Shelly-Ann Fraser won the women’s 100M in a blistering 10.73 seconds to complete a double for the Jamaicans after Usain Bolt’s triumph on Sunday and Bekele equalled Haile Gebrselassie’s record in the 10000M but the spotlight, even in defeat, was on Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva.
The queen of pole vault, the Olympic champion and the world record holder, suffered an inglorious exit at the Olympic Stadium, no-heighting in the final as Anna Rogowska of Poland snatched her crown away.
Isinbayeva hasn’t been in great touch this season and had suffered her first defeat in 19 competitions to Rogowska in London last month but she was expected to bounce back and defend her title here. But showing neither the energy nor the bounce of her glory days, the 27-year-old two-time champion left with tear drops in her hands instead of a familiar piece of yellow metal.
Entering the competition at 4.75 metres, Isinbayeva, whose world mark stands at 5.05, failed once and then raised the bar to 4.80. But twice she brought it down and buried her head in her hands, even as Rogowska leapt into the air in celebration. Having cleared 4.75, she was the new champion, with American Chelsea Johnson (4.65) taking the silver and Monika Pyrek (4.65) the bronze.
Olympic champion Ann-Fraser nailed the challenge of her main rival Kerron Stewart at the start itself. She was off like a bullet and Stewart, despite all the work she did in the second half of the race, was two-hundredths of a second behind at 10.75. Carmelita Jeter of the United States took the bronze in 10.90. Ann-Fraser’s time equalled the third fastest ever, behind Flo-Jo’s 10.49 and Marion Jones’ 10.65 while Stewart’s was a personal best.
Bekele warded off a hot challenge from Eritrean Zersenay Tadesse, producing a championship record of 26:46.31 for his fourth straight 10000M gold. Tadesse, the World 10K winner in Bangalore last year, clocked 26:50.12 for the silver while Moses Masai, brother of women’s champion Linet, took the bronze for Kenya. India’s Surender Singh ended 19th in a season’s best of 28:35.51.
Primoz Kozmus of Slovenia won the first gold on the third night when he hurled the hammer to a season’s best of 80.84 metres. The Olympic champion was expected to face a stiff challenge from Beijing silver medallist Krisztian Pars of Hungary but he was below par on the day, ending fourth.
Pamela Jelimo was a major casualty in the women’s 800 metres semifinals earlier in the evening, the Olympic champion from Kenya dropping out just before the 600M mark in her heat. Jelimo had been spiked during the first round on Sunday.
DH News Service
Results: Men: 10000M: Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) 26:46.31, 1; Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) 26:50.12, 2; Moses Masai (Kenya) 26:57.39, 3.
Hammer throw: Primoz Kozmus (Slovenia) 80.84 metres, 1; Szymon Ziolkowski (Poland) 79.30, 2; Aleksey Zagornyi (Russia) 78.09, 3.
Women: 100M: Shelly-Ann Fraser (Jamaica) 10.73 seconds, 1; Kerron Stewart (Jamaica) 10.75, 2; Carmelita Jeter (USA) 10.90, 3.
3000M steeplechase: Marta Dominguez (Spain) 9:07.32, 1; Yuliya Zarudneva (Russia) 9:08.39, 2; Milcah Chemos Cheywa (Kenya) 9:08.57, 3.
Pole vault: Anna Rogowska (Poland) 4.75 metres, 1; Chelsea Johnson (United States) 4.65, 2; Monika Pyrek (Poland) 4.65, 3.
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