NAPOLI, 10 July – On Wednesday morning, the area around the San Paolo Stadium was
echoing with the sounds of athletes going through qualification rounds in track and field. After
a week of unrelenting heat, the clouds and cooler weather was a welcome respite for the
athletes. Right before the afternoon session, however, it started to rain and the track was
soaked. It took another fifteen minutes before the sun came back out and the athletes started
to compete.
Medalists in nine different athletics events were determined this night. In the women’s 400m
hurdles, 22-year-old Ayomide Folorunso from Italy was clearly in the lead from the start and
had built up a significant advantage halfway through.
After winning gold, she said “It was interesting. It was a good level of competition. In the first
two hundred metres I was not too fast because I knew the most important and difficult part
would be the second two hundred. I tried to come out of the first part stronger and not lose all
my power.”
In the men’s 400m flat race finals, fastest qualifier Valente Mendoza Falcon from Mexico
proved once more that he was the strongest and quickest. Mikhail Litvin from Kazakhstan
came second.
“It is the first medal that I was able to win at three Universiades,” remarked Mikhail, happy
about winning a silver medal for his country. “I plan to take part in the next Universiade too,
that hopefully will give me a chance to improve my result even more.”
Bronze medalist in the 400m, Edward Isaacs Gardeo from South Africa told FISU “It was very
difficult even though there were fewer competitors. It was one of the best results for me though.
I ran faster in the past, but I hope I can run even faster in the future.”
In the women’s 800m race there were many spectacular moments. German Christina Hering
led for a while, but fell back at the end, allowing Australian Catriona Bisset to cross the finish
line first.
For Bisset, it was her goal for the year to participate in the Universiade. She said, “I cannot
believe it. It happened so quickly. At the start I felt confident even though I had doubts as well.
It is amazing to win gold.”
Hering commented on her second place finish saying, “For sure, it was my aim to get a medal.
Catriona was very strong and I knew it would be difficult to fight against her.”
The gold medal winner in the women’s 400m, Paola Moran Errejon from Mexico, shared her
emotions with FISU.
“I feel very happy and proud to represent Mexico and win the gold medal. The rain did not
affect my performance today. Before the competition I did a good warm up under the roof.”
The men’s high jump finals were also slated for this evening and three athletes managed to
reach the height of 2.27m. As the bar was raised to 2.30m, it was Tihomir Ivanov from Bulgaria
who was successful with his very first attempt. No one else cleared and he won gold.
Silver medalist in the men’s 1,500m race Jan Fris from the Czech Republic told FISU that this
was the highlight of his season. “Before the race I said to myself that I could fight for a medal
and simply had to do my best,” he added. “I worked hard, and it paid off. The weather during
the race was perfect for me. The sun came back and I felt nice in that atmosphere.”
The grueling decathlon also concluded, as the last four events were contested, with javelin
and the 1500m race slated for the evening session. Both were decisive in the final rankings.
Aaron James Booth from New Zealand won the arduous event that took place over three days.
Thursday evening has a long lineup of finals including the women’s pole vault, shot put, 100m
hurdles, steeplechase and the 200m sprint. Men will fight for medals in the javelin throw, 100m
hurdles and also the 200m finals. The last day of athletics action will be on 13 July when in
addition to individual events, the best teams will contest the relays.
Results
Women’s 400 m Hurdles
Gold: FOLORUNSO Ayomide (ITA)
Silver: VAN DER WALT Zeney (RSA)
Bronze: IUEL Amalie (NOR)
Men’s High Jump
Gold: IVANOV Tihomir (BUL)
Silver: ACET Alperen (TUR)
Bronze: GLEBAUSKAS Adrijus (LTU)
Men’s 1500 m
Gold: ROZMYS Michal (POL)
Silver: FRIS Jan (CZE)
Bronze: RINNE Joonas (FIN)
Men’s Triple Jump
Gold: BABAYEV Nazim (AZE)
Silver: SA Mateus (BRA)
Bronze: MELO Alexsandro (BRA)
Women’s 400 m
Gold: MORAN ERREJON Paola (MEX)
Silver: SHIDA Leni (UGA)
Bronze: BROSSIER Amandine (FRA)
Women’s 800 m
Gold: BISSET Catriona (AUS)
Silver: HERING Christina (GER)
Bronze: AJOK Docus (UGA)
Men’s 400 m
Gold: MENDOZA FALCON Valente (MEX)
Silver: LITVIN Mikhail (KAZ)
Bronze: ISAACS Gardeo Edward (RSA)
Women’s Javelin Throw
Gold: JASIUNAITE Liveta (LTU)
Silver: KITAGUCHI Haruka (TUR)
Bronze: TUGSUZ Eda (JPN)
Decathlon
Gold: BOOTH Aaron James (NZL)
Silver: DIAMOND Alexander (AUS)
Bronze: SINGKHON Suttisak (THA)
The International University Sports Federati
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