All-Star cast heading to Birmingham for the Aviva Grand Prix.

Three-way battle to victory.
David Oliver, David Payne and Joel Brown compete Saturday in the 60 meter hurdles at the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham, which is traditionally one of the largest meets of the indoor season.  David Oliver is coming into the race with a season’s best performance of 7.45 from Stuttgart from a week ago.

What happens when you try something new?
When you try something new is there excitement? Or is there nervousness?   After all it could fail.  Reigning champion Christine Ohuruogu is not accustomed to running indoors and adding to matters, she is running the shorter sprints.  So far this indoor season, the first female British athlete to win 400 meter Olympic gold, is set to run the 60 and 200 meters and so far they have run  7.36 and 23.41 respectively.

A new world record?
Speaking of new things.  Lolo Jones is entering the 60 meter and 60 meter hurdles.  The 2008 Olympian placed first in the Aviva International Match last month, while racking up subsequent wins in Stuttgart and Karlsruhe and is the world’s number one ranked 60 meter hurdles.

Unbeatable?
In two attempts Yelena Isinbayeva vaulted 5 meters, breaking her own world indoor pole vault record in Stuggart, her first competition of the season last Sunday.   The Russian superstar is the 2008 Beijing champion, current outdoor world record holder and number one ranked in the world.

Of course Isinbayeva is the women to beat this week – or any week.  Her competitors won’t deny it.  Will the Russian superstar break her own world record again this weekend?

Keep your eyes on these two
Bernard Lagat is undefeated in the 2009 season and is set to tow the 1,500 meter line against Kenya’s Augustine Choge and Portugal’s Rui Silva.  Last month, Mo Farah set the 3,000 British national record last month at the Aviva International Match.  This meet, the talented British runner is competing in the 3,000 meters, and might lower his national record.

400 meter showdown
Tyler Christopher of Canada, goes head-to-head against Xavier “X Man” Carter and Johan Wissman.  The “X Man” is coming off of a 46.98 second victory at the Tyson Invitational, this race however will give a view into how race ready he is right now.

Drop alert: Pamela Jelimo committed to the meet prior to cancelling the rest of her indoor season. Kelly Sotherton pulled out the competition because of a heel injury and hopes to be ready for the next month’s European Indoor Championships in Turin.

Jones, Oliver, Lagat Set World Leading Times in Stuttgart

The Sparkassen Cup meeting in Stuttgart is a fixture on the series of ten meets making up the IAAF Indoor Permit.  Despite the fact that world records attempts did not materialize at the meet this year eight world leads were produced.  A top shelf group of athletes were assembled at Stuttgart’s Hanns Martin Schleyer Halle stadium.

Another first occurrence in her career.  In front of 7,500 spectators, Lolo Jones blazed 7.85 seconds, another season’s fastest time by .01 seconds in a dominating winning of the 60 meter final.

“I had never won in Stuttgart, despite running here three times, so I wanted to win pretty bad,” said Jones.

In a photo-finish, David Oliver won the 60-meter hurdles in 7.45 secconds, narrowly edging out Russian Evgeniy Borisov – who finished with the same time.  Joel Brown of the U.S. placed third in 7.48.  Olympic champion Dayron Robles withdrew from the meet on Thursday with an ankle injury.

She put the record out there. Ethiopia’s Meseret Defar ran a season’s best time of 8:26.99 over 3,000 meters. Which was still well off of her own indoor record of 8:23.72, which was set on the same track last year.

In a flat out bonkers performance, Bernard Lagat shattered the world’s top 3,000 meters  mark in 7:35.41 to better Britain’s Mohammed Farah, who is coming off a 7:40.99 win in Glasgow.

And in the men’s 1500m, Ethiopia’s Deresse Mekkonen ran a new world leading time of 3:36.41.
Since missing gold in Beijing, the Vlasic Blanka has been brilliant, clearing a world-leading 2.04 in Stuttgart.