Dwain Chambers (r) outdips Kim Collins to win the men's 100m in London (© Getty Images)
A dramatic and confusing men’s 100m, the second best women’s Pole Vault in the world this year, and another Triple Jump way beyond 15m from Yamile Aldama were the highlights of a hot and humid night of athletics at the Norwich Union London Grand Prix - IAAF SGP - at Crystal Palace last night (8 Aug).
There was also a tragic note to proceedings as in the course of the Triple Jump competition Britain's 37 year-old World and Olympic champion Jonathan Edwards, severely twisted his right ankle as his foot slipped on the edge of the runway. Edwards was immediately rushed off on a stretcher for medical treatment. His best jump of 17.19m was good enough for third behind Leevan Sands of the Bahamas (17.40) and USA's Timothy Rusan (17.21m).
European champion Dwain Chambers will have made himself many people’s favourite for the big prize in Paris later this month, after he defeated virtually all his World Championships rivals in a drama packed 100m that contained almost everything bar a world record - and for a brief moment it looked it had that too.
The result sheet for the final shows Chambers as the winner, followed by Commonwealth champion Kim Collins, Nigeria’s Deji Aliu, the US champion Bernard Williams, and the World Indoor 60m champion Justin Gatlin (USA).
But that doesn’t tell half the story, for all five are listed with the same time, 10.00. In fact, that means they ran somewhere between 9.91 and 10-dead, for in the end the race was manually timed after the electronic timing system faulted. But that was in the end.
The drama started in the heats when Kim Collins blitzed to a 9.97 victory in a race that saw World record holder Tim Montgomery finish sixth in 10.13. Montgomery had a terrible start and was actually pleased with the way he’d moved through the field by the finish, although clearly his form in Stockholm and here has severely dented his confidence.
“One race does not make you, but sometimes it can break you,” he said afterwards. “In my case I hope that Stockholm has not broken my spirits for this year.”
The final itself took three attempts to start – twice the athletes were asked to stand up, and there was one false start – before the discovery of a fault in the timing system which led to a delay of nearly 20 minutes. When the race did get underway, Chambers emerged victorious with a hugely impressive late surge and dip. The trackside clock was blank, but as he was swept away on a joyful lap of honour the stadium scoreboard flashed up 9.53WR with Collins in second at 9.56NR.
The crowd roared briefly before the impossible figures disappeared. Collins simply shook his head and smiled. “Wouldn’t that have been nice,” Chambers said, laughing off the mistake. He was happy enough to have won in such impressive form. “I’ve got this fight in me, a will to win – I don’t expect losses,” he said. “For those guys to come to my home turf and try to take my glory away, I’m not having it.”
Less dramatic, but equally impressive, was the form of Yamile Aldama in the women’s Triple Jump. She led the competition from round two with a leap of 15.12m – a new UK all comers record – and followed that with 14.75m and 14.77m, before passing the fifth. She saved her best for last however. With the competition already won the Cuban leapt out to 15.27m, only two centimetres short of her world best for 2003.
Russia’s World champion Tatyana Lebedeva was also in fine form, and she took second with 14.99m, following a series of 14.73m, 14.74m and 14.96m. “Having the Russian girl here was good for me,” said Aldama. “I need good competition to get the best out of my jumps. As for Paris, I have to put it out of my mind completely. I am just setting my training goals for next year, and Athens.”
Aldama’s was not the only stadium record of the night. Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva failed to add to the World pole vault record she set the last time she was in the UK, but still won the competition with the second best vault of the year, 4.78m.
In fact, she had a great competition with her compatriot Svetlana Feofanova, who set her season’s best, 4.73m, good enough for second. She cleared that height with her first attempt, but Isinbayeva failed twice and looked to be heading for defeat. She passed her third attempt and then cleared 4.78m on her first, to secure victory.
There were other impressive field event performances from South Africa's World champion Hestrie Cloete in the women’s High Jump, who jumped a season’s best of 2.02m, equalling the second best jump in the world this year; and from Britain’s Carl Myerscough who again threw beyond 21 metres in the Shot, putting 21.50m in the third round. Spain’s World Indoor champion Manuel Martinez was second with 20.83m, and Adam Nelson of the USA, third, 20.25m.
“That was a great competition to win,” said Myerscough. “There are some great scalps here and it is the right time to beat them coming up to Paris. It was very warm, but it is going to be the same at the World Championships.”
Indeed, with temperatures in the high 20s centigrade, and a packed and noisy stadium, at times this felt like a hot Grand Prix night on the coast of the Med. British tradition was maintained, though, with the 50th running of the Emsley Carr Mile. And despite the absence of World record holder, Hicham El Guerrouj, who pulled out with a back injury, it lived up to the occasion.
Kenya’s Paul Korir produced the fastest mile time in the world this year, 3:48.17, dragging Cornelius Chirchir to a personal best of 3:50.40 for second. Korir now has his sights set on beating El Guerrouj in Zurich.
Haile Gebrselassie returned to winning ways in the men’s 5000m. Showing something more like the sharpness of old, the Ethiopian outkicked Kenya’s Sammy Kipketer and John Kibowen on the last lap to clock 12:57.23, and delight the usual large contingent of supporters from London’s Ethiopian community. Kipketer was second in 12:59.13 and Kibowen third in 12:29.74.
“I came here just to win,” said Gebrselassie. “I didn’t think I would run so fast but I spoke to my coach before the race and we decided we couldn’t let down all our friends in the crowd.
In the women’s 5000m, Kenya’s World Cross Country champion Edith Masai (14.50.78) stole a memorable victory from Olympic champion Gabriela Szabo (14:51.75), in a wonderful display of sustained sprinting which knocked the power out of the Romanian’s legs in the final straight.
USA’s Kellie White won the women’s 100m, equalling her personal best, 10.93, and the second fastest of the year, and beating reigning World champion Zhanna Block in the process. Block finished third in a season’s best 11.11 with Chryste Gaines splitting the two, also in a season’s best, 10.99.
Christian Malcolm improved his season’s best to 20.25 to win the 200m, ahead of fellow-Brits Julian Golding and Marlon Devonish. And there was another British victory in the women’s 1500m won by Kelly Holmes in 4:10.40.
Having led from the gun, Natasha Danvers was outsprinted over the final two hurdles by Sandra Glover in the women’s 400m hurdles. Glover clocked 54.81 to Danvers’ 55.29.
Another Briton, four time European champion Steve Backley was also significantly beaten, this time by Germany's Boris Henry in the men's Javelin - 85.77 to 82.48m
Jamaica’s Lorraine Fenton won the women’s 400m in 49.88, bettered this year only by herself and Ana Guevara. And USA’s Tyree Washington won the men’s one lap in 44.70.
The first of the night’s batch of ‘second fastest’ times was set by Jamaica’s Kemel Thompson in the men’s 400m hurdles. His 48.05 was a personal best, and puts him second only to Felix Sanchez on the world lists. Not bad, given he wasn’t even going to run until the day before. “I didn’t feel like I was running that quick,” he said. “I think I had a little bit more left.”
Unfortunately, Dwain Chambers will never know quite how fast he really ran this evening. Just that he won.
NB. Men's 100m - electronic timing broke down, so manual times only available
