Ludmila Engquist (SWE) Gold
"If the first start had been OK, I think the winning time would have been around  12.45sec.
After the 8th hurdle I knew that I would win.
The world record is for next year. I Think that I have two or three good years in front of me."
-Svetla Dimitrova (BUL) Silver
"Too slow reaction time.
So next year in the European Championships I will try to be first."
-Michelle Freeman (JAM) Bronze
"I was concentrating on myself and just getting to the line, but I made some errors in my race and they caught me."

Ludmila Engquist (SWE) Gold
"If the first start had been OK, I think the winning time would have been around  12.45sec.
After the 8th hurdle I knew

Flash Interviews Women 100m Hurdles Final

It didn’t take long for the marathoners to start dropping away from the pack on a warm, sunny day on the Marathon to Panathinaikon course. By 10km, a long line of runners stretched out from the main pack of 35 or so. Ethiopia’s Turbo Tumo and South Africa’s Lawrence Peu ran at the front, hitting 10km in 31:39. 
In the next 5km section, moving steadily uphill, Willy Kolumbo of Congo and Namibia’s Luketz Swartboi, the 1993 runner-up, made a breakaway, passing 15km in 47:52. Defending champion Martin Fiz of Spain ran 11 seconds behind, at the head of the remaining pack of 16. By the one hour mark, that pack had stretched out, with six at the fore. Fiz and teammate Fabian Roncero, a 2:09:43 performer, led. Moments later, Roncero left the pack to chase the two leaders. At 1:05, he caught them; after staying with them for a few minutes, he took the lead.
Roncero passed halfway in 1:07:08, with the main pack just seven seconds back. A kilometre later, the pack absorbed the breakaway runners. Nine remained, including three Spaniards: Fiz, Roncero and Abel Anton. 
Brazil’s Vanderlei de Lima broke away at 25km (1:20:01), quickly building up a 10m lead. Two minutes later Fiz took off after de Lima and reeled him in. With Anton following, and dos Santos at a distance, Fiz increased the pace. At the 1:30 point, the three ran together, putting more distance between themselves and the rest. A kilometre later, the Spaniards left dos Santos behind, Fiz hitting 30km in 1:36:04. As the Spaniards continued to widen their lead, Australia’s Steve Moneghetti began to approach dos Santos for third. Farther back, Zebedayo Bayo of Tanzania ran just ahead of the third Spaniard, Roncero.
At 35km, Fiz and Anton (1:51:40) had a 38 second lead over Moneghetti, who had passed dos Santos for the bronze position. Italy’s Danilo Goffi ran another 23 seconds back after working his way up from well behind.
By the two hour mark, Moneghetti appeared to have a solid hold on bronze. At the front, Fiz still led Anton by a step, as he had for the 40 minutes previous. He passed 40km in 2:06:46, having run 15:06 for that downhill 5km segment. 
The suspense built in the final stages, as Anton bided his time while Fiz did the pacework. At 2:12:30 in the race, just when Panathinaikon Stadium came into sight, Anton flew past his teammate. He entered the stadium with a healthy lead, waving to the crowd as Fiz vainly tried to respond to the sprint. Anton crossed the finish in 2:13:16, keeping Fiz (2:13:21) from becoming the first man ever to defend a World Championships marathon title. Moneghetti captured the bronze in 2:14:16, and Goffi nabbed 4th, after a speedy second half. The third Spaniard, Roncero, finished 6th in 2:16:53, guaranteeing Spain the World Cup team title.


It didn’t take long for the marathoners to start dropping away from the pack on a warm, sunny day on the Marathon to Panathinaikon course. By 10km, a 

Event report Marathon

The USA men’s 4x400m relay quartet completed a trio of close relay finals this evening and took the final gold medal of the 6th World Championships in 2:56.47, the best time in the world this year.
The race was a three-way battle from start to finish and less than three tenths of a second separated the medallists at the end. Great Britain took silver in 2:56.65 and Jamaica ran a national record of 2:56.75 in third.
Britain’s Iwan Thomas went off extremely hard from the gun, but Jerome Young of the USA fought back over the second half of the race to give USA a slight advantage at the first exchange. Jamaica were close in third. Britain’s Roger Black attempted to close the gap on Antonio Pettigrew but the American ran the fastest leg of the race, 43.2, and handed over with a five metre advantage.
On the third leg Britain’s Jamie Baulch made up the gap on USA’s Chris Jones by the 200m mark and passed him on the turn only to be hauled back in the straight. Jamaica’s Danny McFarlane was on his shoulder by the exchange. On the final leg, Britain’s Mark Richardson chased USA’s Tyree Washington with Davian Clarke of Jamaica close on his heels. The three came into the home straight almost together but, despite Richardson’s desperate efforts, Washington held on to win by half a metre.
Unofficial splits
USA: Young, 44.6, Pettigrew 43.2, Jones 44.7, Washington 44.0
GBR: Thomas 44.8, Black 44.3, Baulch 44.2, Richardson 43.4
JAM: McDonald 44.5, Haughton 44.4, McFarlane 44.4, Clarke 43.5


The USA men’s 4x400m relay quartet completed a trio of close relay finals this evening and took the final gold medal of the 6th World Championships in

Event Report  Men 4x400m Relay

Daniel Komen (KEN) Gold
"I have based my running on the pace and past feats of the great Kip Keino and Moses Kiptanui.
This aspect of my training and racing is very crucial to how I and the rest of Kenyan runners perform.
Obviously, it was the two laps under 60 seconds which were the decisive moments."
-Khalid Boulami (MAR) Silver
"I expected Komen to go away like this for the last 1000m.
He surprised me by doing it so early.
I didn't notice his move at the right moment."
-Tom Nyariki (KEN) Bronze
"It was only today that we decided how to run this race.
The tactical nature of our race was vital to my performance here."

Daniel Komen (KEN) Gold
"I have based my running on the pace and past feats of the great Kip Keino and Moses Kiptanui.
This aspect of my training

Flash Interviews Men 5000 metres Final

The 1997 world indoor champion, Jamaican Michelle Freeman ran the fastest time in the semifinals of the 100m hurdles, and for the second time in this championships set a Central American and Caribbean record, with a 12.52. Running in the first heat from lane 4, Freeman had a very good start, and took command of the race from the very first obstacle.
The 1997 world leader and 1994 European champion, Bulgarian Svetla Dimitrova had a poor start, and only recovered by the 5th hurdle to grab the second place with 12.74. The 1996 Olympic silver medallist, Slovenia’s Brigita Bukovec was third in a season’s best of 12.76. Canadian Katie Anderson was fourth in a personal best of 12.80.
The second heat was taken by the 1996 Olympic champion, Sweden’s Ludmila Engquist with 12.53. Engquist grabbed the lead by the fifth hurdle. France’s Patricia Girard-Leno, the 1996 Olympic games bronze medallist had a good start and finished second in 12.68.
Russian Svetlana Laukhova was third in 12.88 and Jamaican Dionne Rose was fourth in 12.89, the slowest time to advance to the final that will take place later this evening.


The 1997 world indoor champion, Jamaican Michelle Freeman ran the fastest time in the semifinals of the 100m hurdles, and for the second time in this 

Event Report Women 100m Hurdles Semi Finals

Sergey Bubka (Ukraine) made a terrific comeback to his winning ways after a disappointing injury kept him out of the Olympic final in Atlanta last year. He cleared his opening height of 5.70 on his second attempt. After that he started gambling, passing both 5.80 and 5.86, but coming back to clear 5.91 on his second attempt.
The competition got off to a slow start with many big names struggling at their opening heights. The 1996 Olympic Champion, Jean Galfione of France, was unable to clear 5.70. Also Riaan Botha (South Africa), a 5.91 performer this year, did not make it over 5.70.
Tim Lobinger (Germany) cleared 5.80 on his first attempt, taking the lead. Dean Starkey (USA) also cleared 5.80 on his first try, but landed in 2nd place, because of a miss from lower heights. Tarasov and Bubka both passed this height.
Bubka passing again at 5.86 and Tarasov took the lead by making it on his first attempt. Starkey made it on his third, for 2nd place at that moment.
Bubka took the lead by jumping 5.91 on his second attempt. Both Tarasov and Starkey cleared on their 3rd attempts.
Bubka passed 5.96 and Tarasov answered with a fabulous first attempt clearance to take the lead again. Starkey failed his first attempt and then passed the others. But the master was himself again. Bubka cleared 6.01 on his first attempt taking the gold home once again. Tarasov took silver with his 5.96 and surprising Starkey won the bronze with his seasonal best of 5.91.	
Bubka now has won six World Championship gold medals, every pole vault crown in the history of the meet. The Ukrainian’s accomplishment may never be matched.


Sergey Bubka (Ukraine) made a terrific comeback to his winning ways after a disappointing injury kept him out of the Olympic final in Atlanta last yea

Event Report Men Pole Vault Final

Lars Riedel of Germany won his fourth straight discus title, firing off three throws better than the best of his competition. 
Teammate Jurgen Schult led the first round with his 66.14 best, but Lithuania’s Virgilijus Alekna (66.70) and Riedel (68.24) passed him in the second round. In the third, Riedel improved to 68.54. The next two rounds saw no position changes at the top.
In the final round, Vladimir Dubrovshchik of Belarus scared Schult for the bronze with a 66.12, just two centimeters short. Then, in the final throw of the competition, Riedel underscored his dominance with a 66.80.


Lars Riedel of Germany won his fourth straight discus title, firing off three throws better than the best of his competition. 
Teammate Jurgen Schult

Event Report Men Discus Throw Final

With the USA missing from the race, several teams had a solid chance to capture the gold medal. Nigeria, the favourite of many, had recorded the fastest time of the year in the semi-finals (37.94). Nigeria was leading the race on the first leg, but a bad exchange blew their gold medal. However, they stayed near the lead and in contention for the other medals.
The first five teams ran quite even until the last exchange. Great Britain, in good position after 3 legs, had trouble on the last exchange. Coming from behind, Donovan Bailey, the anchor for Canada, lifted his team to a clear win in the final 50m. Canada produced a world leading time of 37.86 to get the gold medal. Nigeria, despite having problems with exchanges, managed to take 2nd place in 38.07.
Julian Golding (Great Britain) ran a terrific anchor leg, passing Luis Perez-Rionda of Cuba right at the finish line to win the bronze medal in a time of 38.14. Cuba finished fourth in 38.15.


With the USA missing from the race, several teams had a solid chance to capture the gold medal. Nigeria, the favourite of many, had recorded the fastest

Event Report Men 4x100 relay

The 1996 Olympic champion and 1991 world champion (as Lyudmila Narozhilenko, representing the URS), Sweden’s Ludmila Engquist won the first ever gold medal for a female athlete from her country by taking the 100m hurdles in a season’s best of 12.50, the second best performance of the year.
The race had 3 false starts, 2 from the 1996 Olympic bronze medallist, France’s Patricia Girard, costing her a disqualification, and the other from the 1996 silver medallist, Slovenia’s Brigita Bukovec.
In the definitive start, Jamaican Michelle Freeman got to the initial hurdle first. Engquist, who didn’t have such a good start, caught her at the fifth obstacle, and the two of them, along with the 1997 world leader, Bulgarian Svetla Dimitrova, ran a very even race.
After the last obstacle Engquist was clearly ahead, with Freeman in second place, but Dimitrova had a very strong finish, and took the silver medal away. Dimitrova’s time was 12.58, her second performance of 1997, after she ran 12.36 in Bulgaria.
Bukovec was fourth in a season’s best of 12.69, and Jamaican Dianne Rose was fifth with 12.87.


The 1996 Olympic champion and 1991 world champion (as Lyudmila Narozhilenko, representing the URS), Sweden’s Ludmila Engquist won the first ever gold 

Event Report Women 100m Hurdles

The 1997 world indoor bronze medallist, Norway’s Hanna Haugland took the second gold medal for her country by winning the high jump, an event that had to be decided in a tie-breaker. Haugland, Russian Olga Kaliturina and Ukraine’s Inga Babakova were tied for first place at 1.96, and then the three of them each had three misses at 1.99.
The jump-off height was 1.99, and Haugland cleared it on her first attempt. Both Kaliturina and Babakova missed and tied for the silver medal. Haugland was seventh at the 1995 world championships, and this year jumped a national record of 2.00.
The 1996 world junior champion, Russian Yulia Lyakhova was fourth at 1.96. The 1995 world championships silver medallist, German Alina Astafei, tied for the seventh place at 1.93.


The 1997 world indoor bronze medallist, Norway’s Hanna Haugland took the second gold medal for her country by winning the high jump, an event that had

Event Report Women High Jump Final

Hanne Haugland (NOR) Gold
"I knew I could do it, though I was very nervous.
Now I am going to call my father (a former athlete in the long jump) to give him a big hug.
There will be a big party to celebrate this victory and to greet all my friends."

Hanne Haugland (NOR) Gold
"I knew I could do it, though I was very nervous.
Now I am going to call my father (a former athlete in the long jump) to

Flash Interview Women High Jump Final

Dean Starkey (USA) Bronze "I'm not sure when the last American outdoor major championship medal was, 1984 maybe? Anyway I couldn't be more pleased. There was a lot of great jumping going on and I was just happy to get into the medals."

Dean Starkey (USA) Bronze
"I'm not sure when the last American outdoor major championship medal was, 1984 maybe?
Anyway I couldn't be more pleased.

WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

World Champions Maurice Greene, John Godina and Michael Johnson have arrived in Seville

Golden Dawn for Cathy Freeman

Event Report Women 100m Hurdles Semi Finals

Flash Interview Men High Jump Final

Flash Interview Women High Jump Final