Elton Tucker, Assistant Sport Editor
Jamaica's Veronica Campbell-Brown celebrates winning the gold in the women's 200-metre final yesterday. - Ap
BEIJING:
VERONICA Campbell-Brown retained her Olympic Games 200-metre title in fine style yesterday, becoming only the second woman to win gold in consecutive Games in the event.
Campbell-Brown destroyed her rivals, including American World Champion Allyson Felix, on the turn to register a personal-best 21.74 seconds, the third-fastest time by a Jamaican woman.
"I am just very happy that God has helped me to come out here and defend my title. I am just overwhelmed," Campbell-Brown said. "I am in the best shape of my life this year."
Fast winning time
Her winning time is also the fastest untainted clocking at the Olympics since Gwen Torrence did 21.72 to win in Barcelona, 16 years ago. Only two other Jamaicans, Merlene Ottey, 21.64, and Grace Jackson, 21.72, have gone faster than Campbell-Brown.
The first two places yesterday were just as they were in Athens four years ago with American Felix second in a season-best 21.93 and Jamaica's Kerron Stewart, third in 22.00. Sherone Simpson was sixth in 22.36. The former East Germany's Barbel Eckert-Wockel, winner in 1976 and 1980, is the only other woman to defend the Olympic 200m title.
At the end of competition yesterday, Jamaica's five gold and three silver and one bronze still kept the country on top of the athletics table ahead of Russia, with five gold, two silver and three bronze medals.
Assaults on world records
Jamaica will be targeting world records in both sprint relays today to bring their gold medal total to a whopping seven.
Campbell-Brown and Asafa Powell both hinted that the run for gold in today's 4x100m finals will include assaults on the world records.
Powell, after running the anchor leg to see Jamaica to a winning time of 38.31 in the second of two heats said Usain Bolt, world-record holder over both 100m and 200m and who will run the second leg in the final, begged him to just qualify for the last eight.
"It will be an awesome race," Powell said as he expressed disappointment that the Americans are out after failing to make the pass on the final leg. "We were looking forward to running against them in the final as our team is very strong and it will be very hard to beat us."
The Jamaican men in the semi-final heat in running order were Dwight Thomas, Michael Frater, Nesta Carter and Powell. Bolt is expected to replace Thomas in the final. Frater will start, then to Bolt, Carter and Powell.
Trinidad and Tobago, benefiting from the American mishap won the second semi-final heat in 38.26.
The Americans were one of four teams which failed to finish. The others were Nigeria, Poland and South Africa.
In Jamaica's heat, Great Britain and Italy were both disqualified for handing over their batons outside the zones on the final changeover.
Jamaica, the defending cham-pions in the women's race, used two reserves in the heats.
Shelly-Ann Fraser, the 100m gold medallist, gave them the usual bullet start as they clocked a season-best 42.24 to take semi-final heat two. Fraser passed to Sheri-Ann Brooks with Aleen Bailey running the third leg and Campbell-Brown on anchor, 80 minutes after taking the 200m gold.
Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart should replace Brooks and Bailey today. Russia were second in this race in 42.87 with Germany third in 43.59. Belgium won the other semi-final in 42.92.
Easy win
Cuba's Dayron Robles (left) wins the 110m hurdles yesterday. Jamaica's Maurcie Smith (right) and Richard Phillips (second right) finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
The men's 110m hurdles final ended in an easy win for world-record holder Dayron Robles of Cuba in 12.93. Jamaica's Maurice Wignall, who said this is likely to be his final Olympic Games, was sixth in 13.46 while national champion Richard Phillips was seventh in 13.60.
In the decathlon, things are not going well for World Cham-pionships silver medallist Maurice Smith. Smith, who was bothered by heavy early-morning rain during two disciplines of the event, is in 10th spot on 4,217 points, 304 behind leader Brian Clay of the United States after the first five events.
Smith's worst event was the long jump where he finished 23rd overall with a leap of 7.94 metres.
His best was the 400m where he was sixth overall with a 47.96 clocking.
Jamaica's Maurice Smith reacts after hurling the shot put in the decathlon yesterday. - AP
Jamaican flags fly inside the 'Bird's Nest' yesterday after the women's 200-metre final in which Veronica Campbell-Brown won gold and Kerron Stewart bronze. - Photos by Charles Pitt/Freelance Photographer
