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Birmingham back to his best in Turin
National 10,000m record-holder
Collis Birmingham has posted the second-fastest
5000m time of his career as Australia's lone representative at
the Primo Nebiolo Memorial Meeting in Turin (ITA) overnight.
On a cool and calm evening in the city that hosted the 2006 Winter
Olympic Games, the Victorian placed fourth in a superb 13:15.92
behind Kenyan Daniel Salel, who won in 13:12.46.
Birminham's time is secodn only to thr 13:15.43 he clocked in
Oslo (NOR) in July last year.
While satisfied with the time, the 25-year-old said he was looking
to push the pace on the final lap.
"It's a shame it wasn't a bit quicker but I was left
wanting in that last lap," Birmingham said.
Turin was the second stopover on Birmingham's 2010 European
campaign after opening his season with a 1500m run in Dessau (GER)
at the end of May. Before that race the 2009 world championships
representative and Commonwealth Games nominee had missed more than
a week's training after a gruesome foot injury at the Penn
Relays in the USA.
"I lost my shoe 100m into the Penn race. It was a really hot
day and the track was warm. I ran 1100m without a shoe and the skin
just peeled off my foot. I had 10 days off," Birmingham
said.
The fast time in Turin holds Birmingham in good stead in the
lead-up to this year's Commonwealth Games, for which he has
been nominated to both the 5000m and 10,000m events.
"I was fit all summer but I just didn't get it out at the
track. I spent a lot of time at Falls Creek (Vic) and was going
really well, but for some reason it just didn't work for me in
the races. It's probably not a bad thing considering the
Commonwealth Games are so late," he said.
Birmingham now heads back to the USA for the Prefontaine Classic on
July 3.
In other action in Turin, Cuban Dayron Robles easily won the
men's 110m hurdles in 13.08, his best time for 2010.
Newly-crowned American record-holder Chante Howard Lowe was a
surprise third place in the women's high jump with a leap of
1.92m. The event was won by Russian Irena Gordeyeva in 1.97m.
Sudan's Abubaker Kaki ran a dominating solo 1:43.48 to win the
800m and show why he is the fifth fastest over that distance of all
time.
Australians hold a prominent place at the Turin meet, which
commemorates the late former president of the IAAF, with former
world record-holder Emma George and 2000 Olympic
silver medallist Tatiana Grigorieva appearing in
the meet program as co-holders of the meet record in the
women's pole vault at 4.40m.
Former national record-holders Matt Shirvington
(100m) and Dmitri Markov (pole vault) also
competed in Turin in 2007 and 2006 respectively, in the twilight of
their careers.
The next meet of the European circuit will be the Memorial Josefa
Odlozila in Prague on Monday.
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