The rain was everybody’s enemy but Justin Gatlin’s. A torrential storm delayed the 200m quarterfinals until Wednesday and gave the 100m champion some much-needed extra rest for his pursuit of three gold medals at the World Athletics Championships.
Ripped-off tree branches still riddled the park adjacent the Olympic Stadium and gusts of wind kept seagulls grounded when Allen Johnson qualified for the quarterfinals of the 110m hurdles early on Wednesday, running into a strong headwind.
Against a top-quality field, defending champion Johnson is seeking his fifth world crown but faces opposition from China’s Olympic champion Liu Xiang, France’s Ladji Doucoure and United States teammate Terrence Trammell.
All qualified in the tough conditions, but Johnson’s time of 13,92 seconds was exactly a second slower than his world record.
”I’m glad it’s over,” he said.
Whether Yelena Isinbayeva gets another pole-vault record in such inclement weather won’t matter that much to the sell-out crowd at the Olympic Stadium. For the Finns, the javelin is the main attraction.
The crowd of 40 000 will be roaring for Tero Pitkamaki, who only needed one throw to get into the final. Isinbayeva just took two perfect jumps to reach her final, where the only question for most is whether she will beat her mark of 5m.
Swirling winds already dumbfounded several pole-vaulters during the men’s qualifying on Tuesday. Add in a wet runway and other vaulters might just have a chance to get close to the overpowering Russian.
The 23-year-old serial world-record breaker could add a $160 000 payday if she sets the 18th world mark of her career.
The javelin has held the Nordic nation spellbound for decades, and Finnish men have won 10 Olympic and world titles between them.
Pitkamaki is the year’s leading performer and needed only one throw on Tuesday to advance from qualifying, with Sergey Makarov of Russia and Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen as his major challengers.
The javelin will take the spotlight off Gatlin, who will try to reach the final of the 200m on his way to a possible triple-gold championships. He runs the 400m relays on Sunday’s final day.
The decathlon was among the many events that suffered from a nearly two-hour delay when an electrical storm off the Baltic Sea swept across the stadium, chasing away thousands of fans and sending athletes into the dressing rooms.
When they finally came back, Bryan Clay of the US staved off Olympic champion and world-record-holder Roman Sebrle by a slim margin at the halfway point in the decathlon.
The battle to become the world’s greatest athlete ends with the 1 500m later on Wednesday — weather permitting. At the end of Tuesday, the American had 4 527 points, 14 points ahead of Sebrle, who had 4 513.
Running in driving rain, former Kenyan Saif Saaeed Shaheen of Qatar retained his world championship steeplechase title, again frustrating Kenyan attempts to reclaim an event they consider their own.
Also, two-time defending champion Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic pulled up with an injured hamstring after one hurdle in the 400m, allowing Bershawn Jackson to lead a 1-2 US finish with James Carter.
If Shaheen’s victory was predictable, gold for Cuba’s Zulia Calatayud in the 800m was not. She came out of nowhere off the final bend to win, denying the favoured Russians. Hasna Benhassi of Morocco was second and Russia’s Tatyana Andrianova managed bronze.
Double defending champion Maria Mutola finished fourth. — Sapa-AP