With just less than a week to go to the IAAF/VTB Bank Continental Cup
the track world is ready to tackle a brand new challenge in this newly
revamped team competition which takes over from the late IAAF World Cup.
This time around only four teams – Africa, Americas, Asia/Pacific and
Europe – will field two scoring men and two women* in each event on the
two-day programme to win the overall Continental Cup Trophy.
Let’s take a look at the women’s events…
Sprints and hurdles
It
is probably safe to say that the championship records carried over from
the IAAF World Cup in the flat sprint events (10.65, 21.62, 47.60) will
remain unchallenged this weekend, but there should at least be some
very competitive races. In the 100m Trinidad’s national record-holder
Kelly-Ann Baptiste will clash with African champion Blessing Okagbare,
who will by vying for Africa’s first ever 100m victory at this event,
while the top two from the European Championships – Verena Sailer and
Veronique Mang – will find strong opposition in the form of Shalonda
Solomon and Ruddy Zang Milama.
The in-form athletes in the 200m
are Russian Champion Aleksandra Fedoriva and Central American and
Caribbean Games Champion Cydonie Mothersill, but European silver
medallist Yelizaveta Bryzgina and US champion Connie Moore will both
pose a strong threat.
A high-quality women’s 400m sees Olympic
silver medallist Shericka Williams face off with European champion
Tatyana Firova, World Indoor Champion Debbie Dunn and African champion
Amantle Montsho. All are sub-50 athletes at best and with so few
49-second clockings this season, can this event round out the season on a
high?
The 100m Hurdles is also a top-notch event with Olympic
silver medallist Sally Pearson of Australia taking on the top two from
the European Championships – Nevin Yanit and Derval O’Rourke – as well
as the top two from the World Indoor Championships – Lolo Jones and
Perdita Felicien. With such talent, the Championship Record of 12.60
looks to be in serious threat.
In the 400m Hurdles European Champion Natalya Antyukh will renew her rivalry with European silver medallist Vania Stambolova.
Meanwhile
Nigeria’s Adjoke Odumosu will be looking to prove that her finish ahead
of Antyukh in Zurich was no fluke, and at the same time will try to get
one up on Morocco’s Hayat Lambarki, the surprise winner at the African
Championships.