Kenya sweep in the 1500m and Morocco's 'new kid on the block' Halima Hachlaf held sway in the women's 800m to crown an impressive Africa performance at the 30th edition of the Golden Gala in Rome - the fourth stop of the IAAF Diamond League series.
Hachlaf impresses in 800m
Halima Hachlaf of Morocco bidded her time behind Briton Jenny Meadows and Shanghai Diamond Race winner Janeth Jepkosgei as the 21-year-old effortlessly flew past in the waning stages to nab the biggest victory of her young career, with a career best and world leading 1:58.40 to boot.
Jepkosgei, who passed Meadows midway through the homestretch, took second in 1:58.85 just ahead of Meadows (1:58.89), season's bests for both.
In the season's first high quality race, the first six all reached the line in under two minutes.
Merga again in men's 5000m, but just barely
For the second meet in a row, Imane Merga clearly illustrated what a fierce finish he possesses. In Oslo last Friday, he outkicked Bernard Lagat and Tariku Bekele with a 55-second final lap.
This time the 21-year-old Ethiopian outkicked a slew of runners down the homestretch before crossing - stomping on, actually - the line in 13:00.12 in what turned out to be the closest race of the evening.
After a careful reading of the photo, just three-thousandths of a second ahead of Kenyan Sammy Mutahi, who was credited with the same time.
In a blanket finish, Moses Kipsiro was right with the pair to finish third in 13:00.15.
Chemos over Kipkemoi and Rotich in Women's 3000m Steeplechase - again
Milcah Chemos Cheiwa seemed to have been blown away by her Kenyan rivals Gladys Kipkemoi and Lydia Rotich tonight before producing a magical recovery and scoring a convincing victory with another world leading time of 9:11.71.
The 24-year-old World bronze medallist ran behind the pair this time, and didn't pounce until the final 50 metres.
Kipkemoi, the Shanghai winner, repeated her Oslo finish in 9:13.22, a personal best, followed by Rotich, who clocked 9:19.01 to maintain her stranglehold on Diamond Race third place finishes.
Choge takes another 1500m win in Kenyan sweep
With a strong close similar to that of his victory in Shanghai, Augustine Choge took the 1500m (not a part of the Diamond League in Rome) in 3:32.21, well ahead of past Rome winner Daniel Kipchirchir Komen who clocked 3:33.08. Geoffrey Rono filled out the Kenyan sweep in 3:33.08 to take third.
South Africa's Sunette Viljoen finished second in 63.04m in the Women's Javelin Throw. The IAAF Diamond League continues in New York on Saturday June 19, 2010.
Selected Results
Men
100m -- 1, Asafa Powell, Jamaica, 9.82. 2, Christophe Lamaitre, France, 10.09. 3, Martial Mbandjock, France, 10.09. 4, Jaysuma Saidy Ndure, Norway, 10.17. 5, Lerone Clarke, Jamaica, 10.19. 6, Mario Forsythe, Jamaica, 10.25. 7, Simone Collio, Italy, 10.29. 8, Mark Lewis-Francis, Britain, 10.30. 9, Ronald Pognon, France, 10.32.
200m -- 1, Walter Dix, United States, 19.86. 2, Wallace Spearmon, United States, 20.05. 3, Paul Hession, Ireland, 20.60. 4, Xavier Carter, United States, 20.60. 5, Steve Mullings, Jamaica, 20.73. 6, Marlon Devonish, Britain, 20.79. 7, Ainsley Waugh, Jamaica, 20.80. 8, Diego Marani, Italy, 20.91. 9, Marvin Anderson, Jamaica, 26.30.
400m -- 1, Jeremy Wariner, United States, 44.73. 2, Angelo Taylor, United States, 44.74. 3, Christopher Brown, Bahamas, 45.05. 4, Renny Quow, Trinidad and Tobago, 45.52. 5, Michael Bingham, Britain, 46.04. 6, Claudio Licciardello, Italy, 46.32. 7, Jonathan Borlee, Belgium, 46.62. DNF: Jermaine Gonzales, Jamaica; David Neville, United States.
1,500m -- 1, Agustine Kiprono Choge, Kenya, 3:32.21. 2, Daniel Kipchirchir Komen, Kenya, 3:33.08. 3, Geoffrey Kipkoech Rono, Kenya, 3:33.89. 4, Antar Zerguelaine, Algeria, 3:34.82. 5, Gideon Gathimba, Kenya, 3:34.92. 6, William Biwott Tanui, Kenta, 3:34.92. 7, Diego Ruiz, Spain, 3:35.06. 8, Juan Carlos Higuero, Spain, 3:35.10.
5,000m -- 1, Imane Merga, Eritrea, 13:00.12. 2, Sammy Alex Mutahi, Kenya, 13:00.12. 3, Moses Ndiema Kipsiro, Uganda, 13:00.15. 4, Tariku Bekele, Ethiopia, 13:00.81. 5, Vincent Kiprop Chepkok, Kenya, 13:01.37. 6, Matthew Kipkoech Kisorio, Kenya, 13:02.72. 7, Teklemariam Medhin, Eritrea, 13:04.55. 8, Bekana Daba, Eritrea, 13:05.20.
110m Hurdles -- 1, Dayron Robles, Cuba, 13.14. 2, Dwight Thomas, Jamaica, 13.31. 3, Ryan Braithwaite, Barbados, 13.34. 4, Ryan Wilson, United States, 13.37. 5, Andrew Turner, Britain, 13.48. 6, David Payne, United States, 13.61. 7, Jason Richardson, United States, 13.65. 8, Petr Svoboda, Czech Republic, 13.86. 9, William Sharman, Britain, 14.07.
4x100m Relay -- 1, France, 38.50. 2, Italy 1, 38.72. 3, Jamaica, 39.05. 4, Poland, 39.30. 5, Switzerland, 39.34. 6, Italy 2, 39.78. 7, Netherlands, 39.92. 8, Spain, 39.99.
Long Jump -- 1, Dwight Phillips, United States, 27 feet, 7 1/2 . 2, Irving Saladino, Panama, 26-8 1/4 . 3, Fabrice Lapierre, Australia, 26-7 1/4 . 4, Brian Johnson, United States, 26-5 1/2 . 5, Ndiss Kada Badji, Senegal, 25-11 1/2 . 6, Chris Tomlinson, Britain, 25-6 3/4 . 7, Michel Torneus, Sweden, 25-6 3/4 . 8, Emmanuele Formichetti, Italy, 24-10. 9, Wilfredo Martinez, Cuba, 24-7.
Shot Put -- 1, Christian Cantwell, United States, 71-1 1/4 . 2, Dylan Armstrong, Canada, 7-50. 3, Reese Hoffa, United States, 69-4 3/4 . 4, Pavel Lyzhyn, Belarus, 68-6 1/2 . 5, Tomasz Majewski, Poland, 68-1. 6, Daniel Taylor, United States, 66-8. 7, Ralf Bartels, Germany, 66-0 1/2 . 8, Adam Nelson, United States, 65-2 3/4 . 9, Yves Niare, France, 64-8 1/2 .
Discus -- 1, Piotr Malachowski, Poland, 225-8. 2, Gerd Kanter, Estonia, 222-1. 3, Zoltan Kovago, Hungary, 220-8. 4, Robert Harting, Germany, 217-7. 5, Ehsan Hadadi, Iran, 216-10. 6, Gerhard Mayer, Austria, 214-0. 7, Erik Cadee, Netherlands, 210-10. 8, Virgilijus, Alekna, Lithuania, 208-3. 9, Marco Zitelli, Italy, 185-11.
Women
100m -- 1, Lashauntea Moore, United States, 11.04. 2, Chandra Sturrup, Bahamas, 11.14. 3, Tahesia Harrigan, British Virgin Islands, 11.17. 4, Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie, Bahamas, 11.31. 5, Gloria Asumnu, United States, 11.31. 6, Allen Bailey, Jamaica, 11.40. 7, Audrey Alloh, Italy, 11.79. DQ, Mikkele Barber, United States; Shelly-Ann Fraser, Jamaica.
800m -- 1, Halima Hachlaf, Morocco, 1:58.40. 2, Janeth Jepkosgei, Kenya, 1:58.85. 3, Jennifer Meadows, Britain, 1:58.89. 4, Egle Balciunaite, Lithuania, 1:59.54. 5, Jemma Simpson, Britain, 1:59.58. 6, Neisha Bernard-Thomas, Grenada, 1:59.70. 7, Elisa Cisma-Piccone, Italy, 2:00.11. 8, Vulija Krevsun, Ukraine, 2:00.29.
400m Hurdles -- 1, Lashinda Demus, United States, 52.82. 2, Kaliese Spencer, Jamaica, 53.48. 3, Natalya Antyukh, Russia, 54.00. 4, Zuzana Hejnova, Czech Republic, 54.13. 5, Josanne Lucas, Trinidad and Tobago, 54.84. 6, Anna Marta Jesien, Poland, 54.96. 7, Angela Morosanu, Romania, 55.70. 8, Ajoke Odumosu, Nigeria, 55.75. 9, Manuela Gentili, Italy, 56.06.
3,000m Steeplechase -- 1, Milcah Chemos Cheiywa, Kenya, 9:11.71. 2, Gladys Jerotich Kipkemoi, Kenya, 9:13.22. 3, Lydia Jebet Rotich, Kenya, 9:19.01. 4, Sofia Assefa, Ethiopia, 9:24.51. 5, Wioletta Frankiewicz, Poland, 9:29.68. 6, Mercy Wanjiku Njoroge, Kenya, 9:30.78. 7, Katarzyna Kowlaska, Poland, 9:35.56. 8, Sophie Duarte, France, 9:38.55.
High Jump -- 1, Blanka Vlasic, Croatia, 6-8. 2, Chaunte Howard-Lowe, United States, 6-8. 3, Lavern Spencer, St. Lucia, 6-4 3/4 . 4, Antonietta Di Martino, Italy, 6-4 3/4 . 5, Ruth Beitia, Spain, 6-4 3/4 . 6 (tie), Irina Gordeyeva, Russia, and Vita Styopina, Ukraine, 6-2 3/4 . 8, Svetlana Shkolina, Russia, 6-2 3/4 . 9, Emma Green, Sweden, 6-2 3/4 .
Pole Vault -- 1, Fabiana Murer, Brazil, 4.70. 2, Silke Spiegelburg, Germany, 15-5. 3, Jirina Ptacnikova, Czech Republic, 15-1. 4, Anna Rogowska, Poland, 15-1. 5, Yuliya Golubchikova, Russia, 15-1. 6, Tatyana Polnova, Russia, 14-9. 7, Kate Dennison, Britain, 14-9. 8, Monika Pyrek, Poland, 14-5 1/4 .
Triple Jump -- 1, Yargelis Savigne, Cuba, 48-4 1/2 . 2, Olga Rypakova, Kazakhstan, 48-4 1/2 . 3, Olha Saladukha, Ukraine, 47-4 1/2 . 4, Anna Pyatykh, Russia, 47-2 1/4 . 5, Simona La Mantia, Italy, 46-6. 6, Nadezhda Alekhina, Russia, 46-1 1/4 . 7, Katja Demut, Germany, 45-9. 8, Magdalin Martinez, Italy, 45-7. 9, Trecia Kaye Smith, Jamaica, 44-4.
Javelin -- 1, Barbora Spotakova, Czech Republic, 225-3. 2, Sunette Viljoen, South Africa, 206-10. 3, Vira Rebryk, Ukraine, 204-10. 4, Christina Obergfoll, Germany, 204-7. 5, Linda Stahl, Germany, 203-6. 6, Martina Ratej, Slovenia, 203-5. 7, Goldie Sayers, Britain, 200-10. 8, Jarmila Klimesova, Czech Republic, 195-2. 9, Zahra Bani, Italy, 187-5.
@IAAF Diamond League