The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Following a performance at the 14th IAAF World Athletics Championships which proved he’s still among the elite at the international level, Donald Thomas will be back amongst the talented field which produced one of the most thrilling finishes in Moscow last week.

While no Bahamian competitors were named on the initial entry list for the DN Galan this weekend, the next in the series of Diamond League meets, Thomas is scheduled to compete in Weltklasse,  Zurich, on August 29.

At the meet in Letzigrund Stadium, the field for the men’s high jump is poised for another suspenseful contest which features the top eight finishers from the memorable final in Moscow. 

Fifteen reigning Olympic champions and 19 new world champions will be competing at the meet, including Jamaican sprint double champions Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.

The men’s 400 metres is also expected to feature a stacked field, including the top four finishers in Moscow – Lashawn Merrit and Tony McQuay of the United States, Luguelin Santos of the Dominican Republic and Jonathan Borlee of Belgium.

Thomas, who burst on the scene as the 2007 world champion in Osaka, Japan, finished sixth overall in the Moscow final with a leap of 2.32m. After skipping 2.35 metres or 7-feet, 8 1/2-inches, Thomas missed a medal opportunity when he failed to clear 2.38m (7-feet, 9 3/4). He missed all three attempts and had to settle for a season’s best of 2.32m (7-7 1/4). 

Nineteen-year-old Ryan Ingraham was tied for 10th place after he cleared 2.25metres (7-4 1/2). Bohdan Bondarenko of Ukraine  took gold with a leap of 2.41m (7-10 3/4), a new championship record. He attempted to set a new world record of 2.46m (8-0 3/4) but failed to surpass the mark of 2.45 (8-0 1/2) held by Cuban Javier Sotomayor in 1993.

Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar got the silver with 2.38m (7-9 3/4) and Canadian Derek Drouin picked up the bronze with the same height on more knockdowns.

Bothered by a slight back injury that he had to get treatment on immediately after he finished competing, 29-year-old Thomas said he will go back to the “drawing board” and try to get over the championship and move on from there.

Zurich will be the first step in that process.

Bondarenko leads the Diamond League standings with 18 points, followed by Barshim with 11 points, American Erik Kynard with eight and Drouin tied for fourth with one.