Shanghai stars are ready to meet their rivals

Prominent among them was Barshim, the high-flying Qatari set to renew his battle for supremacy with the Ukrainian world and European champion who was added the Shanghai line-up just two days ago.

The pair met seven times in 2014 when they pushed each other to break their respective area records and inspired no fewer than five men to clear the 2.40m barrier in the same season for the first time ever.

For Barshim and his fellow athletes such head-to-head contests are not only crucial to drive up performances – in his case ever nearer to Javier Sotomayor’s legendary world record of 2.45m – but are also integral to the sport’s appeal.

“This rivalry has made people believe that it is possible to move to the next level, and that is the key to it,” said the 23-year-old from beneath the peak of his self-designed cap with the appropriately defiant slogan, ‘What Gravity, Huh!?’.

“I think everything is possible,” he said. “I like competing against strong fields and if I’m feeling fit and healthy, and there’s a strong field, I’m going to be competing at my best.”

There’s certainly a strong field in Shanghai. Barshim himself is coming off the back of an indoor campaign during which he twice broke the Asian record, while Bondarenko already leads the outdoor world rankings for 2015 after leaping 2.37m in Kawasaki last week.

But the field also includes a pair of top-quality Americans in Olympic silver medallist Erik Kynard and 2011 world champion Jesse Williams, who can both clear 2.37m at their best, while World Championship finalist Zhang Guowei could give the home crowd a reason to cheer after winning silver behind Barshim at the 2014 Asian Games last October. He has already leapt 2.35m this year.

“There are a lot of guys in the high jump who can put on a show,” said Barshim. “It’s not only about Bondarenko, but also the other guys.

“Last season we had five people over 2.40m, all pushing each other, which was really great for us because it gives us more motivation, but also really great for the sport as it provides great competition for the fans.

“If you look at this field you can see they are all capable of winning, so you have to have respect for everyone because they are all great jumpers. But the key is rivalries. Rivalries are always interesting for everyone.”

It’s a similar story for Olympic 400m champion Kirani James who’s primed to face his arch opponent on Sunday, the world champion LaShawn Merritt, the American he beat in two scintillating sub-44s races last year including a thriller in Eugene when the pair fought out a virtual dead-heat.

So far this season, the gap between the two has been a little wider, as Merritt was more than a second behind in fifth place at the Drake Relays last month when James ran 44.22 to go top of the world rankings.

Yet, according to the genial Grenadian, measuring up against Merritt is always important to keep him “on top of my game”.

“With LaShawn in the field, if I’m not on top of my game I know I can get exposed,” he said. “Our rivalry helps the sport because it generates a lot more interest. Competing against the best athlete in the event more than once in a season is a catalyst that draws a lot of excitement to the event and the sport.

“But I still have to be prepared for each and every athlete out there because they’re capable of great things too. I just have to go out and compete and make the best of whoever’s in the race.”

Meeting Merritt in Shanghai will give James an early-season indicator of what he needs to do at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing this August to reclaim the world title he won in 2011, a feat he said today would be another “milestone” in his already glittering career.

“My preparation has been going really well,” he said. “I’ve started the season really strongly so I hope I can continue that here and on to the World Championships in Beijing.”

Winning the world title is the big motivation for long jumper Greg Rutherford too, not least because it would complete a “clean sweep” for the Briton who last year added European and Commonwealth Games titles to the Olympic gold he won in London in 2012.

“It is the last title to complete the set for me and that makes it hugely important for me this year,” said Rutherford, who was fifth at the Worlds in 2009 but has failed to make the final on three other occasions.

“I’ve always had bad luck at the World Championships, so I’m looking to make amends this time,” he said. “All’s been going well so far this year, and it will be good to add that last title to complete the clean sweep.”

Rutherford also faces one of his closest rivals on Sunday when he lines up against the current world champion Aleksandr Menkov of Russia in a loaded event that also includes the early world leader for 2015, Jeffrey Henderson of USA, and China’s own Li Jinzhe, last year’s Asian Games champion who upset the odds to claim victory here two years ago.

“Rivalries are hugely important, but it’s not just Menkov,” said Rutherford. “With Li and Jeff Henderson as well, it’s anyone’s game in the long jump at the moment. There is not one stand-out person.

“I have to be on top of my game because those guys are going be jumping very far. I think it’s going to make a very exciting year in the long jump.”

It could be a very exciting year for Blessing Okagbare too, the Nigerian who won World Championship medals at 200m and long jump in 2013. She triumphed in both events at last year’s Shanghai Diamond League but this year will race just the 100m against a formidable field that includes world and Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, her fellow Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown, Tori Bowie and Lee Muna of USA, and Trinidad and Tobago’s new young tearaway Michelle-Lee Ahye.

Okagbare is an Olympic and world finalist at this event too, and one day would like to tackle all three at a major championships, if the programme allowed it.

“I think about doing all three quite a lot but it would only happen if the schedule was right for me,” she said. “It’s not easy, but maybe some day I will when I have the opportunity. Until then I’ll stick to what I can do on the big stage.”

Alonso Edward is hoping to show what he can do this weekend in what he called an “interesting” 200m. The line-up contains four men with sub-20 second times to their name, including the Panamanian athlete who’s fastest on paper with 19.81, his two Jamaican rivals, Nickel Ashmeade and Rasheed Dwyer, and Churandy Martina of the Netherlands.

“There are a lot of fast guys who will push each other to fast times,” said the 2009 world silver medallist. “I’m expecting a really fast time myself and I’m ready to run.”

The IAAF Diamond League meeting in Shanghai starts at 17:20 local time on Sunday with the Barshim versus Bondarenko show due off at 18:45, the men’s long jump at 19:30 and James against Merritt in the 400m at 19:36.