Heffernan gold chances boosted as rival pulls out
“He’s in with a good shout,” said Griffin, who competed in the in London last summer. “His training has been going well and he’s in a good frame of mind.”
Heffernan, who was fourth in London last year, will be well into his walking for a medal when these column inches are being read, with a 5:30am start time, but the hunt for medals will really only get under way at the 30km mark.
“It’s only at the 30-35km mark that the race really kicks off,” said Griffin. “There are six to seven guys who could win but he’s in medal territory.”
Heffernan’s training partner, Brendan Boyce of Letterkenny, will also be competing in the event and is capable of a top-30 placing.
Laura Reynolds was “disappointed” with her 31st place and 1:33:39 clocking in yesterday’s women’s 20km race walk, but her coach Colin Griffin felt she did “quite well” time-wise and can reach the level of race walking heroines such as Gillian O’Sullivan and Olive Loughnane.
“She’ll be disappointed but it wasn’t a complete disaster,” said Griffin with his coaching hat on. “She’s been consistently competing at a higher level and her performance was the same time-wise as the Olympics, where she came 20th.
“She’ll be back. She has the potential to be at the level of Gillian O’Sullivan and Olive Loughnane.”
Russia’s Elena Lashmanova won gold yesterday in a fast 1:27:08.
In the stadium, Elena Isinbayeva, the poster girl for these championships, put herself back on top of the world with a 4.89m clearance in the pole vault, sending the Moscovites into raptures. It was Isinbayeva’s third world title which she adds to her two Olympic crowns.
Isinbayeva usurped last year’s Olympic champion Jenn Suhr of the USA who cleared 4.82m, the same height as Cuba’s Yarisley Silva — the American getting the silver on countback.
Germany’s eccentric Robert Harting continued his domination of the discus event, winning his third consecutive title (69.11m).
The men’s 800m final had the red of USA to the front with Duane Solomon setting the pace for much of the race and compatriot Nick Symmonds on his shoulder.
Symmonds looked on the verge of victory with 80m to go until Ethiopia’s Mohammed Aman found some extra reserves to win his first global title in 1:43.31. Symmonds had to be content with silver in 1:43.55 with Djibouti’s Ayanleh Souleiman third in 1:43.76 — Solomon faded to sixth.
With the absence of Kenyan 800m kingpin David Rudisha, there was going to be a new champion and Aman, ranked world No 1 this year, became the first Ethiopian to win an 800m title — the longer distances the normal preserve for the country on the horn of Africa.
The 3,000m steeplechase is the preserve of the east Africans, Kenya to be exact, and Milcah Chemos Cheywa ensured it another title for the region as first woman across the line in 9:11.65. She was followed by compatriot Lidya Chepkurui in 9:12.55 and Ethiopia’s Sofia Assefa in 9:12.84.
The final track event of the evening left athletics enthusiasts with a sour taste in the mouth as America’s LaShawn Merritt, back having served a doping suspension, dominated the 400m in 43.74. Grenada’s 20-year-old sensation Kirani James relinquished his crown, fading to seventh in 44.99, leaving USA’s Tony McQuay (44.40) and the Dominican Republic’s Luguelin Santos (44.52) to pick up the minor medals.
The curtain came down on Act 4 of the World Championships with a failed world record attempt of 5.07m in the pole vault by Isinbayeva, but her performance had electrified the Luzhniki Stadium.
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