Steven Downes for the IAAF
A night of world-class performances and thrilling competition at the World Student
Games at the Son Moix stadium here was also tinged with controversy in the highlight of
the action, the men's 200 metres final.
The race was won by Coby Miller, of the United States, with a piece of powerful bend
running, clocking 20.32sec.
Miller, the NCAA champion, aged 22, who had run 20.04sec last month, was drawn in lane
five, with the little-known Jamaican, Christopher Williams in lane six. Williams, who
attends a junior college in California and who won the Caribbean Athletics Conference
title two weeks ago, looked to be the American's strongest rival after the semi-finals.
"I knew he was going to run a hard race, so I wanted to ge a good start and put him
under pressure," Miller said.
Miller did just that, emerging from the bend with a two-metre lead over the Jamaican. It
was the advantage which Miller held all the way to the line, with Williams, racing in
Europe for the first time, believing he had won the silver medal ahead of Petrus van
Balkom, of the Netherlands.
But when the official results were announced, the judges had ruled that Williams had run
outside his lane.
Without performing the usual warm-down, Williams left to find his team management and
lodge an official protest. The medal ceremony was postponed until Saturday while the jury
of appeal considers the case.
Miller's was one of only two American golds of the night, the other going to Terrence
Trammell after a gripping 110 metres hurdles final. But there were surprise results in the
men's discus and women's 200 metres.
In the discus, the top three throwers - Americans Andy Bloom and Doug Reynolds, and Frantz
Kruger of South Africa - looked to be well matched.
Kruger, winner of he 1994 IAAF world junior title, led from round one with 64.14m, but
Bloom looked to have taken the initiative in the fifth round, when he threw 64.68m.
Kruger then showed that he is made of champion material. He responded to Bloom's challenge
by tossing the disc 65.22m and, with the gold medal safely his before he took the final
throw of the competition, the reigning all-African champion produced the best throw of the
night, 66.90m. Reynolds took bronze with 63.65.
Kim Gevaert, of Belgium, aged 20, who was not even ranked in the world's top 60 last year,
outlasted all her rivals in the women's 200m final, equalling her best time to win gold in
23.10sec.
With America's Nanceen Perry (23.27) struggling with an injury on the bend and taking
consolation in the bronze, Gevaert had to hold off Zuzanna Radecka of Poland for the gold.
In the high hurdles, Trammell, 20, recovered from a poor start and clocked 13.44sec,
overtaking Jonathan N'Senga, of Belgium (13.51), team mate Dwain Wallace (13.59), and the
early leader, Irishman Peter Coghlan (fourth, 13.63), over the final two barriers.
The estimated 5,000-strong crowd attending the Son Moix for the second night of athletics
were rewarded with some top-flight performances.
The Romanians Mihaela Melinte and Monica Dinescu both added the World Student Games gold
medals to their European titles. Dinescu won the women's high jump with 1.95 metres, while
world record-holder Melinte produced the fifth longest throw of all time - 74.24 metres -
to win the women's hammer.
Check out the FISU site for full results
