FANTASTICAL WAY TO START !
He is new to the KAA team this year. He has never travelled overseas before ! But Taanini Teekia not only obliterated his own PB for M800m. by 14 seconds but also took the National Record down towards the mile-stone 2.00 minutes ! He went with the bunch in Heat 1 (of 2 heats), and amazingly was still with them at the bell in 57 !!! He did not fade in the back straight and was fit enough to clock a 64 second lap for a magic final time of 2-01.73 ! He finished 6th. of the seven in his Heat and ranked 11th. of the 14 runners overall.
In so doing he knocked approx. 6 seconds off the existing 11-year-old record, and took Kiribati middle-distance running into new arenas ! Less than two seconds faster than this would have actually QUALIFIED HIM FOR THE FINAL !!! We now look forward expectantly to the M1500m. on Wednesday to see if his fitness pulls him to a new NR in that too !
ELECTRONIC PBs ALL-ROUND FOR THE SPRINTERS !
The three M100m. sprinters all managed to achieve electronic PBs. In Heat 1., having done one false start, Tanroo Taniera was not surprisingly slow away from the blocks, but still achieved 11.37 in placing 5th. of the six. In Heat 3, new boy Baiteke Ibeatu did a faster start than Tanroo and also did a PB, this time placing 6th. out of the 7, in 11.75. In Heat 5, Mariuti Uan started well but faded, still running 11.51 for a PB. This bodes well for our 4 x 100m. Relay team on Friday.
CLOSE TO HER BEST.
The final action of Day 1. for us was Banrenga Baikia in the W5000m. She has not run a competitive track 5K. this year, but was still able to clock a time which only she has beaten before ! She eventually finished 10th. of the 12 athletes, going through 3000m. in 13-01 on the way to a 5000m. time of 22-54.90. This is only 7 seconds outside her own NR !!! Considering the demands of school work (Form 6), this was a heroic performance !
There were others who deserved their reward on the day, e.g. the boy running second in the M3000 S/Chase who fell at the final hurdle, got up and still finished second, then collapsed in the arms of the First Aid staff ! He DID get up and walk/limp away later !
GENTLE INTRODUCTION !
This was a gentle introduction for the officials and all systems (after the rain) seemed to be functioning OK. However, there were a few faults, e.g. a Decathlon which (with no PV mats available) was shortened on the day to an Octathlon !
We also have an ongoing problem with the official spike-length, having been given contrasting instructions ! We hope to resolve this matter tomorrow before the Call Room actually rejects anyone ! This was resolved in favour of 9mm. spikes for most track events. Thanks !
Last Modified on 05/09/2007 18:20