Fredericks wins in Brussels

Frank Fredericks was in brilliant form at the Brussels Golden League athletics meeting on Friday when he won the men’s 200m in 20,20 seconds.

At the bend Fredericks was traling in fourth place, but he came through with his trademark late surge to snatch the gold medal away from John Capel and Bernard Williams of the United States. The two Americans finished joint second in 20,24 seconds, while Joshua Johnson of the United States finished fourth in 20,35 seconds.Fredericks just missed out on a medal at the Athens Olympic Games when he came fourth in a time of 20,14 seconds.That race was won by Shawn Crawford of the United States in the season’s best time of 19,79 seconds.Fredericks could only manage a seventh place in the men’s 100m in a time of 10,25 seconds.The race was won by Asafa Powell of Jamaica in a time of 9,87 seconds, followed by Shawn Crawford (9,99) and Aziz Zakari of Ghana (10,04).The highlight of the evening was the new world record in the men’s 3000m steeplechase by Saif Saeed Shaheen of Qatar.The 21-year-old world champion, who emigrated to Qatar for economic reasons, clocked seven minutes 53.63 seconds.Formerly known as Stephen Cherono, Shaheen was 40 metres ahead at the bell and completed the last lap in 63 seconds to better the world mark of 7:55.28 set by Brahim Boulami of Morocco at the same meeting in 2001.Shaheen, who was issued with a Qatari passport last year, has been unbeaten for almost two years and won the 2003 world title in Paris.”I had it in my mind that the record was possible,” he told reporters.”But you don’t go for the world record every time.I told the pacemakers to take me up to 2000 metres and 5:18, after that I would race alone.”Russian Olympic champion Yelena Isinbayeva set a second world record of the night when she broke her own mark set in Athens.Isinbayeva succeeded with her third attempt at 4.92 metres, her seventh world record of the year.Only two athletes now remain in contention for the million dollar jackpot shared between competitors who win each of their events at the six Golden League meetings.Brussels is the penultimate competition in the series which climaxes in Berlin on September 12.Olympic women’s 400 metres champion Tonique Williams-Darling beat Mexico’s world champion Ana Guevara for the fourth time this year, and Sweden’s Olympic and world men’s triple jump champion Christian Olsson also won.- Nampa-ReutersThe two Americans finished joint second in 20,24 seconds, while Joshua Johnson of the United States finished fourth in 20,35 seconds.Fredericks just missed out on a medal at the Athens Olympic Games when he came fourth in a time of 20,14 seconds.That race was won by Shawn Crawford of the United States in the season’s best time of 19,79 seconds.Fredericks could only manage a seventh place in the men’s 100m in a time of 10,25 seconds.The race was won by Asafa Powell of Jamaica in a time of 9,87 seconds, followed by Shawn Crawford (9,99) and Aziz Zakari of Ghana (10,04).The highlight of the evening was the new world record in the men’s 3000m steeplechase by Saif Saeed Shaheen of Qatar.The 21-year-old world champion, who emigrated to Qatar for economic reasons, clocked seven minutes 53.63 seconds.Formerly known as Stephen Cherono, Shaheen was 40 metres ahead at the bell and completed the last lap in 63 seconds to better the world mark of 7:55.28 set by Brahim Boulami of Morocco at the same meeting in 2001.Shaheen, who was issued with a Qatari passport last year, has been unbeaten for almost two years and won the 2003 world title in Paris.”I had it in my mind that the record was possible,” he told reporters.”But you don’t go for the world record every time.I told the pacemakers to take me up to 2000 metres and 5:18, after that I would race alone.”Russian Olympic champion Yelena Isinbayeva set a second world record of the night when she broke her own mark set in Athens.Isinbayeva succeeded with her third attempt at 4.92 metres, her seventh world record of the year.Only two athletes now remain in contention for the million dollar jackpot shared between competitors who win each of their events at the six Golden League meetings.Brussels is the penultimate competition in the series which climaxes in Berlin on September 12.Olympic women’s 400 metres champion Tonique Williams-Darling beat Mexico’s world champion Ana Guevara for the fourth time this year, and Sweden’s Olympic and world men’s triple jump champion Christian Olsson also won.- Nampa-Reuters