World silver medallist Betty Heidler takes the win in the women's Hammer in Thessaloniki, Greece with 72.03m (© Getty Images)
The second edition of IAAF World Challenge meeting in the Senegalese capital Dakar was highlighted by the women’s Hammer Throw competition as expected, with the new World record holder German Betty Heidler continuing her fine vein of form.
More than anything else, it was the style with which the 27-year-old grabbed the win. Heidler, with a 79.42m World record* in Halle last Saturday (21), led from round one and produced five throws better than the best result of the athlete in second place in the competition, American Jessica Cosby.
Heidler started the competition, which is part of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge, with a 70.19m throw bettering that immediately in the second round with a 73.95m toss. Winning result today, 75.33m, came in round four and the German won the competition by a huge margin of 5.8 metres before Cosby’s 69.53m throw for the second place. Former world record holder Tatyana Lysenko of Russia was a distant third finishing with a 68.13m best throw.
The best result in the men’s competition was achieved in the 100m. 26-year-old Aziz Ouhadi bettered his only two weeks old national record of 10.13sec winning in 10.09 with a +0.8 m/s wind. The Moroccan has really stepped up this season with only a 10.25 personal best from 2009 prior to this season. The national record was already the third for him this season.
Last year’s 200m winner here, Ben Youssef Meité of Ivory Coast was second in 10.21, his season’s début, and French junior athlete Jimmy Vicaut set a good season’s best 10.23 for the third place.
In the 200m, 2004 Olympic champion American Shawn Crawford prevented Meité from renewing his 2010 success by winning in 20.58sec against the Ivorian’s 20.60 result for second place.
Young Russian Aleksandr Menkov equalled his personal best in the Long Jump with a 8.16m winning mark ahead of Moroccan Yahya Berrabah, who was second with a disappointing 7.89m result, while Russian Aleksey Dmitrik was a clear winner in the men’s High jump clearing 2.30m, a season’s best.
In the 400m Hurdles, favourite Johnny Dutch (USA) won in 49.17sec, while in the rest of the running events Sudanese Rabah Yousif just dipped to the win in 45.64, just 0.01 seconds before American Jordan Boase, who was second in 45.65. Amine Laalou of Morocco took the 800m in 1:46.65 and 3000m was won by countryman Mohamed Moustaoui in 7:43.99.
In the rest of the women’s events American Funmi Jimoh took her second successive win at this meet with a 6.78m wind aided winning mark in the Long Jump.
World 800m Champion Caster Semenya held off competition from Cuban Yusneysi Santiusti with the South African winning in a 2:00.61 season’s best, with Santiusti also recording a season’s best, 2:01.06.
African 400m champion Amantle Montsho of Botswana was the fastest in the 200m with a wind aided 22.88sec result, while Cameroonian Delphine Atangana grabbed the 100m win in 11.41sec, also wind assisted.
The Shot Put competitions were as usual held the day before (Friday 27) on the island of Gorée. Both men’s and women’s events were won by Cuban athletes with Carlos Véliz winning the men’s competition with a 20.18m season’s best and Misleydis González topping the women’s shot with a 18.36m winning result.
Mirko Jalava for the IAAF
*World record subject to the usual ratification procedures
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