KAWASAKI, Japan: American Justin Gatlin, so often the pantomime villain of men’s sprinting, returned to winning form with a pedestrian 100 meters victory in Japan on Sunday.
The veteran 35-year-old, a two-time doping offender, recovered from a poor start in Kawasaki to win the Golden Grand Prix in 10.28 seconds into a slight headwind as he pipped Japan’s Aska Cambridge by three hundredths.
Japanese hope Abdul Hakim Sani Brown struggled home in fourth in 10.42 behind Shuhei Tada (10.35), while China’s Su Bingtian failed to build on victory in Shanghai earlier this month as he slumped to fifth.
“I’ve been a little injured so I haven’t been able to train as hard as I want to,” Gatlin told reporters. “But I’ve been working on my top-end speed and my finish and that helped me out today.”
After the race, Gatlin predicted that sprint king Usain Bolt might not have it all his own way in his swansong at this summer’s world championships in London.
“Man, it’s going to be exciting,” said Gatlin, who helped the US to victory at the IAAF World Relays in April but was beaten into fourth in Doha earlier this month.
“Not only is Usain going to show up for his last run, he’s a great competitor so you know he’s going to show up to race.
“But you also have so many young athletes who are ready to fill that void,” added Gatlin, who along with Andre de Grasse trailed home behind South Africa’s Akani Simbine at the Diamond League meet in Doha.
“They’re going to show up ready to run very fast. Everyone is pacing themselves and not running very, very fast early so that they can run very fast for the finals.”
Canada’s Aaron Brown won the men’s 200 meters in 20.62 with American Dedric Dukes runner-up in 20.71 and Japan’s Kenji Fujimitsu third in 20.93.
London Olympic bronze medallist Timothy Kitum took gold in the 800m with a time of 1:47.03 while Kenya’s Paul Tanui, who took silver behind Mo Farah in the 10,000m at last year’s Rio Olympics, won the 3,000m in 7:52.67.
Rio champion Thomas Rohler eased to victory in the men’s javelin, the German producing a best throw of 86.55 meters to beat Taiwan’s Huang Shih-Feng (82.57) and Czech Jaroslav Jilek (82.46).
“To win the Olympics was a massive goal of mine,” said Rohler. “It’s changed my life and javelin has suddenly become a popular sport in Germany, which is a cool thing.”
Former European champion Ivet Lalova-Collio won the women’s 100m in 11.40 seconds, edging out Americans Tawanna Meadows (11.44) and Tianna Bartoletta (11.47).
Bartoletta won the women’s long jump — in which she took gold at the Rio Olympics and the 2015 world championships — with a best effort of 6.79 meters on her second leap.
Gatlin struggles to victory in Japan
Gatlin struggles to victory in Japan
Dubai Basketball edge Milan to secure EuroLeague victory
DUBAI: Dubai Basketball strengthened their home-court reputation with a 99-92 win over EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in Round 18 of the EuroLeague at Coca-Cola Arena on Tuesday, cheered on by more than 5,000 fans.
The hosts made a fast start and immediately imposed themselves at both ends of the floor. Canadian center Mfiondu Kabengele and Serbian big man Filip Petrusev controlled the paint early, creating close-range scoring opportunities and forcing Milan into defensive adjustments. With McKinley Wright IV and Dwayne Bacon adding pace and penetration, Dubai surged into a double-digit lead and dictated the tempo of the opening quarter.
Milan struggled to settle and spent much of the first period on the back foot, as Dubai’s advantage stretched to 15 points. Although the visitors steadied themselves as the quarter progressed, the early deficit proved costly.
Dubai head coach Jurica Golemac praised the impact of the home crowd after the game, saying: “Congratulations to the fans. We were missing them for sure in the last home game, and they helped us a lot. In the first quarter, we played one of our best quarters this season. The next game is at home in three days, so there is no time to rest too much. We need to prepare for that game first. We are not thinking three games ahead — we prepare for every game and try to win every game.”
Milan showed improved rhythm in the second quarter, but Dubai responded before the break. Bacon punished defensive lapses from beyond the arc, while Kabengele finished strongly inside to help the hosts take a seven-point lead into halftime.
The final period was defined by composure rather than flair. Milan threatened to draw level on several occasions, but missed free throws and execution errors halted their momentum. Bacon sealed the outcome from the free-throw line in the final two minutes, pushing Dubai back into a double-digit advantage and closing out the contest.
Bacon led all scorers with 25 points, while Wright recorded 19 points and nine assists. Kabengele added 17 points, and Petrusev contributed 13 points and seven rebounds. For Milan, Guduric topped the scoring with 11 points, alongside seven rebounds and seven assists.
Dubai Basketball now turn their attention to the ABA League, where they remain unbeaten. The team return to Coca-Cola Arena to face Slovenia’s KRKA in Round 12 of the competition.
