In-form Gillick fourth in Zurich

ON a night that saw Yelena Isinbayeva bounce back from the disaster of the world championships to set a new world record in the pole vault, Ireland’s David Gillick improved on his Berlin placing to finish fourth in the men’s 400m and Derval O’Rourke finished seventh in the 100m hurdles at the Golden League meeting in Zurich.

Despite the awesome presence of double world record holder, Usain Bolt, who won the 100m in 9.81 secs, and the other double world champion, Kenenisa Bekele, who ran the fastest 5,000m in the world this year at 12:52:32, to stay in the hunt for the $1 million jackpot, the night belonged to Isinbayeva.

The Russian, who no-heighted in the final at world championships a week earlier, staged one of the most dramatic comebacks in athletics history to set a new world record with a first time clearance at 5.06m – breaking the record which she set at 5.05m at the Olympics in Beijing last year.

The victory, which also keeps Isinbayeva in the hunt for the jackpot, was already hers after earlier first time clearances at 4.71 and 4.81 which comfortably defeated the best that newly crowned world champion, Anna Rogowska (Poland).

Derval O’Rourke was tired after her record breaking performance in Berlin and last night she showed just a bit of fatigue as the new world champion, Brigitte Foster-Hylton, took a slight lead at the fourth hurdle, but the Jamaican could not shake off Olympic champion Dawn Harper and could only just hang on in an exciting finish which was won in the fastest time recorded in the world this year, 12.46 secs.

Canada’s Perdita Felicien was the next across the line, in 12.61, just pipping Berlin bronze medallist, Delloreen Ennis-London (12.61), while the Berlin silver medallist, Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, was sixth in 12.70, with Derval O’Rourke seventh in 12.97 secs. LoLo Jones finished eighth.

David Gillick, facing basically the same field with a couple of newcomers improved on his sixth place in Berlin when he finished fourth in the 400m in 45.25 secs. Again the contest at the front was between the top two Americans with LaShawn Merritt claiming victory in 44.21 secs from Jeremy Wariner, 44.62 secs with Renny Quow (Trinidad), bronze medallist in Berlin, again finishing third in 44.77 secs.

Angelo Taylor finished behind David Gillick in 45.28 secs, with another Olympic finalist, Christopher Brown, who was ahead of Gillick in Berlin, sixth in 45.37 secs.