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At Stockholm Olympic Stadium, directly after the World Championships, Abeba will meet Brenda Martinez, 25, who impressed in London Diamond League two weeks ago by winning the 800m in 1:58.19, 1.5 seconds in front of second place. This performance was noted and after the race we speculated on Twitter ”if she was coming to DN Galan?”.
A few hours later Brenda tweeted back ”Thanks! I have never competed at DN Galan but my coach, Dr Joe Vigel, says it’s the best track meet in the world. See you after the Worlds!” No sooner said than done. We invited Brenda and now she’s set for her debut at DN Galan.
Also in the race is Olympic finalist and 2013 US 800m Champion, Alysia Montano, who is third on the world list with her 1:57.75 from the Diamond League race in Paris one month ago. She has competed at DN Galan before – in 2011 she was 5th in the 800m with 2:00.69, a time she will surely better on 22 August.
So it goes without saying that Abeba Aregawi will have strong competition to help her improve her own Swedish record of 1.59.20 which she set in Hengelo on 8 June.
– After a successful summer, I’m really looking forward to DN Galan and I can’t wait to run in front of a home crowd at Stockholm Stadium, was Abeba’s message to the Stockholm public.
Many of the world’s elite athletes will compete at this year’s DN Galan and as the event approaches, more top names will be announced. And the medalists from Moscow will come to the classic Stockholm Stadium facing those seeking revenge after the preceding week’s World Championships.
Jonas Hedman and Jane Howarth
