Brit athletics hero faces 'biggest challenge' since London

SHANGHAI (AFP) –

British long jump Olympic champion Greg Rutherford speaks in Shanghai on May 16, 2013. Rutherford, one of seven current Olympic Champions competing in Shanghai, will face 2008 Beijing gold medallist Irving Saladino and USA’s Dwight Phillips, who won in Athens 2004 but has been side-lined with injury for the last two years.

British long jump hero Greg Rutherford said he’s facing his “biggest challenge” since taking London Olympics gold when he goes up against his two predecessors at Shanghai’s Diamond League meet.

Rutherford, one of seven current Olympic champions in Shanghai, will face Beijing 2008 winner Irving Saladino and America’s Dwight Phillips, the Athens 2004 gold-medallist who has been sidelined with injury for the last two years.

Australia’s world 2011 and Olympic 2012 silver medallist Mitchell Watt is also vying for victory in Saturday’s meet in Shanghai, the second leg in this year’s Diamond League series.

“For me this is definitely going to be the biggest challenge since the Olympics,” Rutherford told reporters in Shanghai.

Aries Merritt of the US (R) and compatriot Jason Richardson (L) attend a Diamond League press conference in Shanghai on May 17, 2013. London 2012 Olympic champion Merritt and silver medalist Richardson face each other in the men’s 110m hurdles, with China’s national athletics hero Liu Xiang, who won the 110m hurdles at the Athens Olympics, remaining out of action.

“Mitch is going to be here which is going to make it quite interesting. Dwight is obviously here. It is a stacked field for us, so by far the biggest competition we have all had so far.”

Rutherford beat Watt at the Melbourne World Challenge in April, but said he could not recall the last time all four long jumpers had faced each other.

The long jump is one of four re-runs in Shanghai between gold and silver medallists from London 2012, including a men’s 400m duel with Olympic champion Kirani James from Grenada, and Luguelin Santos of Dominican Republic.

The pair also come up against the bronze medallist from London, Trinidad and Tobago’s Lalonde Gordon, and LaShawn Merritt of the US, who took gold in Beijing.

In the men’s 110m hurdles, Olympic champion Aries Merritt of the US faces compatriot Jason Richardson, who claimed silver in London.

Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce celebrates after winning the Women’s 100m at the Diamond League Athletics meeting “Weltklasse” on August 30, 2012 in Zurich. Three double Olympic champions are among the women’s stars with Fraser-Pryce competing in the 100m against world title-holder Carmelita Jeter, whom she beat into second place in London.

China’s national athletics hero Liu Xiang, who won the 110m hurdles at the Athens Olympics, remains out of action after his dramatic injury exit from the London Games.

Three double Olympic champions are among the women’s stars with Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce competing in the 100m against world title-holder Carmelita Jeter, whom she beat into second place in London.

Ethiopia’s two-time Olympic champion Meseret Defar heads a talented 5,000m field, and Yelena Isinbayeva, considered the greatest ever woman pole vaulter, is another headliner.

The Russian failed to become the first women in history to win three successive Olympic crowns when she took bronze in London, a result which led her to postpone her retirement plans.

Ethiopia’s Meseret Defar waves her national flag after winning gold in the women’s 5000m final at the London Olympic Games on August 10, 2012. Defar heads a talented 5,000m field, and Yelena Isinbayeva, considered the greatest ever woman pole vaulter, is another headliner.

She indicated that she may decide to end her career on home soil at the world championships later this year.

“About my retirement, it is going to be a difficult decision, and you know it is difficult to say right now what I am going to do after the world championships in Moscow. It will depend on my performance there,” she said.

Men’s javelin star Andreas Thorkildsen will also hope to claim victory in Shanghai after a disappointing London 2012.

The Norwegian gold-medallist from Athens and Beijing is facing off against 19-year-old Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad, who surprised the world by winning the Olympic title last summer.