Elton Tucker, Assistant Sport Editor
Former world 100 metres record holder Asafa Powell (right) and his coach, Stephen Francis, in a relaxed mood at an early morning training session for the MVP Track Club at the Stadium East yesterday. Powell will run in the heats of the men's 100m on today's opening day of the National Senior Championships. - Contributed
IN BEIJING, from August 15-24, it will be all for country in track and field, but today and over the next two days, it will be individual versus individual at the 2008 National Senior Cham-pionships.
The best the island has to offer will be on show at the National Stadium over the three days. Action starts at 3:00 p.m. today with the 100m hurdles for athletes in the heptathlon.
The big prizes over the three days will be spots on the national team to the prestigious XXIX Olympiad in Beijing where the track-and-field events begin in mid-August.
Worldwide interest
Interest in this year's meet, dubbed 'Destination Beijing' is at an all-time high. Jamaica now parades the two fastest men in history, world 100m record holder Usain Bolt and the man he took the crown from, Asafa Powell.
The expected showdown has attracted worldwide interest. Journalists, both print and television, from as far away as Japan and France, are already here for what has been building up as perhaps the greatest sprint clash on local soil.
Bolt, with his world-record 9.72 seconds, and Powell, 9.74, have been throwing cold water on talk of a clash between the two. According to both, they will just be concentrating on making the team to China.
"I will be running just to make sure I finish in the top three," Powell, who has a 2008 best of 9.96, said yesterday.
While Powell and Bolt appear to be 'sure things' for two of the individual spots in the men's 100m, the contest for the remaining place will be hot. Powell's MVP clubmates Nesta Carter and Michael Frater are both expected to run personal best times.
Julien Dunkley has clocked 10.07 at altitude this season and is the Jamaica number three this season, while the evergreen 33-year-old Clement Campbell ran very well at last year's championships and went on to reach the semi-finals at last year's World Championships in Osaka, Japan. The heats of the men's 100m will be run this evening starting at 7:25.
The women's 100m will also feature a high-class field. It is headed by world leader and 2007 world champion Veronica Camp-bell-Brown. Campbell-Brown, who is eyeing a sprint double at the Beijing Games, said yesterday that she was in excellent shape for the meet.
'Run really good races'
"I am really looking forward to this championships as part of my preparation towards the big picture - this summer in Beijing. I am just coming here to have fun and run some really good races," Campbell-Brown said.
She will be tested by Sherone Simpson who was the fastest woman in the world over both 100m and 200m in 2006. After an injury-plagued 2007, Simpson is approaching the form which saw her clock 22.00 and 10.82 two years ago. Also expected to run well are Kerron Stewart with a 2008 best of 10.96, Simone Facey, 10.95 at high altitude, and Sheri-Ann Brooks, 11.14.
The heats of the women's 100m will start at 7:10 p.m.
Today's events
TRACK
AFTERNOON SESSION
| 3:00: | 100m Hurdles | Heptathlon |
| 5:15 | 100m Masters | Men Final |
|
Men Final
Men Final
Women Heats
Men Heats
| 6:20 | 800m Women Heats |
| 6:30 | 800m Men Heats |
| 6:40 | 5000m Men Final |
| 7:00 | PRESENTATION |
| 7:10 | 100m Women Heats |
| 7:25 | 100m Men Heats |
| 8:10 | 400m Women Heats |
| 8:25 | 400m Men Heats |
| 8:50 | PRESENTATION |
| 8:55 | 200m Heptathlon Women |
|
FIELD
AFTERNOON SESSION
| 3:45 | High Jump Heptathlon |
| 5:30 | Shot Put |
|
Heptathlon Women
Long Jump Women Final
Javelin Men Final
| 7:30 | Triple Jump Men Final |
