Desperate sprint gives Solly 10,000m victory

Press, 28 July 1986, Page 20

Desperate sprint gives Solly 10,000m victory

From

ROD DEW,

in Edinburgh

An enthralling tactical struggle in the feature lO,OOOm was only resolved in favour of Jonathon Solly, of England, after a desperate sprint finish — a splendid climax to an otherwise unspectacular session on the opening day of the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games track and field competition in the wind-swept Meadowbank Stadium yesterday.

A small crowd of some 15,000 spectators responded with enthusiasm as Solly dashed to the front about 600 m from the finish and then had to call on all his resources to weather a last-lap challenge from a fellow-coun-tryman, Steve Binns. But 50m from the line, it was clear that Solly had the race in his grasp.

He reached the finish four metres clear of the courageous Binns in 27min 57.425. Binns, who earned the sympathy of the crowd by setting the pace for most of the journey, . crossed in 27min 58.01 s and a Welshman, Steve Jones, was third in 28min 2.485.

“I just wanted to run and finish the race feeling that I could not have run any faster. If I had done that and finished fifth, I would have been quite happy. As it was, I won,” said a delighted Solly afterwards.

“I knew I could out-kick

Steve, but I didn’t want to leave my effort too late,” he explained of his decision to take over a lap and a half from the finish. “I could feel Steve coming up on me on the last lap, and I thought: Oh no. But 50m from the finish he hadn’t caught me and I knew I was clear.”

Binns probably spoiled his chances of winning by leading the race for so long. He really set himself up for a defeat in a sprint finish and it was surprising that he had so much fight left on that remarkable final lap.

“I went out in front because I thought it was one way I could make it a good race," Binns, aged 25, said. "On the last lap I just gave it everything I had. I felt Jonathon coming back until, with 50m to go, I knew it was all over.”

The New Zealand representative, John Bowden, stayed with the leaders for the first seven

laps before starting to slip back. He was eventually lapped by the three medal-winners, finishing in a time of 29min 25.235, well below his best, in ninth place.

If there was a consolation, it had to be that he beat one of the pre-race favourites, Mike McLeod, of England, who faded early and trailed home tenth in the 12-strong field.

From New Zealand’s point of view, there was satisfaction that Solly did not even get close to the Commonwealth Games record of 27min 46.45, set by Richard Tayler in the Christchurch Commonwealth - Games in 1974. Solly’s time did, however, better Binns’s Scottish open record of 28min 2.42 s by a substantial margin. To suggest that the absence of the Kenyans detracted nothing from the race would be a misrepresentation of the

situation, but it was still full of interest and Solly, a 23-year-old market research assistant, was a fitting Commonwealth champion. In the early stages, he was wisely content to hang back in the bunch as the chilly wind cut away at the leaders. Binns, determined to give the event his best shot, raced to the lead |from the start and reeled off the laps at 68s with almost mechanical precision. The first four laps came up in 4min 24.165, the 2000 m in 7min 30.41 s and! the half-way point in 13min 56.325. Binns was still in front at 16 laps (17min 54.795) and led • through the 7000 m in 19min 36.515, the 8000 m in 22min 26.59 s and the 9000 m in 25min 16.21 m. ' Peter Butler (Canada) initially ran at Binns’s shoulder, until he dropped away after 110 laps. Jones took over the shadowing role