08.06.2009

Victory for Cole in Geneva as Lapierre places third at Prefontaine

World University Games representatives Brendan Cole and Lauren Boden opened their European campaigns in Switzerland on Saturday at the Athletics Geneva International Meet.

Cole, a winner at this meet last year, dominated the men's 400m hurdles, winning in 50.59s.

Starting gun misfires and swirling winds did not make for ideal conditions but Cole was content with the win which came only two days after arriving in Europe.  

"I didn't feel that great and the six restarts didn't help but at least the rain stayed away," said Cole after the race.

Boden, competing on the European circuit for the first time, went out hard and led the field to 200m in the women's 400m hurdles.

Unfortunately she lost momentum after smashing the seventh barrier with her trail leg, and her challengers pounced.

Boden, who will compete in her second World University Games in Belgrade in July, finished in fifth place with a time of 57.97s. 

The Canberra-based pair, who are chasing A-qualifiers for the world championships, will race next week in Namur, Belgium.

With thanks to Pat Birgan

Lapierre leaps to third at Prefontaine Classic

Berlin-bound long jumper Fabrice Lapierre has placed third at the Prefontaine Classic in the United States overnight.

The 25-year-old who reached a career best 8.29m to win the Australian title in March, landed 8.02m (-0.1) in the sand, however could not match the high flying pair of Dwight Phillips (USA) and Irving Saladino (PAN) who dominated the competition.

Phillips, who won world titles in 2003 and 2005 and Olympic gold in 2004, made his season intentions clear with a massive 8.74m (-1.2) leap - the equal fifth best jump of all-time - to secure the victory.

Saladino, the Olympic gold medallist in Beijing, had to settle for second place with a jump of 8.63m (-0.4).

Phillips notched his winning leap on his third attempt. He opened the competition with a leap of 8.43m, then fouled. On his fourth try he notched 8.64m - also bettering his previous personal best of 8.60m, then passed on his last two attempts as Saladino fouled on his last two tries after notching his 8.63m on his fourth attempt.

Lapierre's next competition will be a dress rehearsal for the world championships - the Berlin Golden League on June 14.

View footage of Dwight's 8.74m jump

2009 Prefontaine Classic - results, photos and footage

Benita second in Vienna

Two-time New York City marathon winner Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia has taken out the 22^nd Austrian Women’s Run in Vienna on Sunday, breaking the course record in the process. The 32-year-old completed the 5km course in 15:29.4 minutes, comfortably defeating Australia's Benita Johnson (16:04.8) and Krisztina Papp of Hungary (16:08.5).