ATHLETICS: WORLD GAMES
FRANKIE Fredericks joined Linford Christie as the third-fastest 100m man of all time with a blistering run while Jonathan Edwards put the spark back into his triple jumping at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki last night.
Fredericks, the 29-year-old Namibian, raced to victory in 9.87sec, matching the time Christie recorded at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart. Only world record-holder Leroy Burrell (9.85) and fellow American Carl Lewis (9.86) have gone faster.
Double Olympic silver medallist Fredericks, who has been training with Christie this year, said he was still unsure about going for both sprints at the Olympics.
``I will definitely be doing the 200m, but I'm not sure yet about the 100,'' said Fredericks, who took full advantage of a tail wind of 1.9mps - just inside the legal limit.
But he had words of encouragement for Christie, who is expected to announce on Monday whether he will defend the 100m title in Atlanta. ``If I can do that time, Linford can certainly repeat it - or go even faster,'' said Fredericks.
Britain's Darren Braithwaite beat world champion Donovan Bailey into third place with 10.13, .01sec outside his career best.
World champion Edwards, returning to competition after a three-week break to re-charge the batteries, produced his longest leap of a troubled season then declared: ``I feel a lot happier.''
Edwards soared to 17.82 metres to prove his fitness to Britain's Olympic selectors after missing their trials with a bruised heel and sore knee.
``I was excited about packing and getting on the plane here and that's always a good sign,'' said the 30-year-old Gateshead Harrier. ``Even though there were a lot of things going through my mind, I was looking forward to the competition. My timing and rhythm are still not quite there and obviously the main battles are still to come.
``But the important thing is that a bit of the spark which has been missing is back.
``I felt nice and relaxed and 18 metres didn't feel a million miles away. I was very encouraging.''
Kelly Holmes scored an impressive 800m win in 1min 58.53sec, Iwan Thomas edged out fellow Olympic 400m man Du'aine Ladejo in 45.14, Tony Jarrett headed the sprint hurdles with 13.48, while Debbie Marti won the high jump with 1.92.
Scottish Olympian David Strang was cursing himself after having been too tentative in the 800m. ``I was well placed with 200m to go, but did not challenge,'' he said. ``I thought I would blow up, it had been so fast - 48 seconds for the leader at 400m.''
Vebjorn Rodal, of Denmark, held on to win in 1min 44.95sec, from Strang's training partner Hezekiel Sepeng (1-46.00) with Curtis Robb (1-46.42) catching Strang on the line.
The Scot, who finished with 1-46.56, misses Saturday's Scottish championships to race in the BUPA Games at Gateshead the following day.
Glen Stewart finished a close second in the 1500m, but was disappointed with the pace, and had to settle for a time of 3-43.11.
MEN. 100m: 1, F Fredericks (Namibia) 9.87sec; 2, D Braithwaite (GB) 10.13; 3, D Bailey (Can) 10.15.
200m: 1, V Dologodin (Ukr) 20.33; 2, R Dempers (SA) 20.61; 3, D Oaks (US) 20.66.
400m: 1, I Thomas (GB) 45.14; 2, D Ladejo (GB) 45.19; 3, R Guy (Tri) 45.65.
800m: 1, V Rodal (Nor) 1-44.95; 2, H Sepeng (SA) 1-46.00; 3, C Robb (GB) 1-46.42.
1500m: 1, F Kiptoo (Ken) 3-43.09; 2, G Stewart (GB) 3-43.11; 3 P Mwangi (Ken) 3-44.07.
110m hurdles: 1, T Jarrett (GB) 13.48; 2, F Balzer (Ger) 13.66; 3, Li Tong (China) 13.67.
400m hurdles: 1, T Zellner (US) 48.82; 2, R Robinson (Aus) 48.85; 3, L Herbert (SA) 49.41.
Javelin: 1, B Henry (Ger) 86.48m; 2, P Boden (Swe) 82.60; 3, H Hakkarainen (Fin) 81.76.
Shot: 1, P Dal Soglio (Italy) 20.44; 2, C Hunter (US) 19.60; 3, M Koistinen (Fin) 19.18.
Pole vault: 1 equal, I Trandenkov (Rus) and V Strogolev (Rus) 5.80; 3, D Markov (Belarus) 5.70.
Triple jump: 1, J Edwards (GB) 17.82; 2, S Njerve (Nor) 17.01; 3, C Calado (Por) 16.69.
WOMEN. 100m: 1, M Trandenkova (Rus) 11.10sec; 2, M Richardson (GB) 11.48; 3, J Manninen (Fin) 11.51.
400m: 1, A Jurtsenko (Ukr) 52.78; 2, L Naylor (Aus) 53.33; 3, Y Warren (US) 53.98.
800m: 1, K Holmes (GB) 1-58.53; 2, M Everlof (Swe) 2-01.66; 3, K Gudesen (Den) 2-04.61.
5000m: 1, F Ribeiro (Por) 14-52.66; 2, A Sandell (Fin) 15-14.34; 3, S Wedlund (Swe) 15-19.53.
Long jump: 1, L Ninova (Aut) 6.99m; 2, Y Chen (Rus) 6.71; 3, V Vershinina (Ukr) 6.64.
High jump: 1, D Marti (GB) 1.92; 2, N Zilienskiene (Lith) 1.89; 3, J Jennings (GB) 1.83.
Javelin: 1, T Damaske (Ger) 66.62; 2, H Rantanen (Fin) 65.46; 3, O Ovchinnikova (Rus) 63.26.
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