Olympic finalist Peter Bol has finished a soggy second in the 1000m invitational handicap race as a severe thunderstorm played havoc with the program on finals day at the Stawell Gift carnival.
Minutes after Stawell Gift favourite Endale Mekonnen clocked the fastest semi-final time of 12.23 seconds in the feature 120m event on Monday, heavy rain started falling at Central Park.
Organisers chose to push ahead with the 1000m invitational handicap, with Bol charging home from the scratch mark to finish a close second behind Riley Bryce.
“Crazy weather but what a great event,” said Bol, who was fourth in the 800m at the Tokyo Olympics.
“I haven’t raced in rain like that since I was a kid.
“Congrats to Riley. I just left a little too much to do off the last bend.
“I felt I had a chance to catch him, but he was just a bit strong.”
But with thunder and lightning in the local area and surface water covering the grass track in the middle of the oval, the men’s and women’s Gift finals were put on hold.
The men’s final was scheduled to take place at 2.24pm (AEDT), but was pushed back by at least one hour.
The remaining finals can’t take place until the lightning has passed and the grass track dries out.
Source Agencies
