Kenya's Ezekiel Kemboi finally grabbed that elusive Gold on Day 4 in the Berlin World Championships on Tuesday.
His winning time was a new Championship Record of 8:00.43
and the racing over the last few laps was ferocious to say the least. The East Africans were attempting to take chunks out of each other in their pursuit of Gold which has been the domain of Kenyan born athletes for some time now.
France's Bouabdellah Tahri was trying to get a look in on this Kenyan party and hung with the big boys and was able to wrestle a medal away from them by taking Bronze with a final surge over the last 30m to split the intended Kenyan 1-2-3.
In doing so he established a new European Record with his time of 8:01.18
As was expected South Africa's Ruben Ramolefi took out the pace for the 1st kilometer which they blitzed through in 2:41.90, however instead of the tempo dropping the Kenyans simply upped it further with Paul Kipsiele Koech leading through 2km in 5:22.79 and then they lifted the pace even further for the last blitz towards the line.
The facial expressions were etched in painful and somewhat excruciating agony over the last lap with Tahri seemingly looking the most relaxed, however at this event it is expected that the Kenyans die for their country to take Gold and they were rewarded with the top 2 placings.
This was a race where the Pride of Africa was on display and Tahir was able to edge in for a gallant place on the podium.
Other events on the evening and my Fantasy scoring
In the morning session, my Fantasy Team runner, Maryam Yusuf Jamal, came through the heats relatively unscathed and looks to be on for a podium finish in the final and of course a maximum 100 points, that is once she has dealt with the semis which is only on Friday. In her race the USA's Shannon Rowbury came tumbling down but was given a reprieve and she will line up in the semis for another bite at the cherry.
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Britain's Lisa Dobriskey, the Melbourne Commonwealth 1500m Champion in 2006, looked confortable qualifying for the semis however her compatriot World Junior Champion over 1500m, Stephanie Twell, failed to make the cut and will have to wait a little longer to measure herself against the 'big girls' on the World Stage.Â
UK born and now New Zealand citizen, Nikki Hamblin, was able to put her disappointment of the 800m behind her and advance through to the semis as fastest qualifier.
The semis look set for a fight of mega proportions
In the Men's Triple Jump I had Portugal's Nelson Évora in my Fantasy Team and he immediately jumped into the lead. And to cap it all he did this looking easy. Things were looking smooth until Britain's Phillips Idowu provided a monster winning jump of 17.71 and this after being at least 20cm short of the board's jump line.
It was Jump and Gold. The Portuguese athlete had no answer to this and I had added a further 75 points to my tally and to me I could not begrudge Idowu for providing such a master jump when it was most needed.Â
In the Women's javelin I had two 'players' in my Fantasy Team and my 100 pointer failed to deliver while my 2nd choice grabbed silver. Barbora Špotáková of Czech Republic threw 66.42 for 75 points however the favourite to win, Christina Obergföll of Germany, could only conjure up 64.34
for 5th while her compatriot, Steffi Nerius, raised the roof by claiming her country's first Gold with her winning distance of 67.30. A turn up for the books but a well received Gold for Germany.
Berlin 100m Champion, Usain Bolt, floated through his quarter-final with the minimum of fuss and will return for the semis on Wednesday, Day 5. Â Â Â Â Â Â
One athlete who enthused the day as, 'The Best Day of Her Life', was Women's 400m winner, Sanya Richards. The American finally captured a World Outdoor Title after being dominant over the distance for some years. She clocked a World Leading (WL) 49 flat and was elated at finally stepping to the top of the podium.
The Men's 400m hurdles was duly won by the USA's Kerron Clement in 47.91 with the unheralded Javier Culson of Puerto Rico grabbing 2nd in a new national Record (NR) time of 48.09.
At the end of the evening's events I had added less points than I wouldn't have liked to however I had been fully entertained by the Brilliant Berlin Champs.
Roll on Day 5Â Â Â Â Â Â
