Seun Ogunkoya after winning at the 1998 Weltklasse meeting in Zurich (© Getty Images)
Africa proved the vitality of its sprinting tradition today in Dakar’s Léopold Sédar Senghor stadium, with two athletes below 10 seconds (a first ever on the continent) in a spectacular men’s 100m final.
Seun Ogunkoya (NGR) exploded out of the blocks, but Frank Fredericks (NAM), just a fraction less effective at the start, came back on the powerful Nigerian, just to see him pull away in the last metres to clock 9.94 against 9.97.
Ten years and a totally different style separate the two champions, united by the depth of their talent. Ogunkoya combines an impressive physique with a winner’s mental toughness, while Fredericks’ unrivalled fluidity and gentlemanly conduct earned him the warmest applause in spite of his defeat. Ghana’s Leonard Myles-Mills took third place and improved his personal best for the season with 10.10, with his compatriot Eric Nkansah clocking 10.14 in fourth place.
Nigeria swept the board in the women’s final, with veteran Mary Onyali driven to 11.05 (into a headwind) to resist Endurance Ojokolo (11.08) and Rose Aboaja taking third in 11.31.
Another best-ever result on African soil came in the triple jump, confirming progress in the technical events, with two US-based athletes, Andrew Owusu (NGR) and Ndabazihle Mdholongwa (ZIM), both over 17 metres, at 17m23 and 17m19 respectively.
Team play helped the Ethiopian women in the 5000m. When Sally BARSOSIO (KEN) made the decisive break with four laps to go, Merima Denboba was quick to close the gap, pulling along Birhane Adere, who in turn attacked in the final 800m, pulling away from the former junior star irresistibly to take the tape in 15:54.31.
The men’s 400m hurdles failed to match up to expectations. Samuel Matete (ZAM) took the lead over the 9th barrier, with Ken Harnden (ZIM) closing in but failing to match Matete despite his superior speed. The 1991 world champion pulled away again to finish in 48.56 against Harden’s 49.39, with Senegal’s Ibou Faye, a former Olympic finalist, taking third place. South Africa’s Llewellyn Herbert could manage no better than a melancholy fifth place in 50.40.
Glory Alozie (NGR), silver medallist in the 1996 world juniors, dominated the women’s 100m hurdles in Dakar, as she has done for most of this season, winning in 12.77, with Tacko Diouf taking silver for the best placing yet by the host country.
South Africans dominated the discus, with Frantz Kruger and Fits Pogieter signing a double in the men’s event with 62m17 and 60m50 and Elizna Naude taking the highest step of the podium with 50m28 in the women’s event.
The men’s 400m semis saw the return of Davis Kamoga (UGA). Kamoga had been troubled by malaria earlier in the year, but came back to clock the best qualifying time for the final in 45.04, with the four front-runners in the heat under 46".
Nigeria seems set to dominate the women’s 400m final, with Falilat Ogunkoya an easy winner of her semi in 53.19 and 1998 world leader Charity Opara encountering stiffer opposition from countrywoman Muinat Aboiye to clock 52.20 against 52.48.
Thursday’s finals include the men’s 20km walk, men and women’s 400m, 800m women, men’s 1500m and 3000m steeplechase, women’s long jump, men’s hammer throw and decathlon and both sprint relays.
Anna Legnani for the IAAF
