media_artricles :: 2013

Jehue renews rivalry with Tinsley

T&T’s Jehue Gordon, the reigning World 400m men’s hurdles IAAF World champion will look to end his season with another gold medal performance when he lines up in a star-studded field in the IAAF Diamond League Grand Prix in Brussels, Belgium at the Belgacom Van Damme Memorial, today.

At last month’s World Championship in Russia, Gordon produced a strong finish to pip American Michael Tinsley for the gold medal by a hundredth of a second while Serbian Emir Bekric was third in 48.05.

Tinsley, who led into the straight, before being caught by Gordon, is also in the field.

The other finishers were Cuban Omar Cisneros (48.12), Dominican Republic’s Olympic champion Felix Sanchez (48.22), Puerto Rican, Javier Culson (48.38), Senegal’s Mamadou Kasse Hanne (48.68) and T&T-born American, Kerron Clement (49.08).

Today’s event will comprise almost the same field with only Bekric and Clement the two absent athletes and their lanes being filled by hometown entrant Stef Vanhaeren and USA’s Justin Gayman and the ninth competitor, Great Britain’s Rhys Williams.

In addition to Tinsley, other serious challenges to Gordon today could come from Felix Sanchez and Cisneros, who came close to securing Cuba’s first medal in the event in Moscow and Diamond League leader, Culson with 13 points, four more than Tinsley.

Local sprinter Keston Bledman will have a much harder task of medalling as he will be the underdog in the men’s 100m final, which is spear-headed by Jamaican Olympic and World champion, Usain Bolt, who is expected to be the headline performer.

The 25-year-old Bledman will enter the race high on confidence following back to back wins in Europe over the last week.

First he won the men 100m final at the Flame Games in Amsterdan, Holland in 10.11 while he top the field at the palio Citta della Quercia Meet in Rovereto, Italy in 10.04, a new meet record. It was his second best time of the season, just off his 10.02 clocking in the heats at the World Championships.

Apart from Bledman, St Kitts/Nevis veteran, Kim Collins, France’s Jimmy Vicaut, England’s James Dasaolu, USA’s Justin Gatlin and Michael Rodgers and Jamaicans, Kemar Bailey-Cole and Nesta Carter will all be hoping to upset Bolt.

Bailey-Cole is also coming off a recent win at the ISTAF Athletics Meeting in Berlin, Germany in 10.04 well ahead of Collins, who crossed the line in 10.15.

However, to date, Bolt has won four times in Brussels and three of those victories have been in the 100m making him the overwhelming favourite.

Two years ago he set a meeting record of 9.76, bettering by 0.01 his own meeting record from three years prior which was run into a -1.3m/s headwind.

This year Bolt will be up against five other 100m finalists from Moscow, including silver medallist Justin Gatlin (USA) and bronze medallist Nesta Carter (Jamaica).

Overall, no less than 59 medallists from the recent IAAF World Championships in Moscow will take part in Brussels and nine events will feature the gold, silver and bronze medallists from the Russian capital.

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