SPORT - ATHLETICS
| 2013-08-12Kiwi legend bids for fourth world title
FAVOURITE ... New Zealand’s Valerie Adams competes during the women’s shot put event at the 2013 IAAF World Championships at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, Russia yesterday.
MOSCOW - New Zealand athletics legend Valerie Adams will be looking to win her fourth successive outdoor shot put world title today, the third day of the athletics world championships in Moscow.
Happily for the 28-year-old, her qualifying process here was smoother than it was for the Olympics last year.
Her second Olympic victory was soured first when it took an 11th hour appeal to allow her to compete after New Zealand Olympic officials forgot to enter her.
She then got the gold only after the winner Belarusian Nadezhda Ostapchuk was stripped of the title after testing positive for steroids.
Adams, who eventually received the gold medal at an emotional ceremony in Auckland last September, will start favourite as she topped qualifying in Moscow with a mark of 19,89 metres.
The strongest challenge to her title hopes should come from Russian Yevgeniya Kolodko, who was promoted to Olympic silver medalist when Ostpachuk was disqualified.
Kolodko, 23, believes she can up her performance in the final and make it an emotional home win.
“I know that my friends and relatives are coming to Moscow from my native region, Yakutia, to support me, so I really want to reward them for that and make them happy,” she said.
There will be a fair amount of emotion around too in the men’s pole vault final.
French brothers Renaud and Valentin Laveillenie will become the first siblings to appear in the final of the event since legend Sergey Bubka and his brother Vassily did in Stuttgart in 1993.
Renaud, at 27 five years older than Valentin, will start firm favourite to add the world title to his Olympic one.
“We have the opportunity to write a wonderful chapter of history and in the history of our sport,” said Renaud.
However, Renaud, who took bronze in the 2011 world championships, emphasised that once they are out competing there will be no room for sentiment.
“In no way will the presence of Valentin be a distraction for me: We will be in the final but not really in the same competition,” he said.
There are four other finals on the card including the men’s 110 metres hurdles and the women’s 100m with the semi-finals also this evening.
The hurdles looks like it could be a clean sweep for the United States, with Jason Richardson defending his title against Aries Merritt, who deprived him of Olympic gold last year and then went on to set a new world record to boot.
David Oliver, though, believes that this could be his moment when he finally wins a major title after several disappointments during the 31-year-old’s career.
“I think my chances of winning the title are pretty good and a USA clean sweep is definitely possible.”
The women’s 100m sees Jamaica’s two-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price bid like her legendary compatriot Usain Bolt to regain her world crown.
Her chief opponents should be America’s defending champion Carmelita Jeter and the latter’s 21-year-old team-mate English Gardner, who was impressive in her heat on Sunday.
-Nampa-AFP
Her second Olympic victory was soured first when it took an 11th hour appeal to allow her to compete after New Zealand Olympic officials forgot to enter her.
She then got the gold only after the winner Belarusian Nadezhda Ostapchuk was stripped of the title after testing positive for steroids.
Adams, who eventually received the gold medal at an emotional ceremony in Auckland last September, will start favourite as she topped qualifying in Moscow with a mark of 19,89 metres.
The strongest challenge to her title hopes should come from Russian Yevgeniya Kolodko, who was promoted to Olympic silver medalist when Ostpachuk was disqualified.
Kolodko, 23, believes she can up her performance in the final and make it an emotional home win.
“I know that my friends and relatives are coming to Moscow from my native region, Yakutia, to support me, so I really want to reward them for that and make them happy,” she said.
There will be a fair amount of emotion around too in the men’s pole vault final.
French brothers Renaud and Valentin Laveillenie will become the first siblings to appear in the final of the event since legend Sergey Bubka and his brother Vassily did in Stuttgart in 1993.
Renaud, at 27 five years older than Valentin, will start firm favourite to add the world title to his Olympic one.
“We have the opportunity to write a wonderful chapter of history and in the history of our sport,” said Renaud.
However, Renaud, who took bronze in the 2011 world championships, emphasised that once they are out competing there will be no room for sentiment.
“In no way will the presence of Valentin be a distraction for me: We will be in the final but not really in the same competition,” he said.
There are four other finals on the card including the men’s 110 metres hurdles and the women’s 100m with the semi-finals also this evening.
The hurdles looks like it could be a clean sweep for the United States, with Jason Richardson defending his title against Aries Merritt, who deprived him of Olympic gold last year and then went on to set a new world record to boot.
David Oliver, though, believes that this could be his moment when he finally wins a major title after several disappointments during the 31-year-old’s career.
“I think my chances of winning the title are pretty good and a USA clean sweep is definitely possible.”
The women’s 100m sees Jamaica’s two-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price bid like her legendary compatriot Usain Bolt to regain her world crown.
Her chief opponents should be America’s defending champion Carmelita Jeter and the latter’s 21-year-old team-mate English Gardner, who was impressive in her heat on Sunday.
-Nampa-AFP
