In-form Hession hails display after victory in Spain

PAUL HESSION took his Olympic preparations to another level in Salamanca last night when he beat a strong field to win the 200m in 20.55secs after finishing third in the 100m in 10.27secs.

It is the second fastest ever time by an Irishman outside of his own national record which he set at 10.18secs in Thesalonika last year.

With the 200m as his target it was a late decision to run the 100m and it turned out well for the Athenry medical student who got the evening off to a flying start in the shorter sprint — finishing third behind the Spanish record holder, Angel Rodriguez, who thrilled the home fans with a stunning victory over the reigning European 100m and 200m champion, Francis Obikwelu of Portugal.

The Spaniard won by one hundredth of a second in 10.14secs with Obikwelu second in 10.15secs. A week earlier Obikwelu won 10.14secs in Jerez when running into a headwind but this time the wind reading was +1.7.

The wind reading in the 200m was +0.7 but gusted into a strong headwind on the bend offering no advantage at all to Hession who powered his way to an emphatic victory over a strong field, winning in 20.55 secs.

“Originally I only intended to run the 200m but when I arrived I saw I had been entered in the 100m as well,” he said. “I took a look at the field and saw there was quite a few good guys in there so I decided to give it a go.

“The Spaniard (Rodriguez) got off to a flyer and that put me off a bit but I got myself together and ran my second fastest time ever — my second fastest time last year was 10.28 — so I was delighted with that and the fact that there were so many good athletes behind me.

“Maybe my time in the 200m was not that fast but I was delighted with the way the race went and taking into account the fact that I had athletes like Christian Malcolm behind me it was a significant win. Two guys in the two lanes outside me pulled out at the last minute.

“I thought they might allow me to move lanes but they would not so I was somewhat detached from the field. There was a very strong headwind on the curve which obviously did not register and I guess that would also have affected the time.

“But I won the race by a significant margin and I was very happy with that. My 100m was very good — I finished strongly in both races — but I have been doing some sharper work and I think it showed up in the 100m. It definitely sets me up for a big run in Greece next week.”