3rd Lusofonia Games Alexandre and Claudia takes away 10K honours, bronze for Swati Gadhave Goa, India – 27 January 2014 The entrance of the Miramar beach, where the Beach Volleyball tournament taking place, seen some busy activity on pre-dawn Monday morning with officials working on last minute adjustments to the gadgets installed and cops patrolling the streets with sniffer-dogs and sten-guns. Not to panic, it was just for the10 KM Road Race, the last event of athletics competitions in Lusofonia Games here. Exactly at 7:30 a.m. seven men set out on the race which held on the 5 km loop course. Fifteen minutes later six women set their foot on the same path. Sooner five men formed the lead group and passed the first lap in 16:50 while Indian runners C.P. Shiju and Francisco D’Clemente followed them about 200m behind. When the leading bunch approach 8.5 km mark two Angolans – Alexandre and Francisco Wehunga – increased the tempo and only Euclides Varela of Cape Verde Islands managed to hang on with them. Alexandre sprinted to finish in the last 50 metres and covered the distance in 30:21 while Wehunga did so just 1 second behind him for the silver. Varela filled the podium with 30:24. In spite of his best effort, Alexandre’s time was 7 secs slower than the Games’ Record in men’s race held by Rui Pedro Silva of Portugal since Lisbon 2009. Earlier Alexandre had won a bronze in 5000m here on Friday wherein Wehunga finished fourth and Varela was the silver medallist. Indian men Shiju and Clemente finished sixth and seventh respectively. The women’s race was rather slow when compared to men’s. Claudia Pereira of Portugal did the front-running right from the start and covered the first half in 17:52 with Angola’s Ernestina Maria and Indian Swati Gadhave running closely behind her. Crisolita Silva of Cape Verde Islands along with Manisha Salunkhe, the second Indian on the fray, followed the route thereafter. As the leading women approached their final journey towards finish, Claudia break-away from the rest and made an energetic finish in 34:40 that retained the women’s crown for her nation. Angola’s Maria finished at 35:17 for the silver while the Indian girls Swati Gadhave earned the bronze in 35:36. Manisha in fourth clocked 36:28. Jamila Tavers of Sao Tome and Principe developed cramps and hence rode back in ambulance. Women’s victor Claudia (aged 37) has been a regular road and cross-country runner, holding a personal best 34:09 at 10K since 2008. She took part in the ING New York Marathon last year and finished 24th. RESULTS— MEN: 1. Alexandre ANG 30:21, 2. Francisco Wehunga ANG 30:22, 3. Euclides Varela CPV 30:24, 4. Bruno Albuquerque POR 30:45, 5. Ruben Sanca CPV 30:56, 6. C.P. Shiju IND 33:09, 7. Francisco D’Clemente IND 35:15 WOMEN: 1. Claudia Pereira POR 34:40, 2. Ernestina Maria ANG 35:17, 3. Swati Gadhave IND 35:36, 4. Manisha Salunkhe IND 26:28, 5. Crisolita Silva CPV 41:08.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 08:15:10 +0000
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