Sunday P.M. Summaries from the 2014 Youth Olympics (Lyles GOLD)
2014 Youth Olympic Games – Day 5 – Evening
Boys 200m
Noah Lyles (TC Williams, Alexandria, VA) did not match his prelim time of 20.71, a sophomore class record, but dominated the field nonetheless, running an impressive 20.80 from lane 7. Baboloki Thebe (Botswana) was 2nd in 21.20 and Chun-Han Yang of Chinese Taipei was 3rd in 21.31. The Lyles brothers, Noah and Josephus, both of whom will be high school juniors in the fall, have had an amazing summer. Josephus won a gold medal as part of the winning 4x400m relay team at this year’s IAAF World Junior Championships.
Boys 3000m
This was an amazing race to watch, not so much for the final time (which was amazing in itself at 7:56.20), but the fact that the winner, world leader Yomif Atomsa (Ethiopia) had run 20 seconds faster earlier in the year! It was a race that Moses Koech (Kenya) tried to steal, setting a fast early pace. The ever-dominant Atomsa took over with 2 laps to go. With a lap to go, Thierry Nkikumwenayo (Burundi) started a charge and passed Koech down the homestretch to take the silver with Koech settling for the bronze.
Boys Shot Put
2014 IAAF World Junior Champion Konrad Bukowiecki of Poland added the Youth Olympics crown to his honors, throwing a PB 76-0.25 to win. The order was according to the pre-meet form chart with the 2nd- and 3rd-ranked throwers in the world taking silver and bronze. Andres Toader (Romania) was second with 68-10.75 and Merten Howe (Germany) third with 66-0.5.
Boys Hammer Throw
Like the girls, the big favorite in this event was a Hungarian, in this case Bence Halasz. He was 7th at the 2013 World Youth Championship and came into the competition with a best of 285-11. But he could only manage 2nd this time, as Hilb Piskunov (Ukraine) bested him 271-2 to 268-8. Ahmed Youssef (Egypt) got a PB of 257-10 to finish 3rd.
Girls 3000m
Alina Reh (Germany) set the pace, leading at 1000m (3:01.17) and 2000m (6:06.45). With 2 laps to go, favorite Nozomi Takamatsu (Japan) took the lead and never relinquished it, winning in a PB 9:01.58. Reh was second in 9:05.07, and Berhan Asgedom (Ethiopia) was third in a PB 9:06.10.
Girls High Jump
This event saw a major upset as Yuliya Levchenko (Ukraine) jumped three successive PBs to win at 6-2.25. Her prior best was 6-0. After equaling her original PB, she cleared 6-0.75 on her first attempt, 6-1.5 on her third attempt and her winning jump on her second attempt. Nawal Meniker (France), also a 6-0 jumper coming into the event, cleared 6-0.75 on her third attempt and briefly led based on her first attempt clearance at 6-1.5. She did not clear 6-2.25 and settled for the silver. Favorite Michaela Hruba (Czech Republic), the 2014 IAAF World Junior runner-up behind Great Britain’s Morgan Lake, managed only 6-0.75 for bronze. She has a best of 6-3.25.
Girls Shot Put
The result was according to form, as the top 3 entrants finished 1-2-3. Alena Bugakova (Russia) was the winner with a throw of 62-2.25, followed by Maria Orozco Castro (Mexico) at 57-7, and Anika Nehls (Germany) at 56-9.5.
Girls Hammer Throw
Though only ranked 5th in the world, Xinying Xu had the home country advantage and got the winning throw on her final attempt. Second-ranked Alex Hulley (Australia) took the lead with a throw of 224-3 in round 3, but it was matched by Xu in round 4. Xu had a better second throw (221 to Hulley’s 219-2), so she got the gold. Zsofia Bacskay of Hungary, 6th at the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships and who had 10 of the top 12 throws in the world coming into the competition, could manage only 220-11 and settled for third. She is the world leader at 242-8.
