Day 5: Big highs and lows for Americans at Lahti worlds
Rita Hanscom, running the event for only the second time, won the W55 300 hurdles today at Lahti worlds, going out easy and finishing hard to pass two other ladies in the last 50 meters. Darnell Gatling took the M45 400 hurdles easily. Linda Cohn won the W55 javelin. Disappointments came in the M50 800, where Anselm LeBourne stumbled in the last 10 meters and was beaten for gold, and in the M45 400 hurdles, where race co-favorite Don Drummond pulled his right hamstring before the first barrier. (He’d injured it a month earlier.)  Chris Grant of Jamaica won, and graciously visited Don as he sat against a wall for 20 minutes while recovering.
Rita Hanscom, third over the last hurdle, outsprinted all her W55 rivals.
Don’s injury was one of 70 at the meet requiring chemical icepacks, according to a first aid official I spoke to today. That’s about 14 a day. In the stands, one prominent sprinter wondered aloud why nobody representing Team USA went down to check out Don. (Carrol DeWeese, USATF Masters T&F treasurer, acting as a safety judge, paid Don a visit, though.) It was again gorgeous in Lahti with tempsin the 60s and 70s and only a short sprinkle in the afternoon.
Becky Sisley reacts after seeing her 200H time listed on screen:Â PR and AR.
Darnell Gatling has gold in sights after beating Tony Echeandia over last hurdle.
Race winner Chris Grant checks on injured M40 hurdler Don Drummond.
9 Responses
who won 5000 M60 without Nolan Shaheed?
Israeli won M60 5K.
Results are here:
http://live.time4results.com/yu/2009/wma2009/090801/62-1-r.html
Way to go, Rita! What a shining star!
Congratulations, Linda. I knew you could do it!
I’ll have to look it up, but I suppose it was the best ever W55 javelin competition. Not the best numner 1, but the best number 3. A pity I wasn’t there to be beaten for place 4…
RITA CONGRATS. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN’T DO. 🙂
I owe much of my success to the speed endurance training this season with Kettrell Berry and Jai Black. The workouts were unlike anything I had ever done. Kettrell, thanks for all your help, encouragement, and most of all, those incredible daily journeys into the zone of pain and discomfort. I didn’t know those visits would pay off like they have. You’re my hero.
While I’m at it, I would be remiss not to thank Nadine O’Connor and Bud Held for their daily encouragement, coaching and track acumen. I would never have tried any of this without them. Love you both!
Congratulations Rita on all of your Gold Medal and record setting performances . I am soooooooo happy for you!!!. I enjoyed witnessing your focus and determination as you prepared for Lahti. You are an inspiration!!!
congrats to the winners.
As usual the longer distant events are just chopped liver here – consigned to outer darkness at the furtherest out stadium – no attention is paid to the results of the x-c nor 5k – and never mind the 10k races on the track coming up. Also ignored are the race walks. There are some fine masters athletes competing in those events.
I also note that the photograhpers do not bother with schlepping to the outer darkness stadiumm to take photos.
It is just the glamor events of which notice is taken. This is the same old same old.
However on a positive note – from me – the grouch of the lap counting. The Chip is being used for lap counting not only at the x-c but also the longer track runs and the race walk. The lapcounting is accurate and an electronic board allows the spectators to keep track of how many laps to go – a bit tough for the competitors to do so but easy for their fans in the stands to call out to them if they have been lapped.
Will this ever happen at our national meets – not likely and when I suggested that Sacramento should do this for the WMA meet in 2011 – I was told by someone with a bit of authority that the track had to be dug up for the electronics.
That is a load of balaony – they used a mat – just like a road race. NO ONE tripped over the mat. I have never seen a road dug up for the use of chips in road races. Hopefully the Sac LOC will be able to think outside the box and use chips for electronic timing and bring to an end the eternally poor lap counting.
Lahti LOC has their act together for the distance events and I am thankful for that.
Congratulations to racewalkers M75
Jack Bray 5K RW and 10K RW world champion
Carlos Acosta 5K RW and 10K RW silver medalist
Al Dubois for his bronze nedal in M75 5K RW
Great go guys..you’re the inspiration!!
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