David Rudisha winning a previous 800m in New York diamond league
Kenya’s David Lekuta Rudisha will be among the three most coveted star athletes alongside Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Usain Bolt to grace the first final of the 2014 IAAF Diamond League series at Letzigrund Stadium this year in Weltklasse Zürich on 28 August, organizers announced yesterday, Monday 21.
Newly-minted French 800m record holder Pierre-Ambroise Bosse, has already accepted the Weltklasse Zurich invitation.
The favorite for the European Athletics Championships, will face Kenya’s world record holder Rudisha who is also London 2012 Olympic Games champion, Botswana’s world junior record holder and current world leader Nijel Amos, as well as Kenya’s two-time 1500m world champion Asbel Kiprop.
Jamaica’s Usain bolt and Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce
In the women’s 100m, Jamaica’s Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will race USA’s Tori Bowie, the current world leader following her 10.80 run in Monaco on Friday.
Fraser-Pryce will also lead Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team, who will compete against the young Swiss squad for the Zurich Trophy.
The women’s 100m hurdles is a perfect example about the Weltklasse Zurich’s ability to bring together high calibre fields having the fastest seven hurdlers, including 2014 world leader Dawn Harper-Nelson, 2013 world champion Brianna Rollins, experienced US star Lolo Jones, 2012 Olympic champion Sally Pearson, as well as France’s Zurich 2014 favourite Cindy Billaud have already been signed for the race.
Usain Bolt, despite his late start into the 2014 outdoor season, will also run the 100m on the brand-new ‘magic track’ at Letzigrund Stadium this year.
In his seventh appearance at the prestigious meeting, Bolt will be challenged by several finalists of the European Athletics Championships Zurich 2014.
One of the chief organizers of the event was very optimistic of a great show with all his targeted stars having accepted the invitation,“Our meeting will be held only 11 days after Zurich 2014. The best Europeans will return to Letzigrund Stadium to compete against the best athletes of the rest of the world,” explained Andreas Hediger, who is responsible for inviting the athletes to Weltklasse Zurich.
One month prior to the meeting, the provisional start lists already indicate that Weltklasse Zurich will be living up to its reputation of signing the best athletes of the world once again.
“We will of course wait and see what will happen during the European Championships,” concluded Andreas Hediger.
Author: Shadrack Andenga Odinga/source