Sports / Other Sports |
Wariner, Liu, Jackson, Williams set for 'World' dress rehearsal(IAAF)Updated: 2007-04-27 14:57 Three reigning individual World champions from Helsinki 2005 will take part in the 2007 IAAF Osaka GP on Saturday 5 May. This IAAF Grand Prix status meeting as part of the IAAF World Athletics Tour 2007 will be held in the Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Japan, which will also be the venue for the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, 25 August to 2 September. USA's Jeremy Wariner, the World and Olympic champion for the menĄŻs 400m, Bershawn Jackson, the World 400m Hurdles gold medallist, and Lauryn Williams, the womenĄŻs World 100m titleholder will line-up in their respective championship winning disciplines on 5 May. Wariner has his USA teammate Darold Williamson for company in the 400m, the latter having been a member of the gold medal winning 4x400m quartets in Athens (2004) and Helsinki (2005), which in the case of the Olympics saw Williamson take on the role of anchor leg. The 400m Hurdles is red hot with Jackson facing James Carter (USA) and Dai Tamesue (JPN), the men who respectively took the silver and bronze behind him in Helsinki. Lauryn Williams comes up against a largely Japanese domestic field, though Cydonie Mothersill (CAY), a World Champs 200m finalist, should offer a stiff international challenge. China's Olympic 110m Hurdles champion and World recordholder Liu Xiang is along with the American trio the other star name on the Osaka card, with compatriot Shi Dongpeng set to be his best opponent in the sprint hurdles. |
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