New hurdling sensation Kendra Harrison will be one of the athletes to watch out for when she takes to the track in her second Diamond Race event of the year at the Birmingham Diamond League on Sunday, June 5th.
The American effortlessly hurdled her way to victory in a breathtaking time of 12.24s to win the women’s 100m Hurdles at the Eugene Diamond League, which became the new American Record and moved her to 2nd on the all-time list.
This time around at the Alexander Stadium, Harrison will be up against almost the same field she defeated in Eugene, which include former American Record holder Brianna Rollins, teammates Kristi Castlin, Dawn Harper-Nelson and Nia Ali.
Olympic Champion Sally Pearson won’t be a pushover as she’ll be making a comeback after staying a year off due to injury. European Champion Tiffany Porter will also want to give a good performance in front of her home crowd.
Meanwhile it would be hard not to take Ameer Webb seriously as a major challenger for a podium finish at the Olympic Games this year.
The American raced to his second victory in the Diamond League this year in Rome, clocking 20.04s in the 200m, before going on to clock a fast 9.94s in the 100m, which was just 0.01s shy of Justin Gatlin’s winning time.
Aiming for a third straight win in the Diamond League, Webb will be up against a respectable field in Alonso Edward, Trayvon Bromell, Andre De Grasse, Martina Churandy and homeboy Chijindu Ujah.
The women’s 100m will also be one of the most anticipated events of the night as it’s the only event that will feature two heats, and then a final.
World Silver Medallist Dafne Schippers, World No.2 English Gardner, British 200m Record Holder Dina Asher-Smith, World Indoors finalist Michelle Lee-Ahye, African Games Champion Marie-Josee Ta Lou and World No. 6, Tianna Bartoletta, are the top names in the field.
Olympic 400m Champion Kirani James has enjoyed an unbeaten 2016 season, and will be aiming for another victory when he competes with his countryman Bralon Taplin, Botswana’s duo of Isaac Makwala and Baboloki Thebe, and Great Britain’s trio of Matthew Smith-Hudson, Rabah Yousif and Jarryd Dunn.
With the absence of World Leader Caster Semenya, the women’s 800m will be an open race as all competitors will be aiming for the maximum points.
Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba is No.2 on the World List and would be favourite for a win, while World Championships medallists Marina Arzamasova and Mellisa Bishop, as well as Lynsey Sharp, will be strong contenders.
Meanwhile in the men’s 3000m Steeplechase, it has been a Kenyan affair thus far with Conseslus Kipruto leading the pack.
The Beijing 2015 Silver Medallist will be gunning for another win against rivals Jairus Birech and Clement Kemboi.
Asbel Kiprop will be aiming for another victory in the 1500m against his opponents and countrymen, Silas Kiplagat and Vincent Kibet amongst many others.
Caterine Ibarguen extended her dominance in the women’s Triple Jump with another victory at the Rome Diamond League, stretching her unbeaten run to 34 wins, with her only loss dating back to 2012.
The Colombian will aim for her 35th consecutive win in Birmingham against her biggest rivals Olga Rypakova and Olha Saladukha.
Olympic Champion Greg Rutherford will be in the spotlight in the men’s Long Jump when he lines up to extend his winning ways from Rome.
The Briton will be aiming to improve on his Season’s Best (SB) of 8.31m set in Rome, but will expect stiff competition from the American trio of Marquise Goodwin (8.45m), Micheal Hartfield (8.34m) and World Triple Jump Champion Christian Taylor.
Piotr Malachowski will look to put behind him the disappointment of finishing 6th in the Discus throw at the Diamond League in Rome when he goes against a similar field that includes countryman Robert Urbanek, Robert Harting and Daniel Stahl.
Olympic Shot put Champion Valerie Adams also got all maximum points in Rome, and will hope to extend her lead in the Diamond Standings against Anita Marton of Hungary and USA’s Tia Brooks.
In the men’s High Jump, the trio of Zhang Guowei, Erik Kynard and Gianmanco Tamberi will aim to consolidate on the absence of Diamond Race leader Bohdan Bondarenko, to gain all maximum points available on the night.
Photo Credit: www.iaaf.org
