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Viljoen shines, Semenya fades

Johannesburg - Fresh off medal-winning performances at the World Athletics Championships last week, javelin thrower Sunette Viljoen was on top form again, while fellow South African Caster Semenya struggled at the Diamond League meeting in Zurich, Switzerland, on Thursday night.

Viljoen, who was third at the world championships in Daegu, South Korea, was second in the penultimate Diamond League event of the season with a 67.46m heave in the fifth round.

Germany’s Christina Obergfoll set a meeting record to win with a 69.57m throw.

Semenya, who was second at the global championships, was never really in contention in the women’s 800m race, trailing home in 1:59.77 to finish in fifth spot, with Russian world champion Mariya Savinova winning in 1:58.27.

Ruben Ramolefi was fourth in the men’s 3000m steeplechase in 8:15.34, nearly eight seconds behind Kenyan winner Ezekiel Kemboi.

Results from Thursday's Diamond League athletics meet at Letzigrund Stadium (all distances in meters):


Men

100-1 Yohan Blake, Jamaica, 9.82. 2, Asafa Powell, Jamaica, 9.95. 3, Walter Dix, United States, 10.04. 4, Michael Frater, Jamaica, 10.06. 5, Kim Collins, Saint Kitts, 10.09. 6, Nesta Carter, Jamaica, 10.12. 7, Jaysuma Saidy Ndure, Norway, 10.20. 8, Richard Thompson, Trinidad, 10.23.

400-1, Kirani James, Grenada, 44.36. 2, Lashawn Merritt, United States, 44.67. 3, Jermaine Gonzales, Jamaica, 45.39. 4, Rondell Bartholomew, Grenada, 45.43. 5, Christopher Brown, Bahamas, 45.47. 6, Martyn Rooney, Britain, 45.63. 7, Greg Nixon, United States, 45.85. 8, Angelo Taylor, United States, 46.33.

1,500-1, Nixon Kiplimo Chepseba, Kenya, 3:32.74. 2, Silas Kiplagat, Kenya, 3:33.56. 3, Haron Keitany, Kenya, 3:34.37. 4, Mohamed Moustaoui, Morocco, 3:34.61. 5, Augustine Kiprono Choge, Kenya, 3:34.67. 6, Mekonnen Gebremedhin, Ethiopia, 3:34.75. 7, Asbel Kiprop, Kenya, 3:34.89. 8, Daniel Kipchirchir Komen, Kenya, 3:36.78.

110 hurdles-1, Dayron Robles, Cuba, 13.01. 2, Jason Richardson, United States, 13.10. 3, David Oliver, United States, 13.26. 4, Aries Merritt, United States, 13.35. 5, Andrew Turner, Britain, 13.41. 6, Dwight Thomas, Jamaica, 13.49. 7, Andreas Kundert, Switzerland, 13.99. 8, William Sharman, Britain, 14.12.

3,000 steeplechase-1, Ezekiel Kemboi, Kenya, 8:07.72. 2, Paul Kipsiele Koech, Kenya, 8:07.89. 3, Benjamin Kiplagat, Uganda, 8:12.08. 4, Ruben Ramolefi, South Africa, 8:15.40. 5, Jonathan Muia Ndiku, Kenya, 8:16.15. 6, Hillary Kipsang Yego, Kenya, 8:20.31. 7, Ion Luchianov, Moldova, 8:22.24. 8, Richard Kipkemboi Mateelong, Kenya, 8:28.81.

High Jump-1, Dimitrios Chondrokoukis, Greece, 2.32. 2, Trevor Barry, Bahamas, 2.30. 3, Ivan Ukhov, Russia, 2.28. 4, Jesse Williams, United States, 2.28. 5, Dmytro Demyanyuk, Ukraine, 2.28. 6, Mutaz Essa Barshim, Qatar, 2.28. 7, Raul Spank, Germany, 2.25. 8, Kyriakos Ioannou, Cyprus, 2.25.

Long jump-1, Ngonidzashe Makusha, Zimbabwe, 8.00. 2, Aleksandr Menkov, Russia, 7.94. 3, Marcos Chuba, Portugal, 7.88. 4, Dwight Phillips, United States, 7.87. 5, Sebastian Bayer, Germany, 7.78. 6, Will Claye, United States, 7.34. 7, Mitchell Watt, Australia, 6.97.

Discus-1, Robert Harting, Germany, 67.02. 2, Virgilijus Alekna, Lithuania, 66.69. 3, Zoltan Kovago, Hungary, 65.58. 4, Gerd Kanter, Estonia, 65.52. 5, Martin Wierig, Germany, 65.47. 6, Piotr Malachowski, Poland, 64.49. 7, Erik Cadee, Netherlands, 62.86. 8, Ehsan Hadadi, Iran, 62.67.

Shot put-1, Dylan Armstrong, Canada, 21.63. 2, Ryan Whiting, United States, 21.52. 3, Reese Hoffa, United States, 21.39. 4, Tomasz Majewski, Poland, 21.38. 5, David Storl, Germany, 21.23. 6, Marco Fortes, Portugal, 20.78. 7, Ralf Bartels, Germany, 20.05. 8, Carlos Veliz, Cuba, 20.00.

Women

200-1, Carmelita Jeter, United States, 22.27. 2, Allyson Felix, United States, 22.40. 3, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Jamaica, 22.59. 4, Shalonda Solomon, United States, 22.63. 5, Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie, Bahamas, 22.82. 6, Bianca Knight, United States, 23.05. 7, Sherone Simpson, Jamaica, 23.30. 8, Kerron Stewart, Jamaica, 23.54.

800-1, Mariya Savinova, Russia, 1:58.27. 2, Alysia Johnson Montano, United States, 1:58.41. 3, Jennifer Meadows, Britain, 1:58.92. 4, Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei, Kenya, 1:59.71. 5, Caster Semenya, South Africa, 1:59.77. 6, Ekaterina Kostetskaya, Russia, 2:00.06. 7, Morgan Uceny, United States, 2:00.59. 8, Malika Akkaoui, Morocco, 2:01.47.

5,000-1, Vivian Cheruiyot, Kenya, 14:30.10. 2, Sally Kipyego, Kenya, 14:30.42. 3, Linet Masai, Kenya, 14:35.11. 4, Sylvia Jebiwott Kibet, Kenya, 14:35.43. 5, Prisca Jepleting Ngetich-Cherono, Kenya, 14:44.82. 6, Meselech Melkamu, Ethiopia, 14:45.76. 7, Sentayehu Ejigu, Ethiopia, 14:55.28. 8, Viola Jelagat Kibiwot, Kenya, 15:03.97.

400 hurdles-1, Kaliese Spencer, Jamaica, 53.36. 2, Melaine Walker, Jamaica, 53.43. 3, Lashinda Demus, United States, 54.04. 4, Natalya Antyukh, Russia, 54.50. 5, Zuzana Hejnova, Czech Republic, 54.89. 6, Anastasiya Rabchenyuk, Ukraine, 55.27. 7, Queen Harrison, United States, 55.54. 8, Elena Churakova, Russia, 55.72.

Pole Vault-1, Jennifer Suhr, United States, 4.72. 2, Silke Spiegelburg, Germany, 4.72. 3, Yelena Isinbayeva, Russia, 4.62. 4, Fabiana Murer, Brazil, 4.62. 5, Sylva Yarisley, Cuba, 4.62. 6, Svetlana Feofanova, Russia, 4.52. 7, Anna Rogowska, Poland, 4.42. 8, Nicole Buechler, Switzerland, 4.42.

Long jump-1, Brittney Reese, United States, 6.72. 2, Anastasiya Mironchik, Bulgaria, 6.67. 3, Ineta Radevica, Latvia, 6.61. 4, Irene Pusterla, Switzerland, 6.60. 5, Olga Kucherenko, 6.53. 6, Janay Deloach, United States, 6.53. 7, Carolina Klueft, Sweden, 6.43. 8, Funmi Jimoh, United States, 6.23.

Shot put-1, Valerie Adams-Vili, New Zealand, 20.51. 2, Nadeschda Ostaptschuk, Belarus, 20.48. 3, Jillian Camarena, United States, 19.64. 4, Natalya Khoroneko-Mikhnevich, Belarus, 18.95. 5, Cleopatra Borel-Brown, Trinidad & Tobago, 18.92. 6, Michelle Carter, United States, 18.82. 7, Yevgeniya Kolodko, Russia, 18.65. 8, Nadine Kleinert, Germany, 18.56.

Javelin-1, Christina Obergfoell, Germany, 69.57. 2, Sunette Viljoen, South Africa, 67.46. 3, Maariya Abakumova, Russia, 64.48. 4, Barbora Spotakova, Czech Republic, 63.56. 5, Goldie Sayers, Britain, 62.25. 6, Katharina Molitor, Germany, 61.85. 7, Martina Ratej, Slovenia, 61.46. 8, Madara Palameika, Latvia, 59.76.
 
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