Robles unpressed in Lille

Villeneuve d’Ascq stadium hosted the "Meeting Lille Metropole" - EAA permit - on Friday (8). Scheduled in the afternoon, under cold and humid weather, the meeting provided confirmation of hurdler Dayron Robles and middle distance star Mehdi Baala’s good current form. For most, it was the occasion to start their European circuit campaigns or to get ready for the SPAR European Cup in Munich in two weeks time.

The Meeting Lille Metropole is one of a select group of Area meetings at which points can be acquired by athletes to qualify for the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final.

Robles unchallenged...

Robles was unchallenged in 110m Hurdles in 13.27, coming out first after a good reaction time (0.153) and increasing his lead over Ukrainian Sergey Demydyuk, second with 13.63. The Cuban arrived in Europe two weeks after a 13.17 race in Havana. Robles is now heading to Oslo for the first leg of IAAF Golden League 2007 on 15 June before preparing for the Pan American Games on 3-5 July.

...as is Baala

The other great favourite of the day, the Frenchman Baala, the double 1500m European Champion (2002 and 2006), didn't encounter any problems either as he opened his 2007 season with a confortable win at 2000m. The pacemakers maintained the race on on a 5:00 pace during the first kilometer before a progressive acceleration led by Algerian Tarek Boukensa, who already showed his good shape this year with 3:32.35 this season. Baala didn’t come up before the last lap, covered in about 54 seconds, to finish in 4:56.56.

“I would have prefered a faster pace but there were a lot of runners in that race (13 starters) but the main thing was to have a good season debut," said Baala. "I haven't done yet specific preparation in order to not get ready too soon, so everything is fine with my preparation so far, and I’m pleased to win here because I always receive great support from the crowd.” Baala, who doesn’t plan to compete in the European Cup, left Boukensa who came second with 4:57.20.

Fernandez takes 5000m Race Walk and Diniz fades

A walk race provided an occasion to see the two 2006 European Champions, Spaniard Fransisco Fernandez (20km) and Frenchman Yohann Diniz (50km). Over 5000m, the dual promised to be tough since both men recently ran similar times at 20km, 1:18:58 for Diniz and 1:18:50 for Fernandez. They soon left the pack and relayed each other but the Spaniard was able to maintain the pace throughout the race, reaching 3000m in 11:00.50 and 4000m in 14:43.10 while the Frenchman faded after the half way point. Diniz, who announced that he will focus on 50km at World Championships, finished a distant second in 18:50.27, close to his 18:49.89 personal best, well behind Fernandez’s 18:27.34 winning time.

A rare Triathlon, including the Pole Vault, Javelin Throw and 110m Hurdles, saw Olympic Champion Roman Sebrle clear 4.80m in the Pole Vault, reach 66.19m with the javelin and run 14.47 over the hurdles. The Czech scored the best total with 2595 points from Romain Barras of France who tallied2516 points (4.90m, 58,30m and 14.40sec).

No Heptathlon for Barber prior to Osaka

Also testing herself, Eunice Barber came back from her USA training base on Tuesday in order to contest the 200m in Lille as well as other events at upcoming meetings since she doesn’t plan to compete in a Heptathlon before the World Championsips in Osaka.

The former World Champion (Heptathlon and Long Jump) placed seventh in 24.23, a satisfying time for her standard.

“That competition at 200m is in the logic of my preparation," said Barber. "With (her coach) Bob Kersee, we’ve touched all the events at training. I haven’t done everything I wanted so far because of a slight hamstring pain but the main thing was to still work. It’s better than last year as I had to stop training for a while. It’s always good to do an Heptathlon before the major championship but I will focus on separate events instead.”

The race was won by Cydonie Mothersill (CAY) who came from the back to catch fast starter Laverne Jones (ISV) and win in 23.17. Kim Gevaert (BEL) took second with 23.32 in her outdoor opener over the distance while Jones finished third with 23.41.

Bouabdellah Tahri, French and former European Record holder in the 3000m Steeplechase, made a rare attempt at 5000m, breaking his eight-year-old personal best with 13:12.29. It was good enough to take fourth place behind three young Kenyans, Joseph Ebuya (20, winner with 13:10.59), Edwin Soi and Moses Masai (21), who used rhythm changes to leave their rivals behind.

The other “triple podium” of the day came in the women's Pole Vault with Russians Yuliya Golubchikova (4.50m), Aleksandra Kiryashova (4.35m at first attempt) and Tatyana Polnova (4.35 at third attempt) making the sweep.

The women's Shot Put offered good results for Germans. Petra Lammert dominated the female competition as all her throws (18.59, 19.34, 19.18, x, 18.70, x) were farther than runner-up Cleopatra Borel-Brown (TRI) who reached 18.58. The men's eventin was more hotly contested, even though Ralf Bartels led from his first attempt of 20.25 before reaching 20.50 with his last throw. Andrey Mikhnevich of Belarus maintained pressured until his final throw, a 20.43 effort.

Olympic Champion Yelena Slesarenko of Russia took the women’s High Jump with only one miss at her first attempt for 1.95m before her clearing 1.98m. She failed three times at 2.01 while Nicole Forrester (CAN) came back to her best level with 1.95.

Kenyan Eunice Chepkorir confimed her world Leader status at in the 3000m Steeplechase after a solo victory in 9:30.45. Finishing strong, Julie Coulaud was second with a new French Record of 9:32.08.

Other female winners in Lille were Ibtissam Lakhouad (Morocco) in the 1500m (4:07.91), Adrianna Lamalle (France) in the 100m Hurdles (13.07), and Barbara Madejczyk (Poland) in the javelin (61.66).

The men’s 200m, the last event of the afternoon, saw a surprising double by Frenchmen David Alerte (20.73) and Eddy De Lepine (20.85). Favourites Ricardo Williams (JAM) and Olusoji Fasuba (NGR) clearly led after the bend but eventually faded to third and fourth in 20.87 and 21.03 respectively. Earlier, Greg Nixon (USA) made a last minute choice in chosing to run 300m instead of the 200m and won in 32.35 from Leslie Djhone (FRA) 32.90.

Jean Pierre Vazel for the IAAF

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