Saturday Summaries from the 2014 Youth Olympics (Foster bronze)
2014 Youth Olympic Games – Day 4 – Evening
Photos by Joy Kamani (top to bottom, left to right): 1) Team USA Coach Ron Williams gives encouragement; 2-3) Rhesa Foster wins bronze for Team USA and gets to wear the flag; 4) Brittny Ellis during her 400 finish; 5-6) Amere Lattin winces in pain and contemplates a rough finish in the 110H; 7) Jaleel Hyde of Jamaica celebrates 110H gold; Tyler Merkley has a solid effort in the discus (Jiro Moshizuki photo).
Girls Long Jump
Beatrice Fiorese of Italy took the lead in round 2, jumping 20-4.5. Yelyzaveta Baby of Ukraine bested that in round 3 with a jump of 20-6.5. That was good enough to win. Rhesa Foster (Clovis North, Fresno, CA), the youngest girl in the field, was the only bright light of the day for U.S., getting the bronze medal with a PB of 20-3(+0.2w) on her 2nd attempt. That’s the 5th best mark for a high schooler this year.
Girls Discus
It was a great battle between world leader Alona Byelyakova (Ukraine) and Kangping Sun (China). Byelyakova took the lead in round 3 with a throw of 169-5. Sun responded on the very next throw with a PB 173-2 and that’s the way it stayed through the 4 rounds of competition. Haley Showalter (Valor Christian, Highlands Ranch, CO) finished 7th, her big throw coming in the final round with 148-0.
Girls Pole Vault
A bit of an upset here as Angelica Moser (Switzerland) defeated 2013 World Youth Champion Robeilys Peinado (Venezuela) and got a #2 world-ranked 14-3.5 PB in the process. Moser had it won when she cleared 13-9.25 and Peinado missed three times, thus finishing second with 13-5.25. Moser then cleared her winning height on her 3rd try before missing at 14-8.25.
Girls 100m
The big surprise here was the false start of world 2nd-ranked Ana Swoboda of Poland, who had run the stunning 11.30 in the prelims. She was inconsolable after the false start and ran off the track in tears. That opened the door for hometown favorite Ziaojing Liang of China, who won in 11.65. Janie O’Connor (Zachary, LA) did not run in the “B” final, likely due to the injury she appeared to suffer in the prelims.
Girls 400m
Brittny Ellis (Warren, Gurnee, IL) went out very fast, leading at 200 meters, but was overtaken from that point on. The first five ran PBs, the winner being Jessica Thornton of Australia at 52.50, the second best time in the world for Youth. Second was Salwa Eid Naser (Bahrain) at 52.74. Both are young enough to be eligible for the 2015 IAAF World Youth Championships. Ellis ran decently, finishing 6th in 53.82, just .33 off her PR from AAU JOs.
Girls 800m
Martha Bissah of Ghana pulled a major upset, running an almost two-second PR and winning in 2:04.90. That’s the fourth best Youth time of the year. Hawi Alemu of Ethiopia nipped Mareen Kalis of Germany for 2nd, 2:06.01 to 2:06.03.
Girls 5000m racewalk
China’s Zhenzia Ma dominated the field, winning by almost a minute with 22:28.08. Silver and bronze went to Valeria Ortuno of Mexico at 23:19.27 and Noemi Stella of Italy at 23:38.10.
Boys 100m
Raheem Chambers of Jamaica, the overwhelming favorite with a best of 10.27, did not show for the final after hobbling the final meters through the line in his prelim. That opened the door for a close battle between Sydney Siame of Zambia and Kenta Oshima of Japan, with Siame edging Oshima, 10.56 to 10.57. It could be the first time a Zambian has gotten a gold medal in any world championships.
Boys 110m Hurdles
Jaheel Hyde (Jamaica), the 2014 World Junior Champion in the 400m Hurdles, won the “other” hurdles in this meet and did so in exemplary fashion. His 12.96 was a World Youth record … .17 seconds faster than he ran to win World Youth gold in 2013 and nearly half a second ahead of 2nd place. The next three behind him got PBs as well. Amere Lattin (Fort Bend Marshall, Missouri City, TX), appeared to have injured his hamstring at about the second hurdle and finished 7th in 15.53.
Boys High Jump
World leader Danil Lysenko (Russia) missed only once on his way to a 7-2.5 victory. Lysenko was 6th at the 2014 World Junior Championships. Three athletes cleared 7-0.25, with Yuji Hiramatsu (Japan) and Shemaiah James (Australia) winning silver and bronze on fewer misses.
Boys Discus
Clemens Prufer (Germany) took the lead in round 3 with a throw of 198-11. Yulong Chen of China responded on the next throw, with 206-10. In round 4, Prufer improved to 208-5 to retake the lead. Chen responded with 210-5 to seal the victory. Chen and Prufer came into the competition as the first- and second-ranked discus throwers in the world, with Chen having thrown 214-11 and Prufer 213-4. It was the fourth gold medal of the night for China (W 5000m Racewalk, W 100m and both discusses). Tyler Merkley (Los Osos, CA) finished 7th at 184-7.
Day 4 – Morning
Girls 100m Hurdles
Kimani Rushing (Hallandale, Fort Lauderdale, FL) was never in the race, finishing 8th in 14.05. The race was won by Laura Valette of France, equaling her PB and running 13.34.
Boys 100m “C” Final
Jeffery Uzzell (Eagles Landing Christian Academy, Mc Donough, GA) won his race, clocking 11.04.
Boys 400m
Martin Manley (Jamaica), the defending World Youth Champion, won this event in close to his 46.24 PB, running 46.31. The silver and bronze medalists also hit PB’s. It was Karabo Sibanda (Botswana) in second at 46.76 and Hnri Delauze (Bahamas) in third at 46.91. Andrew James (Westminster Academy, Fort Lauderdale, FL), schedule to run in the “B” final, did not start apparently due to a broken toe.
