Usain Bolt running in the 100m heats at the 2008 Jamaican Champs (© Sporting Eagle)
Zürich, SwitzerlandTwo months before this year’s Weltklasse Zürich meeting - ÅF Golden League – on 29 August the World 100m record holder** Usain Bolt (JAM) has been added to its illustrious list of participants.
Bolt is the second of the two rising stars of the current athletics season to
confirm his participation already. Dayron Robles (CUB), who recently set a new World record holder** for the 110m Hurdles, had been signed in May.
With their meteoric success, Bolt and Robles - both only 21 years old - are the young and bold stars of the current Olympic season. Bolt is the fastest man on earth after lowering Asafa Powell’s 100m world record by two hundredths of a second to 9.72 in New York on 31 May, and Robles set a new world record in the high hurdles clocking 12.87 in Ostrava on 12 June
.
Neither Bolt nor Robles are newcomers in the Letzigrund Stadium. Last year, placed second in the 200m, and Robles won his race, after placing second in his debut at Weltklasse Zürich in 2006.
Meeting Director Patrick Magyar ascribes the early confirmations also to the excellent relations Weltklasse Zürich maintains with athletes and their environment. In Zurich, even seemingly small things matter, and receive best care and attention. „Usain and Dayron are both much courted. Their early decision to compete in Zurich is also a compliment to our entire team, who always does its utmost to create ideal conditions in every respect.”
Farewell to Mutola
Another example for such personal, longstanding relationships is Maria Mutola, who will compete in the Letzigrund Stadium for the very last time. Over the course of her career, she has run 14 times in Zurich, and on 12 occasions, she crossed the finishing line first - a series that may remain unrivalled for quite some time.
Letzigrund stadium already nearly sold-out
The Weltklasse Zürich programme on 29 August promises a very special night of athletics at its best: Only five days after the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing, the top athletes will meet again for a big showdown in the Letzigrund Stadium. The stadium is nearly sold out; there are only a few hundred tickets (standing area and seats) left.
In May, the Weltklasse Zürich promoters had already announced numerous top stars. Further names will follow in July, after the various national qualifying procedures for the Olympic Games.
Johanna Kammann for the IAAF
** World record subject to usual ratification procedures