2011 Aviva London Grand Prix Day 1 Preview
Kaki Versus Rudisha, Mo Farah, Kenia Sinclair, And A Great Men's 100 And Long Jump

By LetsRun.com
August 4, 2011

The 12th of 14 Diamond League meets takes place on Friday and Saturday in London.

We preview the mid-d and distance races that occur on Friday for you below. The preview of Saturday's events, which include the women's steeple, men's mile and women's 5,000, is here.

All times listed are Eastern Standard Times, so you can use this as an Internet viewing guide. We believe the television coverage begins at 2 pm on Friday and 9:30 am on Saturday. The timetable and start lists for all events can be accessed here.

In terms of non distance action, there is some good stuff as well on Friday, as David Oliver runs in the 100 hurdles and gets a rematch versus Jason Richardson who upset him in Stockholm, the injury prone Jenn Suhr vaults for just the second time since USAs, long jump world leader Mitchell Watt of Australia will battle with 2008 Olympic champ Irving Saldino and British record holder Chris Tomlinson, and six sub-10 guys in 2011 will race in the 100, including Asafa Powell. (update: Powell is out with injury)

*LRC Day 2 preview is here *IAAF Preview Here *Press Conference Highlights

Men's 800: At Last, The Dream Matchup Of Kaki Vs. Rudisha (And Symmonds, Too)
2:25 pm Eastern

Sometimes labels are misleading, don't judge a book by it's cover, etc. Everyone has heard it before but it's certainly true about the men's 800. The men's 800 isn't technically a "Diamond League" event in London but man it is a special race as at last track and field gets a matchup of its big two in a given event. Sprint fans may never get to see Tyson Gay race Usain Bolt, but 800 fans at last will get their wish.

Abubaker Kaki versus David Rudisha at 800 meters for the first time in 2011.

It doesn't get much better than that. But wait - US fans get to see how US champion Nick Symmonds compares against them as well in the last major outing prior to the World Championships. Quite honestly, as track fans, we think big-time matchups make sense earlier in the season so the anticipation for Worlds grows and grows, but we're certainly not complaining about this one. It couldn't get much better than this.

So basically this is a race that features Rudisha, who basically never loses, against Kaki, who never loses races that he finishes or which features Rudisha.

As we pointed out in our Birmingham preview last month, because he is overshadowed by Rudisha, people don't appreciate how good Kaki is. This year, he is undefeated in races that he finishes (he dropped out at New York earlier this year). Last year, he finished 14 800s (including heats) and he won 12 of the 14. He ran 1:42.23 and 1:43.84 in the two races that he lost to Rudisha. In 2009, he finished 5 races prior to Worlds and won all of them (although he also had one DNF) before he bombed out in the semis at Worlds. In 2008, he was a perfect 6-for-6 at 800 events heading into the Olympics, where he also bombed out in the semis.

Quick Thought (QT) #1: As good as Kaki is, Rudisha is nearly a second faster this year, so we be very surprised if Rudisha didn't come out on top.

QT #2: 800 fans should enjoy this matchup as given how strong his 1,500 went in Monaco (3:31.76), Kaki may end up in the 1,500 pretty soon.

QT #3: Given his 1,500 time, has anyone besides us thought maybe that Kaki's superior endurance would somehow enable him to shock Rudisha at the World Championships?

Athlete	DATE OF BIRTH	Nation	PB	SB
KAKI Abubaker	21.06.1989	SUD	1:42.23	1:43.68
LALANG Boaz Kiplagat	08.02.1989	KEN	1:42.95	1:44.20
MOHAMMED Mukhtar	01.12.1990	GBR	1:45.90	1:45.90
OSAGIE Andrew	19.02.1988	GBR	1:45.63	1:45.63
RIMMER Michael	03.02.1986	GBR	1:43.89	1:45.12
RUDISHA David	17.12.1988	KEN	1:41.01	1:42.61
SOM Bram	20.02.1980	NED	1:43.45	1:46.51
SYMMONDS Nick	30.12.1983	USA	1:43.76	1:43.83
TANGUI Sammy	16.09.1984	KEN	1:49.39
WARBURTON Gareth	23.04.1983	GBR	1:46.47	1:46.95

Men's 5,000: The Chase For The Olympic A Standard
2:56 pm Eastern

It looks as if this race is all about whether or not the contestants, including Americans Brandon Bethke and Ben True, can get the Olympic A standard of 13:20.00. Bethke and True were the 9th and 10th placers at USAs this year at 5,000.

2008 world junior 10,000 silver medallist Titus Mbishei of Kenya is the class of the field, having run 13:11 on July 22nd in Spain, but he's also entered in the 3,000, which is later in the day so we don't know what that means. Brit Chris Thompson, who was the European silver medallist at 10,000 last year and is now part of the Oregon Track Club, has run 13:11 in the past and did run a stellar 27:27 earlier in the year at 10,000, but he's been battling injuries since them so we'd be surprised if he was at the top of his game.

QT #1: Strange that the meet has a 3,000 and 5,000 on the same day.

Athlete	DATE OF BIRTH	Nation	PB	SB
BETHKE Brandon	19.01.1987	USA	13:25.82	13:25.82
BURAAS Sindre	03.05.1989	NOR	13:28.07	13:28.07
GABIUS Arne	22.03.1981	GER	13:26.69	13:35.90
LICHT Dennis	30.05.1984	NED	13:39.87	13:39.87
MBISHEI Titus Kipjumba	28.10.1990	KEN	13:00.04	13:11.76
MCLEOD Ryan	07.06.1985	GBR	13:41.35	13:41.35
MELLOR Jonathan	27.12.1986	GBR	13:54.96	13:54.96
MOEN Sondre Nordstad	12.01.1991	NOR	13:30.22	13:30.22
THOMPSON Chris	17.04.1981	GBR	13:11.51
TRUE Ben	29.12.1985	USA	13:24.11	13:24.11
VERNON Andy	07.01.1986	GBR	13:27.85	13:27.85
WALSH James	22.09.1981	GBR	13:46.25	13:46.25

Women's 800: Can Kenia Sinclair Keep It Going?
3:16 pm Eastern

The women's 800 features 2009 World Championships bronze medallist Jenny Meadows against the woman who has been the best in the world so far this year, Jamaica's Kenia Sinclair. Can Sinclair, who prior to this year was known for peaking way too early in the year, continue her hot streak?

Meadows, who won the British champs last week and will be joined by British runner-up Emma Jackson, third placer Marilyn Okoro and 4th-placer Lynsey Sharp.

We imagine some might be seeing the Russian name on the start list in Irinia Maracheva and her seasonal best of 1:58.71 and thinking it will be great to see how Sinclair and Meadows will stack up against a top Russian. If you are thinking that, then you are making a mistake of sorts, as Maracheva was only 9th in the 1,500 at the Russian champs. We guess her 9th place showing is a testament to the amazing depth of the Russian women in the mid-distances.

The lone Kenyan is worth paying attention to is 22-year-old Helen Obiri. Obiri was the shock winner of the Kenyan 1,500 trials earlier this year in a PR of 4:08.68, not fast enough for Worlds. We were surprised Kenya didn't send her to Europe to try to get a time and it will be interesting to see how she looks here. If she performs well, the Kenyans will probably be kicking themselves, as the Kenyan entrants for 2011 Worlds in the 1,500 are very thin.

American Molly Beckwith, who was 7th at USAs, has been running well and could be in the mix as she has the 3rd best seasonal best of the entrants.

QT #1: We're very interested in seeing how Sinclair and Meadows stack up against each other.

Athlete	DATE OF BIRTH	Nation	PB	SB
BECKWITH Molly	04.08.1987	USA	1:59.12	1:59.12
BIRD Tara	22.07.1987	GBR	2:03.00	2:03.83
JACKSON Emma	07.06.1988	GBR	2:00.24	2:00.24
KLOCOVÁ Lucia	20.11.1983	SVK	1:58.51	1:59.48
MÅKESTAD Ingvill	07.08.1981	NOR	1:59.82	2:01.16
MARACHEVA Irina	29.09.1984	RUS	1:58.71	1:58.71
MEADOWS Jennifer	17.04.1981	GBR	1:57.93	1:59.27
OBIRI Helen	01.01.1989	KEN	2:01.86	2:01.86
OKORO Marilyn	23.09.1984	GBR	1:58.45	2:00.60
SHARP Lynsey	11.07.1990	GBR	2:00.65	2:00.65
SIMPSON Jemma	10.02.1984	GBR	1:58.74	2:00.68
SINCLAIR Kenia	14.07.1980	JAM	1:57.88	1:58.21

Men's 3,000: The Mo Farah Show Continues
4:14 pm Eastern

The men's 3,000 will not be a total cakewalk for Mo Farah, as he will have to conquer Mark Kiptoo, who was 4th at the Kenyan champs in 5,000. The 35-year-old Kiptoo, who didn't start running until age 29, has also run under 13:00 an 27:00 this year, so he's no slouch. But Kiptoo, who ran 12:53 last year, is more of a long-distance guy, so we expect him to be dispatched fairly easily in the kick.

Kenya's Sammy Mutahi is no slouch either, as he was the world indoor bronze medallist in 2010, but he was only in the 13:30s in his two 5,000s this year, so it doesn't look like he's in great form.

Others in the field include former Arkansas star Alistair Cragg, who ran 13:12 in New York in May but hasn't improved on that, so he'll be looking to reclaim some momentum prior to Worlds. Another guy looking for momentum is Craig Mottram, who only ran 13:29 in Monaco on July 22nd after looking like he was on his way back with a 13:11 on July 10th.

Kenya's Titus Mbishei is also on the 5,000 entry list, so we're not sure what that means. Maybe he runs that and rabbits this? Rabbits both? Races one? Who knows.

QT #1: Wouldn't it be nice if Bernard Lagat (or Chris Solinsky) was in this race? Lagat is in Saturday's mile.

Athlete	DATE OF BIRTH	Nation	PB	SB
BIRMINGHAM Collis	27.12.1984	AUS	7:38.77	7:42.11
CRAGG Alistair Ian	13.06.1980	IRL	7:32.49
FARAH Mohammed	23.03.1983	GBR	7:38.15
GATHIMBA Gideon	09.03.1980	KEN
KIPTOO Mark Kosgei	21.06.1976	KEN	7:32.97	7:34.82
KRUMMENACKER David	24.05.1975	USA
MBISHEI Titus Kipjumba	28.10.1990	KEN	7:47.84
MOTTRAM Craig	18.06.1980	AUS	7:32.19
MUTAHI Sammy Alex	01.06.1989	KEN	7:31.41
ST. LAWRENCE Ben	07.11.1981	AUS	7:42.94

Men's 100m: Asafa Powell Takes on Yohan Blake and 5 other Sub 10 Runners

Update: Powell is out with injury

Asafa Powell races Jamaican runner up Yohan Blake for the first time since the Jamaican Champs where Powell pipped Blake for the win. Nesta Carter, only 4th at the Jamaican Championships, who nearly beat Usain Bolt in Monaco is also in the field. The winner of this field should give Bolt a run for his money at Worlds.

Men's 110m Hurdles: David Oliver - Jason Richardson Rematch

David Oliver has been vulnerable in 2011 and Jason Richardson showed that last week by upsetting Oliver in Stochkholm. This is a rematch here and we'll see whether Stockholm was a fluke (run into a big headwind) or a hint of what might happen at Worlds.

Saturday's Preview Here Women's 1500, women's steeple and men's mile (Lagat, Gregson, Lomong, Manzano)

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