Doha: Former Olympic champion Justin Gatlin will be trying to extend his winning streak of 15 races when he opens his campaign in the opening round of the Diamond League meet in Doha today.
For the American, like so many of the top contenders, the Doha meet today will be an indication of how their seasons might go. It will also be in the back of many minds that it’s only a year until the Olympics.
Last year the 33-year-old veteran, the 100m gold medalist at the 2004 Olympic Games took the spotlight in 2014, as he remained unbeaten for the whole season and registered the fastest time of the year in both 100m and 200m, setting a season-best 9.77 seconds to mark him out as the man closest to chasing down Usain Bolt.
With Bolt scheduled to open his season later this month, Gatlin will race against Jamaican sprinter Nesta Carter, former world champion Kim Collins and American relay teammate Michael Rodgers.
Bolt and the worlds aren’t far from his mind, though.
‘’I’m not going to see him probably until the world championships,’’ Gatlin said.
“To build that pressure up is to go out and run fast, run competitive, and show that I’m very strong and ready to run. On that moment, on that day, hopefully we both make it to the finals, we’ll be ready to run and run very fast.’’
Qatar’s sprinter Femi Ogunode, who will celebrate his 24th birthday on the day of the Doha meeting, is also a serious contender in Doha after he improved the Asian record to 9.93 en route to win at the Asian Games in Incheon last September. The 100m race is among a number of highlights in a meet which has attracted some of the sport’s biggest names, including, Britain’s double Olympian Mo Farah and America’s 200m Olympic champion Allyson Felix, who will be seeking an 11th victory in Qatar.
Even the late withdrawal through injury this week of French pole vault world record holder Renaud Lavillenie has failed to dampen expectations over the athletics season’s curtain-raiser.
Ethiopia’s Aman and Kenya’s Kiprop clash in the 800m, the distance which the former is currently the world champion, both indoors and outdoors.
But it is the 21-year-old’s first race of the season and although he won at the same meet in Qatar last year, he is likely to come under pressure from Kiprop, the current 1500m world champion who won over 800m in Doha in 2011. Local interest in this race will come in the shape of Qatar’s Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla, who won the Arab Championships title in April.
Another middle-distance highlight is the Doha debut of Farah.
The Briton, the current world, Olympic and European champion at 5,000m and 10,000m said on Twitter that he was “good to go” on Friday and has been pictured enjoying himself on a Doha beach.
But he has been warned he will be challenged by Kenya’s Isaiah Kiplangat, who was reported as saying earlier this week: “I will see where I belong at the Doha meeting. “The season is starting and every athlete wants to win. But I have to see how I fare on with the best and that is why it is important to put in my best against Farah.”
In the women’s events, Felix will be seeking a third 200m Doha victory to go with her three over 100m and five at 400m in Qatar.
“It’s no secret I love competing in Doha,” she said on Twitter.
The Peninsula
