Chaunte Howard (USA) jumping in Liège (© Nadia Verhoft)
It wasn’t until the 21yearold Chaunte Howard (USA) cleared 1.98m and equalled her lifetime best in the High Jump that last night’s Meeting de Liège really came to life. Until then, strong and turning winds disturbed the athletes concentration. Then Howard really set the atmosphere in the stadium on fire as she successfully crossed over the bar at 2.00m to place her second equal on the world list for this outdoor season.
Elsewhere during the night, Howard’s compatriot and new sprint sensation, Wallace Spearmon, easily surged to victory in the men’s 200m. The world leading performer (19.91) for the distance was making his first ever appearance on European soil.
Anwar Moore was impressively fast in the men’s 110m High Hurdles and Kenyan Salome Chepchumba showed resilience in holding off a late threat in the women’s 3000m Steeplechase.
Spearmon aiming to improve his world leading 200m mark
The city of Liège is the capital of the province with the same name. The provincial authorities hosted this international meeting for the fourth time and the line-up has looked increasingly impressive through each edition. The meeting took place three days prior to the IAAF Grand Prix II in Heusden-Zolder, which is only a 30 minutes car drive off Liège, offering the athletes two major occasions to finetune their preparations for the Helsinki World Championships in August.
USA's Bernard Williams, Olympic 200m silver medallist, was beaten in both sprinting events, with the equally experienced Coby Miller winning the 100m in 10.28, some way off the 20-year-old stadium and Belgian national record of 10.02 of Ronald Desruelles. Australian Daniel Batman ran a blistering bend in the 200m, but was overtaken in the straight by two Americans, as a late surge from Wallace Spearmon secured victory for the young American talent.
“It felt fast, but 20.56 is not the kind of performance that I travelled to Europe for,"confirmed Spearmon."I guess the jet lag was putting a burden on today’s race. Also, the school season has lasted long, but now I’ve become a professional in athletics. This should make things easier. I quit baseball and from now on I will fully concentrate on the 2008 Olympics. My aim is to set a 200m personal best in my first European campaign.”
Jamaican Bev McDonald took home the women’s 100m, while the 200m was attributed to Peta Gaye-Dowdie after the officials disqualified Stephanie Durst - who crossed the line first in 23.11 - for running out of lane.
Howard reaches for the sky
Meanwhile, Chaunte Howard, second in the American trials and a World Championship qualifier, electrified the crowd as she soared over 2.00m in the womne's High Jump.
“I am extremely happy today. Over the past weeks, I felt really good and I knew I had a 2.00m clearance in my legs. The secret of good jumping is to relax and I was able to do that today because I let God take over. Spirituality is very important to me, it helps me to get in the right mood.”
Sharp hurdling from Anwar Moore
You have to be a very fast 110m Hurdler to make the US team. That is a lesson that Anwar Moore (13.32) is more than conscious of - “You have to be very very sharp to make it to the US-team on 110m hurdles. Today it was not my perfect race. I came a bit sluggishly off the blocks. I love to run on the European circuit, it’s my first outing out here. The people are so nice.”
Chepchumba wins in close sprint finish
In the women’s 3000m Steeplechase, Salome Chepchumba was the only athlete to follow the pace set by German Verena Dreier. The Kenyan was caught in the last lap by Lisa Galaviz and Roisin McGettigan, who had run a more even paced race. However, Chepchumba was confident enough to retain the lead and beat her rivals in a very close sprint. Lisa Galaviz-Aguilera, one of the most experienced steeplechasers on the circuit, came in second.
“I’m very much looking forward to compete in the first ever women’s World 3000m Steeplechase Championships," said Galaviz-Aguilera. "It was tough to qualify in the American trials with 5 girls reaching the IAAF- A standard. I proved to be a competitive racer on many occasions and I hope my experience will pay off and offer me a place in Helsinki’s final. That would be great.”
The 1500m races became tactical when the pacemakers dropped out. Maria Martins from France has been a very consistent competitor this summer and convincingly took control of the race in the last 200m to finish first in 4:10.22. In the men’s race Kenyan Elkanah Angwenyi out-sprinted the field in 3:42.61. In the 3000m, the favourite Shadrack Kosgei was the only athlete to hang on to the pace and dug out a 20m lead over the following pack. He cruised home in 7:46.37.
Sandrine Thiebaud paced the women’s 800m inside 58 seconds through the first lap and that caused her compatriot Virginie Fouquet to completely crack after 500m. Fouquet was overtaken by Kameisha Bennett who crossed the line in a lonely effort in 2:02.85. The men’s 800m saw a decisive acceleration by Kenyan Edwin Letting in the finishing straight which took the win (1:46.61).
Historic 600m
In the 15th century, all 600 inhabitants of the small village of Franchimont tried to save the city of Liège from foreign occupation. They all died in battle. The French speaking community of Belgium still celebrates this historical legend as a symbol of its identity. That’s the reason why the Meeting de Liège each year stages a race on the unusual distance of 600m. In the contest, Kenyan Joseph Mutua was not able to move past American Khadevis Robinson who finished first in 1:15.23.
Finally, Walter Davis (USA) produced the best Triple Jump with 16.88m, and Richard Spiegelburg (GER) emerged as a winner in the Pole Vault competition, clearing only 5.60m, hampered by the windy conditions.
Ivo Hendrix for the IAAF
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