Veronica Campbell-Brown beats Shelly-Ann Fraser and Carmelita Jeter in the 100m at the Prefontaine Classic (© Kirby Lee)
Asafa Powell, Carmelita Jeter and Veronica Campbell-Brown will headline their respective 100m fields at the Dunlop Shanghai Golden Grand Prix on 15 May, the second stop on the 14-meeting Samsung Diamond League series.
Powell, the former 100m World record holder, is expected to use the Shanghai race as a key part of his build-up towards his first Diamond Race Trophy after injury forced the Jamaican to pull out of DN Galan Samsung Diamond League fixture in Stockholm last August.
The 28-year-old has three former World records in his armoury, his lifetime best of 9.72 stemming from three years ago, making him third fastest in the history of the sport. He has also run the 100m under 10 seconds more than any other man on the planet, no fewer than 65 times.
The Shanghai race will also be a key test of whether Powell can regain the 100m World record now held by Usain Bolt. Powell had held the record for three years before it was bested by Bolt at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
On the women’s side, reigning Diamond Race 100m champion, Jeter has a showdown with Jamaica’s Campbell Brown, the two-time Olympic 200m gold medallist and 2007 World champion at 100m.
Last year these two slugged it out to a 2-2 draw in their four head-to-head meetings so Shanghai is in for yet another titanic battle.
A dominant force in the women’s 100m, Jeter captured Samsung Diamond League wins in Shanghai, Lausanne and Monaco last year. In 2009 she set a breathtaking lifetime best of 10.64 in Shanghai to become the second fastest woman in history.
But Campbell-Brown is expected to challenge Jeter’s dominance in the 100m. She came out on top with her best ever time of 10.78 to Jeter’s 10.82 in the Eugene stop of the Samsung Diamond League series last July.
Also announced were Finnish javelin thrower and former World champion Tero Pitkamaki and three times World Long Jump champion Dwight Phillips.
It will also be the second time that Phillips, the 2004 Olympic champion, will compete in Shanghai. The American achieved one of his best years in 2010, collecting victories in Monaco, London, Zurich, and Rome.
Phillips has the distinction of being only the second long jumper in history to win three World titles in the event, the other being Cuba’s Ivan Pedroso. In Daegu this summer he will be aiming to be the only man to capture a fourth.
Pitkamaki, the 2007 World champion, is well known for his legendary rivalry with reigning Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen. Since their first meet at the 2001 European Junior Championships, the pair have squared off more than 50 times. The pair are set to square off again in Shanghai as Thorkildsen has also confirmed his participation.
The latest stars join Chinese hurdler and 2004 Athens Olympic champion Liu Xiang and American 110m Hurdles record holder David Oliver who have already been announced.
Samsung Diamond League
