12.08.2009

Super Sally one to watch in world sticks showdown

Will we see a more wide-open event at the 2009 world championships than the women's 100m hurdles? Aussie young gun Sally McLellan will be right in the thick of the action when the much-anticipated event gets under way at Berlin's Olympic Stadium on day four of the 12th IAAF world titles.

You could make a serious case for more than half a dozen athletes in the field and the fact that the main protagonists have frequently met on the circuit this season only whets the appetite further. The season’s fastest – Lolo Jones – crashed out of the semi-finals of the US championships and failed to qualify for Berlin but even in her absence there are many reasons to look forward to the event.

Jones’ US countrywoman Michelle Perry is bidding to become the first woman to win a hat-trick of world 100m hurdles titles but faces a tough task. Perry’s season-best time of 12.74 is some way down on the world leaders and although she won at Prefontaine and was second in Paris, she has struggled for consistency and has had injury issues in the countdown to Berlin.

Perry’s training partner, Olympic champion Dawn Harper, is earning an enviable reputation for rising to the big occasion. She also landed the US title with a wind-aided 12.36 and was an impressive winner in Paris and Rome. However, her season has not been without fault and she was disappointed to place sixth in Lausanne and Monaco.

The most consistent athlete this year is Australia’s Olympic silver medalist Sally McLellan. The 22-year-old possesses a blistering start and set an area record of 12.50 to win in Monaco. With wins in Lausanne and London also behind her this season McLellan can approach the championships full of confidence.

The Olympic bronze medalist Priscilla Lopes-Schliep is another who can go into Berlin in a positive frame of mind. The popular Canadian appears to be rounding into form at the right stage of the season and has posted her three fastest times of the season in her last three races – Monaco 12.54, Stockholm heats (12.53) and Stockholm final (12.51).

Lopes-Schliep’s teammate, the 2003 world champion Perdita Felicien, also knows what it takes to win this title. The Canadian champion has steadily improved this season and set a season’s best of 12.53 in the Stockholm heats – her final pre-Berlin meeting.

The US quartet is completed by Damu Cherry and Ginnie Powell. Cherry recorded victories in the opening two Golden League meetings of the season in Berlin and Oslo and after finishing fourth in the Olympic final last year she boasts strong credentials. Powell – training partner to Perry and Harper – finished second at the US championships to qualify and boasts a season’s best of 12.64. She has, however, achieved just one top three finish - in Paris – since qualifying for the US team.

The 34-year-old Jamaican duo of Brigitte Foster-Hylton and Delloreen Ennis-London are also contenders. Foster-Hylton has steadily improved this season, registering a season’s best of 12.57 in Stockholm, although she is yet to win a final this season. Ennis-London, meanwhile, will be seeking to complete the set of World championships medals in Berlin. The silver medalist in 2005 and bronze medalist two years ago in Osaka has a season’s best of 12.60 and remains a formidable competitor.

Other names to look out for are: Lucie Skrobakova (12.73) of the Czech Republic, Lacena Golding-Clarke of Jamaica (12.73) and Christina Vukicevic (12.74) of Norway.

Courtesy of the IAAF