News20 Jul 2007


Nelson - Cantwell showdown set for Tallinn

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Adam Nelson getting ready - 2006 USATF Championships (© Kirby Lee/Image of Sport)

A Shot Put showdown between World champion Adam Nelson and World indoor champion Christian Cantwell will be one of several key attractions at Sunday’s European Athletics premium meeting in Tallinn, Estonia.

The Tallinn 2007 meeting 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.

Both American strongmen will be arriving after their appearances at Saturday’s Meeting de Atletismo Madrid 2007’ World Athletics Tour fixture. Cantwell is currently the world leader with a 21.96 throw from May and most recently won at the Arhus Games late last month while Nelson returns to competition this weekend for the first time since the U.S. Championships.

Lebedeva leads the Long Jump

The leading women’s star is Olympic Long Jump champion Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia. This will be fourth Long Jump competition of the season, after a pair of wins and one loss, the latter in Lausanne where she competed in both horizontal jump competitions. The Russian star is unbeaten in the Triple Jump after wins in Athens and Lausanne, and is set to return to the hop, step and jump in Monte Carlo on Wednesday.

Kanter, Tammert hoping to capture the home crowd spotlight

The home crowds will also look forward to the men’s Discus Throw, with world leader Gerd Kanter and Alexander Tammert facing tough opposition in Asian record holder Ehsan Hadadi of Iran, Olympic medallist Zoltan Kovago of Hungary, and Franz Kruger, who now represents Finland.  Estonian World champion in the javelin Andrus Varnik, who has reached just 72.30m, will face a strong field which includes Russia’s former World champion Sergey Makarov and Olympic medallist Vadim Vasilevskis of Latvia.

Elsewhere...

In the sprints, Americans DeBryan Blanton (100m), Milton Campbell (400m) and Eric Mitchum (110m Hurdles) are the favourites. In the latter, Ukrainian record holder Sergiy Demidyuk will be a class opponent for the American, while Jamaican Ricardo Williams is the main name in the 200m. Another highlight is Atlanta Olympic medallist James Beckford and 2002 European champion Oleksiy Lukashevich (UKR) in the Long Jump.

In other events on the women’s programme, Brianna Glenn, who was fourth in the Long Jump at the U.S. Championships, will also compete in the 100m. Over the full lap, recently-minted World Youth champion Yulia Baraley of Ukraine will face a good test against American Monica Hargrove (51.40 this season).

In the 100m Hurdles, Americans Dawn Harper, Danielle Carruthers and Damu Cherry should provide a fiercely contested race, while 2000 Olympic champion and this year’s Doha winner Kamila Skolimowska of Poland is the headliner in the Hammer Throw.

Alfons Juck for the IAAF

 

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