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Bolt edges Powell in Oslo thriller

Usain Bolt made it three out of three on his European tour of 100m outings with a thrilling victory over Jamaican teammate Asafa Powell in the Diamond League meeting in Oslo on Thursday.

Published: 8 June 2012 08:45 CEST
Bolt edges Powell in Oslo thriller
Photo: Heiko Junge/Scanpix

Other stand-out performances came from Australian world champion Sally Pearson over the women's 100m hurdles and Kenyan Milcah Chemos, who ran the fourth fastest time ever in the 3000m steeplechase.

After a sun-kissed opening two hours of competition, the temperatures dropped for the Bolt v Powell duel, but the Jamaicans did not let the capacity crowd at the Bislett Stadium down.

Teeth gritted and long legs pumping, Bolt screamed through the finish line in 9.79 seconds, Powell notching up his 77th sub-10sec 100m in 9.85sec.

The 25-year-old reigning double Olympic sprint champion left it late in the race to reel in Powell, the former world record holder who was left wondering what he has to do to improve on his 11-1 losing record against Bolt.

"I really enjoyed it!" beamed Bolt. "My execution was alright. I'm going home now to top things up.

"I'll look to go fast and look forward to the trials."

Powell added: "It was an awesome race. I was there until 85 metres then my legs tired.

"Usain is a lot stronger at the end so that was it. But it's good to go to the trials with such a fast time. It brings me confidence."

In the 100m hurdles, Pearson equalled her own world leading time of 12.49sec, overcoming a false start by British heptathlete Jessica Ennis to power home 0.07sec ahead of American Kristi Castlin, with US-born Briton Tiffany Porter taking third (12.70).

"I travelled 29 hours to get here, I'm a bit jet-lagged but I'm doing well," the 25-year-old Pearson said.

"I like being chased, it keeps me hungry. I'm not feeling the pressure because I'm feeling confident."

Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele, the reigning Olympic 5,000 and 10,000m champion who is battling to rediscover his world-beating form after injury, sat back in the field of the 5,000m until the bell rang for the last lap.

But he had left himself far too much to do, finishing fifth, with compatriot Dejen Gebremeskel taking the honours in 12:58.92, with 10 Ethiopians in the first 12.

World champion Dai Greene was also upset in the 400m hurdles, Puerto Rico's Javier Culson winning in a world lead of 47.92sec. Greene, a week after pulling out of Rome with a stomach virus, came in fourth in 48.98sec.

"That was not a good race for me," said Greene. "I pushed hard in the first 250 metres and had nothing left."

Botswana's world 400m champion Amantle Montsho made no mistake in her race, coming home in 49.68sec to send out a warning to world leader Sanya Richards-Ross of the United States.

Milkah Chemos smashed more than 6sec off her own season leading time in the 3,000m steeplechase, timing a fourth fastest time ever of 9:07.14, a new African record.

"When I improve my technique over the barriers I definitely think I can go close to the world record," the 26-year-old said.

"But first up is the Kenyan trials."

Chemos' teammate Asbel Kiprop, the Olympic 1,500m champion, clinched the Dream Mile in 3:49.22 ahead of compatriot Caleb Ndiku and world indoor bronze medallist Mekonnen Gebremedhin of Ethiopia.

There was also no drama for in-form Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie, who won the pole vault with a best of 5.82m, 20cm higher than German rival Malte Mohr.

Home favourite Andreas Thorkildsen finished in a disappointing third place in the javelin, behind winner Vitezalav Veselyof of the Czech Republic and runner-up Fatih Avan from Turkey.

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CRIME

Spain women’s World Cup players demand more heads roll as Rubiales in court

The crisis within Spanish football deepened Friday as the women's World Cup winners demanded more heads roll at its scandal-hit RFEF federation whose disgraced ex-boss appeared in court on sexual assault charges.

Published: 16 September 2023 07:56 CEST
Spain women's World Cup players demand more heads roll as Rubiales in court

Just hours after Luis Rubiales was quizzed by a judge for kissing midfielder Jenni Hermoso, all but two of Spain’s 23 World Cup players said they would not don the national shirt without deeper changes within the RFEF, demanding its current interim head also resign.

The statement came as the squad’s new coach Montse Tome was to announce the lineup for two upcoming UEFA Women’s Nations League matches against Sweden and Switzerland, which was promptly postponed, federation sources said.

“The changes put in place are not enough,” said a statement signed by 39 players, among them 21 of the 23 World Cup winners.

Demanding “fundamental changes to the RFEF’s leadership”, they called for the “resignation of the RFEF president” Pedro Rocha, who took over as interim leader when FIFA suspended Rubiales on August 26.

But the federation insisted Rocha would “lead the transition process within the RFEF until the next election”, insisting any changes would be made “gradually”.

A federation source said a leadership election could take place early next year.

“This institution is more important than individuals and it’s crucial it remains strong. We’ll work tirelessly to create stability first in order to progress later,” Rocha said in the statement.

Despite a string of recent changes, the federation remains in the hands of officials appointed by Rubiales, and the players are demanding structural changes “within the office of the president and the secretary general”.

Brought to court by a kiss

The bombshell came after days of optimism within the RFEF that the players would come round after it sacked controversial coach Jorge Vilda, appointed Tome in his stead and pledged further changes, not to mention Rubiales’ long-awaited resignation on Sunday.

On August 25, 81 Spain players, including the 23 world champions, had started a mass strike saying they would not play for the national team without significant changes at the head of the federation.

Earlier on Friday, Rubiales appeared in court where he was quizzed by Judge Francisco de Jorge who is heading up the investigation into the kiss, which sparked international outrage and saw him brought up on sexual assault charges.

At the end of the closed-door hearing, in which Rubiales repeated his claim that the kiss was consensual, the judge ordered him not to come within 200 metres of Hermoso and barred him from any contact with the player.

At the weekend, the 46-year-old had described the kiss as “a spontaneous act, a mutual act, an act that both consented to, which was… 100 percent non-sexual” in an interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan.

Hermoso, 33, has insisted it was not, describing it as “an impulsive, macho act, out of place and with no type of consent on my part”.

Speaking to reporters outside court, Hermoso’s lawyer Carla Vall said they were “very satisfied” with the hearing.

“Thanks to this video, everyone can see there was no consent whatsoever and that is what we will demonstrate in court.”

Allegations of coercion

Hermoso herself will also testify before the judge at some stage, who will then have to decide whether or not to push ahead with the prosecution. No date has been given for her testimony.

The complaint against Rubiales, which was filed by the public prosecutors’ office, cites alleged offences of sexual assault and coercion.

Under a recent reform of the Spanish penal code, a non-consensual kiss can be considered sexual assault, a category which groups all types of sexual violence.

If found guilty, Rubiales could face anything from a fine to four years in prison, sources at the public prosecutors’ office have said.

In their complaint, prosecutors explained the offence of coercion related to Hermoso’s statement saying she “and those close to her had suffered constant ongoing pressure by Luis Rubiales and his professional entourage to justify and condone” his actions.

At the hearing, Rubiales also denied coercion.

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