With the Commonwealth games less than six months away, this weekend’s Glasgow indoor international will serve athletics fans with a tasty appetiser of what we can expect this summer.
The event, which has been held for 26 years, will see a number of world, Olympic and Paralympic medallists compete in Scotland this Saturday.
Preparing to be one the faces of this summer’s games, Eilidh Child will lead a Scottish team that also includes Paralympic jumper Steff Reid, 2013 world 1500 metre finalist Chris Ohare and 800m runner Laura Muir, as they take on Team GB, USA and a Commonwealth select team lead by Kim Collins.
Team GB are led by hurdler Will Sharman, who will be looking to build on a strong performance at the world championships last summer where he finished fifth for the second successive championships. Sharman will be competing in the 60m hurdles on this occasion and will have to beat American Jeff Porter, Olympian and husband of Tiffany Porter, as well as Commonwealth representative Gianni Frankis if he is to gain full points for his team.
Other top GB athletes who will be hoping for maximum points will be pole-vaulter Holly Bleasdale, 2013 Diamond League winner Shara Proctor, world bronze medallist Porter and Olympic Bronze medallist, Robbie Grabaz.
Whilst Grabaz, Bleasdale and Proctor should all win their events comfortably, Porter faces a tough battle against reigning American indoor champion Nia Ali in one of several potentially tight face offs between the Brits and the Americans. Another is in the 3000m where Team USA captain and distance legend Bernard Lagat, 39, will take on in-form Brit Andy Vernon and Kenyan Vincent Rono.
In the men’s 60m both Dwain Chambers and James Dasalou will take on American Mike Rodgers, with European silver medallist Chambers competing for the commonwealth team after Dasaolu was selected ahead of him.
Arguably the most intriguing event of the day will see Andrew Osagie take on American hurdler Bershawn ‘Batman’ Jackson in the 600m, with the distance seen as a middle ground between the pair’s favoured races. Osagie, who last year finished third in the same event behind Dai Greene, will be hoping another hurdler does not get the better of him on the flat.
Scottish youngsters Muir and Ohare are likely to be involved in a battle of the Brits, as they hope to show just how much of a force the Scots can be. Ohare takes on another rising star in British middle distance running, European u23 silver medallist Charlie Grice, in 1500m, with Muir involved in a three-pronged battle in the 800m between herself, reigning British outdoor champion Marilyn Okoro and youngster Clair Gibson.
Another interesting Anglo-Scottish face-off will see the in-form Jamie Bowie, who just went second in the Scottish all-time list for the indoor 400m, last week, take on British number one Nigel Levine as well as Chris Brown of the Bahamas.
Brown, will also be part of the strong Commonwealth 4x400m team made up of Bahamas team that took gold at the 2012 Olympics.
The full start list for Saturday’s event can be found at: https://www.britishathletics.org.uk/british-athletics-series/sainsburys-glasgow-international-match/glasgow-event-schedule/
