Australian Peter Bol will shift his sights quickly towards Commonwealth Games redemption after finishing a disappointing seventh in the men’s 800 metres at the world athletics championships.
Hopes were high that Bol could break through for a first major medal in Eugene after he twice broke the national record and then finished fourth in the final at last year’s Tokyo Olympics.
Peter Bol finished seventh in the 800m final.Credit:Getty Images
But he was pushed back in the field after a rough and tumble start to the race on Sunday (AEST) and was unable to fight his way back into medal contention.
Bol finished seventh in one minute 45.51 seconds.
Kenyan Emmanuel Korir completed the Olympic-world double by crossing the line first in 1:43.71.
The minor medals went to Algerian Djamel Sedjati (1:44.14) and Marco Arop from Canada (1:44.28).
Australian No.1 Liz Clay suffered a heavy fall in the opening round of the women’s 100m hurdles, putting her Commonwealth Games campaign in grave doubt.
Clay, 27, was taken straight to the medical room after clattering into the seventh barrier in her heat and crashing to the track.
She was scheduled to have an X-ray on her left foot on Saturday night.
In much better news, Australians Michelle Jenneke and Celeste Mucci both advanced to the semis.
Jenneke was particularly impressive, clocking 12.84 in a heat also involving world record holder Kendra Harrison from the US.
Michelle Jenneke (right) in action against Cindy Sember and Kendra Harrison.Credit:Getty Images
“I am ecstatic with that,” Jenneke said.
“I’ve come into these championships with one real goal and that’s to run a PB.
“I didn’t quite get that today but to be that close, just 0.02 off my best and I think my PB was with a 1.2m tailwind and today was into a small headwind.
“I don’t think I executed the end of my race that well so there’s still some time there.”
Mucci clocked 13.01 while Nigerian Tobi Amusan topped the timesheets with an African record time of 12.40.
Australian record holder Brooke Buschkuehl needed only one qualifying jump to advance straight through to the women’s long jump final.
Buschkuehl – who broke her own Australian mark last week with a huge jump of 7.13m in California – managed 6.76m in Eugene, just over the automatic qualifying mark.
Fellow Australian Samantha Dale (6.04m) was eliminated.
AAP
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
Most Viewed in Sport
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article
The post Bol finishes seventh in 800m in Eugene first appeared on europesportsnews.com.
