The Hindu : Sport : Jamaicans dominate the women’s 100m dash

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Jamaicans dominate the women’s 100m dash

Kamesh Srinivasan

Shelly-Ann Fraser, Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart make it a dream 1-2-3 for the Caribbean nation

— Photo: AP

IN A BREEZE: Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser (second from right) clinched the gold in the women’s 100m final.

BEIJING: Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser turned it on in the last 30 metres to leave the rest of the field behind in the women’s 100m final to emerge the fastest woman at the Olympics with a personal best 10.78 seconds at the Bird’s Nest here on Sunday.

It was a brilliant end to the day’s programme when Kenenisa Bekele outclassed a formidable field in the men’s 10,000m clocking an Olympic record 27 minutes 1.17 seconds. The World record holder was always the favourite and, with compatriot Sileshi Sihine taking the silver, Ethiopia had a satisfying day, though former world record holder and Olympic champion, Haile Gebrselassie could manage only sixth place. Kenyan Micah Kogo, who led with 1000 metres to go, took the bronze.

The evening, of course, belonged to Fraser.

It was a dream 1-2-3 for Jamaica as Sherone Simpson got her head past the finish line ahead of Kerron Stewart —who had led the race initially — on the photo-finish with an identical 10.98.

“Oh my God, that is too much! When I crossed the line and saw Sherone and Kerron there, that was the moment. I wouldn’t trade it for anything else,” said Fraser.

“Once I got the start right, I got to swinging my arms and I thought I could do any time. About 50 metres out, I glimpsed to the sides and I smiled, then I powered through the line,” the new Olympic champion said.

Unprecedented

There never has been a women’s 100m sweep by one nation in Olympic history.

“It was wonderful. I was so grateful to get a silver,” said Simpson.

Lauryn Williams (11.03) and Muna Lee (11.07) of the US had to be content with the fourth and fifth positions while Briton Jeanette Kwakye clocked a personal-best 11.14 for the sixth place.

From the 1984 Los Angeles Games, the US has had a sprinter on the podium in every Olympics. The athletics superpower has already taken some hard knocks here and Sunday’s debacle must surely hurt.

“Man, I swear somebody jumped. Someone got out before the gun. I have never had a bad start like that ever,” said Lee who had a 0.234s reaction time, the worst among the eight finalists. Fraser had 0.190 while Williams had the best at 0.149s.

Former world champion, Torri Edwards of the US finished last with a 11.20, a mere 0.01 second behind Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie of the Bahamas.

“I think I moved a bit there at the start. I think I false started. There was no call back, so I went. I’m disappointed. I wanted at least one American to get up there,” said Edwards.

Classic finish

The excitement of the 100m lingered till Bekele sprinted for a classic finish in the 10,000m as the Ethiopian once again outclassed the Kenyans in the waiting game. Kogo did well to beat compatriot Moses Ndiema Masai for the bronze with a photo-finish 27:04.11.

“I am so happy, winning an Olympic gold for the second time. I did my best, but I couldn’t go faster. We did not prepare any tactics. We just know each other. We train well and we have good preparation. So, anything was possible,” said Bekele.

Asked how he would compare himself with Haile Gebrselassie, Bekele was prompt with his response.

“I have to have many years of winning before I can do that,” he said.

Gulnara Galkina-Samitova of Russia made the women’s 3000m steeplechase memorable by breaking her own world record — she clocked 8 minutes 58.81 seconds — to outclass the field. The 30-year-old’s earlier world record of 9:01.59 was set in Greece in 2004.

Two other favourites for the medal kept their promise. Eunice Jepkorir of Kenya came second, nearly nine seconds behind the champion, as she pipped Ekaterina Volkova of Russia by 0.23 seconds. World championship silver medalist Tatiana Petrova of Russia was placed a distant fourth at 9:12.33.

“My coach told me just watch the situation and use my brain. When I looked up at the last lap, I knew I could break the world record,” said Galkina-Samitova.

Etone defends her title

Francois Mbango Etone of Cameroon set an Olympic record 15.39 metres in triple jump to defend her gold won in Athens. She beat Russian Tatyana Lebedeva by seven centimetres. Incidentally, it was an improvement for Lebedeva from the bronze at Athens, as she jumped her season’s best 15.32 metres on the third attempt in the final, while Hrysopiyi Devetzi of Greece, the silver medallist in Athens, took bronze at 15.23.

Primoz Kozmus won Slovenia’s first Olympic gold medal in athletics with distance of 82.02 metres in the men’s hammer throw final. The 28-year-old achieved the distance on his second attempt, and had the best throw in the first four rounds before the three-time world champion Ivan Tsikhan of Belarus took over and threw 81.51 to eventually bag the bronze.

The world championship silver medallist, Kozmus surpassed the 80-metre mark with all the six throws, starting with an 80.75.

“You can’t go out and say you will win a medal. You must make it happen,” said Kozmus, who added that he was able to overcome his problems with technique in the final.

Vadim Devyatovskiy of Belarus had to settle for the silver with 81.61 on his second throw, as he miscued one of his flings into the cage. It was, however, an improvement for Devyatovskiy from his fourth place finish at Athens.

The defending champion Koji Murofushi of Japan finished fifth at 80.71.

Lagat fails to qualify

In the men’s 1500m, world champion Bernard Lagat of the US, suffered a shock ouster, as he finished sixth in the second semifinal with a 3:37.79. The two fastest qualifiers came in the first race, and the former Kenya runner missed the bus by 0.02 seconds. He had won the silver in Athens and bronze in Sydney. “I tried to follow the pace, follow the strategies I made. I feel bad that it didn’t go well. There was a lot of boxing and a lot of pushing. I gave it my all,” said Lagat.

Kenyan Kipruto Kiprop Asbel topped the qualifiers with a 3:37.04, followed closely by the former world champion Rashid Ramzi at 3:37.11.

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