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ATHLETICS: Bolt eases through to 200 semis

Liu Xiang reacts in pain before the start of his men’s 110m hurdles heat at the National Stadium in Beijing yesterday. PHOTO: EPA

With Liu Xiang gone, Usain Bolt made sure one superstar kept going on the Olympic track yesterday, easily qualifying for the 200m semi-finals in his search for a golden triple.

In muggy conditions at the Bird’s Nest, the 100m champion and world record holder never pushed himself to win his quarter-final heat ahead of Olympic gold medalist Shawn Crawford, mock-wiping pearls of sweat off his brow after the race.

The semi-finals are set for today, with Crawford among the few believed to have a chance at stopping Bolt’s quest for a 100m-200m double, a feat last achieved by Carl Lewis at the 1988 Seoul Games.

In the sharpest of contrast, Liu pulled out of the Olympics before clearing his first hurdle yesterday, suffering “intolerable” pain in his right leg in front of a stunned crowd.

If Liu’s fate was shocking, nothing was more predictable than a Kenyan winning the steeplechase — for the seventh time in a row.

Brimin Kipruto, the Athens silver medalist and reigning world champion, rallied to beat Maheidine Mekhissi-Benabbad, a Frenchman who split up an expected Kenyan sweep by taking silver ahead of Richard Mateelong.

Athens champion Ezekiel Kemboi faded to finish in seventh place.

After a horrible start to the track competition, the US got their first gold — an unexpected one — from Stephanie Brown Trafton in the discus.

The 28-year-old Brown Trafton, only third at the US trials, won with a best mark of 64.74m.

Yarelys Barrios of Cuba, a bronze medalist at the last world championships, took silver at 63.64m and Olena Antonova of Ukraine was third at 62.59m.

US athletes equally looked good in the women’s 100m hurdles, with LoLo Jones setting the year’s best time and a personal best to advance into the final. As controlled as Jones soared over the hurdles, as sloppy was European champion Susanna Kallur.

The Swede crashed straight into the first hurdle and fell to the ground, finishing her comeback attempt after a season marred by injury.

“I had my leg under the hurdle instead of on top,” Kallur said.

World and defending champion Jeremy Wariner and LaShawn Merritt kept on track for their golden clash in the 400m, both easily going through into today’s semi-finals. Both jogged home to win their heats.

“No surprise. He’s ready, I’m ready,” Merritt said.

The pair of US sprinters finished first and second at last year’s world championships and own the year’s two best times. Wariner has said he intends to break the world record of 43.18 seconds of Michael Johnson — who now serves as his manager.

The 400m semi-finals are today, the final on Thursday.

In the final events of the evening Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia broke her own women’s pole vault world record. She cleared 5.05m, beating the previous mark of 5.04m she had set last month, after taking gold in the event.

World champion Irving Saladino of Panama won the gold medal in the men’s long jump. Saladino’s leap of 8.34m was enough to stay ahead of South Africa’s Khotso Mokoena who managed 8.24m.

Cuban Ibrahim Camejo’s sixth-round jump of 8.20m earned him the bronze medal.

Angelo Taylor of the US won the men’s 400m hurdles gold with a time of 47.25 seconds. The 29-year-old led an American clean sweep as world champion Kerron Clement took silver in 47.98 seconds and 2005 world champion Bershawn Jackson filled bronze in a time of 48.06 seconds.

In the women’s 800m final Kenya’s Pamela Jelimo won the gold in 1 minute, 54.87 seconds, with compatriot Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei taking silver and Morocco’s Hasna Benhassi taking the bronze.
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