Women&#146;s 3000m final 
Steven Downes for IAAF

22 October 2000 &#150; Beatrice Jepchumba&#146;s gold medal in the women&#146;s 3,000
metres on Sunday duly completed almost total domination by Kenya of all the distance
events at the World Junior Championships here.

With the sole exception of the women&#146;s 1500m (won by Ethiopia&#146;s Abebech
Negussie), Kenyan men and women have won every running event from 800 metres upwards,
including the steeplechase, the seven gold medals planting the east Africans firmly on top
of the medals table on the final day of the championships.

This was a facile victory for Jepchumba, who came into the race as one of only two of
the 18-strong field to have a sub-9min personal best &#150; the other being her team mate
Jane Chepkoech.

Both loped along with the leading group, through kilometres in 3min 05.38 and 6:09.60,
before really taking the race by the scruff of the neck at the bell, running away with
ease from Etablemahu Kidane, of Ethiopia, and Fang Chen of China.

Jepchumba (9:08.80) and Chepkoech (9:10.05) secured another Kenyan one-two, as
Kidane&#146;s 9:11.55 personal best just outdid the lifetime best 9:12.53 by the young
woman from China, who was so tired by the race, she staggered across the line.

Beatrice Jepchumba’s gold medal in the women’s 3,000 metres on Sunday duly completed almost total domination by Kenya of all the distance events at the World Junior Championships here

Women's 3000m final

Phil Minshull for the IAAF

22 October 2000 - Spectators who were at the last world junior championships in Annecy
need no reminding of the effortless long-striding gait of William Chirchir. 

The Kenyan hardly seemed to touch the ground as he floated to the 800 metres title in
France. 

Turn the clock forward two years to Santiago and you could be forgiven for thinking
that he had forged his passport and had returned to acquire another title.

However any confusion can be excused as instead of it being William on the start line
of the men's 1500 it was his younger carbon-copy brother Cornelius, who won the World
Youth 1500m title in Poland last year.

Cornelius upgraded his gold medal to Junior status by winning the 1500 with ease,
running at the front for the entire race, and the Chirchirs became only the second set of
brothers to win world junior gold medals since their compatriots Jonah and Matthew Birir.

&quot;This was an easy race from me. I've run 3:35 so 3:38 is very comfortable for
me,&quot; Chirchir said.

&quot;I knew that no one in the field was as fast as me so that is why I got to the
front quickly and put in a fast first lap. It avoided trouble and I knew that no one else
could stay with me on the final lap after that. It was all planned,&quot; he added.

Nevertheless, even though he never expected anything less than a gold medal, Chirchir
was still delighted with having emulated his brother.

&quot;Kenya has been doing very well at this championship so I couldn't let the side
down. I also wanted to win for my brother because I was watching what happened to him at
the Olympics on TV at home in Kenya.&quot;

In Sydney, William Chirchir was jostled during his heat and failed to progress to the
semifinals but protests and counter-protests had his fate oscillating for nearly 48 hours.

In years to come the brothers may be room mates at major championships but for the
moment William is the senior partner in the relationship.

Last year William rarely let his younger brother train with him, suggesting that
Cornelius couldn't handle the training load. This year, as Cornelius' body has matured,
the pair now train together when William returns home and Cornelius has holidays from his
studies at the famous St Patrick's school.

The Chirchir family production line has not come to an end though, Vincent and Kipnyego
back home and waiting for their chance to impress.

&quot;Last year I didn't let them train with me, I preferred to train alone,&quot;
Cornelius laughed. &quot;But now we train together sometimes.&quot;

Despite Kenya's great tradition at cross country running, it is not one that Chirchir
intends to pursue just yet. &quot;Firstly my studies are very important and also I don't
like cross country -

- the races are too long. It blunts my speed.&quot; 

On a day when he won the 1500m gold as casually as a walk in the park, Chirchir
indicated that such an activity was about as close as he would get to running over rough
terrain.

Spectators who were at the last world junior championships in Annecy need no reminding of the effortless long-striding gait of William Chirchir. The Kenyan hardly seemed to touch the ground as he floated to the 800 metres title in France. 

Chirchir keeps it in the family

Men&#146;s pole vault final 
Steven Downes for IAAF

22 October 2000 &#150; It was a long time coming, and it may have been but a bronze,
but the United States finally managed to win its first medal of the World Junior
Championships here on Sunday, in the men&#146;s pole vault. After a week of tales of
adversity for the Americans, it was appropriate that the winner should be called Rocky.

Rocky Danners&#146; first-time clearance at 5.20 was enough for third place, ahead of
four other men who all managed the same height, but with inferior records, in a
competition won by Aleksey Khanafin.

Khanafin&#146;s perfect record up to 5.30 proved superior to Ukraine&#146;s Oleksandr
Korchmyd, who needed three attempts to clear his opening height of 5.00 before eventually
working through to 5.30 for silver.

Khanafin’s perfect record up to 5.30 proved superior to Ukraine’s Oleksandr Korchmyd, who needed three attempts to clear his opening height of 5.00 before eventually working through to 5.30 for silver.

Men's pole vault final

Men&#146;s long jump final 
Steven Downes for IAAF

22 October 2000 &#150; It only took one jump, but that was enough for Peng Cai, of
China, to win the men&#146;s long jump gold medal here on the final day of the World
Junior Championships.

Cai cleared 7.88 metres with his first-round effort, and then saw all his following
five efforts red-flagged.

But none of his rivals could match that jump, Ukraine&#146;s Volodymyr Zyuskov coing
within 4cm in the third round (7.84).

The bronze medal was won by Cuba&#146;s Yoelmis Pacheco, 7.71m.

It only took one jump, but that was enough for Peng Cai, of China, to win the men’s long jump gold medal here on the final day of the World Junior Championships

Men's long jump final

Phil Minshull for the IAAF

22 October 2000 - It took Cornelius Chirchir just 30 metres to get to the front of the
men's 1,500 and there the Kenyan stayed for the entire race.

Chirchir, brother of Annecy 800 winner William Chirchir, covered the first 400 in a
speedy 57.99, followed closely by Germany's Wolfram Muller.

The first and second man remained the same, although the order was constantly changing
behind them, through the next lap as 800 was reached in 1:59.57.

On the third lap the diminutive Philemon Kibet came past Muller to give rise to the
possibility of a Kenyan 1-2, however there was never any doubt who was going to win after
Chirchir sped away at the bell, reached in 2:58.10.

He uncorked a 54.47 last lap to leave the rest of his rivals trailing in his wake and
the school student, who is at the famous St Patrick's school in Iten crossed the line
barely out of breath.

Behind him Muller managed to get past Kibet for the silver, coming home in 3:39.37,
with Kibet clocking a personal best of 3:40.77.

It took Cornelius Chirchir just 30 metres to get to the front of the men's 1500 and there the Kenyan stayed for the entire race.

Men's 1500m final

Women&#146;s 4x100m final 
Steven Downes for IAAF

22 October 2000 &#150; It had already been a good week for Katchi Habel, the
German sprinter who disintegrated into tears of joy after winning an unheralded silver
medal in the 100 metres earlier in the week.

But after a super-charged final leg of the sprint relay final here on Sunday, Habel
turned it into a great week, as she overhauled a two-metre lead on the final to overtake
Jamaica&#146;s Nolle Graham and give Germany the 4x100 metres gold medal in 43.91sec.

The Germans, with 200m silver medallist Sina Schielke on the &quot;long&quot; second
leg, were always in contention.

But with double gold medallist Veronica Campbell on Jamaica&#146;s first leg, it was
assumed that the team from the Caribbean would deliver their latest sprint sensation a
third gold.

Thanks to Habel, with one of the most determined anchor stages seen, it was not to be,
as the Jamaicans won silver in 44.05, with Sweden &#150; including the Kallur twins on
stages two and three &#150; winning bronze with a national junior record 44.78.

It had already been a good week for Katchi Habel, the German sprinter who disintegrated into tears of joy after winning an unheralded silver medal in the 100 metres earlier in the week.

Women's 4x100m relay final

Men&#146;s javelin throw 
Steven Downes for IAAF

22 October 2000 &#150; Gerhardus Pienaar underlined what a great championships these
have been for South Africa, when he won his team&#146;s fourth gold medal in the
men&#146;s javelin final here on Sunday.

The big man&#146;s third-round national junior record 78.11 metres secured the title,
from Norway&#146;s Andreas Thorkilsen, whose 76.34 was also a national junior best.

Korea won their first medal of the championships, thanks to the fourth-round effortof
72.36 by Jae-Myong Park.

&nbsp;

Gerhardus Pienaar underlined what a great championships these have been for South Africa, when he won his team’s fourth gold medal in the men’s javelin final

Men's javelin throw final

Men&#146;s 4x100m relay final 
Steven Downes for the IAAF

22 October 2000 &#150; After a 30-minute delay, the men&#146;s 4x100 metres final
eventually got under way. It was well worth waiting for.

Mark Lewis-Francis, the young Briton who won the 100 metres gold medal on Wednesday,
used all his abundant speed to power through, past France&#146;s Leslie Djhone, overcoming
a four-metre lead to win the gold in a championship record 39.05sec &#150; and the second
fastest time ever run by a junior team.

France (39.33), Japan (39.47) and Trinidad and Tobago (40.03) all established national
records as they finished behind the British quartet of Tyrone Edgar, Dwayne Grant and 200m
bronze medallist Tim Benjamin.

In truth, the British baton changes were not as smooth as they might have been.

The teams had all had to endure a nerve-wracking 30-mniute delay out on the track at
the Estadio Nacional, while a French protest over their initial disqualification from the
heats was resolved, and the lanes for the final re-drawn.

Perhaps, without such added tension, the championships might have enjoyed their first
world junior record. Certainly, the British performance in the heats pointed to better to
come.

The first of the heats had seen five national junior records broken &#150; by
runners-up Japan (39.48), Hungary (40.31), Chile (41.19) and Israel (41.41) &#150; as the
British quartet had scorched to the third fastest time ever run by juniors, 39.14sec.

Seemingly, they could be within reach of the 39.00sec world record, set at altitude in
1983 by an American squad anchored by Dennis Mitchell.

Francis, the young Briton who won the 100 metres gold medal on Wednesday, used all his abundant speed to power through, past France’s Leslie Djhone, overcoming a four-metre lead to win the gold in a championship record 39.05sec – and the second fastest time ever run by a junior team.

Men's 4x100m relay final

Men&#146;s discus throw 
Steven Downes for the IAAF

21 October 2000 &#150; There can rarely have been as dramatic an outcome to a discus
final at a major championships as with the men&#146;s event here on Saturday, when Hannes
Hopley, out of the medals, heaved a South African junior record 59.51 metres in the fifth
round to leapfrog the long-time leader and pre-event favourite, Rutger Smith.

Smith, the Dutch winner of the shot put earlier in the week, had only just come to
terms with being overtaken for the gold medal position by Sweden&#146;s Niklas
Arrhenius&#146;s lifetime best 59.19.

Though Smith sent the discus out to close to the 60-metre mark himself when throwing at
the end of round five, the throw was judged a foul. In the end, after four no throws, it
was Smith&#146;s 58.70-metre second round throw that gave him the bronze.

With Poland&#146;s Michal Hodun throwing a national junior best 58.62m for fourth,
Smith was the only competitor among the top four who did not improve his personal best.

There can rarely have been as dramatic an outcome to a discus final at a major championships as with the men’s event here on Saturday, when Hannes Hopley, out of the medals, heaved a South African junior record 59.51 metres

Men's discus throw final

Steven Downes for the IAAF

21 October 2000 &#150; Jana Pittman had no sooner completed an astonishing golden
double of 400 metres and 400 metres hurdles at the World Junior Championships here on
Saturday, than she was setting her sights at accomplishing a similar double at Olympic
level to match the gold medal-winning feat at the Sydney Games of Australian heroine Cathy
Freeman.

Pittman had survived a gruelling race programme of five races in as many days here,
winning the 400 metres final on Friday and then withstanding a late surge over the hurdles
from Dutch woman Marjolein de Jong to achieve an unprecedented double with victory in
56.27sec to de Jong&#146;s 56.50. Jamaica&#146;s Melanie Walker took the bronze in 56.96.

Even the tough and powerful Pittman was forced to accept that the race programme had
almost caught her out. &quot;I have to admit, that last 100 metres was very difficult for
me,&quot; said the young woman who came to prominence last year when she won the World
Youth 400m hurdles title in Poland.

&quot;No one&#146;s ever done this 400-400 hurdles double before, and I wanted to be
the first, to make a bit of history.&quot;

Three weeks short of her 18th birthday, Pittman is a high school student
from Sydney who trains with Melinda Gainsford-Taylor and sometimes also with Freeman, the
Australian icon who lit the Olympic flame last month and won the 400m gold.

Pittman said that she was inspired by taking part at the Sydney Games and that she now
wants to emulate Freeman&#146;s achievement, and the 1988 400m hurdles gold won by another
Australian, Debbie Flintoff-King.

Pittman had survived a gruelling race programme of five races in as many days here, winning the 400 metres final on Friday and then withstanding a late surge over the hurdles from Dutch woman Marjolein de Jong to achieve an unprecedented double with victory in 56.27sec to de Jong’s 56.50.

Women's 400m hurdles final

Women&#146;s 1500 final 
Steven Downes for IAAF

21 October 2000 &#150; Abebech Negussie delivered Ethiopia&#146;s first gold medal of
these 8th World Junior Championships when she outsprinted Rose Kosgei and
Georgie Clarke over the final lap of a slow, tactical race, crossing the line in 4min
19.93sec.

It was the second world championship medal won by Negussie this year &#150; in March,
she was eighth, and fourth scorer, in Ethiopia&#146;s silver medal-winning team at the
World Cross-country.

Here, Kenya&#146;s Kosgei collected the silver, with her 4:20.16, while 16-year-old
Clarke, silver medallist at 800m on Friday, this time won bronze in 4:20.21.

The race had started out at little more than a jog, Clarke&#146;s Australian team mate,
Melissa Rollison, clicking through laps of 72.05sec and 73.55sec.

Kosgei made the first move at the bell, but was chased hard by Negussie and South
Africa&#146;s Zanelle Grobler, with Clarke losing her position slightly down the back
straight.

By the time Clarke attacked off the final bend, the Ethiopian had opened what proved to
be a decisive one-metre gap, and she was able to celebrate even before she reached the
finish.

Abebech Negussie delivered Ethiopia’s first gold medal of these 8th World Junior Championships when she outsprinted Rose Kosgei and Georgie Clarke over the final lap of a slow, tactical race, crossing the line in 4min 19.93sec

Women's 1500m final

Women&#146;s 200m final 
Steven Downes for the IAAF

21 October 2000 &#150; Veronica Campbell further marked herself out as the next great
Jamaican sprinter, when she became the first woman to complete the 100-200 metres sprint
double at the World Junior Championships here on Saturday, as she took the 200m final in
commanding style.

For not only did the double gold medallist from last year&#146;s World Youth
Championships win her second gold of this week, she did so with her second championship
record of the week, 22.87sec.

Campbell, aged 18, was driven to this new level of performance by her close rivalry
with Germany&#146;s double European Junior champion from 1999, Sina Schielke. But the
Jamaican was too strong off the bend, leaving the German to take silver with 23.20, with
Vida Anim, of Ghana, third in 23.81.

&quot;It is really important to me to be the first woman to win the 100 and 200 metres
at the World Juniors,&quot; Campbell said.

&quot;I was told to run the corner hard and to use the momentum down the
straight.&quot; Campbell said that she never felt under any pressure from Schielke, who
was drawn in the lane outside her. &quot;I knew I would catch her when we were on the
straight,&quot; she said.

Campbell &#150; a relay silver medallist at last month&#146;s Sydney Olympics &#150;
could yet win a third gold medal here in Sunday&#146;s 4x100m relay.

Comparisons will doubtless soon be drawn between Campbell and the world&#146;s No.1
senior sprinter of the moment, Marion Jones of the United States, or with the icon of
Jamaican athletics, Merlene Ottey.

The young Jamaican, who lives in Trelawney, may get a chance to race against Jones next
year at the IAAF World Championships in Edmonton. But with her rapidly growing collection
of gold medals, Campbell is already exceeding the achievements of Ottey&#146;s early
career.

Veronica Campbell further marked herself out as the next great Jamaican sprinter, when she became the first woman to complete the 100-200 metres sprint double

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Men's 4x100m relay final

Women's 4x100m relay final

Men's javelin throw final

Men's long jump final