Germaine Mason in Liège (© Nadia Verhoft)
Liège, BelgiumGermaine Mason crossed the bar at 2.30m in Liège and narrowly failed to clear 2.34m. The British high jumper boosted his confidence on his way to the Olympic Games and so did Belgium’s Kim Gevaert after winning the 100m in 11.28. Gevaert regained confidence after recently sufferung a slight setback due to injury problems.
Mason excited about qualifying for the Olympics
Mason was left alone early in the High Jump competition after Ukrainian Dmytro Demyanyuk failed to clear 2.24m, and the Briton looked very concentrated, cleared 2.30m and ended the competition with two close failures at 2.34m.
“I was very relax today after I secured my Olympic qualification at the British trials last weekend. I feel very excited about that, because these will be my first Olympic Games. I will do my best and I hope to be in the battle when things matter. I feel very confident in training after I changed some things technically. My run up is a lot faster now and that allows me to jump higher.”
Home star on the mend
The painful Achilles tendons of Kim Gevaert news of which fill the pages of Belgian newspapers these days has led to the European champion cancelling competitions and medical treatment but her Olympic ambitions were never really in danger. In Liège, Gevaert came back on the international scene by winning the 100m in 11.28 against Vida Anim from Ghana and Stephanie Durst from the USA.
“Winning was the most important thing today”, said Gevaert. “I felt good and relaxed, but there are still a few things that I have to work on. But I’m getting more confident now, the pain is getting less and I’m trying to focus entirely on my Olympic preparation. Next Sunday I compete at the KBC Night of Athletics in Heusden-Zolder and I hope to be a bit faster then.”
Indeed, the chilly conditions in Liège were not favourable for excellent performances. Still Gevaert inspired her team mates from the successful 4 x 100 team that won the bronze medal at the World Championships in Osaka in 2007. Hanna Mariën ran 11.49 and Olivia Borlée set a seasonal best of 11.57.
Yanit in good form
Nevin Yanit won a great duel against Canadian Priscilla Lopes-Schliep in the 100m Hurdles. Both were clocked at 12.77. The 22-year-old from Turkey is confident that she can reach the Olympic final. “My form is getting better and better”, said Yanit.
German Pole Vaulting once more proved to be very healthy with freshman Malte Mohr imposing himself in a very strong field with 5.70m. Aubrey Herring won the 110m Hurdles in 13.53 while fellow American and Olympic 1500m qualifier Erin Donohue easily won the 800m in 2:01.19.
Ivo Hendrix for the IAAF
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