American sprinter Terrence Trammell is disappointed after finishing third in the men's 60m finals (Photo by Mark Lee)

Trammell fought hard for second title; O'Rourke still in a wonder
Saturday March 11, 2006

MOSCOW, Russia - Derval O'Rourke of Ireland and American  Terrence Trammell express delight at dismissing two highly competitive fields to snatched world titles during the 11th IAAF World Championships at the Olympic sports complex here in Moscow on Saturday night.

The Trammell and Robles battle

Trammell, the bronze medallist in the 60m dash on Friday, had to produce a world-leading time of 7.43 to fend off Cuban teenager Dayron Robles, who had been a thorn in the American hurdlers flesh throughout the competition.

Using his experience and rapid speed over the shorter distance, Trammell, the Lisbon 2001 champion and two-time Olympic medallist, held off a determine Robles to add world title number two to his name.

"I've had a lot of races and I just tried to stay focused the whole time," Trammell, who was running his sixth race in two days said. 

"The guy (Robles) from Cuba ran a great race so I tried to run all the way through the tape."

Trammell got a blistering start and he said that was the biggest factor in his victory.

“The key was the start...so my focus was on the start. I got very close to gold a lot of times, so finally it came now," said Trammell, who became the first double medallist at the championships.

Silver not bad first appearance

Cuban new sensation Robles was the highlight of the early rounds and he definitely set his way to claim a medal. After blazing 7.55sec in the first round heats, Robles posted 7.56 in the semis, before fighting gallantly to a career best 7.46 in his first ever appearance indoors.

"It is my first experience indoors so it's not a bad one," said Robles, who added that he took each rounds strides.

Close till the end

American Dominique Arnold bounced back from his third fault at the championships to take a photo-finish bronze medal in tight finish field that saw him credited the same as Latvia's Stanislavs Olijars and Jamaican Maurice Wignall. All three men shared a time of 7.52.

O'Rourke grew with each round

Earlier O'Rourke showed courage to become the first Irishwoman to win gold at the world indoor championships when she stunned her rivals in the women's race.

O'Rourke powered from the blocks to win one of the closest 60m hurdles finals in the history of the indoor championships. The 24-year-old surprised a much more experience international field, including Spaniard Glory Alozie and Jamaican world-leader Lacena Golding-Clarke to speed home in a national record performance of 7.84.

"I was nervous, but everything was okay during the race," said O’Rourke, who like Robles looked like a medal contender throughout the championships.

"I became more confident in every session and I finally understood that I could win. There was no one girl coming here who I thought could beat me so I came here to win it."

Celebration time for the Irish

O'Rourke said she was sure she had gold when she crossed, but even after the confirmation she was still could come to the grip that she was the world champion.

"I thought, 'What if I start celebrating and I haven't won it?' So I just sat there. Then I thought, 'Lap it up! How often does this happen?

“It’s hard to believe I’m a World champion. I’ve been working towards it all season and I can’t believe it’s happened.”

Following the Irish was Alozie, who came home second in 7.86 with Swede Susanna Kallur, the European Indoor champion taking third in 7.87. American Danielle Carruthers ran a  personal best 7.88 for fourth, but Jamaican Golding-Clarke, the pre-event favourite struggled midway in the race after getting the better start  on the field and had to settled for sixth in 7.94.

World-Track Sports Media Team