Diamond League Race Zone: Gemili clocks personal best in 200m
|
UPDATED:
21:30 GMT, 26 August 2012
Adam Gemili ran the second fastest 200 metres time for a British junior in history when he clocked a personal best of 20.53sec on Sunday.
/08/26/article-2193978-14B44147000005DC-360_468x299.jpg” width=”468″ height=”299″ alt=”Brit special: Adam Gemili (right) ran a personal best in the 200m” class=”blkBorder” />
Brit special: Adam Gemili (right) ran a personal best in the 200m
What 18-year-old Gemili made of yet another sparkling run was unclear to BBC viewers, with the broadcaster interviewing Tyson Gay, who came second in 20.23sec, after the race.
It was a stellar line-up including Olympic sprint finalists Wallace Spearmon, Churandy Martina and Ryan Bailey but spare a thought for winner Nickel Ashmeade.
The Jamaican wasn’t at London 2012 because he shares the same country as Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake and Warren Weir, the Olympic 1-2-3. Ashmeade won in 20.12sec.
Jet-heeled Jeter gets revenge
Carmelita Jegter must look back at the Olympic 100 metres final and think ‘What if’ after once again defeating the champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. The American veteran came second to her Jamaican rival in London by 0.03sec but beat her in Lausanne last week and again here, recording a meet record of 10.81sec. ‘It’s easy to keep going when you love running. I love to hear that gun click,’ said the 32-year-old, rather ominously.
Fast as lightening: Carmelita Jeter (left) won the 100m in Birmingham
Merritt wins again… but isn’t satisfied
Aries Merritt, the Olympic champion, continued his scintillating season’s form to win the 110 metres hurdles in 12.95sec, a meet record. ‘Smooth and silky,’ purred Colin Jackson but Merritt disagreed. ‘I made a lot of technical mistakes,’ he said after beating world champion Jason Richardson by 0.03sec. Britain’s Lawrence Clarke, fourth at London 2012, finished sixth here in 13.52sec.
Adams feels 'robbed'
Valerie Adams won the shot put with a throw of 20.52 metres, then spoke of her anger at being denied a chance to stand on top of the podium at the Olympics. Belarusian Nadezhda Ostapchuk was stripped of gold after testing positive for steroids, promoting Beijing gold medallist Adams to first.
The New Zealander said she had given her silver medal back but not yet got gold and hopes a presentation will be made at the Diamond League meet in Zurich this week or when she returns home.
‘She robbed me of that moment (at the Olympics),’ Adams said. ‘That hurts more than anything. Instead of being upset I should’ve been celebrating. She’s got to live with the consequences for the rest of her life and be known as a cheat.’
Winning throw: New Zealand's Valerie Adams was awarded Olympic gold
I could’ve won a medal if I was fit, insists Meadows
Jenny Meadows was at Sunday’s Birmingham meet sporting a pair of crutches. The 800 metres European indoor champion revealed she has undergone surgery on the long-term achilles injury which effectively ruled her out of the Olympics, but said she would be back next season.
She told how she watched the 800m final, won by Russia’s Mariya Savinova, and said: ‘I definitely thought there was a chance for me on the podium, the bronze was won in 1min 57sec and I have run that time. It’s been a difficult year.’ Britain’s Marilyn Okoro came third in 2min 01.96sec.
