17.08.2009

Berlin belongs to Bolt

In what may well be the race of the championships Jamaican superstar Usain Bolt has thrilled the Berlin Olympic Stadium as he burned the track in a lightning 9.58.

After dancing and preening his way through the introductions it was quickly down to business. In an outstanding line-up, including the three fastest men of all time, the Bolt show was a fitting finale for the huge crowd.

After a clean start Bolt led from the gun and his enormous strides drew him further ahead of the field with each step. Slicing a huge 11 hundredths of a second off his own world record, Bolt dragged five of his competitors over the line in under 10 seconds.

Not only was it an electrifying race but the biggest improvement in any world record since electric timing came into effect.

Tyson Gay took second in 9.71 making him the second fastest of all-time and the new national record holder and Asafa Powell was third in 9.84.

Bolt gave the crowd some kudos for his great run saying he got plenty of energy from the crowd, especially those near the 100m start. In a mutual admiration session, the crowd stood and cheered back at him, in awe of the Jamaican’s speed and consistency.

The slow motion replay shows him again looking side to side over the last 20 metres, where it seems nothing or no one can stop the Jamaican lightning bolt.

400m hurdles semi-finals

Hurdling duo Tristan Thomas and Brendan Cole were hoping for less drama in the semi-finals of the 400m hurdles. Last night Thomas had a nervous wait to find out if he progressed to this round as one of the fastest non-automatic qualifiers.

Cole was in, then out, then back in all in the space of a few hours thanks to a track judge disqualifying him for trailing (an illegal hurdle clearance for the uninitiated). Quick thinking coaches and team management appealed the decision and won to put Cole on the start line for the semi-final.

In semi one, Cole was again up against the fastest man in 2009, LJ Van Zyl from South Africa, as well as Danny McFarlane (Jamaica) and former champ Felix Sanchez (Panama). Running from lane eight it was huge moment for Cole, the three-time national champion.

Starting well, he went out aggressively moving up through the field but collected the fifth hurdle with his trail leg which slowed his progress. Cole finished in eighth place in 49.92, 0.57 off his lifetime best. Kerron Clement and Felix Sanchez both ran season best times to qualify alongside Culson.

Brendan Cole, who has been in solid form this European season, was poised to slash his personal best in this race.

"I am so stoked to be here. The last 24 hours have been pretty crazy, making the semi and then being DQ'd then waiting a few hours to find out the result of the decision of the jury."

"That was my PB race. I have been flirting with a big fat PB for the last few months. I gave it everything. I hit that fifth hurdle which is hard to come back from, to lose that momentum halfway through the race."

As Cole left the track, his Australian Flame teammate and fellow hurdler Tristan Thomas entered the arena to prepare for semi-final two. No less of a challenge than the first semi, Thomas lined up with 2005 world champion Bershawn Jackson (USA) , Isa Phillips from Jamaica who has a best this year of 48.05 and NCAA second-placer Johnny Dutch.

Poking his tongue out to the cameras during his introduction Thomas was feeling good and a real chance to qualify for the final.

Tristan looked comfortable early and was well into the field over the first three hurdles. Like Cole, he had trouble at hurdle six and lost touch with Bershawn Jackson and David Greene who went on to place first and second respectively. Thomas finished in seventh place in a time of 49.76.

Thomas was disappointed and it showed.

"I am not exactly ecstatic. I had a really good lane and thought the gods had shined on me," he said.

"The stride pattern I had performed my best at was too conservative to make the final though, so I had to go for something I had failed at many times during the season. To get to the next level I need to succeed in it.

"I'll learn from this and in another couple of years you will see this face in a positive light."

Triple jump qualification

Twenty-four-year-old former South Australian Alwyn Jones made his world championships debut at the Olympic stadium in Berlin this evening. 2009 has been a great year for Jones. After several great battles with junior rival Henry Frayne throughout the Australian domestic season Jones recorded a personal best of 16.83m at the national championships and was selected to represent Australia at both the world championships and the World University Games where he placed ninth with 16.53m.

Jones looked focused as he took to the runway for his opening jump, pumping his chest a few times and spurring on the crowd. Aiming for the automatic standard of 17.15m, a 22cm improvement on his lifetime best, Jones opened with a 16.20m but was behind the board indicating room to improve.

In round two the Commonwealth Games bronze medallist leapt 16.57m, which was considerably better than his first effort but was still short of the qualifying 12 in nineteenth place. For the final round Jones removed his lime green headband and called on the crowd for support but didn’t improve on his round two jump, recording 16.50m.  

Jones placed 25th overall and will now prepare for the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi next year.

"I don't know what to say, I was in awesome shape.  The run was okay the speed was okay and I was bouncy. Technically I just didn't get it right," he said.

Earlier in the day six Australians featured, with Claire Tallent, Jess Rothwell and Cheryl Webb in the final of the women’s 20km walk and Kim Mickle (javelin throw), Youcef Abdi (3000m steeplechase) and Madeleine Pape (800m) contesting the qualifying rounds of their respective events.

In the women’s 20km walk it was Victorian young gun Jess Rothwell who led the Australians home, crossing the line in 1:36.01 to claim 22nd place.

The 20-year-old athlete said conditions on the course were tough.

"It was a huge experience,” Rothwell said.

“Even walking in the pack there were feet everywhere so you really had to fight for your position. Hopefully I have got a lot of experience from that.

"The first few kilometres were comfortable and I just listened to the crowd.

“It got hotter and hotter and it was tough, very tough.

"There was a few DQ's and I didn't want to be in that boat."

Tallent, whose husband Jared Tallent placed sixth in the men’s 20km walk on day one, stopped the clock at 1:38.12 to take out 27th in the field of 48 athletes, one place higher than her result at the Beijing Olympics last year.

Webb was disqualified from competition just after the halfway mark.

Russian Olga Kaniskina claimed the fourth gold medal of the meet, taking victory in 1:28.09.

For the full review of the women’s 20km walk, click here.

In other results West Australian Kim Mickle bowed out of the women’s javelin throw, her best effort of 57.46m not enough to progress to the deciding round.

Mickle’s best result came in the opening round and was followed by a second round foul and final distance of 52.87m.

Twenty-four-year-old Mickle, who has cleared the 60m-mark on eight occasions this year, was devastated with the result.

"I had a killer of a warm-up but it just went pear-shaped,” she said.

“I don't know what went wrong. I didn't feel like I was that nervous or I choked or anything it just didn't happen, I missed the points. Usually I get one out of three but I was just super super super unlucky, I missed everything.

"I guess that's the way of the world, the No. 2 favourite bowed out as well."

After a solid warm-up Mickle struggled from the commencement of competition.

"I felt awesome (in the warm-up) and I was so excited coming out here. I wasn't even trying to hit them and they were going out nicely. I was going off a couple of steps and I was hitting 60m, I've never done that before in my life.

"(In competition) I just didn't connect and I kept missing the point. In javelin it’s all or nothing, even if you get 99% right it still won't go anywhere.

“I was probably hitting 88% of them so I'm very, very disappointed. Out of all the sky you have to put it through a coin slot and I couldn't find that coin slot today," she said.

Mickle will now look to the World Athletics Final in Thessaloniki, Greece, from September 12-13.

"I think I made the World Athletics Final, so that's making feel slightly better but its not enough. I just want to redeem myself there because I know I am in awesome shape. That's the most disappointing thing about it."

Also disappointed by today’s result was Youcef Abdi, who finished 11th in his heat of the 3000m steeplechase.

Opening strongly and on track to record a personal best, Abdi tightened up with four laps remaining and lost touch with the lead pack.

His time of 8:49.88 was not enough to advance to the final round.

"It was a tough day at the office,” Abdi said.

“I'm okay but it was hard. I'm just not in the shape I was last year. I'll come back fitter and stronger next year."

Also unlucky not to advance was Madeleine Pape in the women’s 800m.

The gold medalist at last month’s World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia. Pape entered the meet in good shape but was unsettled by a fall in the field and never regained her composure.

Sitting in fifth position with 200m to go, Pape came unstuck when defending champion Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei (KEN) tripped and ran home in sixth place in 2:05.85.

The 25-year-old Victorian was crushed to not advance to the semi-finals.

"I am just really pissed off, I thought I would be able to finish off better even though there was that fall," Pape said.

"With the two girls on the ground there was a chance to get up and finish a few places higher. I felt like I didn't make the most of the opportunity.

"I am just really disappointed. I stopped, I don't know why no one else did. I just seemed to get distracted by it. Everyone else just saw the opening and went and I got left behind and I just lost my composure."

The action continues tomorrow with Jeff Riseley in the 1500m semi-final and David McNeill and Collis Birmingham in the 10,000m final.