media_artricles :: 2014

Ahye wins Diamond League 100m in photo finish

T&T world leading international sprinter Michelle-Lee Ahye clocked 10.98 seconds, the same as Ivory Coast’s Murielle Ahyoure, but won the women’s 100m dash in a photo-finish when IAAF Diamond League continued in Lausanne, Switzerland, yesterday.

Ahye, who ran the fastest time of the year (10.85) at the T&T National Championships in Port-of-Spain, last month, took her Diamond League points tally to four to sit second in the rankings. Ahyoure’s time was her season best. In third was USA’s English Gardener, who clocked 11.19 seconds.

Meanwhile, Cleopatra Borel, took a fourth-place finish in the women’s shot put. Borel tossed the iron ball 18.88m on her first attempt. Runaway leader Valerie Adams of New Zealand placed first with a 20.42m attempt.

Later, Jehue Gordon was in action in the men’s 400m hurdles and took sixth after running a season-best 49.29m. The race was won by Puerto Rico’s Javier Culson in 48.32 the Diamond League leader, just ahead of USA’s Michael Tinsley, who ran a season-best 48.40 seconds. South Africa’s Cornel Fredericks (49.00) finished third.

T&T’s other representative on the day was Lalonde Gordon, who struggled with an eighth-place finish in 48.38 seconds. The race was won easily by Olympic gold medalist Kirani James, who rewrote his personal record, Grenada’s national record and the Diamond League record with a blistering 43.74 finish. James held the world leading time (43.97) heading into the event, before set a new one. Had James not participated, USA’s Lashawn Merritt may have written the new world leading time. He finished second with a season-best 43.92 and remains the runaway Diamond League table leader with 14 points. Saudi Arabia’s Youssef Ahmed Masrahi placed third with an area-record-breaking time of 44.43 second. Chris Brown of the Bahamas placed fourth in 44.59- also a season best.

The men’s 100m final was dominated by Americans. Justin Gatlin erased T&T’s Richard Thompson’s (9.82) world leading time to win the race comfortably in 9.80 seconds. Tyson Gay was second in 9.93, while Michael Rodgers, was third on the all-American podium with a season best 9.98 seconds.

Kim Collins (10.13) of St Kitts and Nevis and Jamaica’s Kemar Bailey-Cole (10.14) placed fourth and fifth, respectively.

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