media_artricles :: 2015

Borel throws 19

beats Olympic champ in Paris

Cleopatra Borel produced her first 19-metre effort this season, at the Meeting Areva IAAF Diamond League meet, in Paris, France, yesterday.

In the very first round of the women’s shot put, Borel landed the iron ball 19.07 metres to put herself in contention for a top-three finish. The Trinidad and Tobago thrower eventually secured fourth spot, just missing out on the podium.

Germany’s Christina Schwanitz was the class of the 12-woman field, striking gold with a huge 20.31m throw. Gong Lijiao picked up silver for China with a 19.75m effort. And bronze went to American Michelle Carter (19.37m).

While Borel’s 19.07m throw was her best on the day, she also had the satisfaction of coming close to the 19-metre mark in round two, the veteran field athlete throwing the iron ball 18.98m.

As a bonus, Borel defeated New Zealand’s Valerie Adams for only the second time in her career. The two-time Olympic champion was fifth yesterday with an 18.79m effort. Borel’s only other victory over Adams was 11 years ago in Austria. Going into the Paris meet, Adams had not lost a shot put competition since August 2010.

With yesterday’s 19.07m throw, Borel jumped from tenth to fourth on the 2015 world outdoor performance list. Only Schwanitz, the world leader at 20.77m, Gong (20.24m) and Carter (20.02m) have thrown further this season.

Borel is preparing for the July 10-26 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, and the August 22-30 IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China.

T&T-based Cuban, Orlando Ortega produced one of the best performances in Paris yesterday. Ortega stopped the clock at a personal best 12.94 seconds to win the men’s 110m hurdles, taking over the top spot on the 2015 world performance list in the process. The 23-year-old hurdler is now joint-tenth on the world all-time list, alongside American Jack Pierce and Jamaican Hansle Parchment.

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