Crawford, Boase, and Rome in Doha for first meet of Diamond League season...
The series, which runs through the early part of September, spans the globe with the majority of meets in Europe over the next few months.
Eugene's Nike Prefontaine Classic and New York's adidas Grand Prix will be the only two North American stops on the Samsung Diamond League circuit.
Rainier Beach HS grad Ginnie Crawford (left/photo by Paul Merca), former Washington Husky Jordan Boase, and Marysville-Pilchuck HS grad Jarred Rome are entered in the Doha meet.
Crawford, a three-time world championships team member outdoors, is entered in the 100-meter hurdles, where she'll face a predominantly American field that includes Lolo Jones.
Boase, a graduate of Bothell HS and a former Pac-10 champion and NCAA finalist at 400 meters, drops down to the 200, where he'll face the likes of Olympic medalist Walter Dix, and Norway's Jaysuma Ndure.
The veteran Rome, who has a season best of 218-10 (66.71m) set in Chula Vista last week, goes against another veteran in the form of Virgilijus Alekna from Lithuania, along with Yennifer Casanas from Spain, Piotr Malachowski of Poland, and Gerd Kanter from Estonia.
The start list for the Doha meet is available here.
Viewers can watch the Doha meet live beginning at 9 am, Pacific time, on universalsports.com for $2.99/24.99 for the entire season.
PRO NOTES: On her blog, Vancouver's Kara Patterson, the American record holder in the javelin, who was in contention for the Diamond Trophy last year, confirmed that she will compete in the Rome Diamond League met on May 26th.
Patterson was in contention, despite missing out on the first two meets in Doha and Rome, because she wasn't invited. But thanks to a big win in Eugene at the Nike Prefontaine Classic that propelled her into the limelight, she was able to participate in the remaining Diamond League meets last year.
In his blog, universalsports.com's Joe Battaglia clamors for a Usain Bolt/Tyson Gay matchup before the world championships in Daegu, noting that, "Instead, we've been handed the world's fastest men vs. the world's formerly-fastest man. Asafa Powell will take on both sprinters. He is scheduled to race Bolt in Rome on May 26 and Gay in Birmingham on July 10 and again in London on August 5."
After Battaglia's tweet linking his blog post made its way onto Twitter land, Tyson Gay responded with a simple, "Lol!"
As they say in the business, stay tuned!
One last note--tickets to the 2012 US Olympic Track & Field Trials in Eugene go on sale Friday...get more information on how to purchase here!
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