MONTEGO BAY, St James — World Championships double gold medallist Usain Bolt will headline a mouthwatering men’s 100m line-up at today’s penultimate IAAF Diamond League meeting in Zurich, Switzerland in the Letzigrund Stadium that will see six of the finalists from the World Championships two weeks ago in Moscow, Russia.
Bolt, who had run a world leading 9.77 seconds in rain and lightning in Moscow to win his second World Championships 100m title, will lead four Jamaicans in the event that will also see bronze medallist Nesta Carter, fourth-placed Kemar Bailey-Cole and fifth-placed Nickel Ashmeade, the members of the Jamaican men’s 4x100m team that also won the gold medal.Only the injured Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre and Great Britain’s James Dasaolu will be missing from the Moscow 100m final.Five other Jamaicans, all females will take part in the meet, including World Champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in the 200m where she is second-placed in the Diamond League race.Meanwhile, the clash between 400m World Champion American Lashawn Merritt and the man he replaced, Kirani James of Grenada, will be another of the major meetings on the schedule today with the Diamond race title on the line.James looked well set to retain his title until the final when he faded to a surprising seventh place as the American raced to the victory in a personal best 43.74 seconds.James leads the Diamond race by two points and if he can finish ahead of the American, will gain some slim measure of revenge.World Championships silver medallist Justin Gatlin, the men’s 100m Diamond race leader will get another chance to beat Bolt as he did in an early season race, but as the Jamaican told the media in Moscow, his loss then did not count for much since he was coming off injury.Gatlin raced recently beating Ashmeade in Poland then complained about fatigue, but will today face a rested Bolt, who will be competing for the first time since the end of the World Championships nearly two weeks ago.Carter is second in the Diamond race, and with one event still to go where the points will be doubled, he will also be seeking to finish ahead of Gatlin.Also in today’s race are Great Britain’s World Junior Champion Adam Gemili, Walter Dix, Michael Rodgers and Jimmy Vicaut of France.Three Jamaicans will line up in the women’s 100m race — World Championships relay gold medallists Kerron Stewart and Carrie Russell as well as Natasha Morrison, who was part of the Jamaican delegation in Moscow.Fraser-Pryce is one behind Murielle Ahoure of the Ivory Coast in the Diamond race, but landed her first major 200m gold in Moscow in the event and is the world leader with 22.13 seconds that she set, while winning the event at the Jamaica National Senior Championships.Ahoure, who won two silver medals in Moscow, will line up in the race today as well as three others from the Moscow final — Americans Charonda Williams and Jenebah Tarmoh and the Ukraine’s Mariya Ryemyen.Kaliese Spencer will contest the 400m hurdles event where the Czech Republic’s Zuzana Hejnova needs only to line up to collect her Diamond prize and snap the Jamaican’s string of three straight titles.A Jamaican female 4x100m relay team is also listed for the final event of the schedule.ZURICH, Switzerland — Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt (right) yesterday presented FIFA President Sepp Blatter with a ticket to attend the IAAF Diamond League meeting here, today. (PHOTO: AP)FRASER-PRYCE… will tackle the 200m at the Diamond League meetBOLT… will compete in mouthwatering 100mView the original article here
Bolt for Zurich
