The Daily Telegraph from London, Greater London, England • 44

10 MONDAY JUNE 17 1996 THE DAILY TELEGRAPH SPORT 10 ATHLETICS Christie still refuses to make a decision about the Olympics as he just loses race for sprint double RUGBY UNION Scots all smiles in spite of defeat Riled Black bets he will hang on to British record OCX) Back to Black Roger Black takes the 400m in Birmingham to regain British record A ROUSING finale to the last day of the AAA Champi-onshipsOlympic trials in Birmingham yesterday produced a British record in the 400 metres for Roger Black And shortly after a race that will live long in the memory there was some marvellous theatre when second-placed La-dejo tried to steal some of the thunder time of 4439 seconds improved David time set at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona by 008 sec in a stunning race in which Ladejo ran a personal best and Iwan Thomas in third place displayed tremendous potential The post-race press conference however was given a twist when Ladejo somewhat gracelessly did not mince words in suggesting that Black would not keep the record long disgust was obvious but at least the record is again his absolutely delighted to be the British record holder said Black hold the British record is terribly important for me The champion who became increasingly annoyed with Ladejo asked him to put his money where his mouth was and they laid a bet of £1000 on the issue of record Black ran a superb race though in fairness achievement in finishing second in 4466 sec was given his recent patchy form highly commendable Thomas recorded 4469 in finishing third and Jamie Baulch ran a personal best of 4472 sec The times clearly illustrate what a wonderful race it was and Thomas should get the third selection pl ace Olympic relay squad clearly have medal potential in Atlanta next month Black who was British record holder as far back as 1986 had not believed on Saturday had been partly overshadowed by Diane second place which guaranteed her a trip to Atlanta Holmes ended challenge on the final bend as she cruised to victory in 1 min 5784 sec the fastest time in the world this year With no other British woman having attained the Olympic qualifying time in the 1500m Holmes believes she has the flexibility to keep her options open about doubling up in Atlanta It has given her breathing space she said and she needs some more races before making a final decision closer to the Games Holmes did however admit that she is the but she has not ruled out the possibility of running in both events The series of races in Birmingham had she added done little more than prove she is in good condition Her excellence in the middle distance events remains in stark contrast to the continuing and frustrating lack of success for male middle distance runners since the heady days of Ovett Coe and Cram Curtis Robb in the 800m and John Mayock in the 1500m retained their titles but neither is likely to add to roll of honour at major championships Robb bedevilled by injury in recent years attacked with 300m remaining and David Strang had to be content with second place time was 1 min 4761 sec but it was then revealed that world champion Wilson Kipketer the Kenyan who runs for Denmark had produced the fastest time of the year 1 min 4313 sec in Byrkjelo Norway yesterday victory in the 1500m in 3min 3703 was due to a sprint finish that again exposed Tony somewhat one-paced style Picture: FRANK COPPI 100m Lewis fails to qualify for lain Macleod sees superb 400 metres followed by piece of pure theatre record would fall Asked to explain his current form he said it was simply a matter of being healthy a comparatively rare occurrence for him in recent years Black 30 who has had four operations in the last few years was also delighted that his great friend and training partner Jon Ridgeon enjoying his third comeback won the 400m hurdles title nine years after winning his last AAA hurdles title at 110m Ridgeon had an operation for haemorrhoids only 10 days ago Black was not the only athlete to break a British record yesterday for Nick Buckfield in the pole vault emphasised his rise to world-class status by raising the mark to 571m Linford Christie narrowly failed to add the 200m title to his eighth sprint crown won the previous day when John Regis was given victory after the closest of finishes Sally Gunnell finally found her rhythm in the 400m hurdles to produce her most accomplished performance since her return to the track last month following a 21-month absence through injury time of 5465 sec the sixth fastest in the world this year was a good indication of the improved quality on show Kelly victories in the 800m and 1500m demonstrated her status as a world-class runner Her impressive performance in winning the 800m BRITISH fans whose devotion the champion believes is absolute still do not know whether Linford Christie will defend his Olympic 100 metres title in Atlanta next month Across the Atlantic though the names of the three Americans who will be leading contenders for the gold medal emerged at the weekend and Carl was not among them writes Iain Macleod Lewis finished eighth in the final of the United States Olympic trials in Olympic Stadium on Saturday evening and will now concentrate on the 200m and long jump leaving Dennis Mitchell Mike Marsh and Jon Drummond as the men entrusted with the task of restoring American supremacy in the event victory in 992 seconds which equalled the fastest in the world this year apparently went to his head to such an extent that he proclaimed: Barcelona bound forgetting momentarily where he was and where he will be in a few time time was lOsec and 1001 In the sprint the world champion Gwen Torrence got the better of Gail Devers her time of 1082sec equalling her personal best as well as being the fastest in the world this year time was 1091 and third place was taken by the NCAA champion Hill who set a personal best in all four rounds Five women went under 11 seconds in the final One of the biggest surprises was the defeat of Jackie Joyner-Kersee in the heptathlon the first time in 13 years she had lost to an American Only three points separated her from the champion Kelly Blair but points total of 6403 was well adrift of her world record of 7291 Christie meanwhile had won his eighth AAA 100m title at the British Olympic trials surpassing the record of seven set by McDonald Bailey in the 1950s He continues to insist though that he will not announce a decision on his participation in the Olympics until July 1 That is the date when the British Athletic Federation are required to submit their list of athletes to the British Olympic Association a lot more I need to do got to get better There are a lot of factors to be taken into account and got to feel happier within said Christie not that happy at the moment If it change I go I will go there because I want to do myself impressive start to the season was maintained and his time of 1004see equalled his fastest 1996 time Darren Braithwaite was second in 1025sec and qualifies for the Olympic team while Ian Mackie and Darren Campbell third and fourth respectively will have to wait until this morning to learn who gets third place If claim is ignored he can feel a little aggrieved after failing to pull up in the semi-final because of the inability to recall the runners following a false start Campbell ran the whole race and though he qualified when the race was re-run he had perhaps expended too much energy to be a threat in the final SPORTS ROUND UP Norfolk enjoy home pride By Don Cameron In Dunedin New Zealand 62 pts Scotland 31 A VISITOR from outer space who drifted into Dunedin with the snowstorms on Saturday might have wondered which side Scotland or New Zealand had won the first Test before 35000 sobersided spectators at Caris-brook that afternoon On one hand were the touring Scots smiling broadly after a record defeat and positively chuffed at their own performance not the least because the 31 points they had scored was the largest number conceded in a Test by the feared All Blacks On the other hand were the All Blacks possessors of another of those stratospheric scores including nine tries Yet they sat glumly in their dressing room and spent much of a press conference accentuating their negatives As for the Scots they played far above their tour form In the second half Gregor consistent attacking class was only exceeded by the sheer brilliance of Christian Cullen 20 who has now scored seven tries in his first two Tests NEW ZEALAND Cullen (Manawatu) Wilson (Otago) Bunco (N Harbour) MacLeod (Waikato) Lomu (Counties) A Mehr-tens Marshall (Canterbury) Dowd Fitzpatrick (capt) Brown (Auckland) I Jones (N Harbour) Brooke Jones (Auckland) Kronfeld (Otago) Brooke (Auckland) -Replacement: Rush (N Harbour) for Lomu 68 Tries: Cullen 4 1 Jones Lomu Brooke Mehr-tens Marshall Conversions: Mehrtens 7 Penalty Goal: Mehrtens SCOTLAND: Shepherd Joiner (Melrose) Eriksson (Ldn Scottish) I Jardine Logan (Stirling Co) Townsend (Northampton) Armstrong (Newcastle) Hilton (Bath) McKenzie (Stirling Co) Wright (Boroughmuir) Cronin (Bourges) Weir (Newcastle) Wainwright (Watsonians capt) I Smith (Gloucester) Peters (Bath) Tries: Townsend Peters Joiner Conversions: Shepherd 2 Penalty goals: Shepherd 3 Dropped goal: Shepherd REFEREE: Erickson (Australia) The Scots play their penultimate match tomorrow in Rotorua where they face Bay of Plenty Significantly the tourists have selected their newest cap centre Ron Eriksson for the game in the expectation that Scott Hastings will be fit for second Test in Auckland SCOTLAND XV (v Bay of Plenty Rotorua tomorrow) Lang (Kelso) Glasgow (Hefiot's FP) A Stanger (Hawick) Eriksson (Ldn Scottish) Stark (Boroughmuir) Chalmers (Melrose) A Nicol (Bath) Smith (Watsonians) Ellis (Currie) Stewart (Edinburgh Ac) Campbell (Dundee HSFP) Murray (Edinburgh Ac) Walton (Newcastle) Broughton (Melrose) Renwick (Hawick) Welsh set weighty targets By John Kennedy in Melbourne NSW Country 3pts Wales 49 WALES will set some of their players a target of gaining at least a stone in weight so that they can compete with the power of the southern hemisphere game The tourists arrived in Melbourne last night for match against Victoria with tour manager Terry Cobner we will be going back home next week a better The victory over New South Wales Country at Weebollabolla Oval in Moree on Saturday halted a run of four defeats and contained seven tries For once Wales were not submerged under the pow'er of one of the top sides but Cobner insisted the leading Welsh players have to beef up by as much as a stone if they are to match the Wallabies biggest problem we have discovered on this tour is coping with the sheer physical size of the better he said significant thing about this win was that it proved that tactically and technically we are on the right NEW SOUTH WALES COUNTRY: La-valla: Rutladgt Waat A Harding Dowling Doyle Merrick: Phtlpa Koertz Patty Harder McQueen Klaaton Foir A McCalman Penalty goal: Lavalle WALES: Cormack (Pontypridd) I Evani (Llanelli) Thomae (Pontypridd) Davlaa (Llanelli) Hill (Cardiff) Jenklne (Pontypridd) A Moore (Richmond) Loader (Swansea) Wllllama (Neath) Davlaa (Naath) Voyla (Newport) Llewellyn (Harlequin capt) A Glbba (Newbridge) Taylor (Cardiff) Wllllama (Neath) Raplacamanta: Jamee (Bridgend) for Thomas 55 Ford (Bridgend) tor Voyla 61 Jonea (Ebbw Vale) for Taylor 71 A Lawn (Car-diff) forSWilliami75 Trial: Cormack (2) I Evens Williama Davies Hill Davies Conversions: Jenkins (4) Penalty goals: Jenkina (2) Referee: Fienberg (ARU) Microsoft WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO TODAY? Microsoft Corp in the US andor otbnr coentries As a 400m athlete Work! Cup Gold Medallist and member of the British leant competing in Atlanta Duaine Ladejo knows about rites stamina building qualities SUFFOLK who beat Norfolk at home in the Middleton Cup bowls tournament last week collapsed against Bedfordshire at Leighton Buzzard while Norfolk regained pride when they thrashed Cambridgeshire by 77 shots Norfolk surprised to be asked to play on artificial surface at Deben-ham have made no official protest phoned the English Bowling Association headquarters at Worthing for their opinion but they said there was no rule against said Arthur Jermy match secretary Glad to be back on Cumberland turf at Wymondham Dell Norfolk made merry against Cambridgeshire Brian Taylor and Mervyn King skipping their rinks to wins of 34-9 and 40-10 respectively GOLF: Tommy Horton celebrated his 55th birthday yesterday the best way he knew how with a sudden death play-off victory in the European Senior Classic at Castle Royle Maidenhead The Royal Jersey professional beat one of his former Ryder Cup colleagues Welshman Brian Huggett with a birdie four at the first extra hole the eighth to par five The pair had tied on 11 under-par 205 after a two-shot swing at the 18th where Huggett holed a birdie putt for a closing 67 while Horton having been two in front made a bogey five for 69 That's why Tilda I asy Gook American rice is part of his diet wherever he happens to be (l)uaine reckons he'd eat it anyway anywhere just for the taste) RUGBY UNION: Bath Pontypridd Edinburgh and the French side Dax will be joined by Benetton Treviso in their European Cup group next autumn The Italians came through a qualifying tie against Dynamo Bucharest winning at home 44-30 after having beaten the Romanians 37-15 in the first leg POWERBOATING: Rudolf Mihaldinecz of Hungary moved further ahead in the World Formula Three Championship yesterday after winning the Italian Grand Prix in Boretto It was the fourth round of the series and the fourth consecutive win for Mihaldinecz Steve Hill was well placed when his craft smashed the front end of a sponson and began taking water WORLD FORMULA 3 Italian GP (Boretto Italy): 1 Mihaldinecz (Hungary) 2 Stoddard (GB) 3 McCone (GB) Standings (after four rounds) 1 Mihaldinecz (Hun) 80 2 Hill (GB) I Andrews (GB) 49 4 McCrorie CRICKET: England lost their second one-day international to New Zealand at Grace Road Leicester yesterday by 56 runs And to make matters worse they temporarily lost their top batswoman Thompson YACHTING Atlantic fleet led by Peyron By Tim Jeffery LOICK PEYRON headed the initial charge in the single-handed Europe 1 transatlantic race when his 60ft trimaran Fujicolor 11 covered the first 10 miles from the Plymouth start to the Eddystone Lighthouse in only 23 minutes The forecast 15-20 knot wind is ideal for record-breaking and could result in Philippe time of 10 days nine hours and 15 minutes in 1988 being eclipsed Maintaining high speeds and steering a straight line over the 2810-mile course is not always possible but the winner could reach Newport Rhode Island in only three days more than the QE2 takes to reach New York There is not a more exciting sight in sailing than a 60ft trimaran at full chat and Fujicolor 11 held steady at 28 knots It seemed almost impossible that one man could tame so powerful a beast Just under two minutes behind Fujicolor at the Eddystone was Laurent Primagaz followed by Paul Haute Normandie Olympic crews of John Merricks and Ian Walker and Bethan Raggatt and Sue Carr finished third and sixth respectively in the and fleets of the 470 European Championship at Hayling Island 470 EUROPEAN CH'SHIP8 (Hayling Final placing! Man: 1 Berezkin Si Burmatov (Russia) S3 50 pta: 2 Rocha 8 Barralo (Portugal) 66 26 3 Marricks I Walker (GB) 74 0 4 0 Ponthleu Dereulle (Franca) 75 75 5 Westerlind Wallin (Sweden) 83 0 6 Braslavats Si I Matvienko (UKR) 88 0 WOMEN: 1 Taran Si Paholchik (UKR) 55 50: 2 Lidgett 8 A Bucak (Australia) 5375 3 Bauckholt Si Adlkofer (Germany) 60 75: 4 Bahr Si Pinnow (Germany) 63 0 6 Shiga Si A Kmoshita (Japan) 63 60 6 Raggatt Si Carr (GB) 84 75 Other British: 21 Reas-Jonas I laask 1 61 0 33 Nurton Si Mynors 2380 I ICE Janette Brittin with a fractured and dislocated fourth finger of the right hand after she attempted to catch Debbie Hockley Hockley went on to make 75 hitting 12 boundaries Debbie Stock gave England a glimmer of hope with the highest score of 46 but they were all out for 145 and lost by 56 runs SHOOTING: Andy Chown a Lloyds Bank manager from Petersfield made top score of 21830 out of 225 when Surrey won the inter-counties long-range match at Bis-ley yesterday for the fifth year in succession During two days of unpredictable winds Surrey won the short-range contest by six points over Yorkshire and the long-range by an impressive 51 points from Hertfordshire RALLYING: Chris Mellors in a Ford Escort Cosworth strengthened his grip on the Mintex National Rally title by winning the Kerridge Rally in Mid Wales for a second time in three years Steve Hill his main rival finished only seventh after destroying his new Mitsubishi engine in testing leaving Mellors favourite for a third successive crown Alister McRae is returning to the British Rally Championship McRae 25 has signed with the Volkswagen team to contest the next round of the series the Ulster International Rally Results service: Sport 11 powers home rr do yoe want to go are trademarks of Tony Jacklin shot a closing 71 to finish six shots behind winner Charles Coody at the Canadian Senior Open in Ancaster Ontario Coody shot a five-under-par 65 to beat Larry Mowry by one stroke Suzanne Strudwick headed the British challenge after the second round of the Edina Realty Classic in Brooklyn Park Minnesota where she recorded a four-under-par 68 to lie two shots behind Swedish leader Carin Koch Emma Duggleby 24 a past British champion showed true Yorkshire grit to birdie the final two holes at Whitchurch Cardiff yesterday for a one-stroke win in the Welsh Open Strokeplay Championship AMERICAN FOOTBALL: Roger Ruzek kicked a 37-yard field goal with just over three minutes left to give London Monarchs a 17-14 victory over Rhein Fire at Stamford Bridge in their final World League game The Scottish Claymores finished with the best overall record and will meet Frankfurt Galaxy in next World Bowl at Murrayfield in Edinburgh r- ends 31 1296 Microsoft and Windows ore I Lucas inspires Franken JAMES THOMPSON put Vauxhall back in the circle in a pulsating 11th round of the Auto Trader RAC Touring Car Championship at Snetterton Jo Winkelhock later won round 12 comfortably for BMW with champion John Cleland and his Vauxhall holding off constant pressure from Alain Menu to take second In round 11 team-mate Roberto Ravaglia led when Menu attacked on lap 21 The pair touched and Ravaglia spun out colliding with the Volvo of Rickard Rydell Menu then led until his electrics cut out presenting Thompson in his Vectra with a win ahead of Frank Biela and Cleland Biela maintaining his championship lead for Audi Details: Sport 1 1 ENGLAND international Will Lucas was in fine form for Franken yesterday when they beat Labegorce 8-7 in the quarter-final of the Alfred Dunhill Cup on Lawn at the Polo Club writes Sarah Dukes He scored the crucial goal from some distance in the fifth chukka and then cleared danger as Labegorce fought in vain for the equaliser in the sixth Franken now meet Black Bears who defeated HPA 12-11 at the Royal Berkshire Polo Club Palmera secured their semi-final place with a more emphatic 16-8 win over Revo at Cowdray Park and will take on Ali Dubai who went through on Saturday by beating Buffalos 10-7 I jC rrri Chat with Lee try it FREE for 30 lay trial avaflabla to aew MSN members in 1 i j- included Credit card required for free trial Offer i i rr registered trademarks and MSN and 'Where Chapman Neil Webb and Graeme Le Saux live on MSN Just dick on the MSN icon on your 95 PC you can a whole month with UNLIMITED Internet access Hove a shot at it! 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