Powell, Bailey-Cole rematch at IAAF world challenge meet in Zagreb

Kemar Bailey-Cole (Photo – Getty Images)

Weltklasse Diamond League winner and Commonwealth Champion Kemar Bailey-Cole will once again match strides with compatriot Asafa Powell in the men’s 100m at the Boris Hanzekovic Memorial, the penultimate IAAF World Challenge meeting of 2014.

They will be joined by informed USA’s sprinters Michael Rodgers and Ryan Bailey, Great Britain’s European bronze medallist Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and fellow countryman Chijindu Ujah. The field is completed by Caribbean athletes, Veteran Kim Collins of St. Kitts and Nevis and the T&T star Richard Thompson.

The men’s 100B race will see another Jamaican entrant in the form of SheldonMitchell. Quartermiler Edino Steele will come face to face with the inform Botswanian athlete Isaac Makwala and Great Britain’s Martyn Rooney.

Headlining the meet will be local stars, 2014 Diamond League dicuss winner Sandra Perkovic. High jump queen Blanka Vlasic and teammate Ana Simic will also command much of the spotlight in the Croatian capital Zagreb

USA’s Olympic champion and world record-holder Aries Merritt is the star attraction in a field that includes two-time European champion Sergey Shubenkov of Russia and Cuba’s in-form Orlando Ortega.Tiffany Porter of Great Britain will match up USA athlete Nia Ali in the women’s sprint hurdles.

The men’s shot put is expected to bring a lot of fans and will see the assembling of a strong line up with the likes of Poland’s two-time Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski and the US trio of Christian Cantwell, who set the meeting record of 22.22m in 2010, 2014 world leader Joe Kovacs, the only man over 22 metres this year with his 22.03m heave to take the US title, and Diamond Race winner Reese Hoffa, who arrives with the momentum of four straight victories.