Battle to the end - Allyson Felix (c) fends off Debbie Dunn (l) and Tatyana Firova (r) to take the London 400m (© Getty Images)
London, UKAllyson Felix produced a performance that combined grace and endurance on the second day (14) of the Aviva London Grand Prix – Samsung Diamond League - to add a 400m victory to her 200m win of the previous night.
The triple World 200m champion thus became the first athlete to claim two maximum points score at the same Diamond League meeting, and now shares the distinction of having won six Diamond League races this season with Blanca Vlasic, the inspirational winner of the previous evening’s High Jump.
Felix set off like the sprinter she is to open up a clear lead at the halfway stage over a field which included World indoor champion Debbie Dunn and Russia’s European champion, Tatyana Firova, a winner at the previous week’s Stockholm meeting.
But as the stagger unwound into the final straight the 24-year-old American had to morph into a gritty 400m runner as she came under strong pressure from her right, where Dunn came up to her shoulder, and her left, where Firova, having started cautiously, finished with a rush.
Felix looked as if she was being frogmarched down the straight, but she showed her determination as well as her class to retain first position, crossing in 50.79sec.
Firova took second place in 50.84, with Dunn third in 50.89. It was one hell of a race.
“It was a tight race and I really had to rely on my endurance,” she said. “The time wasn’t great but it wasn’t about the time today. It was more difficult than yesterday’s race.”
Hoffa halts Cantwell’s win streak
The only other athlete who might have joined Felix and Vlasic on six wins, Christian Cantwell, saw his winning run brought to an unexpected end as he could only finish third in a Shot Put competition won by his fellow American, Reese Hoffa, with a season’s best of 21.44m.
The runaway Diamond Race leader, who had flown in earlier in the day having learned that the competition was switched from Day One to Day Two, did move in an upward curve after fouling the first of his four attempts, finishing with 20.78m.
But Hoffa, and Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski were operating at a higher level on the day, the Pole claimed second place with 21.20m, but there was no disputing Hoffa’s right to the glory as he finished with efforts of 21.34m before his season’s best.
“I guess I was just a wuss,” said Cantwell with characteristic directness.
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