Kerryn McCann of Australia win golds ahead of Hellen Cherono Koskei of Kenya in Melbourne (© Getty Images)
Melbourne, AustraliaTwo tremendous marathons kicked off the first day of athletics (Sun 19) at the 18th Commonwealth Games, with the hosts having plenty to cheer about in the giant Melbourne Cricket Ground almost filled to capacity with 76,500 spectators.
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A minute of silence was held in memory of Istvan
Gyulai, IAAF General Secretary, who died on Sunday 12 March.
The short and emotional ceremony took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the first day of competition, with IAAF Council Members, Lord Sebastian Coe, Bill Bailey and Neville McCook present in the infield to mark the occasion.
As a further mark of respect, during the day's competitions all the technical officials wore back armbands.
Click here for link for obituary
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McCann successfully defends by just 2 seconds
The women’s Marathon was a brilliant race. It may not have been run at the blistering pace we’ve come to expect from the likes of Paula Radcliffe, but rarely can the lead have changed so often in the last few kilometres of a major marathon, and rarely can one have been won by such a small margin.
The gold went to defending champion Kerryn McCann of Australia who brought the huge crowd to its feet during a titanic battle with Kenya’s Helen Cherono. Spurred on by the deafening noise she won by just two seconds in 2:30:54.
“I came towards the stadium thinking silver’s pretty darn good, I’d be happy with silver,” said McCann. “But then I came through the tunnel and heard the crowd roar. “That wasn’t me running the last 300m.”
"The greatest race I've ever run"
The race turned into a three-way tussle at 20km between England’s Liz Yelling, McCann and Cherono. McCann tried to throw down the gauntlet at 25km but Yelling and Cherono stuck with her and the three ran stride for stride along the seaside stretch of road by Melbourne’s beautiful St Kilda coast.
Gradually McCann’s pace began to tell and Yelling dropped away. The Kenyan shadowed more than 10km until they came within sight of the stadium. Over the last 5km the Australian – hearing the excited roars of the huge crowd watching from inside – made repeated attempts to get away. But Cherono wouldn’t give an inch.
McCann struck again up the final slope to the stadium and seemed to be getting clear. But again the Kenyan came back and, briefly, she moved into the lead. McCann clung on and they entered the stadium side by side.
They ran the last 200 like 800m runners, and somehow McCann found the strength around the bend to pull away. She crossed the line just metres ahead of Cherono who clocked 2:30:56, while Yelling took the bronze in 2:32:18.
“It’s probably the greatest victory I’ve ever had, the greatest race I’ve ever run,” said McCann. “I’ve never had a sprint like that at the end, it’s something I’ll cherish forever.”
“It was a fantastic race,” said Cherono afterwards. Indeed it was.
Tanzania takes men's race
The men’s wasn’t bad either. Tanzania’s Samson Ramadhani won the gold in 2:11:29 ahead of Kenya’s Fred Mogaka who cut his personal best by more than two minutes to take silver in 2:12:03. England took their second marathon bronze through Dan Robinson, who ran a superbly judged race to come through in 2:14:50.
But again it was only in the last 2km that the medals were decided.
Ramadhani’s team-mate Christopher Isegwe appeared to be the class of the field but he pulled up while leading after 20km with hamstring trouble, leaving Mogaka out on his own. Ramadhani was lying second a minute behind, while Kenya’s Jacob Yator was another 30 seconds back in third. Mogaka went through half way in 1:03:48.
But the race was far from over as Ramadhani made up the gap and the two ran together through 30km in 1:31:53 and 35k in 1:47:45. It was Ramadhani who made the decisive break just before 40km, and the Tanzanian entered the stadium with a lead of about 100m.
“I knew the Kenyans would be strong but I didn’t use my strength I used my brain,” said Ramadhani afterwards.
Infield success for Viljoen
South Africa’s Sunette Viljoen took the day’s other gold in the women’s Javelin Throw. She threw 60.72m to beat the defending champion Laverne Eve of the Bahamas by just 18 centimetres. Jamaica’s Olivia McKoy was third with 58.27.
“I’m just going to enjoy the moment,” said Viljoen. “I pushed myself to do my best and my technique came through.”
Sprinters go through the heats - Powell looking good; Gardener out
Nigeria’s Uchenna Emedolu was the fastest qualifier from the first two rounds of the men’s 100m, clocking 10.15. World record holder Asafa Powell looked in fantastic form, however, running a nonchalant 10.29 in the second round after jogging through the first in 10.53.
Trinidad’s Marc Burns was also a safe qualifier, as was Ghana’s Aziz Zakari, but Burns’ team-mate Darrel Brown missed out. The English pair of Mark Lewis-Francis and Marlon Devonish were also in good shape. Lewis-Francis ran 10.20 in the first round while Devonish ran 10.22 followed by 10.21.
But their team-mate Jason Gardener, who’s been suffering from sciatica, went out in the second round.
Jamaica’s Sheri-Ann Brooks was the fastest qualifier from the first round of the women’s 100m in 11.30, while world and Olympic champion Tonique Williams eased down to clock 52.58 in the first round of the women’s 400m. The fastest qualifier was Grenada’s Hazel Regis in 51.47 while Williams’ team-mate Christine Amertil clocked 51.85.
Australia’s Martin Scott was the leading qualifier from the men’s Shot Put. The only man to exceed the automatic distance of 19.50m, Scott put 19.64. South Africa’s Janus Robberts and England’s Carl Myerscough will also be in tomorrow’s final.
Matthew Brown for the IAAF
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