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Tyler Christopher wins the bronze medal at 2005 IAAF World Championships in track and field
August 12, 2005 HELSINKI - Tyler Christopher of Chilliwack, B.C., broke his Canadian record and won the bronze medal Friday in the men's 400-metre, Canada's first medal at the 2005 IAAF World Championships in track and field.
Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner led the U.S. to a 1-2 finish clocking 43.93 seconds, the fastest time in the world this year. Andrew Rock was second in a personal best 44.35. The 21-year-old Christopher, the fastest semifinal qualifier, took the bronze in 44.44 to beat the 44.69 he clocked in his Grand Prix win last month in Paris.
"It started fast, continued fast and finished fast, I've never been in a race like that," said the Edmonton-based Christopher, the first Canadian world championship medallist in the 400. "Wariner was on my shoulder and just kept pushing and pushing. My start was good, I maintained decent speed but my kick for the finish only lasted 40 metres instead of 100.
"I came in here to win the gold and my determination may have cost me the silver in the end. But I wouldn't have got this far without that determination. It was a huge learning experience for me and I couldn't be happier right now."
In the men's 800 semifinals, Gary Reed of Victoria broke his Canadian record for the third time this year clocking 1:44.33 to win his heat and advance to Sunday's final. Wilfred Bungei of Kenya was second in the heat in 1:44.41 and Youssef Saad Kamel of Bahrain third in 1:44.90.
Olympic champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy of Russia posted the day's fastest time at 1:44.26. Reed, whose previous national record was 1:44.54 set two weeks ago in Oslo, was the third fastest.
In the women's 1,500 semifinals, Carmen Douma-Hussar of Cambridge, Ont., also qualified for Sunday's final finishing fifth in her heat in 4:08.73, also the fifth fastest time overall. The top-five from each heat and the next two fastest overall advance. Yuliya Chizhenko of Russia won the heat in 4:07.26.
"I saw the first heat which was slow so I was expecting a fast race in my heat," said Douma-Hussar, ninth in the Olympic final last year and second at the world indoors in 2004. "I knew the top-seven in the heat would advance and I'm just glad to get through."
In the men's high jump qualification round, two-time world championship medallist Mark Boswell of Brampton, Ont. equalled his season best clearance at 2.27 metres to advance to Sunday's final. Boswell cleared 2.24 and 2.27 metres both on his second attempts. Boswell missed valuable training this year battling bronchitis and pneumonia.
"It was awesome today, I've been through so much this year," said Boswell. "I was very consistent and I didn't put to much stress on my ankle in my run up to the bar. I feel like I'm doing the little things right to get to the top."
In the women's pole vault final, Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia broke the world record clearing 5.01 metres. Monika Pyrek of Poland took the silver at 4.60 and Pavla Hamackova of the Czech Republic third at 4.50. Isinbayeva received $100,000 (U.S.) bonus for the mark.
Dana Ellis of Kitchener, Ont., tied for sixth as she missed her three attempts at 4.50 metres. Ellis, who set the Canadian record at 4.51 last month at the nationals, had a good start clearing 4.20 and 4.35 on her first attempts.
"I reached my goal result-wise but I wanted to clear 4.50 here," said Ellis, also sixth at the 2004 Olympics. "I wasn't really vaulting at my best today and 4.50 is pretty much my personal best right now so it's not a height I can clear on a consistent basis yet."
In the men's 50 kilometre walk final, Sergey Kirdyapkin led Russia to a 1-2 finish clocking three hours and 38 minutes and 08 seconds. Aleksey Voyevodin was second in 3:41:25 and Alex Schwazer of Italy third in 3:41.54.
Tim Berrett of Edmonton, competing at his eighth world championships, posted his second best-ever result at the worlds placing 11th in 3:55:48. He was seventh in 1993.
"The first half of the race went extremely well," said Berrett, 40. "Then I sort of had to hold it together in the last 20 kilometres. I was down to my last warning with 10 kilometres to go and played it relatively safe."
In the men's 4X100 relay, Canada was fifth in its heat and eliminated. The Canadian runners in order were Richard Adu-Bobie of Ottawa, Pierre Browne of Mississauga, Ont., Anson Henry of Pickering, Ont., and Nicolas Macrozonaris of Laval, Que. The foursome clocked 38.67 and missed a berth in the final by only 0.02 seconds
"We are very disappointed," said Adu-Bobie. "We worked very hard over the past three weeks and our expectations were higher. Our exchanges went very well, we have the speed, and it's just a question of putting all together."
The U.S. was also eliminated when it dropped the baton in the first exchange. That dashes Justin Gatlin's hopes to win three gold medals at the championships.
No Canadians are in action Saturday. Canadians in finals on Sunday are Boswell, Reed, Douma-Hussar and Jeff Adams of Toronto in the men’s wheelchair 200-metres.
Click here to watch Tyler Christopher's bronze medal 400m finish: Mens 400 - Final part 2