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| Sunday, 22 August 2004 |
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Three more Lankans crash out of heats Dinesh Weerawansa reporting from Greece ATHENS, Aug. 21 - Sprinters Damayanthi Darsha, Rohan Pradeep Kumara Fernando and high jumper Manjula Kumara Wijesekera crashed out of their qualifying round heats leaving Sri Lanka only a slim outside hope on marathon runner Anuradha Indrajith Cooray on the ninth day of the XXV111th summer Olympiad here today. Darsha looked completely off colour in finishing last in her women's 400m first round heat five with a leisurely 54.58 seconds - 1.76 seconds slower than her entry timing and season's best. "My aim was to run better than I did in the Asian Grand Prix. Unfortunately that did not happen. I was out of competition for one year due to an injury and that did not give me enough time to train and get back to my peak," she said after her defeat. Taking part in her third Olympics since making her debut 12 years ago, Darsha never looked comfortable off the blocks and failed to find her old touch. The Lankan lass was way behind the winner of heat five - Tonique Williams-Darling who took just 51.20 seconds. In fact the first four in this heat ran under 52 seconds. Williams-darlings is the fastest and most consistent this years with 49.15 before. "I know all eight competitors will give their bests, so I think anything can happen," she predicted on the final. Coming in second place behind the 28-year-old girl from Bahamas was Bulgarian Sevetlana Usovich (51.37), followed by Ukrainian Antonina Yefremova (51.53), Mireille Nguimgo (51.90 - Cameroon), Allison Beckford (52.85 - Jamaica), Sandrine Thiebaud-Kangni (52.87 - Tonga) and lastly out of the seven with a considerable gap - Darsha (54.58). In the absence of last Sydney Olympics women's 400m gold medalist Cathey Freeman of Australia and Olympic record holder Mary-Jose Perec of France, the fastest timing among the 42 competitors who took part in seven first round heats came from American Sanya Richards - 50.11 seconds. Christine Amertil of Bahamas (50.23) and Christine Ohurougu of Great Britain (50.50) clocked their personal best timings to occupy the second and third slots in the best performers list after heats. Eight sprinters ran under 51 seconds, giving an indication of an even harder contest in the next rounds to come. Earlier last night at the Olympic Stadium under lights, Sri Lanka's most consistent sprinter in the 2004 Asian Grand Prix Series - Rohan Pradeep Kumara Fernando, failed to live up to expectations. He was eliminated the from men's 400m first round heats. Fernando clocked an unimpressive 46.20 seconds to finish fifth in men's 400m round one heat 4. He was in the third place until the penultimate bend, but when the race gradually got in to its top gear in the last 200m, Sofiane Labidi and Daniel Caines went past Fernando. Coming first in the heat 4 was American derrick Brew (45.41), followed by Jamaican Brandon Simpson (45.61), Labidi (46.04 - TUN), Caines (46.15 - Great Britain), Fernando (46.20) and Evens Marie (48.23 - SEY). Christopher Brown of Bahamas, who won the heat two, had the best timing among the 61 competitors who took part in eight first round heats. Brown clocked a season's best 45.09 seconds. In the second place of the top performers summery list after the heats was Americam Otis Harris (45.11), followed by Jamaican Michael Blackwood (45.23). Sri Lanka's Fernando, who complained of a headache after his heat, finished 34 in the overall list. But the biggest disappointment for Sri Lanka at the Athens Olympics is high jumper Wijesekera, who cleared only 2.20m in the qualifying round. Competing in Group 'A' from 2.10m, Wijesekera went past 2.15m and 2.20m barriers. But when clearing 2.25m in his third attempt, he went over nicely before his right shoe hit the crossbar to shatter Sri Lanka's dream of a place in the final. It was the height the emerging Lankan lad cleared at the Colombo Asian Grand Prix and event went to better his Sri Lanka mark to 2.27 at last month's Sri Lanka nationals. Probably the asking was too high for lad Dickwella who competed in his first major international event. Since, he remains Sri Lanka's best bet in athletics in the years to come. "This is a good exposure. With more and more experience and maturity, I should be able to do better," a determined Wijesekera said. Out of 38 high jumpers, there were 12 who went on to clear 2.28m and all of them qualified for Sunday's final. Following the first round exits of athletes Darsha, Fernando, Wijesekera, swimmers Conrad Francis, Menaka de Silva, shooter Pushpamali Ramanayake and controversial pull out of Susanthika Jayasinghe, Sri Lanka's only hope now lies on marathon runner Anuradha Indrajith Cooray who is due to be seen in action next Saturday. The first track event gold medal in Athens Olympics was decided last night when men's 10,000m world record holder Kenenisa Bekele stole veteran Halie Gebrselassie's Olympic record too. Twenty two-year-old Bekele took 27 minutes and 05.10 seconds for his historic 25-round run. It was in Ostrava last January that Ethiopian Bekele shattered Gebrselassie's world record and eight months later here in the Greek capital, Bekele broke his countryman's Olympic record 27:07.34 established in Atlata eight years ago. Sileshi Sihine (2709.39 - Ethiopia) bagged the silver and Zersenay Tadesse (27:22.57 - ERI) the bronze. Gebrselassie could only secure the fifth place (27:27.70) behind Boniface Kiprop (27:25.48 - Uruguay). A new wave of positive drug tests, including the first involving a Greek competitor, had hit the current summer Olympic Games. But the officials said today that strict anti doping regulations have been implemented and that no one would be allowed to bring sport in to disrepute. Eight weightlifters, including two Indians and a Greek, have been tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Two Sri Lankans - swimmer Menaka de Silva and shooter Pushpamali Ramanayake too were tested for steroids but their records are reported to be negative. Following the controversial motorcycle accident just hours before a schedule dope test which forced two sprinters from the host nation to quit Games, the biggest shame for the Greeks came when weightlifter Leonidas Sampanis was tested positive for drugs. The International Olympic Committee Executive Board will hear his case over the weekend and should expel from the Games and strip off his medal, unless he can present exonerating evidence. He will not only lose the bronze medal he won in men's 62kg class but also an honorary title he received just days ago from the Greek Military. Sampanis is the eighth weightlifter to get caught for drugs here but most of the offenders were caught just before the competition in a blanket dope testing drive. The Greek has been tested positive for elevated percentages of testosterone. Among the latest tested positive is Indian weightlifter Thingbaijam Sanamacha Chanu, who competes in women's 53kg weight class. The IOC ex-co decided to disqualify her from the fourth place she earned as she is a positive case for Furosemide, a banned diuretic steroid. Among the others banned is 27-year-old Uzbekistani female athlete Olga Shchukina, who has been tested positive for Clenbuterol, a prohibited anabolic agent. During a hearing here, she admitted to have taken a dough syrup and the IOC disciplinary committee appreciated her openness in admitting how the prohibited substance was found in her body, but reiterated the rule of strict reliability applicable to all athletes during the period of the Games. She has been disqualified from the women's shot putt event and the IOC has requested the IAAF, the world athletic governing body, to modify the results of the event and any further action against the athlete against their own competence. Earlier, a Turkish boxer Erturul Ergezen today failed a medical examination and will not compete in his men's heavyweight 91kg first round bout. He was down to fight Venezuela's Vasquez Torres, who will now receive a walk over at Peristeri Boxing Hall. Greek sprinters Konstantinos Kederis and Ekaterini Thanou made the hosts ashamed after controversial motorcycle accident and failing to undergo a scheduled dope test. But they diplomatically avoided further trouble and an anticipated unpleasant situation to the hosts by withdrawing from the Games. Meanwhile, Australia and the United States renewed their swimming rivalry at the Olympic Aqua centre as the swimming competition of the 202-nation Games ended here today. Up to the penultimate day of the Athens Olympic Games swimming competition, the US had an upper hand though the Australians won couple of key finals. There were three new Olympic Games record breakers from the United States last night. Aaron Peirsol (Olympic record timing of 1:54.95 in men's 200m back stroke), Michael Phelps (Olympic record timing of 1:57.14 in men's 200m individual medley) and Amanda Beard (Olympic record timing of 2:23.37 in women's 200m breast stroke) won gold medals in impressive style and the silver medalists on two of those finals were from Australia. But American Natalie Coughlin had to settle for the bronze in men's women's 100m freestyle final as Australian Jodie Henry returned a timing of 53.84 seconds to take the gold. |
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