Jamaica's Asafa Powell winning the men's 100 metres ahead of Tyson Gay at the Golden League athletics meeting in Berlin last year. Both are expected to face off in the showdown of the World Championships, the 100m. OSAKA, Japan (AP):
With the Beijing Games one year away, the World Athletics Championships will offer pre-Olympic bragging rights as much as gold medals from next weekend.
The United States will be first in line. After a record 14 gold and 25 medals overall in Helsinki 2005, it will be tough to match that performance in the heat of Osaka's 50,000-capacity Nagai stadium.
As so often, doping scandals have taken their toll and double world sprint champion Justin Gatlin will not be back. Instead, he is fighting a long ban after testing positive for testosterone and steroids.
That leaves the way open for Asafa Powell to finally win a global 100-metre title to add to his world record of 9.77.
Two years ago, the Jamaican was injured when Gatlin thrived in Helsinki. Powell twice equalled his world record last year, but this season, he has slumped toward Osaka after being affected by a groin injury.
Instead, U.S. star Tyson Gay has the best mark of 9.84 seconds and their duel could be the best of the August 25-September 2 championships.
For Powell, considered a king without a crown, a title would boost his confidence ahead of the Beijing Games.
Gay can set his eyes on a triple. He is the fastest man in the 200 metres, too, after running the second-best time in history and if the U.S. team gets its act together in the 400m relay, he could become the star of the championships.
Much like Powell, Gay thrived early this season, but there is a question mark over his midsummer form. Still the two have stood out over the 100 this season.
Who will lose
"He is unbeaten, I am unbeaten and one of us will have to lose in Osaka," said Gay.
There are fewer question marks over the 400.
World and Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner is peaking at the right time to defend his title. He is also poised to add a relay gold and further close in on the world record of his mentor, Michael Johnson.
World records have been hard to come by in recent World Championships and the three broken in Helsinki were the most in a decade. As an enticement, the IAAF is offering a combined prize of US$160,000 (€118,923) for the title and a world record.
Over the past years, Olympic and world champion pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva could be counted on to do that.
However, since changing coaches and style last year, she has not broken her mark of 5.01 metres set in Helsinki two years ago. But at least she is closing in on a 21st world mark with a performance of 4.91 this season.
"I am hungry for new records," she said, arguing her change in technique is starting to pay dividends.
She remains the star of the Russian team, which will seek to improve its Helsinki total of seven golds and 20 overall, which left it second in the standings. But Russia too has been tainted by scandal.
Doping test
World record holder Tatyana Lysenko and a fellow hammer thrower tested positive for doping in out-of-competition tests on May 9 and Russia's team coach was suspended for alleged involvement.
It will likely not stop Russia, led by apowerful women's squad, securing a good finish.
In a year where doping has been a main talking point from cycling to baseball, the IAAF promised to carry out the sport's most rigorous anti-doping programme to date with more than 1,000 tests during the championships.
Apart from the opposition, Osaka's August climate will be a challenge in itself. After the cold and rain of Helsinki, it will be high humidity and searing sun.
The marathons will start at 7:00 a.m. to avoid the heat, yet it is still expected to hover around 23.5 C (74F) at that time, while humidity could easily reach 90 per cent. Ideal conditions for long-distance runners are 12 C (54F) and 40 per cent humidity.
Long distance has meant Ethiopia over the past years and it will be no different in Japan.
Kenenisa Bekele is going for a third 10,000-metre title in a row which should leave him one short of his predecessor, Haile Gebrselassie.
On the women's side, Tirunesh Dibaba will seek another 10,000 title and will provide one of the highlights of the championships when she faces her compatriot and rival Meseret Defar in the 5,000, where Dibaba is seeking a third gold in a row.
Talk is that little love is lost between the multiple world champion and the 5,000 Olympic gold medallist, especially when Defar deprived Dibaba part of the Golden League jackpot last year by spoiling her perfect season in the last race.
This season, Defar has been impressive, with a world record in the 5,000 in Oslo in June, cutting almost eight seconds off the previous mark.
If long-distance running centres on one nation, few events will be as global and wide open as the 110-metre hurdles.
Olympic champion and world record holder Liu Xiang only needs one race in mind, the Beijing final at home next year, but will be eager to win a First World title after a bronze and silver earlier.
China's biggest track star set the season's top time when beating U.S. champion Terrance Trammell. Cuba's Dayron Robles beat Liu indoors this year and a Golden League win proves his credentials. Defending champion Ladji Doucoure has raced little this year yet the French count on him for another medal.
Jeremy Wariner wins the men's 400 metre dash as Michael Blackwood trails behind at the Adidas Track Classic in Carson, California, earlier this year. Wariner won the race with a time of 44.60 and Blackwood came in fourth with a time of 45.38. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill).
Russia's Isinbayeva ... a live contender for a world record. - AP photos
