By Gene Cherry
RALEIGH, North Carolina, May 15 (Reuters) - Olympic and world champion Jeremy Wariner is back in form and ready for a fast 400 metres at Sunday's Los Angeles Track Classic, his manager said.
"Jeremy is fine," Deon Minor told Reuters in a telephone interview from his Texas office. "He is back in training, it's going good and he's looking forward to Sunday."
A severe cramp during warm-ups led the American to withdraw from his last race, a 200 metres in Doha on May 9.
"He had a knot in his hamstring and the people could not get it worked out," Minor said. "With it being a 200 we did not want to take a chance or risk anything."
Wariner, who hopes to break Michael Johnson's 400 metres world record this year, has been receiving treatment since his return.
"He just called me today and said he felt pretty good," Minor said. "But we are still going to play it close. We can't afford to have any setbacks now."
The heavy favourite for repeat Olympic gold, Wariner will follow Sunday's race with three competitions in Europe, Minor said. He will run a 400 metres at Golden League meetings in Berlin and Oslo in early June and a 300 at Ostrava on June 12.
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CLASSIC FIELDS
Sunday's Los Angeles Track Classic, the first of three major one-day meetings in the U.S., has attracted world champions Wariner, Tyson Gay, Allyson Felix, Bernard Lagat, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Kerron Clement and Jana Rawlinson.
Gay will double at 100 and 200 metres as will Felix, who ran the year's fastest 100 and equalled the fastest 400 at Doha.
Seven women ranked among last year's top 10 - including the past three world champions - are expected in the women's 100 metres.
Jamaica's Campbell-Brown heads the field, which also includes 2005 world champion Lauryn Williams and 2003 winner Torri Edwards.
World bronze medallist Carmelita Jeter and Jamaican Kerron Stewart, currently the year's second fastest, are also in the race.
Gay's task will be to defeat world silver medallist Derrick Atkins of the Bahamas in the 100 and American Xavier Carter, the third-fastest of all time, in the 200.
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CHASING RECORDS
A double run at world records will take place at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, on June 8.
Ethiopian Olympic champions Kenenisa Bekele and Meseret Defar will both take aim at their records during special races at the annual meeting.
Bekele will attempt to lower his 2005 10,000 metres world record of 26:17.53 and IAAF athlete of the year Defar will follow with a bid to break her 5,000 metres world record of 14:16.63 set last June in Oslo.
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AFRICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Distance races dominated talk at the 16th African Championships won by South Africa's men and Nigeria's women, but there were 2008 world-leading performances in several other categories at the Addis Ababa meeting.
Kenya's David Rudisha clocked 1:44.20 for 800 metres and Botswana's Kabelo Kgosiemang soared to the high jump lead at 2.34 metres.
Among women, Botswana's Amantle Montsho ran 49.83 seconds for 400 metres, Kenya's Pamela Jelimo clocked 1:58.70 in the 800 and Cameroon's Olympic champion Francoise Mbango won the triple jump at 14.76 metres.
Bekele won the 5,000 in 13:49.67 but women's world 5,000 metres gold medallist Defar suffered her first track loss since 2006 when she lost to fellow Ethiopian Meselech Melkamu. World champion Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia prevailed in the women's 10,000. (Editing by Rex Gowar)
