Powell runs 9.82sec in Poland

Szczecin, Poland – The fourth edition of Pedro’s Cup meet, which took place yesterday (15) in Szczecin’s Wieslaw Maniak Stadium, once again boasted an impressive lineup of major names.

For most of them, it was their last European competition of the year, but some showed they were still capable of top results. Asafa Powell’s 9.82 in the 100m provided the highlight of the meet. Also noteworthy was the 4.70 vault by World champion Anna Rogowska, Virgilijus Alekna’s win in the top-quality Discus Throw competition with 68.53 and Christian Cantwell’s 21.49 in the Shot Put.

Season’s fastest for Powell; Gay wins 20.21

For Powell, Pedro’s Cup is a regular stopover on the European tour. In each of the previous three editions, he was the comfortable winner, with his 9.89 from last year the only sub-10 ever run on Polish soil. This time, undeterred by cool weather (16 degrees C at the time of the race) and lack of close competition, he went even better. Helped by a tail wind of 1.4 m/s, the Jamaican shot out of the blocks and was never headed, finishing a full 0.28 ahead of his compatriot Nesta Carter. The time of 9.82 was not only a new Polish all-comers record, but also Powell’s fastest run of the season.

Tyson Gay, the man who finished with silver ahead of Powell in the recent World Championship final, was also in Szczecin, but opted for the longer sprint. Despite a sluggish start, he won easily in a time of 20.21.

The women’s 100 metres also had a clear winner in Sherone Simpson, who ran away from her rivals to finish in 11.29.

Alekna wins again

A much closer competition was expected in some of the field events, which featured multiple global championship medalists. One of the expected highlights was the men’s Discus Throw, with four out of the Berlin top six in attendance. And the competition did not disappoint. The veteran Virgilijus Alekna was the leader after one round with 65.70m, which World champion Robert Harting then improved on with 66.58 in round two.

But the big Lithuanian was far from finished. Proving his recent World Athletics Final win was no fluke, on his third throw he improved to 68.53, a distance that nobody could match. Harting’s throw held up for second place, although Zoltan Kovago came very close with 66.42 in round five. Berlin silver medalist Piotr Malachowski could do no better than fourth on this occasion, although he, too, threw beyond 65 metres.