Sunday, 11 March 2012

Farah Misses Out on Medal


Britain's Mo Farah missed out on a medal in the 3,000m at the World Indoor Championships after briefly being upgraded to bronze.

Farah collided with Kenyan athlete Edwin Soi and went on to finish fourth in seven minutes 41.79 seconds.

He was awarded the bronze position after the race, only for that decision to be reversed on appeal.

Shara Proctor , Andrew Osagie and Holly Bleasdale won bronze medals in the long jump, 800m and pole vault respectively.

“I'm feeling great, I can't ask for anything more”Shara Proctor

There was similar controversy in the men's 4x400m relay as the GB team of Conrad Williams , Nigel Levine , Michael Bingham and Richard Buck were promoted to a gold medal after the United States team were disqualified.

Farah, who finished ahead of Lagat in the 5,000m world outdoor final last August, had attempted to take the lead two laps from the end.

As Soi and fellow Kenyan Augustine Choge chased him, Soi collided with Farah in the final bend causing him to step off the track.

Farah said following the race: "I'm disappointed to finish fourth. I got pushed a bit but that's all part of the sport."

American Brittney Reese took the women's long jump crown with an incredible 7.23m on her final jump.

Proctor had equalled her British record of 6.86m in the third round before extending it by three centimetres to claim bronze behind Reese and Janay DeLoach.

The Anguillan-born athlete said: "Getting a bronze amongst all those great jumpers, I'm happy to wear this [British] vest. I'm feeling great, I can't ask for anything more."

There was a surprise medal for 24-year-oldOsagie, who took bronze in the 800m despite struggling with injury in recent months.

Bleasdale secured third place in the pole vault on her first major senior event with a best of 4.70m, behind Russia's two-time Olympic champion Elena Isinbaeva and Vanessa Boslak of France.

On a days which secured a record medal haul for Britain at a World Indoor Championships, the women's 4x400m relay team won a thrilling race just ahead of the United States.

Shana Cox , Nicola Sanders , Christine Ohuruogu and Perri Shakes-Drayton set a world-leading time of 3:28.76 to win one of three gold medals for GB at the Championships.

Winning nine medals in total, GB improved on their previous World Indoor record set in Birmingham in 2003.

In a hard-fought high jump competition with eight men all jumping over 2.31m, Robert Grabarz finished outside the medals in sixth with a best of 2.31m. Greece's Dimitrios Chondrokoukis lept to a personal best of 2.33m to win gold ahead of reigning Olympic champion Andrey Silnov of Russia.

Similarly, a strong women's 3,000m field kept Helen Clitheroe from the medals as she placed seventh in 8:59.04. Kenyan Hellen Obiri took the race in 8:37.16.

Andrew Pozzi capped an impressive debut World Indoor Championships by finishing fourth in the 60m hurdles. The 19-year-old, who ran personal-best times in the run-up to the final, clocked 7.58 as America's Aries Merritt claimed victory in 7.44. Xiang Liu of China and France's Pascal Martinot-Lagarde trailed.

Neither of Britain's young female sprinters were able to impress in the 60m, with Asha Philip and Jodie Williams both failing to qualify for the final.