Irish duo back on track in Zurich
Gillick will line up amidst some familiar faces for the men’s 400m when five of the eight world championship finalists will be in action – there is also a semi-finalist, Sean Wroe (Australia), with two Americans, Kerron Clement and Angelo Taylor, in the field.
Top of the listings are the three medallists, reigning Olympic champion, LaShawn Merritt, and the man he dethroned in Beijing last year and again in Berlin this year, Jeremy Wariner, as well as bronze medallist, Renny Quow from Trinidad.
Chris Brown (Bahamas), who was fifth in Berlin, and Gillick, who was sixth, make it an intriguing contest.
The women’s 100m hurdles is virtually a re-run of the final in Berlin. Gold medallist Brigitte Foster-Hylton (Jamaica), silver medallist, Priscilla Lopes-Schliep (Canada) and bronze medallist, Delloreen Ennis-London (Jamaica) are there.
There are joined by Derval O’Rourke, who finished fourth, Virginia Powell (USA), who was sixth, Dawn Harper (USA), who was seventh and Perdita Felicien (Canada), who was eighth, with fifth-placed Sally McClellan (Australia) who set out as hot favourite for a medal, the absentee.
Before Berlin, O’Rourke was totally out of the loop but in two sensational days she ran her third fastest time ever, then her second fastest and then broke her national record with 12.67 seconds for fourth place in the final.
That was the 13th fastest time run this year so it was hardly surprising that she would be a sought-after commodity for the remainder of the big meets.
“This is a pretty tall ask for Derval,” her coach, Sean Cahill, admitted yesterday. “At the weekend she was very, very tired and we were leaving it until late to make any decision on her participation.
“After competing in Berlin and all the stress that it brought with it, she went back to Cork, then on to Croke Park and then back to Cork again to fulfil another commitment.
“All along I was leaving it up to herself as to whether or not she was going to compete in Zurich – she was always going to the Golden League in Brussels next week – so she decided to go. To be honest I would not expect anything sensational from her, but with Derval, one never knows.
“Between now and Brussels, she could have another race. All season I have been looking for a 100m race for her and if that can be arranged she will compete. We just want to lay down a mark for that event because I feel she can run really quick over 100m flat.”
Four athletes are in with a chance of winning the gold bars: Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia), 3,000m/5,000m; Kerron Stewart (Jamaica), women’s 100m; Sanya Richards (USA), women’s 400m and Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia) who endured a disastrous time in the pole vault in Berlin.
With three world titles and two world records in Berlin, Usain Bolt will be the star of the show when he lines up for the 100m tonight.
