Sprinter Clarence Munyai faces tough Paris test

Clarence Munyai faces a tough 200m test at the Diamond League meeting in Paris on Saturday night‚ taking on world No1 Noah Lyles as well as world champion Ramil Guliyev.

Seven of the field have been under 20 seconds in their careers and five of them have done it this season alone.

The 21-year-old Munyai‚ with a of 20.04 in 2019‚ has yet to break the 20sec barrier since the 19.69 SA record he clocked at the Tuks track in Pretoria early last year.

That time made Munyai the second-fastest 200m sprinter on the planet for 2018‚ but this season he is tied on 14th.

American Lyle went 19.65 last year and lowered his best to 19.50 in early July to make himself the favourite for the Diamond League crown as well as the world championships in Doha from September 27 to October 6.

Also in the line-up is Canadian Aaron Brown‚ who has won three top relay sprint medals‚ one at the Olympics and two at world championships.

He won Commonwealth Games silver at Gold Coast last year ahead of Munyai‚ who was struggling with injury.

Also part of the sub-20 club for 2019 are Brown‚ Nigerian Divine Oduduru‚ Alex Quinonez of Ecuador and Turkey’s Guliyev‚ who beat Wayde van Niekerk to the 200m gold at the last world championships in London in 2017.

Munyai is the only SA athlete in the entry lists so far.