by Stuart Weir
Murielle Ahoure, and the Bauhaus Ant, photo by J. Stuart Weir
Being the ever observant member of the media that he is, Stuart Weir knows a story when he sees one, and the Bauhaus Ant is a story. The official mascot of the Bauhuas company, the sponsor of the Stockholm DL, it is also a product which Bauhaus uses to supports charities. Read on, dear reader about the lovely and classy Murielle Ahoure, who represents the Coite D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), and the charming and fast Andre De Grasse, who is getting faster and faster.
Stockholm sprint winners well rewarded.
There were two fascinating sprints in the Bauhaus Galan Diamond League in Stockholm. When the start list for the men’s 100 was circulated it only had five names, but by the time of the race it had grown to eight runners. André de Grasse won and we gasped when the time was clocked at 9.69 and the first five men were under 10.00. We gasped again when we saw that the wind was registering at +4.8.
De Grasse said afterwards: “It was a shock to me when I saw the time on the board. I just wanted to run sub 10 and I didn’t feel in the shape to run that fast. I’m really happy about it, it’s a good start to the season, I’m just looking forward to running that fast legally. I had a great start; I felt pretty good coming out, so I knew I had my top end speed coming out, I just had to hold it and finish strong. I felt the wind when we lining up but when we went into the blocks and started racing I didn’t really feel the wind.
“That’s the fastest I’ve ever run ever, it’s going to be a shock to the body. Tomorrow it’s going to hurt a little bit. I’m just looking forward to the next race to see what I can do legally. It gives me a lot of confidence running that fast because I didn’t feel that fast, I know when I actually start coming together and feeling good and getting ready to peak for the world championships, I know it’s going to be something special”.
Murielle Ahouré won the women’s 200 in a season’s best 22.68 and declared herself pleased with the performance: “I think it was OK. It was my second 200 of the year. I will take that for my second race and the times will continue to drop so by the time I get to the world championships it should be good. Two races in a week has been tough as I have been fighting an allergic reaction the last couple of days. I have been taking a lot of medicine so I’m really drowsy, but I’m super happy to come out today and pull off the win. I am right on pace, right on track. My coach is really happy with the progression so I’m happy as well”.
Three days earlier Ahouré had run 22.74 in Oslo in the race in which Dafne Schippers false-started, ran under protest, was DQed and re-instated, which left most observers feeling that Ahouré was the real winner. When I asked her about the Oslo race, she was gracious and philosophical, saying: “It is what it is. The meet director and the organizers decided to give Dafne the win and I have to go with that. It is unfortunate, but there it is”.
André and Murielle each were each presented with flowers and a giant ant as well as the prize money. The ant is the event sponsor Bauhaus’s official mascot. The company sells small ones for 70 crowns ($9) with 50 crowns going to a children’s cancer charity. Murielle confirmed that this was a special moment for her: “I’ve never won a giant ant before. It’s my first one so I can’t wait to take it home”.
