MADRID, 19 July 2006 — World indoor champion Wilfred Bungei got the better of his outdoor counterpart Rashid Ramzi and world leader Amine Laalou to win a high-class 800 meters at the IAAF Grand Prix in Madrid on Monday.
The Kenyan beat his own meeting record and set a season’s best mark of 1 minute 43.69 to hold off a strong challenge in the final meters from Ramzi of Bahrain who celebrated his 26th birthday with a personal best of 1:44.05.
World leader Laalou of Morocco, who clocked 1:43.25 in the Golden League event in Rome on Friday, had to be content with third spot.
Another Kenyan, Shadrack Korir, followed up his win in Lausanne on Tuesday with victory in the 1500, powering across the line in 3 minutes 33.91 ahead of Adil Kaouch of Morocco.
Daniel Kipchirchir Komen looked to be suffering the after-effects of his impressive 3:29.02 Rome time and only managed fourth spot behind fellow Kenyan Elkanah Angwenyi.
Another notable performance came from Tatyana Lebedeva in the women’s Triple Jump.
The Russian who scooped last year’s $1 million Golden League jackpot, claimed first place with a leap of 15.02 meters, while world champion Trecia Smith of Jamaica clinched second with her final jump of 14.84, her best mark of the season.
Lebedeva, the world leader with a mark of 15.23 this season, said she was hoping to break Inessa Kravets’ world record of 15.50 at the European championships in Gothenburg next month. “It is a historic place for triple jumping and I’m going to be giving it everything on each jump to try and break the record,” she said.
There were some quality performances from a trio of Cuban athletes.
Dayron Robles cruised to victory in the men’s 110 hurdles in 13.08 seconds, marginally slower than his time in finishing fourth to Xiang Liu in Tuesday’s world record race in Lausanne.
“I think Liu’s record (12.88) is beatable,” said Robles. “I’m young, getting better and think I can beat it next year.”
World champion Zulia Calatayud of Cuba beat three-time American champion Hazel Clark to win the women’s 800 in 2 minutes 01.03 and world and Olympic silver medalist Yipsi Moreno won the women’s hammer with a throw of 73.77 meters.
In the men’s shot put, the 2004 world indoor gold medalist Christian Cantwell overhauled reigning world indoor champion Reese Hoffa with a final round effort of 21.79 meters.
Allyson Felix of the United States, the youngest gold medalist at last year’s world championships in Helsinki aged just 19, got her season back on track with victory in the women’s 200 meters in 22.73.
China’s Liu Keen to Defend Shanghai Crown
In Shanghai, China’s Liu Xiang said yesterday he was focusing on retaining his Shanghai Grand Prix title in September after breaking the 110 meters hurdles world record last week.
“I hope I can defend my Shanghai Grand Prix title this year as the race is held in my home town and so many local people and friends have high hopes for me,” Liu said.
The Olympic champion clocked 12.88 seconds at the Lausanne Grand Prix a week ago, breaking the world record of 12.91 he shared with Colin Jackson. He had equaled the Briton’s 1993 record on his way to gold at the Athens Olympics in 2004.
Setting his heart on victory in Shanghai in September will help Liu quickly regain the focus he felt slip as soon as he had achieved his world record.
“Could 12.88 seconds be a limit to what humans can achieve? I asked myself this many times after I broke the record,” the 23-year-old Shanghai native told a news conference.
“Before, I shared the world record with Colin but now I am the world’s only one...That made me feel a bit lost in direction after the race,” Liu said.
Liu’s coach Sun Haiping said he expected his protégé to improve on his record soon.
“Liu still has much more potential to develop and we all expect him to have better times,” Sun said.
A deputy coach of the national team warned, however, that Liu must be given space if he is to successfully defend his Olympic title in Beijing in 2008.
“Because of distractions, Liu rarely has good results in domestic competitions,” Yu Weili told state news agency Xinhua last week.
Liu, however, was adamant he could cope with the pressure of expectations.
“There will always be pressure but I think I can resist all such pressure in my races,” he said.
Chambers Faces Nervous Wait
In London, sprinter Dwain Chambers faces a nervous wait before discovering whether he will be selected for Great Britain’s European Championship squad.
Chambers missed team trials in Manchester at the weekend with a leg-muscle injury and, as a result, did not make the cut when the initial group for the meeting in Sweden was named yesterday.
But 100meters star Chambers, who recently returned to action after a two-year doping ban, could still be included for the Aug. 7-13 event in Gothenburg when the British line-up is confirmed after the London Grand Prix on July 28.
Marlon Devonish, who won both the 100m and 200m in Manchester, has entered only for the latter event and that decision leaves the way clear for Chambers to join Tyrone Edgar and Mark Lewis-Francis as the third 100m runner.
