By A Correspondent
Cr: https://world-track.org
On arrival in Cali, Colombia, for the World Under-20 athletics championships, Letsile Tebogo had said: “If breaking the world record again comes (to my) mind during the days (ahead), I will have to do it” On Tuesday (Aug 2) at the Pascual Guerrero Olympic Stadium, the 19-year-old from Botswana did just that, ran a world junior record of 9.91s in defending his title won last year in Nairobi, and announcing to the world that he had truly arrived. Tebogo had clocked the previous under-20 record in the senior championships in Eugene, USA, just 18 days earlier. “The race was really amazing”, Tebogo said about the Oregon world junior record. “Competing against the big names was a bit tough but I held my head up.” He clocked 9.94s in the heats to make the semifinals there before being eliminated. The field in Cali on Tuesday evening was not so tough as in Eugene since he was the favourite and after his heats performance of 10.00s that bettered the championship record, it was a foregone conclusion who would win the gold. The question, if any, was about the timing. Tebogo, as he was to say later, was off to the best start of his life, a reaction time of 0.129s giving him the drive needed to take command of the race by the 30 metres. From then on it was a one-man race, with Jamaican Bouwahjgie Nkrumie making a desperate but futile attempt to catch him. With about 30 metres to go to the finish, the favourite and record holder, in lane four, turned to his right and further down gesticulated towards Nkrumie. Comparisons with the great Jamaican, Usain Bolt, were inevitable. Tebogo’s style, his finish, the show-boasting towards the end, were all reminiscent of Bolt. The Jamaican did not have a good start in the Beijing Olympics, but he had time to spare through the final 20 metres, thumping his chest, looking back and running through with his arms down at his side. Had you run with the correct technique till the end? This was a question that Bolt and Tebogo were asked. “The statement (celebration before the end) was to come out and enjoy the race,” he said. “If everybody watching at home can enjoy the race, to remind them a little bit about what Usain Bolt did back in the days. He’s my idol – the person I look up to”, Tebogo told reporters.
Nkrumie’s silver came in 10.022s, a national under-20 record while last year’s silver medallist Benjamin Richardson of South Africa edged Thai sensation, Puripol Boonson, by a thousandth of a second for the bronze, both credited 10.12s. Behind Booson were two other Asians, Malaysia’s Mohd. Azeem Fahmi (10.14s) and Japan’s Hiroki Yanagita (10.24s). It was the second victory for Fahmi over a better-rated Yanagita since he had edged the Japanese in the heats also, while clocking a national under-20 record of 10.09s. Yanagita, a relay team member for Japan at Eugene, was timed the same 10.24s that he clocked in the final. A poor start was the undoing of the Japanese.
Apart from Tebogo, there were others who successfully defended their championships titles. South African Mine de Klerk who took the shot-discus double at Nairobi last year began her title defence by winning the shot put gold on Tuesday. She had a third round mark of 17.17m that proved far too tough for the rest. Turkey’s Pinar Akyol had to be satisfied with the silver for a second successive edition, with 16.84m while Poland’s Zuzana Maslana took the bronze with a personal best of 16.06m. “I didn’t have the best qualifying (16.11m), so I was a bit nervous but once I threw my first shot all nervousness went and I enjoyed it,” said de Klerk , The South African had three other throws over 16.60m apart from her winning mark of over 17 metres. Akyol fouled four of her attempts including the first two with her best coming in the final round.
Frenchman Erwan Konate leaped to 8.08m to defend his long jump title. The winning mark, a world under-20 lead, came in the fifth round. Cuban Alejandro Parada claimed the silver with 7.91m while Brazil’s Gabriel Luiz Boza had the bronze with a last-gasp effort of 7.90m. American Curtis Williams had a personal best 7.86m for the fourth place. Lin Mingfin of Hong Kong (7.57m) was ninth.
Serbia’s Adriana Vilagos was another athlete who won back-to-back titles. She took the javelin gold with a championship record of 63.52m with the host country’s Valentina Barrios improving Colombian national record with 57.84m for the silver. With a last-round throw of 55.11m, Uruguay’s Manuela Rotundo won the bronze. The mixed relay quartet of Barath Sridhar, Priya Mohan, Kapil and Rupal improved their country’s bronze status from the last edition to silver in a fiercely-contested final with the US. The Indians had clocked second best behind the Americans in the heats also, when they timed an Asian under-20 record of 3:19.62. India improved the heats timing by whopping two seconds plus as the team gave a hot chase to the US on the home straight through Rupal. Kennedy Wade held her off eventually for a memorable victory. The event having been relatively new, many teams clocked personal bests and season bests while coming lower down. American Tark O’Hagan had a huge personal best of 20.73m in taking the men’s shot put (6kg) title while Jamaica’s Kobe Lawrence was quite close for the silver with his 20.58m which came in the fifth round. Lawrence could manage only 18.80m in the final round when the American, who had his best in the fourth round, must have been on tenterhooks. On the opening day on Monday, Ethiopia’s Addison Yihune took the men’s 5000m in 14:03.05 while Kenyan Betty Chelangat claimed the women’s 3000m gold in 9:01.03.
