World Championships in Athletics

Savigne and Gay, double historic victory in the triple jump

Anne-Marie García

YARGELIS Savigne and Mabel Gay have given Cuba a double historic victory in the women’s triple jump after winning the gold and silver, respectively, in the Berlin World Championships in Athletics.

With a jump of 14.95 meters, Savigne defended her title of three years ago in Osaka, while Gay won the silver medal with a jump of 14.61 meters.

“I’m very satisfied,” Savigne told the press after the competition. “In fact, I could have jumped more than 15 meters but what I wanted to do was win.”

Savigne said that she had a hard beginning, “I was desperate, anxious; I had to sit down and relax, tell myself: calm down.”

The 24-year-old jumper had to concentrate and get over the specter of last year’s Olympic Games where she failed to win a medal. “I got over my defeat in Beijing,” she told the press.

Milan Matos, Savigne’s trainer, has also been Gay’s trainer since the beginning of this season, the new world champion explained. “That’s how Mabel bettered her performance.”

“This medal was a surprise. I’m very content and happy,” 26-year-old Gay said. “I though that with that mark I couldn’t aspire to win a medal,” the Cuban emphasized. Her 14.61-jump was her best of the season.

“Now I feel more encouraged to continue getting better and reach the 15m mark,” she added.

The two jumpers walked around the Olympic Stadium in Berlin draped with the Cuban flag.

USAIN BOLT: THE ALIEN

Jamaican Usain Bolt demolished the 100-meter world record with a spectacular time of 9.58 seconds.

On August 16, it will be exactly one year since his Olympic world record of 9.69 second.

But this time Bolt achieved the feat in the stadium where the legendary U.S. athlete Jesse Owens won four gold medals, including the 100 meters, in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.

The 22-year-old Jamaican easily beat his great rival, American Tyson Gay, who clocked 9.71, and fellow countryman Asafa Powell (9.84).

“I had a very good start,” Bolt told the press. “I was ahead during the first 20 meters and this was everything.”

“I’m getting close to it (being a legend), but I have to repeat these actions year after year,” he stated.

Bolt beat his chest several times, claiming his condition of absolute king of speed after crossing the finish line.

“I’m not somebody who thinks about world records. I think about titles,” he assured. “I go out for that and the world record comes.”

Tyson Gay admitted that the man who beat him “ran a fabulous race. I gave everything but I couldn’t catch him.”

“Incredible,” was Powell’s only comment.

At the close of this edition, Bolt was returning to the track to offer his second show in these world championships: the 200m. However, he won’t be facing his great opponent, American Tyson Gay, who has pulled out of the race because of a relapse of his muscular groin problems.

ANYONE CAN SUFFER A MISHAP

Any champion can suffer a mishap. That was the case with Savigne last year in Beijing. And in this year’s World Championships, the Russian Yelena Isinbayeva had her own.

Isinbayeva not only lost her title in the pole vault, but also failed to make one valid jump in three attempts. It was the end of her total domination of the sport for five years running.

“I don’t have an explanation for what happened or why I lost today,” she said. “I think it’s simply fate.”

The misfortune of some is the happiness of others, and Anna Rogowska of Poland, with a jump of 4.75 meters, took the gold medal that belonged to Isinbayeva, who holds the world record and is the reigning Olympic champion.

JAMAICA ONCE AGAIN DEMONSTRATES THAT IT IS UNRIVALED IN SPEED EVENTS

Jamaicans Shelly-Ann Fraser and Kerron Stwart won the gold and silver medals in the final of the 100-meter race, ahead of Carmelita Jeter of the United States.

Fraser, with the best time in the world (10:73) now holds both the world title and the Olympic title that she won in Beijing.

“I knew that if I wanted to have a good race, I would have to work on my start,” the Jamaican runner explained. “The victory is not a surprise for me.”

Fortunately for Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele, she did not have the same experience as the Russian Isinbayeva, and kept her world title in the 10,000 meters, winning it for the fourth consecutive time. 

“It is fantastic to win for the fourth time,” Bekele said, adding that she hadn’t decided whether or not to run the 5,000-meter event.

Marta Domínguez of Spain won her country a gold medal after a dry decade, by coming in first in the 3,000-meter hurdles.

“It was a perfect race, from less to more,” she said with emotion. “It is my life’s dream fulfilled.”

MEXICO REAFFIRMS RACE WALK TRADITION

Mexican Eder Sánchez took a bronze medal in the 20-km race walk on the first day of the World Championships.

“I’m doing really well, happy to have finished the event and to have finished in a good place,” Sánchez told AP after winning his medal. To do so, he finished the race with a time of 1:19:22, his best this year. Russian Valery Borchin, 22 years old and Olympic champion in Beijing, crossed the finish line 41 seconds before Sánchez to win the world title, while Chinese Hao Wang took the silver.

Sánchez, 23, told reporters that the competition was tough. “I had to get my pace,” he said, adding, “it was really difficult after kilometer 14, when Borchin set a strong pace.”

Sánchez came to the World Championships aiming for a medal after having placed fourth two years ago in Osaka. He explained that as the race went along, “I felt strong, while the other athletes were holding back. Then I attacked, to keep my place.”

The winner of the Osaka World Championships in 2007 was Ecuadorian Jefferson Pérez, who was the 2004 Olympic champion. He retired after winning the Olympic silver in Beijing last year.

Sánchez maintained the Mexican tradition in the race walk and is aspiring to do even better. For that, he said, “all I have to do is keep going forward: working and training.”