Liu Xiang and the men's 110m hurdles event may be the main course at Saturday's Shanghai Diamond League meet, but there will also be plenty of other dishes for track and field fans to savor as the world's stars build toward the London Olympics.

One particularly delicious treat will be served up in the women's 200m, where dual Olympic and world champion Veronica Campbell-Brown will face Carmelita Jeter in the ever-growing rivalry between Jamaican and United States sprinters.

Bullet-quick American Jeter boasts the fastest outdoor time in the half-lap event this new season with a 22.31 clocking, but VCB, as she is known in Jamaica, has her sights firmly set on chasing track history at the London Games by becoming the first female 200m runner to win three Olympic crowns in a row.

She warmed up nicely for her first competitive 200 of the year with a strong second behind long-time US rival Allyson Felix in the 100m at the Doha Diamond League meet last week. Felix clocked 10.92 to VCB's 10.94, but the Jamaican, who turned 30 on Tuesday, was coming home strong.

VCB expected a strong race in Shanghai.

"This will be my first 200m race since I competed in (the World Championships last August)," she said on Thursday in Shanghai. "The objective going into this race for me is to see where I am at, be very technical, and try to get my race together.

"And I expect a very good competition not only from Carmelita (Jeter) but from all the other ladies because I try not to underestimate anyone. I go into my races believing that everybody's going to run fast and so I focus on what I have to do to get to the finish line. So that is my focus and I just want to see where I am so I can see what I need to do going forward."

Bahamian Debbie Ferguson McKenzie, an Olympic gold medalist in the 4x100m relay in 2000, adds extra class to the field, while Jamaica's Aleen Bailey and Anneisha McLaughlin and the US's Tiffany Townsend and Jeneba Tarmoh will be keen to perform well in a competitive environment with both countries' national trials little more than a month away.

Campbell-Brown's compatriot Asafa Powell headlines the field in the men's 100m and he will be looking to atone for a loss to US foe Justin Gatlin in Doha. Powell looked the winner 20m out before being run down by Gatlin, whose 9.87 was a miniscule .01 better than the big Caribbean sprinter.

"Never again," said a chagrined Powell after that loss to Gatlin, but he will certainly be looking to step up his preparations in Shanghai. His 9.88 is good, but fellow Jamaicans Usain Bolt (9.82) and Yohan Blake (9.84) ran faster in their first outdoor hit outs this month and the race for the three Olympic berths from that Caribbean island is going to be excruciatingly tight.

Pushing Powell to the line should be the 2003 world champion Kim Collins of St Kitts and Nevis, Michael Rodgers and Darvis Patton of the US and fellow members of Jamaica's victorious Olympic 4x100m relay team Michael Frater and Nesta Carter.

All are capable of running close to 10 sec flat, but Powell should be aiming to blitz this field with another sub-9.9 time.

The world's best long-distance man, Kenenisa Bekele, will stretch his Ethiopian legs out in the 5,000m. The three-time Olympic champion (twice in the 10,000 and once in the 5,000) and world record holder in both distance events should get his Olympic build-up off to a strong start in a field that includes only one athlete outside of Kenya or Ethiopia ... poor Abrar Osman Adem of Eritrea can expect little support as the runners from the African powerhouses push their claims for Olympic selection.

Another Beijing champion returning to the international stage will be Australian pole vaulter Steven Hooker. The redheaded leaper hit a confidence crisis akin to the putting yips in golf ... which is not a particularly good thing if you are aiming to thrust yourself almost 6 meters in the air with the use of a bendy stick. However, he believes he has recovered now and attained the Olympic qualifying mark this month in Perth.

Everything seems to be good for him en route to the London Games.

"I think I am building really well towards London. There is a lot of room to go for me in terms of my performance and what I am looking to achieve over my next seven competitions leading to London," Hooker said on Thursday after arriving Shanghai.

"There is still a long way to go for me in terms of my results to be a medal contender but I feel like everything's heading in that direction."

Contact the writers at leilei@chinadaily.com.cn and tymothyg@hotmail.com

(China Daily 05/19/2012 page16)