Home » News and Media » News » 2009 » September » New best marks to Birmingham, Gregson and Kealey in Rieti
07.09.2009
Samuels, in her first competition since taking out the world title in Berlin last month, claimed third place with a best effort of 61.60m.
Cuba's world silver medallist Yarellis Barrios avenged her loss to the Australian in Berlin by launching the disc 64.95m to claim victory in the final round.
Samuels, relaxed after a well-deserved week-long holiday in Prague, threw 60.66m and 61.60m in the first two rounds but could not get into the same groove that saw her smash her personal best by over 2.5m in Berlin with a throw of 65.44m.
"I was okay with that (the opener), I thought at that point it was better than what I opened the world champs with," said Australia's first ever female winner of a global throws title.
The 21-year-old followed two fouls in rounds three and four with closing throws of 60.80m and 60.69m to place third behind the Cuban and world championships fourth place-getter Zaneta Glanc from Poland (62.81m).
"I tensed up and rushed it a bit so I learnt a few things," Samuels said.
"I came third and the point of this meet was to get enough points to make the World Athletics Final."
Olympic champion Stephanie Brown Trafton, who had a shocker in Berlin finishing 12th, continued to struggle and placed sixth with 58.38m.
Samuels will throw for the last time this season at the World Athletics Final in Thessaloniki, Greece on September 12-13, but is already looking ahead to her return to Europe next year to once again take on the world's best.
"Competing against them, beating them and getting beaten is how you build character and get your competitive edge so I am looking forward to it," she said.
World 5000m finalist Collis Birmingham, backing up after his contribution to the new national 4x1500m relay record set in Brussels on Friday night, ran a huge personal best of 3:35.76 to place eighth in the men's 1500m and move into 10th place on the Australian all-time list. The race was won by Kenyan William Biwott in 3:33.00.
Birmingham crossed the line almost two seconds ahead of his previous best mark of 3:37.01, which he recorded at the Sydney Track Classic in February.
The Victorian has been in outstanding form in 2009, which began with personal bests over 1500m and the mile in the Australian domestic season and was followed by his national 10,000m record of 27:29.73 in Berkeley, California in April.
Two of Birmingham's record-setting teammates, Mitch Kealey and Ryan Gregson, went head-to-head in the men's 800m B race, where 19-year-old Gregson got the better of his Queensland rival, running a personal best time of 1:47.38 for fifth place behind Luis Alberto Marco (ESP), who won in 1:46.60.
Kealey, coming off an injury-plagued 12 months, also improved his best time to 1:48.39 to finish seventh.
Gregson's time was just .56 ahead of the 1:47.94 he posted in Osaka in May and continues an impressive season that has seen the national junior 3000m record-holder clock new personal best times over 800m, 1500m, the mile, 3000m and 5000m.
Australian junior triple jump record-holder Henry Frayne, Australia's lone representative in the men's field, placed eighth with 16.21m in a competition won by world championships fourth place-getter Leevan Sands of the Bahamas, who jumped 16.77m.
The best performance of the meeting belonged to Kenyan David Rudisha in the men's 800m, who responded to a disappointing showing in Berlin, where he failed to make the final, by running 1:42.01, the fourth fastest time ever recorded over the two-lap distance. Only world record-holder Wilson Kipketer, British legend Sebastion Coe and Brazil's 1984 Olympic champion Joaquin Cruz have ever run faster.
Rudisha, whose time was also a new African record, dragged countryman and 2007 world champion Alfred Kirwa Yego (1:42.67) and South African Berlin representative Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (1:42.86) to new personal best times.
Earlier in the afternoon Jamaican Asafa Powell, who calls Rieti his home track and bases himself in the central Italian town when in Europe, shut down his heat of the men's 100m early to win in 10.12 into a slight headwind. Conditions did not improve for the final but the world bronze medallist, who set a world record of 9.74 on this track in 2007, still managed to run 9.99.
"I'm happy to win against some fantastic sprinters. The plan was to have fun and stay relaxed," said Powell, the third-fastest sprinter in history.
Powell, along with the best athletes of the 2009 season, will head to Greece this weekend for the two-day season-ending World Athletics Final in Thessaloniki.
Click here for a complete list of results from the Rieti Grand Prix
Pat Birgan in Rieti
News
New best marks to Birmingham, Gregson and Kealey in Rieti
World champion discus thrower Dani Samuels has finished third and middle distance runners Collis Birmingham, Ryan Gregson and Mitch Kealey have recorded new personal best times at the Rieti Grand Prix meet in Italy overnight.Samuels, in her first competition since taking out the world title in Berlin last month, claimed third place with a best effort of 61.60m.
Cuba's world silver medallist Yarellis Barrios avenged her loss to the Australian in Berlin by launching the disc 64.95m to claim victory in the final round.
Samuels, relaxed after a well-deserved week-long holiday in Prague, threw 60.66m and 61.60m in the first two rounds but could not get into the same groove that saw her smash her personal best by over 2.5m in Berlin with a throw of 65.44m.
"I was okay with that (the opener), I thought at that point it was better than what I opened the world champs with," said Australia's first ever female winner of a global throws title.
The 21-year-old followed two fouls in rounds three and four with closing throws of 60.80m and 60.69m to place third behind the Cuban and world championships fourth place-getter Zaneta Glanc from Poland (62.81m).
"I tensed up and rushed it a bit so I learnt a few things," Samuels said.
"I came third and the point of this meet was to get enough points to make the World Athletics Final."
Olympic champion Stephanie Brown Trafton, who had a shocker in Berlin finishing 12th, continued to struggle and placed sixth with 58.38m.
Samuels will throw for the last time this season at the World Athletics Final in Thessaloniki, Greece on September 12-13, but is already looking ahead to her return to Europe next year to once again take on the world's best.
"Competing against them, beating them and getting beaten is how you build character and get your competitive edge so I am looking forward to it," she said.
World 5000m finalist Collis Birmingham, backing up after his contribution to the new national 4x1500m relay record set in Brussels on Friday night, ran a huge personal best of 3:35.76 to place eighth in the men's 1500m and move into 10th place on the Australian all-time list. The race was won by Kenyan William Biwott in 3:33.00.
Birmingham crossed the line almost two seconds ahead of his previous best mark of 3:37.01, which he recorded at the Sydney Track Classic in February.
The Victorian has been in outstanding form in 2009, which began with personal bests over 1500m and the mile in the Australian domestic season and was followed by his national 10,000m record of 27:29.73 in Berkeley, California in April.
Two of Birmingham's record-setting teammates, Mitch Kealey and Ryan Gregson, went head-to-head in the men's 800m B race, where 19-year-old Gregson got the better of his Queensland rival, running a personal best time of 1:47.38 for fifth place behind Luis Alberto Marco (ESP), who won in 1:46.60.
Kealey, coming off an injury-plagued 12 months, also improved his best time to 1:48.39 to finish seventh.
Gregson's time was just .56 ahead of the 1:47.94 he posted in Osaka in May and continues an impressive season that has seen the national junior 3000m record-holder clock new personal best times over 800m, 1500m, the mile, 3000m and 5000m.
Australian junior triple jump record-holder Henry Frayne, Australia's lone representative in the men's field, placed eighth with 16.21m in a competition won by world championships fourth place-getter Leevan Sands of the Bahamas, who jumped 16.77m.
The best performance of the meeting belonged to Kenyan David Rudisha in the men's 800m, who responded to a disappointing showing in Berlin, where he failed to make the final, by running 1:42.01, the fourth fastest time ever recorded over the two-lap distance. Only world record-holder Wilson Kipketer, British legend Sebastion Coe and Brazil's 1984 Olympic champion Joaquin Cruz have ever run faster.
Rudisha, whose time was also a new African record, dragged countryman and 2007 world champion Alfred Kirwa Yego (1:42.67) and South African Berlin representative Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (1:42.86) to new personal best times.
Earlier in the afternoon Jamaican Asafa Powell, who calls Rieti his home track and bases himself in the central Italian town when in Europe, shut down his heat of the men's 100m early to win in 10.12 into a slight headwind. Conditions did not improve for the final but the world bronze medallist, who set a world record of 9.74 on this track in 2007, still managed to run 9.99.
"I'm happy to win against some fantastic sprinters. The plan was to have fun and stay relaxed," said Powell, the third-fastest sprinter in history.
Powell, along with the best athletes of the 2009 season, will head to Greece this weekend for the two-day season-ending World Athletics Final in Thessaloniki.
Click here for a complete list of results from the Rieti Grand Prix
Pat Birgan in Rieti
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