Robles and Savigne in Top Form in Europe
Robles’ return to Germany was significant as the last time he competed in Europe was at the 2009 Berlin World Indoor Championships where he was forced to back out from the semifinal round after injuring his thigh.
But time heals all wounds, and on Wednesday, Dayron announced his return with a 7.50 second 60-meter hurdle mark, just edging his previous 60-meter run of 7.52 that he ran in Lievin, France on Gebruary 10, 2009. The current Olympic champion and world record holder in the 110-meter hurdle was followed by Eric Mitchum from the United States with a run of 7.55 seconds and Shamar Sands from the Bahamas 7.62.
The 23-year-old Cuban sprinter from Guantanamo appeared for just the second time since his injury, and shows that he is back in top form even though the run is a long way from his personal best of 7.33 sec set here in February 2008 which is the second best time in history, 1/10 of a second slower than the world leading mark set by American Terrence Tremmell on January 29.
Meanwhile in the triple jump, Yarelis Savigne showed her excellent conditioning, finishing first with a jump of 14.84 meters. Her young and up-and-coming teammate Mabel Gay also had a good meet finishing third with a jump of 14.26 meters.
In other competition, US sprinter Lolo Jones ran the fastest women’s 60 meters so far this year with a time of 7.85 seconds. Her teammate Mark Jelks also finished first in the men’s 60-meter with a time of 6.56 seconds.
Russian Yuriy Borzakovskiy ran the 800 meters in 1:45.77 minutes, while Kenyan Paul Kipsiele Koech ran the 5,000 meters in just 13:02.95 minutes.
