Treble Olympic sprint king Usain Bolt will headline a starry cast at Friday's Golden League meeting that brings together more than 50 finalists from the recently finished Beijing Olympic Games.
Bolt will race against six sprinters from the 100m he won in a world record of 9.69 seconds. The only sprinter missing will be compatriot Asafa Powell, his place taken by US 200m silver medallist Shawn Crawford.
Lining up to run against the 22-year-old Jamaican will be silver medallist Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago, double sprint bronze medallist Walter Dix and fellow Beijing finalists Churandy Martina of the Dutch Antilles, Jamaican Michael Frater, Trinidad's Marc Burns and American Darvis Patton.
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Humdinger
'To trip at the ninth hurdle in the Olympic final broke my heart' Derrick Atkins of the Bahamas will also take part in what should be a humdinger of a race as Bolt bids to seal his reputation as the world's out-and-out sprinting master.
Bolt has yet to return home to Kingston to receive the accolades of his fellow Jamaicans.
But, with upcoming trips to Lausanne and Brussels, he explained: "I still have work to do before I go home. I'm not worried that my countrymen will think less of me for this.
"It was a long trip to get here, but I'm not tired at all," a relaxed Bolt said on Wednesday in Zurich.
"I've done a little training since I got here."
Bolt's trainer, Glen Mills, was confident his protege had not yet come close to his potential in the 100m at the Games.
"I haven't seen the complete biomechanical report from Beijing yet, but I can say that Usain had a good start by his own standard. His first 60m were very good."
Athletes competing at Friday's Weltklasse meeting at the 26 000-capacity Letzigrund Stadium will be arriving from Beijing with 41 Olympic medals - among them 14 gold medals - in their luggage.
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