Sport

World Champs flashback...Richards, Hemmings star in Athens

Sandie Richards - file

This is the fifth article in a series on Jamaican athletes who have reached the finals of events at the IAAF World Championships. Today we look at the 1997 championships held in Athens, Greece. The first four articles focussed on the championships of 1983/87, 1991, 1993 and 1995. The 10th IAAF World Championships will be held in Helsinki, Finland, August 6-14.

HURDLER DEON HEMMINGS and 400 metres runner Sandie Richards were the stars of the Jamaican team which left the 1997 IAAF World Championships in Athens, Greece with three silver and four bronze medals.

Hemmings arrived in Athens on a high. A year earlier in Atlanta, Georgia she had become the first Jamaican woman to win an Olympic gold medal following her victory in the 400m hurdles final. Richards, on the other hand, was in the best form of her life in the 400m.

As usual, however, a lot of attention was focussed on Ottey at the start of the championships as internationally she was the best known Jamaican athlete. Despite the presence of several new young sprint stars, including Americans Marion Jones and Inger Miller, French woman Christine Arron and Ukraine's Zhanna Pintusevich, the 37-year-old Ottey reached her sixth consecutive 100m final. The 1997 renewal turned out to be her most disappointing.

So focussed

Ottey was so focussed she failed to hear the recall gun following a false start in the final and ran flat out for 50m before pulling up. She made a slow walk back while the other women waited and with little time to recover finished seventh in 11.29. The 21-year-old Jones won in a personal best 10.83, Pintusevich (25) was second in a national record 10.85 for silver while 22-year-old Sevatheda Fynes of the Bahamas took home bronze in 11.03.

Four Jamaicans, Ottey who got an automatic place as defending champion, Juliet Cuthbert, Juliet Campbell and Merlene Frazer competed in the women's 200m. All four reached the semi-finals but only Ottey advanced.

The powerful Pintusevich won fairly easily in 22.32 with only one-hundredth of a second separating Sri Lanka's Susanthika Jayasinghe, 22.39, and Ottey, 22.40, for the silver and bronze medals. The Sri Lankan had raised a lot of eyebrows at the meet as her best time before the championships was 22.95.

Richards, a former world indoor champion, appeared on course for her first outdoor gold at the 1997 meet after taking her second round heat in a personal best 50.08 and semi-final heat in 50.21. She improved her personal record to 49.79 (her best time ever) but was beaten by training partner and Olympic silver medallist Cathy Freeman of Australia who won gold in 49.77 running out of lane one. American Jearl Miles-Clark was third in 49.90.

High quality event

The women's 400m hurdles was a high quality event. The participants included world record holder Kim Batten, Olympic champion Hemmings and the silver medallist of 1995 Tonja Buford-Bailey. Hemmings and Batten had a battle royal in the final until the Jamaican pulled away and seemed to have the race at her mercy. Morocco's Nezha Bidouane, however, came with a strong late run to edge past a surprised Hemmings in the final metres. The winning time was an African record 52.97, Hemmings took silver in 53.09 and Batten the bronze in 53.52. Debbie-Ann Parris, Jamaica's number one this year, also reached the final where was fifth in 54.19.

Michelle Freeman captured Jamaica's first ever medal in the 100m hurdles. She mined bronze in 12.61 behind Sweden's Lumila Engquist, 12.50, and Svetia Dimitrova of Bulgaria, 12.58. Dione Rose ran in her second consecutive final and placed fifth in 12.87.

Jamaica's women kept up their good form in the relays. A women's sprint team running without Ottey captured a surprising silver in 42.10 behind the United States who won in a championships record 41.47. France were third in 42.21.

The members of the Jamaican quartet were Beverly McDonald, Merlene Frazer, Juliet Cuthbert and Beverly Grant.

The 4x400m clocked a national record 3:21.30 for third as Germany won gold in 3:20.92 from the United States. Inez Turner, Lorraine Graham (now Fenton), Hemmings and Richards ran in the final.

While the women collected six medals the men took home only a bronze. This came in the 4x400m final where the quartet of Michael McDonald, Gregory Haughton, Danny McFarlane and Davian Clarke set a national record 2:56.75. In a very close finish the United States won in 2:56.47 from Britain, 2:56.65.

Three other Jamaican men reached the finals of their events. Dinsdale Morgan, a protege of many-time medallist Winthrop Graham, placed seventh in the 400m hurdles final won in 47.70 by Frenchman Stephane Diagana. South Africa's Llewellyn Herbert was second (47.86) and American Bryan Bronson, third (47.88). Two Jamaican men reached the long jump final for the first time. Gothenburg silver medallist James Beckford ended up fourth with a leap of 8.14m but Maurice Wignall who had a personal best 8.09m in the qualifyong round had three 'no jumps' in the final. Cuba's Ivan Pedroso won his second consecutive gold with 8.42m, American Erick Walder, 8.38m, for second and Kirill Sosunov of Russia third in 8.18m.

NOTE: Yesterday's article said both Americans Kim Batten and Tonja Buford were awarded the same time (52.61) in the 1995 women's 400m hurdles final. Batten, in fact, is the sole record holder. Buford was second in 52.62.