Hammer thrower Jennifer Joyce wins Canada’s first medal in track and field at Commonwealth GamesMonday, March 20, 2006 MELBOURNE - Jennifer Joyce of Richmond, B.C., won Canadas first medal in track and field at the Commonwealth Games on Monday with a silver in the womens hammer throw. Australian Brooke Krueger won the gold with a Games-record throw of 67.90 metres. Joyce was second at 67.29 metres, with England's Lorraine Shaw third at 66.00 metres.
Joyce recoded her best throw on the second of six attempts and it was briefly a Games record. She fouled out on her first and third attempts and threw 64.93 on her fourth, 65.94 on her fifth and 65.83 on her sixth. Krueger overtook Joyce for the lead on her fourth attempt. Canada also had a finalist in both the mens and womens 100 metre dash. In the womens 100, Sheri-Ann Brooks of Jamaica ran a personal best to win the gold medal in 11.19 seconds. Geraldine Pillay of South Africa was second in 11.31 and Delphine Atangana of Cameroon third in 11.39. Erica Broomfield of Scarborough, Ont., a 200-metre specialist, won her semifinal heat then placed sixth in the final in 11.49 seconds.
In the mens 100, world record holder Asafa Powell posted a convincing win clocking 10.03 with Soji Fasuba of Nigeria second in 10.11 and Marc Burns of Trinidad and Tobago third in 10.17. Anson Henry of Pickering, Ont., was seventh in 10.28. After yesterdays rounds I expected a bit more today, said Henry, wholl now prepare for the 4X100 relay later this week. My legs werent there. I wasnt getting out the blocks and accelerating as well. I couldnt get to the top end speed smoothly. In the mens 5,000, Augustine Choge set a Games record 12:56.41 for the gold leading Kenya to three of the top four placings. Reid Coolsaet of Guelph, Ont., was 13th in 14:05.32. In mens high jump qualifying, Mark Boswell of Brampton, Ont., the defending champion, was first as he needed to only execute one jump after clearing 2.15 metres on his first attempt. South Africa's Ramsay Carelse also cleared 2.15 metres to win the other group but started his competition at 2.10 metres. In the first round in the womens 1,500, all three Canadian entries advanced to Tuesdays final. Carmen Douma-Hussar of Cambridge, Ont., was second in her heat in 4:09.98 while in another heat Hilary Stellingwerff of Guelph was third in 4:11.75 and Malindi Elmore of Calgary fifth in 4:12.51. Also in action on Tuesday are Jessica Zelinka of Calgary in the womens heptathlon, Chantal Petitleclerc of Montreal, Diane Roy of Sherbrooke, Que., and Tracey Ferguson of Toronto in the womens 800-metre wheelchair race; Jason Tunks of London, Ont., and Dariusz Slowik of Kamloops, B.C., in the mens discus; Jared MacLeod of Winnipeg and Charles Allen of Brampton in the mens 110 hurdles; and Tara Quinn-Smith of Waterdown, Ont., in the womens 10,000. Athletics Canada is the national sport governing body for the sport of track and field including cross-country running and road running. -AC- |