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U.S.'s Davis wins bronze in discus event

Athletes fail to gain podium in other events

by Joshua Weinstock on September 11, 2009

On a day when the U.S. Athletics Team had three chances to win a fourth straight gold medal, the team failed to capitalize on their opportunities Friday at Taipei Stadium. Joylisa Davis had the first shot during the women’s long jump. Her jump of 5.32 meters was enough to advance to the top eight of 11 jumpers, but was not enough for a medal as she placed seventh with a best jump of 5.39 meters. Rivero Girat of Cuba set the world record with a jump of 6.13m as she earned her second gold medal after winning the women’s 100m dash. In the women’s 3,000m steeplechase, Erin LaFave had only four other runners to compete against, but she wasn’t able to take advantage of the odds and finished fourth with a time of 12:00.5. However, it wasn’t a lost cause as LaFave broke not only her personal record, but also the Junior Deaf World Record, head coach Thomas Withrow said. “I didn’t think about any records, but after I found out, it just felt good” LaFave said. “I just wished I didn’t fall down because I knew I could have done better.” Russian Olga Yakubovska won with a large margin of victory, with a time of 10:34.95, as her teammate Daria Gaynetdino finished with 11:07.08. However, the team managed to win a medal for the fourth straight day during the third final of the evening. In perhaps the most nerve-racking turn of events, as Onyemachi Davis was in position to win silver in the discus event with his fifth throw of 47.14 meters, during his sixth and final throw, the discus slammed against the protective netting, marking his throw as an “X.” Davis was the second-to-last thrower and had to wait for Ukrainian Volodymyr Pupena to throw. Prior to his final throw, Pupena had a best of 46.96 meters, putting him in line for the bronze. However, on the final throw of the day, Pupena threw a 47.19 meters, bumping Davis down to bronze for the second Deaflympics in a row by a mere .05 meters. “It really hurts,” Davis said. “It’s not a excuse, but I didn’t really have many opportunities to train before this year. But I’m not going to get my third strike next time.” Also competing in the discus was last year’s silver-medal winner, Andrew Cohen. Cohen threw a 40.97 meters, good for seventh place. In other heats and semifinals Friday, the U.S. athletes put themselves in good positions for the finals Saturday except for one runner who was placed by default. The men and women’s 110m and 100m hurdles semifinals were scheduled for Friday, but two male and four female hurdlers dropped out, reducing competitors for both events to eight. The officials then canceled the semifinals because it would have eliminated two runners, and the remaining eight hurdlers automatically advanced to the finals Saturday. This means Amber Nash, Mariah Ransom and Josh Hembrough will have to wait for their chance to hurdle. Ransom was ready to go, and said it was a shame the other runners backed out. “I’m looking forward to finally racing tomorrow,” she said. Hembrough wasn’t happy about the decision, because he wanted to compete today, he said. “Anything can happen in the 110m hurdles. A run could go clean and the next run not so clean. Hopefully tomorrow will go good as I didn’t have a chance to have a second run at it.” Devin Furlough and Ana Shelton both competed twice in the 200m, in the morning and evening. Only Furlough was able to advance to the finals in the evening race as he finished with a time of 22.31 seconds, first in his heat but fifth of eight runners. After the morning heat, in which she clocked 27.60, Shelton felt dizzy and had a headache. At the concourse below the stadium, she threw up. “I ate a lot last night, and didn’t eat much for breakfast [less than 2,000 calories, the expected intake of sprinters before a race] as I had eggs, toast and bacon.” Shelton said. When Shelton was in high school, she said, she ate a lot pre-game and ran well. “I guess Louisiana food makes me run faster.” After attention from the team’s trainer, Shelton decided to remain in the 200m semifinals because she didn’t want to waste her training and disappoint the coaches. Shelton tried her best but faltered during the finals, clocking a time of 27.77 and missing the cutoff time by 1.33 seconds. “In four years [at Athens], I’ll be sure to bring American food with me” she quipped. In the 800m, Michael Saalfeld sped through the field as he displayed an excellent kick. Saalfeld trailed the leader of the first heat, Greek runner Nikolaos Gkanatsios, for the first 650 meters. Then, Saalfeld turned on the fifth gear and took the lead with a time of 1:55.74, the best of the heat. John Quatroche performed admirably in his first Deaflympic experience as he led the second heat for the first 650 meters. However he lost steam — and four runners passed him — finishing with a time of 2:00.04. Quatroche tried to push himself, but missed qualifying since the 16th and final runner, Amilcar Parra Valera, of Venezuela, had a time of 1:59.99, only .05 faster than Quatroche. Hannah Maenius had better luck in her 800m semifinals, placing second in the second heat with a time of 2:19.71. She showed no lingering effects from a foot fracture in March that she re-aggravated during training camp last week in Chia-Yi. Maenius dropped out of the 400m as a pre-caution, since the 800m is her best and favorite event, she said. “I felt good because I didn’t really think about the foot that much, and my mind was off it and on running,” she said. She led the pack until Russian Nelli Erofeeva took the lead. Maenius did not appear to try to regain the lead as the top three automatically qualified for the finals. However, as Erofeeva and Maenius finished first and second, four runners who qualified from the first heat all had better times than the second-heat qualifiers, with the fastest being 2:17.40 and the slowest 2:18.42. “I just wanted to qualify, so beating her wasn’t important. I’ll have my chance, I feel positive, but nervous too, for Saturday,” Maenius said. Saturday will be a busy day, with a total of nine gold medals to be distributed. The Americans will have athletes competing in each event except the women’s 200m and javelin throw. An U.S. athlete also will compete in the second segment of the decathlon.
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