Paris 2009 full report

[kitkat1]

@kitkat1

Steffensen is in decent shape. In his previous race he clocked 45.65 for 2nd on July 14 in Reims, on July 10 in Rome he clocked 45.28 and before that on June 9 in Thessaloniki 45.94-ish).

So without any knowledge of his circumstance, it may be that he felt some cramping or muscle twinge during warmup and decided to just go out there and try to protect himself by doing some kind of technical tempo effort and hope things might free-up and then he could apply some force. It’s just a guess.

But if you were the Paris meet director, you wouldn’t be thrilled with what you saw. I hope that doesn’t count against him for the future in Paris. On the visual evidence alone, that was just an extended stride-through so I’d be assuming that if it was still cold (and maybe wet) when he was warming up he may have decided discretion was the better part of valour.

Then again, if you were the meet director would you rather have an empty lane. I’m assuming Steffensen would have run it by someone in the Paris organisation; either that or he started to have problems in the actual race and was just trying to survive to fight another day. He seems to be moving forward pretty well with Berlin worlds in mind, so an injury now would be a disaster.

ok, this report was on Athletics Australia website. Steffensen says he had some kind of problem very early in the race…

18.07.2009
Bolt defies the wet and cold conditions as Steffensen misfires
Australian John Steffensen took to the track for his second appearance at the IAAF Golden League this season in the men’s 400m in Paris.

In Rome last week, Steffensen led the field early and perhaps only for lack of racing did he fade in the home stretch to place fourth in 45.28s.

So it was onto Paris, and after a hit-out in Reims on Tuesday (45.65s) expectations were high that Steffensen would finally hit his straps and perhaps get back under 45 seconds for the first time in two years.

The field included American Jeremy Wariner, the two-time World Champion, 2008 Olympic Bronze medallist David Neville, and perennial fourth placer Chris Brown from the Bahamas.

Wariner, as expected, dominated the race but the cold and gusty conditions put to rest any chance of fast times with the American winning in 45.28s, and admitted the “the time is not very good. Maybe because of the conditions, it was chilly and windy.”

Unfortunately for the Australian, some problems in the first few metres effectively ended his race early.

“When I came out of the blocks I stumbled and just didn’t feel right,” reported Steffensen who subsequently reduced his pace and cantered around the lap in 48.32s.

The 2005 World Championship finalist has had his fair share of injuries and mishaps over the last few seasons and did not want a repeat here.

“I am running well and didn’t want to have another hiccup,” said Steffensen who spent much of 2007 and 2008 battling niggling hamstring problems.

Bahamian Chris Brown was second in 45.44s and Frenchman Lesley Djhone third with 45.47s.

It was Jamaican Usain Bolt that everyone had come to see in Paris though. The triple Olympic champion and world record-holder was making his first appearance at the 2009 IAAF Golden League and got a huge reception from the athletics-savvy French crowd.

Flexing his muscles and clearly enjoying a rap-musical intro that relied heavily on his own name, the superstar of the sport was not going to let the weather, now raining, spoil his fun.

Given the less than ideal conditions Bolt exceeded expectations as despite an ordinary start where he gave away one metre to Antiguan Daniel Bailey, by 50m he had swallowed up the field. Running hard through the line he recorded a meet record 9.79s (-0.2m/s wind) and pulled Bailey to a new national record of 9.91s.

“I had a bad start,” said the Jamaican who is looking to claim his first senior world title in Berlin in August.

Staying healthy is Bolt’s priority at this crucial stage of the season and he was pleased to get through the race unscathed.

“I’m just happy I got through it injury free.”

2007 World Champion Sanya Richards continued her dominance of the women’s 400m with her fourth victory in the 2009 Golden League. The win ensures Richard’s hopes of winning the US$1 million jackpot stay alive.

The windy conditions in Paris played havoc with the pole vaulters and 4.65m and 5.70m were enough to win the women’s and men’s competitions respectively.

Russian Yelena Isinbeyeva stayed in the hunt for the golden jackpot with her fourth win. The men’s competition was won by France’s Renaud Lavillenie (5.70m), the man who is threatening the pole vaulting dominance of our Olympic Champion Steve Hooker, inflicting a rare defeat on the Australian at Reims earlier in the week. Australian Paul Burgess cleared 5.30m to place sixth.

Jamaican Kerron Stewart also made it four from four in the women’s 100m (10.99s) as did Kenenisa Bekele in the men’s 3000m/5000m meaning none of the four remaining contenders dropped out of the running for the $1 million dollar prize in Paris. The next Golden League meet will take place on August 28 in Zurich, Switzerland.

The world championships qualifying window for Australian athletes closes on Sunday, July 19 (tomorrow) ahead of the final selector’s meeting on Monday, July 20.

Competing tonight (Saturday) are Madeleine Pape (800m), Brendan Cole (400mH) and Jacinta Boyd (LJ) in Zaragoza, Spain, whilst Scott Martin (SP), Joel Milburn (400m), Ryan Gregson (1500m), Lauren Boden (400mH), Collis Birmingham (5000m), Bridey Delaney (1500m), Shawn Forrest (5000m) and Jana Pittman-Rawlinson (400mH) will line up in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium.

Courtesy of Pat Birgan in Paris