Live - Day 3 Finals Athletics: World Indoor Championships

Good morning and welcome to our coverage of the world indoor

athletics championships from Portland in Oregon. It has always

been a pretty successful day for British sports, England winning the

Grand Slam, so let's hope more success here. It was a thrilling day

yesterday with a fair share of ups and downs. Success in terms of two

bronze medals, Tiffany Porter and Lorraine Lugar, and we're hoping for

more today. The men's will be going through all day. First, the hurdles,

then the shotput final, then the semifinals of the women's 60

metres. Robbie Gray bark is coming back to some great form. Muhamed

Amman coming back. Ashton Eaton should have the gold medal, but can

he break the world record? As we said, we begin with a 60 metre

hurdles. Martin Vogel of Germany, Jarret Eaton. Eddie Lovett from

Virgin Islands, Antonio Alkana. Qualification not too difficult in

this first round, the top three will go through, and the four fastest

into the semifinals. It will be a tough event. Eddie Lovett, now

running for the Virgin Islands, and quite a few Americans have

disappeared off the Caribbean Islands and other places to find

opportunities. He has had a good year so far this year, but he needs

to rediscover form of old if he is to get anywhere near the medals.

Balazs bhaji of Hungary. Watch out for Jarret Eaton in lane three. --

Baji. The new American indoor champion. Next to him, Khartoum --

Shamatryn of the Ukraine. A good start from Ashton Eaton. Baji

takes third spot. A season best for Eddie Lovett. We haven't seen too

much of Jarret Eaton. We have been chatting about starts and things,

and after what we saw yesterday in the hurdles, look at Jarret Eaton,

look how high his set position is. I think a lot of that is caused by if

you look at how close his feet are together. He has something like a

bullet start when his feet are very close together. A lot of people tend

to feel that gives them more power if they are trying to make the 13

metres to the first hurdle. I just wonder how effective it was, because

he is a tall athlete, quite rangy, which is not a bad thing to have,

but I was watching his start and it is almost as if he was cramped

little bit. The men's triple jump in its early stages. And many might

have seen earlier. Very good, Tosin Oke. We have only had a couple of

athletes make a mark, it is very early. Tosin Oke of Nigeria, the

best of 16.48. Season best, 16.73, that takes the lead. A great start,

and a great start for Steve for what will be another busy night in the

field. Confirmation of the result of that first heat, 7.63 the winning

time. Has the competition builds, each of the field events, three

horizontal jumps, and a throw of the shot. Only indoors, of course.

Jordan of USA. Looking at the lead of Tosin Oke. Somewhere around the

low 16s for the American. Possibly around his season best, 16.28 four

the 23-year-old. Only two athletes in the field have gone beyond 17

metres. 16.11. This is the second heat, Lawrence Clarke in lane seven.

Oliveira N lane three. Maxon -- Lynsha. We need to be a bit

quicker. Dominik Bochenek of Poland a bit slower than Oliveira. All the

athletes get introduced when the finals are wrong, it will be

interesting to see what Omar McLeod does when he comes down. Andreas

Martinsen of Denmark. Lynsha of Belarus, and Lawrence Clarke. One

thing you can say about Lawrence Clarke is that when he gets to a

championship usually find a bit extra. Yordan O'Farrill, former

Cuban champion. Top three, don't forget. It shouldn't be too

difficult to qualify at this point, the indoor 60 metre hurdles, no room

for error. They will have to keep an eye on Dominik Bochenek.

A good crowd, the Americans certainly have taken to the

championships. They have had a good one so far. Not sure they have a big

contender in this event though. Omar McLeod away well, Lawrence

Clarke it's a good start. Lawrence Clarke liens, did he get it? He

looks across Andreas Martinsen, he thinks he might have got the third

spot. Omar McLeod and Yordan O'Farrill were cleared away,

probably expected. Lawrence Clarke got a pretty good start, and that

lean, he knew he had to lean. What do you think Jean-Claude -- what you

think? You don't want to be the fastest loser if you can help it, it

is very much a loaded heat. Lawrence is really good at leaning in, where

they dive under the beam. My gut says maybe he got it. Your gut is of

a reasonable size, so I might go with that. Andreas Martinsen was

very confident. Let's have another look. Not a bad start from

Lawrence, and he is right in the mix at this point. Yordan O'Farrill

beside him just moved half a yard ahead. He is ahead here, but what

about online? I think my gut gets it. I think my large gut has been

successful. I can see what is coming up on my computer ahead of me, and

it is not good news. He has been given the same time as Andreas

Martinsen, but this is the official result. That will be an anxious wait

for Lawrence Clarke to see if that will be quick enough to go through

as a fastest loser. Currently he is the fastest from two heats, but he

will have to wait and watch. Is my gut get a pre- dominant? -- get a

reprieve on that? We moved back to the triple jump competition. And

German Khan -- Benjamin Compaore. We are still in the first round, Tosin

Oke it of Nigeria still has to lead. Compaore has definitely

challenge this. That looks like a jump that might take the lead away

from Tosin Oke. Season's best, 16.88. Unusual landing. 16.77, he

takes the lead. Lineup for the third heat, when they are ready. Amir

Shaker is not going to start, so there will be just six men to

contest this heat. The Chinese have had a good championship, some good

sprinting. Xie definitely capable of getting in among the action.

Douvalidis with lots of experience. Dimitri Bascou with a new personal

best, getting very close to the all-time top ten. Annie French

record from him. The fastest in the world for four years, so that is an

indication of how good the time is. Fabio Dos Santos. Next to him,

Yidiel Contreras of Spain. Cuban running for Spain. Only cleared to

run for his new country last year. And at the end, Mousa Dembele from

Senegal. You would think lanes to three and four will be the most

competitive. Plenty of great hurdlers at the

moment in France. The Asian champion over in lane two, Xie from China.

Douvalidis and Dimitri Bascou, with Fabio Dos Santos in five.

Another good start from Dimitri Bascou. He already has about a metre

on everyone else. Yidiel Contreras going well, the Spaniard. It is a

bit of a surprise for him to come through and take second. Dimitri

Bascou just underlining his dominance at the moment. The

question is, can he carried his right through to the final? At the

moment he is certainly the best 60 metre hurdler in the world. He is a

nice hurdler. A bit crouched, perhaps, but his technique looks

nice and smooth. It is incredibly smooth. He does look crouched, he

keeps his head down, but I think that just keeps him Compaq as it

goes through. -- compact. They have three strides to fit in, and they

will take off a bit further away from the hurdle than the women, but

they still want to land within women. -- within a metre. Good

support for Chris Benard of the US. Coming towards the end of the first

round of the men's triple jump final. Benjamin Compaore of France

is in the lead. This doesn't look like it will challenge, but he is

capable. He jumps just short of 17 metres when he is at his best. You

can't encroach on the yellow side of that plasticine. Anything outside

that is no jump. Bin Dong, possibly the favourite, of China. 17.4 one,

one of only two athletes in the field to have gone beyond 17

metres, and he would love to take the title. Only two Chinese athletes

have ever won gold here and in a World Indoor Championships. Bin Dong

looks favourite to do that, certainly on paper anyway. Here is

his opening jump. Good through the phases, that is the best jump we

have seen so far by some margin. Just as the theory beforehand would

have suggested, certainly looking at his season so far he has dominated.

That middle phase is crucial, kept his speech, chewed up the ground.

Executed very well with the pressure of the first round. 17.18, that

takes the lead for Bin Dong. A great start for him. That is exactly what

you want to do, first round, put something out to make the other

athletes think. Put the pressure on and take the impetus. Here is an

interesting athlete, Omar Craddock. Possibly the most exuberant entrance

to an athletic Stadium I have ever seen about half-an-hour ago. The

crowd is going along with it now, looking to respond from that big

effort of Bin Dong. Craddock looking to rally the support of the home

crowd. The hurdlers have to wait. All eyes on the triple jump runway

for Craddock's first attempt he hit the ground hard, forced himself in

the air. Not quite sure what that means... I think those are leaps of

frustration. He knew that went wrong. Triple jump final will be

continuing. Craddock has plenty of energy. To the final heat in the

first round of the 60 metre hurdles. Mikel Thomas from Trinidad Tobago

in lane two. Next to him, from Cuba, Portilla. Pascal Martinot-Lagarde,

Shane Brathwaite Nick the indoor champion. Spencer Adams of the US

will be in seven. He finished second in those US championships behind

Jarret Eaton. Two new names in terms of American hurdling. Sir Heath --

Lynsha from Ukraine. Pascal Martinot-Lagarde can be very

good, but on occasion can get it very wrong. He missed out on the

medal when many thought he should get one. Or that he was heading for

one in terms of his season performances in Beijing last year.

The European indoor champion last year.

That was a bit weird... Triple jump up on the runway, I don't know if

that affected things. There was a twitch from Adams, but out pull

shot, just watch the triple jump -- just out of shot, I wonder if it was

put off. With their heads down, they shouldn't see that. It was a noise,

a slap. The Green card, that is nice of them. I think the referee is very

fair. The Green card means it is not a warning for any athletes in

particular, so they are all starting with a clean slate, as it were. We

were explaining yesterday the rule about how you can't twitch, you have

to be absolutely still as the gun goes. There are pressure pads on the

block. I think there, you have seen an official using their discretion.

They might have noticed the man on the triple jump runway. Safely away

this time. Pascal Martinot-Lagarde going well, he wins it, Spencer

Adams came through late. Athletes tumbling all over the shop. Portilla

of Cuba took a tumble. He is a much better starter than he is sometimes

given credit for. He can get it wrong at times, but he does start

well. Into his stride nicely, very familiar action, not terribly pretty

but certainly very effective. That is a good performance from him. He

will be delighted to have started like that.

7.48 the winning time. That was swift, he wants to see the replay.

Back to the triple jump. The lead Bin Dong of China. Nazim Babayev.

The 18-year-old is one of the younger athletes competing at the

World Indoor Championships. He held onto that well. A bit scrappy, but

kept the momentum going. That is just what you need after a foul in

the first round. Tosin Oke. They have been quick at getting the

athlete out and into their next attempts. He had the lead early on,

now in third place he's second jump. Very high through the second

phase, but good. Possibly an improvement. He takes off, then the

step is higher. He held onto it, and it is all about keeping that forward

momentum. Keeping the speed going through the phases, which here did

really well. Good improvement, still second place for Tosin Oke. Spencer

Adams and Shane Brathwaite finished quickly, getting themselves through.

Mikel Thomas with 7.72, he will go through as fastest loser. The triple

jumpers composing themselves. Craddock is