Early birthday treat for Jamieson
Australian Sarah Jamieson produced a brilliant final 50 metre spurt to snatch the silver medal in the women's
1500 metre final at the MCG.
Jamieson, who turns 31 on Friday, enthralled the Melbourne crowd and surged as the finishing line came into
view but was beaten to the gold by England's Lisa Dobriskey. Jamieson's performance saw a significant
improvement on her fifth placed finish in the same event at the Manchester games in 2002.
After ten gruelling vents including the high jump, long jump and pole vault, Australian Jason Dudley
managed to hold on for bronze in the men's decathlon.
Entering the final event Dudley lead the field in the points tally but finished fifth in the 1500 metre run
to drop to third. The decathlon was won by a clearly elated Dean Macey from England. Jamaica's Maurice Smith
won silver.
Athens olympics silver medallist John Steffensen also blitzed the field as he qualified fastest for the
men's 400 metre final. Steffensen, a University of Western Australia athlete, produced a personal best time of
45.05 seconds to cross the line first.
Despite an excellent start, Australia's Benita Johnson couldn't hold her second position in the women's
10,000 metre final. Johnson kept pace with Kenyans Lucy Wangui-Kabuu and Evelyne Wambui-Nganga for most of the
24 laps but slowed as the Kenyans showed a phenomenal burst of speed with two laps remaining. Wangui-Kabuu
beat her counterpart to the line as Kenya sealed yet another gold and silver double in long distance
running.
Australia's Jeanette Bowles finished sixth in the women's triple jump in another track and field event win
for Jamaica. Trecia Smith cleared the field with a jump of 14.39 metres to win gold as Nigeria's Otonye
Iworima fell short to claim silver.
In an event usually reserved for Tamsyn Lewis, Australia's Rosemary Hayward finished last in the final of
women's 400 metres. Lewis did not make the final after she ran a disappointing fourth in the semi final.
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