Meeting International d'Athlétisme de la Province de Liège

Kim Gevaert optimistic after 100m victory at Liege Meeting

Kim Gevaert has started her 100m explosively and in an impressive final part she ran clear from her competitors. Despite the chilling evening conditions she was still satisfied with the 11m28s .

Still no Olympics for Rans. (picture belga)

"Winning was the most important today and I felt good about my performance. The pain was much less and I kept a relaxed perspective. Of course, I still have a lot of work ahead in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, but I?m confident," he said with optimism. "At the KBC Night of the Athletics on Sunday I hope to be faster."

Kim inspired the girls of the relay team. Hanna Mariën displayed increasing form with 11s49 in the 100m and a convincing 23s33 in the 200m. Olivia Borlée managed a season?s best with 11s57, Elisabeth Davin finished in 11s69 and Frauke Penen stopped the clock at 11s78.

With 13s20, Eline Berings ran a season best at the 100m hurdles and confirmed her confidence with 11s86 in the 100m. Junior Anne Zagré improved her personal best at the 100m hurdles with 13s43, whereas Elodie Ouedraogo confirmed with 23s54 at the 200m, won by Vida Anim in 23s07.

The Borlée twin brothers battled it out at the 300m. Jonathan finished third in 32s64, only a whisper from the nationale record. Kevin put in a 32s76. Adrien Deghelt offered valuable resistance to winner Aubrey Herring in the 110m hurdles, but his 13s63 do no suffice to qualify for the Olympics. Damien Broothaerts finished third in a personal best of 13s76. The 100m for men was won by the American John Capel in 10s20. In the 200m the Jamaïcan Marvin Anderson outsprinted the field in 20s80.

In the 800m Joeri Jansen was up for fourth place until the last bend, but then Jackson Kivuna and Achraf Tadili threw in their final efforts. The Kenyan won in 1m46s38. In the end, Matthias Rosseeuw was the best Belgain in 1m47s56. Joeri Jansen and Thomas Matthijs followed in 1m47s58 and 1m47s61. At the women?s 800m, Erin Donohue dominated the race. Charlotte Debroux came in eighth in 2m05s15. The 5000m was made for Zakia Mhrisho Mohamed from Tanzania, who sprinted away from two Kenyan girls.

Kevin Rans missed out on 5m60 and cannot book his ticket for Beijing yet. Denis Goossens on the other hand managed a personal best with 5m45. The competition was won by the German Malte Mohr with 5.70m. In the triple jump Michael Velter made the 16m20 his season best, but it was still Viktor Yastrebov with 16m72 who won.

The Brit Jermaine Mason was one of the highlights of the evening in the high jump, with a 2m30. He failed twice twice only just with 2m34 and heads for Beijing as a contender for a medal. Belgian champion Tim Rummens managed 2m10. Frédéric Xhonneux won the triathlon and can look forward to the Olympics with confidence.

17-07-2008

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