Event: Diamond League - Lausanne (Athletissima)
Date: Thursday, July 4, 2013
Time: 11:30am Central Time

Start List

July 4th. What better way to spend it than by watching some of the fastest Americans take on international competition in the 38th edition of the Athletissima (Lausanne Diamond League)? Action gets started at 11:30 a.m. (central time) with the women’s discus. The first Diamond League event on the track will be the women’s 400-meter run at 2:03 p.m. The meet will be televised on Universal Sports from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. CT. 

Men’s 100-meter dash
Contenders
Tyson Gay
Nickel Ashmeade
Kemar Bailey Cole
Asafa Powell

The American record in the 100-meter dash is in jeopardy this week. Tyson Gay’s first attempt at breaking his own record of 9.69 from 2009 will be at Lausanne’s Athletissima (Diamond League Meeting). All this comes after Gay made 9.75 look easy in the finals of the U.S. Outdoor Championship in Des Moines. 

Gay had just two races under his belt when he first broke the American record in 2009 with his 9.77. Five races later the time dropped to 9.71 and then four more until 9.69 would be his seasonal best. The 30-year-old has six races to his name already in 2013. 

Nickel Ashmeade, Kemar Bailey Cole and Asafa Powell will be the three Jamaicans looking to hand Gay his first loss of the season. Gay has the upperhand on Powell with a 9-6 record in their head-to-head matches. 

After last year’s Olympics, Gay ran 9.83 to finish second behind Yohan Blake’s 9.69 at the Lausanne meeting on August 23. With Blake hurt and the “old” Gay back, a much faster time seems inevitable. A national record could be in the books. 

Women’s 400-meter dash
Contenders
Amantle Montsho
Natasha Hastings
Francena McCorory

In Birmingham, Amantle Montsho of Botswana was not happy with her first loss of the season as she finished second in 50.64. Boasting the fastest seasonal best in the field, Montsho looks to get back on her winning streak, but could see a challenge from Natasha Hastings. Jet-lagged and tired after the rounds from the U.S. Trials, Hastings did not look like herself in Birmingham, but now well rested and adjusted in Europe things will be different. She won’t be the only American in the field with Francena McCorory making the trip across the pond. Great Britain’s Christine Ohuruogu did not celebrate the upset in Birmingham, but doing it twice may give her reason to.

Women’s 200-meter dash
Contenders
Kimberlyn Duncan
Patricia Hall

After her performance in Birmingham, Carmelita Jeter’s struggles of late were spotlighted with a last place finish in the 200-meter dash. Lausanne will be another race for her to assess her fitness before the IAAF World Championships. Meanwhile, Kimberlyn Duncan will go head-to-head against Patricia Hall in Duncan’s first taste against Jamaican competition. 

Women’s 100-meter hurdles
Contenders
Dawn Harper-Nelson
Lolo Jones
Kellie Wells
Nia Ali

There is no better country at the 100-meter hurdles than the United States, right now. The top eight times in the world are American. Australian Sally Pearson is the one to break up the party. The Olympic gold medalist may not be 100 percent healthy after two hamstring injuries as she left Birmingham disappointed with a fourth place showing in 12.73. Dawn Harper-Nelson is riding a victory from Birmingham. Lolo Jones is coming off a victory from Edmonton. Kellie Wells is hungry for a top finish. Nia Ali has the world’s third best time. America will go for the sweep on Independence Day. 

Men’s 5,000-meter run
Contenders
Top Contenders
Yenew Alamirew
Hagos Gebriwhet

It’s a rematch of the 5,000-meter run from Birmingham with the two fastest men in the world in Yenew Alamirew and Hagos Gebriwhet. Both runners went into the final 400-meters with Mo Farah, before the Olympic champion outkicked both. Alamirew stuck with Farah with 150-meters to go. Both learned the lesson of not leaving a race to the last lap against Farah. Without him in the race to keep things at a conservative pace throughout, Alamirew and Gabriwhet may ask for a faster pace and follow the rabbit longer.

Keep an eye on 19-year-old Ethiopian Muktar Edris, who is comining off a victory in Ostrava with the world's seventh best time in 13:03.69. He also won in Henglo on June 8. This will be his Diamond League debut. He was the 2012 World Junior Champion in Barcelona, last summer. 

Diego Estrada makes his professional debut for Asics. The Mexican national record in the 5K is a goal, but maybe not too likely just yet. He has been training with Coach Joe Vigil, who has him more focused on speed work than mileage. Estrada said his longest run leading up to Wedneday was ten miles. He is the only Mexican with the "A" standard and was sent by his country's federation to spend the next few weeks preparing in Europe before Moscow. 

Men’s 200-meter dash
Top Contenders
Isiah Young
Jason Young

It may not be as explosive as a field to end the night as past years, but this race pits young stars Isiah Young of the United States and Jason Young of Jamaica over 200-meters. Jason failed to make the national team headed to Moscow, but still has the world’s 15th fastest time. Isiah sits in fourth behind Gay, Bolt, and Warren Weir. Charles Silmon will be one to watch as his health status was in question after the U.S. Championship. 

I will be on-hand for the action bringing you articles, updates and interviews from Lausanne. 

Chris Chavez is the 2013 Europe correspondent for Flotrack and a journalism major at Marquette University. He once beat Joey Fatone of NSYNC in a half-marathon. Feel free to to reach him with any questions, comments, or feedback on Twitter or by email.