BW-Bank Meeting in Karlsruhe – Titans clash in the 60 metres hurdles in the Europahalle – Liu Xiang challenging David Oliver at the BW-Bank Meeting

There's going to be a real clash of the titans in the 60-metre hurdles at the BW-Bank Meeting in Karlsruhe's Europahalle on 13 February when two of the world's best hurdlers, China's folk hero Liu Xiang and the American David Oliver, take each other on. The event brings Xiang back to where he won the 60-metre hurdles with a new Asia record of 7.42 seconds in 2007.

China's hero hurdler Liu Xiang had been through a long barren spell before winning his third continental title with a clear victory at the Asian Games in Guangzhou (China) on 24 November, delighting his fans with a world-class time of 13.08 seconds. It was only the 27 year-old's second competition in 2010 after he'd sprinted the course in 13.4 seconds at the Diamond-League Meeting in Shanghai (China) in 2010.

Here, he came third behind his fellow countryman Shi Dongpeng and the winner David Oliver, who had increasingly developed into a hurdler in the two preceding years and could well break the existing world record set by the Beijing Olympics winner Dyron Robles (12,87 seconds).
 
The Cuban's Olympic victory in Beijing had actually been envisaged for Liu Xiang, who had already won gold four years earlier in Athens and had set a new, at that time spectacular, world record of 12.88 in Lausanne in 2006, becoming World Champion a year before the games in Osaka. Liu Xiang was programmed for his second Olympic gold medal but an injury stopped Liu Xiang in the preliminary round, causing utter dismay amongst the 80,000 or so spectators when he limped off the track with a face contorted with pain. Now Liu Xiang is back and his time at the Asia Games shows that he can take up where he left off from his brilliant form before his injury.

China's golden boy can be seen again at the BW-Bank Meeting after three years' abstinence and his duel with 2010's fast climber, David Oliver, could well become one of the highlights of the event. Oliver is regarded as the world's best hurdler at present and, with a time of 12.89 seconds over 110 metres, is only two-hundredths of a second away from the world record of Dyron Robles, behind whom and countryman David Payne he won bronze in Beijing.

The 28 year-old has run up a number of successes in the indoor short-distance hurdles as well. The US indoor title in 2008 was also followed by a bronze medal at the indoor championships in Doha last year. Athlete coordinator Alain Blondel is certain that Liu Xiang against David Oliver "promises to be a real treat for athletics fans that the whole world's going to envy the BW-Bank Meeting for.“

Besides the China vs. USA duel in the men's 60-metre hurdles the BW-Bank Meeting is also bringing together the European champions from Barcelona 2010. 100-metre European champion and Bambi winner Verena Sailer will be taking her marks for the 60-metre sprint. Christian Reif will be competing in the long jump. Also joining the two German champions is the French superstar Christoph Lemaitre. The triple gold medallist at the European Championships (100 metres, 200 metres, and 4×100-metre relay) will be tackling the 60-metre sprint in the Europahalle.

Tickets for the BW-Bank Meeting are available from the tourist information office at the main railway station in Karlsruhe and can also be purchased at all the familiar advance ticket offices. Category 1 tickets cost €24.50, Category 2 €19.50, and discount tickets €14.50. All prices include the advance booking fee and statutory VAT. Tickets are also available via the ticket hotline 0721/25000 and online at www.eventim.de.

More details are available on the Internet at www.bw-bank-meeting.de.