Van Zyl's late burst wins the race
Source: Agencies |
July 30, 2009, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
L.J. van Zyl of South Africa and Lashinda Demus of the United States set world-best times this year in the 400-meter hurdles at the Herculis Super Grand Prix in Monaco on Tuesday.
Van Zyl's late burst over the final 10 meters took him past Bershawn Jackson - the 2005 world champion and Olympic bronze medalist last year in Beijing - who looked to be coasting to victory.
Van Zyl won in 47.94 seconds, beating Jackson's mark of 48.03 set at the US Championships last month.
Three days after breaking her own 2009 world-best time at the Crystal Palace meet, Demus improved with 53.63 - a fraction quicker than the 53.65 she ran at the meet in London on Saturday.
Demus had also set a season's best when she ran 53.78 last month at the US Championships.
Maggie Vessey of the United States also set a world-best time for 2009 in the women's 800. Vessey even surprised herself by clocking 1 minute, 57.84 seconds to beat Russian Anna Alminova's mark of 1:57.86 set in Cheboksary, Russia, only five days ago.
"I'm usually last, being up there with everyone is really racing," Vessey told French television after her win.
Vessey's win was even more unexpected considering she ran 2:00.13 at the Golden Gala in Rome just over two weeks ago, and only 2:01.32 at the US Championships last month.
Less than three weeks ahead of the world championships in Berlin, Croatian high jumper Blanca Vlasic narrowly beat Germany's Ariane Friedrich. Both passed 2.03 meters, but Vlasic did so at the second attempt, while Friedrich did so on her third go. Both then failed to pass 2.05.
Van Zyl's late burst over the final 10 meters took him past Bershawn Jackson - the 2005 world champion and Olympic bronze medalist last year in Beijing - who looked to be coasting to victory.
Van Zyl won in 47.94 seconds, beating Jackson's mark of 48.03 set at the US Championships last month.
Three days after breaking her own 2009 world-best time at the Crystal Palace meet, Demus improved with 53.63 - a fraction quicker than the 53.65 she ran at the meet in London on Saturday.
Demus had also set a season's best when she ran 53.78 last month at the US Championships.
Maggie Vessey of the United States also set a world-best time for 2009 in the women's 800. Vessey even surprised herself by clocking 1 minute, 57.84 seconds to beat Russian Anna Alminova's mark of 1:57.86 set in Cheboksary, Russia, only five days ago.
"I'm usually last, being up there with everyone is really racing," Vessey told French television after her win.
Vessey's win was even more unexpected considering she ran 2:00.13 at the Golden Gala in Rome just over two weeks ago, and only 2:01.32 at the US Championships last month.
Less than three weeks ahead of the world championships in Berlin, Croatian high jumper Blanca Vlasic narrowly beat Germany's Ariane Friedrich. Both passed 2.03 meters, but Vlasic did so at the second attempt, while Friedrich did so on her third go. Both then failed to pass 2.05.
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