Robles disqualified after winning 110m hurdles; Jeter restores American pride in 100m

Baseball

Published: 29 Aug. 2011, 23:13

Robles disqualified after winning 110m hurdles; Jeter restores American pride in 100m

Cuba’s Dayron Robles, right, and China’s Liu Xiang compete in a Men’s 110-meter hurdles final at the World Athletics Championships in Daegu yesterday. Robles was disqualified though he crossed the finish line first. American Jason Richardson pocketed the 110-meter hurdles while Liu moved up to silver. [AP/YONHAP]

DAEGU – American Jason Richardson pocketed the 110-meter hurdles last night after Cuba’s Dayron Robles was stripped of the title following a nail-biting race, while Carmelita Jeter clinched gold in the women’s 100-meter dash for an exciting end to the third day of competition at the Athletics World Championships.

The hurdles event was widely tipped to be one of the closest fought of the championships, with China’s Liu Xiang, the former Olympic and world champion, back from injury and bidding to reclaim the crown he won in Osaka in 2007.

And the race did not disappoint. Liu was building his pace and running neck and neck with Robles in the closing stretch before he lost his stride after clanging into the final hurdle and falling back to third place.

But within one hour of the race, the IAAF announced that Robles was disqualified for interfering Liu’s jump on the last hurdle, rendering his time of 13.14 seconds meaningless.

Richardson’s time of 13.16 earned him gold, while Liu moved up to silver after notching 13.27 seconds in front of 40,000 excited fans at Daegu Stadium. Andrew Turner of Great Britain took bronze in 13.44 seconds.

Robles, the reigning Olympic champion and the world record holder with a time of 12.87 seconds, had the third fastest starting reaction time in 0.15 seconds and maintained his lead until the end despite Liu snapping at his heels.

Liu, the 2004 Athens Olympics champ who limped out of the Beijing Games with an injured Achilles heel, was fifth off the blocks but the 28-year-old soon found his rhythm to catch up with his Cuban rival. But in the end, the night’s glory belonged to neither of the two.

With over 100 supporters waving a Chinese flag, Liu was hoping to bounce back and restore his reputation since missing the previous Worlds through injury.

More disappointment awaited David Oliver of the United States. Oliver, the only man to go under 13 seconds this season, finished in 13.44 seconds at a revised fourth place.

In the women’s dash, Jeter kept up the United States’ fierce rivalry with Jamaica by blasting over the line in 10.90 seconds after building a healthy lead over Veronica Campbell-Brown, who finished in 10.97 seconds. Kelly-Ann Baptiste of Trinidad and Tobago took bronze in a time of 10.98 seconds and Jamaica’s Shelley Ann Fraser-Pryce, the reigning Worlds and Olympic champion, came agonizingly close to a medal, but ended one-hundredth of a second behind Baptiste.

Jeter,32, entered the race as the favorite after claiming the season’s fastest time of 10.70 seconds. She continued her run of good luck in this southern Korean city, where she has won the same race at the Daegu Pre-Championship Meeting three straight times since 2009.

While Robles joined Usain Bolt – who false-started in Sunday’s night marquee 100 meters - in the sin bin yesterday, Richardson and Jeter got to back in their victories.

But the day also marked the end of the road for double amputee runner Oscar Pistorius of South Africa in the 400 meters as he failed to qualify for today’s final.

The "Blade Runner" finished last in his heat in a time of 46.17 seconds, more than one second behind his personal best 45.07 seconds. However he made history by competing at the Worlds against able-bodied athletes after the IAAF ruled his prosthetic blades do not give an unfair advantage back in 2008.

In yesterday’s other finals, Koji Murofushi of Japan won the men’s hammer throw by marking 81.24 meters. Amantle Montsho of Botswana claimed the women’s 400 meters in 49.56 seconds and Allyson Felix, the three-time world champion at the shorter 200 meters, picked up silver with 49.59 seconds.

By Joo Kyung-don [kjoo@joongang.co.kr]

한글 관련 기사 [중앙일보]

로블레스, 9번째 허들서 반칙…류샹 '금' 도둑맞았다

메달 색 바뀐 110m 허들 … 리처드슨 ‘행운의 금’ 류샹은 은메달

남자 100m에서 우사인 볼트(25·자메이카)의 부정 출발로 큰 충격에 빠진 대구세계육상선수권대회가 남자 110m 허들에서도 실격으로 얼룩졌다. 남자 110m 허들은 역대 최고 기록 1~3위에 랭크된 다이론 로블레스(25·쿠바), 류샹(劉翔·유상·중국·28), 데이비드 올리버(29·미국) 세 선수가 참가, 최고의 격전장으로 꼽혔다. 세계기록 보유자인 로블레스는 29일 열린 남자 110m 허들 결승에서 초반 스타트가 좋았다. 7번째 허들까지 1위로 넘었다. 그러나 류샹은 맹렬한 기세로 그를 추격했다. 8번째 허들을 넘자 류샹은 로블레스를 추월했다. 이 기세라면 류샹의 우승이 유력해 보였다. 그러나 9번째 허들을 넘을 때 로블레스가 오른손으로 류샹의 왼손목을 잡았다. 류샹은 중심을 잃었다. 10번째 허들에서도 다시 둘은 부딪혔다. 류샹은 허들에 걸렸고 다시 멈칫거렸다. 평소 마지막 허들을 넘고 나서 일곱 걸음에 결승선을 통과하던 류샹은 한 걸음이 더 필요했다. 반면 로블레스는 깔끔하게 10번째 허들을 넘고 평소처럼 7걸음에 막판 스퍼트를 했다.

　로블레스는 13초14로 가장 먼저 골인했다. 그러나 마음껏 기뻐하지 못했다. 신체 접촉으로 스피드가 준 류샹은 13초27로 세 번째로 들어왔다. 류샹은 “로블레스가 9번째 허들을 넘을 때 내 팔을 잡았다”고 주장했다.

　중국 선수단에서는 로블레스가 반칙을 했다며 제소했고, 비디오 판독 결과 류샹의 주장이 인정됐다. 로블레스는 실격됐다. 쿠바 측은 이에 대해 다시 제소했으나 기각됐다. 결국 두 번째로 골인한 제이슨 리처드슨(25·미국·13초16)이 금메달을 목에 걸었고 류샹은 은메달에 만족해야 했다. 올리버는 13초44로 4위에 그쳤다. 경기장을 찾은 2000여 명에 이르는 중국 관광객과 유학생들은 “금메달을 도둑맞았다”며 강한 아쉬움을 표했다.

◆로블레스 실격 원인(육상 규정 제163조 2항)=트랙 경기 또는 경보 경기 선수가 다른 선수의 진로를 방해하기 위해 밀거나 방해할 경우 그 종목에서 실격된다.