Photo: World Championship 200m silver medalist Elaine Thompson will face nemesis Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands and Allyson Felix of the USA tomorrow in a monumental showdown in Brussels.
Unlike the top two male sprinters at the Beijing World Championship Justin Gatlin and Usain Bolt who choose not to go head to head at the series ending AG Insurance Van Damme Brussels, Belgium Diamond League, fans need not to be dismayed, because the women’s 200m will be a thriller, not just two, but three the hard way, or rather the fast way.
This will be a grand showdown and a fitting end to a wonderful season as the world 400 champion Allyson Felix, the freshly crowned 200m champion Dafne Schippers and the nippy world championship 200m silver medalist Elaine Thompson close their seasons in a battle royale and steal the thunder from the men for a change. The meet which concludes the 2015 IAAF Diamond League Series is scheduled for this Thursday, September 11, inside the King Baudouin Stadium.
After winning World 200m title and World Silver in the 100m in Beijing, the Dutch sprint star returned to track with an 11.12 seconds win over the 100m at the 2015 Flame Games in Amsterdam last Saturday. Last Thursday,Thompson secured victory in the 100B race at the Zurich Diamond league in 11.06 seconds, while Felix will be in her first outing since lifting her first 400m title in Beijing and will want to defend the race she also won at the 2014 edition.
The field is completed by Jamaican Sherone Simpson, USA’s Candyce Mcgrone and Jeneba Tarmoh, Great Britain’s Jodie Williams and the Belgium duo of Olivia Borlee and Cynthia Bolingo. Felix leads the Diamond race with 10 points ahead of teammate Tarmoh, 9 points with Mcgrone and Schippers tied on 3 points in third.
Despite the World Champion Bolt, announcing that he has called an end to his 2015 season, hence missing the 200m, the event will still provide a keen contest with 400m World Champion Wayde van Niekerk and fellow country man South African record-holder and world bronze medalist Anaso Jobodwana seeking to topple the USA’s 200m world Silver medalist Justin Gatlin. Nickel Ashmeade and Alanso Edwards of Panama who has already wrapped up the Diamond League 200m title at last Thursday’s meeting in Zurich are also in the lineup.
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