27.08.2010

Super six get set for series final

Six of the biggest names in Australian track and field will tonight feature in Round 14 of the IAAF Diamond League tour in Brussels (BEL), the final stopover of the 2010 series.

World champions Steve Hooker (pole vault) and Dani Samuels (discus throw) will spearhead a high-flying Australian assault, the two world title-holders to be joined in Brussels by Olympic silver medallist Sally Pearson (100m hurdles), national 10,000m record-holder Collis Birmingham (1500m) and reigning Australian champions Jarrod Bannister (javelin throw) and Ben Offereins (400m) on a night of all-star athletics action at the Memorial van Damme meet.

In the second of two series finals a further 16 athletes will be crowned winners of the lucrative Diamond Race and pocket the USD$40,000 cash bonus up for grabs, adding their names to the 16 athletes who took out Diamond Race titles in Zurich (SUI) last weekend.

Following a rollercoaster Diamond League series world, Olympic, world indoor and Commonwealth Games champion Steve Hooker will be looking to round out his campaign on a high in Brussels tonight but will face tough opposition in the form of world championships bronze medallist and Diamond Race leader Renaud Lavillenie (FRA).

Lining up at all six pole vault events contested on the Diamond League circuit so far Hooker has twice finished runner-up to his French nemesis – in New York (USA) in June and Lausanne (SUI) the following month – and will no doubt be looking for the elusive win when competition get under way.

Fellow world champion Dani Samuels will also be on the hunt for her maiden Diamond League crown after finishing second, third and fourth at the Doha (QAT), Lausanne and Paris (FRA) editions of the worldwide series.

Standing in Samuels’ way will be world championships silver medallist Yarelis Barrios (CUB), who has proven the dominant force of the Diamond League circuit and needs only to finish third or better in Brussels tomorrow night to secure the coveted Diamond Race title and winner’s cash jackpot.

In-form hurdles star Sally Pearson will headline Australia’s assault on the track as she continues a stellar lead-in to the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi (IND) in October. Debuting at the New York edition of the Diamond League series in eighth place, the reigning Olympic silver medallist went on to place third in Monaco (MON) before claiming a stellar win on the Stockholm (SWE) leg of the tour in a season-best time of 12.57 (w:0.2).

In London a fortnight ago Pearson notched up her third podium finish on the Diamond League tour with a second placing, the 23-year-old Queenslander showing she is once again in ominous form following the back injury that threatened to derail her 2009 world championships campaign.

Joining Pearson on the track will be national 10,000m record-holder Collis Birmingham, the Commonwealth Games 5000m and 10,000m nominee to test his speed over 1500m against a gun field that is dominated by African representatives.

Birmingham has enjoyed a solid season on the all-new Diamond League circuit, clocking a new personal best time of 13:10.97 over 5000m at the Eugene (USA) meet in July, exactly one year ago to the day since recording his previous best time over the distance. He went on to place 18th over 5000m in Stockholm in Round 11 of the series before clocking a new personal best time of 7:42.39 over 3000m the following week in London to place fourth, crossing the line ahead of national 5000m record-holder Craig Mottram in the pair’s first meeting on the track since 2008.

Twenty-five-year-old Birmingham will line up as the sole Australian in the event following the withdrawal of recently-crowned national 1500m record-holder Ryan Gregson, the New South Welshman opting to focus on next week’s Continental Cup in Split, Croatia, where he will take on both the 800m and 1500m events.

Also stepping out in Brussels tonight and looking to round out his Diamond League season on the right note will be javelin thrower Jarrod Bannister, who takes on 2007 world champion Tero Pitkamaki and reigning title-holder Andreas Thorkildsen in a world-class field that is sure to test the Victorian’s mettle. In three appearances on the Diamond League circuit Bannister has placed sixth in Lausanne, fourth in Paris and sixth in Stockholm to prove he is on song with the world leaders in 2010.

In one of several non-Diamond League events on the program, national one-lap champion Ben Offereins will take on the 400m ahead of his entry to the event in the Continental Cup and his Commonwealth Games debut.

IAAF Diamond League – Round 14
Brussels (BEL)
Friday August 27, 2010

17:55PM (01:55AM Saturday, August 28 AEST)
Discus throw: Dani Samuels

19:30PM (03:30AM Saturday, August 28 AEST )
Pole vault: Steve Hooker

20:25PM (04:25AM Saturday, August 28 AEST )
400m: Ben Offereins (non-Diamond League event)

20:40PM (04:40AM Saturday, August 28 AEST)
Javelin throw: Jarrod Bannister

21:10PM (05:10AM Saturday, August 28 AEST)
1500m: Collis Birmingham

21:20PM (05:20AM Saturday, August 28 AEST)
100m hurdles: Sally Pearson