Next big event on the track and field scene locally is the fourth renewal of the Jamaica International Invitational meet set for May 3 at the National Stadium.
Olympian Don Quarrie, the man who makes all the contacts for the organisers, has announced some really top drawing cards for the event including Jamaica's women's World 100m champion Veronica Campbell-Brown, men's World 100m and 200m champion, American Tyson Gay, the 200m silver medalist Usain Bolt, the 200m bronze medallist Wallace Spearmon, World 4x400m relay gold medalist, Jamaica-born American Sanya Richards, and LaShinda Demus, the 2005 World Championships 400m hurdles silver medalist who took time-off last year to have twin boys.
The big disappointment is the absence of the leading runners from the mighty MVP Track Club. Quarrie announced yesterday that Asafa Powell and company will be competing elsewhere on the same weekend.
World record
While there would have been no clash between MVP's main man and Gay in the 100m fans would have liked to see the world record holder grace the National Stadium track in an individual event. Only recently he was billed for the 200m at the University of Technology's 50th anniversary meet, but competed only in the 4x100m where he led his team to a then world-leading 39.22 seconds for the sprint relay.
Many fans of Sherone Simpson would also have liked to see an early clash between the Athens relays gold medallist and Campbell-Brown in the 200m. The last time the two met over the distance at the Jamaica Invitational meet in 2006, Simpson scored a convincing victory and another battle between the two would really have set the National Stadium alight.
Simpson nursed an injury while Campbell-Brown mined gold in the 100m at the World Championships last year in Osaka, Japan. The top MVP female star has looked really strong this year after a rough 2007 and appears to be regaining her 2006 form. Last year at the Jamaica Invitational, Campbell-Brown won the 100m, while Simpson was second in the 200m to American Rachelle Smith.
Gold medallist
The women's 100m hurdles could also have featured a clash between Brigitte Foster-Hylton of MVP and Delloreen Ennis-London. With Foster-Hylton out with injury last year, Ennis-London took the spotlight at the World Championships with a third place finish behind American gold medallist Michelle Perry. Ennis-London showed in that race that she was in the form of her life by running a personal best 12.50. Foster-Hylton recently showed that she was recovering well from last year's injuries by winning the women's 100m hurdles at the UTech meet.
The meet should, however, still be a good one, even with the MVP stars missing.
There is already a big duel lined up between Bolt and Spearmon in the 100m. The two have shared victories on numerous occasions in the 200m and this will prove who is fastest over the shorter sprint.
There will be no one to really test Gay over 200m, but his form and his final time will be closely watched, especially by the Powell camp, three months before the Olympics begins in Beijing. Last weekend Gay ran the anchor leg on an American 'Blue' quartet which ran a world-leading 38.63 for 4x100m at the Texas Relays in Austin. The other members of the quartet were Preston Perry, Leroy Dixon and Michael Rodgers.
Another big match-up is expected in the women's 400m where Richards will meet her compatriot Dee Trotter and Jamaica's Novlene Williams. Williams showed big improvement in the event at last year's World Championships and looked set for gold before tiring badly in the last 20 metres. At this year's meet she gets a good chance to measure her current progress against two of the best in the world.
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