|
|
| July 29, 2002 | Monday | Jamadi-ul-Awwal 18,1423 |
Kenyans suffer shock defeats in marathons
MANCHESTER, July 28: Kenya’s long-distance dominance was shattered at the Commonwealth Games on Sunday as Tanzania and Australia took the golds in the men’s and women’s marathons.
The Kenyans came into the competition boasting that they would triumph in all the long-distance events, and wins Saturday night in the steeplechase and men’s 10,000m appeared to back them up.
But it was soon clear in the women’s marathon run in cool, overcast conditions that race favourite Esther Maina Wanjiru was in trouble with an injury to her left thigh.
She eventually staggered to a halt 15 km from the finish as an Australian trio raced ahead of her to clean sweep the medals.
The gold went to 35-year-old Kerryn McCann in a time of 2hr 30min 05sec with Krishna Stanton second and Jackie Gallagher third.
In the men’s event, Francis Naali of Tanzania gave his country their first win in the event at the Commonwealth Games since 1978 in a time of 2hr 11:58min.
The 30-year-old, who was recording his first major win at any distance, beat home Kenya’s Joshua Chelanga while Andrew Letherby of Australia produced a storming finish to deprive Kenyan favourite Eric Wainaina of the bronze.
There was double glory for Australia in the 20km walks with Nathan Deakes winning the men’s and Jane Saville the women’s
England were left counting the cost meanwhile of Saturday night’s disastrous men’s 100m sprint final which saw joint favourites Dwain Chambers and Mark Lewis-Francis both pull up with leg injuries.
The two had been in sparkling form in the buildup to the Games joining the elite of world sprint, but both now are in danger of wrecking the rest of their seasons.
The 19-year-old Lewis-Francis looked the biggest concern with a pulled hamstring, the first major setback in what had been a meteoric rise to the top for the former world junior champion.
The older Chambers headed back to London to consult specialists about what his agent called leg cramps before a decision was taken about taking part in the European championships in Munich next week.
Olympic, World and European champion triple jumper Jonathan Edwards aims to win the one major title that has eluded him in his illustrious career, while gutsy long-distance queen Paula Radford will be out to finally turn her bravery into gold in the women’s 5,000m.
The men’s and women’s 400m finals are also on the agenda with Scotland’s rising star Liz McConnell and English pocket battleship Daniel Caines posting the fastest times in the semis.
India celebrated their fourth gold medal of the Games as the country tasted more glory in the shooting competition.
After Abhinav Bindra and Sameer Ambekar had won the Men’s 10m Air Rifle pairs on Saturday, it was the turn of Anjali Bhagwat and Suma Shirur to take gold in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle Pairs and then Rajyavardhan Singh teamed up with Ali Khan Moraad to win the Men’s Double Trap Pairs.
Not to be outdone, Samaresh Jung and Vivek Singh then claimed gold in the Men’s 50m Air Pistol Pairs while Shweta Chaudhary and Sheila Kanungo took silver in the Women’s 10m Air Pistol Pairs.
Track cycling was also getting underway while in gymnastics the men’s all-around individual title went to England’s Kanukai Jackson.—AFP
|
|
|
