by Larry EderThe four finals on Monday, August 27, 2007, day three of the 11th IAAF World Atheltics Championships, were again all about pulling out the great performances. In the women’s steeple, Yekaterian Volkova pushed ahead after the first kilometer and did not give up the lead, winning in 9:06.5, to take the gold. In the men’s hammer, Ivan Tsikan, the defending champion, needed a come from behind last round throw of 83.63 meters to win the gold. In the 100 meters, less than three hundreths of a second seperated first and second, Veronica Campbell and Lauryn Williams. And in the men’s triple jump, a clutch jump by Nelson Evora of Portugal cemented his first gold with a triple jump of 17.74 meters or 58-2.5 feet!
Women’s steeplechase-Russia goes 1, 2
Samitova Galkina, the world record holder, took the pace out at 3:00.55 for the
first kilometer, with Yekaterina Volkova, Tatyana Petrova , both of Russia, and Eunice Jepkorir of Kenya in tow. Yekatorina took the lead after the first kilometer and did not let up, running 3:05 for the second kilometer, passed in 6:05.46 and then, a final kilometer of three minutes to take the gold in 9:06.57, waving down the entire last straightaway, only stopping to hurdle the last barrier. Tatyana Petrova of Russia took second in 9:09.19, her personal best and Eunice Jepkorir took the bronze in 9:20.09!
Men’s Hammer throw
Japan’s Kuji Murofushi, who had dealt not only with injuries this year, but finishing his rigorous studies for a Ph.d, had all of Japan on his shoulders, but it was not to be. Murofushi finished sixth in 80.46 m, a seasonal best. In the end, it was Ivan Tsikan, of Belarus, wrested the top throw from Primoz Kozmus of Slovenia, with Tsikan’s 83.63 meter throw, the best of 2007! Kozmus countered, also in the last round with a throw of 82.29 meters, but it kept him in silver, not gold. Libor Charfreitag of Slovenia took the bronze with his throw of 81.57 meters. In the end, Ivan Tsikan of Belarus defended his title from Helsinki, with a last throw victory!
Women’s 100 meters final
In a see saw battle that saw the lead change several times before 70 meters Veronica Campbell of Jamaica just edged defending Helsinki champion, Lauryn Williams, by the slightest of margins, with both getting the time of 11.01. The 11.01 was a seasonal best for Williams, who has battled injuries since Helsinki. Coming in third, at the very end of the race was Carmaleta Jeter, of the U.S. in a personal best of 11.05!
Mens’ triple jump
Nelson Evora of Portugal, who had lead early in the competition, had to pull out a last round jump of 17.74 meters or 58-2.5 to overcome Jadel Gregorio of Brazil for the gold. Gregorio had jumped 17.59 m or 57-8.5 in round three. Walter Davis of the U.S. the defending champion, competing with a sore right shin, popped off a
17.33 m in the first round. The 56-10.75 held on for the bronze!
For related articles for August 27, 2007: http://osaka2007.iaaf.org/news/kind=2/newsid=40789.html#osaka+2007+highlights+day
For the complete results of August 27, 2007: http://osaka2007.iaaf.org/results/bydate.html#racedate=08-27-2007
For complete coverage by American Track & Field magazine:
http://www.american-trackandfield.com/features/worldchamps07list.html
For the digital version of American Track & Fields’ Resource Guide 2007, including
the 32 pp History of the World Championships, 1983-2005, please click on: http://www.flipseekllc.com/ATFguide.html
