Olympic Medallists For Mary Peters Track Meeting
Two London Olympic Relay medallists will be competing next Tuesday in the Mary Peters Track International Opening Meeting organised by Belfast City Council and Athletics NI.
World class Ukranian sprinters Mariya Ryemyen and Olesya Povh were members of their national team which took bronze in the sprint relay in the Olympic Stadium last August when they set a National record of 42.04 secs. They were in illustrious company as the winning US team broke a 27 year old world record to set new figures of 41.37 secs. The Jamaican team which took silver also set a new national best.
Both women are currently in top form and will test top Irish sprinter Amy Foster. Ryemyen ran a personal best time of 11.06 secs in Yalta 2 weeks ago which ranks her 11th in the World. Last week Mariya who is the current European 200 metres champion finished 3rd in the Oslo Games in 11.07 secs.
Team mate Povh finished 4th in Oslo and has a season's best time of 11.15 secs. Both women are also bronze relay medallists from the 2011 World Championships in South Korea.
Newly crowned NI champion Foster will have a busy few days ahead, competing at this weekend's European team competition in Dublin where she races over both 100 and 200 metres.
The male and female 800 metres races will have strong Australian representation. In the Women's event Kelly Hetherington set a classy PB of 2.01.22 recently when taking the Australian title. She faces New South Wales opponent Selma Kajan who also set a PB a month ago of 2.03.64.
These two women should provide perfect opposition for 17 year old up and coming Newry AC star Aislinn Crossey who broke 2 mins 8 secs this month when taking silver in the Irish Schools. Also racing is Scottish international Clare Gibson who also competed in the Oslo meeting over 1,500 metres.
In the Men's event current Australian 1,500 metres champion James Kaan steps down to the shorter distance where he starts favourite with a best time of 1.46.74. Scotland's Jack Walker should also feature along with new NI title holder Michael Dyer and North Down team mate Mark Patterson.
European team member Ben Reynolds races again over the high hurdles while fellow hurdler Jason Harvey competes over the flat 400 metres. Harvey who has already met the qualifying standard for next year's Commonwealths recently ran a PB of 47.15 secs. He will need to be at his best to get the better of Scotland's Kris Robertson and England's Rory Evans who have both dipped under 47 secs recently. Newly crowned NI champion Adam McComb is also in the lineup.
The Men's 1,500 metres is shaping up to be a top quality race which now includes four times UK title holder Nick McCormick.
Mary Peters Track International Opening Event
Members of the media including photographers who wish to be on the track/infield must email marketing@athleticsni.org with their details.
