Athletics
Josephs disappoints in Doha
2010-03-13 12:12
Email | Print
Doha - South African Janice Josephs was well below par, crashing out in spectacular fashion in the qualifying round of the women’s long jump at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar on Saturday.
Josephs, the only South African in action in the morning session on day two, leaped an unimpressive 6.02m with her first effort, and her last two attempts fell well short of the 6m mark.
In Valencia two years ago, Josephs set a personal best of 6.51m to qualify for the final, but in Doha was nowhere near her best in her first indoor competition of the season, with only Eliane Martins below her on the results sheet after the Brazilian recorded three no jumps.
Defending champion Naide Gomes of Portugal led the qualifiers with a best leap of 6.61m.
Three of the other four South Africans in the team - Peter van der Westhuizen crashed out in the 1 500m heats on Friday - were set to compete in finals in Saturday’s afternoon session.
Rene Kalmer starts in the women’s 3 000m final - led by world record holder Meseret Defar - after qualifying with a national record of 9:01.41 in Friday’s heats, while Juan van Deventer lines up against a strong field in the men’s 1 500m final after finishing second in his qualifying heat on day one.
Defending champion Khotso Mokena - South Africa’s best hope for a medal - faces stiff opposition from the likes of Australian Fabrice Lapierre and Frenchman Salim Sdiri in the men‘s long jump final.