Ohuruogu puts brave face on difficult final
DEFENDING champion Christine Ohuruogu refused to be downbeat despite her bid to become the first British women to win three world titles ending in disappointment yesterday in Beijing.
The 31-year-old trailed home last in the 400m final at the World Athletics Championship after her tactic of trying to keep pace with winner Allyson Felix’s fast start backfired. Ohuruogu, a former Olympic and Commonwealth gold medallist, faded badly on the home straight but stayed philosophical following what has been an injury-interrupted season.
“I’m not going to be upset,” she said. “It’s a real blessing to even be here, as many times throughout the year I couldn’t be bothered to finish the season because the season was so distressing at times.”
Fellow Londoner Dina Asher-Smith dazzled again in qualifying for today’s 200m final, winning her semi-final in a time just 0.02 seconds outside a British record a dozen years older than the 19-year-old. The King’s College history student clocked 22.12 seconds, setting a second personal best in as many days.
Katarina Johnson-Thompson put her heptathlon heartache behind her on her return to the Bird’s Nest stadium, qualifying for the long-jump final alongside team-mates Lorraine Ugen and Shara Proctor.
Sophie Hitchon finished just 16cm off a medal place in the hammer after breaking her own British record twice.