Caribbean 2008 distance year in review
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| Published on Wednesday, December 24, 2008 |
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By Gary Smith
Caribbean Net News Sports Correspondent
Email: gary@caribbeannetnews.com
In this the fourth edition of Caribbean Net News track and field year in review, sports correspondent Gary Smith takes a look at the region's distance runners in the just concluded athletics season.
To no real surprise this season, the longer races did not produce much joy for Caribbean athletes, who were unable to match up with the prolific displays from their fellow sprinters.
However, Jamaica’s number one Kenia Sinclair and Cuban rising star Yeimer López still gave the region something to cheer about in the middle distance category, even with a very low-key 2008 term for regional athletes.
MEN’S REVIEW
It was all about one man for the Caribbean this season, as all else faltered anywhere beyond the one lap races.
López getting it together
López, the 2007 Pan American Games champion in Brazil, registered his finest moments in his career to date this past season. He proved that he could compete with the big boys, after posting an impressive career best of 1:43.07 in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain two months before the Olympics.
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Yeimer López
AFP PHOTO |
Heading into the season with a lifetime best of 1:44.58, López, a man considered back in Cuba as one of the most gifted runners from that nation, continued his speedy climb to world class with some notable performances in 2008.
His best, however, came at the Meeting de Atletismo Jerez when he fended off the challenges of South Africa’s former Olympic silver medallist Mbulaeni Mulaudzi to win a spirited 800m battle.
The Cuban, full of confidence heading to Beijing, went on to cruise through the first two rounds at the Olympic Games and set himself up for a medal in the glory race. He, however, found the form of his more seasoned rivals too advanced and had to settle for sixth place in the finals in a mere 1:45.88.
In fact, had López ran anywhere close to his personal and season’s best, the gold medal would have definitely have been his for the taking. He was on course to win a medal, but found the pace of the likes of eventual champion Kenyan Wilfred Bungei and Sudan’s young star Ismail Ahmed Ismail too demanding.
Nonetheless, the Cuban, will more than likely be satisfied with his progress and achievements in his second successive Olympic Games -- this after making his debut in Athens in 2004 where he made the 400m semi-finals.
His season also included a champion run of 1:44.07, achieved weeks before the start of the Olympic Games.
WOMEN”S REVIEW
On the women’s side of things, Sinclair once again proved that Jamaicans can run farther than the customary sprint events for which they are known.
Sinclair makes the final this time...
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Kenia Sinclair
AFP PHOTO |
The 28-year-old former World Indoor and Commonwealth Games 800m silver medallist finished the season with a year's best of 1:58.24, her fastest in two seasons, in a year when Kenyan “million dollar girl” Pamela Jelimo dominated the two lap event.
After failing to make the finals at the world championships in Osaka, last year, Sinclair managed to live up the early predictions and book her spot in the final race in Beijing.
She ran her year's best time and finished in sixth place.
All-in-all the Jamaican national record holder managed to dip below the 2-minutes barrier nine times this season, including two times under the 1:59.00 standard, and a battling even 1:59.00. Sinclair also produced times of 1:59.02; 1:59.11; 1:59.34; 1:59.77 and 1:59.84 to finish off the term on a high.
Calatayud returned, but clearly not the same
Cuban former world champion Zulia Calatayud was also active this season following a series of injuries that set her back considerably since winning the world title in Helsinki, Finland in the summer of 2005.
Back-to-back winner of the 3rd and 4th IAAF World Athletics Final 800m titles in 2005 and 2006 and an IAAF World Cup champion, Calatayud failed to make it past the semi-finals at the Olympics in Beijing after finishing fourth in her heat in a year best time of 1:58.78.
She also ran times of 1:59.18; 1:59.26; 1:59.74 and 1:59.76 in the season.
In the meantime, the longer running department saw Korene Hinds finishing the faster of the two Jamaican 3000 Metres Steeplechase competitors. The other running was her training partner Mardrea Hyman, who was a world championships finallist in Osaka.
Hinds finished the year with a best effort of 9:32.06, while Hyman’s best was further off at 9:41.68.
Both competitors failed to finish their preliminary races at the Olympics in Beijing and failed to make the finals. | | | | Reads : 1706 | | | |
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