Yelena Isinbayeva sets a World Record of 5.06m in the pole vault in Zurich (Getty Images)
On Thursday, 8 September, the world’s finest representatives of athletics, a distinguished high level cast will appear at Letzigrund Stadium. The meeting’s traditional motto has been to invite the best athletes to compete against their fiercest opponents, and a glance at the current entry lists reveals that 2011 will be no exception.
“The 17 world leaders of the 18 events we will be presenting will compete at Weltklasse Zürich, this year,” announced Meeting Director Patrick K. Magyar who added “we are working to complete the list of the world leaders with pole vaulter Jennifer Suhr (USA) and are still hopeful to achieve this”. In addition, as many as 14 (individual) Olympic champions, 16 reigning World champions have agreed to compete in Zürich.
The provisional line-up already sparkles with names of stars like Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS, Pole Vault), Allyson Felix (USA, 200m), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (JAM, 200m), Sanya Richards-Ross (USA, 200m), Carolina Klüft (SWE, Long Jump), Barbora Spotakova (CZE, javelin throw), Asafa Powell (JAM, 100m), Walter Dix (USA, 100m), David Oliver (USA, 110m Hurs), and Dayron Robles (CUB, 110m hurs). Before they all travel to Zurich for the annual showdown at Letzigrund Stadium, they will compete at the IAAF World Championships, Daegu, Korea (27 Aug to 4 Sep). The championships will close a mere four days prior to Weltklasse Zürich, and due to a particularly strenuous schedule at the championships, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt will not be able to compete in Zurich this year.
A number of Swiss highlights
The names of several rising Swiss talents and their convincing performances during this summer add to the appeal of this year’s Weltklasse Zürich entry lists: Lisa Urech (100m Hurs), Irene Pusterla (Long Jump), Nicole Büchler (Pole Vault), Anna Katharina Schmid (Pole Vault U23), as well as Andreas Kundert (110m Hurs) have all earned a spot in the prestigious fields at Letzigrund Stadium. All of them hold impressive national records. The same is true for the Swiss 4x100m men’s relay team. The four sprinters plan to move one step closer to their Olympic dream (16 top teams will qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games) after the World Championships in Daegu. “It has been wonderful to watch the Swiss athletes perform this summer. They will definitely be able to enchant the crowd at Weltklasse Zürich,” said Magyar.
Entry Lists nearly complete
The Zürich promoters will follow the action at the IAAF World Championships very closely. As it will be difficult to arrange travel from Daegu at short notice, last-minute entries will be complicated. As a result, the fields for the meeting will be nearly complete by the time the championships are underway. However, Weltklasse Zürich will of course spare neither trouble nor expense to present any surprise heroes to the Zürich audience.
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