Monday P.M. Summaries from the 2014 Youth Olympics (Marshall GOLD)
2014 Youth Olympic Games – Day 6 – Evening
Boys 800m
It was a very intelligent race for Myles Marshall (Kingwood, TX) who got the second gold of the meet for the U.S. Marshall took the early lead with a fast 26-second opening 200m, leading the rest of the field by 5 meters at that point. The field closed, but he still was the leader at 400m (54.07). Around the penultimate curve, he was passed by two runners, but kept in contact and then sped past them with about 200 meters to go. Geofrey Balimumiti (Uganda) began to close down the homestretch, but Marshall hung on to win in 1:49.14. Balimumiti got a PB of 1:49.37 for second and favorite Bacha Mulata of Ethiopia, who had a 1:47.10 to his credit this year and is the World Youth leader, finished 3rd in 1:49.73.
Boys 2000m Steeplechase
As usual, it would be a Kenyan-Ethiopian battle as Wogene Sidamo (Ethiopia), the World Youth leader, and Amos Kirui (Kenya) had the two fastest times of all the entrants. Sidamo was the victor over Kirui, 5:38.42 to 5:40.29. Hicham Chemlal of Morocco almost caught Kirui but came up short, running 5:40.94.
Boys Pole Vault
Favorite Hussen Al Hizam (Saudi Arabia), coming into the competition with a best of 17-5.5, would settle for =4th, jumping 15-11. A personal best of 16-8.75 by Noel del Cerro Vilalta of Spain got him the victory. Vladimir Shcherbakov (Russia) and Muntadher Abdulwahid (Iraq) both cleared 16-7, with the Russian getting the silver based on fewer misses. It was a personal best for Abdulwahid.
Boys Triple Jump
The overwhelming favorite, Miguel Van Assen (Suriname), ranked #2 in the world behind Cuban Lazaro Martinez, won with a jump of 53-0. But he got a bit of a scare from Tobia Bocchi of Italy, the only other competitor over 16 meters, jumping 16.01 – or 52-6.5. Nazim Babayev of Azerbaijan took third with a jump of 51-4.5
Boys Javelin
Lukas Moutarde (France) threw a personal best in round 1 (236-5) to take the early lead. He was third after 3 rounds, having been overtaken by Alexandru Novac (Romania, 242-8) and Mark Schmolcz (Hungary, 237-10). Then, on his final throw, he improved to 244-4 to take the gold. Novac and Schmolcz held the silver and bronze.
Girls 400m Hurdles
The top four finishers achieved personal bests, with Gezelle Magerman (South Africa) breaking 58 seconds for the first time in her career, winning in 57.91, the third-fastest Youth time in the world. Michaela Peskova (Slovakia) was second in 58.26 and Anne Sofie Kirkegaard (Denmark) was third in 58.60, giving their countries their first medals of the meet.
Girls 2000m Steeplechase
Heavy favorite Rosefline Chepngetich (Kenya) did not disappoint with her win, running 6:22.67. She had gotten the world lead (6:20.10) in the qualifying round. She was challenged by an Ethiopian, as seems to be the custom – Zewdinesh Teklemareau in this case – who was second in 6:26.02. Lili Toth of Hungary ran a PR 6:31.92 for the bronze.
Girls Javelin
Hanna Tarsiuk (Belarus), the favorite with a best of 190-1, threw 182-9 in the first round which was good enough to win. She solidified her victory in round 4 with a big 195-3 throw, a new PR and the World Youth lead. Fabienne Schonig (Germany) got her silver medal throw in round 2, tossing the spear 176-1. And Nagisa Mori (Japan), entering the competition with a best of 166-5, threw 171-6 to get the bronze.
