IAAF Continental Cup: Chitra fourth, Jinson seventh

P. U. Chitra and Jinson Johnson finished fourth and seventh in their respective events at the IAAF Continental Cup on Saturday.

Chitra finished fourth with a timing of 4:18:45. (File Photo)

A brave attempt on the home stretch helped Asian champion P. U. Chitra finish fourth in the women’s 1500m at the IAAF Continental Cup athletics in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on Saturday evening.

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The Asian Games bronze medallist was running fifth for a major part of the race and a strong final charge saw her take the fourth spot in 4:18.45, slower than her personal best of 4:11.55s.

Kenyan Winny Chebet won the gold in 4:16.01s while American Shelby Houlihan (4:16.36) and Morocco’s Arafi Rababe (4:17.19) took the next two places.

Johnson finishes seventh

Asian Games 1500m champion Jinson Johnson finished seventh in the men’s 800m in 1:48.44s. Kenya's Emmanuel Kipkurui Korir took the gold in 1:46.50s.

Meanwhile, Bahrain’s Nigeria-born Salwa Eid Naser, the Asian Games champion and World Championships silver medallist, won the women’s 400m in 49.32s while Ivory Coast’s Marie Josee emerged as the fastest woman in 11.14s.

Donald Thomas of the Bahamas took the men’s high jump with 2.30m. A few more Indians, including Asian Games champions Neeraj Chopra (javelin throw) and Arpinder Singh (triple jump) will be in action on Sunday.