Robles improves to 13.05 in Linz
Tuesday 11 September 2007
Linz, Austria – Defying the cool, rainy and windy conditions in northern Austria, Dayron Robles blasted to a sensational 13.05 victory in the 110m Hurdles to highlight the 20th Anniversary edition of the Intersport Gugl-Meeting.
The Linz Gugl-Meeting is one of a select group of Area meetings at which points can be acquired by athletes to qualify for the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final, to be held on 22-23 September in Stuttgart.
Perdita Felicien edges past Vonette Dixon in Linz
(Photo Plohe)
Robles building momentum
If steady rain and a hearty chill are supposed to slow sprinters down, nobody seems to have told Robles.
The 20-year-old Cuban exploded from the blocks in the men’s high hurdles, built a clear lead by the second barrier, before running away from the solid field to reach the line in 13.05. It was a meet record for Robles, eclipsing the 13.06 set by Mark McKoy in 1992, and noteworthy performance given the conditions and a substantial headwind of -1.2 m/s. More significantly for Robles, who was a disappointed fourth in Osaka, it was a season’s best and added nicely to his momentum as a follow-up to his 13.15 victory in Zurich last Friday.
Yargelis Savigne winning in Linz
(Photo Plohe)
The only real race was the one for second. Leaving a trail of downed timber behind him, Ukraine’s Serhiy Demydyuk nonetheless accelerated well to take second in 13.32, With Americans David Oliver (13.40) and David Payne (13.51) next across the line.
The women’s 100m Hurdles was a closer contest –at least through the first five hurdles. That was when Osaka silver medallist Perdita Felicien created a little gap on Vonette Dixon, one the Jamaican could never breach. Felicien won in 12.73, a full 0.10 ahead of Dixon, with Angela Whyte taking third (12.87) to wrap up a 1-3 podium finish for Canada.
Savigne dominates
The chill and rain did impact the women’s Triple Jump, but it didn’t keep World champion Yargelis Savigne from controlling the proceedings from the outset. The 22-year-old, whose 15.28m gold medal winning leap in Osaka leads the world this year, opened with a 14.53 leap, more than sufficient to take the victory. She improved to 14.73 in the second round –her best on the night—and produced a 14.66 in the fourth round as back-up.
Italy’s Magdelin Martinez was the only other jumper to sail beyond 14m, reaching 14.03 in the second round. Yamile Aldama, the meet record holder, was a distant third (13.97).
The men’s Long Jump has traditionally been one of the strongest events in Linz, and while this year’s didn’t reach the quality of some of those from the past, it did include some elements of drama.
Olexiy Lukasevich of Ukraine, fourth in Osaka, produced the first eight-metre leap of the evening in the third round, reaching 8.04m. His lead lasted until the fifth round when Jamaican veteran James Beckford leaped 8.06 to take the victory. American John Moffitt was third (7.91).
Hot or cold, wet or dry, Tim Lobinger likes Linz. The popular German collected his sixth career victory here, the only man from a quality field who could manage 5.70. Lobinger cleared in on his second effort, while the height was too much for Russian Yevgeniy Lukyanenko, who topped out at 5.50. Germans Alexander Straub and Bjorn Otto successfully negotiated 5.50 as well, with the former taking third with fewer misses.
Weidlinger returns
Much of the enthusiastic crowd turned out to welcome Austrian national Steeplechase record holder Gunther Weidlinger, whose appearance at the World championships ended with a brutally painful fall in the opening round. He performed admirably, but in the end couldn’t fight off the kick of Kenyans Wesley Kiprotich, Julius Nyamu and Collins Kosgei. Kiprotich, last year’s Commonwealth silver medallist, won his first race of the year in six outings, clocking 8:24.35. Nyamu (8:25.45) and Kosgei (8:25.99) followed, with Weidlinger fourth, two seconds behind the winner.
Elsewhere…
Nursing a sore elbow, doctor’s orders sidelined World champion Barbora Spotakova from the javelin competition. In her stead, Russian Mariya Abakumova took top honours with a 59.36m effort, with Poland’s Barbara Madejczyk (57.61) second.
Trinidad’s Marc Burns dominated the men’s 100m, taking an easy victory in 10.18, well ahead of Slovenia’s Osaka finalist Matic Osovnikar (10.34) who held off Darvis Patton’s strong close (10.36) to finish second.
Sheri-Ann Brooks reeled in quick-starting Chandra Sturrup at the last possible moment to win the 100m, with both credited with a 11.38. Third position was equally close, with Mikele Barber given the edge of Stephanie Durst. Both clocked 11.43
With no competition to speak of, the women’s Shot Put was an exhibition for Osaka silver medallist Nadezhda Ostapchuk of Belarus. The 26-year-old threw beyond 19m with four of her five legal throws, topped by a fifth round 19.43 to win by nearly four metres.
Assuming the lead at the bell, Erin Donohue held on to win the women’s 1000m in 2:39.50, holding off the homestretch charge of Faith Macharia (2:39.67) and Svetlana Cherkasova (2:39.88).
Lashauntea Moore of the US ran away with the 200 in 23.19 from 100m winner Brooks (23.40), Ato Modibo was the clear winner in the 400 (46.35), and Ethiopian Bizunesh Urgesa won a slow 3000 (9:25.23) by nearly two seconds.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
http://www.iaaf.org/WAF07/news/kind=2/newsid=41601.html#robles+improves+linz
link contains a link to individual event results in Linz