Christophe Lemaitre vs. Dwain Chambers at European Athletics Championship 2010
French sensation Christophe Lemaitre will be facing Britain’s Dwain Chambers in the 100 metre event at the European Athletics Championship 2010. The controversial Chambers makes the 100 metre event one of most anticipated events of the championship. The 20-year-old Lemaitre burst into the international arena with a number of impressive performances in recent times. He is currently at the top of the European rankings for both the 100m and 200m rankings. Lemaitre peaked in time for the Championships which were being hosted by Barcelona, the venue of the 1992 Olympic Games.
Lemaitre will be focusing on beating Francis Obikwelu’s record at the 100m and 200m. Obikwelu made this record four years ago in Gothenburg. Lemaitre comes to this Championship in the wake of an excellent result in which he broke the 10 seconds barrier in the 100m event with a time of 9.98 seconds earlier this month. Lemaitre also became the first European to break the 10 second barrier.
Lemaitre will be mainly challenged by Briton’s Chambers. The 32-year-old Chambers beat Lemaitre earlier this year when they both met at Bergen. He recorded a phenomenal time of 9.99 seconds along with winning the World Indoor 60m title. Talking to sports reporters on the eve of European Championships, Chambers looked confident and showed optimism regarding his chances at the Championships. He said, “I am running fast in training and I feel mentally stronger so I should improve on my outdoor performance last year. I will be up against talented athletes like Lemaitre so it will not be easy but I am positive.”
According to Lemaitre’s coach Pierre Carraz, British Chambers is the man to beat. Talking to the media, Frenchman Carraz said, “Chambers is the favourite because he has the experience but at the same time Christophe is young and confident.” Another potential winner in 100m will be Norway’s Jaysuma Saidy Ndure and French Martial Mbandjock.
Another interesting event is the women’s high jump competition which is considered to be one of most eagerly awaited event as the 2007 and 2009 World Champion Blanka Vlasic will be looking to beat the long-standing world record of 2.09m set by legendary Stefka Kostadinova. Vlasic will face stiff competition from German Ariane Friedrich and Belgium’s Tia Hellebaut. Hellebaut defeated Croatian Vlasic in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Hellebaut comes after a long break, which she took to have a baby.
Similarly, Britain’s world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis aims to collect her first European title whereas Merlene Ottey will become the oldest women to participate in the championships. The 50-year-old Ottey is a Jamaican-born Slovenian and will be participating in the 4*100m relay. Additionally, the women’s javelin throw event will be a three horse race between Czech Republic’s Barbora Spotakova, Christina Obergfoll and Russian Mariya Abakumova. Spotakova is the hot favourite for the event as she took gold in the 2008 Olympic Games. On the other hand, Germany’s Obergfoll also won the bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games whereas Abakumova came in third at the 2009 World Championships.
Meanwhile, Russian prodigies Olga Kaniskina and Valeriy Borchin along with javelin thrower Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway are all targeting Triple Medals after already including gold from Olympics and World Championships to their medal cabinets. The women’s 20 km event is to be dominated by Walk Champion Kaniskina who has won all key championships since Osaka 2007. On the other hand, in men’s 20km walk, Borchin is confident to repeat his recent success while Thorkildsen will be aiming to become the first javelin thrower to win all three competitions.
Another mouth-watering competition will be witnessed in the men’s 5000m event. The reigning European Champion Jesus Espana will be facing some stiff challenge from compatriot and Spanish record holder Alemayehu Bezabeh. Bezabeh became only the fourth European to run under 13 minutes last month. Britain’s Mo Farah, who took the silver four years ago, will also be providing some challenge to both these competitors. Farah will also be participating in the 10,000 m event. In this event, he is considered to be the hot favourite alongside compatriot Chris Thompson. Farah is currently on the top of European rankings after setting a new personal best last month.
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