The European contingent will be headed by the current Olympic and European Champion Greg Rutherford from Great Britain. The London based athlete had another banner year in 2014, not only winning both the European and Commonwealth titles but establishing a new British record of 8.51m.
Africa will be represented by two outstanding jumpers Godfrey Mokoena and Zark Visser. The tall South African Mokoena boasts a personal best of 8.51m and has medals at World Championships and Olympics. Last year he turned his hand to triple jump and not only won the Commonwealth title but achieved a personal best of 17.35m to rival Christian Taylor as the best exponent on both long and triple jump. His countryman Visser has a best of 8.31m and is huge local rival to Mokoena.
The best jumper from the Americas will also be present – Luis Rivera Morales from Mexico. He has a bronze medal from the World Championships in Moscow and a personal best of 8.46m.
No quality horizontal jump field would be complete without the presence of USA’s Christian Taylor; an Olympic Gold medallist in triple jump and such a dangerous competitor in a Diamond Race event of this nature. The more important and the more quality athletes present seems to propel Taylor to greater performances. He took out the Diamond Race event in Birmingham last season and is a great all round athlete (he was also a member of USA’s winning 4 x 400m relay team in Bahamas last year). His recent “18m+” performance in the triple jump in Doha shows he can never be underestimated in any competition at any level.
Another interesting competitor will be the 2013 World Champion Aleksandr Menkov. The Russian had low impact last season and is looking to regain the form that saw him as the dominant figure in long jumping in 2013. His personal best of 8.56m speaks volumes for his ability. He certainly showed in Shanghai that he again will be a serious contender in 2015 with his last leap of 8.27m that not only took the first IAAF Diamond League victory of the season but signalled Menkov’s determination to defend the World title in Beijing later this year.
There are a number of excellent European jumpers who will also make the competition more serious. Sweden’s Michel Torneus will have the support of the Scandinavian crowd especially after his emphatic win in the recent European Indoor Championships. The flying Dutchman Ignisious Gaisah has medals at World Championships both indoors and outdoors, whilst the Greek athlete Louis Tsatoumas is always a threat as his lifetime best of 8.66m. indicates.
The quality field will respond to the knowledgeable Bislett crowd who pride themselves not only in their appreciation of the track events but also the field disciplines.
