle
Smith, Muna Lee and the Bahamas' Debbie Ferguson.
The women's 100m start list includes Veronica Campbell of Jamaica, Me'Lisa
Barber, Torri Edwards and Angela Daigle-Bowen. Hasani Roseby and Carmelita
Jeter, who finished first and second in the USATF Indoor 60m, could also
surprise. Jeter, the 2007 Mt. SAC 100m winner, is running on her home track
where she was a six-time NCAA Division II All-American for Cal State Dominguez
Hills.
Carson crowd favourite Ana Guevara of Mexico, the 2003 World 400m champion
will face 2004 U.S. Olympic 4 x 400m gold medallists Dee Dee Trotter and Monique
Henagan, Hazel-Ann Regis of Grenada and Jamaica's Novlene Williams, and Sonita
Sutherland.
World champions galore in sprint hurdles
The women's 100m Hurdles will feature the last three outdoor World champions
with Michelle Perry (2005), Perdita Felicien (2003) and Anjanette Kirkland
(2001) and NCAA champions with Virginia Powell (2005 and 2006) and Nichole Denby
(2004). Lolo Jones won the 2007 USATF Indoor 60m Hurdles title.
In the men's 110m Hurdles, four-time World champion Allen Johnson goes
amongst others against Aries Merritt, Terrence Trammell and Ron Bramlett, while
the men's 400m Hurdle field includes Kerron Clement, Kenneth Ferguson, James
Carter and Danny McFarlane of Jamaica.
Defar looking for World best in Women's 2 Mile
Defar plainly stated her objective for the Women's 2 Mile in a press
conference on Thursday.
"My goal is the World Record (best)," the 23-year-old said. Defar, who holds
World records in the 5000m and indoor 3000m, will be in pursuit of the 1999
standard of 9:11.97 set by Regina Jacobs in her first outdoor 2 Mile of her
career.
The 2004 Olympic 5000m champion will be paced by Jamaican Korene Hinds in the
record attempt. Sara Slattery, Kara Goucher and Amy Rudolph are other
entrants.
Eighteen runners are schedule for the women's 1500m, headed by Meskerem
Leggesse and Mestawot Tadesse of Ethiopia, Kenia Sinclair of Jamaica and
Treniere Clement, Tiffany McWilliams, Shayne Culpepper and Alice Schmidt.
The men's 1500m will have David Krummenacker, Adam Goucher, Rob Myers and
Alistair Cragg, while the 3000m start list has Anthony Famiglietti, Abdi
Abdirahman, Steve Slattery, Dan Browne, Bolota Asmeron, Kenya's Boaz Chebioywo
and Juan Luis Barrios of Mexico.
Dragila and Stuczynski meet for first time in the vault
The top two Americans of all-time, Stacy Dragila and Jenn Stuczynski, will
meet for the first time in person and in a competition in the Women's Pole
Vault. Dragila, the inaugural Olympic Women's gold medallist, is attempting a
comeback from Achilles tendon injuries in the last two seasons. Stuczynski, a
former basketball player, emerged on the scene in 2005 to win the USATF Indoor
title.
Cantwell, Greer ready to release
Christian Cantwell, Reese Hoffa, Adam Nelson and Dan Taylor will renew their
rivalry in the Shot Put. The four combined for 16 of the 20 longest throws in
the World in the 2007 indoor season and 18 of the best 20 outdoors in 2006.
American record holder Breaux Greer is the favourite in the Javelin Throw.
(Credit: IAAF. Click here for further
information.)
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