Pan Am Games: July 21 morning session
The Pan American Games athletics events kicked off Tuesday morning at the new York University stadium, highlighting the women’s 5,000m final, 100m heats, 400m hurdles and field event finals.
Canada saw two athletes contest the women’s 5,000m, Jessica O’Connell, the event’s top seed, and Natasha Labeaud. O’Connell, a native of Calgary, was the favourite going into the event. O’ Connell, who has been battling an achilles injury, sat in second early in the race but later fell off the leader’s pace when American Kellyn Taylor broke away. O’Connell struggled in the heat and aggressive front-running by the American, eventually finishing seventh in 16:08.41. Labeaud finished behind, in eighth with a 16:17.40 run.
#TO2015 5,000m Juliana Dos Santos after her big win, chatting with the Brazilian media
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Gold was won by Brazil’s Juliana Paula Dos Santos, after she reeled in the American and closed with a speed last 200m. Dos Santos’s 15:45.97 was a big PB for her.
“I just wasn’t ready to run the race that I’d dreamed of,” said O’Connell, after the event. “I did my best, but it’s very disappointing. […] It’s always disappointing to under-perform.” She will race at the Beijing world championships later this summer.
The 100m heats saw three of four Canadians advance to tomorrow’s semifinal round. Andre De Grasse ran 10.06 to win the first heat of the men’s races. Gavin Smellie, who believed he’d qualified after running well in his heat, was later told he’d been disqualified for a false start. The heat was re-run without the Canadian.
Canadian Andre Degrasse getting it done in the first 100m heats 10.06 #TO2015
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On the women’s side, Canada’s Khamica Bingham ran 11.00 to advance, finishing second in her heat. The other Canadian entrant, Crystal Emmanuel, was the final qualifier on time, running 11.41. In the sprint events, all but De Grasse’s heat, which recorded 1.9m/s, were wind-aided.
Canada’s @sarahwells400mh looking psyched #TO2015
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Canadian champion Sarah Wells, finishing second in her 400m hurdle semifinal, will advance to the final Wednesday evening. The other entrant, Sage Watson, just missed qualifying.
Canada picked up it’s first medal of the track and field events in the women’s javelin, seeing Elizabeth Gleadle throw 62.83m in her final toss to overtake the leaders for gold. Shawnacy Barber won the men’s pole vault, equalling his Canadian record of 5.80m.
Tuesday’s evening session will see Matt Hughes race the men’s 3,000m steeplechase and Mohammed Ahmed in the 10,000m finals, as well as women’s 800m heats. There will also be women’s 100m hurdle heats and finals, as well as various field event finals. The full schedule can be found here.
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