FROM LEFT: Javelin thrower, Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago, high jumper Mutaz Barshim of Qatar, sprinter Shelley Ann Fraser Pryce of Jamaica, sprinter Allyson Felix of the US, middle-distance runner David Rudisha of Kenya, and triple-jumper Christian Taylor of the US pose after a press conference at Sheraton Hotel yesterday. PICTURES BY: SHAIVAL DALAL
BY RIZWAN REHMAT
DOHA: Kenyan 800m world record holder David Rudisha and American sprinter Allyson Felix lead a stellar field at the IAAF Diamond League season-opener where athletes will hit the track today with this year’s Moscow World Championships on their minds.
Rudisha, who created a storm with his record breaking time of 1:40.91 at the London Games last year, will be eyeing a gold in the 800m final at Qatar Sports Club Stadium where Felix remains unbeaten in 10 successive runs.
Besides these two names, track and field fans will get to see another eight Olympic medal winners and 14 current World Champions for the first leg of the 14-stop IAAF Diamond League.
“It is a dream for athletes to win the Olympic title and I have achieved that, and to get a world record as well was absolutely fantastic. But it is always good to be motivated to win more and I want to defend my world title in Moscow this year,” Rudisha said yesterday as he revealed his plans for 2013.
Qatar’s medal hope Mutaz Essa Barshim - who won a bronze in the high jump at the London Games last year - is also targeting the Moscow World Championships to be held in August this year.
“It is a long season and it starts here (at Qatar Sports Club Stadium),” Mutaz said yesterday.
“My goal is the Moscow World Championships,” he added quickly. “I want to look after myself so that I can do well in the Diamond League series. I have been preparing well,” the tall Qatari said.
In the men’s events, Rudisha leads a pack of five male winners from last year’s London Games.
The group also includes triple jump giant American Christian Taylor, who will pay his first ever visit to Doha, two-time Olympic shot champion, Tomasz Majewski from Poland, and Nesta Carter, a member of the great Jamaican 4x100m squad which smashed the world record with a time of 36.84.
The javelin gold winner at the London Games, Keshorn Walcott from Trinidad & Tobago is also part of the field.
In the women’s events Felix, the IAAF Female Athlete of 2012, returns to Doha to aim for an 11th win in the Qatari capital.
Felix will race the 400m against Montsho and Britain’s London silver medallist and 2008 gold medallist, Christine Ohuruogu.
The 27-year-old American is unbeaten in 10 races in Doha having first competed here in 2005, but she knows race number 11 is going to be especially tough. Montsho has beaten her on the last two occasions they raced over a full lap.
“Doha is a very successful place for me and I hope to continue this trend,” Felix said. “I am hoping for a good run tomorrow (today),” she added.
Felix explained that she will gradually introduce more 100m and 200m races as the season progresses, and that those distances would be her targets at this year’s IAAF World Championships in Moscow.
“I want to continue right back in the 100m and 200m,” she said. “I feel like I’m in my prime and I want to stay and focus on that.”
“Everything came together at London 2012. I think after a major championship it is kind of hard to re-group and pick up but I have just been taking things slowly and this is the year when I will gradually get things together.”
Also opting to skip on her speciality event will be two-time Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who will line up today in the 200m.
An incredible battle over the 200m could be brewing, with both Fraser-Pryce and Felix likely to cross swords over the distance.
“I am looking to execute a perfect 200m tomorrow (today),” Fraser-Pryce said at a press conference yesterday.
“This distance has grown onto me – at first, I found difficult adapting to distributing my energies throughout the race.
“But I put in some hard work and I learnt, and now I enjoy the strategic part of it. I am definitely looking forward to doing both the events in Moscow, but I have the National Championships in June to think about first before I focus on Moscow,” she added.
Felix endorsed her rival’s sentiments.
“Shelly-Ann’s performance on the 200m will be interesting – she has incredible speed over 100m so she’ll be definitely strong, and that would make for a very interesting race to watch,” Felix said.
American long jumper Brittney Reese will aim to maintain her unbeaten run on Qatari soil, after two clear victories in as many appearances in the indoor and outdoor circuits.
The Olympic champions’ roster in Doha is complemented by Sandra Perkovic, the 22-year-old discus thrower from Croatia who will this year be looking to add the World title to her tally, after capturing the Olympic gold in 2012, two European senior titles (2010, 2012) and one European junior crown in 2009.
Aside from Rudisha, Carter and Taylor, the list of reigning male World champions set to compete includes Kenyan 1500m runner Asbel Kiprop, German javelin thrower Matthias de Zordo, high jumper Jesse Williams, and American 400m hurdlers Bershawn Jackson and Angelo Taylor.
Justin Gatlin of the US and Morocco’s Abdelaati Iguider in the 1500m will also be competing.
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