Solomon takes silver in Diamond 400m

T&T’s Jarrin Solomon showed no signs of post-Olympic exhaustion as he sped to a silver medal in the men’s 400m at the DN Galan Diamond League in Stockholm, Sweden yesterday. The DN Galan was the first major track meet after the London Games and is the largest annual sporting event in Sweden. Solomon clocked a time of 46.18 seconds to add the silver to his London Olympic men’s 4x400m relay bronze medal. Sudan’s Rabah Yousif, who bowed out in the Olympic semifinals with a time of 45.13, crossed the finish line first in 45.73 ahead of Solomon and Ireland’s Brian Murphy (45.13), who bagged the bronze. Jehue Gordon placed fourth in the men’s 400m hurdles in 49 seconds flat, finishing way off his season best (sb) of 46.79 and his personal best of 46.43. USA’s Michael Tinsley created a major upset when he beat reigning Olympic champion Felix Sanchez (Dominican Republic) for the gold. Tinsley, who claimed silver in London, convincingly won the event in 48.50 leaving Sanchez behind in a distant 48.93.

 

Jamaican Leford Green turned the tables on Gordon, who beat him for sixth place in the Olympic final, by edging the national champion out by three-hundredths of a second to take bronze in the League event with a 48.97 clocking. “Torpedo” Thompson did not make it to the podium either, as he crossed the line sixth in the men’s 100m. The “Torpedo”, who has produced just two sub-ten clockings for the year, could not dip under ten seconds again as he finished the race in 10.23. USA’s Ryan Bailey expectedly won the event in 9.93 seconds to equal his season best. Jamaican 4x100m relay London gold medallist, Nesta Carter, was second in 10.06 followed by compatriot Michael Frater (10.12). Meanwhile in the field events, Cleopatra Borel was unable to secure a top-three spot in the women’s shot put. Although the women’s national shot put record holder was the only athlete who did not have any of her throws disqualified, her best heave of 18.11m, her fourth attempt, was only good enough to land her in sixth position. Borel’s haul was behind her Olympic best of 18.36m and season best of 18.69m. Olympic champion, Valerie Adams, received a one-carat diamond for breaking the stadium record (SR) in winning the women’s shot put. Adams remained totally unsurpassed in the event as the only competitor to throw over 20 metres in all her attempts. The New Zealander threw the metal ball 0.44m less than her Olympic best to produce the winning throw of 20.26m on her second attempt, erasing the previous SR of 19.93m set by Cuban Maria Elena Sarria in 1980.

 

Also receiving a diamond was Croatian Olympic discus champion, Sandra Perkovic, who flung the discus 68.77m to shatter the previous meet record (mr) of 64.76 set by Cuban Carmen Romero in 1980.  London double gold medallist, Sanya Richards-Ross (USA), was pushed to the limit by Botswana’s Amantle Montsho before coming through to win the women’s 400m. The American took the lead from Montsho in the closing stage of the race to win in 49.89 seconds. Montsho finished on 50.03, with Britain’s Christine Ohuruogu taking third in 50.77. “I feel good. Coming back for a race like this after the Olympics, you can feel physically and emotionally drained but, it went pretty well,” Richards-Ross stated following her victory. Other reigning Olympic champions who won their events include: Christian Taylor (USA, men’s triple jump-17.11m) and Yuliya Zaripova (Russia, women’s 3000m steeplechase- 9:05.02 (sb/mr), Anna Chicherova (Russia, women’s high jump- 2.00m).