Athletics Cup competition-Jaffa and Confait register 10,000m hand-timing records |02 May 2006

SIMONE Jaffa and Vincent Confait delivered last Friday. The mailwoman and the former high hurdler were in devastating form on the tracks of Stad Popiler on the first of the two-day Athletics Cup competition. They both registered 10,000m hand-timing best times.

Running unchallenged, senior female long distance runner Jaffa had the clock to beat and she stopped it in 41minutes 07.8 seconds. The 28-year-old’s time goes down into the record books as an established hand-timing record.

It must be noted that the electronic time to beat is 42:35.64 and is being held by Finette Didon since August 23, 1993.

Jaffa’s total of 720 points could only earn her third place among the senior female contestants. The winner was sprinter Joanna Houareau with 971 points after hitting the tape of the 100m sprint in a winning time of 12.1 seconds.

In the same 100m race, Nathanielle Cherry became the second female sprinter of the girl (U16) division and third athlete in the youth (U18) category to clock 12.4 seconds.

Cherry’s points total of 955 after having taken second place in the race behind Houareau and ahead of main challengers Natifa Larue (youth, 12.8 seconds), Alice Khan (youth, 13.1 seconds), earned her first place in the girl category.

Two-time Olympian and former high hurdler Vincent Confait established a new 10,000m male veteran hand-timing record of 42:39.3, earning him 185 points for first place in the veteran (O35) division.

The other category winners were Heidy Victor {female colt (U14) with 612 points, 200m in 30.9 seconds}, Yannick Ernesta {boy (U16) with 714 points, 100m in 11.3 seconds}, Natifa Larue {female youth (U18) with 863 points, 100m in 12.8 seconds}, Christopher Laurencine {male youth (U18) with 806 points, 200m in 22.8 seconds}, William Woodcock {male junior (U20) with 914 points, 2.05m in the high jump} and Jude Sidonie {male senior (O20) with 925 points, 7.04m in the long jump}.

The athletes participated in as many events they wanted, but only their best performance was considered for the final standings. The results earned the athletes points on the 2006 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) scoring tables.

Meanwhile, in two previous competitions organised by the Seychelles Athletics Federation (SAF), strongman Selwyn Beauchamp went over the 15-metre barrier for the first time in his career in the shot putt throw.
The shot putter, whose old best stood at 14.96m, first added two centimeters to the record on Friday March 24 during the Open Season competition. And exactly a week later, he threw the 7.260kg shot putt over a distance of 15.16m for a career best.

Speaking to Sports Nation, 24-year-old Beauchamp said:
“My target is to go beyond 16 metres. I’m preparing for next year’s Indian Ocean Islands Games as I know it is going to be too tough a challenge for me to reach the 16.80m standard set by the organisers of the forthcoming 15th edition of the African Athletics Championship (to be held in Mauritius from August 9 to 13). I also want to improve my discus record.”

G. G.