Athletics:Paul Hession clocked his fastest 200 metres of the season, racing in a time of 20.50 seconds at the Lausanne Grand Prix in Switzerland, but the Irish sprinter didn't make the A-race where double Olympic world record holder Usain Bolt was in flying form.
Hession won Race 2 ahead of American Kellie Willie (20.53) and Japan’s Shinji Takahira in third (20.58). In Race 1 Jamaica’s Bolt clocked a time of 19.59 seconds to cross the line ahead of American LaShawn Merritt (20.41) and Churandy Martina (20.76) of Dutch Antilles.
That meant the Galway sprinter was officially third fastest on the night behind Bolt, but he just missed out on winning one of the eight lanes in the A-race due to the competitiveness of the field.
Hession’s time of 20.50 was also his fastest legal time this summer, as the 20.45 he ran in Cork last Saturday was marginally wind-aided.
Among the other big names that failed to better Hession’s time last night was the other top American Shaun Crawford, who only managed 20.80.
Hession’s excellent run contrasted with Alistair Cragg, the only other Irish athlete in action, as he failed the finish the 1,500 metres, apparently suffering some sort of injury. Cragg was looking to improve on the 3:38.44 he ran in Oslo last Friday night, but clearly experienced some difficulty on the night as the victory went to Antar Zerguelaine of Algeria in the relatively slow time of 3:37.15.