Ten to Watch in 2011

Published in Athletics Weekly, January 6

IN last year's AW, the athletes I profiled included Sandra Perkovic, who won the European discus title in Barcelona, Darya Klishina, who broke the 7m-barrier for the long jump and Eusebio Caceres, who won a world junior long jump silver medal and set a European junior record of 8.27m. With the Olympic Games only eighteen months away, the 2011 campaign will provide a good indicator to the potential stars of London 2012.

Kirani James -

THE University of Alabama student has another season left in the junior ranks but the 18-year-old from Grenada looks ready to make an impact in senior competitions. The former basketball player, who is often compared to Usain Bolt, added the world junior 400m title to his world youth title in Moncton and the Grenadian also set a Caribbean junior record of 45.01 over the course of the summer. Given the lethargic standards of this event on the world stage, such a time should put him in contention for a place in the world 400m final in Daegu but considering his progression, James should forge through the 45-second barrier in 2011.

Bianca Perie -

EVEN though the Romanian is just 20, Perie is preparing for her third World Championships appearance but unlike her previous two showings where she exited in the qualifying round, Perie will be looking to make an impression on the medal positions in Daegu. A precocious junior who won world youth and European junior titles in 2005 and 2007 and world junior gold in 2006 and 2008, Perie is maturing into the senior ranks, which can be illustrated by her fourth-place finish at the European Championships in Barcelona. Perie, whose younger sister Roxana is also an accomplished exponent, improved her PB from 69.63m to 73.52m to finish 2010 ranked No.9 in the world.

Mutaz Essa Barshim -

WE'VE become accustomed with the sight of Kenyan-born athletes winning medals at major championships in the colours of Qatar but through Mutaz Essa Barshim, the Gulf nation might finally have some home-grown success to cheer for. Born in Doha, the 19-year-old who trains at the much coveted Aspire Academy, has improved from 2.14m to 2.31m in 2010 and Barshim has translated this form into major championship success with gold medals at the World Junior Championships in Moncton and more recently at the Asian Games in Guangzhou.

Almaz Ayana -

ETHIOPIA is yet to win a medal of any description in the steeplechase at a major senior championship but if Almaz Ayana continues her vast improvements, it should only be a matter of time before she becomes Ethiopia's first female medallist in this discipline. Ayana was a fairly undistinguished fifth at the World Junior Championships but the 19-year-old took full advantage of further international experience as she set a world junior record of 9:22.51 on the Diamond League circuit in Brussels, which equates to a 41-second improvement on her pre-2010 PB.

Jimmy Vicaut -

CHRISTOPHE LEMAITRE made an emphatic breakthrough in the sprinting events in 2010 but the French are just as excited about the prospects of Jimmy Vicaut, who holds a 100m PB of 10.16 which is one-tenth faster than Lemaitre's corresponding PB at the age of 18. Vicaut, who is ranked seventh on the European all-time junior rankings, looks set to be the star of the European Junior Championships in Tallinn and the Frenchman could also play a prominent role at the World Championships in Daegu, as the teenager is already an integral part of the French relay set-up, having led his team to gold in Barcelona this summer.

Merima Mohammed -

TO become a world-class marathoner, the most established method has been to move up gradually through the distances but in the past few years, this theory has been challenged by a brace of Ethiopian athletes, who have excelled in the marathon from a young age. A prime example is Merima Mohammed and even though she's too young to participate in the marathon in Daegu, the 18-year-old will be a genuine contender in big city marathons. Mohammed finished third in the Toronto Marathon in a substantial PB of 2:23:06 to move to No.2 on the world junior all-time rankings. The world under-20 record stands at 2:22:38 and the Ethiopian has another twelve months to make an impression on that mark.

David Storl -

THE German has made a smooth transition from the junior ranks and the world junior record-holder looks set to continue his country's renowned tradition in the heavy throws throughout this decade. After success at the World Junior and European Junior Championships, Storl was slightly overwhelmed at the World Championships in 2009 but after such a tough baptism in Berlin, the 20-year-old made the finals at the World Indoor Championships and European Championships and the German was the youngest finalist in both those competitions.

Yelizaveta Bryzhina -

THE Ukrainian's parents are both former Olympic champions so it's no surprise the 21-year-old has become a world-class sprinter. Her mother Olga is one of the all-time greats at 400m with world and Olympic titles to her credit while her father Viktor helped the Soviet Union to gold in the relay at the 1988 Olympic Games. Even though Yelizaveta might not have same pedigree, she could provide some resistance to the American dominance in the 200m in Daegu. Bryzhina embedded herself in world-class territory last summer with a European silver medal in a PB of 22.44 and she anchored her country to the European relay title.

Mirela Lavric -

THE two-time world junior 800m champion holds a lifetime best of 2:00.06 from 2008 and even though the Romanian hasn't come within one second of this mark in the past two seasons, Lavric is still an exciting prospect. The 19-year-old has all of the necessary attributes to become a world-class 800m runner and as well as a strong championship temperament, Lavric is an accomplished sprinter with a 100m PB of 11.97 and a 400m PB of 53.22 and has good endurance to count on as well, recently finishing fourteenth in the junior race at the European Cross Country Championships.

Ciara Mageean -

MAGEEAN was the sole non-African medallist in the endurance events at the World Junior Championships in Moncton and given the Irishwoman's middle-distance prowess, the 18-year-old is given the highest compliment of comparisons to Sonia O'Sullivan. Mageean, who improved her Irish junior 1500m record to 4:09.51 this summer, also took the opportunity of competing for Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi and the 2009 world youth silver medallist performed well, finishing tenth in the final. Mageean is taking a year off from her studies to focus on athletics and just like O'Sullivan, Mageean has been linked with Villanova University, although it looks likely she will turn down the American collegiate route to stay closer to home.