Kenya, Jamaica record clean sweeps

Corner glory in the women’s 10,000m and 400m

July 31, 2014 01:15 am | Updated August 02, 2014 05:59 pm IST - GLASGOW:

It was very much on expected lines. Yet, there was a collective gasp of adoration at Hampden Park on Tuesday as a trio from Kenya and Jamaica cornered glory with a one-two-three finish in the women’s 10,000m and 400m.

The third day of the athletics events of the 20th Commonwealth Games also stood out for a fine gold medal-winning effort by Canadian Damian Warner, who capped off two days of great consistency to win the men’s decathlon with an impressive total of 8282 points.

On the track, the clean sweep in the 10,000 and 400m were marked by late bursts; in the 25-lapper, Joyce Chepkirui came home in 32:09.35, overtaking teammates Florence Kiplagat and Emily Chebet to finish the clear winner.

The Kenyan trio formed part of the lead pack right from the start, but into the 18th lap they broke clear and worked together to maintain the advantage.

Kiplagat, the pre-race favourite, seemed set for victory coming into the final bend, before she was denied by a late dash down the home stretch by Chepkirui. Kiplagat was timed at 32:09.48 for the silver, while Chebet finished just behind at 32:10.82.

Fascinating event

In the ever fascinating 400m, it was Stephanie McPherson who led the Jamaican carnage over the rest of the field, catching up with teammate Novlene Williams-Hill with less than 20m to go for the finish line, and then striding to a well-deserved victory in 50.67s.

There was further success for Jamaica when Andrew Riley won the men’s 110m hurdles in 13.32s. England’s William Sharman (13.36) had to be content with silver again, despite pushing the Jamaican all the way. Shane Brathwaite (Barbados) was third in 13.49s.

The Caribbean island nation also took the gold medal in women’s triple jump through Kimberly Williams, who led right through the competition with an opening effort of 14.11m and improved it by a further centimetre on the sixth trial, for a season-best. 

England’s Laura Samuels and Avanna Alexander (Trinidad and Tobago) completed the podium with efforts of 14.09m and 14.01m.

Another gold for Kenya

Kenya earned another gold medal before the end of the night, as Faith Chepngetich Kibiegon raced home to win in 4:08.94 ahead of Lucy Weightman (England) and Kate van Bushwick in the women’s 1500 metres.

Jim Steacy (Canada) completed the list of the day’s winners as he took the men’s hammer throw with a winning effort of 74.15m, enjoying an impressive lead over Nicholas Miller (England) and Mark Dry (Scotland) in second and third.

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