Big-Time Matchups Wrap Up Season in Morocco

By Scott Bush

Once every four years, the very best track and field athletes come together at the IAAF Continental Cup, teaming up into four regions. Team Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia/Pacific go head-to-head for international bragging rights. Here are a few of the very best events taking place this coming weekend.

Barshim, Bondarenko Ready for Another Round

The men’s high jump captured the attention of track and field fans all season long. Even better, no one country (or region) dominated the event. Of the top six ranked jumpers on the season, five are in this weekend’s event, including Diamond League winner and 2.43m man Mutaz Essa Barshim (QAT) and Bohdan Bondarenko (UKR). While Ukraine’s Andriy Protsenko didn’t make the cut, who is one of those top six, Ivan Ukhov (RUS), Erik Kynard (USA) and Derek Drouin (CAN) are entered. Ukhov has a seasonal best of 2.41, Drouin 2.40m and Kynard 2.37m.

Barshim and Bondarenko waged a battle of epic proportions at the final meeting of the Diamond League season in Brussels. The two dueled all meet long, with Barshim finally knocking out Bondarenko when he cleared 2.43m, while both took shots at the world record of 2.45m when they attacked 2.46m. While it’ll be hard to beat  the action from last week, there’s enough talent in the field to make it the top event of the weekend.

Clash of the Titans in Men’s 400m Hurdles

Most events at the Continental Cup have a handful of top ten ranked athletes in the respective event, but the men’s 400m hurdles is all the more intriguing, as the top three athletes of the season are entered. The long hurdle event was simply dominated by Javier Culson (PUR), Diamond League winner Michael Tinsley (USA) and Cornel Fredericks (RSA). The trio own the top ten fastest times of the year, with Culson owning five of those marks, Tinsley three and Fredericks two. Not only that, they own 15 of the top 17 marks.

While Tinsley took home the top Diamond League prize, Fredericks finished his Diamond League season on a very high note, besting both men with a 48.25-48.31 win over Tinsley in the final meet in Zurich. Throw in Rasmus Magi (EST), who is one of the two other men to own a top 17 time , and this field is a must watch for any fan.

Superstar All-Star 4x400m Relay Teams

Few events capture the attention of track and field fans quite like the 4x100m and 4x400m relays. Even more, loaded relays always get fans excited. When looking over Team Americas’ 4x400m relay teams, it’s hard to contain the excitement. These teams are superstar all-star squads.

The men’s team has Diamond League winner LaShawn Merritt (USA), veteran relay standout Chris Brown (BAH), Luguelin Santos (DOM) and Gil Roberts (USA). That quartet is simply ridiculous on paper. While they don’t have more than a couple days to practice handoffs, this squad should not have an issue picking up the win.

Same goes for the women’s side, but even more so. Novlene Williams-Mills (JAM) is the top 400m runner in the world, while Francena McCorory (USA) could lay claim to being the second best. Add in Williams-Mills’ fellow Jamaicans in Christine Day and Stephenie Ann-McPherson and the squad is stocked with talent. In fact, no athlete from any of the other three teams has a faster seasonal best than any athlete of the Team Americas quartet. Expect pure dominance!

Rowbury Looks for Her Chance to Shine

The two women with the fastest marks in the world this year, Sifan Hassan (NED) and Hellen Obiri (KEN), headline the women’s 1,500m field. Hassan owns a personal best and world #1 mark of 3:57.00, while Obiri is only slightly off Hassan with her 3:57.05 best. These two have shown their talent time and again all season long, putting themselves in position to win nearly every race, as both have a tremendous shot to end their long seasons in first.

While Hassan and Obiri enter as the pre-race favorites, Shannon Rowbury (USA) could very well pull off the victory. Rowbury finished runner-up to Jenny Simpson by .01 in Zurich, as Simpson won the race and the Diamond League crown. Rowbury dipped under the four-minute barrier this season for the first time, actually doing it twice, while running PRs in the 3,000m and 5,000m and setting the American record for two-miles. Needless to say, she’s had an amazing season.

Throw in two more athletes capable of cracking the four-minute mark in Dawit Seyaum (ETH) and Mimi Belete (BRN) and this field is simply loaded. It’ll be interesting to see if the pace lags early on or if one of the athletes takes the lead and really pushes the pace.

Women’s Discus Preview of What’s to Come

Few athletes have been more unbeatable than Sandra Perkovic (CRO) this season. Perkovic dominated the Diamond League season, only losing once, while clearly dominating the competition most weeks. She owns six of the top seven best marks in the world this season, and while she enters as the clear favorite, she’ll still have plenty of competition from Gia Lewis-Smallwood (USA) and Dani Samuels (AUS). It's not unreasonable to think these three are the three leaders for medals at the World Championships and Olympic Games over the next two seasons.

Lewis-Smallwood set the American record in the discus at DecaNation with her toss of 69.17m, the fifth farthest throw in the world this season, and is the only athlete to best Perkovic in Diamond League action. Meanwhile, Samuels finished her season on a high note, and completes the trio who are clearly the three best in the field. Combined, Perkovic, Lewis-Smallwood and Samuels own the 12 best marks of 2014 and 15 of the top 16. Consistency has allowed these three to rise to the top of their event, which means the action in Morocco should be thoroughly entertaining.