Though the eyes of the sporting world are fixed on Brazil right now, the stars of track and field have made a date at the Stade de France. And what an occasion it promises to be too. In a year with no Olympic Games or world championships on the calendar, the IAAF Diamond League has taken on even greater importance. The MEETING AREVA, the eighth leg on the 2014 calendar, will be no exception to the rule, with no fewer than nine London 2012 Olympic gold medallists and six reigning world champions (including double champions Croatian discus thrower Sandra Perkovic and American long jumper Brittney Reese) making the trip to St Denis. They go there in search of big performances and precious points in the race for overall victory in the Diamond League. Though speed king Usain Bolt is still out of action with an inflamed foot, the likes of Renaud Lavillenie, Felix Sanchez, Christian Taylor, Christophe Lemaitre, Richard Thompson, who ran 9.82 in the 100m on 22 June, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Allyson Felix and Sanya Richards-Ross will be out to light up the track at the Stade de France, which is still awaiting its first world record.
Hurdles test for Eaton
There are 16 events on this evening’s programme, with 15 Diamond Race leaders taking part in all. American duo Will Claye (triple jump) and Joe Kovacs (shot put), Puerto Rico’s Javier Culson (400m hurdles), Serbia’s Ivana Spanovic (long jump) and Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare (200m) are all looking to pull well clear in their respective standings. Among the stars who have had a quieter year but who never miss a big occasion are Blanka Vlasic (high jump), Lolo Jones (100m hurdles), Nesta Carter and Kim Collins (both 100m) and Tero Pitkamaki (javelin), all of whom will be keen to get back to winning ways. One other highlight of the evening will be the appearance of the USA’s decathlon world record holder Ashton Eaton in the 400m hurdles.
Eighteen French athletes on show
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French stars Renaud Lavillenie and Christophe Lemaitre will both be in action after their fine displays in Lausanne on Thursday, where the former jumped 5.87m and the latter ran a time of 20.11 in the 200m. Competing alongside them will be 16 of their compatriots, including Pierre-Ambroise Bosse (800m), Yoann Rapinier (triple jump), Bob Tahri (5000m), Eloyse Lesueur (long jump) and Myriam Soumare (200m). Each of them will be eager to impress in front of their fans, especially with the European Championships coming up in Zurich on 12-17 August. The organisers have also decided to add a men’s 110m hurdles race to the programme. Though it will not count towards the Diamond League standings, the field is a competitive one, with France’s Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, who set a new personal best in Lausanne, world champion David Oliver and Ryan Wilson, the man who took second behind him, all intent in putting one over each other.Last year a crowd of 50,266 watched as a number of personal bests were broken, as well as a European record, three national records and three meeting records. At this the sixth MEETING AREVA, the competitors will be striving to do even better.
05 July, 2014
