Seiko Super Track Meet

The world’s track and field champions gather in Yokohama

Sprinter Shingo Suetsugu looks to break 10 seconds in the 100m

There are certain professions where those involved tend to be somewhat reluctant to talk about what they do: spies, hostesses, gangsters, arms traffickers, seal cullers, English teachers. Perhaps “successful athlete” should join that list.

It hasn’t been a happy year for athletics. Among other things, Japanese shot-putter Chinatsu Mori died of cancer at just 26; Darren Campbell snubbed his teammates after winning a relay gold medal at the European Championships in Helsinki because one of the runners (Dwain Chambers) had come back from a doping ban; and, to cap things off, Justin Gatlin—the joint world record holder in track and field’s most prestigious event, the 100m dash—was banned for up to eight years after another doping scandal.

Gatlin was suspended once before after testing positive for an amphetamine in 2001. His punishment this time around was commuted from life because he was willing to cooperate with investigators. (He was not, however, prepared to admit that he had deliberately taken drugs.) Former sprint queen Marion Jones, the former wife of another drug cheat (shot-putter C.J. Hunter), has again come under the spotlight after reportedly failing a drug test in June, while in cycling Lance Armstrong—despite retiring—is never above suspicion.

So, you have to feel for someone like Asafa Powell—until recently the co-holder of the 100m record with Gatlin—and all the other athletes who are tainted by association, however distant, with the cheats. With Gatlin serving time, Powell is the current King of Kings and, once again, the sole King. He has equaled his world record time of 9.77 seconds in the 100m three times in the last 15 months.

Powell will be coming to Japan to compete in the annual Seiko Super Track meet on September 24 at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. The imposing Jamaican will no doubt be hoping to better the 100m time he shared with Gatlin and, having run 9.77 twice already this summer, you have to feel he’s got a chance. Powell has actually recorded 9.7629, but the time was rounded up to 9.77. Could Yokohama finally see a 100m record?

Of course, Powell won’t be the only star at the meet, and he probably won’t be the biggest, in Japanese terms. That honor still rests with Koji Murofushi, the Olympic hammer throw champion who seems to be back to his best after missing last year’s World Championships in Helsinki due to a rib injury. (Powell also missed the championships as a result of an injured groin.)

Murofushi threw 79.82m in May, then beat that with a winning 81.77m at a Grand Prix event in Helsinki at the end of July, only 50cm less than the longest throw in the world this year. With his form returning, there is a chance that Japan’s hammer legend could finally take the gold medal that has eluded him so far: World Championship gold. Murofushi took the silver medal in the 2001 World Championships and the bronze in 2003, and it would be one of the highlights of his career if he could win gold in Osaka next summer.

Powell may not be overshadowed by a Japanese bloke throwing a hammer, but he will be “shadowed” by another Japanese track star: Shingo Suetsugu, who is scheduled to run against the Jamaican in the 100m.

Suetsugu famously took bronze in the 200m at the 2003 World Championships, but perhaps his biggest goals now are to break 10 seconds in the 100m and 20 seconds in the 200m. He is currently three-hundredths of a second over in both events, and going under those marks would be a stunning achievement.

Other athletes heading for Yokohama include pole-vault world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia, Swedish high-jumper Stefan Holm and Norwegian javelin thrower Andreas Thorkildsen, all of whom won gold at the Athens Olympics.

Sept 24, Nissan Stadium. See sports listings for details.

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