World Juniors

[kitkat1]

BEIJING, Aug 17, 2006 - China’s Huang Haiqiang pulled off a last gasp leap at 2.32 metres to win the men’s high jump and delight the home crowd at the IAAF World Junior Championships here Thursday.
His winning leap was the best by a teenager in the world this year, just one centimetre off the Asian junior record of 2.33 which has stood to China’s former senior world record holder Zhu Jianhua since 1982.
His performance has also elevated him into one of China’s long distance medal hopes for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Despite his relative youth, only seven seniors have jumped higher than the 18 year-old from the eastern city of Hangzhou.
Huang, the 2005 world youth champion, was behind Israel’s Nikki Palli by virtue of having more failures until the deciding height but when Palli failed his third and final attempt at 2.32, Huang grabbed his chance to win China’s first high jump gold at this level.
Tonight, I give myself 11 out of 10,'' said a happy Huang. I had stomach problems this morning but I’ve found out from past competitions that if my stomach is bad before I jump, bizarrely I usually jump well, so I wasn’t worried at all about that particular problem.’’
My next target is to win at the Asian Games (in Qatar this December), I think I will challenge Zhu's record there,'' added Huang. Silver medallist Palli won his country's first World Junior Championships medal despite the distractions of events back in the Middle East. I’ve been trying to keep up with what has been happening while I’ve been here. My family is in Haifa and I’ve been in regular contact with them so it’s a relief that things seem like they are easing off,’’ said Palli.
Five of the eight gold medallists on Thursday, including Huang, produced the best performances in the world by juniors this year.
Arguably the other best performance came from Kenya’s Caroline Chepkurui, who sped away from her two remaining rivals with 200m to go to win the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase in a championship record of 9 minutes 40.95 seconds, the second fastest junior time ever.
Chepkurui continued Kenya’s amazing record of having won every men’s and women’s steeplechase title contested over 3,000 metres.
Estonia’s Kaire Leibak won the women’s triple jump with a massive final effort of 14.43 metres with the competition already won.
I'd already won the competition and I was shaking, my arms were shaking, and I was just trying to relax myself. My jump was absolutely fantastic,'' said Leibak. She was considerably calmer when she answered her mobile phone shortly after winning and found Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip offering his congratulations at the other end. That was a surprise. I hadn’t even spoken to my family yet,’’ said Leibak.
Two girls ran faster than any of their contemporaries this year.

Croatia’s Danijela Grgic distributed her effort to perfection and moved from third to first down the home straight of the women’s 400m to win in 50.78 seconds while Jamaica’s Kaliese Spencer also ran the fastest time by a junior in the world this year to win the women’s 400 metres hurdles in 55.11 seconds.
Russia’s Arkadiy Vasilyev had produced a better performance earlier this summer but his decathlon tally of 8,059 points was a championship record.
The remaining two gold medals went to Trinidad’s Renny Quow, who took the men’s 400 metres in 45.74 seconds, and Kenyas Remmy Limo who won the men’s 1,500 metres in 3 minutes 40.44 seconds.

[kitkat1]

World Junior Champs, Day 4 – PM session summary
Friday 18 August 2006

Beijing, China - A number of proud family athletics traditions were continued tonight on the fourth evening session of the 11th edition of the IAAF World Junior Championships. And Team USA finally managed to secure gold, achieved with a very impressive performance too!

Rudisha completes a perfect set of championship races

David Lekuta Rudisha of Kenya
(Getty Images)

Coming off the final bend it looked like Europe might manage a surprise title in the men’s 800m. Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski swept into the straight to challenge for the lead but just as he engaged fourth gear, his east African challengers found over-drive and that was the end of his medal let alone title hopes. Clear away instead was David Rudisha (1:47.40), followed home by fellow Kenyan Jackson Kivuva (1:47.64) and Uganda’s Abraham Chepkirwok (1:47.79) in third. The Pole managed a creditable fourth (1:48.25), but Rudisha, the son of Daniel, one of Kenya’s 1972 Olympic gold medal 4x400m relay quartet, was the man in form throughout the week, the winner of his heat, semi and now final.

Cristea times it perfectly unlike the opposition

In the women’s two lap final, Moldova’s Olga Cristea did what Lewandowski couldn’t quite manage in the men’s 800, bringing Europe a middle distance gold. Her turn of speed in the finishing straight was unstoppable, and its reward was her season’s best of 2:04.52, enough to beat off the challenge from Kenya’s Winny Chebet (2:04.59 PB). A late, badly timed run by USA’s Rebekah Noble took third (2:04.90). It is quite possible that if the prodigiously talented American (coming into these champs with a 2:02.07 PB, the world junior season’s lead) had been closer to the leaders at the bell, we would have been standing to the USA national anthem and not that of Moldova later in the evening.

Tezdzhan Naimova of Bulgaria on the way to women’s 200m gold
(Getty Images)

Estonia secures third gold

Incidentally at this point in the night (about 1900 local time) no American had yet won a title at these championships – incredible – and with no contestant through to the men’s 200m final that was not going to change with the next event on the track either. In any case it won’t be long now before we know how to hum the strains of the Estonian national anthem, as well as that of the USA. Bringing home the Baltic nation’s third title in Beijing was Marek Nitt in a national junior record of 20.96.

Ukraine’s Dmytro Ostrovsky had actually crossed the line first in 20.89, but was subsequently found to have stepped out of lane and so was disqualified. As Nitt moved up to gold, Canada’s Brian Barnett (21.00) ascended to second, and Britain’s Alexander Nelson skipped up onto the podium in 21.14.

High Jump Qualification…

Keeping the Estonian theme going, Viktoria Leks was the equal best athlete of this evening’s automatic (1.83m) qualifiers for the women’s High Jump final on Sunday (20), with China’s Xingjuan Zheng also having a perfectly clean jumping card.

Sprint double for Naimova

It was fast becoming Europe’s night in the Chaoyang Sport Centre, as five minutes later Tezdzhan Naimova of Bulgaria made it a sprint double taking the women’s 200m in 22.99 seconds, a personal best. If we just mention simply that Vanda Gomes of Brazil (23.59) and Poland’s Ewelina Klocek (23.63 PB) took the silver and bronze, and say nothing more, this should not be taken as a lack of respect to either minor medallists. This final was not a race in the true sense, it was an exhibition of Naimova’s sprinting prowess during which she destroyed the opposition.

Carter provides USA with gold at last!

Finally, the fifth track final of the night brought some respectability to the USA delegation in China. From the sound of the gun Chris Carter put the men’s 400m Hurdles gold into his pocket with a powerful but controlled display of hurdling. Ahead from the second flight Carter was never headed winning in 50.08 seconds. The world’s fastest junior of the season (49.19), is the son of Mike, 45yrs, who shot putted 21.76m back in 1984, the year in which he took the Olympic silver medal. Chris’ godfather incidentally is Britain’s 1998 Commonwealth Games Discus Throw champion Bob Weir - a lifetime friend of Mike Carter - who is coaching in America and is here in China as a member of the USA team delegation.

Second tonight was Saudi Bandar Shraheli (50.34 PB) with Ukraine’s Stanislav Melnykov (50.43) taking the Bronze. There was a Dutch national record for Daniel Franken (51.08) in fifth.

Shtepa eases her way to gold

But American luck didn’t hold out for long. In the next and last track final of the evening, the race of April Williams in lane four - American favourite for the women’s 100m Hurdles and the season’s fastest (13.35) - fell apart at the penultimate flight of barriers. Easing fluently past in the two lanes outside the American were Russia’s Yekarterina Shtepa and Christina Vukicevic of Norway. The Russian crossed in a world junior lead of 13.33 - a personal best - with the Norwegian taking silver (13.34) in a national junior record. She had set her previous PB of 13.45 when qualifying for the final as the fastest of the semi-finalists at the start of the evening.

Shtepa, who will celebrate her 19th birthday on 25 August, is the national junior champion this year, setting her previous best of 13.34 at the time (21 July in Tula).

Zhou’s gold but the world will hear from Volik again

Russia missed out on what prior to these championships had seemed a likely gold medal in the women’s Pole Vault. 16-year-old Valeriya Volik, who set a World Youth best of 4.40m in Kazan on 8 July, the best performance by a junior this year, could go not better than 4.10m tonight. There is no doubting that we will hear a lot more of Volik, who is coached by Yelena Isinbayeva’s former trainer, Yevgeniy Trofimov.

Up at the sharp end of the final tonight was China’s Yang Zhou who won gold with 4.30m, with a Slovenian national junior record of 4.25m securing silver for Tina Sutej, and 15-year-old Vicky Parnov of Australia, the niece of 2000 Olympic silver medallist Tatiana Grigorieva, taking bronze (4.20m).

Round two decides gold

Throwing second of the twelve finalists, Russia’s World Junior record holder (82.60m)* Yevgeniy Aydamirov took gold in the men’s Hammer Throw with a second round 78.42m release. Not that the 18-year-old would have felt very confident in that position at the time, as just nine throws later Hungary’s Kristof Nemeth released a 78.39m effort. These two performances ultimately took the top-two medals but with the Hungarian hitting 78.33m with his next and 77.16m and 77.00m on his fourth and fifth attempts there was always a suggestion of a possible upset on the cards. None came, and with a 77.06m heave in the penultimate series of throws Slovakia’s Marcel Lomnicky set a new national junior record for bronze.

Of the rest of the field, there were also national junior records for Belarussia’s Yury Shayunov (76.95m, 4th), Dakai Qi of China (75.97m, 6th), and Walter Henning of USA (71.90m, 8th).

Russia stands 1 – 2 overnight

At the end of four events, Russian Tatyana Chernova continues to lead the women’s Heptathlon. She could not manage to continue the run of PBs which she established in this morning’s opening two disciplines, as her Shot Put of 12.18m (673pts) was somewhat off her PB of 12.26 set in Kazan on 8 July this year, but she was back in career best form in the final event of day one, with a 200m clocking of 24.05 seconds (976pts). PBs were set in both these events (13.35 – 751pts / 25.03 - 884pts) by her compatriot Yana Panteleyeva who lies in second place overnight (3519pts), with Norway’s Ida Marcussen (13.68 – 773pts / 24.72 – 913pts) in bronze (3480) having PB’d throughout the day.

Chris Turner for the IAAF

[nanny69]

after being dubbed the strongest WJ team ever selected it will be interesting to see the reviews into the performances of this Australian team.

currently =12 on the table with 2 field event medals.

Apart from a few acceptions the sprinters have been well below form with some of the results embarassing to say the least.

[kitkat1]

THIS KID MARGUS HUNT IS A BEAST. FIRST WJC SHOT/DISCUS DOUBLE!

World Junior Champs, Day 5 – PM session summary
Saturday 19 August 2006

Beijing, China - Draped over the side of the spectator tribune at the beginning of the back straight at the Chaoyang Sport Centre tonight was a banner with the legend, “Margus Hunt - Winner”. About twenty metres away on the infield in the Shot Put circle, the Estonian thrower of that name, already the winner this week in a World junior record* of the Discus Throw gold, reconfirmed this statement with a fourth round 20.17m put.

While not the first athlete to win two titles at the 11th IAAF World Junior Championships, there is no doubt that Hunt is ‘simply the best’!

Margus Hunt of Estonia winning the Discus earlier in the week
(Getty Images)

And if there were still any doubters remaining including Egypt’s Abdul Mostafa El-Moaty, who ultimately took silver (20.14m), then Hunt silenced them when he followed up with a 20.53m world junior season best with his fifth.

Hunt began the championships with a personal best of 18.61m, which he improved to 18.95m in the qualification round, and now his national junior record is 1.58m better than even that! This is the first ever Shot / Discus title double in World Junior Championship history. Quite stunning!

China’s Yanxiang Guo got bronze (19.97m). USA’s John Hickey was fourth with a second round 19.86m (PB) reinstituted after protest - see Event Final Report for details http://www.iaaf.org/WJC06/news/kind=4/index.html - and in fifth Kuwait got a national junior record via Mashari Mohammad’s 19.79m.

John Robert Oosthuizen of South Africa at the IAAF Press Conference in Beijing
(Getty Images)

Ooh! Oosthuizen!

In windless conditions John Robert Oosthuizen became the third South African in the history of these championships to take the men’s Javelin Throw title. Like a couple of the winners here in Beijing this week, this was a pure demonstration of the victor’s awesome supremacy. Each of his four valid efforts was beyond the silver medal position of Finland’s Ari Mannio’s 77.26, with a career best of 83.07m in the second round, a championship record, topping the series. The Finn for his part, the furthest junior thrower of the year before tonight, only moved up from bronze to silver on his last effort, denying Roman Avramenko of Ukraine, who had been in silver with 76.01 (PB) since his first throw.

Noel Meyer, South Africa’s World Youth champion was 10th (70.39m).

German Chiaraviglio of Argentina at the IAAF Press Conference
(Getty Images)

No World record but 5.71m wonderful all the same

A championship record was also the reward for Argentina’s German Chiaraviglio, the World Youth champion, who improved on his junior silver two years ago in Grosseto to take the men’s Pole Vault title with a successful second approach to the bar at 5.71m, a PB. Later attempts at a world junior record of 5.81m were seen to be way beyond the Argentinean’s scope but this level can only be a matter of time. The 19-year-old who is coached by his father also spends time each year in Formia, Italy, under the tutelage of the Ukrainian maestro Vitaliy Petrov, the trainer of a line of distinguished names including the men’s and women’s senior World record holders Sergey Bubka and Yelena Isinbayeva.

Silver and bronze medallists were respectively, Yansheng Yang of China who set a personal best of 5.54m, and Russia’s Leonid Kivalov who vaulted 5.42m.

Tatyana Chernova of Russia in action in the Heptathlon
(Getty Images)

Two devastating bursts, two Kenyan golds

We delighted in two impressive bursts of acceleration by the winners of the women’s 3000m and men’s 3000m Steeplechase finals.

Firstly, 16-year-old World Youth champion Veronica Wanjiru, claimed junior gold with a devastating turn of speed on the crown of the last bend which deposed of the title hopes of her Kenyan team mate Pauline Korikwiang – 9:02.90 to 9:05.21. China’s Liwei Song who had led at the bell and had first been passed by Korikwiang with 350 to go, held on for bronze (9:06.35) with Ethiopia’s Belaynesh Zemedkun Gebre, who had been part of the leading pack, even more distant by the close in fourth (9:10.92).

Next on track was the steeplechase, and after long time leader Benjamin Kiplagat - who for a while had advantage of over 15 metres on the field - was caught with three laps to go, it came down to a game of chess between two Kenyans, a Moroccan and a Bahraini. Into and out of the last water jump, and Willy Komen and Tareq Mubarek Taher were side by side, virtually locking arms as they flew off the barrier. Yet moments later Taher’s campaign for gold came to a near stop, his leg speed turning from a sprint to a jog, as Komen sped past. Taher seemed mentally stunned by the Kenyan’s final burst, the reduction in his own pace due to the sudden realisation he had met a different class of runner. A lack of belief, rather than mere physical exhaustion.

Komen crossed in 8:14.00, a championship record, Taher held on easily for silver (8:16.64), while a tremendous kick from the second Kenyan Bisluke Kiplagat (8:18.11 PB) managed to catch Abdelghani Ait Bahmad of Morocco, who with 80 metres had looked set for bronze. Still the Moroccan’s 8:20.05 in fourth was at least a national record.

First round knockout – W JT

A championship record also secured the first final of the evening, the women’s Javelin Throw. Going last of the twelve finalists, Germany’s Sandra Schaffarzik, showed there is another Nerius or Obergföll waiting in the wings for the senior tour, improving her personal best from 57.13m to 60.45m to knock the competition into touch. It was to be Germany’s first title in Beijing. Neither she nor her opponents came close to 60m again. Ukraine’s Vira Rebryk’s second round 57.79 for silver – four throws before the German’s big heave – recaptured a briefly lost national junior record. Her team mate Marharyta Dorozhon’s 57.68m PB, having temporarily snatched the national best in the first round, was enough for bronze. At the start of the evening Rebryk had held the national mark at 57.64m.

Last round response – W LJ

Germany was not far away from a second gold in the women’s Long Jump Final with Anika Leipold’s last leap of 6.42m causing Trinidad and Tobago’s Rhonda Watkins a moment or two of tension, as she waited to see if her third round 6.46m lead had been surpassed. In bronze came China’s Yuan Zhang, whose third effort which had held silver for two series of efforts was by contrast one centimetre too short to repel the German’s last round assault.

Gold from start to finish for Chernova

From event one to event seven it was Russia’s gold in the women’s Heptathlon. Tatyana Chernova, with four PBs over the two days entered the final event with a lead of 336 points, and a fatigued 2:25.49 ‘stroll’ in the 800m (750pts), left her secure in gold. Ida Marcussen of Norway who had moved into overall second ahead of another Russian Yana Panteleyeva thanks to a good Javelin this morning, reaffirmed the silver with an 906 point valued run (2:14.07), with the Russian’s 2:15.96 good enough for 879pts. The end totals were as follows - Gold: 6227PB and world junior season’s lead; Silver: 6020 national junior record; Bronze: 5979. Ukraine’s Iryna Ilkevych was fourth in a national junior record of 5952.

Championship record in sprint hurdles

The track events got underway in good fashion this evening as the new height hurdles (99.0cm) saw the latest revision to the young championship record. In the semi-final round of the men’s 110m Hurdles Poland’s Artur Noga knocked two hundredths off the 13.46 second record clocking of Greek Konstadinos Douvalidis from yesterday’s preliminary round.

Of the three semi-final races, after the Pole, whose time in heat two was run into a 1.4m/s wind, the next fastest was France’s Samuel Coco-Viloin in the final race with a 13.63 (-0.4) run, with Douvalidis the next quickest after taking second place in heat two (13.72 / -1.4). Russia’s Vladimir Zhukov won the first race (13.78). Dennis Martin and Darius Reed of the USA, the fastest of the championship entrants, found qualification difficult. Reed went through as the fastest of the two non-automatic qualifiers in 13.83 (3rd heat one), while Martin missing out altogether, third in heat 3 (13.92).

In the 4x400m relay heats, Nigeria brought home an African junior record of 3:33.00 in the women’s preliminary round, while in the men’s 4x400m, Russia’s 3:05.59 world junior season’s lead topped out the qualification round.

Chris Turner for the IAAF

[kitkat1]

World Junior Champs, Day 6 – PM session summary
Sunday 20 August 2006

Beijing, China - Tariku Bekele the younger brother of the more famous Kenenisa Bekele achieved what the World record holder for 5000m and 10,000m never managed in his junior career, a World Junior track title, while an outstanding solo performance from Kenya’s Irene Jelagat also delighted a near capacity crowd at the Chaoyang Sport Centre for the last night of the 11th IAAF World Junior Championships.

Tariku can now claim a unique family accolade

Tariku Bekele (ETH) comes home to 5000m gold
(Getty Images)

I cannot imagine it’s an easy life being the younger brother of a sports’ legend but one of tonight’s finals’ results should have lifted one athlete’s burden slightly in this respect. Kenenisa Bekele never managed a gold at the World Juniors, his best a silver in 2000, so Tariku Bekele now at least has one unique accolade to his name after dominating proceedings in the men’s 5000m final.

Tariku, 19, was the bronze medallist two years ago, and is an experienced senior circuit traveller, and this competitive background obviously gave him the confidence to control the race even when 10,000m silver medallist Joseph Ebuya of Kenya tried to mix it with him and his Ethiopian team mate Abreham Cherkos Feleke with five laps to go. But Bekele who led through 3000m (8:27.30) was having none of it, and taking back the initiative after one lap of following the Kenyan’s heels, he dashed away to gold in 13:31.34.

Feleke finished in 13:35.95, while Ebuya took his second medal in Beijing with 13:42.93 for bronze.

Artur Noga of Poland winner of the men’s 110m Hurdles in Beijing
(Getty Images)

Everything looked easy for Tariku, but in reality a new pair of shoes which he had NEVER worn before (!!!) was causing him pain throughout the race. Nothing like making life hard for oneself!

Jelagat from ‘gun to tape’

It is rare that any middle distance race at a major championship falls to a ‘gun to tape’ winner. As had already occurred with a number of finals this week, we watched a masterclass by the winner of the women’s 1500m, Irene Jelagat, this evening.

Chris Carter (USA)- men’s 400m Hurdles gold earlier in the week - 4x400m anchor leg today
(Getty Images)

As the bell sounded we expected the field to close on the 17-year-old - who when starting tonight had a personal best of 4:12.32 - especially considering that she had dictated the pace since the start, and that the small group following her included Japan’s Yuriko Kobayashi, who with 4:07.87 was the fastest of the entrants. But contrary to expectation Jelagat increasingly went away from her pursuers in the last 400m producing a 60 second last lap, to win in 4:08.88 (PB). Another Kenyan Mercy Kosgei was second (4:12.88), with Kobayashi taking bronze by a whisker from Ethiopia’s Emebet Bedada – 4:12.88 to 4:12.94.

Back in sixth there was a national junior record for Serbia (4:16.20) via the feet of Azra Eminovic.

Noga takes centre stage

Samuel Coco-Viloin - France’s first medallist in Beijing
(Getty Images)

Artur Noga, 18, who had improved his PB in the qualifying stages of the men’s 110m Hurdles here on 18 August (13.64) destroyed it in the final with a 13.23 run. After one false start the race got away with Noga decisively pulling away from his opponents when coming off the penultimate set of hurdles (new height 99cm). The win was a championship record, which beat France’s first medallist of these championships, Samuel Coco-Viloin, into silver (13:35). Konstadinos Douvalidis of Greece, who had produced an earlier championship event best in the first round, took bronze. Vladimir Zhukov was fourth (13.53). The first four all set national junior records.

Noga, is a fan of Brad Pitt and if he wasn’t an athlete he would be an actor. What a performance he gave tonight!

Samuels adds Junior to Youth honours

The women’s Discus Throw provided yet another solo demonstration of the prodigious talent of a winner in Beijing. This time it was the turn of Australia’s Dani Samuels to turn on the style in the Chaoyang Sport Centre.

While her nearest opponent was 2.60m away from the 60m sector line, Australia’s World Youth champion sent the Discus clear over that white taped boundary on three occasions, her best being a third round 60.63m, a world season junior lead. This was a personal best, and so was her winning distance in Marrakesh at last summer’s World Youths. This is a major star in the making.

Saili Pan (57.40m) and Jian Tan (56.09m) brought home a minor medal double for the hosts, and there was a Belgian junior record in fourth from Annekies Peetroons (54.42).

A straight forward win for Radzivil

Uzbekistan’s Svetlana Radzivil’s 1.91m was also a national record for her age group, easily enough to take the women’s High Jump gold. A straight forward competition of little drama saw Radzivil take gold on her second time approach to the bar at that height. She had had first time clearances at her previous four heights. China took silver via Xingjuan Zheng (1.88), and was the only other athlete to challenge at 1.91m. In bronze was Germany’s Engel Annett tied with Kazakhstan’s Yevseyeva Yekaterina (1.84m).

Compaoré continues dramatic season’s improvement

France finally got its first gold medal in Beijing in the final field event to finish at these championships. The men’s Triple Jump was taken by the Alsace based Benjamin Compaoré, whose father came from Burkino Faso. The 19-year-old began 2006 with an outdoor personal best of 16.00m, and after two revisions of this mark during the summer, and equalling his then best of 16.34m in the qualifying round here, he walked away from the final tonight with 16.61m as his new career height, set into a head wind (-0.5m/s).

Ecuador’s Hugo Chila took silver (16.49m), and China’s Minwei Zhong with a last round rally took bronze (16.29m)

RELAYS - Slick changes and dramatic falls

Viewing from a distance, the change over between America’s second to third leg runners didn’t look that fluid but the final hand over of the baton between Elizabeth Olear and Gabby Mayo, was slick and with it USA’s women’s 4x100m squad powered to a 43.49 second win. France took silver (44.20), and Jamaica the bronze (44.22).

In the men’s sprint relay Germany’s luck ran out in the second and third exchanges, with both incoming runners tripping over in dramatic style after the baton reached the next runner. The final handover, or the attemopt at it was so desperate that the end result was a DNF next to GER on the result sheet. But the Germans were not in contention for a medal at that point, as the campaign for honours was being fought out by Jamaica, USA and Britain, and that’s how they finished. Yohan Blake beat off the opposition in a world junior season’s lead of 39.05. USA followed with 39.21, and GBR was next, 39.24.

USA were emphatic winners of the women’s 4x400m, never looking back after Brandi Cross on the second leg passed Nigeria for the lead. The USA closed out in 3:29.01, a world season’s junior lead, Nigeria took silver (3:30.84), while Jamaica finished in bronze after the attack from Kelise Spencer, the 400m Hurdles gold medallist this week, dried up in the last 100 metres.

The last event of these championships also went to USA, with Chris Carter, the men’s one-lap hurdles winner bringing home a world junior season’s leading win in 3:03.76. Russia followed in 3:05.13 for silver, a national junior record, as was the time of Kenya (3:05.54) in fourth. Making up about 20 metres in the last lap (44.27 split) was Martyn Rooney who narrowly clinched bronze for Britain ahead of the east Africans (3:05.49).

Finally, did you know that Carter who anchored home the USA gold was the son of…?! No, don’t worry, I’m not going down that particular track again… http://www.iaaf.org/WJC06/news/Kind=2/newsId=35825.html

But signing off from this particular track in the Chaoyang Sport Centre, Beijing, after an entertaining six days of competition is…

Chris Turner for the IAAF

[d_nasty]

@kitkat1

Gabby Mayo – the two fastest juniors in the world this year.

11.14 with a 5.2 mps wind behind her. I love it. They hyped her as a medal threat.

intresting side story though. her and her half brother brandon banks both won the 100m title at the NON(nike high school outdoor nationals) meet in june.