Beijing.- Cuban Denia Caballero performed well from the outset, winning gold in the discus throw event of the World Athletics Championships on August 25, in the Chinese capital.
She secured the crown with an opening throw of 69.28 meters, debuting Cuba in the country medal count of the competition held in Beijing’s Bird’s Nest Stadium.
“I’m super excited, very happy. I always look to make the first attempt my best and this time it was fantastic. Later I started to get a headache and I still have a migraine,” she stated to the accredited press in the stadium’s mixed zone.
“I calmed down, I knew I wasn’t going to throw more than that, but the rest would be in range; it was difficult to control my anxiety,” she noted.
Croatian star Sandra Perkovic battled until the very end in her pursuit of the gold, but her 67.39 meter throw was only good enough to secure her second place.
The bronze medal went to Germany’s Nadine Müller (65.53), followed by Cuban Yaimé Pérez (65.46), who was set to take third place before London 2012 Olympic Champion, Perkovic’s last attempt relegated her to fourth.
BULLET BOLT
On August 23, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt was obliged to fight on the track of the Bird’s Nest Stadium to retain the title of the world’s fastest man. Bolt withstood pressure from Justin Gatlin of the U.S., securing the gold in the 100 meters sprint of the 2015 World Athletics Championships.
The Jamaican crossed the line in a time of 9.79 seconds, beating Gatlin by one 100th of a second, who had to settle for silver on the legendary Bird’s Nest Stadium track.
Bolt’s time is far off the 9.58 seconds - and current world record - he achieved in 2009, in Berlin.
Gatlin arrived to the competition confident, given that he holds the fastest time (9.74 seconds) in the men’s 100 meters sprint thus far in 2015; a time which, had he been able to replicate, would have won him the gold.
Bronze went to Trayvon Bromell in 9.92 seconds, while his compatriot Tyson Gay, the second fastest man of all time, finished in sixth with a time of 10.00 seconds.
Prior to the Beijing competition, Bolt had won gold in the 100, 200 and 4x100 meters in all the biggest global tournaments (Berlin-2009 and Moscos-2013 World Championships) and the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympics, with the exception of the 100 meters at the Daegu-2011 World Championships, where a false start saw him disqualified in the event final.
Failure was not an option at the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing, where the legend of Bolt was born, when in 2008 the then 22-year-old Jamaican astonished the world winning three golds and setting three world records in the 100, 200 and 4x100 meters.
SHELLY-ANN FRASER-PRYCE DELIGHTS LATIN AMERICA
On August 24, Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce retained her women’s 100 meters World title with a time of 10.76 seconds (wind: -0.3 m/s), beating Dafne Schippers (10.81) of the Netherlands and Tori Bowie (10.86) from the U.S. in the Chinese capital.
Fraser-Pryce reigning double Olympic champion, secured her third World Championship gold medal, following those won in 2009 and 2013.
The 28-year-old athlete wearing a crown of yellow flowers dominated the event from the outset and was able to savor her victory in the final stretch, raising her right arm in celebration as she crossed the finish line.
Behind her, Schippers from the Netherlands, Europe’s great sprinting hope, had a somewhat slow start costing her a closely contended race with the Caribbean star.
However, Schippers was able to snatch the silver from event favorite, Bowie.
