Mbulaeni Mulaudzi of South Africa on his way to winning the men's 800m World Championship title in Berlin (© Getty Images)
The kickoff of the women’s portion of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge will take centre stage as the IAAF World Challenge resumes at the Meeting Grand Prix IAAF de Dakar in the Senegalese capital on Saturday (24).
The annual gathering of athletics talent in Dakar is one of two African stops on the 14-meeting World Challenge series - Rabat MAR on 6 June is the other meet - and despite the ongoing travel difficulties caused by last week’s ash plume from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano, organisers have managed to ensure that several international athletes will join the usual line-up of some of Africa’s leading stars.
Wlodarczyk returns
Fittingly, the chase for points on the women’s side of the inaugural Hammer Throw Challenge will feature the event’s reigning World champion, Anita Wlodarczyk. The 24-year-old Pole dominated the event in 2009, winning all but two of her 14 competitions while producing five of the year’s 10 farthest throws. Her triumphant campaign was capped by her dramatic victory at the World Championships where she broke the World record with a 77.96m blast. But her season ended shortly after the record was announced when she sustained a serious ankle injury while celebrating her triumph.
Now on the mend, Wlodarczyk will face an immediate test, primarily in the guise of an in-form Jennifer Dahlgren. The Argentine arrives in Dakar as the world leader after her 73.74m Area Record in Buenos Aires on 10 April. Others in the field include Italy's Clarissa Claretti, a two-time World and 2008 Olympic finalist; 2004 World junior champion Maryia Smaliachkova of Belarus; Marina Marghieva of Moldova, the national record holder at 72.53m; and Erin Gilreath, the U.S. record holder at 73.87m.
(For more on the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge, see Related Content under the main photo to the right of this text)
On the track, all eyes on Mulaudzi
On the track, considerable attention will be focused on the men’s 800m where reigning World champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi leads a solid field. The South African, who has been collecting global medals since 2003, is undefeated in three domestic outings this year –once at 800m and twice at 1500m. In his specialty, he cruised to a 1:45.41 victory in Germiston on 6 April where he won by nearly two seconds. In Dakar, he’ll be looking to maintain that momentum as he aims for the African title later this summer.
He’ll have some good company to test his early season form. Defending Dakar champion Geoffrey Rono returns, just a few weeks after a notable victory at home in Nakuru. 2008 World junior silver medallist Geoffrey Kibet could be a factor, while Ugandan Abraham Chepkirwok, still just 21, will be looking to begin his return from a sub-par 2009 campaign which followed his breakout in 2008 when he clocked his 1:43.72 PB. The Ugandan won here as a teenager in 2007 and finished fourth at the World Championships later that year.
In the women’s 800m, Olympic 1500m champion Nancy Lagat will be the key name as the Kenyan looks to rebound from a somewhat disappointing follow-up season to her Beijing triumph. Lagat won the season-capping World Athletics Final last September in her specialty, but couldn’t reach the final at the World Championships. The 28-year-old improved last year in the 800m with a late season 1:59.17.
Kenya figures prominently here with Winny Chebet, a former World youth and World junior silver medallist, and 1500m specialits Irene Jelagat also in the field. Jelagat will be making her first appearance since her fifth place showing at the World Indoor Championships.
Montsho riding solid momentum
Another early season world leader on show will be Amantle Montsho, Botswana’s reigning African women’s 400m champion. The 26-year-old clocked a solid 50.35 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, last Saturday, the third fastest performance of her career and by far her fastest ever so early in the season. Clearly the class of the field, main rival will be American Monica Hargrove who produced three sub-51 second races in 2009.
In the men’s 400, Ofentse Mogawane of South Africa has by far the best early season momentum. Unbeaten in six domestic appearances this year, the 25-year-old has clocked 45.51 this year. African record holder (44.10) Gary Kikaya of the Democratic Republic of Congo will make his first start of the year.
In the men’s 3000m, the longest event on the programme, Tariku Bekele tops the bill where he’ll face a slew of his Kenyan rivals. In his first outdoor race of the season, the younger of the Bekele brothers will be hoping to put the disappointment of his fourth place finish at the World Indoor Championships behind him. Others to watch include Kenyan veteran Abraham Chebii, who despite injury woes in recent years, returned to solid form in 2009; 20-year-old Matthew Kisorio, who boasts 7:34 and 13:02 credentials; and the versatile Suleiman Simotwo, who won his only 3000m outing of the season three weeks ago at altitude in Nyeri.
Elsewhere on the infield...
The men’s Long Jump brings together a strong field as well. Ndiss Kaba Badji of Senegal and Luvo Manyonga of South Africa have sailed beyond eight metres this season, while Gable Garenamotse of Botswana and Moroccan record holder Yayha Berrabah will be in the hunt as well. On the women’s side, Americans Brianna Glenn, a 2009 World Championships finalist, and Funmi Jimoh, a 2008 Olympic finalist, will be the women to beat.
... and on the track
In the short sprints, Jamaican Sheri-Ann Brooks, the fourth place finisher at 60m at the World Indoors, will be aiming for the 100/200m double, as will veteran British international Joice Maduaka. Aiming for doubles on the men’s side will be American Joshua Norman and Ainsley Waugh of Jamaica. And in the women’s 400m Hurdles, Jamaican Nickiesha Wilson, the fourth place finisher at the 2007 World Championships and a semi-finalist last year, leads the field.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
The annual gathering of athletics talent in Dakar is one of two African stops on the 14-meeting World Challenge series - Rabat MAR on 6 June is the other meet - and despite the ongoing travel difficulties caused by last week’s ash plume from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano, organisers have managed to ensure that several international athletes will join the usual line-up of some of Africa’s leading stars.
Wlodarczyk returns
Fittingly, the chase for points on the women’s side of the inaugural Hammer Throw Challenge will feature the event’s reigning World champion, Anita Wlodarczyk. The 24-year-old Pole dominated the event in 2009, winning all but two of her 14 competitions while producing five of the year’s 10 farthest throws. Her triumphant campaign was capped by her dramatic victory at the World Championships where she broke the World record with a 77.96m blast. But her season ended shortly after the record was announced when she sustained a serious ankle injury while celebrating her triumph.
Now on the mend, Wlodarczyk will face an immediate test, primarily in the guise of an in-form Jennifer Dahlgren. The Argentine arrives in Dakar as the world leader after her 73.74m Area Record in Buenos Aires on 10 April. Others in the field include Italy's Clarissa Claretti, a two-time World and 2008 Olympic finalist; 2004 World junior champion Maryia Smaliachkova of Belarus; Marina Marghieva of Moldova, the national record holder at 72.53m; and Erin Gilreath, the U.S. record holder at 73.87m.
(For more on the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge, see Related Content under the main photo to the right of this text)
On the track, all eyes on Mulaudzi
On the track, considerable attention will be focused on the men’s 800m where reigning World champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi leads a solid field. The South African, who has been collecting global medals since 2003, is undefeated in three domestic outings this year –once at 800m and twice at 1500m. In his specialty, he cruised to a 1:45.41 victory in Germiston on 6 April where he won by nearly two seconds. In Dakar, he’ll be looking to maintain that momentum as he aims for the African title later this summer.
He’ll have some good company to test his early season form. Defending Dakar champion Geoffrey Rono returns, just a few weeks after a notable victory at home in Nakuru. 2008 World junior silver medallist Geoffrey Kibet could be a factor, while Ugandan Abraham Chepkirwok, still just 21, will be looking to begin his return from a sub-par 2009 campaign which followed his breakout in 2008 when he clocked his 1:43.72 PB. The Ugandan won here as a teenager in 2007 and finished fourth at the World Championships later that year.
In the women’s 800m, Olympic 1500m champion Nancy Lagat will be the key name as the Kenyan looks to rebound from a somewhat disappointing follow-up season to her Beijing triumph. Lagat won the season-capping World Athletics Final last September in her specialty, but couldn’t reach the final at the World Championships. The 28-year-old improved last year in the 800m with a late season 1:59.17.
Kenya figures prominently here with Winny Chebet, a former World youth and World junior silver medallist, and 1500m specialits Irene Jelagat also in the field. Jelagat will be making her first appearance since her fifth place showing at the World Indoor Championships.
Montsho riding solid momentum
Another early season world leader on show will be Amantle Montsho, Botswana’s reigning African women’s 400m champion. The 26-year-old clocked a solid 50.35 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, last Saturday, the third fastest performance of her career and by far her fastest ever so early in the season. Clearly the class of the field, main rival will be American Monica Hargrove who produced three sub-51 second races in 2009.
In the men’s 400, Ofentse Mogawane of South Africa has by far the best early season momentum. Unbeaten in six domestic appearances this year, the 25-year-old has clocked 45.51 this year. African record holder (44.10) Gary Kikaya of the Democratic Republic of Congo will make his first start of the year.
In the men’s 3000m, the longest event on the programme, Tariku Bekele tops the bill where he’ll face a slew of his Kenyan rivals. In his first outdoor race of the season, the younger of the Bekele brothers will be hoping to put the disappointment of his fourth place finish at the World Indoor Championships behind him. Others to watch include Kenyan veteran Abraham Chebii, who despite injury woes in recent years, returned to solid form in 2009; 20-year-old Matthew Kisorio, who boasts 7:34 and 13:02 credentials; and the versatile Suleiman Simotwo, who won his only 3000m outing of the season three weeks ago at altitude in Nyeri.
Elsewhere on the infield...
The men’s Long Jump brings together a strong field as well. Ndiss Kaba Badji of Senegal and Luvo Manyonga of South Africa have sailed beyond eight metres this season, while Gable Garenamotse of Botswana and Moroccan record holder Yayha Berrabah will be in the hunt as well. On the women’s side, Americans Brianna Glenn, a 2009 World Championships finalist, and Funmi Jimoh, a 2008 Olympic finalist, will be the women to beat.
... and on the track
In the short sprints, Jamaican Sheri-Ann Brooks, the fourth place finisher at 60m at the World Indoors, will be aiming for the 100/200m double, as will veteran British international Joice Maduaka. Aiming for doubles on the men’s side will be American Joshua Norman and Ainsley Waugh of Jamaica. And in the women’s 400m Hurdles, Jamaican Nickiesha Wilson, the fourth place finisher at the 2007 World Championships and a semi-finalist last year, leads the field.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
