Burns grabs 100m in photofinish

MONTE-CARLO: Trinidad and Tobago’s Marc Burns provided the only golden moment for CARICOM athletes, when he prevailed in a tight finish in the men’s 100 metres on the final day of the World Athletics Final. Elsewhere, the women provided three of the four silver medals, as athletes from the English-speaking Caribbean collected eight medals yesterday, while there were two wins for the Cubans. Burns had an agonising wait, but was declared the winner for one of the biggest triumphs in his career. He was clocked at 10 seconds-flat and given the verdict, just one-hundredth of a second ahead of Ghana’s Aziz Zakari and Jamaica’s Dwight Thomas, in a thrilling finish to the IAAF’s international track and field programme for the year.

Burns’ compatriot Darrel Brown, the 2003 World Championship silver medallist, was fourth in 10.05 secs, while Jamaican Michael Frater was listed as a non-starter. In another highly anticipated race, Jamaica-born quarter-miler Sanya Richards of the United States won a thrilling women’s 400 metres showdown with reigning Olympic and World champion, Tonique Williams-Darling of the Bahamas by just two hundredths of a second. The 20-year-old Richards prevailed in the last 50 metres to clock 49.52 seconds to clinch her fourth victory in six races this season over Williams-Darling, who ran out of steam after a blistering first 200 metres.

Behind them, DeeDee Trotter of the United States won the fight for minor places as she finished third in 50.64, with another Bahamian Christine Amertil pulling in fifth (51.23). Reigning women’s Olympic 200 metres champion Veronica Campbell of Jamaica was hoping for the sprint double, but World champion Allyson Felix of the United States had other ideas. Felix timed her surge to perfection, just as she had in the final at the World Championships in Helsinki last month, striding past Campbell and France’s Christine Arron in the home straight in her now familiar graceful style. Felix was clocked at a Championship record 22.27 secs, as Campbell clocked 22.37 for second - only two hundredths outside her best for the year, while Arron slipped to third in 22.43, and Cydonnie Mothersill of the Cayman Islands finished a commendable fourth in 22.92.

World Championship silver medallist Brigitte Foster-Hylton of Jamaica confirmed her standing as one of the best sprint hurdlers this year, when she was again the bridesmaid in the women’s 100 metres hurdles. The race went to World champion Michelle Perry of the United States, who dipped ahead of Foster-Hylton in 12.54 secs. Foster-Hylton was marginally ahead at the final hurdle, but lost out on the line by one hundredth of a second, while compatriot Delloreen Ennis-London was third in 12.57 —  both of them running their quickest races of the year. In the men’s 400 metres hurdles, Jamaica’s Kemel Thompson finished second in a season’s best 48.09 secs, just four hundredths of a second behind World champion Bershawn Jackson of the United States.

Another Jamaican, Ian Weakley, finished at the back of the pack in a slow 50.72. The evergreen James Beckford of Jamaica leapt a season’s best 8.28 metres to claim third in the men’s long jump. Dwight Phillips of the United States however, stamped his authority in the first round with a WAF record leap of 8.46m that proved good enough to beat fellow American Miguel Pate (8.30m) into second. Women’s World champion triple jumper Trecia Smith of Jamaica could not reproduce her Helsinki form, and had to be satisfied with measurement of 14.69 metres that earned her fourth place. Olympic silver medallist Chrisopiyi Devetzi of Greece produced a season’s best of 14.89 to win, three centimetres ahead of IAAF Golden League jackpot winner and world record holder Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia. (CMC)