16.08.2009

Berlin 2009 Day 2 - Evening Session - LIVE

Alwyn Jones is the first Australian Flame in action this evening on day two of the 12th IAAF world championships in Berlin. Jones jumped a personal best of 16.83m to win the national title in March, and may well need a lifetime best to progress to Tuesday's final.

There are two qualifying groups and joining Jones in Group B will be Nelson Evora from Portugal, who is out to defend the title he won in Osaka and Alexis Copello (Cuba), who has the third best jump in the world this year.

Hurdling duo Tristan Thomas and Brendan Cole will be hoping for less drama this evening when they contest 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, meaning Cole will take to the start line tonight.

Cole will again meet the fastest man in 2009, LJ Van Zyl from South Africa, as well as perennial finalist Danny McFarlane (Jamaica) and former champ Felix Sanchez (Panama).

Thomas' heat is no less formidable, 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.

The highlight of the evening, indeed the entire sporting year, is the men's 100m and the match-up between world record-holder Usain Bolt and defending champion Tyson Gay.

Bolt and training partner Daniel Bailey (Antigua) appear in the first semi-final and are not likely to repeat their stroll down the track as they did in the heats but with Bolt, who knows?

Over in the men's triple jump Alwyn Jones is not far away from his first round jump. He'll need 17.15m to automatically advance to the final.

The crowd roars as Bolt and the field for semi-final one are introduced. Edgar breaks and is disqualified!

The fastest semi at a world champs is Greene's 9.90 from Athens. Can Bolt beat that? Yes he can. 9.89 is now the fastest ever semi-final at a world championships.

Gay and Asafa Powell go head-to-head in the second semi-final. Powell is the second fastest of all-time (9.72) and he may be out to prove that this is not a two-man duel.

Over in the triple jump Nelson Evora has automatically qualified with 17.44 (+0.6m/s). He's the only one so far.

Gay and Powell are joined by Richard Thompson (Trinidad and Tobago) the Olympic silver medallist, Dwain Chambers (GBR) and Michael Frater (Jamaica) in a huge semi.

Gay gets away very slowly but comes through to run 9.93 (-0.2m/s) and dip out Powell on the line.

An exciting final awaits with Bolt, Gay and Powell easily through.

Here goes Alwyn Jones. He's okay on the board as the replay shows him pumping his chest a few times.

16.20m (wind 0.0m/s) for Jones, who was actually behind the board so there is room for improvement.

Jones and junior rival Henry Frayne had several great battles throughout the Australian domestic season and on many occasions Jones produced his biggest on his last attempt.

Still only one automatic qualifier so far in the triple jump, with Olympic champion Phillips Idowu (GBR) holding the second best distance of 17.10m.

At least 12 will advance to the final regardless of whether the automatic qualifying distance is reached.

Jones has been in Europe for more than a month now and placed ninth at the World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia.

It's the start of the second round in the men's triple jump, Jones is 13th in jumping order. The 2006 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist will need a personal best to make the final as 16.87m is the 12th best jump.

There's been some fast semi-finals in the women's 400m with Nolene Williams-Mills (Jamaica) running 49.88 in the first and compatriot Shericka Williams setting a new personal best when winning the second in 49.51.

In the third and final semi-final, Sanya Richards, the fastest in the world this year, meets Olympic conqueror Christine Ohuruogu (GBR) for the second time these championships.

Richards went out extremely fast and made up the stagger in Ohurougu early. The Brit tried briefly to go with the American but found the pace too much for her.

Richards shut down close to the line to win in 50.21 with Ohurougu not far behind in 50.35. A fascinating final awaits.

Jones on the runway for his second jump as teammate Brendan Cole enters the arena to get ready for the semi-finals of the men's 400m hurdles. The Russian national anthem forces a pause in proceedings and Jones will wait a few minutes.

Here he goes... 16.57m, a big improvement on his first attempt and much better on the board.

That puts him in 19th position and he now needs 16.88m to qualify. One jump to go for the Adelaide-born 24-year-old.

Brendan Cole again draws lane eight and is on the starting line now for semi-final one and it's an impressive line-up - Kerron Clement (USA) the defending champion, Danny McFarlane the silver medallist from Beijing, former champion Felix Sanchez (Panama) and 2009's fastest LJ Van Zyl (South Africa).

A huge moment for Cole, the three-time national champion.

A great start for Cole but he collected the fifth hurdle with his trail leg and slowed his progress. 49.92 for the Australian in placing eighth behind winner Clement (48.00).

While he will be disappointed with the time, it was a fantastic effort to make the semi-finals, especially after the dramatic conclusion to last night's heats.

Tristan Thomas is next to go in the hurdles, but meanwhile the women's shot put field is introduced and Valerie Vili (New Zealand) is all smiles as she attempts to defend her title.

Thomas is having fun out there as pokes his tongue out to the cameras. Thomas has a real chance here where the first three will automatically qualify for the final.

Thomas too has trouble at the sixth hurdle as Bershawn Jackson wins the semi-final in 48.23. Thomas runs 49.76 in seventh place.

The Australians have run gallantly though and Thomas and Cole finish in 14th and 15th position respectively.

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."

Tristan Thomas was trying a new stride pattern to give him the best chance of reaching the final.

"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."

Villi might find a challenger tonight as German Nadine Kleinert is the first over 20m with a new personal best of 20.06m. Villi's first throw was 19.40m but she has a personal best more than a metre further than that so there is much room for improvement.

Villi fouls her second and is in fourth place with a mediocre throw by her lofty standards of 19.40m.

Jones is up for his third attempt and calls on the crowd for support. 16.50m for Jones and that won't be enough to progress.

The Victorian-based 24-year-old has a tonne of experience from his 2009 European campaign 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."

The Valerie Villi we know has just returned to the circle heaving out to 20.25m, and now takes the lead.

Kleinert improves her lifetime best again to 20.20m just 5cm behind the New Zealander.

One round to go and Villi improves her lead by another 19cm to 20.44m. She's only thrown further than that on three occasions.

Huge cheers from the parochial crowd for German heptathlete Jennifer Oeser who finishes in second place.

Vili claims victory with another 20.25cm throw on her sixth and final attempt, after German Kleinert failed to catch the big Kiwi.

Men's 100m - Final

The cheering for the German silver medallists and the heptathletes taking a victory lap will now flow over to the men's 100m finalists.

The three fastest men of all time will challenge for the one of the most prized crowns in the sporting world.

From lane one it's Chambers, Marc Burns, Bailey, Bolt, Gay, Powell, Patton and Thompson on the outside.

All finalists can claim sub-10 second personal bests and this may be the first time ever that eight athletes in the same race perform the feat.

Bolt dances. He loves an audience and tonight the packed crowd gives creates electric atmosphere.

Asafa Powell plays up to the camera now. He looks relaxed.

Usain Bolt in 9.58! The greatest performance ever surely!

Gay second in 9.71, Powell third in 9.84. What a race.

Powell joins Bolt for a dance as everyone contemplates what has just happened. Bolt has smashed his world record by 11 hundredths of a second. That's the biggest improvement in the world record since electric timing came into effect. The tailwind was 0.9m/s assisting.

Gay's time makes him the second fastest of all time and it's a new national record.

Bolt says he got plenty of energy from the crowd especially those near the 100m start. The slow motion replay shows him looking side to side over the last 20 metres. Incredible composure. Training partner Daniel Bailey disappointed with fourth place in 9.93.

Powell collects his second world championship bronze medal.

Bolt has just delivered the performance of the meet (performance of the millennium?) and it's only day two, but that's what we thought last year and then he followed up with another astounding world record in the 200m of 19.30. What can he do this time? We'll find out later in the week. The 200m heats begin on Tuesday.