There was, however, an unpleasant reminder of the huge problems the sport faces when the first of the day's four medals, in the men's 20km walk, went to Russian Valeriy Borchin, a man banned for doping as a junior.
The women's shot and heptathlon will be decided later, before the eagerly-awaited men's 100 meters final closes out the action.
In the women's 100m, American Torri Edwards, the fastest woman in the world this year, made it through to the second round with minimum effort in 11.26 seconds.
"I was trying to run as slow as I could and advance," she said.
Nigeria's Oludamola Osayomi was the fastest qualifier with 11.13 seconds and Jamaican trio Shelly-Ann Fraser, Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart, also progressed smoothly.
The 20k walk, badly hit by Russian doping suspensions before the Games, started without that country's race favorite and world record holder Sergey Morozov, though officials were unable to explain his absence.
SCORCHING CONDITIONS
Borchin overcame scorching conditions and a dogged effort from 1996 champion Jefferson Perez of Ecuador to win in 1 hour 19:01 minutes, 14 seconds.
Perez, fourth in the last two Olympics, took silver, with Australia's Jared Tallent getting the bronze.
Unsurprisingly, Borchin was immediately asked about drugs and his absent compatriots.
"It is very unfortunate what happened to them and I have heard (the allegations about me) but I don't know what's going on," he said.
"I have been training secluded and have barely seen my team mates."
Fans watching the men's discuss qualifying too must have wondered just when the authorities are going to get tougher when they saw Hungary's Robert Fazekas, stripped of the discus gold he won in Athens four years ago after a doping violation, qualify for this year's final.
It was a nervous morning for overnight heptathlon leader Hyleas Fountain after she fouled her first two long jumps but the American posted a solid third effort to stay in the medal hunt with two disciplines remaining.
Fountain had to be satisfied with 6.38 meters, half a meter below her best but enough to keep her in contention on 5,029 points.
Ukraine's Nataliia Dobrynska produced a personal best 6.63 to edge ahead overall by 16 points before the night's concluding javelin and 800 meters.
New Zealand's world champion Valerie Vili was the leading qualifier for the women's shot with a throw of 19.73 meters and Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus, who she pipped to the title in Osaka, also went through without problems.
Russian Elena Isinbayeva, the hottest favorite in the entire athletics programme, eased into the pole vault final, needing one effortless attempt.
1 comment:
watch Yelena's 5min 4,60m jump here - YELENAI.bravehost.com
Post a Comment