Zurich Weltklasse, the Olympics in One Night, by Bob Ramsak, Notes by Larry Eder

David Oliver, the bronze medalist from Beijing ran a fine 12.98 for second at the Weltklasse behind Dayron Robles.

TRACK PROFILE Report #820
29-August-2008
JELIMO MARCHES ON – 1:54.01 IN ZURICH
By Bob Ramsak
(c) 2008 TRACK PROFILE Report, all rights reserved
ZURICH — Pamela Jelimo just keeps getting faster.
Just 11 days after becoming the youngest ever 800m Olympic champion, the Kenyan teenager entered the most exclusive of territories in the 800m to highlight the Weltklasse AF Golden League fixture in Zurich tonight.
On a night when fatigue and drained emotions were a common theme shared by athletes who arrived here straight from two weeks in Beijing, Jelimo’s sensational 1:54.01 performance elevated her to No. 3 all-time, trailing only Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 1:53.28 world record and Nadezhda Olizarenko’s 1:53.43 from 1980, a former world record.
Close on the heels of pacesetter Svetlana Klyuka through 400m which the Russian hit in 55.66, under the agreed target, Jelimo ventured on alone, just as she has all season, with about 250 meters to go. Dropping to the track just beyond the finish line, it was clear that this latest effort, her fourth African record and fifth world junior record of the year, clearly took a lot out of her.
Following up on her disappointing showing in the Olympic 1500m final, Maryam Yusef Jamal performed well here, clocking 1:57.80, a Bahraini record, to finish second, well ahead of world champion and Beijing silver medallist Janeth Jepkosgei (1:58.26).
Contesting the last international race of her storied career, Maria Mutola finished a respectable fourth in 1:58.71 after watching Jelimo shatter her 1:55.19 meet record set in 1994.
Olympic 1500m champion Nancy Jebet Lagat didn’t fare nearly as well as the others. Never a factor, she was last in 2:05.84.
– Bolt Begins Encore Tour
Usain Bolt redefined the sprint world in Beijing, and while his 9.69 world record in the 100m was never threatened, he didn’t let a sluggish start and a worsening head cold keep him from entertaining the enthusiastic capacity crowd of 26,000. Yet again, he dominated the field in 9.83 seconds, well ahead of Beijing bronze medallist Walter Dix (9.99), who edged Olympic silver medallist Richard Thompson (10.09).
– Olympic Champions Roll on
Competing just a week after completing an historic 5000/10,000m double in Beijing, Kenenisa Bekele didn’t let his tired legs keep him from dominating yet another 5000m contest. Running at the front for more than three kilometers, the unparalleled Ethiopian crushed the opposition –many of whom did not compete in Beijing—in 12:50.18, the fastest in the world this year. Ugandan Moses Kipsiro was closest, dipping under 13 minutes in 12:59.48 to finish second.
Dayron Robles produced another sub-13 to win the 110m hurdles in 12.97, but mere inches separated him from U.S. champion David Oliver (12.98) who made up a significant deficit over the race’s second half.
“It’s always good to run under 13 seconds,” said Robles, who has now done so on six occasions. “I struggled a little with my technique. But Oliver pushed me to a nice race.”
Andreas Thorkildsen underscored his Olympic title repeat with a dominating performance in the javelin. The Norwegian’s consistent series was topped by a 90.28m heave in the second round, his and the world’s second 90-meter effort of the season. His follow-ups of 88.15 and 89.05 would have won as well, with world champion Tero Pitkamaki topping out with an 87.25m throw.
“I threw really well today,” said Thorkildsen, who broke Jan Zelezny’s Olympic record in Beijing.”I only had some very small technical mistakes.”
Yelena Isinbayeva said she was physically and emotionally drained after taking her second Olympic title, but she still managed to solid victory, clearing a meet record 4.88m. American record holder and Beijing silver medallist Jenn Stuczynski was second at 4.75m.
Angelo Taylor kept his momentum alive, again defeating Kerron Clement, 48.07 to 48.20 in the 400m hurdles.
– Beating Back Their Beijing Blues
Several pre-Beijing favorites followed up their Olympic disappointment with confidence-boosting victories. The most notable was Blanka Vlasic, who won the high jump with a 2.01m leap to remain alive, along with Jelimo, in the hunt for $1 million AF Golden League Jackpot hunt.
“It was nice to see that I could win again,” said the Croatian World champion whose 34-meet win streak was snapped in Beijing. “The result wasn’t important tonight. Only the victory was. I’m glad I’m still in the running for the jackpot.”
Fighting a cold, Olympic champion Tia Hellebaut was never a factor, managing a best of just 1.90.
Two-time world champion Jeremy Wariner produced a solid outing in the 400, running a solid second half to win handily over Beijing winner LaShawn Merritt in 43.82, his fastest of the season, and second only to Merritt’s 43.75 from the Olympic final. After building a slight edge at the half way point, Merritt couldn’t respond to Wariner’s closing strut, clocking 44.43.
Lolo Jones, whose Olympic gold ambitions ended when she clipped the ninth hurdle in Beijing, returned to her winning ways with a 12.56 win in 100m hurdles, beating the entire Olympic podium trio. Dawn Harper, the surprise Olympic champion, was a distant sixth in 12.73.
Sanya Richards bounced back well from her bronze medal disappointment to dominate the 400m. Clearly in the lead by the midway point, she cruised to a 49.74 season’s best victory well ahead of rising Russian Tatyana Firova (50.70).
Allyson Felix, who took her second consecutive Olympic 200m silver in Beijing, won the half lap here comfortably in 22.37 to end her season on a high.
African 1500m champion Haron Keitany, who like Jelimo is contesting his first international season, was the first to rain on the parade of Beijing champions. With an impressive sustained kick over the final 150 meters, the Kenyan reached the line in 3:32.06, a career best, holding off Olympic champion Rashid Ramzi, whose 3:32.86 was a season’s best. Bahrain took spots three and four as well with Belal Mansoor Ali (3:33.06) and 800m standout Yusuf Saad Kamel (3:33.11 PB) next across the finish. In a blanket finish, world 800m champion and Beijing silver medallist Alfred Kirwa Yego was eighth, clocking a career best 3:33.69
Elsewhere, Paul Kipsiele Koech fell short of his sub-eight minute goal in the steeplechase, but still won unpressed in 8:04.26 after running most of the final kilometer alone. Olympic silver medallist Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad of France produced another strong finish to finish second in 8:08.85, the fastest by a European this year. Kenyan Michael Kipyego was third, his 8:09.05 a personal best.
Hussain Taher Al-Saba of Saudi Arabia equaled his personal best to win the long jump with an 8.35m leap, well ahead of Italy’s Andrew Howe (8.06m).
The six-meet series, along with the $1 million jackpot chase, concludes next Friday with the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels where a sell-out crowd of 47,000 will be on hand.
ENDS
Track Profile is courtesy of Bob Ramsak, TrackProfile.com
The following results are courtesy of the the IAAF Communications Dept.

29/08/2008
Weltklasse Zürich
Zürich, 29/08/2008
Men’ results
100 Metres – Men (Summary)
Pts
1 Bolt , Usain JAM 9.83 20
2 Dix , Walter USA 9.99 16
3 Thompson , Richard TRI 10.09 14
4 Padgett , Travis USA 10.11 12
5 Martina , Churandy AHO 10.13 10
6 Frater , Michael JAM 10.15 8
7 Burns , Marc TRI 10.17 5
7 Callander , Emmanuel TRI 10.17 5
100 Metres – Men Race 1 Wind: -0.5 m/s
Pts
1 Bolt , Usain JAM 9.83 20
2 Dix , Walter USA 9.99 16
3 Thompson , Richard TRI 10.09 14
4 Padgett , Travis USA 10.11 12
5 Martina , Churandy AHO 10.13 10
6 Frater , Michael JAM 10.15 8
7 Burns , Marc TRI 10.17 5
8 Patton , Darvis USA 10.34
9 Crawford , Shawn USA 10.44
100 Metres – Men Race 2 Wind: -0.4 m/s
1 Forsythe , Mario JAM 10.36
2 Chyla , Lukasz POL 10.47
3 Kosenkow , Alexander GER 10.50
4 Hoogmoed , Guus NED 10.53
5 Masztak , Kamil POL 10.59
6 Helmke , Till GER 10.62
7 Broening , Marius GER 10.65
8 Spier , Virgil NED 10.85
9 Nowak , Marcin POL 10.90
100 Metres – Men Race 3 Wind: +0.0 m/s
Pts
1 Callander , Emmanuel TRI 10.17 5
2 Martin , Rodney USA 10.27
3 Williams , Christopher JAM 10.32
4 Bledman , Keston TRI 10.34
5 Jedrusinski , Marcin POL 10.46
6 Kuc , Dariusz POL 10.60
7 van Luijk , Patrick NED 10.62
8 Heisen , Maarten NED 10.77
400 Metres – Men
Pts
1 Wariner , Jeremy USA 43.82 20
2 Merritt , LaShawn USA 44.43 16
3 Brown , Chris BAH 45.05 14
4 Wissman , Johan SWE 45.47 12
5 Gaba , Kamghe GER 45.70 10
6 Kokorin , Anton RUS 46.03 8
7 van Branteghem , Cedric BEL 46.21 6
8 Neville , David USA 46.41 4
1500 Metres – Men
Pts
1 Keitany , Haron KEN 3:32.06 20
2 Ramzi , Rashid BRN 3:32.86 16
3 Ali , Belal Mansoor BRN 3:33.06 14
4 Kamel , Yusuf Saad BRN 3:33.11 12
5 Higuero , Juan Carlos ESP 3:33.37 10
6 Iguider , Abdalaati MAR 3:33.42 8
7 Baala , Mehdi FRA 3:33.67 6
8 Yego , Alfred Kirwa KEN 3:33.69 4
9 Kemboi , Nicholas KEN 3:35.05 3
10 Gathimba , Gideon KEN 3:35.40 3
11 Lancashire , Thomas GBR 3:35.66 3
12 Komen , Daniel Kipchirchir KEN 3:35.81 3
13 Kiprop , Asbel Kipruto KEN 3:36.68
14 Korir , Shedrack Kibet KEN 3:40.00
Casado , Arturo ESP DNF
Kimutai , Philemon Kipkorir KEN DNF
Polonet , Vickson Naran KEN DNF
5000 Metres – Men
Pts
1 Bekele , Kenenisa ETH 12:50.18 20
2 Kipsiro , Moses Ndiema UGA 12:59.48 16
3 Masai , Moses Ndiema KEN 13:00.15 14
4 Soi , Edwin Cheruiyot KEN 13:07.98 12
5 Abdullah , Ahmad Hassan QAT 13:09.97 10
6 Kogo , Micah KEN 13:12.29 8
7 Kiptoo , Mark Kosgei KEN 13:13.09 6
8 Ebuya , Joseph KEN 13:21.35 4
9 Songok , Boniface Kiprotich KEN 13:33.22 3
10 Komon , Leonard Patrick KEN 13:35.52 3
11 Toroitich , Boniface Kiprop UGA 13:40.71 3
12 Chebii , Abraham KEN 13:44.88 3
Kiptum , Bernard Kiptanui KEN DNF
Komen , Jonathan Kipkoech KEN DNF
3000 Metres Steeplechase – Men
Pts
1 Koech , Paul Kipsiele KEN 8:04.26 20
2 Mekhissi-Benabbad , Mahiedine FRA 8:08.95 16
3 Kipyego , Michael KEN 8:09.05 14
4 Kiprotich , Wesley KEN 8:14.93 12
5 Tahri , Bouabdellah FRA 8:15.82 10
6 Kemboi , Ezekiel KEN 8:19.36 8
7 Mohamed , Mustafa SWE 8:20.10 6
8 Mateelong , Richard Kipkemboi KEN 8:28.38 4
9 Taleb , Brahim MAR 8:48.91 3
Jiménez , Antonio David ESP DNF
Kosgei , James Kiplagat KEN DNF
Taher , Tareq Mubarak BRN DNF
110 Metres Hurdles – Men Wind: +0.3 m/s
Pts
1 Robles , Dayron CUB 12.97 20
2 Oliver , David USA 12.98 16
3 Noga , Artur POL 13.37 14
4 Merritt , Aries USA 13.41 12
5 Svoboda , Petr CZE 13.48 10
6 Brown , Joel USA 13.55 8
7 Phillips , Richard JAM 13.60 6
8 van der Westen , Marcel NED 13.68 4
Moore , Anwar USA DNF
400 Metres Hurdles – Men
Pts
1 Taylor , Angelo USA 48.07 20
2 Clement , Kerron USA 48.20 16
3 McFarlane , Danny JAM 48.40 14
4 Plawgo , Marek POL 48.88 12
5 Van Zyl , Frikkie RSA 48.98 10
6 Phillips , Isa JAM 48.99 8
7 Jackson , Bershawn USA 49.18 6
8 Buckley , Markino JAM 49.44 4
Long Jump – Men
Pts Wind
1 Al-Sabee , Hussein Taher KSA 8.35 20 +0.3
2 Howe , Andrew ITA 8.06 16 -0.3
3 Bayer , Sebastian GER 7.97 14 -0.3
4 Méliz , Luis Felipe ESP 7.94 12 -0.3
5 Al Khuwalidi , Mohamed Salman KSA 7.87 10 -0.2
6 Novotn√Ω , Roman CZE 7.80 8 -0.7
7 Quinley , Trevell USA 7.76 6 +0.9
8 Fivaz , Julien SUI 7.61 4 -0.4
Javelin Throw – Men
Pts
1 Thorkildsen , Andreas NOR 90.28 20
2 Pitkämäki , Tero FIN 87.25 16
3 Järvenpää , Tero FIN 86.45 14
4 Vasilevskis , Vadims LAT 85.97 12
5 Korotkov , Ilya RUS 82.51 10
6 Makarov , Sergey RUS 80.49 8
7 Arvidsson , Magnus SWE 80.48 6
8 Rags , Eriks LAT 79.23 4
9 Loretz , Felix SUI 73.42
4×100 Metres Relay – Men
1 USA USA 38.01
2 Trinidad and Tobago TRI 38.03
3 Germany GER 38.95
4 Poland POL 39.02
5 Switzerland SUI 39.44
6 Switzerland U23 SUI 40.56
Netherlands NED DNF
Women’ results
200 Metres – Women Wind: -0.6 m/s
Pts
1 Felix , Allyson USA 22.37 20
2 Williams , Lauryn USA 22.68 16
3 Hooker , Marshevet USA 22.74 14
4 Ferguson-McKenzie , Debbie BAH 22.99 12
5 Gushchina , Yulia RUS 23.04 10
6 Hurtis-Houairi , Muriel FRA 23.08 8
7 Chermoshanskaya , Yuliya RUS 23.10 6
Mothersill , Cydonie CAY DNF
400 Metres – Women
Pts
1 Richards , Sanya USA 49.74 20
2 Firova , Tatyana RUS 50.70 16
3 Williams , Novlene JAM 50.78 14
4 Williams , Shericka JAM 51.28 12
5 Wineberg , Mary USA 51.53 10
6 Whyte , Rosemarie JAM 51.73 8
7 Montsho , Amantle BOT 52.17 6
8 Grenot , Libania ITA 53.28 4
800 Metres – Women
Pts
1 Jelimo , Pamela KEN 1:54.01 20
2 Jamal , Maryam Yusuf BRN 1:57.80 16
3 Jepkosgei , Janeth KEN 1:58.26 14
4 Mutola , Maria de Lurdes MOZ 1:58.71 12
5 Okoro , Marilyn GBR 1:59.03 10
6 Andrianova , Tatyana RUS 2:00.21 8
7 Krevsun , Yuliya UKR 2:00.33 6
8 Sinclair , Kenia JAM 2:03.45 4
9 Lagat , Nancy Jebet KEN 2:05.84
Cusma Piccione , Elisa ITA DNF
Klyuka , Svetlana RUS DNF
100 Metres Hurdles – Women Wind: -0.2 m/s
Pts
1 Jones , LoLo USA 12.56 20
2 Onyia , Josephine ESP 12.62 16
3 McLellan , Sally AUS 12.63 14
4 Ennis-London , Delloreen JAM 12.68 12
5 Kallur , Susanna SWE 12.71 10
6 Harper , Dawn USA 12.73 8
7 Lopes-Schliep , Priscilla CAN 12.90 6
8 Foster-Hylton , Brigitte JAM 13.17 4
9 Claxton , Sarah GBR 13.54
High Jump – Women
Pts
1 Vlašic , Blanka CRO 2.01 20
2 Chicherova , Anna RUS 1.98 16
3 Howard , Chaunté USA 1.98 14
4 Beitia , Ruth ESP 1.95 12
5 Slesarenko , Elena RUS 1.95 10
6 Palamar , Vita UKR 1.90 8
7 Shkolina , Svetlana RUS 1.90 6
8 Hellebaut , Tia BEL 1.90 4
9 Green , Emma SWE 1.85
10 Steryíou , Adonía GRE 1.85
11 Strakov√° , Iva CZE 1.85
Pole Vault – Women
Pts
1 Isinbaeva , Yelena RUS 4.88 20
2 Stuczynski , Jennifer USA 4.75 16
3 Pyrek , Monika POL 4.65 14
4 Feofanova , Svetlana RUS 4.65 12
5 Murer , Fabiana BRA 4.65 10
6 Golubchikova , Yuliya RUS 4.55 8
7 Spiegelburg , Silke GER 4.55 6
8 Hingst , Carolin GER 4.45 4
9 Polnova , Tatyana RUS 4.35
10 Büchler , Nicole SUI 4.35
11 Rohr , Nadine SUI 4.20