Christine Ohuruogu back on track with victory
By Tom Knight in Ostrava
Last Updated: 1:21am BST 13/06/2008
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On a night when the spectacular came from Dayron Robles in the 110 metres hurdles, Christine Ohuruogu was more than happy with just a win in her first 400m of the year at the Golden Spike meeting here in the Czech Republic.
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The victory was easy enough for Britain’s only world champion and there were signs, over the first half of the race, that her recent series of shorter sprints had paid off. But her time at the line was 51.06sec, the 22nd quickest in the world this year and not one likely to strike fear into the hearts of those aiming to beat her to the Olympic title in Beijing.
Making progress: a slow but sure win for Christine Ohuruogu
None of this was a concern to Ohuruogu, who beat a classy field in the Mestsky Stadium. This is a season to savour for the 24-year-old, who had less than three weeks in which to race before the World Championships in Osaka after returning from a 12-month ban for missing three drug tests.
She said: “I didn’t come here expecting a certain time. I am in much better condition than last year and this race was about seeing where I am in my training. The first 400m is always a bit shaky and it was nerve-wracking. But I’m glad to have got it out of the way.”
There will be much bigger challenges ahead, including confronting the threat of Sanya Richards, the American who topped the world rankings ahead of her last year despite missing the event in Osaka. Ohuruogu added: “I would expect to race against her before Beijing. It would make sense.”
The British success story at 400m could yet extend to the men after another encouraging performance here from Martyn Rooney, still a relative rookie on the circuit at just 21.
advertisementRooney clocked 45.32sec and among those left trailing was the former British No 1, Tim Benjamin, last in 47.94.
“I’ll be disappointed if I don’t break 45 seconds in my next couple of races,” said Rooney, whose aim is a lane in the Olympic final.
There were hopes for something spectacular from Usain Bolt, the world record holder for 100m who came here for his first 200m of the summer. Bolt won easily enough in 19.83sec, the quickest in the world this year but the real fireworks came from Robles.
The bespectacled Cuban managed to break a billion hearts in China less than two months before the Olympics, when he sliced 0.01sec off Liu Xiang’s two-year-old world record for 110m hurdles.
Robles began his celebrations with the trackside clock reading 12.88 but when the time was officially ratified at 12.87, he and the crowd went wild.
Many believe the 21-year-old Robles will prove the biggest party-pooper in Beijing by beating Liu, the reigning Olympic champion, in front of his adoring fans.
Robles came into the summer after a disastrous 60m hurdles at the World Indoor Championships in Valencia He stopped after the gun, believing it was a false start and had to scamper after the rest of the field. He was seventh.
He now stands on top of the world but there was no message for Liu. Robles said: “Everyone will be in Beijing dreaming of being Olympic champion and Liu will have all the motivation he needs from the Chinese people.”
The meeting’s first world record came as the crowd were still settling into their seats. Ethiopia’s Dire Tune circled the track for 18,517m to break the 10-year-old one-hour world record.