Anthonique Strachan (L) of Bahamas wins the Women's 100 metres Final on the day two of the 14th IAAF World Junior Championships in Barcelona 2012 (© Getty Images)
BarcelonaAnthonique Strachan with a fantastic burst of speed coming off the final bend became the first woman to complete a World Junior Championships 100m /200m sprint double for six years.
Strachan equalled the achievement of Jamaican legend Veronica Campbell-Brown in magnificent style roaring to a World leading time and personal best of 22.53 and also smashed Shalonda Solomon's eight year old Championships record of 22.82.
"That's never happened before in the history of my country," she modestly said after her cherished victory. "That will change my life and I can't imagine the atmosphere when I'll be back home."
The Bahamian speedster literally ripped the opposition apart in the final 60m when opening a huge gap to follow in the footsteps of fellow countrywoman Sheniqua Ferguson the winner four years ago.
Her domination meant there was an alternative race for the remaining medal positions and these were clinched by the USA pair of Olivia Ekpone who got the verdict with a personal best ahead of Dezerea Bryant, both clocking 23.15.
Historical medal for Turks and Caicos
The men's 200m was much closer and no one could have forecast such a thrilling finish or the even more surprising winner Delano Williams who eclipsed his rivals with a stunning victory in 20.48.
Jamaica’s Julian Forte well in the lead down the home straight pulled up injured and crossed the line in a distant eighth.
Meanwhile Williams from the tiny Turks and Caicos Islands in the West Indies, brilliantly held his nerve as USA rivals Tyreek Hill and Aaron Ernest plus Pole Karol Zalewski, converged on him in the final five metres.
That attribute saw him claim his country's first ever Championships medal and more importantly a gold one, as he won in a National record time of 20.48 from his more fancied opponents.
"Despite my disappointing start, I said to myself 'you can' (win) and I did my best in the last 50 metres," said Williams. "I cannot explain how happy I am."
Ernest who was finishing faster than any of the quartet clocked a PB 20.53 for second while Hill the current World leader with a time of 20.14 was proclaimed bronze medallist, as he and Zalewski who set a Polish record - both clocked 20.54.
Amazing Spencer!
On a rip roaring night of track action, Ashley Spencer romped to the gold medal with a new Championships record of 50.50.
Spencer who has looked extremely sharp throughout all her qualifying races used her finishing speed to destroy her talented rivals down the home straight with the fastest performance of her career and easily beating the World lead 50.95 she achieved at the beginning of June.
"I can't put this into words," said Spencer. "It's pretty remarkable coming out of the country for the first time and winning gold at the World Juniors in a beautiful city like Barcelona.
Behind her there was a tremendous performance from Kadecia Baird of Guyana and her silver medal finish saw her move from eighth in this year's rankings to second with an Area record of 51.04.
But it was a close call. With Erika Rucker breathing down her neck she held her form to hold off the American who set a PB just 0.06 behind.
Long Jump gold goes to KJT
On the infield Multi eventer Katarina Johnson-Thompson who opted as part of her Olympic Games preparations to only compete in the 100m Hurdles and Long Jump came up trumps when winning ahead of her specialist rivals in the latter event.
Johnson-Thompson with the wind gusting around the stadium put in a great early series of wind assisted clearances of 6.57, 6.56 and then a mighty 6.81 gold medal clincher with a wind of 2.5m/s behind her to claim Great Britain's second Championships gold medal.
The heptathlete must have breathed a massive sigh of relief when in the final round Germany's Lena Malkus produced a huge effort which when measured was only a centimetre off her winning mark.
Ironically the winner's team-mate Jazmin Sawyer with the wind reading a legal 1.2m/s improved her World leading mark of 6.67m to take the bronze medal. But she then produced five fouls.
Last round throw victory for Walcott
Keshorn Walcott the World leader rescued his gold medal ambitions at the last possible moment when winging his javelin out to 78.64 to really spoil Braian Toledo and Morne Moolman's evening.
Walcott until that gold medal saving moment, had languished behind his Argentinian rival who had led from the second round with a throw of 77.09m with South Africa's Moolman having gone third with his PB in the fifth round.
But then Walcott came out with the big one to snatch the ultimate prize away from Toledo and win Trinidad and Tobago's first ever title in the discipline.
There was a first ever High Jump gold medal for Belarus when Andrei Churyla in a low key competition claimed victory on count-back ahead Falk Wendrich and Ryan Ingraham.
Rodriguez adds gold to Youth silver
The final event in the Heptathlon over 800m proved a disaster for leader Tamara De Sousa who despite running a lifetime best of 2:31.23 saw herself relegated to third position.
Cuba's Yorgelis Rodriguez stole the gold medal with an overall score of 5966pts and Xenia Kriznan tallied 5957 for the silver, with the Brazilian totalling 5900.
De Sousa had gone into the 800m with a 124-point lead and a tally of 5222 points ahead of Rodriguez after she threw a javelin PB of 42.51m and her Cuban rival managed only 39.90 for 5098.
But it was Kriznan who dominated that competition and her massive throw of 48.40m moved her into third position with 5079.
Running 2:16.08 ahead of Rodriguez who clocked 2:16.75 she matched the silver medal won by fellow Hungarian Rita Inancsi 22 years ago in Plovdiv.
Qualifiers…
World leader Janieve Russell clocked the fastest 400m Hurdles semi-final time of 57.23 but the Jamaican who led from gun-to-tape looked quite tired towards finish where France's Aurelie Chaboudez ran a SB 57.46.
Earlier Ukrainian Olena Kolesnychenko dominated the first heat lowering her PB to 57.35. But there was a tight battle for the second automatic spot won narrowly by the USA's Shamia Little in 57.46 ahead of Canada's Taylor Farquhar who progressed as a fastest loser.
Kaila Barber kept her nerve down the home straight in the third qualifier. Almost abreast Vilde Svortevik and Kubra Sesli at the final barrier she came off it the fastest, lowering her PB to 57.29.
The Norwegian runner-up and Turkish third placer also went into the final after setting set National records of 57.34 and 57.45.
Artem Primak and Pedro Pichardo the World's two leading triple jumpers this year, had no problems qualifying for the final with first time automatic clearances of 16.47m and 16.64m.
Sprint Relay drama
Japan took the first heat in a World leading time of 39.01 ahead of Brazil which claimed an Area record of 39.29 while behind them Poland set a National record of 39.31 and Australia an Oceania one of 39.34.
The USA chasing a third successive title produced a SB of 39.25 ahead of the Bahamas who qualified automatically with their best ever time of 39.48 ahead of Trinidad & Tobago who clocked 40.01.
A speedy final leg from 100m champion Adam Gemili carried Great Britain to victory in the final heat clocking 39.09 with Jamaica recording 39.19 behind them.
In the women’s relay there was a dramatic beginning when in the first heat both the Bahamas and Slovenian quartets failed to finish. With China's team not starting and Australia disqualified for a lane violation, the only good news was the USA quartet romped to a World leading 43.95 and the Netherlands made the final with a season's best 44.68.
The second heat saw Jamaica eliminated when fluffing their baton exchange on the second changeover and both Canada and Spain disqualified for changeovers outside the zone.
Great Britain were winners in 44.47 ahead of Brazil who also ran a SB of 44.79. Belgium achieved a National record 44.88 to make the final as a fastest loser.
The final heat saw a dominating performance from Germany who defeated Nigeria by 0.31 in 44.27.
Ashraf Amgad Elseify aiming to capture another gold medal for Qatar in Saturday night's hammer final following Hamza Driouch's 1500m success, clearly suggested in the qualification round he is the man for the job.
Elseify didn't waste any time in proving why he is World Number 1 after producing the World's seventh best ever throw of 80.85m in Colombo last month and virtually reproducing it when throwing another huge 79.78m in the early afternoon competition.
His main rivals Valriy Pronkin and Alexandros Poursanidis from Russia and Cyprus will really have to raise their game in the final. They qualified with efforts of 72.77m and 75.16m.
David Martin for the IAAF
Strachan equalled the achievement of Jamaican legend Veronica Campbell-Brown in magnificent style roaring to a World leading time and personal best of 22.53 and also smashed Shalonda Solomon's eight year old Championships record of 22.82.
"That's never happened before in the history of my country," she modestly said after her cherished victory. "That will change my life and I can't imagine the atmosphere when I'll be back home."
The Bahamian speedster literally ripped the opposition apart in the final 60m when opening a huge gap to follow in the footsteps of fellow countrywoman Sheniqua Ferguson the winner four years ago.
Her domination meant there was an alternative race for the remaining medal positions and these were clinched by the USA pair of Olivia Ekpone who got the verdict with a personal best ahead of Dezerea Bryant, both clocking 23.15.
Historical medal for Turks and Caicos
The men's 200m was much closer and no one could have forecast such a thrilling finish or the even more surprising winner Delano Williams who eclipsed his rivals with a stunning victory in 20.48.
Jamaica’s Julian Forte well in the lead down the home straight pulled up injured and crossed the line in a distant eighth.
Meanwhile Williams from the tiny Turks and Caicos Islands in the West Indies, brilliantly held his nerve as USA rivals Tyreek Hill and Aaron Ernest plus Pole Karol Zalewski, converged on him in the final five metres.
That attribute saw him claim his country's first ever Championships medal and more importantly a gold one, as he won in a National record time of 20.48 from his more fancied opponents.
"Despite my disappointing start, I said to myself 'you can' (win) and I did my best in the last 50 metres," said Williams. "I cannot explain how happy I am."
Ernest who was finishing faster than any of the quartet clocked a PB 20.53 for second while Hill the current World leader with a time of 20.14 was proclaimed bronze medallist, as he and Zalewski who set a Polish record - both clocked 20.54.
Amazing Spencer!
On a rip roaring night of track action, Ashley Spencer romped to the gold medal with a new Championships record of 50.50.
Spencer who has looked extremely sharp throughout all her qualifying races used her finishing speed to destroy her talented rivals down the home straight with the fastest performance of her career and easily beating the World lead 50.95 she achieved at the beginning of June.
"I can't put this into words," said Spencer. "It's pretty remarkable coming out of the country for the first time and winning gold at the World Juniors in a beautiful city like Barcelona.
Behind her there was a tremendous performance from Kadecia Baird of Guyana and her silver medal finish saw her move from eighth in this year's rankings to second with an Area record of 51.04.
But it was a close call. With Erika Rucker breathing down her neck she held her form to hold off the American who set a PB just 0.06 behind.
Long Jump gold goes to KJT
On the infield Multi eventer Katarina Johnson-Thompson who opted as part of her Olympic Games preparations to only compete in the 100m Hurdles and Long Jump came up trumps when winning ahead of her specialist rivals in the latter event.
Johnson-Thompson with the wind gusting around the stadium put in a great early series of wind assisted clearances of 6.57, 6.56 and then a mighty 6.81 gold medal clincher with a wind of 2.5m/s behind her to claim Great Britain's second Championships gold medal.
The heptathlete must have breathed a massive sigh of relief when in the final round Germany's Lena Malkus produced a huge effort which when measured was only a centimetre off her winning mark.
Ironically the winner's team-mate Jazmin Sawyer with the wind reading a legal 1.2m/s improved her World leading mark of 6.67m to take the bronze medal. But she then produced five fouls.
Last round throw victory for Walcott
Keshorn Walcott the World leader rescued his gold medal ambitions at the last possible moment when winging his javelin out to 78.64 to really spoil Braian Toledo and Morne Moolman's evening.
Walcott until that gold medal saving moment, had languished behind his Argentinian rival who had led from the second round with a throw of 77.09m with South Africa's Moolman having gone third with his PB in the fifth round.
But then Walcott came out with the big one to snatch the ultimate prize away from Toledo and win Trinidad and Tobago's first ever title in the discipline.
There was a first ever High Jump gold medal for Belarus when Andrei Churyla in a low key competition claimed victory on count-back ahead Falk Wendrich and Ryan Ingraham.
Rodriguez adds gold to Youth silver
The final event in the Heptathlon over 800m proved a disaster for leader Tamara De Sousa who despite running a lifetime best of 2:31.23 saw herself relegated to third position.
Cuba's Yorgelis Rodriguez stole the gold medal with an overall score of 5966pts and Xenia Kriznan tallied 5957 for the silver, with the Brazilian totalling 5900.
De Sousa had gone into the 800m with a 124-point lead and a tally of 5222 points ahead of Rodriguez after she threw a javelin PB of 42.51m and her Cuban rival managed only 39.90 for 5098.
But it was Kriznan who dominated that competition and her massive throw of 48.40m moved her into third position with 5079.
Running 2:16.08 ahead of Rodriguez who clocked 2:16.75 she matched the silver medal won by fellow Hungarian Rita Inancsi 22 years ago in Plovdiv.
Qualifiers…
World leader Janieve Russell clocked the fastest 400m Hurdles semi-final time of 57.23 but the Jamaican who led from gun-to-tape looked quite tired towards finish where France's Aurelie Chaboudez ran a SB 57.46.
Earlier Ukrainian Olena Kolesnychenko dominated the first heat lowering her PB to 57.35. But there was a tight battle for the second automatic spot won narrowly by the USA's Shamia Little in 57.46 ahead of Canada's Taylor Farquhar who progressed as a fastest loser.
Kaila Barber kept her nerve down the home straight in the third qualifier. Almost abreast Vilde Svortevik and Kubra Sesli at the final barrier she came off it the fastest, lowering her PB to 57.29.
The Norwegian runner-up and Turkish third placer also went into the final after setting set National records of 57.34 and 57.45.
Artem Primak and Pedro Pichardo the World's two leading triple jumpers this year, had no problems qualifying for the final with first time automatic clearances of 16.47m and 16.64m.
Sprint Relay drama
Japan took the first heat in a World leading time of 39.01 ahead of Brazil which claimed an Area record of 39.29 while behind them Poland set a National record of 39.31 and Australia an Oceania one of 39.34.
The USA chasing a third successive title produced a SB of 39.25 ahead of the Bahamas who qualified automatically with their best ever time of 39.48 ahead of Trinidad & Tobago who clocked 40.01.
A speedy final leg from 100m champion Adam Gemili carried Great Britain to victory in the final heat clocking 39.09 with Jamaica recording 39.19 behind them.
In the women’s relay there was a dramatic beginning when in the first heat both the Bahamas and Slovenian quartets failed to finish. With China's team not starting and Australia disqualified for a lane violation, the only good news was the USA quartet romped to a World leading 43.95 and the Netherlands made the final with a season's best 44.68.
The second heat saw Jamaica eliminated when fluffing their baton exchange on the second changeover and both Canada and Spain disqualified for changeovers outside the zone.
Great Britain were winners in 44.47 ahead of Brazil who also ran a SB of 44.79. Belgium achieved a National record 44.88 to make the final as a fastest loser.
The final heat saw a dominating performance from Germany who defeated Nigeria by 0.31 in 44.27.
Ashraf Amgad Elseify aiming to capture another gold medal for Qatar in Saturday night's hammer final following Hamza Driouch's 1500m success, clearly suggested in the qualification round he is the man for the job.
Elseify didn't waste any time in proving why he is World Number 1 after producing the World's seventh best ever throw of 80.85m in Colombo last month and virtually reproducing it when throwing another huge 79.78m in the early afternoon competition.
His main rivals Valriy Pronkin and Alexandros Poursanidis from Russia and Cyprus will really have to raise their game in the final. They qualified with efforts of 72.77m and 75.16m.
David Martin for the IAAF
