Unexpected torrential rain during the men's 100m morning heats (© Getty Images)
Athletes and spectators alike were treated to four seasons in one day as brilliant sunshine and strong gusting winds gave way to a torrential shower which caused a 20-minute delay in an action packed first morning at the 12th IAAF World Junior Championships in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz.
Wilks clocks easy 10.28 in morning’s heats
The highlight of the session in the Zawisza Stadium was the heats of the men’s 100m with US athlete Terrell Wilks claiming the early bragging rights, posting the fastest first round time of 10.28.
Running from lane one Wilks, the US Junior champion with a best of 10.19, blitzed to victory in heat three from the inside lane to lay down an early statement of his intentions.
“My coach told me to go on and dominate because it is the first round and I’m pleased with that,” he remarked just moments after the race.
Wilks had the good fortune to run before the heavy rain delayed proceedings after the sixth heat of nine and Jamaica’s 2006 World Junior bronze medallist Yohan Blake, seen by many as Wilks’ main rival, comfortably took the eighth heat – albeit in a more modest 10.56.
Other noteworthy qualifiers for tonight’s final were Cuban David Lescay (10.47) and second string American Antonio Sales (10.49), although you suspect more will be revealed about the potential medal contenders in tonight’s semi-finals.
The most impressive first round qualifier in the women’s 100m was World Youth bronze medallist Ashlee Nelson, of Great Britain, who battled through a 1.9m/s headwind to take heat one in 11.55.
World leader and pre-event favourite Jeneba Tarmoh of the USA looked comfortable in taking heat two in 11.56. Sheniqua Ferguson of the Bahamas sprinted to 11.59 to win heat five to also hint at her ability to make the podium.
Zambia and Grenada steal the show in 400m heats
Racheal Nachula suggested she could make history as a first ever Zambian medallist at the championships by leading the qualifiers in the opening round of the women’s 400m. The stocky Nachula ran hard to take heat three in an impressive 52.65 to book her spot for tomorrow night’s semi-finals.
The world leader Folashade Abugan of Nigeria appeared to have plenty to spare after cruising to a heat two victory in 53.71. Jessica Beard looks the chief danger from the USA after securing heat four from lane eight in 53.65.
World Youth silver medallist Kirani James headed the qualifiers in the men’s 400m after setting a Grenadian junior national record of 46.53 in heat four of the men’s 400m.
James, aged just 15, powered around the bright blue coloured 400m oval to lower his PB by a sizeable 0.43 and cruise through into tomorrow’s semi-finals.
The pick of the other qualifiers was world leader, O’Neal Wilder, the heat three winner in 46.82. The tall, rangy US junior champion looked in complete control to back up his pre-event favourites tag.
Shot putters gear up for tonight’s final
Germany’s 2007 World Youth champion David Storl (19.88m) led the qualifiers for tonight’s men’s shot put final.
Behind Storl, European Junior champion Aleksandr Bulanov survived a scare after a modest best of 17.97m saw him teetering on the edge of elimination after the first two rounds. However, the powerful Russian kept his nerve and with his final attempt, putted 0.11cm in advance of the automatic qualification mark of 19.50m to lead the pool A qualifiers.
There was no place, however, in tonight’s final for South Africa’s world No.4 Orazio Cremona after he could only muster a best of 18.28m.
Field events – Nesterenko and Perie easy qualifiers
World Youth champion Mykyta Nesterenko eased into Wednesday’s men’s discus final with a first round qualification toss of 61.77m. The giant Ukrainian has been touted as one of the stars of the championships and although he was way down on his mighty world junior record of 70.13m the blustery conditions he encountered was far from ideal.
The only other automatic qualifier was World Youth silver medallist Marin Premeru of Croatia (59.29m).
In the women’s hammer, Ariannis Vichy of Cuba led the qualifiers with a 62.23m effort. Pre-event favourite and defending world junior champion Bianca Perie of Romania eased through to Wednesday’s final with a best of 61.10m.
The men struggled in a below-par long jump qualification despite having the ‘aid’ of a significant tailwind. Eusebio Caceres of Spain was the only automatic qualifier with a final round 7.77m after two disappointing attempts which had, at that stage, put him on the verge of elimination.
World Youth bronze medallist Christian Taylor of the USA was the second best qualifier with 7.68m – 0.02 shy of the automatic standard for tomorrow’s final.
Africans dominate steeplechase heats
Predictably, East African athletes were to the fore in the women’s 3000m steeplechase heats; the opening track event of the six-day championships.
In heat one Kenya’s Elizabeth Mueni cantered to an easy heat win in 10:07.47 from Ethiopia’s Korahubish Itaa (10:08.15).
Kenya again edged Ethiopia in the second heat as Christine Kambua Muyanga, the World Youth silver medallist, stopped the clock in 9:59.88 narrowly outside her personal best of 9:57.0 to suggest a blistering final could be on the cards on Thursday.
In second Halima Hassen hacked almost ten seconds from her lifetime best in 10:00.27.
Steve Landells for the IAAF
