David Oliver and other Track Stars Shine on Eventful Night in Paris
The Diamond League Meeting in Paris on Friday saw the top names in international athletics go head-to-head. Some failed to live up to expectations, while others such as US hurdler David Oliver exceeded them.
In the men’s 100m event, Olympic and World Champion Usain Bolt went head-to-head with former world record holder, Asafa Powell, for the first time this season.
The face-off between the Jamaican duo had been the most anticipated component of Friday’s meeting at Stade de France.
Showcasing his exceptionally explosive ability to accelerate, Bolt overtook Powell after 80m, racing ahead of all opponents once his legs were fully stretched.
Bolt finished in 9.84 seconds, with Powell second in 9.91 seconds, and their countryman Yohan Blake in third at 9.95 seconds.
Despite the promising build-up, Friday’s race saw two slightly off-form sprinters unable to clock a season’s best and come nowhere near the 9.70-ranging times Bolt had anticipated earlier in the week.
Oliver Stole the Show
With the main event failing to live up to expectations, it was the 110m hurdles that proved the real attraction on the night.
The race was originally supposed to feature world record holder Dayron Robles, but the Cuban had to withdraw due to injury. So David Oliver, who recently clocked 12.90 seconds in his home country, was left racing against the clock.
And he did it in some fashion. With his powerful build and charging running style, Oliver barged over the hurdles and finished in 12.89 seconds – the third fastest time in the history of the event and only 0.02 seconds short of Robles’ world record, set in 2008.
"It's excellent, I broke the US record and became the third ever under 12.90," said an ecstatic Oliver after the race.
The front page of Oliver’s own website states “12.85” – indicating the kind of time he has set in his sights for the 2010 season.
Despite his pronounced world record ambitions, though, Oliver would rather focus on one race at a time.
"Records will come when they should,” he told the press after his impressive performance. “I'm not thinking about that too much."
Oliver finished significantly ahead of his countrymen Ryan Wilson and Ronnie Ashe, who finished in 13.12 and 13.21 seconds respectively.
Other Results
In the 400m event, US sprinter Jeremy Wariner clocked the fastest time so far this season, finishing in 44.49 seconds ahead of Jamaica’s Jermaine Gonzales.
Steve Hooker, Olympic champion in the men’s pole vault, surprisingly went out of the event at 5.40m, leaving Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie to win the event in front of an ecstatic home crowd.
Somewhat expectedly, Kenya claimed all three places on the podium in the men’s 3000m race, with Olympic gold medalist Brimin Kipruto finishing in first place.
Frustratingly close to a time under eight minutes, his time of 8:00.90 still meant a personal best.
In the men’s 800m, Sudanese runner Abubaker Kaki staved off his competition to finish in 1:43.50 ahead of world champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, who finished in 1:44.11.
Blanka Vlasic, the reigning world champion in women’s high jump, won an entertaining event by cruising over 2.02m after failing twice to do so at 1.98m.
In the women’s 200m event, three-time world champion Allyson Felix of the United States crushed her competition by finishing in 22.14 seconds.
In the absence of global athletics tournaments in the current season, the Diamond League Meetings were conceived by the IAAF as a means of ensuring that the stars in each athletics event can provide spectators with the mouth-watering duels usually seen at the Olympic Games and IAAF World Championships.
The event in Paris certainly served that purpose.
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