Lawson to leap against Lapierre

Australia’s national long jump champion will have his work cut out for him next month as Fabrice Lapierre (NSW) is set to go leap-for-leap against US speedster Jarrion Lawson.

Lawson will be flying to Melbourne after being picked for Usain Bolt’s All-Stars for Nitro Athletics Melbourne, a new-look athletics series that will see Usain Bolt compete and captain his team of 24 against teams from Australia, China, England, Japan and New Zealand at Melbourne’s Lakeside Stadium on Saturday 4th, Thursday 9th and Saturday 11th February 2017.

The 22-year-old from Texas was compared to the great Jesse Owens last year when he won the 100m, 200m and long jump titles at the NCAA College Championships in 2016 just as Owens did in 1935 and 1936.

The US pocket-rocket will be a key weapon for Bolt’s team, both on the track and in the sandpit. With a windy 9.90sec and a heat run in Rio with the US 4x100m team after making the final the straight dash at the US Trials, Lawson is multi-talent and well suited to the Nitro Athletics team format.

In 2016 Lawson made his first Olympic team, qualifying for the long jump at the US Olympic Trials with a personal best leap of 8.58m (w+1.8).

In an incredible long jump final in Rio, sitting in fourth, Lawson’s final jump of the night had seemingly put him into the gold medal position before it was revealed that his trailing finger scraped the sand, reducing his jump and agonisingly finishing in fourth place.

World Championships silver medallist and the 2016 Diamond League Champion Lapierre, has recently been training in Arizona (USA) and is looking forward to the opportunity to be a part of the ground-breaking series.

“It's is something new and refreshing, the events are fun to watch and the action will be fast paced and free flowing,” said Lapierre.

“The modified long jump will be interesting, it will require you to really make a decision and stick with it as to what jump you believe will be your best in the series” Lapierre said, referring to the ‘Nitro Boost’, an opportunity athletes will have to nominate a certain distance to better at the start of their jump.

“It’s bit of strategy, which will make the outcome more interesting,” Lapierre said.

Lapierre has a personal best of 8.40m placing him third on the all-time list of Australian long jumpers behind national record holder Mitchell Watt and Jai Taurima.

Lawson, however, has a current long jump PB of 8.58m, an extraordinary one-off effort he managed at the US Olympic Trials last year.

A world junior bronze medallist in 2012, Lawson plans to continue to develop both his sprinting and jumping abilities in the future.

“I plan to make a big leap in my sprinting events. I plan to set some new personal records, and yes, I plan on going under 10 seconds and hopefully under 20 multiple times!”

Coming from a team-minded environment in the college system, Lawson is looking forward to the prospect of a team-based competition at Nitro Athletics.

Given his versatility Lawson will be a huge factor in the Bolt All-Stars line up, with the capacity to sprint, run relays and long jump with world class abilities across a range of events.

“I love the team aspect! I'm a big team player, like I was in college. It makes the sport a little more fun but also keeps the competition at a high level.

“I think I can bring my team background to Usain's team. I always give my best for myself and for my team.

And I think we will have a decent team. We certainly don't plan on losing.”

Joining Lawson on the Bolt All-Stars are Rio Olympic 400m hurdles gold medallist Kerron Clement, Jamaican sprinters Asafa Powell and Michael Frater along with 2008 Olympic hurdles champion Dawn Harper Nelson from the United States.

Set to challenge Lawson will be a team of rising stars of Australian athletics headlined by Olympians and Olympic finalists including Ryan Gregson, Morgan Mitchell, Genevieve LaCaze, Brooke Stratton, Kathryn Mitchell and Michelle Jenneke the team also includes Paralympic gold medallist Scott Reardon and bronze medallist Ella Pardy. 

Nitro Athletics Melbourne is supported by the Victorian Government and will be broadcast live on the Channel 7, 7mate and PLUS7 Live app.

Media accreditation to attend Nitro Athletics Melbourne and the Red Carpet at the Usian Bolt Gala dinner is now open at:

http://nitroathletics.com.au/media-accreditation