Can Willis and Ramadhani defend?
New Zealand’s Nick Willis, who got his tactics right to win the 1500m in Melbourne, will need to repeat the process if he is to challenge the likes of Kiplagat – he is only ranked fifth, with England’s Tom Lancashire being the closest to the Kenyan with a 2010 best of 3:33.36. In the Marathon, Samson Ramadhani of Tanzania, who ran 2:11:29 to win in Melbourne, will again start as favourite. His 2:09.46 is the only Commonwealth time below 2:10 this year. Defending 400m Hurdles champion Louis van Zyl of South Africa, with a best this year of 48.51, will find himself under pressure from Wales’s European champion David Greene, who has reduced his personal best to 47.88 this year. Trecia Smith of Jamaica, the 2005 World champion with 15.13m, enters the women’s Triple Jump as the only competitor to have cleared more than 14m this season and looks favourite to win gold. Elizna Naude of South Africa, who threw the discus 61.55m to win the 2006 Commonwealth Games, is also in a good position with
