Grenada’s Kirani James set to make season debut in Daegu

The reigning men’s 400m world champion Grenada’s Kirani James is set to make his season debut today at the IAAF World Challenge in Daegu, South Korea. James, who has a lifetime best 44.36 seconds in the 400m, appears to be in great shape. In his last race on April 28 at the Penn Relays, James ran a blistering 43.8 split as a member of the Grenadian 4x4 relay team. Based on that performance, James should easily take this event. Renny Quow (Trinidad), Calvin Smith (USA) and Tabarie Henry (US VI) will also face the starter. Quow has tweaked a few things in training and has pointed out that the world will see a much improved Renny this season. Smith (45.47), who beat Quow (45.48) at the Jamaican International on May 5th, is also in fine form. American LaShawn Merritt has the 400m world-leading time of 44.19 second. James performance today should be a very good indicator of the kind of shape he is in, now that the spring semester is winding down at the University of Alabama. Can Justin Gatlin Keep it going? American Justin Gatlin will face teammates Mike Rodgers and Walter Dix along with Richard “Torpedo” Thompson (Trinidad) and Jacques Harvey (Jamaica) in the men’s 100m. Gatlin is coming off a superb 9.87 seconds win over Asafa Powell (Jamaica/ 9.88) in Doha on May 11.  Gatlin the reigning world indoor 60m champion who is having a great early season. Today, Gatlin will face fierce competition from Walter Dix who is making his 100m season debut. Dix has a season best 20.02 seconds in his first 200m of the season  and ran a brilliant anchor-leg to lead his USA Red Team to victory in the 4x1 relay at the Penn Relay (38.40). Mike Rodgers, who was absent from track for over 6 months, has been running very well this season and could post his first sub-10 100m performance today. Carmelita Jeter and the Rest American Carmelita Jeter will face Miki Barber, Blessing Okagbare, Aleen Bailey (Jamaica) and Debbie Ferguson (Bahamas) in the women’s 100m. Jeter, who has season bests 10.81 (100m) and 22.31 (200m) has established herself as an early favorite for London gold. The only question is: how fast will Jeter run today? Oliver vs. Richardson vs. Merritt  The men’s 110m hurdles will feature David Oliver, Jason Richardson, Aries Merritt, Joel Brown and Dwight Thomas.  David Oliver will be hoping to recapture his 2010 form where he posted several sub-13 seconds. Richardson returns to the Daegu track where he won the world championship men’s 110 hurdles title less than a year ago. Merritt has been running well recently and  Jamaica's Dwight Thomas will be making his season debut. Foster-Hylton, Simpson, and Sinclair Set to Compete Brigitte Foster-Hylton (Jamaica) who has a season best 12.51 seconds in the women’s 100 hurdles which she established on May 5th at the Jamaican Invitational will match strides with Americans Dawn Harper, Yvette Lewis and Kellie Wells. Trinidad’s Alyssia Barber is also set to compete along with Canada’s Felicien Perdita. Jamaica’s Sherone Simpson will face Lashaunte Moore and Charanda Williams in the women’s 200m. But the final outcome could be decided by Laverne Jones (US Virgin Island) and the fast-improving Nigerian Gloria Asumnu. Kenia Sinclair (Jamaica) is set to make her season debut in the women’s 1500m.