By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 TRACK PROFILE Report, all rights reserved
Olympic champions Veronica Campbell-Brown and Dawn Harper produced the leading results at today's Golden Grand Prix in Shanghai.
Despite a sluggish start, Campbell-Brown, the 200m Olympic champion and reigning 100m world champion, dominated the field in the 100m clocking 11.01. It was the Jamaican's ninth victory in 10 starts in the 100 this season. Her only loss came at the Jamaican championships in late June where she finished fourth thus missing an Olympic team berth.
American Lauryn Williams was the runner-up a quarter of a second back in 11.26, with Briton Jeanette Kwakye (11.32) third.
Harper apparently likes competing in China. The surprise Olympic winner won her fourth race in seven outings since her Olympic triumph in 12.56, just shy of her 12.54 career best which brought her Olympic Gold. Brigitte Foster-Hylton of Jamaica was the distant runner-up in 12.66.
After skipping last weekend's World Athletics Final with a cold, Yelena Isinbayeva returned to action in the pole vault to take an easy win with a 4.60m clearance. She cleared on her second attempt before bowing out with three misses at 4.75. The two-time Olympic champion and world record holder set the Shanghai stadium record a year ago with a 4.83 leap. Russian Tatyana Polnova and Germany's Carolin Hingst topped out at 4.50 to finish second and third.
Leading from the outset, Tatyana Lebedeva defeated Olympic champion Francois Mbango in the triple jump with a third round 14.83m leap. In her fairly consistent series, she also reached 14.81 in the final round, topping Mbango's best of 14.75 best from round three. Russian Ann Pyatykh was third, with a 14.71 best from the fifth round.
Olympic champion Andrey Tereshin of Russia won the high jump with a 2.31m leap, beating back American Jesse Williams and Swede Linus Thornblad, who each cleared 2.28m. American Miguel Pate won a heated battle with surprise World Athletics Final winner Fabrice Lapierre. The pair saved their best for the sixth round, with Pate leaping 8.17 to top the Australian's 8.15 best. Christian Cantwell upset Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski in the shot put with a 20.84m effort. Three of the American's efforts -- including throws of 20.44 and 20.75-- would have sufficed to out-do the 20.36 opening round toss by the Pole.
Jamaicans also dominated the men's 100m, with Michael Frater (10.05) and Nesta Carter (10.10), both members of the nation's world-record setting squad from Beijing, finihsing 1 and 2.
Wilfred Bungei snapped a four-race losing streak in the 800 with a solid 1:44.63 victory, his first triumph since taking the 800m Olympic title in Beijing. Poland's Pawel Czapiewski also dipped under 1:45 to finish second in 1:44.96.
Zimbabwe's Brian Dzingai, who was fourth in the Olympic 200m final, won the half-lap in 20.38, ahead of American Rodney Martin who clocked 20.42.
Olympic 400m hurdles champion Angelo Taylor's late season form continued. Two weeks after a season's best 44.38 in Lausanne, th 29-year-old again contested the flat 400 and won handily in 44.94, well ahead of African record holder Gary Kikaya (45.09).
Gelete Burka's September visit to China proved better than her visit last month. Failing to reach the Olympic final, the Ethiopian rebouned with a dominating 4:02.30 victory, well ahead of Ukraine's Anna Mischenko (4:07.89), who was ninth in Beijing.
Elsewhere, Olympic bronze medallist and World Athletics Final winner David Oliver won the 110m hurdles with ease in 13.25 and Kenyan Levy Matebo won the 5000m in 13:16.26.
Jamaican Shericka Williams won the 400 (50.88) well ahead of Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu was finished a distant fourth (52.30), Sheena Tosta won the 400m hurdles in 54.51 ahead of fellow-American Tiffany Williams (54.70).
By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 TRACK PROFILE Report, all rights reserved
STUTTGART -- Bouncing back from personal disappointments at the Olympics Games, Sanya Richards and Meseret Defar capped their seasons with double victories to highlight the second and final day of the IAAF/VTB Bank World Athletics Final in Stuttgart on Sunday.
Richards, the American record holder in the 400 meters, added the 400m title to her 200 victory on Saturday with a convincing victory over Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu in 50.41, to become the first to win both long dashes at the traditional season-capping event. It was also her fourth straight WAF victory over the full lap.
"Ending my season like this is a good indicator for 2009," said Richards, who was upset in the Olympic final by Ohuruogu and finished a disappointing third. Last year, Ohuruogu won the world title as well with Richards absent. Here the Briton was a distant second, clocking 50.83 seconds.
"I am exhausted," said Ohuruogu, "but I'm glad I came here anyway. Finishing second doesn't mean anything in the overall scheme of things, because I won the highest accolade in Beijing." Today's was the first defeat in seven starts this season for the Briton.
"Winning the 400 at the World Athletics Final was more important than winning the 200," said Richards, who despite her high profile in the event since 2005, has yet to win a major global title. "I will work hard for next year's world championships."
For the second straight day, Defar outkicked Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot, this time in the 3000m, winning in 8:43.60. Cheruiyot, who was fifth in the Olympic Games 5000 and beat Defar in the Brussels 5000 last weekend, led for much of the race until Defar kicked past her with 250 meters to go. Cheruiyot clocked 8:44:64.
In 2008, Defar, 24, last year's IAAF Athlete of the Year, saw both her world record in the 5000 and her Olympic title in the event fall to her Ethiopian compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba, who did not compete this weekend. This was Defar's fifth straight WAF victory in the 3000m.
For their efforts, Richards and Defar were the weekend's big winners in prize terms, pocketing $60,000 over their weekend German getaway. They were outdone by Barbora Spotakova yesterday, who, counting her world record bonus, will take home $130,000 in prize money.
Unseasonably chilly conditions enveloped Mercedes Benz Stadium for the second day, providing a somewhat uninviting atmosphere for the venue's final track and field event.
Despite the cold, Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser produced a fast victory with a strong closing half, clocking 10.94, beating Olympic co-silver medalist Kerron Stewart, who clocked 11.06. In a photo finish, American Marshevet Hooker was third, also credited with 11.06.
"I wanted to run sub-10.90, but this is still a good time," said Fraser, who emerged from nowhere this season to first earn a spot on the Jamaican Olympic team and then follow up with a surprise victory in Beijing. "I'm just so happy to end my season by winning this race." The 21-year-old, who clocked a world leading 10.78 to win the Olympic title, brought a modest wind-assisted 11.21 personal best into 2008.
- Jelimo Untouchable
Pamela Jelimo, whose rise from obscurity this year was the sporting world's biggest breakout story, once again dominated the 800, winning by more than two seconds in 1:56.23. Patiently following Briton Marilyn Okoro through a modest 59.08 first lap, the 18-year-old decided enough was enough midway through the penultimate turn and shifted gears en route her ninth sub-1:57 of the season. Her winning time, a WAF record, was only her ninth fastest of the season, but only three others have run faster this year.
"I guess that I actually have even more talent than I showed in 2008, so in 2009, I want to continue exploring my talents and actually run even faster," said Jelimo, who hadn't contested the event until April of this year. She ended her campaign undefeated, winning both the Olympic title and the $1 million Golden League Jackpot.
World champion Janeth Jepkosgei was second, more than two seconds back in 1:58.41.
- Vlasic ends on a High
After a pair of major disappointments, Blanka Vlasic ended her season on a high note with a victory in the high jump. The 24-year-old jumped 2.01m, beating both Olympic champion Tia Hellebaut of Belgium, who was third, and German Ariane Friedrich whose victory over the Croatian in Brussels last weekend cost Vlasic a $500,000 share of the Golden League Jackpot.
"It was very important for me to win the World Athletics Final," said Vlasic, who ended her season with victories in 37 of her last 39 competitions. In all but one of those she cleared two meters.
Olympic 400m hurdles champion Melaine Walker won her event in 54.06, nearly a full second ahead of Ukraine's Anastasiya Rebchenyuk (54.96). Tasha Danvers of Great Britain, the Olympic bronze medallist who runs in a skirt, tumbled over the second hurdle but got up and went on to finish eighth.
Olympic hammer throw champion Primoz Kozmus of Slovenia won his event with a final round throw of 79.99 meters over Hungary's Krisztian Pars. The pair traded the lead throughout the four-round competition before Kozmus, who won all but two of his 13 competitions this season.
Another Olympic champion to win this weekend was Valerie Vili of New Zealand, who took the shot put handily with a best of 19.69.
Elsewhere, American Derek Miles, fourth in the Olympic Games, won the pole vault with a 5.80m leap, notable given the conditions. Russian Anna Pyatykh upset Olympic gold and silver medalists Francoise Mbango Etone and Tatyana Lebedeva to win the triple jump with a leap of 14.78m.
Kenyan Haron Keitany, who missed the Olympic Games after finishing fourth at the Kenyan Trials, beat a strong field in the 1500m in 3:37.93, barely edging Olympic silver medalist Asbel Kiprop by a scant 0.01 seconds.
Olympic 5000m bronze medalist Edwin Soi, second in Saturday's 3000m, kicked to victory to defend his World Athletics Final title in the 5000 in 13:22.81.
"I love this track here in Stuttgart, and enjoy torun here," said Soi, whose $50,000 take this weekend ups his overall earnings here to $110,000 in four races over the past years.
Paul Kipsiele Koech, the season's undisputed No. 1 in the 3000m steeplechase despite missing the Olympic Games, again defeated the Olympic medallists Brimin Kipruto and Richard Mateelong, clocking 8:05.35 to win by nearly 10 seconds.
In the absence of world record holder and Olympic champion Dayron Robles who was sidelined due to injury, American David Oliver took an easy victory in the 110me hurdles in 13.22. Oliver, who joined the sub-13 second club this season, was the only man to defeat Robles this year.
Latvian Vadims Vasilevskis upset the Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen and world champion Tero Pitkamaki in the javelin throw with a throw of 86.65m.
- Mayor loses a few votes
Upon conclusion of the meet, Stuttgart's Mayor Wolfgang Schuster was met by a chorus of boos by the 21,500 fans on hand, voicing their disapproval over the city's decision last year to remove the track from the stadium. Stuttgart ended its three-year run as host of the season-capping competition. The World Athletics Final moves to Thessaloniki, Greece, next September, for now, as a one-year stint.
By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 TRACK PROFILE Report, all rights reserved
STUTTGART -- Olympic champion Barbora Spotakova broke through the 72- meter barrier in the women's javelin with a world record 72.28m to highlight the first day of the season-capping World Athletics Final on Saturday.
"This is strange because I did not expect it," said the Czech who shattered the previous mark of 71.70m, set by Osleidys Menendez of Cuba at the 2005 World championships in Helsinki.
With many of the 18,500 on hand at the Mercedes Benz Stadium still settling into their seats on a somewhat gloomy day, the mark caught many by surprise coming on her first throw of the competition.
Spotakova's previous persona best of 71.42, a European record, came in the final round in Beijing which brought her the Olympic title.
"I was thinking today about how I can throw a personal best, but I never really think about the world record. I was really shocked, I didn't expect it so much. It's just unbelievable."
Spotakova, also the reigning world champion, will receive a $100,000 bonus for the world record, in addition to her $30,000 first-place prize. She said the unexpected windfall will go a long way towards a new home she's planning to build with her boyfriend.
- Powell's Late Season Roll Continues
The unseasonably cool and damp conditions precluded a world record assault in the 100m but Asafa Powell prevailed with a dominating performance, clocking 9.87 seconds to easily retain his World Athletics Final title. It was the Jamaican's sixth sub-9.90 performance in the last 14 days.
"First I was a little afraid to get hurt today," he said, referring the chill that enveloped the Stuttgart today. "But I knew I was going to run really fast. I just went out of the blocks and I did it."
Powell led a Jamaican podium sweep, with Nesta Carter (10.07) and Michael Frater (10.10), both members of Jamaica's world record-setting 4x100m relay squad in Beijing, finishing a distant second and third.
Powell will conclude his season after one more 100m race in Warsaw next Wednesday.
The cool conditions affected many of the performances on the first of the two-day competition, with seven Olympic champions prevailing.
- By the Narrowest of Margins, Merritt Takes Wariner
In the afternoon's most dramatic race, Olympic 400 meter champion LaShawn Merritt defeated Jeremy Wariner by a scant 0.01 seconds in 44.50. Behind heading into the final straight, Merritt gradually ran down Wariner before tumbling across the line. It was Merritt's fourth victory in seven races against Wariner, the two-time defending world champion, giving him the edge this year in the sport's fiercest rivalry.
"I won all the major races," said Merritt, whose 43.75 from Beijing paces the world this year. "I won the Olympic trials, I won the Olympic Games, and I won the Grand Prix final. I made it tough on myself, I didn't run the first part of the race very well. The last 100 I had to really go for it."
"He got me this time," said Wariner, who beat Merritt this year in Rome, Paris and Zurich. "It brings excitement into the race. When we go out there we always go out to compete. Win or lose, we're always going to work harder in the next race."
"The rivalry, I mean the competition, it's great. But it didn't come down to getting him again," Merritt said. "It's more that I won again. I had a great season, my plans were to have a great season. I'm happy."
- Elsewhere
Beijing winner Andrey Silnov of Russia won the high jump with a 2.35 meter leap, defeating Swede Stefan Holm, the 2004 Olympic champion, who ended his storied career this afternoon. The Swede, a four-time world indoor champion who has cleared 2.30 or better in 132 meets, topped out at 2.33 to finish second.
"I'm disappointed that I lost today," Holm said. "But overall the day went well."
Other Olympic champions to produce victories included Gerd Kanter of Estonia who handily won the men's discus throw with a solid 68.38m effort, and front-running Gulnara Samitova-Galkina of Russia who won the 3000m steeplechase in 9:21.73, a meet record. As in Beijing, she beat Kenyan Eunice Jepkorir.
Nelson Evora of Portugal won the triple jump with a leap of 17.24 and Poland's Tomasz Majewski took the shot put with a best of 20.88, again defeating top Americans Christian Cantwell (20.73) and Reese Hoffa (20.37). Dan Taylor, who didn't make the Beijing squad, was third, beating Hoffa by a mere centimeter.
With Olympic champion and world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva sidelined due to illness, the surprise victory in the pole vault went to Silke Spiegelburg who cleared a personal best 4.70m, the only victory by a German. She took the win after a jump-off with Olympic bronze medallist Svetlana Feofanova.
Elsewhere, Portugal's world leader Naide Gomes made up for her Olympic disappointment with a victory in the long jump, leaping 6.71. Josephine Onyia of Spain upset Olympic champion Dawn Harper and Lolo Jones in the 100m hurdles, winning in 12.54.
Meseret Defar of Ethiopia and American Sanya Richards, who won the 5000 (14:53.82) and 200 (22.50) respectively, will be chasing double victories on day two as they contest the 3000 and 400.
Other day one winners included American Bernard Lagat in a tactical 3000 (8:02.97), Cuban Yipsi Moreno in the hammer throw (74.09); Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain the 1500m (4:06.59), and American Kerron Clement in the 400m hurdles (48.96).
By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 TRACK PROFILE Report, all rights reserved
STUTTGART -- Asafa Powell downplayed a potential assault on the 100 meter world record when the 6th edition of the IAAF/VTB Bank World Athletics Final kicks off on Saturday, but he didn't discount another fast performance at the season-capping two day event.
"The shape I'm in right now I feel I'm going to run very fast," said Powell, who's produced an impressive post-Olympic run including a personal best of 9.72 seconds in Lausanne 10 days ago.
"I'm not thinking about the world record, whatever happens, happens. It's going to come soon. Maybe tomorrow, maybe another day, maybe next year."
Powell saw his previous world record of 9.74 lowered twice this year by fellow Jamaican Usain Bolt, who ran 9.69 to take the Olympic title, with Powell well back in fifth. Bolt has already ended his season and won't be racing this weekend, but Powell believes the event isn't only about his younger rival.
"Wherever Usain takes (the record), I'll be there right with him," he said. "When I ran 9.74 I thought my limit would be 9.69. Then when Usain ran 9.69 after stopping 20 meters before the finish, it's obviously possible to go even faster. I think 9.6 is possible. I think next year you'll see 9.5."
Powell has won the final the past three editions of the final, all with meet records. Last year he won in 9.83.
"I'm pretty confident that it will be fast on Saturday."
One incentive for Powell to run fast is a $100,000 world record bonus offered, on top of the $30,000 first place prize.
While Bolt and double Olympic champions Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia will be absent, 21 Olympic champions are on the slate this weekend, lured by a total prize purse of $3 million.
Also downplaying a world record assault is two-time Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva who also competes on day one.
First I will try to win, because I know the other girls are in shape," said Isinbayeva, who has set 24 world records, most recently a 5.05 meter leap in Beijing. "After that, we will see." Isinbayeva said that a cold and fever earlier in the week forced to miss some training.
Among the most eagerly-awaited duels of the weekend will be in men's 400 meters, pitting Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt against the man he succeeded, Jeremy Wariner. The pair have split their six meetings this season. In Beijing Merritt clocked the season's fastest time of 43.75 but Wariner struck back in Zurich with a 43.82 run.
The women's 100m hurdles features a rematch between Olympic champion Dawn Harper and the year's fastest, Lolo Jones. Jones was a strong pre-Olympic favorite, but saw her chances ruined when she hit the penultimate hurdle in the final, eventually finishing seventh.
In Dibaba's absence, the spotlight in the 5000m will focus on the woman she succeeded as Olympic champion and world record holder, Meseret Defar. Defar suffered her second successive loss in Brussels last weekend where she was outkicked by Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot in a fast 5000m. Both will be doubling back on Sunday in the 3000. Also doubling this weekend is Kenyan Linet Masai, who set a world junior record in the Olympic 10,000m, clocking 30:26.50 for fourth.
In the men's 3000, defending champion and world leader (7:31.83) Edwin Soi returns as Olympic bronze medallist. On the heels of his solid victory in the Rieti 1500 last Sunday, 2007 double world champion Bernard Lagat was given a wild card spot, and will look to end his season on a high note after leaving Beijing empty-handed.
Seven of the top eight finishers from the women's 3000m steeplechase final will reunite this weekend, but the focus will large be on the top three, lead by gold medallist Gulnara Galkina. The Russian made the inaugural Olympic final a memorable one with her 8:58.31 run, the event's first sub-nine minute performance. She'll be joined by Silver medallist Eunice Jepkorir of Kenya and Russian Yekaterina Volkova, the bronze medallist.
In the 1500m, Maryam Yusuf Jamal will be looking for further redemption after her disappointing fifth place finish in Beijing. The solid field includes Olympic silver medallist Iryna Lishchynska of Ukraine, Briton Lisa Dobriskey and American Shannon Rowbury, fourth and seventh respectively at the Olympic Games.
In the men's 800, Yusuf Saad Kamel, the former Kenyan Gregory Konchellah, will set off on his weekend double ambitions. Fifth in the Olympic 800m final, the 27-year-old arrives in Stuttgart after a string of three successive victories, two at 1500m in Lausanne and Zagreb, and a solid 800m win in Brussels. He'll face world champion Alfred Kirwa Yego, the Olympic bronze medallist, and South African Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, who has run 1:43.26 this year.
Other highlights include the men's high jump featuring Olympic champion Andrey Silnov of Russia, the world leader at 2.38, and Stefan Holm of Sweden, the 2004 Olympic champion. Holm will end his career here on Saturday.
Other Olympic champions on the slate for the first day of competition include Gert Kanter of Estonia in the Discus throw, Brazil's Maurren Higa Maggi in the long jump, Czech Barbora Spotakova in the javelin throw, Portugal's Nelson Evora in the triple jump, and Tomasz Majewski of Poland in the shot put.
The schedule also includes the men's 400m hurdles -Olympic champion Angelo Taylor will contest the flat 400m instead-and the women's 200m and hammer throw.
This edition marks the third and final time that the season-capping two-day event will be hosted by Stuttgart, following the local government's decision to remove the track soon after the conclusion of the meet. According to organizers, 32,000 tickets for the two days have been sold as of Friday morning.
Relatively cool temperatures are in the forecast for the weekend, with a strong chance of rain on Saturday and more clear conditions on Sunday.
By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 TRACK PROFILE Report, all rights reserved
BRUSSELS -- When the Golden League events were selected last December, Pamela Jelimo, a largely unknown junior even in her native Kenya, had yet to contest her first 800m race. Tonight, the 18-year-old capped one of the most extraordinary rises from obscurity to win the $1 million AF Golden League Jackpot, the largest prize in track and field.
"I am happy, I realized my dream," said Jelimo, who became the first sole winner of the prize since triple jumper Tatyana Lebedeva went six-for-six in this series of the world's finest one-day meets in 2005. "This is the same happiness as in Beijing."
In what is now trademark fashion, Jelimo went out fast from the gun, tailing pacesetter Svetlana Klyuka from the outset. By 400m, Klyuka, who was fourth at the Olympic Games, was already laboring to keep a step ahead of the Kenyan; at the 600m mark (1:25.42 by Jelimo), she had already stepped aside, with Jelimo then sailing home in 1:55.16, more than three-and-a-half seconds clear of runner-up Janeth Jepkosgei (1:58.85).
She would have to wait about a half hour for the women's high jump to conclude before banking the entire prize pot.
The chilly conditions and wet surface --along with $500,000 riding on the outcome-- made for a dramatic competition but it was clear early on that Blanka Vlasic was having a rare off night. Struggling from the get-go, she ran into trouble when the bar was raised to a 1.94m. At a height which probably last gave her problems during her days in junior competition, Vlasic would need all three efforts before sailing clear. Germany's Ariane Friedrich cleared on her first attempt, and Olympic champion Tia Hellebaut on her second. At 1.97, Friedrich again went clear with her first leap, with Vlasic needing two. Much to the delight of the sell-out crowd, Hellebaut stayed alive with a third attempt success. At two metres, both Freidrich and Vlasic cleared with their second tries, with Hellebaut again clearing on her third. All failed at 2.02, leaving Vlasic the runner-up, and ultimately, empty-handed.
"I sympathize for her, but that is the nature of this sport," Jelimo, the Olympic champion, said of her Jackpot chase rival. "Today you lose, but tomorrow you can do your best and be a winner again. And that is what I wish for her."
Jelimo said she hasn't given much thought to how her money will be spent, but indicated that most of it will be shared with her family in Eldoret.
"I will have to help my family," she said. "I will invest intelligently because this money will help me and my family in the future."
The 32nd edition of Belgium's largest sporting event was sold out for the 12th straight year, filling the Roi Baudouin Stadium with one of the most memorable atmospheres of the 14-week long Golden League series. But the damp conditions, coupled with post-Olympic fatigue, produced primarily lackluster results on a packed program. The men's 100m however, the race of the evening, was a notable exception.
- Bolt Caps Season With 9.77 Scorcher
In their first meeting since the Olympic 100m final, Usain Bolt came from behind over the final 35 meters to beat Asafa Powell, the man he succeeded as world's fastest man. Running against a 1.3 meter/second wind, the triple Olympic champion clocked a meet record 9.77 seconds, equaling the sixth fastest performance of all-time, despite a sluggish 0.22 second reaction time.
"I'm still not used to all the different starters," said Bolt, who only began running the 100m seriously this season.
Continuing his strong late season campaign, Powell stopped the clock in 9.83.
"Since I've been running, this has been the most exciting race I've ever been in," said Powell. "I knew it was going to be close, as I've been running well. But he got me at the end."
- Cheruiyot Upsets Defar
In a pack middle and long distance program, he biggest surprise came in the women's 5000m, dubbed as a world record assault by former standard bearer Meseret Defar. But well behind schedule and running at the front by 3000m (8:41.14), the Ethiopian world 5000m champion was forced to just work for victory. But with a few laps to go, she found herself in a fierce tussle with Vivian Cheruiyot. The Kenyan, who chased Defar to her 2007 world record in Oslo, didn't let up over the final lap and as the pair ran down the homestretch, it was Cheruiyot, who took silver behind Defar at last year's world championships, who prevailed, 14:25.43 to 14:25.52.
"I nearly always come behind Defar and so to beat her is very nice," said Cheruiyot, whose run was a meet record.
Unlike the high jump, The pole vault was entirely bereft of any drama. Whatsoever. The entire field was already done for the evening before megastar Yelena Isinbayeva even took her first jump. That happened to be a miss at 4.72m, which she cleared with plenty to spare on her second try. 4.85m proved too much on a night when 4.56 was the limit for finishers two through four.
- Emotional Farewell for Gevaert
As far as the sell-out crowd at the Roi Baudouin Stadium was concerned, the biggest star in attendance --Bolt not included-- was Kim Gevaert, the two-time European double sprint champion, who was contesting her final race. And true to script, she prevailed.
Running against a modest field, she was never seriously threatened to win in 11.25 ahead of Olympic finalist Debbie Ferguson (11.32) of the Bahamas whose typical strong finish was conspicuously missing.
- Kamel takes impressive 800m win
Youssef Saad Kamel, the former Kenyan Gregory Konchellah, continued his late-season charge with a solid victory in the 800. Just three days after a PB victory in the Lausanne 1500m, Kamel kicked to a 1:44.56 win, taking down Olympic bronze medallist Alfred Kirwa Yego and Moroccan Amine Laalou, who were virtually inseparable at the line and each credited with 1:45.01. Olympic champion Wilfred Bungei, running at the front with pacesetter Ismail Kombich over the first lap, faded badly over the final 100 meters, and finished a well-beaten seventh (1:46.01).
Ali Belal Mansour of Bahrain took a scrappy victory in the 1500, clocking 3:35.94. In a blanket finish, Abdelaati Iguider (3:36.14) of Morocco held off Olympic bronze medallist Nick Willis (3:36.23), who moved from fifth to third over the final the 50 meters.
Capping the evening was the men's 10,000m, which with the absence of world record holder and Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele, was won, predictably, by his constant shadow, Sileshi Sihine. The Ethiopian kicked past Kenyan Moses Masai in the waning stages to take the win in 27:06.97 to Masai's 27:07.26, with Bernard Kipyego third (27:08.06).
With rival LaShawn Merritt, the Olympic champion, taking the weekend off, Jeremy Wariner collected his fifth GL victory, winning by nearly a full second in 44.44. Briton Martyn Rooney was closest, taking the runner-up spot in 45.34, with African record holder Gary Kikaya (45.34) third.
Likewise, Kerron Clement, minus Olympic champion Angelo Taylor in the field, easily kicked to victory off the final hurdle to defeat Jamaican Danny McFarlane in 48.29.
Paul Kipsiele Koech didn't get the sub-eight clocking in the steeplechase that he came here for, but he did take down a big name: Olympic champion Brimin Kipruto. Koech, who didn't earn a spot to Beijing at the Kenyan trials, was clearly in command throughout and by the time second pacer Patrick Langat stepped aside, Koech was all alone over the final two laps. He went on to win handily in 8:04.99, well ahead of Kipruto (8:10.26), who outdistanced Kenyan-born Bahraini Tareq Mubarak Taher (8:15.32).
The pace in the men's 5000m, run in a steady rain in the meet's pre-program, was some 13 seconds behind schedule at 3000m (7:57.14), thus Eliud Kipchoge's assault on Kenenisa Bekele's world leading 12:50.18 never materialized. The Olympic silver medallist did however maintain his spot in the driver's seat. In an otherwise straightforward race, the Kenyan took the lead with a lap-and-a-half to go to take the win unchallenged in 13:06.12. Isaac Songok (13:06.71) was second and Mang'ata Ndiwa (13:07.46) third to round out a Kenyan sweep. Briton Mo Farah ran a season's best 13:08.11 for fourth.
Elsewhere, world champion Tero Pitkamaki won the javelin throw with an 85.32m effort, relegating two-time Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen to third (82.39) with Latvian Ainars Kovals (84.76) splitting the Finn and Norwegian.
American Miguel Pate won the long jump with an 8.02m best, Jamaican Delloreen Ennis-London edged Lolo Jones in the 100m hurdles by just 0.02 seconds in 12.65, and Marshevet Hooker upset Olympic bronze medallist Kerron Stewart (22.76).
With two major stops --Rieti, Italy, on Sunday and Zagreb, Croatia, on Tuesday-- remaining on the calendar, the European season will reach its conclusion at the two-day World Athletics Final in Stuttgart next weekend.
By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 TRACK PROFILE Report, all rights reserved
BRUSSELS - The six meet ÅF Golden League series comes to an end at the Memorial Van Damme in the Belgian capital on Friday night, and it's quite likely that at least one athlete will go the distance to claim a share of the $1 million Golden League Jackpot.
- D-Day for Jelimo, Vlasic
Kenyan teenager Pamela Jelimo, undeniably the premiere breakout performer of 2008, will look to cap her stellar season, one in which she took Olympic gold and soared to the No. 3 spot all-time in this her first season of 800m running, with a slice of the jackpot pie. With an average margin of victory hovering above three seconds --unparalleled at this level-- nothing short of major catastrophe will end the 18-year-old's charge towards the pot of gold.
Her rival in the hunt, Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlasic, has produced a season similar to the Kenyan's with her only lapse coming at the Olympic Games where she finished second behind Belgian Tia Hellebaut.
The Belgian, whose gold medal was a first for Belgian women in Olympic track history, ended Vlasic's 34 meet win streak in Beijing, then the longest in the sport. She is in the field on Friday, but based upon her follow-up performance in Zurich last weekend, when she managed a leap of just 1.90m, she'll need to yet again rise to the occasion to play spoiler for the second time this season. A bigger threat is Russian Anna Chicherova, the Olympic bronze medallist who has twice cleared 2.03m this season.
She'll have a crowd of 47,000 behind her at Roi Baudouin stadium, the meeting's 12th consecutive sell-out. If both Jelimo and Vlasic prevail, the pair will split the pot.
- Bolt, Powell in the 100m
Beyond the jackpot chase's conclusion, the premiere draw of the meet's 32nd edition was to be the 100m face-off between history's three fastest men: Olympic champion and world record holder Usain Bolt, his Jamaican compatriot and former world record holder Asafa Powell, and reigning world champion Tyson Gay.
But Gay's late hour decision to pull out, confirmed at about 19:45 CET, leaves the focus firmly on the Jamaican pair. Citing a fear of injury, the U.S. champion decided to be an onlooker rather than risk ending his season hurt.
Bolt, who sprung to international stardom after his triple gold and world record performance in Beijing, arrives in Brussels after a 19.63 200m outing in Lausanne and a 9.87 victory in Zurich over the past week. Powell powered to a 9.72 win in Lausanne two nights ago, improving his personal best. Neither likes to lose. [For more, see TPR #824].
- Following tradition, solid middle & long distance program
Brussels has traditionally witnessed fast 800m races, and this year's should be no different. Olympic champion Wilfred Bungei leads the field in his second outing since his Beijing triumph. A multiple winner here, the Kenyan is aiming for a season's best to follow-up his sub-par outing in Lausanne on Tuesday where jet lag caught up with him. [For more with Bungei, see TPR #825]
He'll face world champion and Beijing silver medallist Alfred Kirwa Yego and Youssef Saad Kamel, the former Gregory Konchellah who returns to the 800 after a pair of solid 1500m PBs in Zurich and Lausanne. A pair of pacesetters have been employed to bring the leaders through the half in 50.5 seconds.
In the 1500m, organizers are hoping for the season's first sub-3:30 run. The field includes Olympic silver medallist Asbel Kiprop, who followed up a lackluster Zurich performance with a victory in the 800 in Lausanne, and Beijing bronze medallist Nick Willis of New Zealand. Zurich winner Haron Keitany is also in the line-up dominated by Kenyans.
With double world record holder and now double Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele already having concluded his European season, the focus in the 10,000m shifts to his Ethiopian compatriot, the perennial bridesmaid Sileshi Sihine. In each major championship in recent years, Sihine has finished second to Bekele in the longest track race, but here he won't be sharing the spotlight and has indicated that he's prepared to run very fast.
His career best of 26:39.69, set back in 2004, currently places him on the doorstep of the event's all-time top-10.
According to meet director Wilfreid Meert, Kenyans Micah Kogo and Moses Masai also have ambitious plans. The pair finished third and fourth in Beijing behind Bekele and Sihine.
The three have asked for a 13:10 to 13:12 pace for the first 5000m, but as is often the case, pacesetters in that sort of shape in early September are extremely difficult to find. Complicating matters is that Kenyans won't generally pace for Ethiopians, and vice versa.
Also in the deep field are Kenyan-born Qatari Abdullah Ahmad Hassan, who was eighth in the Olympics, and American record holder Meb Keflezighi.
After suffering a bitter disappointment in Beijing, Meseret Defar will be looking to end her season on a high note in the 5000m. The world champion has asked for a world record pace with the hopes of reclaiming the standard, particularly after her bid in Stockholm in late July, where she clocked 14:12.88, fell about a second-and-a-half short of the 14:11.15 record set by Tirunesh Dibaba in Oslo in June. Russian Olga Komyagina, the best pacer on the circuit, will assist for the first two kilometers, while Ayelew Wude, the winner in Monaco, will try to bring her compatriot through 3000m in 8:38.
Behind her the race promises to be competitive as well, with Kenyans Linet Masai and Lucy Kabuu and Russian Liliya Shobukhova in pursuit.
The men's 5000m features Olympic silver medallist Eliud Kipchoge, whose primary goal, outside of crossing the line first, is Bekele's week old world-leading 12:50.18. At that pace, only Moses Kipsiro of Uganda, fourth in Beijing, can be expected to keep pace with the Kenyan.
The goal in the steeplechase is the season's first sub-8:00. The primary battle is expected between a pair of Kenyans: Olympic champion Brimin Kipruto and Paul Kipsiele Koech, who missed the Olympics after finishing fourth at the Kenyan trials. The latter has produced the year's three fastest performances, topped by a 8:00.57. Frenchman Bob Tahri, fifth in Beijing, and Tareq Mubarak Taher, the season's third fastest, may also be factors.
- Stewart, Simpson square off in 200 as Gevaert Bids Adieu
The high propane in the women's sprints will come in the 200m where Olympic medalists Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart of Jamaica top the field. Stewart struck silver in 100 and bronze in the 200 in Beijing while Simpson took bronze in the 100 and finished six in the 200. 400m champion Christine Ohuruogo of Great Britain is also in the line-up.
The women's 100m will likely be an emotional affair, as the sell-out crowd will bid adieu to the darling of Belgian athletics, Kim Gevaert. The two-time European 100 and 200m champion captured the first Olympic medal of her career as part of the silver medal winning Belgian 4x100m relay just a few weeks after announcing that she would be retiring from the sport. The 30-year-old will race for the final time on Friday night where she'll contest the 100m.
Her chief challengers look to be Bahamian Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie and Americans Me'Lisa Barber and Carmelita Jeter.
The only other women's field event on the program is the pole vault, where Yelena Isinbayeva returns to action. Even on her worst days, the two-time world and two-time Olympic champion is difficult to beat. After spending the week in relative seclusion after a busy post-Bejing schedule, she's apparently again in near-top form.
Sally McLellan of Australia and Canada's Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, silver and bronze winners in Beijing, lead the field in the 100m hurdles, where they'll take on world leader Lolo Jones and Lausanne winner Delloreen Ennis-London
The javelin rivalry between Norway's two-time Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen and reigning world champion Tero Pitkamaki continues, with Thorkildsen bringing 90m momentum to the Belgian capital.
Elsewhere, Olympic silver medallists Jeremey Wariner and Kerron Clement are respectively the class of the 400m and 400m hurdles fields, while Hussein Taher Al-Sabee is the man to beat in the long jump
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TPR: HISTORY'S THREE FASTEST MEN TO SQUARE OFF IN BRUSSELS ON FRIDAY
By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 TRACK PROFILE Report, all rights reserved
BRUSSELS - In a race dubbed as a "once in a lifetime event" by meet organizers, the three fastest men in history are set to face off in the 100m at Friday's Memorial Van Damme in Brussels.
Topping the field is Olympic champion and world record holder Usain Bolt, who lowered the global standard to 9.69 seconds in a jaw-dropping performance in Beijing. He'll face his Jamaican teammate Asafa Powell, the man he succeeded as world record holder late last spring, and American Tyson Gay, the reigning world champion in the 100 and 200 who clocked 9.77 at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June. The trio have never meet in the same race.
"I'm very excited about tomorrow," said Powell, who lowered his career best to 9.72 in Lausanne on Tuesday. "If I do what I'm really supposed to do, running against guys like this can only make me run faster."
Throughout his career Powell has traditionally run fast late in the season. running in a chilly downpour Last Sunday, he powered to a 9.87 victory in Gateshead, England. He has won in Brussels four times, and his meet record of 9.84 will be under serious threat.
"Now there will be more pressure for me, but I'll do my best," Bolt said the day after Powell's Lausanne performance. "The most important thing for me is to end the competition staying injure-free. I'll be prepared."
The lone question mark is Gay, who is still on the mend from a hamstring injury he suffered at the U.S. championships which significantly impacted his performance in Beijing, where he failed to advance from the semi-finals.
The American champion is "feeling good" but won't decide if he'll contest the race until Friday morning, according to meet director Wilfried Meert.
"He's going to have a training session on Friday morning, then one last consultation with his physio before he makes his final decision," Meert said. Much will also depend on the weather, currently forecast as chilly with a chance of rain.
Besides the Olympic final and the Jamaican Championships, both won by Bolt, Powell and Bolt have met once on the international circuit since Bolt's first world record of the season, his 9.72 in New York on May 31. Powell won by a whisker in Stockholm, edging Bolt 9.88 to 9.89.
And it is Powell who clearly has the most to prove. Failing at back-to-back Olympics to claim a medal, Powell admits that he just may be "a guy for the circuit."
A victory over Bolt, Powell said, would be the ideal confidence booster after a season fraught with injury setbacks.
"If I go out and beat him I will know I'm in good shape. Psychologically it will really give me a boost, knowing what I have been through this year, and beating someone who has run 9.69."
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TPR: POWELL IMPROVES TO 9.72, BOLT FILES 19.63 IN LAUSANNE
By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 TRACK PROFILE Report, all rights reserved
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND -- The Usain Bolt victory tour continued tonight at Lausanne's Athletissima Super Grand Prix, but it was Asafa Powell who did his utmost to steal the show.
Yesterday, Powell, the former world record holder, promised that he wouldn't let Bolt, the current record holder out of his sites. He backed up that pledge adequately with a sensational 9.72 dash in the 100m to underscore his status as history's second fastest man.
"I felt very confident coming here today, I know I had it in me," Powell said after a performance that knocked 0.02 seconds from his previous career best, a mark that just a little over three months ago was the world record. "I just had to put it on the track. And that's what I did."
Just 40 meters into the race there was little doubt about who the winner would be. As he approached the line, the near-capacity crowd of some 14,000 at Lausanne's Stade Olimpique held their collective breath until the scoreboard flashed the result. Even Powell appeared impressed by his performance before seeing the time.
"I really wanted to execute and I know that if I executed my race I'm going to run really fast."
Pleased with his career best - who wouldn't be?-Powell said he believes that there is more to come.
"It's always important to run fast. There's no doubt that I really want the World record back but I'm not going to kill myself over it."
His stellar late season --he won in Gateshead on Sunday, dashing 9.87 through a chilly heavy rain --form bodes well for his next outing, a highly touted face-off with Bolt and American champion Tyson Gay in Brussels on Friday night.
"Brussels is also a fast track and I'm going out there with the same shape as I'm in. I'm just feeling very confident and hopefully I can do it."
Walter Dix was well back but still ran well, taking second in 9.92, with Jamaican Nesta Carter third (9.98).
- Bolt just shy of X-Man's meet record
As dominant as Powell was in the 100, Bolt was doubly so in the 200. But comparatively speaking, wasn't quite as fast.
Clearly in the lead some 30 meters into the race, the 22-year-old triple Olympic champion forged onwards to clock 19.63 seconds, his second fastest performance to equal the meet record set here by Xavier Carter two years ago.
"I didn't run at my maximum at the end because the season is ending," said Bolt, who clocked an other-worldly19.30 in the Beijing final, the only time this season he's run through the line over the half-lap. Here he eased up over his final five or six strides. "It's more important for me to win races than to get a good time at the end of the season."
Like in Beijing, it was simply no contest. More than half a second back in 20.24 was Churandy Martina, who in turn was well ahead of Wallace Spearmon's 20.54.
- Oliver takes Robles
There was no world record in the men's 110m hurdles, but there was a bit of revenge for David Oliver. The Beijing bronze medallist beat Olympic champion Dayron Robles for the second time this season, and it wasn't particularly close.
"I knew I could do better than in Bejing," said Oliver after his 13.02 easily bested the Cuban's 13.17. "I'm really happy I added my name to this meeting."
"I had a good start," Robles, the world record holder at 12.87 said, "but then I hit a hurdle. I wanted to run faser today, but it happens. That's life."
Dawn Harper was out to show that that her Beijing win in the women's 100m hurdles wasn't a fluke. Although she had little problem dispensing with pre-Olympic favorite Lolo Jones, here she was edged by Jamaican Delloreen Ennis-London.
"I feel so relaxed tonight," said Ennis-London, who edged the American 12.60 to 12.63. "You have to fight hard to win these races."
But that relaxed mood isn't likely to last too long. Just a little over a half hour after the race, Sports Illustrated reported that Ennis-London was one of two Jamaicans who had received shipments of Human Growth Hormone between June 2006 and February 2007.
Jones was a distant fourth clocking 12.86.
- Walker's momentum continues
Melaine Walker bided her time in the 400m hurdles, choosing not to panic when she was marginally trailing Briton Tasha Danvers and American Tiffany Ross-Williams. But the pair soon paid for their speedy first halves. Walker calmly took the look heading into the straight off of hurdle eight and was well ahead by nine before cruising through the line in 53.73. It was well off of the Olympic record 52.64 that blasted her to gold in Beijing, but a time that only two others have bettered this year.
Pole Anna Jesien snuck by in the waning moments to finish second just ahead of Danvers, 54.76 to 54.79.
- . so does Meritt's and Fraser's
Lashawn Merritt returned to sub-44 territory with a convincing 44.98 victory in the 400m.
"I'm closing up my season here so I really wanted to finish with a victory," said Merritt, who's heading back home to Virginia for a post-Olympic celebration with family and friends. He does plan to return to Europe next weekend for the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart and one final head-to-head with Jeremy Wariner.
Closing well was 400m hurdles Olympic champion Angelo Taylor, posting a season's best 44.38 to finish second.
Like Merritt, Shelly-Ann Fraser bounced back from a post-Beijing defeat to take the 100 in 11.03, ahead of Jamaican teammate Kerron Stewart.
"It was a close race and I'm really happy I won it," said Fraser, who pulled off one of the biggest Beijing upsets. "I lost in London (on Sunday) so I was a it nervous, a bit emotional."
Marshevet Hooker was next, finishing third (11.09).
- Switching roles, Kiprop, Kamel prevail
Trying his hand at another distance, Olympic 1500m silver medallist Asbel Kiprop moved down to the two-lap race and met with immediate success. Battling with Beijing winner Wilfred Bungei heading off the final turn, he passed the Kenyan with about 50 meters to go to take a convincing victory in 1:44.71, a personal best.
First Alfred Kirwa Yego (1:44.77) and then Ugandan Abraham Chepkirwok (1:45.00) overtook Bungei, who faded badly down the homestretch to finish fourth (1:45.31).
"I wanted to win this 800 at any cost," Kiprop said. "I saw the 1500 earlier and I as very inspired.
Likewise, 800m ace Yusuf Saad Kamel took another stab at the metric mile, and his follow to an impressive outing in Zurich was even more impressive tonight. Near the front at the bell, Kamel waited until the final 15 meters to effortlessly pass world leader Daniel Kipchirchir Komen to win in 3:32.83, another personal best.
"It felt very good," said Kamel, who confirmed that the longer race will occupy more of his focus in 2009. "I felt very comfortable and strong through the final straight."
Komen, who couldn't respond to Kamel's kick, held on for second in 3:33.03 to hold off Zurich winner Haron Keitany, who was third across the line in 3:33.62.
- Jamal, Jepkoskei take middle distance wins
In some ways a reprise of the Golden League race in Paris six weeks ago, Maryam Yusuf Jamal stormed to an impressive victory in the 1500m, improving her season's best to 3:59.84.
"It's important for me to win in Lausanne, at home," said Jamal, who is based in Lausanne.
U.S. champion Shannon Rowbury was tight on the Bahraini's heels through the bell before Jamal managed to pull away for good as the pair headed into the final turn. Rowbury clocked 4:01.97, the third fastest performance of her career.
Further back, Briton Lisa Dobriskey was fourth (4:05.18), just ahead of Spaniard Nuria Fernandez.
With Pamela Jelimo resting for Friday's Golden League finale in Brussels, world champion Janeth Jepkosgei was able to take the spotlight and she handled it adequately, taking a comfortable victory in 1:58.15, her first victory of the year.
"It's great to run without pressure," Jepkosgei said, whose next outings include another 800 in Brussels on Friday and the 1500m in Rieti on Sunday.
Russian Yekaterina Kostetskaya overhauled Jamaican Kenia Sinclair to take second, 1:58.90 to 1:59.02.
- Elsewhere
After a pair of fouls and sluggish efforts that landed well shy of the 60m mark, surprise Beijing silver medallist Mariya Abukumova reached a solid 66.09m in the fifth round to over take Steffi Nerius in the javelin. With just two fair throws, Nerius reached 64.47 for second. Olympic champion Barbora Spotakova only had a pair of fair throws, her 62.24 from the fourth round good enough for fourth.
Brazil's Jadel Gregorio won the triple jump with a 17.30m leap, while Olymic champion Nelson Evora, never a threat, was a distant fourth (16.90m). Naide Gomes pulled out the win in the long jump with a final round 6.77m leap, topping Tatyana Lebedeva, who reached 6.64m in round four.
Jamaican Shericka Williams, the Beijing silver medallist, poured it on over the final straight to take the women's 400 in 50.47, while Tatyana Firova edged by compatriot Yuliya Guschina to get second, 50.71 to 50.85.
Held 50 minutes earlier, the B race was marginally faster. Novlene Williams got out the quickest and held on to win in 50.33, ahead of American Mary Wineberg (50.86). 2007 world silver medallist Nicola Sanders was a distant third (51.11).
In just his second professional race, Travis Padgett won the 100m B race comfortably in 10.07, well ahead of Frenchman Martial Mbandjock (10.16).
Just a pair of jumps were enough for Yevgeniy Lukyanenko to take the pole vault at 5.75m, with American Derek Miles second (5.70m).
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TPR: BOLT, 18 OTHER OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS, CONVERGE ON LAUSANNE
By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 TRACK PROFILE Report, all rights reserved
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND - Usain Bolt's encore tour continues tomorrow night, this time at the Athletissima Super Grand Prix in Lausanne.
The triple Olympic champion from Jamaica will make his first 200m start since his startling 19.30 seconds world record in Beijing which jettisoned the 22-year-old to his second gold medal of the Games.
Nobody is expecting a further dropping of that record, but a more realistic goal is Xavier Carter's 19.63 meet record from 2006. Carter's run, propelling him to the No. 2 spot of all time, sparked life into the event after a lull of several years, raising the possibility for the first time that Michael Johnson's then-world record of 19.32 could be challenged by the current generation of sprinters.
Bolt will again face many who finished in his wake in Beijing, including silver medallist Shawn Crawford of the U.S., Brian Dzingai of Zimbabwe, who finished fourth, and Churandy martina and Wallace Spearmon who were both disqualified in the Olympic final for minor lane violations.
In All, 19 Beijing gold medalists --including the relays-- will tow the line in Lausanne, the glamorous home to the International Olympic Committee.
- Powell tops 100m Field, Women's 100m Podium Returns
Minus Bolt, the focus on the men's 100 will fall on the man he succeeded as world record holder, Asafa Powell. The 26-year-old Jamaican arrives on the heels on an impressive 9.87 dash in the cold and rain of Gateshead, England. In all, the entire Beijing final, save Bolt, will reunite. On Friday night in Zurich, it was Beijing bronze medallist Walter Dix who finished second, and silver medallist Richard Thompson, third.
Jamaica swept the women's 100m in Beijing, and the trio will be reunited here. Surprise gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser will go head-to-head with co-silver medallists Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart. Lauryn Williams and Torri Edwards, fourth and eighth in Beijing, carry American hopes.
Jamaica figures prominently in the 400m as well, led by Shericka Williams. The 22-year-old reeled in pre-race favorite Sanya Richards to take Olympic silver mid Beijing, clocking a career best 49.69. Williams was a distant fourth in Zurich on Friday, where she was upstaged by teammate Novlene Williams, who didn't reach the Beijing final. Russians Yulia Gushchina, Anastasia Kapachinskaya and Tatyana Firova, fourth, fifth and sixth in Beijing, are also in the line-up.
The men's 400 includes a pair of Beijing gold medalists, 400m ace LaShawn Merritt and 400m hurdles champion Angelo Taylor. Incidentally, the pair were roommates in Beijing. Merritt arrives after losing to Jeremy Wariner in Zurich, while Taylor's momentum continued with his 400m hurdles win on Friday.
-Kenyan Gold Medallists Bungei, Lagat Return to Action
Perennial speedster Wilfred Bungei used his vast experience to take the 800m title in Beijing, first by surviving the brutal heats and semi-finals with aggressive front-running, and repeating that strategy in the final to capture his first major title. He led a Kenyan 1-3 finish, with world champion Alfred Kirwa Yego taking the bronze. Both top the fields here in Lausanne.
It will be Bungei's first race since his Olympic triumph, while Yego arrives after a career best 3:33.69 from the Zurich 1500m. Olympic 1500m silver medallist Asbel Kiprop will also drop down in distance in a field that also includes Beijing finalist Nadjim Manseur of Algeria.
The men's 1500 features Kenyan Haron Keitany who has made a splash in his first year on the international circuit. The winner at May's African championships, the 24-year-old finished a strong runner-up in Oslo's Dream Mile, took fourth at the Kenyan trials to barely miss a berth to the Olympics, and took a commanding victory in Zurich on Friday.
Olympic finalist Belal Mansoor Ali, third in Zurich, and Yusuf Saad Kamel, the 800m specialist who ran produced a 3:33.11 personal best in Zurich, are also in the race, as are 2008 speedsters Daniel Kipchirchir Komen and Shadrack Korir, both sub 3:32.00 this season.
World 800m champion Janeth Jepkosgei will receive a reprieve for an evening, not having to face her superstar compatriot Pamela Jelimo for the first time in awhile. She'll take on Russian Svetlana Klyuka, fourth in Beijing, as well as three other Olympic finalists: Jamaican Kenia Sinclair, Ukraine's Yuliya Krevsun, and Russian tatiana Andrianova. Jepkosgei won here in 2006, while Sinclair returns as defending champion.
In the 1500m, Nancy Jebet Lagat makes her first appearance over the distance since her upset victory in the Olympic Games. The 27-year-old was sluggish in Zurich on Friday, where she finished last in the 800m, leaving this a wide open affair. In another reunion of Olympic finalist, Briton Lisa Dobriskey (fourth in Beijing), reigining world champion Maryam Yusuf Jamal (fifth), American Shannon Rowbury (seventh), Russian Anna Alminova (11th) and Btissam Lakhouad (12th) are also on the slate.
- Robles v Oliver, Harper v Jones in the Hurdles
The closest race in Zurich was the men's 110m hurdles, where Olympic champion Dayron Robles edged American David Oliver, the Beijing bronze medallist, by the narrowest of margins, 12.97 to 12.98. The pair return to action again, presumably more fresh than they were on Friday. Pole Artur Noga, fifth in Beijing and third in Zurich, and Americans Anwar Moore and Aries Merritt, are also in the field.
Olympic 100m hurdles champion Dawn Harper is looking to bounce back from an admitted sluggish outing in Zurich, where she finished a well-beaten fifth. Again the favorite is world leader Lolo Jones, who was a disappointing seventh in Beijing. 2004 Olympic champion Joanna Hayes is also in the field, along with Olympic bronze medallist Priscilla Lopes Schliep of Canada.
In Beijing, Melaine Walker was given the toughest act to follow. With the 400m hurdles final scheduled immediately after the men's 200 final, even Superwoman would have fallen short. She certainly performed admirably, cruising to an Olympic record 52.64. The 25-year-old Jamaican will certainly be the woman to beat here. Tasha Danvers, the bronze medallist, and Anastasiya Rabchenyuk, fourth in the Games, will give chase.
- Beijing Winners Evora, Silnov, Maggi and Spotakova Star in the Infield
With Olympic champion Steven Hooker calling it a season, the men's vault field will nonetheless have plenty of star power. Beijing silver and bronze medallsits, Evgeniy Lukyanenko of Russia and Ukraine's Denys Yurchenko are in the field, along with Brad Walker who made an early departure from the Olympics after failing to advance from the obscenely long qualifying round. Walker, the reigning world champion, set the meet record here last year, clearing 5.91m.
Portugal's Nelson Evora added Olympic gold to his 2007 world title 10 days ago, and leads the field in the triple jump. Bronze medallist Leevan Sands also returns to action.
Russians loom large in the high jump. Olympic champion Andrey Silnov leads the field which includes bronze medallist Yaroslav Rybakov, and Briton Germaine Mason, the Beijing silver medallist.
Mareen Higa Maggi of Brazil takes to the field for the first time as Olympic champion, and will face several women she beat in Beijing, most notably Tatyana Lebedeva, who came within a centimeter of the title with her final round leap of 7.03m. American Brittney Reese, fifth in Beijing, and Russian Oksana Udmurtova, seventh, are also in the line-up.
World and Olympic champion Barbora Spotakova leads the field in the javelin throw, where she'll face surprise silver medallist Mariya Abakumova of Russia, and bronze medallist Christina Obergfoll. In the thrilling Beijing final, both Abakumova and Spotakova broke Obergfoll's European record, first the Russian with a 70.78m throw in the fourth round, and then the Czech with her winning 71.42 in the final round.
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TPR: POWELL: 'MAYBE I'M JUST NOT A GUY FOR CHAMPIONSHIPS'
By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 TRACK PROFILE Report, all rights reserved
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND -- After a pair of Olympic appearances without a medal, and just a bronze medal showing at the world championships, Asafa Powell seems resigned to the fact that he may just be history's fastest man without a major title. At least that was the impression he left when speaking with reporters in Lausanne this afternoon.
"Who knows?" the former 100m world record holder said, when asked about his apparent inability to produce on the world's biggest stage. "Maybe I'm just not a guy for those championships. Maybe I'm only the kind of guy to compete in Grand Prix and Golden League races."
Powell set his fourth 100m world record in Rieti, Italy, a year ago, clocking 9.74 seconds, and has indeed nearly been without peer in one-day invitational meets since his rise through the ranks in 2004.
"When I'm on the circuit, I'm always winning. I don't know how to explain that."
He said that it didn't take him too long to accept that the Olympic final in Beijing ended in yet another missed medal. He was a distant fifth there, clocking 9.95.
"It's not the first time," he said, breaking into a wide smile, "so it's not so hard to get used to it and look ahead."
Even with the sensational rise of his fellow Jamaican Usain Bolt this year, Powell is hardly ready to throw in the towel.
"Before, I took sprinting to another level. Now Usain has taken it to another, even higher level."
"Everybody has their time," he said. "I was the man to beat before, now he's the man to beat and in the spotlight. Last year everybody was asking me about Tyson (Gay). Who knows what will happen next year?"
Powell arrives in Lausanne on the heels of his 9.87 victory in Gateshead, England, on Sunday, where he crushed the field despite the dismal, cold and rainy conditions.
"I didn't expect to do so well," he said. "The rain was really falling, I was very impressed."
Is his 9.74 PB, until June the world record, within his grasp on Tuesday night?
The track is really fast, so I just want to go out there and give my best performance," he said. "I've been working on a lot of stuff, especially my technique. I'm in good shape. I've had a lot of injuries this year, but I still feel pretty strong."
Like the rest of the world, Powell said he was impressed with Bolt's 9.69 world record run in Beijing, where the 22-year-old eased up considerably well before the line, choosing celebration over acceleration.
"When I watched the replay, I was shocked," he said, with a wide smile. "I can't imagine what kind of times he's capable of right now. I have to just be patient and wait and see."
That patience will, however, preclude letting Bolt out of his sights.
Usain is very fast," he said, but "I'm not going to put him out of my reach. Two years ago I said I wanted to run 9.65. But based upon what Usain is running, now I want to go under 9.6."
Powell said that outings at the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels on Friday and at the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart the following weekend are still on his agenda, but those appearances won't be the end of his season.
"Probably a couple more after that," he said. "Because that's what I'm good at."
By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 TRACK PROFILE Report, all rights reserved
ZURICH -- Pamela Jelimo just keeps getting faster.
Just 11 days after becoming the youngest ever 800m Olympic champion, the Kenyan teenager entered the most exclusive of territories in the 800m to highlight the Weltklasse AF Golden League fixture in Zurich tonight.
On a night when fatigue and drained emotions were a common theme shared by athletes who arrived here straight from two weeks in Beijing, Jelimo’s sensational 1:54.01 performance elevated her to No. 3 all-time, trailing only Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 1:53.28 world record and Nadezhda Olizarenko’s 1:53.43 from 1980, a former world record.
Close on the heels of pacesetter Svetlana Klyuka through 400m which the Russian hit in 55.66, under the agreed target, Jelimo ventured on alone, just as she has all season, with about 250 meters to go. Dropping to the track just beyond the finish line, it was clear that this latest effort, her fourth African record and fifth world junior record of the year, clearly took a lot out of her.
Following up on her disappointing showing in the Olympic 1500m final, Maryam Yusef Jamal performed well here, clocking 1:57.80, a Bahraini record, to finish second, well ahead of world champion and Beijing silver medallist Janeth Jepkosgei (1:58.26).
Contesting the last international race of her storied career, Maria Mutola finished a respectable fourth in 1:58.71 after watching Jelimo shatter her 1:55.19 meet record set in 1994.
Olympic 1500m champion Nancy Jebet Lagat didn’t fare nearly as well as the others. Never a factor, she was last in 2:05.84.
- Bolt Begins Encore Tour
Usain Bolt redefined the sprint world in Beijing, and while his 9.69 world record in the 100m was never threatened, he didn’t let a sluggish start and a worsening head cold keep him from entertaining the enthusiastic capacity crowd of 26,000. Yet again, he dominated the field in 9.83 seconds, well ahead of Beijing bronze medallist Walter Dix (9.99), who edged Olympic silver medallist Richard Thompson (10.09).
- Olympic Champions Roll on
Competing just a week after completing an historic 5000/10,000m double in Beijing, Kenenisa Bekele didn’t let his tired legs keep him from dominating yet another 5000m contest. Running at the front for more than three kilometers, the unparalleled Ethiopian crushed the opposition –many of whom did not compete in Beijing—in 12:50.18, the fastest in the world this year. Ugandan Moses Kipsiro was closest, dipping under 13 minutes in 12:59.48 to finish second.
Dayron Robles produced another sub-13 to win the 110m hurdles in 12.97, but mere inches separated him from U.S. champion David Oliver (12.98) who made up a significant deficit over the race’s second half.
“It’s always good to run under 13 seconds,” said Robles, who has now done so on six occasions. “I struggled a little with my technique. But Oliver pushed me to a nice race.”
Andreas Thorkildsen underscored his Olympic title repeat with a dominating performance in the javelin. The Norwegian’s consistent series was topped by a 90.28m heave in the second round, his and the world’s second 90-meter effort of the season. His follow-ups of 88.15 and 89.05 would have won as well, with world champion Tero Pitkamaki topping out with an 87.25m throw.
“I threw really well today,” said Thorkildsen, who broke Jan Zelezny’s Olympic record in Beijing.”I only had some very small technical mistakes.”
Yelena Isinbayeva said she was physically and emotionally drained after taking her second Olympic title, but she still managed to solid victory, clearing a meet record 4.88m. American record holder and Beijing silver medallist Jenn Stuczynski was second at 4.75m.
Angelo Taylor kept his momentum alive, again defeating Kerron Clement, 48.07 to 48.20 in the 400m hurdles.
- Beating Back Their Beijing Blues
Several pre-Beijing favorites followed up their Olympic disappointment with confidence-boosting victories. The most notable was Blanka Vlasic, who won the high jump with a 2.01m leap to remain alive, along with Jelimo, in the hunt for $1 million AF Golden League Jackpot hunt.
“It was nice to see that I could win again,” said the Croatian World champion whose 34-meet win streak was snapped in Beijing. “The result wasn’t important tonight. Only the victory was. I’m glad I’m still in the running for the jackpot.”
Fighting a cold, Olympic champion Tia Hellebaut was never a factor, managing a best of just 1.90.
Two-time world champion Jeremy Wariner produced a solid outing in the 400, running a solid second half to win handily over Beijing winner LaShawn Merritt in 43.82, his fastest of the season, and second only to Merritt’s 43.75 from the Olympic final. After building a slight edge at the half way point, Merritt couldn’t respond to Wariner’s closing strut, clocking 44.43.
Lolo Jones, whose Olympic gold ambitions ended when she clipped the ninth hurdle in Beijing, returned to her winning ways with a 12.56 win in 100m hurdles, beating the entire Olympic podium trio. Dawn Harper, the surprise Olympic champion, was a distant sixth in 12.73.
Sanya Richards bounced back well from her bronze medal disappointment to dominate the 400m. Clearly in the lead by the midway point, she cruised to a 49.74 season’s best victory well ahead of rising Russian Tatyana Firova (50.70).
Allyson Felix, who took her second consecutive Olympic 200m silver in Beijing, won the half lap here comfortably in 22.37 to end her season on a high.
African 1500m champion Haron Keitany, who like Jelimo is contesting his first international season, was the first to rain on the parade of Beijing champions. With an impressive sustained kick over the final 150 meters, the Kenyan reached the line in 3:32.06, a career best, holding off Olympic champion Rashid Ramzi, whose 3:32.86 was a season’s best. Bahrain took spots three and four as well with Belal Mansoor Ali (3:33.06) and 800m standout Yusuf Saad Kamel (3:33.11 PB) next across the finish. In a blanket finish, world 800m champion and Beijing silver medallist Alfred Kirwa Yego was eighth, clocking a career best 3:33.69
Elsewhere, Paul Kipsiele Koech fell short of his sub-eight minute goal in the steeplechase, but still won unpressed in 8:04.26 after running most of the final kilometer alone. Olympic silver medallist Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad of France produced another strong finish to finish second in 8:08.85, the fastest by a European this year. Kenyan Michael Kipyego was third, his 8:09.05 a personal best.
Hussain Taher Al-Saba of Saudi Arabia equaled his personal best to win the long jump with an 8.35m leap, well ahead of Italy’s Andrew Howe (8.06m).
The six-meet series, along with the $1 million jackpot chase, concludes next Friday with the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels where a sell-out crowd of 47,000 will be on hand.
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BOLT TO LEAD PARADE OF BEIJING CHAMPIONS AT WELTKLASSE - ZURICH PREVIEW
By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 TRACK PROFILE Report, all rights reserved
ZURICH -- Winners of 14 Olympic gold medals grace the starting line-ups for tomorrow evening's Weltklasse meet in Zurich, but the chief focus of the sell-out crowd of 26,000 at Letzigrund Stadium and several million others around the world will fall on just one: triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt.
The smiling, playful visage of the tall Jamaican became one of the most identifiable on the planet during his stay in Beijing when he rewrote Olympic and track & field history with a display that still leaves many shaking their heads in awe. His world records of 9.69 and 19.30 in the 100 and 200m defied the imagination and instantly redefined the perceived limits of human ability. And at 22, Bolt is hardly finished.
Indeed, the way in which he took Beijing 100m gold, shutting down and celebrating when he should have been clamping down and accelerating, clearly indicates that his record is under threat anytime he steps on the track. With ideal conditions in the forecast, tomorrow night included.
Over the years, the Weltklasse has mirrored the financial might of its host city, gaining a reputation as the richest one-day meet in the world. With its men's 100m field boasting seven of the eight Beijing finalists, that reputation remains intact.
Silver medallist Richard Thompson of Trinidad and American Walter Dix, the 100m and 200m bronze medallist, look to be the ones to once again lead the chase.
"Revenge" has been a term used to describe many of Friday evening's showdowns, including the men's 400m, where freshly-minted Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt and the man he succeeded, Jeremy Wariner, square-off for the sixth time this season.
"Tomorrow's race against LaShawn will be just like an Olympic final," Wariner said this afternoon. But Merritt countered, separately, something Wariner already knows, "Whatever happens tomorrow, I'm still going to be Olympic champion."
Pride is, of course, at stake, and the pair's rematch will be among the most tantalizing on the evening's slate. Merritt now holds a 3-2 edge over Wariner this season. All three victories came when Merritt was lined up to the inside of his rival. In Zurich, it'll be Merritt in lane three, and Wariner in four.
- Jelimo, Vlasic Resume Jackpot Chase
The chase for the $1 million Golden League Jackpot resumes, with two still in the running: Kenyan 800m prodigy Pamela Jelimo and Croatia's world high jump champion Blanka Vlasic. Jelimo arrives after the teenager added yet another accolade to her phenomenal breakout season in the event, that of Olympic champion. Yet again, no one seems ready to challenge putting her in the jackpot driver's seat with just two meets remaining.
The loaded field includes her Beijing teammate Janeth Jepkosgei, the silver medallist, and another compatriot, Nancy Jebet Lagat, whose 1500m triumph in the Chinese capital was one of the major surprises of the Games. The race also features the final Zurich outing for retiring Maria Mutola, who has won here a staggering 12 times. But with Jelimo, the woman who as a teenager succeeded her as African record holder and who has requested a blazing 56 second pace for the first lap, Mutola's swan song will most assuredly not be a 13th Weltklasse victory.
Meet director Patrick Magyar conceded that finding an adequate pacesetter for Jelimo is a difficult task. He settled for Russian Svetlana Klyuka, who finished fourth in Beijing. Such is the rise of Jelimo: a near Olympic medallist is needed to help set her tempo.
For Vlasic, who took easy victories in Berlin, Oslo, Paris and Rome, the Jackpot chase is a little less cozy. The popular jumper from Croatia's charming Dalmatian coast arrives in Zurich on the heels of a shock defeat by Belgian Tia Hellebaut in Beijing, and can expect another stiff challenge not only from Hellebaut, but from a reunion of almost the entire Olympic final field. Vlasic said she hasn't lost any confidence from her silver medal performance -or the end of her 34-meet win streak-and added that she has found new motivation to win her remaining competitions.
- Bekele Returns to Action in the 5000m
As is the case for Jelimo, finding adequate pace-making for Kenenisa Bekele is one of the most thankless chores for meet directors. Fortunately for Magyar, Bekele has already said that any more world record assaults are out of the picture this year. Tired from his historic Olympic 5000 and 10,000m triumphs, he's simply happy to race. Although the 5000m field is a formidable one -Olympic bronze medallist Edwin Soi of Kenya and Ugandan Moses Kipsiro, the fourth place finisher will take to the line-nobody in the world right now seems capable to remotely challenge the Ethiopian.
Bekele nearly didn't make it to the start line. His departure for Zurich forced an early end to celebrations of his triumph in Addis Ababa, and only after a direct plea from IAAF President Lamine Diack did the Ethiopian federation allow Bekele to race.
-Robles Looking to Continue Impeccable '08 Momentum
Dayron Robles returns to action after his dominating victory in Beijing and is reportedly still exhibiting amazing form. Like Bolt, given the right conditions, the young Cuban too is a world record threat anytime he steps on the track. He lowered the mark this year, running 12.87 in Ostrava, Czech Republic, in June. The field includes five of the eight Beijing finalists, including bronze medallist David Oliver of the U.S., who joined the sub-13 club with his 12.95 in Doha, Qatar, in May.
The women's sprint hurdles are among the evening's most eagerly anticipated Olympic rematches. Then again, rematch isn't quite the right word. Olympic champion Dawn Harper, along with silver and bronze medalists Sally McLellan of Australia and Canadian Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, top the field, which includes pre-Beijing favorite Lolo Jones, the season's fastest who famously ruined her gold medal run after clipping the ninth hurdle in the Olympic final carrying a big lead. European champion Susanna Kallur, who went out in the first round after falling over the first hurdle, also returns to action.
From the deepest start list of the season, a few other items of note include:
- Yelena Isinbayeva in the pole vault, in her follow-up to a second successive Olympic gold. In Beijing she raised the world record for the 24th time, clearing 5.05m. There is no reason to believe that she can't set her fourth record of the summer on Friday.
- Americans Allyson Felix and Sanya Richards in the 200 and 400m respectively, looking for confidence-boosting runs after disappointment in Beijing. Both strong favorites, Felix instead won her second Olympic silver, and Richards took the bronze.
- Olympic champion Rashid Ramzi returns to action in the 1500, where he'll face silver medallist Asbel Kiprop, but this time in a paced race.
- A reunion of the American 400m hurdles sweep: Angelo Taylor, Kerron Clement and Bershawn Jackson.
- World leader Paul Kipsiele Koech, who didn't run in Beijing, will be aiming for the season's first sub-eight minute run in the 3000m steeplechase.
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TPR: BOLT's ENCORE TOUR BEGINS IN ZURICH ON FRIDAY
By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 TRACK PROFILE Report, all rights reserved
ZURICH -- Usain Bolt isn't making any promises on how he'll follow up on his unprecedented triple gold/world record combo from the Olympic Games, but he insists that he's hardly out of steam.
"It was a long trip to get here, but I'm not tired at all," the 22-year-old Jamaican said as he prepares this return to the track at Friday's Weltklasse Golden League feature in Zurich. His first of three world records in Beijing came in the 100 where he stopped the clock in 9.69 seconds, and it's that event that he'll contest here. He'll face many of the men he humbled in the Chinese capital, including Richard Thompson and Walter Dix, the silver and bronze medallists.
"I've done a little training since I got here. I'm trying to get the blood pumping again in preparation for Friday evening."
Bolt captivated the planet's imagination in Bejing when he turned the sprinting world upside down. He followed up his 100m victory with an all-out effort in the 200m final, where he broked Michael Johnson's legendary 12-year-old mark with his 19.30 dash.
The way he romped to victory in the 100 in Beijing, shutting down well before the finish line in celebration instead of acceleration has left the world wondering how fast he could have actually run. He's not making any predictions here, but another world record is hardly out of the question. His coach, Glen Mills, suggested that there is plenty more to come from his protégé.
"I haven't seen the complete biomechanical report from Beijing yet," Mills said, "but I can say that Usain had a good start by his own standard. His first 60 meters were very good. I was told that with an all-out finish after the opening 60, Usain was projected to run a 9.52."
Added Mills, "It's only his first year with serious work in the 100 meters. In two more years, he should be peaking."
By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 TRACK PROFILE Report, all rights reserved
BEIJING - It's become cliché but it still rings true: Everything Usain Bolt touches turns to gold. And this week in Beijing the 22-year-old's Midas touch includes a large dash of world record as well.
Today's penultimate evening of track and field at Beijing's Olympic Stadium was no different. Joining with teammates Nesta Carter, Michael Frater and anchor Asafa Powell, the Jamaican quartet again stamped their authority on the world of sprinting after smashing the world record in the 400m relay, clocking a jaw-dropping 37.10.
Their mark took a hefty 0.30 seconds from the previous mark set by a U.S. squad at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. That record was anchored by Carl Lewis, a man who eight years earlier took home four gold medals in a single Games, but Bolt said he's not interesting in adding the 4x400 or long jump to his repertoire in an attempt to emulate Lewis the man the American emulated, the legendary Jesse Owens who took four gold medals at the 1936 Games in Berlin.
"I'm just happy with my three golds," Bolt said. "I'm just happy with my three world records."
That's a claim that Lewis was never able to make.
In Beijing the U.S and Great Britain, the defending champions, never made it to the line after bombing out in yesterday's qualifying round, giving the Jamaicans the heavy favorite role. Carter and Frater gave Bolt a narrow lead, which he extended well out reach as he powered through the turn. It then came down to Powell, the second fastest man in history. Leaving a tattered field behind him, Powell scorched the final straight, finishing nearly a full second ahead of Trinidad (38.06). Taking the surprise bronze was Japan (38.15) with Brazil (38.24) fourth.
- As Jamaicans Bungle Baton, Russia Prevails in Women's 4x100
After claiming five of six medals in the women's 100 and 200, Jamaica was the overwhelming favorite in the women's 4x100, but their nearly unparalleled wave came to an abrupt end between legs two and three, with Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart, both medalists here, botching the exchange.
Russia rolled on to victory in 42.31, with Belgium taking a surprise silver with a national record 42.54, a perfect ending to two-time European double sprint champion Kim Gevaert's career. On the eve of the Games, Gevaert had announced that this season would be her last. It was her first Olympic medal.
Nigeria took the bronze in 43.04, edging Brazil (43.14).
- Hooker scales Olympic Pole Vault Record
Australian Steve Hooker, a member of the pole vault's six-meter club, pulled off a third attempt clearance at 5.90m to win the gold, topping the slightly favored Russian Yevgeniy Lukyanenko. Who topped out at 5.85m. Hooker went on the clear 5.96m as well on his third attempt, adding a centimeter to the Olympic record.
- Clay: From Athens Silver to
Capping a solid two-day effort, American Bryan Clay turned his silver medal of four years ago to gold in the decathlon. Never seriously challenged, Clay tallied 8791 points to earn the "World's Greatest Athlete" title, well ahead of Andrei Krauchanka of Belarus (8551), and surprise bronze medallist Leonel Suarez, whose 8527 points was a national record for Cuba. Defending champion and world record holder Roman Sebrel was a distant sixth, 550 points behind with an 8241 total.
The eagerly-anticipated battle of the dueling D's - defending champion Meseret Defar and 10,000m champion Tirunesh Dibaba - in the 5000m came down, as expected, to the final lap. It just took the Ethiopian duo an excruciatingly long time to get there.
Simply put, Dibaba became the first woman in Olympic history to add 5000m gold to a 10,000m triumph. And she did it with the slowest winning time ever. For Dibaba, who ran 29:54.56 one week ago to take 10,000, the second fastest performance in history, it was just as well.
"I was expecting a much faster pace," Dibaba said. "The 10,000 was really tough. But today we were running for gold, and it was also tough."
Certainly the toughest 15:41.40 race she's ever run in her life. And the opening laps were quite painful for the spectators as well.
With no one wanting to lead, it was Russia's 3000m Steeplechase champion Galkina-Samitova who was forced into the pacing duties. Passing the first 1000m in 3:39.20, it was obvious she wasn't too happy with the chore.
Elvan Abeylegesse, the 10,000m silver medallist, was apparently bored with the pace as well, and made a move to the front at about the 1500m mark to up the tempo a bit and reach the end of the second kilometer in 6:45.41. The sluggish pace continued for the next several laps, with a dozen women still in the lead pack. That heavy traffic produced quite a bit contact, most notably to Defar who was clipped from behind and nearly knocked off balance with just over four laps to go.
While the lead changed hands several times, it was again Abeylegesse, just as she did in the waning stages of the 10,000, who upped the tempo again considerably with 800 meters to go. Dibaba remained on her should, with Defar and Ethiopian No. 3, Meselech Melkamu, looking strongest.
The action hit fever pitch at the bell when Dibaba took command, with Defar and Abeylegesse tagging along. She gapped the pursuers just before entering the turn, but surprisingly, it was the Turk who was doing the chasing. Finishing in just under 60 seconds, Dibaba was never challenged as she approached the line. Nor was Abeylegesse (15:42.74) who deserved her second silver of the Games. Defar couldn't summon her trademark kick, but held on to take the bronze in 15:44.12.
"I tried to do my best to win," said the Ethiopian-born Abeylegesse, whose double distance silver was also an Olympic first. "My coach told me that I had to accelerate in the race, and I tried to do that."
Defar, whose disappointment showed during the victory ceremony, said she ran with pain in the lower part of her right leg over the last few laps, one reason why her kick failed her. Of the dawdling pace, she said, "I just thought it would be best to wait until the end to up the pace."
In the mad scramble for bronze, Kenyans Sylvia Kibet (15:44.96) and Vivian Cheruiyot (15:46.32) fell a bit short, finishing fourth and fifth. Russian Lilia Shobukhova was sixth (15:46.62), and Turk Alemiute Bekele (14:48.48) seventh.
Out of contention in the late stages were American Shalane Flanagan, the 10,000m bronze medallist, who faded to 10th after running near the front for much of the race, and Galkina-Samitova, who was left behind with about 800 to go. The 3000m Steeplechase world record holder finished 12th.
- Magi over Lebedeva in the Long Jump by the Slimmest of Margins
Brazil's Maurren Higa Maggi took control of the women's long jump from the outset with a big opening round 7.04m jump, one that held up for the win. But defending champion Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia didn't go down without a fight. After a 6.97m effort in the first round, she reached 7.03m in the last to miss by the narrowest of margins.
After the doping disqualification of Ukraine's Lyudmila Blonska, 20-year-old Blessing Okagrabe of Nigeria was a late hour entrant as the 13th finisher in the opening round. She took full advantage of the upgrade, to win the bronze with a 6.91.
Swede Carolina Kluft, the 2004 champion in the heptathlon, gave up an almost sure medal in the multi-event to focus instead on the long jump. She only reached 6.49, finishing a disappointing ninth.
"It's the biggest moment of my life," she said. "I don't know what to say."
Competition in the stadium concludes on Saturday with finals in the women's high jump and men's javelin, the men's 800, women's 1500, and both 4x400m relays. The men's marathon, the final even on the track & field schedule, will set of on Sunday morning, the last day of the Games.
By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 TRACK PROFILE Report, all rights reserved
BEIJING -- It was the most anticipated head-to-head clash of these Games and in the end it wasn't even close.
Powering to a one-step lead off the final bend, LaShawn Merritt forged onwards to an overwhelming victory to dethrone defending 400m champion Jeremy Wariner clocking 43.75, to cap yet another dramatic evening of competition at a sold-out National Stadium in Beijing.
In fact, Merritt's margin of victory, at 0.99 just under a full second, was the greatest in Olympic history.
"You don't become a champion without being mentally and physically tough," said Merritt, who at 22 is two year's Wariner's junior. "And you know what, I showed up and got it done."
After watching Merritt romp down the homestretch, there was no simply no debating that assessment.
"I actually focused on running on that back stretch," said Merritt, who improved significantly on his 43.96 career best set it Osaka last year when he finished second to Wariner. "I ran it like I wanted the gold medal. Like my roommate, Angelo Taylor. He ran it like he wanted to win."
Wariner, lined up in Lane 7, got out the fastest, building a marginal lead midway through the back straight. But in the meantime, Merritt, running in Lane 4, opened with a slightly more controlled tempo, running relaxed down the back straight and began to draw even midway through the final turn to enter the straight with a half step lead.
That was usually the point where Wariner begins to pull away. But this time, as was the case in his two other defeats to Merritt this year - in both occasions lined up to Merritt's outside, incidentally - he didn't.
Instead, it was Merritt who turned that narrow edge at the top of the straight into an insurmountable lead which he extended with each long powerful stride. Behind him Wariner was a shadow of his former self. Unable to respond, he began to fade gradually, but held on for second in 44.74.
Closing markedly faster as well was David Neville, whose finishing lean evolved into a dive. He nearly caught Wariner, but fell - literally - just a bit short in 44.80, to clinch the second consecutive U.S. Olympic sweep of the event.
"I felt good off the first 200, when I tried to move it just wasn't there," said Wariner, whose only slower performance in a final this year was his 44.82 in Melbourne in February. "If I could have had the race I had in the semi-finals, it would have been a closer race."
"I had to go in head first," Neville said. "It was a tough race at the end, but sometimes you have to dive in and give it your all."
The night's first final saw Veronica Campbell-Brown continue the Jamaican roll in the short sprint with her own dominating victory in the 200m to retain her Olympic title.
Powering off the turn, Campbell-Brown cruised to a 21.74 performance, the fastest of her career and the fastest in the world this year, to become the first woman to claim back-to-back 200m titles since east German Barbel Exkert-Wockel in 1980.
Taking the silver for the second consecutive Games was American Allyson Felix, whose late race strength of a year ago at the world championships was conspicuously absent here. She clocked 21.93 to finish ahead of Jamaican Kerron Stewart, who also took the bronze in the 100m.
"I was more nervous this time than in Athens," said Campbell, who won the world title in the 100m last year. "But fear is not something I bring to the track."
"I'm definitely disappointed but happy to be here," said Felix, who took the world crown a year ago. "I just have to pick myself up and go forward."
Muna Lee, the only American to contest both short dashes here, was a very close fourth in 22.01, a career best. Lee took fifth in the 100 four days ago.
The evening's last final crowned a new Olympic champion in the men's 110m hurdles, with world record holder Dayron Robles, as expected, crushing the field in 12.93, just shy of the 12.91 Olympic record set by China's Liu Xiang four years ago. This was to be the biggest evening of the Games for the hosts, but Xiang, falling to injury, barely made it to start of the first round.
He would have needed his best effort to defeat the Cuban, who has been head and shoulders ahead of the world this summer. Here, he was clearly ahead by the fourth hurdle, and continued without a glitch.
American David Payne, third at the world championships a year ago, closed strongly to move a notch to take the silver in 13.17, just ahead of teammate David Payne, who stopped the clock in 13.18.
"I felt confident about how things would go," said Robles, who broke Liu's world record in Ostrava, Czech Republic, in June, with 12.87.
In between, two of the most dramatic field event battles were waged virtually simultaneously in the women's javelin and men's triple jump.
Barbora Spotakova, the 2007 world champion from the Czech Republic, came through with a 71.42m throw in the final round, a European record and the fourth farthest of all-time, to snatch the gold from Russian Maria Abakumova, who herself reached an European record in the fourth round with a 70.78m heave, which when the ashes cleared, was "only" a national record. Christina Obergfoll of Germany, who watched her own European record fall in the competition, took the bronze, reaching 66.13m. This competition was the first to witness a pair of 70m effortsw.
In the men's triple jump, Nelson Evora of Portugal again displayed his major meet mettle. The surprise world champion last year, the 24-year-old took the victory with a 17.67m season's best in the fourth round, to edge pre-meet favorite Phillips Idowu of Great Britain by just 5 centimeters. Leevan Sands reached a Bahamian national record of 17.59m in the third round to take the bronze.
And in between it all, the woes of the underperforming U.S short sprint squads were most vividly displayed in the opening round of the 4x100m relays, with both the men's and women's quartets failing to move the stick around for the full lap.
This opens the door - floodgates?-for the Jamaicans who will be the heavy favorites in tomorrow's final. Jamaican women have captured five of the six medals in the 100 and 200, while newly-minted international superstar Usain Bolt took both the men's titles, breathing life into the possibility of a world record assault in the men's final tomorrow. The world and Olympic record of 37.40 was set by the United States at the 1992 Games in Barcelona.
With just two qualifying automatically from each of the three semis, the men's 800m semis were particularly merciless, and they claimed two of the pre-meet medal favorites. Defending champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy finished third in the first heat, and saw his defense hopes dashed when the second and much faster heat concluded just a few minutes later. In the third heat, world leader Abubaker Kaki of Sudan never found his rhythm over the opening lap and simply ran out of steam in the second, to fade to last.
The favorites for Saturday's final include Kenyans Wilfred Bungei and world champion Alfred Kirwa Yego and Yusuf Saad Kamel of Bahrain.
American Bryan Clay leads the decathlon after the first day, tallying 4521 points, with Andrei Krauchanka of Belarus second with 4433, and American Trey Hardee third (4428). An assault on the world record appears to be out of reach but Roman Sebrle's Olympic mark of 8893 remains within reach.
Day 8 begins with the final of the men's 50km Race Walk, and also includes finals in the women's long jump, men's pole vault, both men's and women's 4x100m relays, and the women's 5000m where Ethiopians Tirunesh Dibaba, the 10,000m champion and reigning champion Meseret Defar meet for the first time in nearly two years.
By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 TRACK PROFILE Report, all rights reserved
BEIJING -- There are simply no superlatives left to describe Usain Bolt. For now, and for the foreseeable future, "World's fastest Man" will have to suffice.
Completing the finest week of sprinting in the history of mankind, Usain Bolt broke the world record in the 200 meters tonight, clocking a phenomenal 19.30 seconds. With his 9.69 world record in the 100m on Saturday, the Jamaican became the first man in Olympic history to break both records at the same Olympic Games.
His performance tonight eclipsed the 19.32 mark set by Michael Johnson at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. But unlike his record dash in the 100, where he spent the latter part of the race looking side-to-side, raising his arms and thumping his chest, Bolt powered through the line with nearly 90,000 people cheering him on. As he crossed the line, the clock stopped at 19.31, but a few seconds later was corrected to 19.30.
Speaking with reporters a few hours before the race, Johnson said, "I don't think that he'll break it tonight. But it wouldn't be a shock. Nothing he'll do would shock me."
Yet after he crossed the line, the stunned crowd, both in the stands and the crowded press tribune, simply stood and stared, trying yet again to grasp what they had just witnessed.
A few hours later, the crowd joined in a sing-along rendition of Happy Birthday to Bolt, who celebrates his 22nd birthday tomorrow.
In the wake of Bolt's re-entry, Churandy Martina of the Dutch Antilles was the surprise runner-up in 19.82, a national record, with defending champion Shawn Crawford taking the bronze in 19.96.
Wallace Spearmon, initially listed as third, was disqualified for a lane violation.
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TPR: STAGE SET FOR WARINER-MERRITT, DIBABA-DEFAR CLASHES
By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 TRACK PROFILE Report, all rights reserved
BEIJING -- Tuesday evening's semi-final competition set the stage for two of the most eagerly anticipated showdowns of the Games: Wariner v Merritt in the men's 400 and Dibaba v. Defar in the women's 5000.
Even before events took a dramatic turn in the men's 100 meters, the Jeremy Wariner - LaShawn Merritt clash over the full lap was billed as the showdown of the Games. And both looked extremely well prepared after their convincing and dominating victories in the semi-finals.
In the first of three heats, defending Olympic and two-time World champion Wariner wasted little time to stamp his authority. On fire out of the blocks, the 24-year-old Texan made up the stagger on the field by midway, and once through the turn, gradually shut it down, looking to his outside some 40 meters from the finish before cruising through the line in 44.15. This season, only he and Merritt have run faster.
And Merritt was even faster. Out quickly but more patiently than Wariner, the 22-year-old U.S. champion gradually built a comfortable lead with what appeared to a very evenly run race. He was unchallenged over the final 100 meters, stopping the clock in 44.12.
"I'm excited for the finals," said Wariner, who leads the world this year at 43.86. "I knew where I was at. I did everything I wanted to."
Said Merritt, who's run 44.00 this year: "Anything can happen on any day. I'm in the best shape of my life. I'm ready to show the world what I can do."
In 2008, the two have split their four meetings. The lane draw may be critical; both of Wariner's victories came when Merritt ran to his outside. In Thursday's final, Merritt will line up in lane four, and Wariner in seven.
Behind Merritt, Briton Martyn Rooney improved yet again, making up two spots over the final 50 meters to finish second in a personal best 44.60, just ahead of Swedish record holder Johan Wissman, who advanced easily on time. Renny Quow of Trinidad, moved on as well after his 44.82, also a career best.
"The last 100 meters were hard," said Rooney, who as each race passes, looks more and more a medal contender. "I had to run a personal best to get through."
Meanwhile, Bahamian Chris Brown, this season's third fastest, was the only other runner remotely close to Wariner and advanced easily with his runner-up finish in 44.59.
RARE DEFAR-DIBABA FACE-OFF SET
A day later on Friday, another of the fiercest rivalries in the sport will take centre stage: Tirunesh Dibaba, the recently minted Olympic 10,000m champion will square off against Meseret Defar, the reigning 5000m champion.
Since the 2002 World junior championships, when Defar took the title over Dibaba, the Ethiopian duo have met 22 times in the 5000m, with Defar holding a narrow 12-10 lead while building up her resume as arguably the world's finest 5000m runner. But in June, Defar, who has dominated the 10,000 in recent years, took the World record from Defar in Oslo clocking 14:11.15. Defar tried to reclaim it in Stockholm a month later, but came up just a few meters short, clocking 14:12.88. The two are that close.
For whatever reasons, they haven't met since the World Athletics Final nearly two years ago - won by Defar - but their paths will finally, and dramatically cross here as Dibaba aims to win her second medal of the Games while Defar hopes to hold on to a title she considers hers.
Each won their respective heats tonight with relative ease, Dibaba the slower first in 15:09.89 and Defar the faster second in 14:56.32. Their victories were remarkably similar as both were content to sit back in the pack and let others do the leading. Dibaba moved the front just beyond the bell and held on, while Defar chose to wait until about 200 meters remained.
If either can be considered to have a slight edge, it would be Defar, who raced for the first time in these Games. The biggest question mark hanging over Dibaba will be how she'll recover from her phenomenal victory in the 10,000m, where her stunning 29:54.66 performance was the second fastest in history.
Neither of the first round heats produced much drama for the remaining five automatic spots behind the Ethiopian pair, with the slots already more or less determined as the fields approached their respective bell laps.
Just a little more than a second separated spots two through five in the first race, with Kenyan Sylvia Kibet (15:10.37), Alemitu Bekele (15:10.92) of Turkey, Ethiopia's African Champion Meselech Melkamu (15:11.21) and Gulnara Galkina-Samitova (15:11.46) of Russia moving on easily. Behind them, American Jenn Rhines, who ran with the leaders through much of the race, nabbed the sixth automatic spot, clocking 15:15.12.
The significantly quicker pace over the final kilometer in the second race would guarantee that the next three over the line behind the top six automatic qualifiers would also advance.
With Vivian Cheruiyot (14:57.27) and Priscah Jepleting (14:58.07) advancing, Kenya will have three women in the final, as will the United States, led by Shalane Flanagan, the 10,000m bronze medallist, and Kara Goucher.
Also advancing were Russian Liliya Shobukhova (14:57.77), who broke the European record last month, and former 5000m World record holder Elvan Abeylegesse of Turkey.
While the Defar-Dibaba show will take the spotlight, behind them several other notable double attempts will be undertaken. Galkina-Samitova won the first Olympic gold medal in the 3000m Steeplechase on Sunday, clocking a World record of 8:58.81. Abeylegesse won silver in the 10,000m on Friday with a European record 29:56.34 (the third fastest performance in history) in what very well might have been the finest ever women's contest over the distance.
By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 TRACK PROFILE Report, all rights reserved
BEIJING -- When the subject of tonight's 200m final comes up --and it has quite often over the past several days-- one general theme emerges: How fast will Usain Bolt run?
After his 9.69 world record in the 100m on Saturday --a performance that's still extremely difficult to fully grasp-- attention has fallen on the 22-year-old Jamaican who, until this year, was considered a better 200m runner. According to him, it remains his favorite. That he's in the shape of his life was vividly illustrated time and time again since the opening, most recently in the early rounds of the 200 when he redefined the discipline by adding the term "jog" to sprinting parlance.
His 20.09 win in the second semi was just that, a jog down the home straight. At least in comparison to how those who followed him appeared. American Shawn Crawford, the 2004 champion, worked hard to reach the line in 20.12. His teammate Wallace Spearmon worked even harder to finish third in 20.14.
