Australia's Sally Pearson competes in a women's 100-meter hurdles heat during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Monday, Aug. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
August 06, 2012 - 7:05 AM
LONDON - World champion Sally Pearson of Australia set the early standard in the women's 100-metre hurdles at the London Games on Monday, clocking the fastest first-round time in the event in Olympic history.
Pearson posted a time of 12.57 seconds to qualify for the semifinals, with the final scheduled for Tuesday night at the Olympic Stadium.
"It's really nice to have support when you're on the other side of the world," Pearson said. "I was nervous about the first race. There's no more work to do, this is it. Tomorrow is another day at the office ... I want to get it done and dusted."
Defending Olympic champion Dawn Harper and fellow American Lolo Jones also won their heats to advance to the semifinals. Britain's Jessica Ennis — who won gold in the gruelling, two-day, seven-event heptathlon — pulled out of the hurdles on Sunday.
Jamaica's Brigitte Foster-Hylton, the 2009 world champion, failed to advance. She hit the fifth hurdle in her heat, veered toward an inside lane, lost her stride and never recovered. She threw herself to the ground after the finish line, slapped the track surface, screamed loudly and then brushed aside Jones' attempt to console her.
On Monday night, pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva will try to defend her Olympic title as effectively as 100-metre champion Usain Bolt did on Sunday night.
The Russian star will be going for an unprecedented third straight Olympic gold in London on Monday. No woman in track and field has managed to win three individual Olympic titles in three successive games.
Isinbayeva, who turned 30 in June, struggled for form after defending her Olympic title in Beijing, but has appeared to be returning to her best in recent meets. She has a best this year of 5.01 metres, just five centimetres under her world record.
Isinbayeva easily qualified for Monday's final and her path to gold was made easier when world champion Fabiana Murer failed to clear the height required for a place in the final.
The night ends at the Olympic stadium with the men's 400-metre final, which looks wide open after defending champion LaShawn Merritt pulled out of Saturday's qualifying heat with a left hamstring injury.
Double-amputee Oscar Pistorius won't be there, either. The South African sprinter nicknamed "Blade Runner" finished last in his 400 semifinal heat Sunday night.
Track and field medals will also be decided in the women's shot put and the women's 3,000-metre steeplechase.
In early team competition Monday, San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills hit a three-pointer with one second left to give Australia an 82-80 win over Russia in men's basketball.
The win meant little, however, with Russia assured of top spot in Group B and Australia sure to finish fourth and scheduled to face the heavily favoured United States team in the quarter-finals Wednesday.
In women's field hockey, New Zealand drew 0-0 with Germany to finish at the top of Pool B and knock the Germans out of the medal round. Germany, the 2004 champions, needed to beat New Zealand by three goals to have a chance of advancing, and had two goals disallowed.
Later at the Olympic velodrome, Britain will attempt to win its fifth gold on the banked Siberian pine track. Jason Kenny is expected to face tough competition from world champion Gregory Bauge of France in the men's sprint.
Lasse Norman Hansen of Denmark interrupted Britain's track cycling dominance on Sunday, winning the omnium, a rare foreign victory at a venue where British riders have scooped four of the six golds awarded so far.
The Olympic women's football tournament reaches its semifinals, with France playing world champion Japan at Wembley and Canada taking on gold medal favourite the United States at Old Trafford.
Three medals will be decided at the gymnastics — the men's rings and vault and the women's uneven bars.
At Greenwich Park, equestrian resumes with the final round of team show jumping, with Switzerland, the United States and Germany expected to be among the top medal contenders.
In weightlifting, the heaviest men — the 105-kilogram class — will be in action.
A man was being held by police on Monday after being arrested for throwing a plastic bottle onto the track moments before the start of the 100-meter final. The bottle bounced harmlessly a few yards behind the runners but the man was tackled by a Dutch judo champion, Edith Bosch.
News from © The Associated Press, 2012