Head-to-head matchups highlight Paris meet

Men's 100m: As the Diamond League season moves deeper into the series, the sprint matchups promise to get juicier. One week after Tyson vs. Asafa in Gateshead, we get Bolt vs. Asafa in Paris. On paper, this figures to be the first true "test" of the season for Bolt, who made his return from a six-week injury break in Lausanne, where he basically jogged to victory over a less-than-stellar, hastily-assembled field in 9.82. During Bolt's absence, Powell dominated the Diamond League sprinting scene, also clocking a world-leading 9.82 at the Golden Gala in Rome. But a funny thing seems to happen to Powell every time he faces some real competition. In his 100m race in Gateshead on Saturday, Powell exploded out of the blocks and appeared headed to another victory, but he eased up before the finish and got caught from behind by Gay, who was racing his first 100m of the season after a prolonged injury timeout and won in 9.94. Afterward, Powell attributed the loss to forgetting he was racing against Gay. Hmmmm. Okay, so to refresh Powell's memory, we will mention that Bolt is in the field on Friday and has beaten him seven out of eight times since 2008. Run hard big fella!

Men's 800m: The field for this race is arguably the deepest in the meet and features an intriguing mix of international and American talent. The favorite is Abubaker Kaki of Sudan, who owns the second-fastest time in the world this year at 1:42.23. His prime competition figures to come from a pair of runners that just tore it up in Lausanne, reigning world champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi of South Africa, who ran 1:43.58, and Marcin Lewandowski of Poland, who ran 1:44.30. Augustine Choge of Kenya will be running his first 800m of the year, and had a PR of 1:44.86. Not to be discounted are the three Americans in the field, headed by three-time U.S. champion Nick Symmonds, who has a season-best of 1:45.05, and longtime contender Khadevis Robinson, who has run 1:45.77. Keep an eye on former Oregon star Andrew Wheating, the 2010 NCAA champion at 800m and 1500m. The Beijing Olympian will be running his second race as a professional here. Wheating, who was the top American finisher in the Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic, has a season-best of 1:45.69.

Men's 110m Hurdles: Next to the Bolt/Powell showdown in the 100m, the most watched head-to-head match-up of the meet was supposed to come in this event, where current world-leader David Oliver of the U.S. was to take on world-record-holder Dayron Robles of Cuba. This has been a dream season for Oliver, who has dominated every race he has run and is coming off the best performance of his career at the Prefontaine Classic, where he equaled the American record with his win in 12.90. Robles had a bit of a slow start, but appeared to be coming on strong. At the Diamond League meet in Lausanne, Robles ran a season-best 13.01 in his victory. But on Tuesday, Robles pulled out of the competition due to soreness in both legs. Oliver and Robles have met just once, in Daegu in May with Oliver prevailing. Looks like we will have to wait a little longer for the second showdown.

Women's 200m: All eight runners in the field have run at least 22.8 this season, so this could be a close race. The one runner who could make it a blow-out is three-time world champion Allyson Felix. The 24-year-old has focused more on the 400m this season as a means of building strength and improving race strategy for the future. Nevertheless, she owns the second-fastest time in the world this year at 22.03 and could be ready for a sub-22. Another runner to keep an eye on is Porscha Lucas of the U.S. The All-American sprinter from Texas A&M is running her second race as a pro. She made her debut in the 100m in Barcelona last week, running 11.42. She ran her season best 22.49 in the 200m during the semifinals of the NCAA Championships last month. Other contenders will include Shalonda Solomon and Bianca Knight of the U.S., Sherone Simpson of Jamaica, Debbia Ferguson of the Bahamas and Kelly-Ann Baptiste of Trinidad and Tobago.

Women's 1500m: The field in this race is deep and getting faster with each meet. Gelete Burka of Ethiopia (3:59.28), Btissam Lakhouad of Morocco (3:59.35), Nancy Langat of Kenya (4:00.13) and Lisa Dobriskey of Great Britain (4:01.83) just ran the four fastest times in the world this year in Lausanne and are in the field. They will have to contend with three of the top Americans, newly-minted U.S. champion Anna Pierce (4:05.96), two-time U.S. champ Shannon Rowbury (4:04.00) and Olympian Christin-Wurth Thomas (4:03.44). Also running will be Mimi Belete of Bahrain (4:02.64), Russia's Anna Alminova, who has a PR of 3:58.28 and will be making her outdoor season debut, and Great Britain's Stephanie Twell (4:06.10).