Hession laments absence of an ‘extra gear’

PAUL HESSION was left struggling for an explanation as he watched a replay of the final of the men’s 200m at the European championships in Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium last night after he faded down the home straight to finish sixth in a disappointing time of 20.71 secs.

The time should not have been disappointing in the context of the other times to emerge from the race. The 20-year-old Frenchman, Christophe Lemaitre, repeated the sprint double achieved by Francis Obikwelu in Gothenburg four years ago in 20.37 secs, which was modest by his standards but good enough to edge out Christian Malcolm (Great Britain) who had to settle for silver, just 100th of a second behind, with the bronze going to the other Frenchman in the race, Martial Mbandjock.

That result alone should have left Hession scratching his head for he has beaten both Malcolm and Mbandjock in the past but this time he could only watch from behind as they fought it out for the medals up front.