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Felix Sanchez

TWO-TIME Olympic champion Felix Sanchez will headline day six of the World Athletics Championships today, eyeing a history-making third title in the 400 metres hurdles. The Dominican Republic star, who turns 36 at the end of August, came through his competitive heat along with most of the favourites, although British defending champion Dai Greene failed to recover sufficiently from a fever and bombed out.

Sanchez was left feeling all of his 35 years after Tuesday’s semi-final.
“The semi didn’t go to plan because the Cuban runner Omar Cisneros was very quick and I had to really dig in to get after his pace,” Sanchez said.

“I was out of the blocks thinking that racing a time of 48.30 or 48.50sec would suffice. But when Cisneros kicked, it surprised me,” with the result that the London Olympic champion produced a season’s best time of 47.93sec. Both the other current Olympic medallists made it through in the shape of American Michael Tinsley and Puerto Rico’s bronze-medal winner Javier Culsom.

American Kerron Clement also kept his hopes alive of regaining the title he won in 2007 and 2009 by going through as one of the two fastest losers, but teammate and 2005 world champion Bershawn Jackson pulled up injured. Jehue Gordon of Trinidad and Tobago also impressed, and was installed as firm favourite by Sanchez.

“I saw him almost jogging to win his semi,” joked Sanchez. Also on the track is the showdown between Kenyan steeplechase great Ezekiel Kemboi and France’s two-time Olympic silver medallist Mahiedine Mekhissi. – Reuters