T&T's Richard Thompson, Jarrin Solomon, Cleopatra Borel and Jehue Gordon will all have to shrug off any fatigue left from the London Olympics as they are expected to line up in their respective events today at the DN Galan Diamond League meeting in Stockholm, Sweden. The Diamond League event is the first major track meet after the London Games and is being held at the historical Stockholm Olympic Stadium. The DN Galan is a leading track and field meeting and the largest annual sporting event in Sweden. Thompson, who walked away with an Olympic bronze medal in the men's 4x100m relay with team-mates Keston Bledman, Marc Burns and Emmanuel Callender, will be contesting the men's 100m along with USA's Ryan Bailey and Jamaica's Nesta Carter. At the Olympics, Bailey was ahead of the "Torpedo" in the men's 100m final where he placed fifth, to equal his personal best (pb) of 9.88s. The American was also in front of Thompson in the men's 4x100m relay final where USA walked away with a silver in 37.04s, to set a new national record. Carter led off the Jamaican 4x100 relay team which won in a new world record time of 36.84s.
Gordon will also have things cut out for him as he lines up with Felix Sanchez (Dominican Republic) and Michael Tinsley (USA) who claimed gold and silver respectively in the men's Olympic 400m hurdles final. Sanchez surprised all when he crossed the finish line first in a season best (sb) time of 47.63, while Tinsley trailed behind with a pb of 47.91. Solomon should have no problem medalling in the men's 400m as he enters the event with the second fastest sb time of 45.31, which is also his pb. Sudanese athlete, Rabah Yousif, is the fastest runner of the event with a season and personal best time of 45.13. Together with 400m bronze medallist, Lalonde Gordon, Ade Alleyne-Forte and Deon Lendore, Solomon got bronze in the men's 4x400m relay with a new national record time of 2:59.40. Borel will face Olympic shot put champion, Valerie Adams (New Zealand), and Evgeniia Kolodko (Russia) in the women's event. Adams and Kolodko were awarded gold and silver respectively following the disqualification of gold medallist, Nadzeya Ostapchuk (Belarus), who failed a doping test. The disqualification also resulted in Borel being officially listed as a finalist, although she never got the opportunity to participate in the final. Originally the women's national shot put record holder, who has a season best of 18.69m, placed 13th in the Olympic qualifications, with a best throw of 18.36m and missed out on a top 12 spot for the final by nine centimetres.
Other Olympic champions expected to headline the DN Gala include: Sanya Richards-Ross (USA 400m, 4x400m), Anna Chicherova (RUS, high jump), Jennifer Suhr (USA, pole vault), Christian Taylor (USA, triple jump), Brittney Reese (USA, long jump), Tomasz Majewski (POL, shot put), Yuliya Zaripova (RUS, 3000m steeplechase), Taoufik Makhloufi (ALG, 1500m) and Sandra Perkovic (CRO, discus throw). Makhloufi will be running the 800m in Stockholm. He was initially kicked out of the London Games for presumably not trying hard enough in the 800-quitting the race on the first lap after he had reached the final of the 1,500-but was allowed back after a doctor took his side. Any athlete who breaks a stadium record in Stockholm will be given a one-carat diamond and Richards-Ross told the Associated Press she is intent on adding one of those to her gold medals. "I really hope to take on the stadium record tomorrow," said Richards-Ross, "I've set a goal of mine here in Stockholm-I need to get that diamond." The Diamond League consists of 14 top athletics meets, with points awarded to the top finishers in each discipline at every event. The overall winner in each discipline at the end of the season is also given a US$40,000 prize along with a diamond trophy.
