Gatlin secures sprint double

American Justin Gatlin proved on Friday he is the speed king for 2014 with a sprint double victory at the Diamond League finals in Brussels to put him firmly on course to complete the year without defeat.

Gatlin, unbeaten in 16 races coming into the finals in Brussels, set a personal and season's best time in a strong 100 metres and followed that up an hour later by destroying his rivals in the 200 metres.
If he wins his final race in Italy's Rieti on Sunday, he would become the first male sprinter to go through an entire season unbeaten since Usain Bolt in 2009, taking full advantage of the Olympic and world champion's exceptionally lean season.

In the 100 metres, Gatlin flew out of the blocks and crossed the line in 9.77 seconds, metres ahead of a strong field, all of them sub-10 seconds men. Fellow American Mike Rogers was second in 9.93 and Jamaica's Asafa Powell third in 9.95. Gatlin's defeat of Rogers also made him the official 2014 Diamond League champion for the distance.

Gatlin, whose last defeat was his fourth-place finish a year ago in Brussels, took to the track again an hour later, destroying an arguably weaker 200 metres field.

In the women's 200 metres, Olympic champion Allyson Felix proved she is the queen of the longer sprint, setting a season's best 22.02 seconds and also taking the title of Diamond League champion in her event.
The evening's other highlight was a high jump showdown between Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim and Ukraine's Bohdan Bondarenko.

The Qatari won with a leap of 2.43 metres, the best in the world this year and beating his own Asian record by a centimetre, before each man tried, but failed, to surpass 2.46.

Gowda finishes 4th

Ace Indian discus thrower Vikas Gowda got a morale booster ahead of the upcoming Asian Games as he finished overall fourth to pocket USD 3,000 prize money.

The US-based Indian, who won a gold in the recent Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, collected two points by virtue of finishing second in the season opening leg in Doha on May 9 with a throw of 63.23M. His second best finish was a fifth in Birmingham leg on August 24 with a throw of 62.78M.

World Championships silver medallist Piotr Malachowski of Poland finished overall winner and ran away with USD 10,000 prize money, while world and Olympic champion Robert Harting of Germany was second (USD 6,000) and Gerd Kanter of Estonia was third (USD 4,000).



Results: Men: 100M: Justin Gatlin (US) 9.77 seconds, 1; Mike Rodgers (US) 9.93, 2; Asafa Powell (Jam) 9.95, 3. 200M: Justin Gatlin (US) 19.71, 1; Femi Ogunode (Qat) 20.15, 2; Alonso Edward (Pan) 20.26, 3. 400M: Renny Quow (T&T) 45.37, 1; Kevin Borlee (Bel) 45.44, 2; Anderson Henriques (Bra) 45.52, 3.

1000M: Adam Kszczot (Pol) 2:15.72, 1; Mohammed Aman (Eth) 2:15.75, 2; Marcin Lewandowski (Pol) 2:15.79, 3. 1500M: Taoufik Makhloufi (Alg) 3:31.78, 1; Silas Kiplagat (Ken) 3:31.80, 2; Ayanleh Souleiman (Dji) 3:32.82, 3. 3000M steeplechase: Jairus Kipchoge Birech (Ken) 7:58.41, 1; Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad (Fra) 8:03.23, 2; Evan Jager (US) 8:04.71, 3. 110M hurdles: Pascal Martinot-Lagarde (Fra) 13.08, 1; Orlando Ortega (Cub) 13.13, 2; Sergey Shubenkov (Rus) 13.22, 3. High jump: Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qat) 2.43 metres, 1; Bohdan Bondarenko (Ukr) 2.40, 2; Ivan Ukhov (Rus) 2.34, 3. Pole vault: Renaud Lavillenie (Fra) 5.93, 1; Robert Sobera (Pol) 5.65, 2; Konstadinos Filippidis (Gre) 5.65, 3. Long jump: Godfrey Khotso Mokoena (Rsa) 8.19, 1; Ignisious Gaisah (Ned) 8.06, 2; Christian Taylor (US) 8.06, 3. Discus throw: Robert Harting (Ger) 67.57, 1; Piotr Malachowski (Pol) 67.35, 2; Gerd Kanter (Est) 65.81, 3.  

Women: 200M Allyson Felix (US) 22.02, 1; Myriam Soumare (Fra) 22.11, 2; Dafne Schippers (Ned) 22.30, 3. 400M: Sanya Richards-Ross (US) 49.98, 1; Stephanie McPherson (Jam) 50.12, 2; Novlene Williams-Mills (Jam) 50.42, 3. 800M: Brenda Martinez (US) 1:58.84, 1; Lynsey Sharp (UK) 1:58.94, 2; Eunice Jepkoech Sum (Ken) 1:58.94, 3. 3000M: Mercy Cherono (Ken) 8:28.95, 1; Sifan Hassan (Ned) 8:29.38, 2; Genzebe Dibaba (Eth) 8:29.41, 3. 100M hurdles: Kristi Castlin (US) 12.76, 1; Anne Zagre (Bel) 12.84, 2; Rosina Hodde (Ned) 12.89, 3. 400M hurdles: Kaliese Spencer (Jam) 54.12, 1; Denisa Rosolova (Cze) 54.54, 2; Eilidh Child (UK) 54.76, 3. Triple jump: Caterine Ibargueen (Col) 14.98, 1; Olha Saladuha (Ukr) 14.53, 2; Yekaterina Koneva (Rus) 14.40, 3. Shot put: Valerie Adams (Nzl) 20.59, 1; Christina Schwanitz (Ger) 19.86, 2; Michelle Carter (US) 19.73, 3. Javelin throw: Barbora Spotakova (Cze) 67.99, 1; Sunette Viljoen (Rsa) 64.30, 2; Kathryn Mitchell (Aus) 62.93, 3.