DALE GARLAND will come face to face with one of the gold medal favourites in the heats of the 400m hurdles in Osaka this lunchtime. The first Guernseyman to represent Great Britain at the world athletics championships goes in heat three of five and could hardly have had a tougher first-round race.

Of the eight starters, Garland has the slowest season’s best time and among them is the world-ranked number two, the American Kerron Chement.

He has run two seconds quicker than Garland this season and come the final is likely to vie for the gold medal with fellow American James Carter, the pre-event favourite.

Qualification for the semi-finals is likely to be well beyond the GIAAC star but he has a good habit of bringing the best out of himself when it matters most.

His rivals today also include the world number 12, Jamaican Danny McFarlane, the top Russian, Aleksandr Derevyagin, and the big Japanese hope, Dai Tamesue.

The field is completed by Portuguese and Puerto Rican runners.

Half-the-world away at Crystal Palace, Lee Merrien runs at Crystal Palace in the BMC Nike Grand Prix final.

He goes in the 5,000m and will hope to improve on his fourth-place finish at the UK Championships and world trials in Manchester.

Domestically, several of Guernsey’s Island Games track and field squad were in action in the latest part of the GIAAC’s Healthspan Club championships series.

Garland and Merrien would have been certain winners of the 200m and 5,000m respectively had they not had bigger fish to fry, but in their absence as well as the injured or ill Tom Druce, Nathan Stevens, Matt Bailey and Michael Batiste, it gave the opportunity for some of the emerging youngsters to chase gold.

In the men’s 200m Matt Loveridge just held off Robin Cowling to take the title in 23.9sec., while the women’s race was notable for Helen Watts, the only member of the island’s 4 x 100m sprint relay team not on holiday or injured, winning in 27.2.

The 400m hurdles heats are scheduled for 12.45pm BST.