Brenda Martinez Wins Women’s 800 At 2013 London Anniversary Games
Rose-Anne Galligan Breaks Irish Record With 2:00.58 Clocking
by LetsRun.com
July 26, 2013
American Brenda Martinez looks like a legitimate medal contender heading into Moscow.
Martinez absolutely destroyed everyone over the final 200 meters as she picked up the first Diamond League victory of her career tonight at the London Anniversary Games meet in 1:58.19, just .01 off of her personal best. Romania’s Mirela Lavric was second in 1:59.79 with American Ajee Wilson third in 2:00.20.
The Race
The rabbit took things out hard. At 400 (57.21 for the rabbit), Martinez was ahead of just two people in about 58.3. But in the span of about 20 meters on the backstretch, she went by roughly half the field in a near instant like they were almost standing still to grab the lead just before the 600 meter mark.
By 600 (1:28.54), Martinez had the lead and she’d power home to a dominant victory. Look how much she won by:
Where Is Second?
Quick takes, results and then more race photos appear below.
LetsRun.com message board discussion appears here: Martinez dominates!!!
Click for Photo Gallery
Quick Take (QT) #1: The rest of the field tied up and Martinez did the opposite. She wasn’t fading at all. In fact, she may have actually picked it up in the last 200, which is something you almost never see in an 800. We had her 200 splits in this race as 28.5, 29.8, 30.2, 29.65.
“It was good practice before (the) World Championships, so I’m really glad I walked away with a win,” said Martinez (official quote from Organizers). “The crowd is so loud. There’s a lot of good energy so I was just trying to use that up.”
QT #2: This field was not very strong so Martinez went out and dominated it running fast. That’s what medal contenders do. Very impressive run.
QT #3: One person who did fade a lot was Britain’s Marilyn Okaro. The British champ was the only one challenging Martinez at all once Martinez went by on the backstretch on the second lap. Even with 100 left, Okaro was still in second but she ended up just fourth.
Qt #4: The sixth place finisher in this race went home very happy. Ireland’s Rose-Anne Galligan broke Sonia O’Sullivan‘s 19-year-old Irish record of 2:00.69 by running 2:00.58 for sixth. Galligan is 25 and came into the year with a 2:01.76 PR from 2010.
QT #5: It’s worth noting that this race featured a 19-year-old in Ajee Wilson as well as a 39-year-old in Canada’s Diane Cummins. Cummins has run 2:01.12 this year but was last here in 2:02.23.
QT #6: This race also featured the last three world junior champs as Mirela Lavric won in 2008 and 2010 and Wilson won in 2012.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Result | Diamond Points | Diamond Ranking | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
USA
|
1:58.19
|
MR
|
6
|
2
|
||
|
2
|
ROU
|
1:59.79
|
SB
|
2
|
6
|
||
|
3
|
USA
|
2:00.20
|
1
|
8
|
|||
|
4
|
GBR
|
2:00.35
|
|||||
|
5
|
NZL
|
2:00.42
|
|||||
|
6
|
GALLIGAN Rose-Anne
|
IRL
|
2:00.58
|
NR
|
|||
|
7
|
CAN
|
2:00.72
|
|||||
|
8
|
CAN
|
2:00.82
|
|||||
|
9
|
AUS
|
2:02.22
|
|||||
|
10
|
CAN
|
2:02.23
|
|||||
|
IRL
|
DNF
|
||||||
Brenda Martinez Took The lead Just Before 600
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