News - 23.05.2010
Bolt cruises 19.76, seven world leads on chilly night in Shanghai – IAAF Diamond League
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23 May 2010 – Shanghai, China – Less than two years since his leap to the forefront of the sporting world at the Beijing Olympics, Usain Bolt made his return visit to China a memorable one as the IAAF Diamond League resumed at the Shanghai Diamond League meeting on Sunday.
Bolt pleased with ‘good run’
According to script, the Jamaican superstar dominated the men’s 200m in his IAAF Diamond League debut, making good on a pre-race promise of a “fast time”. A few metres clear of the field as his towering figure hit the straight, Bolt powered on and dramatically increased the gap before crossing the line in 19.76. Conservative by his lofty standards perhaps, but a mark that made the Jamaican’s personal top-10 list, and more importantly, indicated that his early season form is progressing just fine.
“It was a good run overall,” said Bolt, whose run came just four days after his 9.86 world leader in the Daegu 100m. Bolt was well shy of his 19.56 world leading dash from Kingston on 1 May, but said that the two runs were produced under widely different circumstances.
“In Kingston it was my first race and in front of my home crowd, and it wasn’t windy,” he said. “And here it was a little chilly.” He was nonetheless pleased, and added that his first preliminary report from coach Glen Mills was a positive one as well.
Angelo Taylor, the two-time Olympic 400m Hurdles champion, showed up the more experienced sprinters in the field with his 20.34 runner-up finish, a personal best, with American Ryan Bailey third in 20.43.
The weekend’s wet and muggy conditions gave way to largely sunny skies as the meeting approached, but temperatures cooled as the action began, leaving its mark on the track as well. Nonetheless, seven world-leading marks emerged before an appreciative crowd of 29,951 at Shanghai Stadium, as the Diamond Race kicked off in 15 additional events.
- [Click here for individual Event Reports of each Diamond Race] -
All eyes on Liu Xiang, but Oliver impresses with 12.99
To the world, Bolt’s was among the biggest names in town –he even figured prominently in Jamaica’s exhibit at the World Expo - but for the locals, it was another luminary they came to see as well. And despite his modest pre-race expectations, all eyes were firmly focused on Liu Xiang’s outdoor debut.
But once the gun sounded, the race was all about David Oliver. The powerful American had already built a clear lead as he approached the third hurdle, and fForging on confidently, the Olympic bronze medallist rhythmically continued to add to it before reaching the line in 12.99, a meeting record and the first sub-13 clocking of the year.
“This is a great time, I’m satisfied,” said Oliver, who paced the world coming into Shanghai at 13.11. “But it could have been little better. I rushed the last hurdle but you cannot be dissatisfied if you break the track record.”
So strong was Oliver that the runner-up was a full four-tenths of a second back in 13.39, but it was nonetheless a memorable performance for China’s Shi Dongpeng, who defeated Liu Xiang - who was third just a tick behind in 13.40 - for the first time.
Lui Xiang shared his praise for both men at a packed post-race press conference, but also added that he was pleased with his own run as well given his lack of strenuous training this season. “I felt like I lost some strength at the end,” he said.
Reigning World champion Ryan Brathwaite didn’t have a good day, crashing into the third hurdle, and out of the race.
Demus delivers
There was an equally dominant display in the women’s barriers event earlier in the programme when Lashinda Demus pounced all over a strong field in the women’s 400m Hurdles. Taking off hard from the gun, the World silver medallist had built a clear lead by the third barrier and never relented. When it was over, Demus, who clocked a world leading 53.34, was one-and-a-half seconds clear of the field.
“This was a great second race for me,” said Demus, who handily eclipsed her previous 54.09 world leader. “Now I look forward to going after the national record and world record."
Russian Natalya Antyuh (54.83) and Anna Jesien (55.12) were the closest among the pursuers, while reigning World and Olympic champion Melaine Walker (55.33) was never really in the hunt, finishing well back in fifth.
Ostapchuk dominates
Nadezhda Ostapchuk got the meeting underway with a bang, defeating World and Olympic Shot Put champion Valerie Vili for the second straight time. The 29-year-old from Belarus, who won here in Shanghai when the meeting was first held in 2005, dominated the competition from the outset with a 20.44m effort in the opening round, a toss which would have easily sufficed for the victory. She sealed the win in the second round when she improved to a world-leading 20.70m. After fouling in the third and fourth rounds, she capped the night in round five by breaching the 20m-line again with a 20.01 toss.
Vili was a distant second, her best of 19.72m coming in round three. In head-to-heads, Ostaphcuk extended her advantage over the New Zealander 10-8, in a rivalry that dates back to the 2003 World championships.
Lijiao Gong was third, notching the day’s first podium finish for China. The reigning World bronze medallist, still just 21, reached a season’s best 19.60m.
Four other world leads
Other world leading performances came in the programme’s longer distances, with new early season standards produced in the women’s 3000m steeplechase and 5000m, and in the men’s 1500m.
Taking control of the race over the final kilometre, Gladys Kipkemoi led a Kenyan podium sweep in the steeplechase with a solid 9:16.82 run, just two seconds shy of her career best in her outdoor debut. And she was clearly delighted about what her run could mean for the rest of the season.
“Wow,” the tiny 23-year-old said after she left her compatriot Milcah Chemos, the World bronze medallist, a well-beaten runner-up. “I can’t believe that I won!”
Chemos, a former 800/1500m runner, clocked 9:20.63, a few steps clear of Lydia Rotich, who ran 9:21.38, a personal best.
In the 5000m, World indoor 3000m bronze medallist Sentayehu Ejigu used her experience at the shorter distances to her advantage over 10,000m specialists Linet Masai and Meselech Melkamu to take a well-deserved victory in a very quick race. The 24-year-old took the lead in the homestretch to prevail in a solid 14:30.96, taking down Meseret Defar’s three-year-old meet record in the process.
“It was a difficult fight,” said Ejigu, who’s previous best of 14:35.18 was set way back in 2004.
In a deep race, the next eight across the line produced personal bests, including runner-up Masai (14:31.14) and Melkamu (14:31.91) who finished third.
There was a thrilling finish in the men’s 1500m with Augustine Choge managing to hold off a powerful late race charge by Olympic champion Asbel Kiprop. Choge, who carried a substantial lead into the final straight, reached the line in 3:32.20, just nipping Kiprop, who ran out of room after misjudging his finish, by a scant .02.
“With 250 metres to go I was messing up,” admitted Kiprop, who was running nearly last at the time.
Gebremehdin Mekonnen of Ethiopia was certainly pleased with this 3:33.35 personal best for third, coming less than two weeks after his father’s death. “I almost cancelled this race because I couldn’t train,” said the World indoor fourth placer. “And now I ran my personal best.”
World indoor Triple Jump champion Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan kept her momentum alive, leaping a world-leading 14.89m in her first competition since her Doha triumph. Opening with a foul, her winning effort came in the second round, with only Cuba’s world champion Yargelis Savigne keeping the competition relatively close with a 14.61m best. The jumpers never could adjust to the evening’s shifting winds – Rypakova had a +1.0 wind at her back while Savigne jumped against a 1.6 in the same round – which clearly showed in the results. Russian Anna Pyatykh was a distant third but couldn’t even reach 14 metres.
Four over 68m in men’s Discus
In what turned out to be one of the deepest Discus Throw competitions in recent memory, it was Hungarian strongman Zoltan Kovago who drew first blood in the event’s Diamond Race. But it didn’t come without a fierce fight.
Kovago topped the field with a final round 69.69m throw, to beat World champion Robert Harting’s 68.69m from the fifth round. Piotr Malachowski of Poland put a scare in the field in the final round as well, reaching 68.66m for third.
Olympic champion Gerd Kanter reached a season’s best as well, yet his 68.61m effort, a throw which would have easily landed him on the podium of every World championship or Olympic Games since at least 2000, wasn’t enough to earn him a single point in the Diamond Chase.
Jeter wins big over Fraser
In the latest round of the US-Jamaica sprint wars, it was Carmelita Jeter who emerged victorious, fending off the challenge of World and Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser over the final 15 metres. Assigned to lanes four and five, the pair ran virtually even through the first 50 metres until Jeter, running just to the outside of the Jamaican, began to pull ahead by 60 metres. When the Jamaican couldn’t mustre a response Jeter simply padded her lead before stopping the clock in 11.09 for her seventh straight victory since her third place showing at last year’s World Championships.
"I had no big expectations,” said Jeter, who clocked a sensational 10.64 on this track eight months ago. “Now I just wanted to come out and execute. That was my goal.”
Fraser was well back in second in 11.29.
Thorkildsen challenged by young newcomer
As expected, World and Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen won the Javelin Throw in his debut, but he didn’t take the driver’s seat until his 86.11m effort in the third round. The surprise leader until then was Petr Frydrych, a 22-year-old Czech who is training under the tutelage of one Jan Zelezny. The European U-23 silver medallist reached a personal best of 85.60m in the second round and displaying good consistency, nearly matched that with a 85.57m launch with his last throw. Another Czech, the world leader Vitezslaw Vesely, threw 82.95m to round out the top three.
[Note: The men’s Javelin Throw was not part of the Diamond Race; that begins in Oslo on 4 June]
Jepkosgei and Wariner prevail
Former World champion Janeth Jepkosgei opened her season on a solid note, prevailing with a strong kick to take the 800m in 2:01.06. Briton Jenny Meadows, the World indoor silver medallist, finished strong to overtake world leader Kenia Sinclair, 2:01.34 to 2:01.87.
The first win in the men’s 400m Diamond chase went to 2005 and 2007 World champion Jeremy Wariner. In a straightforward contest, the 26-year-old American, the track record holder here at 44.02, ran a conservative first 300 metres before he began to comfortably pull away as he entered the final straight. His 45.41 was a season’s best, and well ahead of runner-up David Neville’s 45.70. Neville, who famously took Beijing Olympic bronze when he threw himself across the finish, defeated Wariner earlier this month in Ponce, Puerto Rice. Michael Bingham of Great Britain secured the final Diamond Race point in 45.84, taking third.
Mohr scores upset in Pole Vault
With heavy favourite Steven Hooker struggling from the outset, German Malte Mohr needed just two jumps to take the win in the men’s Pole Vault. The World indoor silver medallist notched first success clearances at 5.50m and 5.70m to seal the win, with the next four topping out at just 5.60m. Hooker, the reigning World and Olympic champion, was well back in sixth, registering just one clearance, a second attempt go at 5.50m.
The winds played a role in the men’s Long Jump as well, with recently-minted World Indoor champion Fabrice Lapierre prevailing. The most consistent jumper on the evening, the Australian took the win with his 8.30m jump in the fourth round, though even his opening 8.24m and second round 8.27m would have prevailed over World champion Dwight Phillips. The American’s series was fairly consistent as well, but a notch below Lapierre’s, with an 8.18m best. Su Xiongfeng of China was third at 8.08m, while Olympic champion Irving Saladino withdrew prior to the competition with a hamstring injury.
The Diamond chase in the men’s High Jump got off to a less-than-auspicious start, with a modest 2.24m enough for the victory. Three men topped out at that height with Sylwester Bednarek, the surprise World bronze winner last year, prevailing on the countback. American Jesse Williams was second and Sweden’s Linus Thornblad third.
The IAAF Diamond League continues in with the Exxon Mobil Bislett Games in Oslo on 4 June.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF Diamond League