Three Sick Match-Ups At The IAAF World Challenge In Hengelo
Three Sick Match-Ups At The IAAF World Challenge In Hengelo
Preview of the 2018 FBK Games, also known as the IAAF World Challenge: Hengelo in the Netherlands.
The FBK Games in Hengelo, the Netherlands on Sunday, June 3 serve as the next stop on the IAAF World Challenge circuit. If you're in the United Kingdom, you can catch the action LIVE on FloTrack here. Check out the entries here, view the time schedule here, and read on for our picks of the best action.
UK subscribers can watch the IAAF World Challenge: Hengelo LIVE on FloTrack!
Women's Mile: Jenny Simpson vs. Sifan Hassan
17:40 Local Time
Two of the best middle-distance women in the world will meet in the mile distance in Hengelo, and if history is any indicator of the result, wagers should be evenly split. Jenny Simpson of the U.S. and Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands each have eight wins over each other in their careers over 1500m, though if you expand the distance to the full mile, Hassan gets the slight nod by one.
Simpson got the better of Hassan at the last two global championships, with a bronze medal to Hassan's fifth place at the Rio Olympics, and the silver to Hassan's fifth at last summer's world championships, though Hassan beat her handily at the IAAF Diamond League final in 2017.
Hassan will be making her outdoor season debut after capturing silver in the 3K and bronze in the 1500m at March's IAAF Indoor Championships, while Simpson is coming off a 3:59.37, third-place finish at the Prefontaine Classic.
Women's 200m: World Champion Dafne Schippers vs. Blessing Okagbare, Kyra Jefferson
18:50 Local Time
Two-time reigning world 200m champion Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands headlines this field, though Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor is actually the fastest woman in the world this year. The 29-year-old ran 22.04 (+0.5) back in March, though she hasn't come close to that time in her more recent races. Her last outing was a seventh-place finish in the 100m at Prefontaine in 11.07. Schippers was fourth in that race in 11.01.
Schippers' sole 200m of the season was a runner-up finish to Shaunae Miller-Uibo at the Diamond League meeting in Shanghai in 22.34 (-.04).
Okagbare's last 200m was a runner-up finish to Shericka Jackson at the Jamaica International Invitational, 22.55 to 22.66. The United States' Kyra Jefferson was fourth in that race in 22.86; the NCAA record holder will be another top athlete to watch in Hengelo.
Women's 100m Hurdles: Olympic Champion Brianna McNeal vs. 2017 World Medalists
17:10 Local Time
Brianna McNeal continues her assault on the track and field world in her return to competition after serving a one-year ban for missing three drug tests. Right now, her season's best of 12.43 ranks No. 2 in the world behind only Kentucky junior Jasmine Camacho-Quinn.
McNeal has won five hurdles races this season, including her most recent outing in Shanghai, and her sole blemish is a runner-up finish to world record holder Keni Harrison in Doha.
In Hengelo, she'll face the United States' Dawn Harper-Nelson and Germany's Pamela Dutkiewicz, both of whom picked up medals at last summer's world championships in her absence. Harper-Nelson was eighth in both Doha and Shangahi, while Dutkiewicz is making her outdoor debut after placing third at the world indoor 60m hurdles final.
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