The clash of the two sprint nations Jamaica and the USA will represent one the main features of Weltklasse Zürich this year. World record holder, Olympic and world champion Usain Bolt will lead the Jamaican squad, while Tyson Gay and his US colleagues will be their strongest opponents. In the women’s races, Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown and US sprint star Carmelita Jeter will compete in another duel between the two current leading sprint nations.
The Zurich Trophy - already a traditional relay finale to the fireworks of athletics at Letzigrund Stadium - will be a special highlight in 2010: The Usain Bolt-anchored Jamaican team with Mario Forsythe, Yohan Blake, and Marvin Anderson will be facing a US team who will set out to write relay history. Their cast will be star-studded: Wallace Spearmon, Walter Dix, and Tyson Gay rank third, fifth and seventh in the 200m all-time top list, and all of them have broken the 20-second barrier already this season. In addition, Trell Kimmons, one of the best relay start runners will open the race for the US team. Kimmons had led the US junior relay team to a world record a couple of years ago. However, the Jamaicans, who have been able to train as a team for quite some time, will be able to count on the likes of Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake - some of the world’s most brilliant 200m runners. The Swiss team will be playing a supporting role in this 4x100m thriller. However, just as in 2009, they might as well be cheered on to run another Swiss record (38.78) by the legendary Letzigrund fans again.
Jamaica versus USA
The sprint clash between Jamaica and the USA will also be noticeable in the individual races. In the men’s 200m, the two young stars Walter Dix (USA) and Yohan Blake (JAM) will be lining up against each other, but they will also be challenging the current sprint heroes Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay who will both be focusing on the relays. Dix and Blake will also try and benefit from the wide bends of the Letzigrund track to improve their respective personal bests. In the women’s 100m, US sprinter Carmelita Jeter plans to win the race. The second fastest 100m runner of all times has won nine out of ten races so far this year. In her only defeat, however, she lost against 2010 world leader Veronica Campbell-Brown. With her three Olympic titles, one world championship gold medal, and as many as six medals at Olympic Games and world championships, the Jamaican star is not only the most decorated female sprinter of all times, she also demonstrated her ability to handle pressure fantastically on several occasions. Thus, Jeter may be the favourite, but winning the race will hardly be a walk in the park.
Usain Bolt on sportpanorama
Letzigrund Stadium is once again sold out for the meeting. Fans who were not able to get hold of a stadium ticket will have the opportunity to watch a full live coverage of the Diamond League final on Thursday, 19 August on SF2. On Friday, 13 August, as of 10 a.m., some (very few) tickets will be available again online. Meeting Director Patrick K. Magyar promises, “We will once again give it our best to enable a fantastic TV coverage. We will work with Swiss TV to provide viewers with stunning television images.”
The reigning ‘king of sprint’ Usain Bolt will appear on Swiss TV four days prior to the meeting: He will be a guest on the weekly sports show “sportpanorama” (SF2, as of 6.15 p.m.).
