British quartet shine - but sprinters suffer

Victories by four of Britain’s genuine Olympic medal hopefuls helped atone for a bitterly disappointing display by the 100 metres sprinters in the Norwich Union London Grand Prix at a sweltering Crystal Palace this evening.

Kelly Holmes, Chris Rawlinson, triple jumper Phillips Idowu and Jade Johnson, in the long jump, were all winners tonight.

The quartet scored brilliant victories as the three Olympic 100m selections, Mark Lewis-Francis, Darren Campbell and Jason Gardener all failed to make their final, where Jamaica’s Asafa Powell blew everyone away with a season’s-best run of 9.91 seconds – a United Kingdom all-comers’ record.

However, their shortcomings were soon forgotten as Olympic medal hope Holmes hit the front in the back straight before kicking for home over 1,500m, winning in a time of 4min 04.06sec.

It was also a fine night’s work for Rawlinson, who held off the challenge of top American James Carter to take the 400m hurdles, while Idowu made a season-best’s of 17.47m with his final leap in the triple jump.

2002 European silver medalist Johnson led from start to finish, with 6.65m enough for victory to maintain hopes she can improve on her fourth place at last year’s IAAF World Championships.

There was, though, no fairy tale ending for Steve Backley, Britain’s great javelin thrower bowing out with a second-place finish on home soil – his season’s-best 83.42m not enough to beat Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway, who threw 84.45m.

Lewis-Francis, the world junior champion in 2000, simply put the disappointment down to one of those days after finishing last in his heat.

“I ran terribly,” he reflected. “It was an off-day. My training has been going fine, so I don’t really know why I ran like that.”

Gardener was, on the other hand, determined to take something positive from his 10.32secs run in his qualifier.

He said: “I’m not that displeased with the race. I’m not quite where I need to be yet, but I still have to be pleased with where I am.”

Powell will also be happy with the way things are progressing as he bids to take Maurice Greene’s Olympic crown next month.

After coming home 0.06secs ahead of the American, with Leonard Scott of the United States (10.04) third and world champion Kim Collins fifth in 10.14, he declared: “That gave me a lot of confidence.

“Maurice was Olympic champion last time, but I hope to beat him this year as I have beaten him today.

“I can cope with all the hype and expectation – I will just enjoy my running and winning races.”

Greene reflected: “I am not surprised he won tonight, my start was not the best. But my confidence will not suffer.”

Another man happy with the way his build-up for Athens has progressed is Rawlinson, after the 32-year-old powered through his event to hold off the challenge of US trials winner and fastest man in the world this year Carter to win in 48.48, with a margin of 0.15secs.

The 2002 Commonwealth Games champion said: “I’ve just had three weeks of very hard training in preparation for Athens.

“What gives me confidence is I know I can beat them and they know I’ll beat them.

“It’s a relief to know what I’ve been putting myself through is actually working.”

There was also a warm reception for Backley, the two-time Olympic silver medalist and former world record holder who is set to retire after Athens.

“I would have liked to have thrown better for the crowd,” said the 35-year-old. “I think this will be my last competition before Athens, and I feel pretty good going into the Games.”

The biggest cheer of the night, though, was the one which welcomed Holmes’ victory.

The Olympic 800m bronze medallist four years ago has yet to decide over which distances she will run in Athens.

“This has given me a lot of confidence,” said the former army sergeant.

“Everyone is telling me I should double up because I’ve been running so well lately.

“To double up, though, you have to feel right inside and I still haven’t quite got that feeling yet.”

The 34-year-old added: “I’ll weigh up what’s best for me and make a decision in the next couple of days. I have to get it right as this is my last Olympics.”

Elsewhere, in mainly domestic fields, Chris Lambert (20.50) edged out Christian Malcolm (20.51) in the 200m, while Glasgow’s Lee McConnell took the women’s 400m in 51.33 ahead of Donna Fraser (51.48).

Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia broke the women’s pole vault record for the third time this year on British soil, and was presented with a cheque for 50,000 US dollars (£27,450) after raising the mark to 4.90m.

Haile Gebrselassie gave the Crystal Palace crowd the perfect ending to the evening when the two-time Olympic 10,000m champion won the 5,000m, breaking his own all-comers’ record in 12:55.51, on what was his farewell meeting at a UK track.

IAAF Norwich Union Grand Prix, Crystal Palace, London

Men’s

100m

Heat 1: 1 Asafa Powell (Jam) 10.03 secs, 2 Leonard Scott (USA) 10.03, 3 Michael Frater (Jam) 10.12, 4 Justin Gatlin (USA) 10.22, 5 John Capel (USA) 10.24, 6 Darren Campbell (Gbr) 10.27, 7 Tyrone Edgar (Gbr) 10.33, 8 Mark Lewis-francis (GBR) 10.34

Heat 2: 1 Maurice Greene (USA) 9.98 secs, 2 Kim Collins (Skn) 10.10, 3 Darvis Patton (USA) 10.15, 4 Aziz Zakari (Gha) 10.17, 5 Christian Malcolm (Gbr) 10.26, 6 Joshua Ross (Aus) 10.29, 7 Jason Gardener (Gbr) 10.32, 8 Joshua J.Johnson (USA) 10.33

Final: 1 Asafa Powell (Jam) 9.91 secs, 2 Maurice Greene (USA) 9.97, 3 Leonard Scott (USA) 10.04, 4 Michael Frater (Jam) 10.11, 5 Kim Collins (Skn) 10.14, 6 Justin Gatlin (USA) 10.20, 7 Darvis Patton (USA) 10.23, 8 Aziz Zakari (Gha) 10.26

200m: 1 Chris Lambert (Gbr) 20.50 secs, 2 Christian Malcolm (Gbr) 20.51, 3 Ainsley Waugh (Jam) 20.70, 4 Marlon Devonish (Gbr) 20.71, 5 Paul Hession (Irl) 20.81, 6 Marcin Urbas (Pol) 21.05, 7 Tim Abeyie (Gbr) 21.23, Adam Miller (Aus) DNF

400m: 1 Alleyne Francique (Grn) 44.68secs, 2 Michael Blackwood (Jam) 44.74, 3 Timothy Benjamin (Gbr) 45.04, 4 Derrick Brew (USA) 45.40, 5 Davian Clarke (Jam) 45.48, 6 Daniel Caines (Gbr) 45.55, 7 Malachi Davis (USA) 45.86, 8 Sean Baldock (Gbr) 46.72

800m: 1 Joseph Mutua (Ken) 1 min 45.53 secs, 2 William Yiampoy (Ken) 1:45.66, 3 Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (Rsa) 1:45.95, 4 Amine Laalou (Mor) 1:46.06, 5 Ricky Soos (Gbr) 1:46.12, 6 Djabir Sad-guerni (Alg) 1:46.15, 7 Michael Rotich (Ken) 01:46.46, 8 Jesse O’connell (USA) 1:46.53, 9 David Krummenacker (USA) 1:47.01, 10 Ren Herms (Ger) 1:47.02, 11 Justus Koech (Ken) 1:47.67, 12 Derrick Peterson (USA) 1:48.88, 13 Bram Som (Hol) 1:49.12

1 mile: 1 Paul Korir (Ken) 3 mins 49.84 secs, 2 Ivan Heshko (Ukr) 3:50.04, 3 Eliud Kipchoge (Ken) 3:50.40, 4 Alan Webb (USA) 3:50.73, 5 Cornelius Chirchir (Ken) 3:50.82, 6 Noah Ngeny (Ken) 3:53.71, 7 Rob Myers (USA) 3:53.78, 8 Anthony Whiteman (Gbr) 3:55.54, 9 Andrew Baddeley (Gbr) 3:56.13, 10 Michael Too (Ken) 3:56.95, 11 Daniel Lincoln (USA) 3:57.68, 12 James Thie (Gbr) 3:57.86, 13 Adrian Blincoe (Nzl) 4:00.81, Henry Rotich (Ken) DNF, David Lelei (Ken) DNF, Kevin Sullivan (Can) DNS, Adil Kaouch (Mor) DNS

5000m: 1 Haile Gebrselassie (Eth) 12mins 55.51secs, 2 Craig Mottram (Aus) 12:55.76, 3 Abderrahim Goumri (Mor) 12:59.04, 4 Boniface Kiprotich Songok (Ken) 13:00.62, 5 Alistair Ian Cragg (Irl) 13:12.74, 6 Mohammed Amyne (Mor) 13:17.88, 7 Tim Broe (USA) 13:18.61, 8 Abiyote Abate (Eth) 13:21.78, 9 Christopher Thompson (Gbr) 13:24.60, 10 Bernard Kiprop Kipyego (Ken) 13:29.75, 11 Abdihakem Abdirahman (USA) 13:30.85, 12 Bernard Chepkok (Ken) 13:38.55, 13 Matthew Lane (USA) 13:39.72, 14 Michael Aish (Nzl) 13:43.63, David Kiplak (Ken) DNF, Martin Keino (Ken) DNF, Cathal Lombard (Irl) DNF, Jonathon Riley (USA) DNS, Andrew Graffin (Gbr) DNS

400m hurdles: 1 Christopher Rawlinson (Gbr) 48.48 secs, 2 James Carter (USA) 48.63, 3 Danny Mcfarlane (Jam) 48.80, 4 Dean Griffiths (Jam) 49.39, 5 Joey Woody (USA) 49.43, 6 Marek Plawgo (Pol) 49.52, 7 Matthew Douglas (Gbr) 49.54, Kemel Thompson (Jam) DNF

Triple Jump: 1 Phillips Idowu (Gbr) 17.47 meters, 2 Leevan Sands (Bah) 17.41, 3 Jadel Gregrio (Bra) 17.33, 4 Melvin Lister (USA) 17.20, 5 Walter Davis (USA) 16.85, 6 Nathan Douglas (Gbr) 16.72, 7 Dmitriy Valyukevich (Blr) 16.59, 8 Andrew Murphy (Aus) 16.45

Javelin: 1 Andreas Thorkildsen (Nor) 84.45 meters, 2 Steve Backley (Gbr) 83.42, 3 Voldemars Lusis (Lat) 82.76, 4 Eriks Rags (Lat) 81.94, 5 Breaux Greer (USA) 80.07, 6 Alexandr Ivanov (Rus) 77.27, 7 Mick Hill (GBR) 76.42, 8 William Hamlyn-harris (Aus) 76.28, 9 Nick Neiland (GBR) 74.36, 10 Boris Henry (Ger) 71.11

Women’s

100m: 1 Veronica Campbell (Jam) 11.12 secs, 2 Aleen Bailey (Jam) 11.15, 3 Debbie Ferguson (Bah) 11.19, 4 Sherone Simpson (Jam) 11.23, 5 Lauryn Williams (USA) 11.25, 6 Abiodun Oyepitan (Gbr) 11.46, 7 Muna Lee (USA) 11.47, 8 Beverly Mcdonald (Jam) 11.55

400m: 1 Lee Mcconnell (Gbr) 51.33 secs, 2 Donna Fraser (Gbr) 51.48, 3 Christine Ohurougu (Gbr) 51.76, 4 Catherine Murphy (Gbr) 52.55, 5 Melanie Purkiss (Gbr) 52.66, 6 Lesley Owusu (Gbr) 53.10, 7 Carey Marshall (Gbr) 53.21, 8 Kim Wall (Gbr) 54.68

800m: 1 Maria De Lurdes Mutola (Moz 1 min 59.17 secs, 2 Amina At Hammou (Mor) 1:59.34, 3 Diane Cummins (Can) 2:00.28, 4 Susan Scott (Gbr) 2:00.71, 5 Kameisha Bennett (USA) 2:00.93, 6 Letitia Vriesde (Sur) 2:01.25, 7 Marian Burnett (Guy) 2:02.60, 8 Alessandra Finesso (Ita) 2:07.65, Ronetta Smith (Jam) DNF, Charity Wandia (Ken) DSQ

1500m: 1 Kelly Holmes (Gbr) 4 mins 04.06 secs, 2 Carmen Douma-hussar (Can) 4:05.89, 3 Jennifer Toomey (USA) 4:07.44, 4 Malindi Elmore (Can) 4:08.18, 5 Jebet Langat (Ken) 4:09.07, 6 Lisa Dobriskey (Gbr) 4:09.37, 7 Amy Rudolph (USA) 4:09.54, 8 Carrie Tollefson (USA) 4:10.45, 9 Sonja Roman (Slo) 4:11.92, 10 Mardrea Hyman (Jam) 4:12.57, 11 Sada El Mehdi (Mor) 4:12.78, 12 Nawal Baiby (Mor) 4:13.34, 13 Shalane Flanagan (USA) 4:15.42, 14 Danielle Barnes (Gbr) 04:16.11, 15 Siham Hilali (Mor) 4:19.98, Helen Clitheroe (Gbr) DNF, Juli Henner (USA) DNF, Iryna Lishchynska (Ukr) DNF

5000m: 1 Edith Masai (Ken) 14 mins 59.96 secs, 2 Kathy Butler (Gbr) 15:07.15, 3 Anik Klovics (Hun) 15:10.21, 4 Kirsi Valasti (Fin) 15:10.52, 5 Benita Johnson (Aus) 15:16.61, 6 Fernanda Ribeiro (Por) 15:19.43, 7 Vivian Cheruiyot (Ken) 15:23.99, 8 Sally Barsosio (Ken) 15:24.49, 9 Hayley Yelling (Gbr) 15:28.71, 10 Liz Yelling (Gbr) 15:38.86, 11 Kimberly Smith (Nzl) 15:46.09, 12 Marie Davenport (Irl) 15:58.49, Bouchra Chaabi (Mor) DNF, Oksana Belyakova (Rus) DNF, Ebru Kavaklioglu (Tur) DNS

High Jump: 1 Hestrie Cloete (Rsa) 2.03meters, 2 Viktoriya Styopina (Ukr) 1.97, 3 Blanka Vlaic (Cro) 1.97, 3 Amy Acuff (USA) 1.97, 5 Inha Babakova (Ukr) 1.94, 6 Chaunte Howard (USA) 1.90, 7 Krt Siilats (Est) 1.85, 8 Susan Jones (Gbr) 1.85, 9 Mara Papayeoryou (Gre) 1.80

Pole Vault: 1 Yelena Isinbayeva (Rus) 4.90 meters (WR), 2 Svetlana Feofanova (Rus) 4.80, 3 Anna Rogowska (Pol) 4.60, 4 Stacy Dragila (USA) 4.60, 5 Vanessa Boslak (Fra) 4.45, 6 Jillian Schwartz (USA) 4.30, 6 Kellie Suttle (USA) 4.30, 8 Threy Edda Elisdttir (Isl) 4.30, 9 Zoe Brown (Gbr) 4.10, 10 Kym Howe (Aus) 4.10, Monika Pyrek (Pol) NM

Long Jump: 1 Jade Johnson (Gbr) 6.65 meters, 2 Grace Upshaw (USA) 6.61, 3 Bronwyn Thompson (Aus) 6.57, 4 Kelly Sotherton (Gbr) 6.57, 5 Olga Rublyova (Rus) 6.51, 6 Jackie Edwards (Bah) 6.36, 7 Kylie Wheeler (Aus) 6.30, 8 Denise Lewis (Gbr) 6.17