Stars aim to beat their best at Lucerne athletics meeting
The athletics world is focusing its attentions on the Swiss city of Lucerne, where the international meeting gets under way on Tuesday. Four champions from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics will be going through their paces.
The Americans Allen Johnson and Derrick Adams, will be joined by Canada’s Donovan Bailey and Jamaica’s Deon Hemmings.
Also competing is the American Brian Lewis, the winner last Friday of the year’s first meeting of the Golden League in Paris. Lewis is hoping to beat his 2000 personal best of 10.06 in the 100 metres.
The toughest competition for Lewis is likely to come from fellow American Bernard Williams, Australia’s Patrick Johnson, but also from Donovan Bailey. After his 1996 Olympic success, Bailey’s career has floundered, but he has been working hard on a comeback for the past year.
Switzerland’s André Bucher will be looking to ensure he makes it into the country’s Sydney Olympic squad by beating a time of 1’46.30 in the 800 metres. After his success at Sunday’s meeting in Nuremberg he should have no problems reaching this target.
Meanwhile, Berne athlete Anita Weyermann, who is recovering from a broken elbow, will be aiming to beat off strong Russian competition in the 1500 metres.
swissinfo with agencies
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