Monday, 31 August 2009
Berlin champions battle the winds in Gateshead - IAAF World Athletics Tour
Carmelita Jeter en route to her dominating victory in Gateshead (Getty Images)
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Gateshead, UK – They may have been overshadowed by Jamaica in Berlin two weeks ago but it was America’s day at the British Grand Prix in Gateshead this afternoon as US athletes coped best with the volatile weather to win no fewer than 12 of the 20 international events at the Aviva British Grand Prix.
The Aviva British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix status meeting as part of the IAAF World Athletics Tour 2009.
Manson upsets Rybakov, Idowu and Phillips prevail
Fast times were never likely with a gusty showers of up to -4m/s blowing straight down the home straight, so it was not surprising that the top marks of the day came from field events, not least the High Jump where Andra Manson leapt 2.33m to beat Russia’s World champion Yaroslav Rybakov, the American bouncing back from his Berlin disappointment to miss his world lead by just 2cm.
“It’s not the best day to high jump but it’s the same for all of us,” said Manson who was ninth in the World Championships. “I just wish I could have beaten him a couple of weeks ago.”
Though a hindrance to sprinters, the wind was a help to the horizontal jumpers, and world champions Dwight Phillips and Phillips Idowu made the most of it.
Jumping in front of a home crowd for the first time since winning his World triple jump gold, Idowu left it till the fourth round before giving them what they’d come for. Trailing Momchil Karailiev and Larry Achike after three rounds, Idowu leapt 17.31m to take the lead before extending it with 17.32m in the sixth.
“I’m glad I gave the crowd some entertainment,” he said before declaring that he will now go to the World Athletics Final. Probably. “I usually do badly after major championships but I guess things are different this year,” he said.
Unusually for this season, Idowu took five of his six attempts while Phillips only managed two valid efforts in the Long Jump. Nonetheless, his second round 8.39m was enough not only to secure the win over Australian Fabrice Lapierre but to take the stadium record too.
“People will always try to beat the champ, but I can take the pressure,” said Phillips who later contested the 100m, finishing seventh in 10.55.
There was a stadium record for Barbora Spotakova too as the Czech javelin thrower broke the nine-year-old mark by more than 2m with 65.57m. The World record holder used the tail wind to good effect to beat Christina Obergföll by 3.55m.
“The distance was good which shows that I am still in good shape,” said the World silver medallist. “I feel I still have some long throws in me. I want to do well at the World Athletics Final. Last year I broke the World record so a repeat would be nice.”
Gay and Jeter beat back the winds
The track events produced some impressive victories for US sprinters Tyson Gay, Carmelita Jeter, LaShawn Merritt and Allyson Felix.
Gay returned to winning ways with an impressive 10.15, enough for victory over Kim Collins by 0.29s despite nursing his sore groin and easing up in the last two strides.
“It wasn’t about times today it was about winning the race,” said Gay. “The wind was strong so at around 60 metres I didn’t want to push too much as I knew I had the race in hand.”
If anything Jeter was even more impressive as she posted her second high class 100m in the space of three days. After her victory in Zurich on Friday night, the World bronze medallist clocked 11.07 to leave the two Bahamian veterans, Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie and Chandra Sturrup, in her wake.
“There was a lot of headwind but I felt I reacted well at the start,” said the 29-year-old who won by nearly two tenths.
Gay and Jeter may be bouncing back from Berlin defeats but there were good wins for some US World champions too, especially Merritt who was satisfied to extend his 400m win-streak with another victory, while Felix who strode to a comfortable 23.13 in the 200m.
Merritt beat Britain’s Martyn Rooney in 45.10 and the 400m hurdlers Kerron Clement and Angelo Taylor. Rooney took second in 45.47 with Taylor third in 45.50 and Clement sixth in 45.77.
“I was just having fun,” said Merritt. “Now all I have left is the World Athletics Final. It should be a good end to a great season.”
Felix was in a similarly relaxed mood in the women’s 200m. She defied a -3.4 headwind, while former World champion Shawn Crawford clocked 20.80 to win the men’s 200m by 0.01s ahead of Wallace Spearmon.
“My body feels good but my mind wants to go back home to the US to figure out a way to beat Bolt,” said Crawford afterwards.
There was some fine sprint hurdling too, especially from Brigitte Foster Hylton who won the women’s 100m hurdles in 12.88.
“Not a bad time into -1.9,” was the Jamaican’s verdict. Perdita Felicien was second in 12.95 and Virginia Powell third, with Britain’s Heptathlon gold medallist Jessica Ennis fifth in 13.28, her hopes of a British record literally blown away.
In the men’s 110m version World bronze medallist David Payne ran 13.60 to just edge out William Sharman by 0.01s, the Briton again impressive after his fourth place in Berlin.
Three of four middle distance wins for the US
US athletes even dominated the middle distances with Christy Wurth-Thomas taking the women’s 800m in 2:01.22 from the British pair Jemma Simpson and Jenny Meadows; Nick Symmonds winning the men’s in 1:47.30 ahead of Geoffrey Rono of Kenya; and Leonel Manzano clinching the men’s 1500m as he held off Britain’s fast finishing Andy Baddeley in the battering rain to clock 3:41.10.
There was a British winner in the women’s 1500m, though, as Berlin silver medallist Lisa Dobriskey gave the huddled crowd something to cheer when she stormed home from 150m out to win in 4:13.60.
“I was so worried before the race because I didn’t want to come here and finish second or third,” she said. “I wanted to celebrate properly and give the crowd something to cheer.”
In the women’s 3000m, the World 5000m champion, Vivian Cheruiyot, defeated her Kenyan colleague and the World 10,000m champion, Linet Masai, over the final lap of a slowish race.
Cheruiyot led early on before Masai injected some pace from half way. She was in front at the bell but Cheruiyot had the stronger finish and was a comfortable winner in 8:53.04.
Bernard Lagat suffered defeat in the men’s 3000m when Moses Kipsiro of Uganda held off the American in the home straight to finish first in 7:35.69.
There was another American victory in the men’s Pole Vault though as Derek Miles beat Viktor Chistyakov on count back after both cleared 5.70m.
Christine Ohuruogu won the women’s 400m in 50.94 from Debbie Dunn, some small consolation after the Briton’s frustrating performance in Berlin.
Donna Fraser finished seventh, after which the 36-year-old immediately announced her retirement, saying: “It was a mixture of emotions today. I just tried to run but going round, in my head I was thinking ‘This is my last race’.”
Unlike most other runners who were thinking, “This is one hell of a wind.”
Matthew Brown for the IAAF
The Aviva British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix status meeting as part of the IAAF World Athletics Tour 2009.
Manson upsets Rybakov, Idowu and Phillips prevail
Fast times were never likely with a gusty showers of up to -4m/s blowing straight down the home straight, so it was not surprising that the top marks of the day came from field events, not least the High Jump where Andra Manson leapt 2.33m to beat Russia’s World champion Yaroslav Rybakov, the American bouncing back from his Berlin disappointment to miss his world lead by just 2cm.
“It’s not the best day to high jump but it’s the same for all of us,” said Manson who was ninth in the World Championships. “I just wish I could have beaten him a couple of weeks ago.”
Though a hindrance to sprinters, the wind was a help to the horizontal jumpers, and world champions Dwight Phillips and Phillips Idowu made the most of it.
Jumping in front of a home crowd for the first time since winning his World triple jump gold, Idowu left it till the fourth round before giving them what they’d come for. Trailing Momchil Karailiev and Larry Achike after three rounds, Idowu leapt 17.31m to take the lead before extending it with 17.32m in the sixth.
“I’m glad I gave the crowd some entertainment,” he said before declaring that he will now go to the World Athletics Final. Probably. “I usually do badly after major championships but I guess things are different this year,” he said.
Unusually for this season, Idowu took five of his six attempts while Phillips only managed two valid efforts in the Long Jump. Nonetheless, his second round 8.39m was enough not only to secure the win over Australian Fabrice Lapierre but to take the stadium record too.
“People will always try to beat the champ, but I can take the pressure,” said Phillips who later contested the 100m, finishing seventh in 10.55.
There was a stadium record for Barbora Spotakova too as the Czech javelin thrower broke the nine-year-old mark by more than 2m with 65.57m. The World record holder used the tail wind to good effect to beat Christina Obergföll by 3.55m.
“The distance was good which shows that I am still in good shape,” said the World silver medallist. “I feel I still have some long throws in me. I want to do well at the World Athletics Final. Last year I broke the World record so a repeat would be nice.”
Gay and Jeter beat back the winds
The track events produced some impressive victories for US sprinters Tyson Gay, Carmelita Jeter, LaShawn Merritt and Allyson Felix.
Gay returned to winning ways with an impressive 10.15, enough for victory over Kim Collins by 0.29s despite nursing his sore groin and easing up in the last two strides.
“It wasn’t about times today it was about winning the race,” said Gay. “The wind was strong so at around 60 metres I didn’t want to push too much as I knew I had the race in hand.”
If anything Jeter was even more impressive as she posted her second high class 100m in the space of three days. After her victory in Zurich on Friday night, the World bronze medallist clocked 11.07 to leave the two Bahamian veterans, Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie and Chandra Sturrup, in her wake.
“There was a lot of headwind but I felt I reacted well at the start,” said the 29-year-old who won by nearly two tenths.
Gay and Jeter may be bouncing back from Berlin defeats but there were good wins for some US World champions too, especially Merritt who was satisfied to extend his 400m win-streak with another victory, while Felix who strode to a comfortable 23.13 in the 200m.
Merritt beat Britain’s Martyn Rooney in 45.10 and the 400m hurdlers Kerron Clement and Angelo Taylor. Rooney took second in 45.47 with Taylor third in 45.50 and Clement sixth in 45.77.
“I was just having fun,” said Merritt. “Now all I have left is the World Athletics Final. It should be a good end to a great season.”
Felix was in a similarly relaxed mood in the women’s 200m. She defied a -3.4 headwind, while former World champion Shawn Crawford clocked 20.80 to win the men’s 200m by 0.01s ahead of Wallace Spearmon.
“My body feels good but my mind wants to go back home to the US to figure out a way to beat Bolt,” said Crawford afterwards.
There was some fine sprint hurdling too, especially from Brigitte Foster Hylton who won the women’s 100m hurdles in 12.88.
“Not a bad time into -1.9,” was the Jamaican’s verdict. Perdita Felicien was second in 12.95 and Virginia Powell third, with Britain’s Heptathlon gold medallist Jessica Ennis fifth in 13.28, her hopes of a British record literally blown away.
In the men’s 110m version World bronze medallist David Payne ran 13.60 to just edge out William Sharman by 0.01s, the Briton again impressive after his fourth place in Berlin.
Three of four middle distance wins for the US
US athletes even dominated the middle distances with Christy Wurth-Thomas taking the women’s 800m in 2:01.22 from the British pair Jemma Simpson and Jenny Meadows; Nick Symmonds winning the men’s in 1:47.30 ahead of Geoffrey Rono of Kenya; and Leonel Manzano clinching the men’s 1500m as he held off Britain’s fast finishing Andy Baddeley in the battering rain to clock 3:41.10.
There was a British winner in the women’s 1500m, though, as Berlin silver medallist Lisa Dobriskey gave the huddled crowd something to cheer when she stormed home from 150m out to win in 4:13.60.
“I was so worried before the race because I didn’t want to come here and finish second or third,” she said. “I wanted to celebrate properly and give the crowd something to cheer.”
In the women’s 3000m, the World 5000m champion, Vivian Cheruiyot, defeated her Kenyan colleague and the World 10,000m champion, Linet Masai, over the final lap of a slowish race.
Cheruiyot led early on before Masai injected some pace from half way. She was in front at the bell but Cheruiyot had the stronger finish and was a comfortable winner in 8:53.04.
Bernard Lagat suffered defeat in the men’s 3000m when Moses Kipsiro of Uganda held off the American in the home straight to finish first in 7:35.69.
There was another American victory in the men’s Pole Vault though as Derek Miles beat Viktor Chistyakov on count back after both cleared 5.70m.
Christine Ohuruogu won the women’s 400m in 50.94 from Debbie Dunn, some small consolation after the Briton’s frustrating performance in Berlin.
Donna Fraser finished seventh, after which the 36-year-old immediately announced her retirement, saying: “It was a mixture of emotions today. I just tried to run but going round, in my head I was thinking ‘This is my last race’.”
Unlike most other runners who were thinking, “This is one hell of a wind.”
Matthew Brown for the IAAF