Usain Bolt returns to the site of his first global triumph for a World Championships showdown with a convicted dope cheat that has ramifications for athletics beyond just establishing who is the fastest man in the world.
The Jamaican’s battle over 100m and 200m with Justin Gatlin will be the highlight of the championships starting today at the Bird’s Nest stadium, and victory for the in-form 32-year-old American would serve as an unwelcome reminder of the scourge of doping.
The governing IAAF has endured three weeks of embarrassing leaks and accusations that it has neglected its duty to root out drug cheats.
Last week, the IAAF denied media reports it had suppressed a 2011 survey that re-vealed up to a third of the world’s top competitors admitted using banned performance-enhancing techniques.
Sebastian Coe, elected to run international athletics on Wednesday, has promised to set up an independent anti-doping body for the sport, a theme he campaigned on.
With less than a year to go until the Rio Olympics, Bolt needs to dispel concerns over his form and fitness in a city where he won three gold medals in world record times, the defining performance of the 2008 Games.
Chief among the threats to Bolt’s dominance is Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic and 2005 world 100m champion who has lost five years of his career to drugs bans.
Undefeated over 100m and 200m since 2013 and boasting the best times of the year (9.74 and 19.57), Gatlin has beaten all-comers this year but has yet to face Bolt.
Bolt, 29 yesterday, ran 9.87 in the 100m in London last month and has a track record of saving his best performances for the biggest events.
Another athlete who has produced his best in the big races at the last two global championships is Olympic and world 5,000m and 10,000m champion Mo Farah.
The Briton’s preparation for the defence of his titles in Beijing has been disrupted by a storm surrounding doping claims against his coach Alberto Salazar.
Farah has not been accused of wrongdoing but the furore caused him to pull out of a race in Birmingham saying he was “emotionally and physically drained”.
Another bid for double gold will come when Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba looks to add to her family’s impressive collection of major titles in the women’s 1,500m and 5,000m.
The 24-year-old ran a world record of three minutes 50.07 in July, six seconds faster than any of her 1,500m rivals have managed this year.
The event schedule has prevented American Allyson Felix from running for gold in two events and the Olympic 200m champion will compete only in the 400m in Beijing, preferring the greater challenge of the longer event.
Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill will be back after a long lay-off, in her case to have a child, and she will be out to reassert her position as Britain’s no.1 over Katarina Johnson-Thompson.
Canada’s Brianne Theisen-Eaton is the favourite for gold, however, and if, as expected, American Ashton Eaton wins the decathlon, they will become the first married couple to sweep the two multi-discipline titles.
Wingfield in Beijing
Charlotte Wingfield will be the only athlete representing Malta at the World Championships in Beijing.
Tomorrow, she will be taking part in the women’s 100m heats.
Wingfield’s participation in the championships will bring a successful season to a close in which she won a number of international honours that include second place in the European Games in Baku, where she set a new national record of 11.69, two golds at the GSSE and a creditable ninth place in the European U-23 Championships.