Robles reaches Pan Am final

World record holder Dayron Robles cruised through the Pan-American Games high hurdles semi-finals.

World record holder Dayron Robles cruised through the Pan-American Games high hurdles semi-finals.

Published Oct 28, 2011

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Guadalajara, Mexico – Cuba's Dayron Robles, looking to make up for being stripped of the gold medal at the world championships, cruised through to the Pan-American Games high hurdles semi-finals on Thursday.

The Olympic champion and world record holder, disqualified for barging past China's Liu Xiang as he won the world championship final in Daegu in August, clocked a comfortable 13.22 seconds as the fastest qualifier for Friday's final.

Compatriot Alexis Copello, who was fourth in the triple jump in South Korea, won the Pan-Am title with a leap of 17.21 metres ahead of fellow Cuban Yoandris Betanzos, who took the silver medal.

As a yardstick for the relative quality of the world championships and quadrennial Pan-Am Games, Copello and Yoandris were the only competitors involved in both and the winner's leap was 26 centimetres shorter than he had managed in Daegu.

Copello won the final with his first leap whereas Yoandris stole in to second place with his last, pushing Brazil's Jefferson Sabino into the bronze position and Argentine Maximiliano Diaz out of the medals.

Brazilian Marilon Santos won a slow men's 10,000 metres in extreme mid-afternoon heat in a time of just over 29 minutes, nearly two minutes outside the Games record and almost three slower than Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele's world record.

Second-placed Mexican Juan Carlos Romero came in 40 seconds behind Santos, whose compatriot Giovani dos Santos won bronze.

There were more victories for Cuba, who lead the athletics medals table and hope to overtake Brazil in the overall standings and finish the Games in second place behind the United States.

Defending champion Misleydis Gonzalez won the women's shot put throwing 18.57 metres with Cleopatra Borel of Trinidad and Tobago second and American Michelle Carter third.

Adriana Munoz won a slow women's 1500m in a time of four minutes 26.09 seconds ahead of Colombian Rosibel Garcia and Canada's Malindi Elmore. Garcia won bronze in the 800m on Tuesday.

American Mary Slaney (nee Decker) has held the 1500m Games record of 4:05.70 since 1979 in Puerto Rico.

The home crowd at the Telmex stadium raised the roof when Mexico's Marisol Moreno won the women's 5000m to add to her gold medal in the 10000. She clocked 16:24.08. – Reuters

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