100 metres showdown remains greatest draw
LONDON (Reuters) - Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay, all sub-9.8 second performers, seek sprinting's ultimate validation in a 100 metres showdown that will be the highlight of the athletics programme at the Beijing Olympics.
Despite being badly tainted by the doping revelations that felled the men's winner from four years ago and the 2000 women's champion Marion Jones, the sport's blue riband race remains the most magnetic event of the Games.
At the other end of the scale the men's 10,000 metres could feature a 27-minute chess match between Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele and Haile Gebrselassie, the Ethiopian compatriot he usurped as the world's leading distance runner.
Chinese attention will focus on the 110 metres hurdles where Liu Xiang, the first man from his country to win an Olympic track gold medal, will try to repel Cuban Dayron Robles who took his world record in June.
Kenya's Pamela Jelimo, 18, will be the focus of attention on the women's side after her astonishing 800 metres performances this season and Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba will be trying to take both long distance golds.
The men's 100 metres in Athens four years ago was a classic, with the first five men breaking 10 seconds for the first time. Jamaican Powell came in fifth in 9.94 behind winner Justin Gatlin of the United States, who was later banned for doping.
A year later, on the same track, Powell set a world record of 9.77 and improved it to 9.74 in 2007.
Compatriot Bolt moved the mark on to 9.72 this year while Gay posted 9.77 plus a wind-assisted 9.68, the fastest time recorded for the distance. Continued...
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