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 Boldon is golden Trinidadian runs 9.88 to take gold; Sturrup wins women's 100
Posted: Friday September 25, 1998 06:59 PM
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (CNN/SI) -- Ato Boldon ran the 100-meters in 9.88 to win the Commonwealth Games gold medal and celebrated in style despite missing the world record. The Trinidadian sprinter, who had said he felt capable of beating Donovan Bailey's 9.84, threw his arms wide and took the acclaim of the fans as he broke Linford Christie's Games mark of 9.91, set four years ago at Victoria, British Columbia. Boldon, who has twice run 9.86 this season, ran to collect the flag of Trinidad from one of his army of fans and did a lap of honor with 37,000 spectators in the 100,000-capacity National Stadium cheering him wildly. The medals went as expected, with Boldon's big rival, Frankie Fredericks of Namibia, second in 9.96 and Obadele Thompson of Barbados, who ran 9.87 at altitude in Johannesburg on Friday, third in 10.00. While Boldon ran consistently throughout the race, Fredericks started slowly and needed a powerful surge at midrace to get back into contention. But Boldon always looked the winner and there was daylight between the two sprint superstars at the line. "At 50 meters I thought, oh yeah, this is looking fast," Boldon said. "Me and the starter had been in sync for the last two days." Boldon said he had been disappointed with his performance during the recent European season, but that he had been confident of success in Kuala Lumpur because of solid training. "How I run in training is how I'm going to compete," he said. "The main thing I knew I had going for me this year was, I held on to my fitness." He also sent a message to former champion Christie, now retired. "Remember at Victoria four years ago I said I was going to be the one to watch? "Well, promise delivered." Fredericks, silver medalist at the last two Olympics at both the 100 and 200 meters, acknowledged he had finished second again. "It's frustrating. All I know is that every time I step on the track I try my best," said the Namibian, who was angry that his prime minister now considered him the nation's second best sportsman behind a boxer because he had failed to win an Olympic gold. "I'm just going to keep trying and train harder and hopefully one day I'll win. "You always expect to win but there's eight people, and one person can win," Fredericks said. 'But I'm happy that I came here despite all the circumstances.' Chandra Sturrup of the Bahamas powered away from Canada's Philomena Mensah to win the women's 100 meters in 11.06. Mensah clocked 11.19 and Australia's Tania Van-Heer took the bronze in 11.29. Kenya gained an expected 1-2-3 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, with John Kosgei outsprinting world record holder Bernard Barmasei to take the gold and Kikpurui Misoi third. Australia's Kate Anderson won the women's 5,000 meters in 15:52.75 although she briefly surrendered the lead to England's Sarah Young in the next to last lap. Anderson retook the lead at the bell and pulled away to win the race while Young paid the penalty. She was caught by three more runners and finished fifth. England's Andrea Whitcomb took the silver and Zimbabwe's Samukeliso Moyo the bronze. In the heptathlon, England's Denise Lewis, the defending champion, Olympic bronze medalist and world silver medalist, cruised to another Games title with four victories in the seven events. She won the long jump with a leap of 6.52 meters and then made it four out of six by throwing 51.22 meters in the javelin. After the final event, the 800 meters, she finished with 6,513 points, a massive 159 points clear of Australia's Jane Jamieson, with New Zealand's Joanne Henry collecting bronze. England's Bob Weir heaved a Games record 64.42 meters at age 37 to win the men's discus ahead of Frantz Kruger of South Africa and Jason Tunks of Canada. Australia's Nick A'Hern won the 20-kilometer walk around Lake Titiwangsa with Canada's Arturo Huerta second and another Australian, Nathan Deaks, third. Maria Mutola, the Olympic bronze medalist from Mozambique, set a Games record in the heats in the 800 meters, which marked the return of Diane Modahl of England. The African star clocked 1:59.06, becoming the first runner to break 2 minutes in the Games and removing Modahl's mark of 2:00.25 from the record books. Modahl's record was at Auckland in 1990 and that was her last race in the Games. She was pulled out of the English team in 1994 after testing positive for high levels of testoterone. Modahl declared her innocence, arguing that the tests were flawed, and she was reinstated despite serving 20 months of a four-year ban that was later quashed. Declaring before the Games that she was still the defending champion, Modahl ran 2:06.44 to win her heat. The semifinal is Thursday and the final on Friday.
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Boldon has consistently run 9.86 in the 100 meters this year 