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SPEED COMES TO TRACK TOWN USA
Carmelita Jeter ranked No. 1 in the world last year in the 100 Meters, yet she may not be the favorite in this Saturday Prefontaine Classic women’s century. Jeter, the bronze medalist in the 2007 and 2009 World Championships, will square off against Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser, the reigning Olympic and World Championships gold medalist. This will be the first meeting of the two since the 2009 season, when Jeter was first ranked No. 1 in the world by Track Field Newsmagazine, but Fraser was the World Champion in Berlin.
They will be challenged by World Championships silver medalist Kerron Stewart, Olympic silver medalist Sherone Simpson, World Championships silver medalist Lauryn Williams, No. 4-ranked Marshevet Myers and No. 6-ranked Blessing Okagbare, the only woman to win both the NCAA 100 and Long Jump. This is without question the deepest field in the 37 years of the Prefontaine Classic women’s 100 meters.
VISA 100 METERS
Carmelita Jeter
Shelly-Ann Fraser (Jamaica)
Kerron Stewart (Jamaica)
Sherone Simpson (Jamaica)
Lauryn Williams (USA)
Blessing Okagbare (Nigeria)
Marshevet Myers (USA)
Alex Anderson (USA)
With 4 athletes ranked in the top 10 in the world by Track & Field News, one might expect the attention to be focused on Nesta Carter (No. 4), RichardThompson (No. 6), Michael Frater (No. 8) or Mike Rodgers (No. 9). But likely, most eyes will be on unranked former Olympic and World Championships gold medalist Justin Gatlin. Gatlin has finished a 4 year doping suspension and is back seeking to claim the title of World Fastest Human. It will be a tall order for the 29-year-old, as Carter enjoyed a breakout season in 2010, running a lifetime best of 9.78. With Olympic silver medalist Thompson and World Championships silver medalists Frater and Darvis Patton backing him up, Gatlin will face an uphill battle to rejoin the world’s elite sprinters.
100 METERS
Nesta Carter
Justin Gatlin
Michael Frater (Jamaica)
Mike Rodgers
Darvis Patton
Richard Thompson (Trinidad)
Steve Mullings (Jamaica)
Walter Dix, 2010’s No. 1 ranked sprinter at 200 Meters, appears poised to defend his ranking and to contest for the gold in this summer’s World Championships in Daegu, South Korea. Dix dominated the Samsung Diamond League series last year, winning four times, including the Prefontaine Classic in a Hayward Field record of 19.72. The 25-year-old double bronze medalist at the 2008 Olympic Games in the 100 & 200 will try to beat back the challenges of world rankers Xavier “X-Man” Carter (No. 8) and Churandy Martina (No. 10). And don’t count out ever-green Shawn Crawford, the 2004 Olympic 200 Champion and 2001 World Championships bronze medalist a decade ago. At the other end of the spectrum, Trinidad’s Rondel Sorrillo won the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field just last year. In the 200 Meters, anything can happen!
200 METERS
Walter Dix
Xavier Carter
Churandy Martina (Netherlands)
Shawn Crawford
Jaysama Ndure (Norway)
Rondel Sorrillo (Trinidad & Tobago)
Ivory Williams (USA)
Emmanuel Callender (Trinidad)
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