Bryan Clay of the United States launches the shot in the heptathlon (© Getty Images)
Doha, QatarWith a schedule mostly full of preliminary rounds, Friday's action at the Aspire Dome, where a total of 144 nations have turned up to compete, did not lack for drama.
Defending champions and World record holders flirted with elimination--and in some cases were eliminated. Several national records were established, many of them behind the qualifiers, and slightly more than half of a Heptathlon was completed.
The biggest scare of the day came in the women's Pole Vault qualifying. As is her habit, defending champion and World record holder Yelena Isinbayeva passed all opening heights up to the automatic qualifier which was to be 4.60m. At 4.45m, however, only six women remained in contention, so it fell to Isinbayeva to clear 4.55m and complete the final. A height which should have come easily for the Russian who has dominated this event for years gave her trouble this evening, however, and she opened her competition with two misses. Visions of Berlin 2009, where Isinbayeva failed to clear a height in the World Championships final, must have been passing through her head, particularly as the same event was raised in Thursday's press conference.
Isinbayeva came through, however, with a third-attempt clearance which was the picture of assurance The Russian has been known for, all the more impressive for the two misses which came before it. Isinbayeva thus set the stage for a dramatic final in which she is both the expected favorite, but not at all guaranteed the title.
Bryan Clay is in a position similar to Isinbayeva, leading the Heptathlon after four events but behind the pace which brought him the title in Valencia. Clay led the opening 60m dash but lost his lead in the Long Jump to Oleksiy Kasyanov; he returned in the Shot Put, but still behind his Valencia marks. After the High Jump, which featured a dramatic series of clearances by event winner Andrei Krauchanka, Clay held the lead with 3549 points, just a single point ahead of Aleksey Drozdov; Kasyanov had slid to third, with 3477.
The men's and women's 400m faced a tougher challenge than any other event outside the Heptathlon today, as they ran both of their preliminary rounds, the first round opening the morning session and the semi-finals concluding the evening. The work required for these athletes to advance gave a good show of who was likely to be strongest for Saturday and Sunday's finals: David Gillick, for example, battled closely with Bershawn Jackson in the first of the two semifinals and with different tactics might have earned the win. The matchup of that pair, plus Chris Brown and Jamaal Torrance from the second heat, will make tomorrow's men's final crackle. The women saw two-time former champion Natalya Nazarova fail to advance from her semi-final heat, but teammate Tatyana Firova dominated hers so strongly that there will be a clear Russian flavour to the Saturday’s final regardless.
All three of the expected contenders for the men's 60m Hurdles title advanced from the heats of that event, with Dayron Robles, Terrence Trammell and Liu Xiang all moving on to the semi-final round and only Ladji Doucoure a casualty. The women's 60m Hurdles were led by Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, but Lolo Jones won her heat in good form as well.
The 3000m rounds had an Ethiopian bent, buoyed by the enthusiastic chanting of a large bloc of Ethiopian fans in the upper deck of seats. Meseret Defar and Sentayehu Ejigu won the two heats, but the Kenyan team of Vivian Cheruiyot and Silvia Kibet advanced as well and it's clear that the final will be a battle of team strategies. The men's races saw an Ethiopian defending champion advance as well, this one Tariku Bekele, but Bekele was behind Bernard Lagat who may wish to challenge for the title, not to mention Augustine Choge who won the other heat in the fastest heat-winning time in Championships history.
800m rounds saw Anna Pierce and Jenny Meadows advancing for the women, two clear favorites for the final; the men advanced several challengers, most notably defending champion Abubaker Kaki. Defending champion Deresse Mekonnen was a leading qualifier in the men's 1500m, and Gelete Burka in the women, but the dramatic race came in the other heat of women, when Burka's teammate Kalkidan Gezahegne tangled with Yevgeniya Zolotova and crashed to the track. Gezahegne not only regained contact with the pack, however, she worked through to take the heat win in 4:08.91, the fastest mark of the day.
Other notable qualifications went to Christian Cantwell in the men's Shot Put with a first-attempt 20.72m toss, and Blanka Vlasic who advanced in the women's High Jump without a miss. The best men's high jumpers were the Russian pair of Ukhov and Rybakov, the only jumpers over 2.29m in that event. Steven Hooker advanced in the men's Pole Vault with just one jump, a clearance at 5.60m.
Parker Morse for the IAAF
Defending champions and World record holders flirted with elimination--and in some cases were eliminated. Several national records were established, many of them behind the qualifiers, and slightly more than half of a Heptathlon was completed.
The biggest scare of the day came in the women's Pole Vault qualifying. As is her habit, defending champion and World record holder Yelena Isinbayeva passed all opening heights up to the automatic qualifier which was to be 4.60m. At 4.45m, however, only six women remained in contention, so it fell to Isinbayeva to clear 4.55m and complete the final. A height which should have come easily for the Russian who has dominated this event for years gave her trouble this evening, however, and she opened her competition with two misses. Visions of Berlin 2009, where Isinbayeva failed to clear a height in the World Championships final, must have been passing through her head, particularly as the same event was raised in Thursday's press conference.
Isinbayeva came through, however, with a third-attempt clearance which was the picture of assurance The Russian has been known for, all the more impressive for the two misses which came before it. Isinbayeva thus set the stage for a dramatic final in which she is both the expected favorite, but not at all guaranteed the title.
Bryan Clay is in a position similar to Isinbayeva, leading the Heptathlon after four events but behind the pace which brought him the title in Valencia. Clay led the opening 60m dash but lost his lead in the Long Jump to Oleksiy Kasyanov; he returned in the Shot Put, but still behind his Valencia marks. After the High Jump, which featured a dramatic series of clearances by event winner Andrei Krauchanka, Clay held the lead with 3549 points, just a single point ahead of Aleksey Drozdov; Kasyanov had slid to third, with 3477.
The men's and women's 400m faced a tougher challenge than any other event outside the Heptathlon today, as they ran both of their preliminary rounds, the first round opening the morning session and the semi-finals concluding the evening. The work required for these athletes to advance gave a good show of who was likely to be strongest for Saturday and Sunday's finals: David Gillick, for example, battled closely with Bershawn Jackson in the first of the two semifinals and with different tactics might have earned the win. The matchup of that pair, plus Chris Brown and Jamaal Torrance from the second heat, will make tomorrow's men's final crackle. The women saw two-time former champion Natalya Nazarova fail to advance from her semi-final heat, but teammate Tatyana Firova dominated hers so strongly that there will be a clear Russian flavour to the Saturday’s final regardless.
All three of the expected contenders for the men's 60m Hurdles title advanced from the heats of that event, with Dayron Robles, Terrence Trammell and Liu Xiang all moving on to the semi-final round and only Ladji Doucoure a casualty. The women's 60m Hurdles were led by Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, but Lolo Jones won her heat in good form as well.
The 3000m rounds had an Ethiopian bent, buoyed by the enthusiastic chanting of a large bloc of Ethiopian fans in the upper deck of seats. Meseret Defar and Sentayehu Ejigu won the two heats, but the Kenyan team of Vivian Cheruiyot and Silvia Kibet advanced as well and it's clear that the final will be a battle of team strategies. The men's races saw an Ethiopian defending champion advance as well, this one Tariku Bekele, but Bekele was behind Bernard Lagat who may wish to challenge for the title, not to mention Augustine Choge who won the other heat in the fastest heat-winning time in Championships history.
800m rounds saw Anna Pierce and Jenny Meadows advancing for the women, two clear favorites for the final; the men advanced several challengers, most notably defending champion Abubaker Kaki. Defending champion Deresse Mekonnen was a leading qualifier in the men's 1500m, and Gelete Burka in the women, but the dramatic race came in the other heat of women, when Burka's teammate Kalkidan Gezahegne tangled with Yevgeniya Zolotova and crashed to the track. Gezahegne not only regained contact with the pack, however, she worked through to take the heat win in 4:08.91, the fastest mark of the day.
Other notable qualifications went to Christian Cantwell in the men's Shot Put with a first-attempt 20.72m toss, and Blanka Vlasic who advanced in the women's High Jump without a miss. The best men's high jumpers were the Russian pair of Ukhov and Rybakov, the only jumpers over 2.29m in that event. Steven Hooker advanced in the men's Pole Vault with just one jump, a clearance at 5.60m.
Parker Morse for the IAAF
