Gay wins third gold with relay victory at worlds

< Prev | 1 | 2

Inside NBCSports.com

Scores, schedules
Fantasy sports
Trash Talk
Player news
Sports odds
Game matchups
Week in Pictures
JT The Brick

In her absence, Defar ran a perfect tactical race to overtake Vivian Cheruiyot with two laps to go, kick for home entering the final bend and finish in 14 minutes 57.91.

Kenyans Cheruiyot and Priscah Jepleting Cherono took silver and bronze.

Sebrle did not take the lead until the second-last of the decathlon’s 10 disciplines.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

The 32-year-old Czech leapt from third to first when he threw the javelin 233 feet, 6 inches to take a 44-point lead over Maurice Smith of Jamaica with only the 1,500 to follow.

Sebrle hung close enough to Smith in the last race to ensure a win, finishing with 8,676 points, 32 more than Smith. Dmitriy Karpov of Kazakhstan took bronze with 8,586.

“That was a crazy competition,” Sebrle said. “Now I have a full collection of medals and titles, but my motivation still remains.”

Sebrle had looked mostly sullen Friday during the decathlon’s opening day, when even the withdrawal of defending champion Bryan Clay did not get him close to the top of the standings.

While Sebrle excelled in the javelin, Smith stumbled. The Pan-American champion posted a 175-10, almost 33 feet off his personal best.

At home, Sebrle was considered a spent force. A shoulder injury from being hit by a javelin over the winter didn’t help.

Few would doubt him now.

In the only morning final, Australia’s Nathan Deakes won the 50-kilometer walk in 3 hours, 43 minutes, 53 seconds. Yohan Diniz of France was next in 3:44:22 and Alex Schwazer of Italy took bronze.

“I will remember for ever the feeling when I came into the stadium and it was clear I’m the champion,” said Deakes, who was in tears as he approached the finish. “It was quite emotional.”

On Sunday, the U.S. 1,600 relay team will bid for a world record after easily qualifying for the final.

After Jeremy Wariner led a sweep of medals in the 400 Friday, the nine-year-old 1,600 relay world mark could tumble.

“We’ll definitely go after the world record. You’ve got to set the goals high,” said Angelo Taylor, the anchor leg in Saturday’s heats. “We definitely have one of the strongest groups put together in a long time.”

< Prev | 1 | 2