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Day 5 (19th) Morning Wrap
Brought to you by Edward Ovadia who is in Berlin with official IAAF accreditation covering the championships for Runnerstribe.com
The womens discus throw qualification was the highlight of the fifth morning of competition, where Dani Samuels took centre stage. She is a class act all the way, and although young for her event, she is already one of the best throwers in the world, and a real medal chance for Australia. She is a World Youth Champion, a World Junior Champion, a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, and came ninth in the Olympics last year. She has stepped it up another level since then, and is regularly throwing over 62m - and today was no exception. Samuels needed just one throw to reach the qualifying mark of 61.50m, and pass it easily - she threw 62.67, and was the third qualifier going into the finals.
Multiple World Champion and local hero Franka Dietzsch failed to make the next round, and reigning Olympic Champion Stephanie Brown-Trafton, who was only last week telling Runner's Tribe how ready she was to let a big one fly, took three throws and only managed 61.23. But Brown-Trafton is a class act, and will be coming back strong in the final. She is the one Samuels will have to look out for, along with the Chinese duo of Xuejun Ma and Aimin Song, who were the top two qualifiers in the rounds.
Samuels: "It is definitely a boost doing it on my first throw. I love the fact now that I can just go out and just be relaxed and smash one out just thirty centimeters from my PB in my first throw. I definitely feel in PB shape. I was so nervous this morning; it just seemed to go forever. I woke up at 5.30am and was like just go back to sleep!"
The womens 5000m heats was a largely unnecessary race, with two heats being run - the result was only seven people being eliminated, and fifteen making it through to the final. All the favourites looked good, and Defar was sure in winning her heat. Elvan Abeylegesse, who pulled out of the 10000m, didn't start the 5000m. Neither did Tirunesh Dibaba, who has been forced to miss both the 10000m and the 5000m due to an injury just before the Championships.
Defar: "I pushed the pace because I've been a little bit sick, and I wanted to see how my body would respond. I feel OK. I'm pleased I qualified because I really want to win the final."
In the mens 110m hurdles, Dayron Robles got a terrible start, and almost missed making the next round - he placed third in his heat, and made it by only 0.05 seconds. But Robles too is a class act, and we will be seeing much more of him in the next round. He has mentioned the world record, and Berlin may be the time to do it. The fastest qualifier was Daniel Kiss, who ran a Hungarian national record of 13.34!
Robles: "I felt pain in my left thigh, I do not know what is going on. I thought it was only a small problem but now I know that I really have a problem. I am a warrior, I will fight!"
Tune in tonight for Sally McLellan in the semis then hopefully finals of the womens 100m hurdles, as well as the mens 1500m final, and the womens 800m final. It's going to be a big night!
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