14.09.2008

Sally wraps up season in Stuttgart

Olympic silver medallist Sally McLellan has finished a long season with seventh place in the 100m hurdles at the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart, Germany.

Teammates Donna MacFarlane and Sarah Jamieson finished seventh and ninth respectively in the  steeplechase and 1500m and in the $4million dollar event.

In cool conditions, the fist day of competition was highlighted by a world record from Czech javelin thrower Barbora Spotáková. The Olympic champion launched the spear 72.28m at her first attempt to improve the three year-old mark from Osleidys Menéndez by 58 centimetres.  The effort netted a $130,000 pay day.

McLellan returned to Europe after the Games to continue her education as a world class hurdler and also provide the opportunity to earn some valuable dollars to help fund her London Olympic campaign.  After beginning with a third place in Zurich and second place finish at Gateshead, she finished fourth in Brussels and fifth in Zagreb.

In Stuttgart it was Spain’s Josephine Onyia who took victory.  Onyia opened the 2008 IAAF Golden League season with a Spanish record in Berlin (12.50 sec) and has been one of the surprises of this summer, also winning in Oslo, and taking Grand Prix wins in Madrid and Gateshead, despite being edged out of a spot in the Olympic final my McLellan.

The former Nigerian was one of the slowest away from the gun but her pick-up over the first three flights of barriers carved out a lead which she held through to the line, winning in 12.54. The USA’s Lolo Jones who had been her nearest challenger throughout today’s encounter dipped very low at the finish line for second (12.56), and a late surge from Delloreen Ennis-London brought the Jamaican into the frame in the last few metres (also 12.56).

USA’s Olympic champion Dawn Harper running in the outside lane was never in the party (4th 12.67), with Canada’s bronze medallist Priscilla Lopes-Schliep coming sixth (12.81) and McLellan in seventh (12.82).

“I surprised some people because I won against the Olympic champion. In the Olympic Games it did not work out for me. So I had to prove it today,” said the 22-year-old Onyia.

In the steeplechase, Olympic champion Gulnara Galkina (Russia) was in full control winning with a World Athletics Final record of 9:21.73 from her toughest rival Eunice Jepkorir (Kenya - 9:24.03).

The Russian athlete, who thrillingly took Olympic gold in a new World record in Beijing, was always in control and simply ran the legs of the opposition to shave 0.07 from Dorcus Inzikuru's meeting record with 9:21.73.

MacFarlane, who was ran out in the heats in Beijing finished 7^th in 9:37.72, whilst Vicky Mitchell was forced to withdraw from the event after injuring her foot during the warm up.

In the women’s 1500m, Maryam Jamal of Bahrain secured a hat-trick of titles World Athletics Final titles as she earned some recompense for her Beijing disappointment in which she finished fifth in the Olympic final.

Tracking the long-time leader, Gelete Burka of Ethiopia, Jamal took the lead around the final bend to kick ahead and storm down the home straight to stop the clock in 4:06.59. It was not a bad final lap either, covered in a rapid 60 seconds.

A fading Burka, who had disappointingly exited the heats of the 1500m at the Beijing Olympics, held on for second in 4:07.45 from the fast-finishing Irina Lishchynska, the Olympic silver medallist of the Ukraine (4:07.65) with Great Britain's Lisa Dobriksey, who was fourth in the Olympics, again finishing in the 'bogey' position a further 0.07 back. Jameson finished ninth in 4:09.21.

Fabriece Lapierre is in action in the long jump final on day two.

Reporting courtesy of the IAAF