The Hindu : Sport / Athletics : Veronica pips Lauryn in photo-finish

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Tuesday, Aug 28, 2007
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Sport - Athletics

Veronica pips Lauryn in photo-finish

ATHLETICS / Bekele wins third consecutive 10,000m crown

— Photo: AP

WHAT A FINISH! Veronica Campbell (second from left) won the women’s 100m crown in a thrilling contest.

OSAKA: It took 11.01 seconds to finish the race to decide the fastest woman at the World championships here.

For Veronica Campbell it seemed an eternity before she was declared the winner in a photo-finish over defending 100m world champion Lauryn Williams.

In one of the closest finishes in championship history, Carmelita Jeter took bronze, one hundredth of a second behind the leading duo. Another American, 2003 world champion Torri Edwards, took fourth place in 11.05.

Confusing signals

In confusing scenes, Edwards was first flashed on a stadium screen as the winner. Then Veronica was given the top spot before the screen went blank, leaving all the runners in suspense. Only when Veronica’s name flashed up again on the screen was she confident enough to take the flag and start celebrating.

In 1993, American Gail Devers beat Merlene Ottey by .001 seconds to take the 100m world title, the closest previous finish.

In comparison, the longest race was the most predictable, with Kenenisa Bekele winning his third straight world title and the seventh of the last eight for Ethiopia.

He finished in 27 minutes 5.90 seconds, almost a minute off his world record.

The result left him one title short of his compatriot Haile Gebrselassie. This time though, he was pushed hard by compatriot Sileshi Sihine up to the last bend before his outstanding final kick made the difference. Kenya’s Martin Mathathi took the bronze.

The victory left Ethiopia tied with the United States with two gold medals apiece, ahead of eight nations with one title. Overall, the U.S. team leads with seven medals, ahead of Ethiopia, Belarus and Kenya.

Evora’s day out

In a major surprise, Portugal’s 23-year-old Nelson Evora shocked favourite Jadel Gregorio of Brazil to win the triple jump with an effort of 17.74 metres. Gregorio was second with 17.59, while defending champion Walter Davis of the United States had to settle for bronze at 17.33.

Russia finally got on to the medals table with a 1-2 finish in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase. Yekaterina Volkova was already waving to the crowds with 80m to go and she finished in a championship record time of nine minutes 6.57 seconds.

The results: Men: 10,000m: 1. Kenenisa Bekele (Eth) 27m 05.90s, 2. Sileshi Sihine (Eth) 27:09.03, 3. Martin Irungu Mathathi (Ken) 27:12.17. Hammer: 1. Ivan Tikhon (Belarus) 83.63m, 2. Primoz Kozmus (Slovenia) 82.29, 3. Libor Charfreitag (Slovakia) 81.60. Triple jump: 1. Nelson Evora (Por) 17.74m, 2. Jadel Gregorio (Bra) 17.59, 3. Walter Davis (USA) 17.33.