THE OLGA YEGOROVA doping controversy might have taken the centre-stage towards the close, but the eighth World athletic championships would be remembered for the two great upsets that were witnessed at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.
Haile Gebrselassie and Marion Jones were beaten, ending their long winning streaks, unmatched in contemporary athletics. Gebrselassie had an eight-year unbeaten run in the 10,000 metres disturbed by the small-built Kenyan, Charles Kamathi while Jones lost her winning sequence dating back to 1997, beaten by Ukrainian Zhanna Pintusevich.
The Yegerova doping case brought to the fore the widespread abuse of EPO (erythropoietin), a stamina-boosting drug, popular with middle and long distance runners. Yegorova's fate hung in the balance till the last moment before she was finally cleared to participate by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
The Russian won the 5000m, but she was booed by the crowd that day and the next when she received the medal. "Do you think I have to come second or third to please the crowd," she posed.
'EPO cheats out' said a sign that Briton Paula Radcliffe held on the day the heats of the women's 5000 metres were gone through. The Briton, in the forefront of the campaign against EPO, made her point.
Yegorova had tested positive for EPO at the Paris Golden League meeting on July 6 and though the procedure was found to be unacceptable to the IAAF since only her urine was tested instead of a combination of urine and blood, the fact remained that she had returned a positive.
The Romanian at the receiving end of Yegorova's new-found prowess, Gabriela Szabo, protested at first, threatened to stay out of the 5000 metres and finally relented. She, however, finished poorly in the race.
Many Olympic champions and world champions were missing from these championships, but the quality of the competitions, especially in the men's throws, remained at a high level. That no world records came, like it was in the Sydney Olympic Games, should point the finger at the sustained anti-doping campaign by the authorities as well as the saturation levels some of the records have reached.
Despite all the criticism about lack of crowds and lack of atmosphere - mainly emanating from the British Press - Edmonton won hands down in the end. For a city not known for any particular liking for track and field, Edmonton gave attendance figures of 40,000 per day on an average, with a 'high' of 54,920 on the final day. Ticket sales revenue surpassed the target of 12.5 million dollars and now there is talk of the U.S. hosting a World Cup to begin with. For the sport to grow further, it is imperative that it is popularised further in North America. Hopefully, Edmonton 2001 was just a beginning.
An event-by-event account of the 10-day competition:
Men: 100m: Maurice Greene clocked history's third fastest timing while hobbling across the finish-line. He now owns all the top three, 9.79, 9.80, 9.82. He said he had run the best 100m race of his life, but only up to 70 metres. From about 15 metres to the finish, he felt a pinch on his left quadricep muscle and then felt something on his left hamstring.
Tim Montgomery, who clocked a 9.84 in Oslo and then threw the gauntlet down, was beaten at the start. He was slapped one of the three false starts and when the race eventually took off, he had a 0.157 reaction time to Greene's 0.132. That did make the difference.
If Greene could run a 9.82 with an injury, aggravated by an assortment of twitches during the race, what could he actually have achieved had he been hundred per cent fit? Something like 9.77 would have been quite possible, he said.
For the first time since 1991, there was an American sweep of the medals. Montgomery's silver came in 9.85 and Bernard Williams clocked a personal best 9.94. Trinidad's Ato Boldon finished fourth in 9.98.
200m: Konstadinos Kederis proved that his Olympic triumph was no 'fluke.' Though his timing of 20.04 was not really championship stuff and the field contained none of the top-notchers, the heavily-built Greek had reason to rejoice, for, he beat the rest by a stride and more. The rest got involved in a photo-finish. Christopher Williams of Jamaica, Kim Colins of St. Kitts and Shawn Crawford of the US were all credited with 20.20. The Jamaican was adjudged second, but the photo-finish equipment could not separate Collins and Crawford. Both thus got the bronze.
400m: By running a 44.45 in Madrid in July, Avard Moncur of the Bahamas had indicated that he was ready to take over the reign from the great Michael Johnson. Moncur idolises Johnson. "He is the man I look up to and revere," he said after the final. "He is my inspiration and I am delighted that I did not let him down," said the soft-spoken Moncur.
Moncur won in 44.64 while German Ingo Schultz, who took to athletics only in 1998-running a marathon, of all distances, for his major competitive debut! having been a chess player and a violinist, came second in 44.87. The more experienced Gregory Haughton of Jamaica was third. Veteran American Antonio Pettigrew finished fourth and was upset. "I blew it," said Pettigrew who won the title in Tokyo in 1991. "I better consider retirement," he added.
800m: Andre Bucher, the big-built Swiss had been the odds-on-favourite through the course of the season. So much so, that though Switzerland had fielded only a six-member team, there was a 20-strong media squad. All there in Edmonton to report back on Bucher's gold medal-winning performance. They were not disappointed.
Wittingly or unwittingly, Wilfred Bungei of Kenya set the pace for Bucher and from 200 metres out, it was a breeze for the Swiss. Bucher clocked 1:43.70, well below his best for the season, 1:42.90 timed in Monaco, but a good timing all the same. Bungei, who made sure that the timings would be fast, capitalised on his front-running to help himself to the silver while Pole Pawel Czapiewski had a personal best 1:44.63 for the bronze. Olympic champion Nils Schumann of Germany was fifth, leaving things a little too late.
1,500m: Hicham El Guerrouj blew a kiss as he crossed the line and then kissed the track and wrote something on it. He said later that it was for his family. "I love you all... thank you." Beaten in the Olympics, El Guerrouj had talked of shifting to the 5000m this year, but he wanted to prove himself all over again over his favourite distance, the metric mile.
The man who beat him in Sydney, Noah Ngeny was not there, dropped from the Kenyan team on disciplinary grounds. Nor was there the Algerian, Ali Saidi-Sief, who opted for the 5000. El Guerrouj's main challenger thus was Kenyan Bernard Lagat, no mean miler himself, but not a serious threat to the Moroccan in this race. France's Driss Maazouzi took the bronze.
5,000m: Ali Saidi-Sief had shown his only interest in the 1500 metres throughout the season. That led to the assumption that the Algerian was keen on taking on Hicham El Guerrouj in Edmonton rather than slug it out with the Kenyans and Ethiopians over the longer distance. It turned out that it was a well-kept strategical ploy. Saidi-Sief had wanted to compete in the 5,000 metres only but kept it a secret.
In a tough field Saidi-Sief was going to find it difficult, but he explained that his opting for the 5000 was purely based on the theory that his best gold medal chance lay there. It could well have been right had he not induced two pacy laps towards the finish that, instead of getting rid of the Kenyans and Ethiopians, drained his reserves.
When the moment came, after the cat and mouse game, Saidi-Sief stepped up the tempo from 200 metres to the finish, but found Kenyan Richard Limo coming up with a ferocious 'kick', 120 metres out. He just could not respond nor could the Olympic champion Million Wolde of Ethiopia. Both were content, it looked, to hold on to their silver and bronze positions on the straight and watch Limo running far upfield towards the gold.
"I wanted to show the world, the Kenyans are back," said Limo.
10,000m: It is yet to sink in. Haile Gebrselassie was beaten after eight years and 12 races over the distance. The Ethiopian ended up smiling again, but it must have hurt. That is why he said that he would not be quitting track. "When you lose, you have to do something," Gebrselassie said. What he would not say or could not come up with at that precise moment was, "this defeat has to be avenged."
By the time the meet came to a close, Gebrselassie announced that he was not going to take any further part during the rest of the season. He had talked about a fever that had bothered him but he did not want to sound as though he was trotting out an excuse. It turned out that the viral fever had left him a lot more weaker than that was made out at the beginning.
Still, his defeat was unfathomable. His 'kick' had laid such men as Khalid Skah and Paul Tergat low. Now, a small-built Kenyan, named Charles Kamathi, had outkicked the great Gebrselassie from 120 metres to the finish.
Marathon: Gezahegne Abera became the first man to hold the Olympic and world titles at one time. Among women, Portugal's Rosa Mota has had that distinction. Abera won with just a second to spare from Kenyan Simon Biwott, sprinting from 200 metres out after both entered the stadium almost together. Stefano Baldini of Italy was third.
3,000m steeplechase: This is usually the Kenyan preserve and it remained so, though not all the medals could be gained by the Kenyans. Olympic champion Reuben Kosgei took the gold while world record holder Bernard Barmasai had to be satisfied with the bronze behind Moroccan Ali Ezzine. The Moroccan had been winning something or the other in major championships and he promised that by the next Olympics he would be ready for the gold.
110m hurdles: Olympic champion Anier Garcia was off the blocks a shade slower than Allen Johnson. Though both were credited with the same reaction time (0.150s), the Cuban felt the start made all the difference. Johnson hit seven hurdles and still won in a world-leading 13.04s. Garcia was home in 13.07 for the silver. Haiti's Dudley Dorival claimed the bronze.
400m hurdles: Angelo Taylor hit the last hurdle in the semis and went out of the reckoning. Two years ago, he had gone out in the heats. The American took it rather philosophically then as well as now. In his absence, it was expected to be a three-way fight among defending champion Fabrizio Mori of Italy, Olympic silver medallist, Hadi Souaan Al-Somaily of Saudi Arabia and Dominican Repubic's Felix Sanchez.
Al-Somaily led up to the ninth hurdle and then faded. The fight past the final hurdle was mainly the one between Sanchez and Mori, both good finishers. Sanchez won. The surprise packet was Japanese Dai Tamesue who claimed the bronze with his second National record at the meet, 47.89.
High jump: A surprise gold for German Martin Bus at a world-leading 2.36. World record holder Javier Sotomayor finished out of the medals bracket after having confidently cleared 2.33 on his first attempt. He failed at 2.36.
Buss scaled 2.36 while Russians Vyacheslav Voronin and Yaroslav Rybakov were tied at 2.33, the same as Sotomayor, but having taken just one attempt at 2.30. Sotomayor had cleared that height only on his second attempt and thus went out of medal calculations. The tie between the Russians could not be broken and two silvers were awarded. Another Russian, Olympic champion Sergey Klyugin was eliminated at 2.33.
Pole vault: Dmitri Markov was one failure away from elimination, but he went on to clear a personal best and a championship record of 6.05m to win the gold. It was a remarkable performance by the 26-year-old Belarus national, now representing Australia. "I am proud to have won the gold for Australia," said Markov who became only the third man in history to clear that height. Russian Maksim Tarasov had been the only athlete barring Sergey Bubka to have reached that high. Tarasov was not there to defend his title due to injuries.
Israeli Aleksandr Averbukh edged Olympic champion Nick Hysong of the US for the silver on a countback, both having cleared 5.85. German Michael Stolle and Frenchman Romain Mesnil also cleared 5.85 but they were placed fourth and fifth respectively. Eleven men either cleared or passed 5.75 and that sort of competition was bound to bring the best out of someone.
Markov took just seven jumps to reach 6.05. He unsuccessfully tried 6.10.
Long jump: Ivan Pedroso was hardly inspiring in the pre-meet build-up. But when it came to the big stage, the Cuban was able to deliver to win his fourth title on the trot. That he reached the least distance among all the four, should underscore the overall quality of the competition. Even with his 8.35 in the third round Pedroso was winning comfortably, but the Cuban eventually pegged it at 8.40 on his fifth jump.
American Collegiate champion, Savante Srtingfello fouled his first two jumps but came through to the medal round with an 8.22 and then upped it to 8.24 in the next round. "It was scary," said Stringfellow about the prospects of being eliminated. Carlos Calado of Portugal won the bronze on a countback after he tied at 8.21 with American Miguel Pate.
Triple jump: Jonathan Edwards, who else. The world record holder has been having a wonderful season, without injuries, and he looked to be in terrific form. As he said later, he thought he had an 18-plus jump in him that evening. The Briton reached 17.92 on his third jump and that happened to be the best for the year. It also effectively ended the competition.
Swede Christian Olsson, a high-jumper-turned triple jumper reached 17.47 for the silver while Russian Igor Spasovkhodskiy was three centimetres behind for the bronze. "He better go back to high jump," remarked Edwards jokingly about Olsson, a tribute to the Swede's remarkable progress.
Shot put: John Godina regained his title after C. J. Hunter had snatched it away last time. This was Godina's third gold in the Worlds. He killed the competition with an opening putt of 21.87 and only team-mate Adam Nelson and Godina himself crossed 21 metres after that. The champion fouled his last four throws. Olympic champion Arsi Harju of Finland did well to take the bronze at 20.93.
Discus: Lars Riedel threw to a championship record of 69.50 in the fourth round to overtake Olympic champion Virgilijus Alekna and then stretched it further to 69.72 in the fifth and let out a war cry. The German won the title for the fifth time, starting back in 1991. The sequence was broken by American Anthony Washington last time when Riedel had to be content with the bronze.
In an intense competition, Alekna had the silver with 69.40 while another German Michael Mollenbeck won the bronze. Alekna had three fouls while Riedel had none. The 34-year-old German was not much in the news this season, but showed that in big meets he was still a top-level contender.
Hammer: Another intense competition, but despite throwing the best series ever in a championship, Koji Murofushi was not able to win the gold. That was literally grabbed from under the Japanese nose by the Olympic champion, Szymon Ziolkowski, who came up with an 83.38 on his fifth throw. That mark bettered the 14-year-old championship record of Sergey Litvinov, which stood at 83.06.
Murofushi continued his remarkable run from the Grand Prix circuit with a series that would be the envy of the best ever: 79.91, 82.46, 81.95, 81.43, 82.92 and 82.61. On the last two throws the Japanese shook his head, though the crowd roared. He knew he had not overtaken the Pole. Ziolkowski was lavish in his praise of Murofushi, son of the legendary former Asian Games champion, Shigenobu Murofushi.
Javelin: This was by far the best that Jan Zelezny had thrown in the World championships. The three-time Olympic champion has now won the World title also three times and said that as he grew older he was able to understand more about throwing the javelin and hence his continued success.
Reigning champion Aki Parviainen threw an imposing 91.31 on his first attempt. He knew, everyone knew, that only Zelezny could improve on that. The Cezch said he was confident of overtaking that. An aiding wind provided ideal conditions for the throwers and Zelezny touched 92.80 on his second throw, the seventh best on the all-time chart. Six of them belong to Zelezny and one to Parviainen.
Against such supermen, Greek Konstadinos Gatsioudis could only manage the bronze, though his 89.95 was no mean achievement.
Decathlon: Tomas Dvorak must have wanted to win the title with a world record thrown in. But that did not happen. There was a keen fight on the opening day among Briton Dean Macey, Dvorak, and Olympic champion Erki Nool, but the Czech pulled away strongly right at the start of the second day with a 13.80 in the high hurdles. A 5.00m vault and a 68.53 in javelin gave him further cushion, though Nool came storming back with a 5.40 clearance in pole vault. Eventually, Dvorak tallied 8902 for a championship record while Nool had 8815 and Macey 8603.
World record holder Roman Sebrle suffered an injury in the 110m hurdles, and though he continued, he was never in contention after that. He finished 10th with 8174.
4x100m relay: The US team was disqualified in the heats, when lead-off Jon Drummond stepped into the outside lane. But on a protest, the team was re-instated on the argument that a muscle pull had forced Drummond to lose balance and step into the outer lane and in the spirit of sport the team should be re-instated.
The team was without the injured Maurice Greene and yet won the gold without sweat, in 37.96. South Africa was second while Trinidad and Tobago, with Ato Boldon on the backstraight, took the bronze. Britain, Germany and Cuba were disqualified in the heats for zone violations.
4x400m relay: The US again, but this time it had to work hard to overcome a stiff fight from the Bahamas. World champion Avard Moncur provided the lead to his team on the lead-off leg and it was not until the third leg that the US looked capable of asserting itself. On the anchor, Angelo Taylor ran superbly, as though to make up for his huge disappointment in the intermediate hurdles. The Bahamas edged the better-rated Jamaica at the finish for the silver.
20km walk: Roman Rasskazov of Russia was the winner over better-rated team-mate Ilya Markov. Just two seconds separated the two, but Markov was on two warnings. The Russian sweep of medals was completed by Viktor Burayev, who was one of the strong favourites for the gold.
50km walk: Robert Korzeniowski did not want to take on the load of competing at both distances, as he had done successfully at the Sydney Olympics. But he did not have any opposition in the longer event, ending in a world leading 3:42:08 and without a warning. Spain's Jesus Angel Garcia was second while Mexican Edgar Hernandez took the bronze.
Women: 100m: Marion Jones did not look the champion she had been the past four years. The loss in the semifinal to Zhanna Pintusevich suggested that it could be close in the final. But no one had bargained for another defeat for the American superstar. By the time the championships came to a close, Jones said that she had learnt much about her technique in the 100m and would be better prepared the next time. "Trevor (Graham) and myself are working out a few things. We should come up with something", she said.
For Pintusevich, this was a dream come true. She had taken off on a victory lap in Athens in 1997 but was brought down to earth when told that Jones had won. This time, though, there could be no doubts. Ekaterini Thanou of Greece was happy that she had the bronze despite a poor season.
200m: It had to be Marion Jones. The relief on her face said it all. She said she had not slept the day she lost the 100, trying to figure out what went wrong, running the race in her mind a thousand times. Then, the next day, she accepted the reality and decided to focus on the task on hand, the 200 metres.
Debbie Ferguson of the Bahamas did try hard towards the end, but Jones said that she had blasted the curve as per her coach's advice and put in such an effort over there that she had something to spare in the end. She admitted that she had started tightening up a little towards the finish, but her hard work over the turn had paid off.
There must have been some disappointment that the winning time was nothing better than a 22.39, but one had to understand that this was not the normal Marion Jones. Kelli White came storming through the last 10 metres for the bronze, her first medal at this level.
400m: Amy Thiam Mbacke of Senegal clocked a National record of 49.86 to win her first global title. In a field which had lost all its glamour because of the absence of Olympic champion Cathy Freeman of Australia, the Senegalese had mainly Ana Guevara of Mexico and German Grit Breuer to contend with after Briton Katahrine Merry dropped out due to injury. That is one thought till Jamaican Lorraine Fenton (nee Graham) pushed herself up on the straight from an outside lane to all but snatch the gold. Guevara was third.
800m: Maria Mutola was very late with her 'kick', but as she said, her experience at this level gives her the advantage to pull off such victories. Austrian Stephanie Graf will remain 'silver Stephanie'. She had taken off on the straight with Surinam's Letitia Vriesde not letting up on her front-running. Mutola came charging from behind and caught up with Graf with less than four metres to go and passed her on the line. Three-hundredth of a second separated gold and silver.
1,500m: Gabriela Szabo had never won this title on the global stage. Yet, she made it look very easy, outkicking everyone including the favourite and her countrywoman, Violeta Szekely, and romping home in style. Szekely, after having completely dominated the season, when Szabo did not run this distance at all, had to be satisfied with the silver while Russian Natalya Gorelova clinched the bronze. "I am so so happy today," said Szabo.
5,000m: Szabo lost miserably. Olga Yegorova showed guts aplenty after all the negative publicity following her EPO positive to pull off an easy victory. She was booed all right but that seemed to make no difference to the Russian.
The return of Chinese Dong Yanmei was a notable feature of his race. The Chinese looked capable of winning at least the silver but faded on the straight to be overtaken by Spain's Marta Dominguez and just at the finish by Ethiopia's Ayelech Worku.
10,000m: Once again Paula Radlciffe could not respond when the Ethiopians came up with their last-lap 'kicks'. The Briton had promised that she was ready for a better finish, but that did not come about. Olympic champion Derartu Tulu, Berhane Adere and Gete Wami completed the Ethiopian sweep.
Marathon: Lidia Simon at last has a global title. The Romanian had been trying without success. She had finished third in Seville and second in the Sydney Olympics. In this meet, with only some lesser-rated Japanese to challenge her, she had started as the favourite and maintained her reputation. Japanese Reiko Tosa could not answer Simon's kick from outside the stadium and was content to end up with the silver. Russian Svetlana Zakharova kicked past Japanese Yoko Shibui about 2km from the finish for the bronze.
100m hurdles: Gail Devers was beaten by team-mate Anjanette Kirkland. Devers had a poorer start, hit three hurdles and looked a little jaded. She had come through the rounds with the old fire still very much evident, but somehow that was lacking in the final. Kirkland clocked a world-leading 12.42 and Devers 12.54. It took a while for the photo-finish judges to separate Olympic champion Olga Shishigina of Kazakhstan from Bulgarian Svetla Dmitrova for the bronze, both being credited with 12.58.
400m hurdles: Last time in Seville, Nezha Bidouane thought she won but a hundredth of a second separated her from the Cuban, Daimi Pernia. This time Bidouane made sure that there would be no cause for doubts. She won with plenty to spare from Russian Yuliya Nosova while Pernia was third. The Moroccan clocked a world-leading 53.34.
High jump: Hestrie Cloete had ended up in tears last time, unable to qualify though she was rated as one of the favourites. The South African won this time, unseating defending champion Inga Babakova of Urkaine. Both cleared 2.00 metres and then failed to progress. Cloete had just one failure at that stage compared to Babakova's three and that settled the issue. Sweden's Kajsa Bergqvist won on a countback from Bulgarian Venelina Veneva, both at 1.97m.
Pole vault: The irrepressible Stacy Dragila was given the fight of her life by Russian Svetlana Feofanova before the American prevailed. Both tied at a championship record of 4.75 but Dragila had 4.65 on her second attempt compared to the Russian's third.
"I was prepared for the Russian," said Dragila a couple of days later. The American who had raised her world record to 4.81m this season, felt that the technical mistakes which led to delays broke the rhythm of the competitors a little.
Five vaulters, including China's Gao Shuying cleared 4.50 and Dragila and Feofanova went for the world record of 4.82 after they agreed by mutual consent to forego 4.80.
Long jump: Heike Drechsler was injured after her first jump in the qualification round. She received medical attention and jumped again, but did not take off properly and all but ran through though it was measured as 4.45m. Her elimination left the field open.
Italian Fiona May won at last with a wind-aided 7.02, Russain Tatyan Kotova was just a centimetre behind. "I was really sick of getting second all the time," said May, formerly a Briton of Jamaican origin. Kotova was so upset that she passed through the 'mixed zone' without a word. Champion at Seville, Niurka Montalvo, a Cuban now representing Spain, came third.
Triple jump: Tatyana Lebedeva's performance was the saving grace in a competition which never took off. Lebedeva opened with a 15.11 and ended with a 15.25. No one touched 15 with Olympic champion Marina Terezova down to the third position behind Cameroon's Francoise Etone Mbango. The Cameroon girl came up with a 14.60 on her last attempt that bettered the Bulgarian's second-round mark by two centimetres.
Shot put: Olympic champion Yanina Korolchik of Belarus made it a no-contest with a third-round throw of 20.61 which was a national mark. German Astrid Kumbernuss, winner on the last three occasions, managed only the sixth spot while Russian Larissa Peleshenko, Olympics silver medallist, was fourth. German Nadine Kleinert-Schmitt and Ukrainian Vita Pavlysh were the silver and bronze winners.
Discus: Natalya Sadova finally won what should have been her's even two years ago. The Russian produced an excellent series this time, her winning one, a world-leading 68.57m coming on her fourth throw. Olympic champion Ellina Zvereva promised much with a second-round 67.10 but that remained her best. Romanian Nicoleta Grasu was third.
Hammer: The surprise gold winner was Cuban Yipsi Moreno with a South American record of 70.65. In the absence of Romanian Mihaela Melinte who is under a doping suspension, one would have expected Russian Olga Kuzenkova to dominate the event, but after having opened with a 70.61 she could not reproduce that touch. The Cuban bettered that by four centimetres on her fourth attempt and held on to that lead. Bronwyn Eagles of Australia took the silver ahead of Olympic champion Kamila Skolimowska of Poland, who was heavily strapped.
Javelin: Without Trine Hattestad, who has retired, the javelin contest never really picked up. The latest world record holder, Osleidys Menendez won comfortably at 69.53 with Greek Mirela Manjani-Tzelili claiming the silver and Sonia Bisset giving Cuba another medal.
Heptathlon: Denise Lewis of Briton pulled out a day before the event began. That left Eunice Barber as the sole favourite for the crown. Alas, she came up with a 'no mark' in shot put and suddenly it was an open affair. Yelena Prohorova of Russia won with 6694 while Belarus's Natalya Sazanovich came second, followed by American Sheila Burrell.
4x100m: Marion Jones anchored confidently for a runaway victory for the US team. The others in the team which clocked 41.71s, were Kelli White, Chryste Gaines and Inger Miller. The team without Jones was beaten in the semis by France but in the final the positions were bound to change. German edged France for the silver.
4x400m: Suziann Reid dropped the baton on the anchor and the US sweep in the relays came unstuck. The team had moved smoothly with Michelle Collins handing over to Suziann but disaster struck the very next moment. Suziann seemed to have changed the baton from her left to the right but it came out of her hand. She picked up the baton and ran but it was too late. Jamaica won with Germany coming second.
20km walk: Russian Olimpiada Ivanova broke away early and held her position to win in a championship record of 1:27.48. She felt that this was a victory earned without trouble. She had prepared herself at high altitude and this was easy. Behind her many a big name, including her Russian team-mate Yelena Nikolayeva. The latter had tried to challenge Ivanova before being shown the red card.
The other disqualifications included reigning champion Liu Hongyu of China, Susana Feitor of Portugal,Kerry-Saxby Junna and Jane Saville of Australia and Sun Chunfang of China.
Valentina Tsybulskaya won the silver while Elisabetta Perrone of Italy claimed the bronze.
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