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PREVIEW
MEETING director Steve Green is optimistic that Trafford will deliver a rousing finale to the 2023 Grand Prix season in Manchester on Saturday evening.
The incorporation into the World Athletics Continental Challenger Tour has strengthened the depth and quality of overseas runners this summer and that will not better be illustrated than in the exciting line-up for the men’s 800m A race.
Normally Green would have been delighted to secure the commitment of one World Indoor Championship medallist to his line-up for the 800m but to land both the current champion and the silver medallist in Spain’s Mariano Garcia and Noah Kibet of Kenya represents a real coup.
“Garcia also won the European 800m title in Munich last year so to get him in the race is very special for us,” said Green.
“It looks like it is going to be a very exciting evening of racing for the final Grand Prix of the summer.”
There is also another fine Spaniard in the race in Javier Miron, who has run 1:46.33 this summer and boasts a lifetime best of 1:44.82 set two years ago while French runner Sacha Cultru, fresh from a lifetime best of 1:46.02 last month, is also in the field.
“We are missing the very top Brits for this meeting but we have a couple of guys on the periphery like Thomas Keen and Matt Stonier who have the opportunity to make a real impact in a field of this quality,” added Green.
Stonier steps down to the two laps after his recent exploits in the 1500m, clocking a PB of 3:31.36 in the London Grand Prix and finishing fourth at the European U23 Championships.
Keen has a season’s best of 1:47.75 and would love a return to the form he showed at this same meeting a year ago when clocking his lifetime best of 1:46.18 for third place in the 800m A race.
Sarah Billings of Australia is the main overseas presence in the women’s 800m and she has clocked 2:01 this summer but she will be up against Erin Wallace, who is currently 7th on the UK Rankings with her PB of 1:59.69 at the BMC Watford Gold Standard meeting in June.
Wallace finished third in the opening Grand Prix of the season across the city at the Sportcity Stadium and no doubt she’ll be looking to improve upon that this weekend.
Jenny Selman, a regular on the BMC circuit, Jenna Bromell and Steph Driscoll are also entered.
Green is also very excited about the potential for the women’s 1500m, particularly following the decision of Alexandra Bell to switch from the 800m and help with the pace-making duties.
With five women in the starting line-up having run under 4mins 05secs that offers the prospect of a very fast race and maybe one eye should be kept on the BMC all-comers record of 4:03.09 set by Nancy Chepkwemboi at Watford in 2015?
“It is a strong field and with a pacemaker of the quality of Alex Bell, who is going to try and go to 1k, then we could see something special as long as the weather holds,” added Green.
“We’ll see what happens but it looks like it could be another terrific race and one to look out for.”
Fastest Brit in the field is Sarah McDonald, who ran a season’s best 4:02.53 in Madrid last month to go fifth on the UK Rankings and looks like she is getting back to the shape that saw her clock her lifetime best of 4:00.46 four years ago.
McDonald may need that sort of form to repeat the 1500m victory she enjoyed at Sportcity in May.
Also in the field is Yolanda Ngarambe of Sweden (PB 4:03.98), Laura Galvan of Mexico (PB 4:04.43), three-times Spanish 5000m champion Marta Garcia (PB 4:07) and the highly experienced Finland runner Sara Lappalainen.
The 31-year-old reached the semi finals of the 1500m at the Tokyo Olympics (4:02.35) and also represented Finland in the heats of the 800m (1:59.41). Lappalainen hasn’t raced much this summer but only on Tuesday clocked a season’s best of 2:01.16 in Tampere so will be a threat.
The 5000m races will have a strong British presence with Zak Seddon heading the entries for the men’s race with Joe Wigfield, who won the A 1500m at the Birmingham University Grand Prix, making his debut at the distance.
The men’s 1500m looks wide open with a whole host of good British runners more than capable of dipping well inside 3mins 40secs on their day.
Alex Botterill has a first (Sportcity) and second (Loughborough) over 800m in Grand Prix races this summer already and at the London Diamond League clocked a PB of 1:44.75.
His only 1500m this season was at Trafford in May for a BMC Gold Standard event when he ran a PB of 3:42.04 and he will be one of those more than capable of going inside 3mins 40secs..
Davis is 14th in the UK Rankings and just a place behind him is James McMurray on 3:38.35. McMurray has raced the 800m at the Watford, Loughborough and Birmingham University Grand Prix events so will definitely be a strong contender.
Also in the field will be Will Barnicoat, fresh from his bronze medal over 5000m at the European U23s and GB international Phil Norman, who showed signs of returning to form after a quiet summer with his 5:29.37 time over the 2000m steeplechase at Birmingham.
There is a strong contingent from Ireland led by three-times national champion Cathal Doyle, who ran a lifetime best of 3:36.85 in Belgium just last month, Charlie O’Donovan who clocked a PB of 3:38.11 in Belgium last month and Shane Bracken who ran a PB of 3:39.71 in Holland in June.
Australian James Hansen is also a man to respect as his last two 1500ms have been a PB of 3:37.56 in Belgium and then 3:40.27 in Luxembourg. It all adds up to another highly competitive field.
The meeting starts at 16:45 with a programme of 26 races culminating with the women’s 5000m at 20:18. Spectators welcome but if you can’t make it in person then log into the live stream coverage provided by vincosport.com
