Schippers - Felix
Allyson Felix renewed her 400m title in Beijing. She heads the Diamond Race in … the 200m. Brussels presents the first straight duel this year between Felix and freshly crowned World Champion Dafne Schippers. The Dutchwoman will be cheered by the local fans as if she competes on home soil
Bolt - Van Niekerk
World Championship’s200m and 400m gold medallists also meet in the Men’s 200m. South African Wayde Van Niekerk was one of the greatest sensations in Beijing in winning the 400m title in a phenomenal 43”48. Even when he lost his national 200m record to fellow South African Jobodwana who took the bronze in Beijing. Van Niekerk targets that 19”87 mark in his first ever race against Usain Bolt.
Javelin Throw top 8
In the Shot Put 7 out of the World Championship’s top 8 athletes will compete in Brussels. In the Javelin Throw all the top 8 athletes will be on the infield. Gold medal winner Julius Yego comes along with his Egyptian training partner Abdelrahman El Sayed, who won silver in Beijing and with Tero Pitkämäki who took the bronze. The Fin battles for the Diamond Race win against Viteszlav Vesely from the Czech Republic.
20m Exosuit
An interesting scoop of a totally different kind is the presentation of the Exosuit. 4 walking robots are engaged to perform in the 20m Exosuit. Combining state of the art technology and human determination should allow paralysed people to participate more actively in society. In this experimental configuration presented by the “To Walk Again”-project we see a glimpse of how the wheelchair can be abandoned thanks to actual and future developments.
