Blake to run 100m in Switzerland next week

GENEVA (AP):

Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake will compete in Switzerland next week in his first race since beating Usain Bolt over 100 and 200 metres in the national Olympic trials.

Organisers of the Spitzen Leichtathletik meet in Lucerne said Blake will run in the 100 next Tuesday.

"It's his first run after the trials and perhaps his only run before the Olympics," meeting director Terry McHugh told The Associated Press yesterday.

Blake, the 100 world champion, clocked a personal best and world leading time of 9.75 seconds to beat Olympic champion Bolt in Kingston last month. He also ran a world-leading 19.80 to win the 200.

Blake is scheduled to open his London Olympics in the 100 heats on August 4.

For 26 years, Spitzen Leichtathletik has been renowned for being well organised without the pressure and intensity that accompany a top-tier Diamond League meeting.

"An athlete needs to remain competitive, but they don't need to face the world," McHugh said. "The meeting has a reputation for being a fast track. Most importantly, it suits their plan."

The 100 meet record is held by another Jamaican, Nesta Carter, who timed 9.86 in 2010.

Blake has pleasant memories of running in Switzerland. Last September in Zurich, he made his first competitive appearance after becoming world champion in Daegu, South Korea.

Blake set a then-personal best of 9.82 to win the Diamond League final at the famed Weltklasse meet.