Thailand's 4x100m team celebrate winning gold at the World University Games (© FISU)
Thailand claimed a historic gold as Finland, China and Russia also savoured the taste of victory on the opening day (9) of athletics competitions at the 24th World Univeristy Games, held in this capital until 18 August.
Relay gold is dedicated to King and Queen of Thailand
Pirom Autas, Wachara Sondee, Sompote Suwannarangsri and Sittichai Suwonprateep joined efforts won a close 4x100m final over the South African squad to give the host country its first athletics title in the 48-year history of the Games.
Suwannarangsri and Suwonprateep also led the Thai team to clinch the Asian title in Amman, Jordan, on 29 July.
Hosting the Universiade for the first time, the Southeast Asian country had never won a medal at this level.
After waving the crowd cheering at Main Stadium of Thammasat University's Rangsit Campus, the four sprinters dedicated the win to Their Majesties the King and Queen as well as Thai fans.
The quartet was far from the Games record, set by Italy (38.42) in Mexico City, in 1972.
China held on for bronze in 39.30, just a hundredth of a second ahead of Great Britain.
“The victory is part of the celebrations of His Majesty the King's 80th birthday. It is also for Mother's Day (12 August which is Her Majesty the Queen's birthday),” 21-year old Pirom, who was included for the first time in the team, told the Bangkok Post. At the 2005 SEA Games in the Philippines, he was a substitute.
It was the best time for the Thais since the 2002 Asian Games, but it was not enough for them to qualify for the World Championships in Japan later this month. They needed to run 39.00. They were the fastest in the semifinals with 39.47.
“Their time could have been better, had they started well,” said Thailand coach Supanus Ariyamongkol, quoted by the paper. He said newcomer Pirom was too nervous.
Each of the sprinters will receive one million baht (nearly U$ 32.000) in bonus from the government.
Finland prevails over hosts in women’s sprint relay
Earlier, the female team ended the 48-year medal drought with a good display in the 4x100m relay.
With three of the four members who had just claimed the Asian crown in Amman, the host quartet clocked 43.92 for silver, behind the Finns.
Heidi Hannula, Sari Keskitalo, Ilona Ranta and Johanna Manninen posted the quickest time in the semi-finals (43.95) and confirmed their favourite status with 43.48 to give the Nordic country its first University athletics gold since 1991.
Ukraine grabbed bronze in 43.99, ahead of defending champions Russia (44.16). The Games record of 42.40, held by the US since 1989, remained intact.
China takes first gold of the day
In the morning, China's Jiang Qiuyan took the first gold medal of the 24th Universiade when she successfully defended the 20-kilometre walk title she won two years earlier in Izmir, Turkey.
Jiang crossed the finish line in 1:35:22, two minutes slower than the championships record (1:33:13) she set in 2005.
"I'm very happy to win it again," said the title-holder. "I'm quite satisfied with the result although it is not as good as the one in Izmir. Now, I'll focus on my intensive training to get a chance to compete in next year's Beijing Olympics," Jiang told The Nation.
The recently crowned Asian champion in Amman was followed home by Italy's Lidia Mongelli (1:37.23) and Belarus' Sniazhana Yurchanka (1:37:26).
The race was held in Ayutthaya, about 60km from Bangkok.
Agafonova dominates 10,000m final
Russia's Ksenia Agafonova took the fourth and last gold of the day with a clear victory in the women's 10,000m.
Agafonova covered the 25 laps in 32:20.94, the second fastest winning time in the Games history, only slower than Romania's Viorica Ghican, who ran 31:46.43 in 1989.
Japan's Ryoko Kizaki improved her personal best (32:55.11) to clinch silver, ahead of Jo Pun Hui (33: 20.55) of the People's Republic of Korea.
Qualification rounds…
Apart from the finals, Latvia's 2004 Olympic silver medallist Vadims Vasilevskis led the qualifiers in the Javelin with 80.81m, followed by his countryman, defending champion and 2005 World Championships finalist Ainars Kovals (79.65).
Ukraine's Yevgeniya Shigur (13.02) and Sergii Demidiuk (13.44) will start as top favourites in the 100m and 110m Hurdles finals on Friday, respectively. Among the 110m Hurdles finalists is Brazil's 2003 champion Anselmo Gomes Da Silva (13.82).
In the first round of the 400m, Britain's Richard Buck and Russia's Ksenia Zadorina posted the fastest times with 46.20 and 52.41, respectively.
In the Heptathlon, Ukraine's Ganna Melnichenko (3595) held a narrow two-point lead after the first day over Russia's Natalia Kotova (3593). Lithuania's Viktorija Zemaityte (3.580) is close in third.
Algeria's Samir Khadar was the fastest in the men's 1500m semi-finals, ahead of Spain's Alvaro Rodriguez (3:42.59) and Brazil's 2005 800m Universiade champion Fabiano Peçanha (3:42.80).
In the women's event, Olesya Chumakova sent a clear message about her intentions with a solid first heat win in 4:09.76. Ukraine's Tetyana Holovchenko (4:10.93) and Latvia's Inna Poluskina (4:12.51) will be two other major contenders in the final.
In the field, Serbia's Slavica Semenjuk and Russia's Alexandra Kiryashova both cleared 4.10m in the Pole Vault qualifying.
In the Long Jump, Slovakia's Jana Veldakova landed at 6.64m, followed by Kazakhstan's Olga Rypakova (6.55m) and Greece's Stylianh Pilatou (6.51m).
Over 1500 student athletes aged between 17 and 28 from 150 countries will be competing here in 15 sports until 18 August. Seven finals will be held on the second day of athletics on Friday.
Some of the athletes participating here take the Universiade as part of their final tune-up for the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, to be held in Osaka, Japan, August 25-September 2.
Javier Clavelo Robinson for the IAAF
