Some great end of season performances were posted at the World Cup in Athens. Craig Mottram, Tyson Gay, Sanya Richards, Sherone Simpson and Meseret Defar were among the star performers.
Men's 100m
Tyson Gay produced another highly impressive run. Targeting the 100m rather than the 200m his 9.88sec highlighted his ability over the shorter sprint as European 100m Champion and Olympic Silver Medallist Francis Obikwelu came in second in 10.09sec. The run was Gay’s sixth sub-10sec run on the bounce.
Women's 100m
Sherone Simpson lived up to expectations with her win but her 10.97 clocking was impressive. The Jamaican proved a class above the field leaving Torri Edwards of the US trailing in 11.19sec just ahead of Africa’s Vida Anim (11.21sec). European champion Kim Gevaert came in fourth in 11.24sec.
Men's 200m
In a fast race Usain Bolt looked to have the field under pressure after 90m but into the straight Wallace Spearmon had the better transition and started to move through before moving ahead. Spearmon won in 19.87sec to Bolt’s 19.96sec.
Women's 200m
After her stunning 400m win in a new US record Sanya Richards took the 200m in 22.23. Only 400m World record holder Marita Koch has ever won this double at the World Cup before.
Men's 400m
LaShawn Merritt of the USA battled it out with Africa’s Gary Kikaya. Merritt clawed away in the closing strides to win with 44.54sec to 44.66sec.
Women's 400m
Valerie Brisco’s 48.83sec American record had stood since her win at the 1984 Olympic Games. The time has withstood all assaults since until Sanya Richards run in Athens. Richards came home in a stunning 48.70sec from lane seven. Bulgaria’s Vanya Stambolova ran well but her 50.09sec saw her a distant second.
Men's 800m
Youssef Saad Kamel (son of former World Champion Billy Konchellah) took the win with his home straight effort after timing his run well. He clocked 1min 44.98sec from Bram Som’s 1min 45.13sec.
Women's 800m
Cuban World champion Zulia Calatayud showed her strength in a home straight battle to put Janeth Jepkosgei into second. The 26-year-old was just three hundredths of a second ahead of the African Champion in 2min 00.06sec. European champion Olga Kotlyarova finished third with 2min 00.84sec. Becky Lyne became the first Briton to ever run in this event at the World Cup and finished fourth in 2min 00.97sec.
Men's 1500m
A slow race saw the main contenders happy to queue up behind Kiwi Nick Willis as he jogged through 400m in 67sec and 800m in 2min 19sec. The third quarter saw the race come to life with Kenyan Alex Kipchirchir moving up and the lap covered in 56.7sec. Kipchirchir then hit the front with Ivan Heshko then taking close order. But Kipchirchir was able to pull away with a 49.4sec last lap to win in a surprising time of 3min 52.60sec.
Women's 1500m
Bahrain’s Maryam Yusuf Jamal took over at the bell and Russian World Champion Tatyana Tomashova was unable to match her speed. The winning time of 4min 00.84sec was a World Cup record with Tomashova second in 4min 02.45sec and Australian Sarah Jamieson finishing third in 4min 02.82sec.
Men's 3000m
This was one of the thrillers of the Cup. Kenenisa Bekele led the race out and only Australian Craig Mottram could follow. But with around half a mile left Mottram went to the front and injected his own pace. As Bekele was still on his heels into the back straight for the last time it looked as if the outcome was going to be decided by the Ethiopian’s sprint once more. But as Mottram accelerated again Bekele was clearly struggling to match his speed. Aroundthe last turn Mottram pulled clear and he had time to celebrate a fantastic win in the homestraight as he ran 7min 32.19sec to Bekele's 7min 36.25sec.
Women's 3000m
Since 1989 the competition record had stood to Yvonne Murray with 8min 44.32sec. When Tirunesh Dibaba effortlessly accelerated at the bell the question was not ‘if’ but ‘how much’ she would revise the record by. Well under 60sec later the answer was known - a 8min 33.78sec run leaving Lidia Chojecka of Poland chasing her tail with 8min 39.69sec.
Men's 5000m
Saif Saaeed Shaheen, the former Kenyan who now runs for Qatar always makes for a good race – you never know what he’s going to do next. Shaheen sprinted clear min-race before backing off the pace.
With half a mile left Matt Tegenkamp of the USA led from Mike Kigen of Kenya and Shaheen (now representing Asia). Shortly afterwards Shaheen surged again and despite the gap being closed on the last lap Shaheen won with 13min 35.30sec to Kigen’s 13min 36.19sec.
Women's 5000m
Meseret Defar led the race out and clocked a solo 14min 39.11sec. She afterwards said she’d hoped to get close to her own world record but that the lack of pacemakers had hindered her. Otherwise, she said, she thought she could have done it. Russia’s Liliya Shobukhova was a distant second in 15min 05.33sec.
Men's 110m Hurdles
Allen Johnson may be 35 and not expected to add to his four world titles but this World Cup victory was his. First to the opening hurdle he could not be caught by world record holder Liu Xiang and clocked a might fast 12.96sec ahead of Liu’s 13.03sec.
Women's 100m Hurdles
Brigitte Foster-Hylton of Jamaica gave the Americas maximum points with a 12.67sec win.
Women's 400m Hurdles
World champion Yuliya Nosova of pulled away in the home straight to win in 53.88sec.
Men's 3000m Steeplechase
Saif Saaeed Shaheen tailed Paul Kipsiele Koech as he ran away from the rest of the field. Shaheen’s speed down the back straight was not emphatic but Koech could not get back on terms as Shaheen won in 8min 19.09sec to Koech’s 8min 19.37sec.
Women's 3000m Steeplechase
European Champion Alesya Turava ran away from the field early on. Jeruto Kiptum closed her down but Turava’s 9min 29.10sec was enough to stay clear of Kiptum (9min 31.44sec).
Men's 4x100m
The 4 x 100m does not always go to the team with the fastest sprinters. This time it did. A 37.59sec lap of the track was impressive as the time suggests and left the British quartet, representing Europe, back in second with 38.45sec. Japan, representing Asia came in third in 38.51sec.
Women's 4x100m
Most quartets representing a continent in the 4 x 100m relay were made up of all one nation. But the Americas team of Aleen Bailey of Jamaica, Debbie Ferguson Bahamas, Cydonie Mothersill of the Cayman Islands and Sherone Simpson of Jamaica came home in 42.26sec ahead of the Russians.
Men's 4x400m
Darold Williamson was still well down on the African and Americas quartet with just 200m to go. But the last half lap saw him first catch and pass Malik Louahla before nipping just past Alleyne Francique. The times of 3min 00.11sec to 3min 00.14sec, with third place 3min 00.88sec tell it all!
Women's 4x400m
Jamaica’s Novlene Williams 49.6sec secured the win for the Americas team just ahead of the USA – 3min 19.84sec to 3min 20.69sec.
