Fabrice Lapierre leads long jump qualifying at Commonwealth Games
Oct 08, 2010 | Track and Field
Oct. 8, 2010
NEW DELHI, India - Australian Fabrice Lapierre, a graduate of Texas A&M, led long jump qualifying with a leap of 26 feet, 3 inches (8.00 meters) on Friday during track and field action the Commonwealth Games, which are being held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
Friday's action included another Aggie jumper as Yasmine Regis, a former Big 12 Champion and NCAA silver medalist, competed for England and finished eighth in the women's triple jump final with a season best mark of 44-5 ½ (13.55).
Lapierre, a bronze medalist at the 2006 Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne, Australia, will be favored for gold during Saturday's final along with defending champion Ignisious Gaisah of Ghana. Also challenging for medals is Australian Christopher Noffke as well as a pair of jumpers from England, Christopher Tomlinson (6th in 2006) and Greg Rutherford (8th in 2006).
Also on Saturday Texas A&M graduate Allison George will contest the opening round of the 200 meters for Grenada. George will run in the third heat of five out of lane 2. Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare, the 2010 NCAA 100 meter champion from UTEP, runs in the same heat as George. The first four in each heat plus the next four fastest runners advance to the semifinals.
After winning the 2010 World Indoor Championship this past March in Doha, Lapierre has produced a pair of career best long jumps during the outdoor season. He generated a wind-aided best of 28-9 ¾ (8.78) and a wind-legal effort of 27-6 ¾ (8.40), which ranks third in the world this year.
In the history of the Commonwealth Games, Australian jumpers have produced three gold medals, six silver medals and three bronze medals. The Games long jump record of 26-11 ¾ (8.22) was set by Nigera's Obinna Eregbu during qualifying in 1994 and then equaled by a pair of Australians - Peter Burge (gold) and Jai Taurima (silver) - in 1998.
There have been six athletes, three from Australia, who have medaled twice in consecutive Commonwealth Games, which are held every four years. Each of the Australian jumpers to have medaled twice have matching medals - Chris Commons, silver in 1974 and 1978; Gary Honey, gold in 1982 and 1986; and David Culbert, silver in 1990 and 1994.
