September 03, 2007	Monday	Sha'aban 20, 1428

OSAKA (Japan), Sept 2: The finale of the World Athletics Championships belonged to the glittering United States track team on a Sunday night spiced up by charismatic European performances in the field.

American Allyson Felix, assisted by DeeDee Trotter, Mary Wineberg and Sanya Richards, ran away with her third gold medal of the championships in the women’s 4x400m relay.

She was joined as a multiple gold medallist by compatriots Jeremy Wariner, anchor of the triumphant men’s 4x400 team, and Bernard Lagat who became the first man to win the 1,500 and 5,000 titles at the same worlds.

Felix, Wariner and their team mates embraced and draped themselves in U.S. flags. Sunday’s victories meant the US became the first nation to sweep all four relays in world championships history.

Felix became only the second woman to win three golds at the same world championships after East German Marita Koch in 1983.

While the Star-Spangled Banner rang out over Osaka, stunning individual performances on the field earned first gold medals for both Croatia and Finland.

A tearful Blanka Vlasic captured the hearts of the Nagai stadium with a commanding victory in the high jump.

The 23-year-old clinched the title by sailing over the bar at 2.05m. Jumping to her feet, one hand on her hip, one pointing to the sky, she treated the Osaka crowd to an impromptu dance and wiggle as she celebrated gold.

She was not finished yet, though, and went after Stefka Kostadinova’s world record of 2.09m. The Croatian clipped the bar on each occasion, though, before falling to the mat and sobbing as her triumph sank in.

In the javelin, Finn Tero Pitkamaki utilised his uniquely acrobatic style to confirm gold with his final throw.

Already assured of victory, he hurled the javelin skywards and himself to the ground to propel his final effort 90.33m, the longest of the night.

Norway’s Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen took silver in 88.61m and American Breaux Greer bronze.

Felix and her team mates won in a time of three minutes 18.55 seconds. Jamaica were again forced to play second fiddle, with Britain taking bronze.

Wariner’s team-mates LaShawn Merritt, Angelo Taylor and Darold Williamson had all but won their relay race when the individual 400m champion took over for the final leg.

He crossed the line in two minutes 55.56 seconds, the third fastest time in history as the US won the event for the eighth time in 11 world championships. The Bahamas took silver and Poland a surprise bronze.

In the 800 metres, Kenya’s Alfred Kirwa Yego beat Canadian Gary Reed by just one hundredth of a second. The 20-year-old winning time was one minute 47.09 seconds and he became the first Kenyan to win the event since Paul Ruto at Stuttgart in 1993.

Bahrain’s Maryam Yusuf Jamal claimed her first world title with victory in the 1,500 metres.

Kenyan-born Lagat’s 5,000m victory in 13.45.87 capped an incredible double for the 32-year-old who only this year became eligible to represent the US in international competition.

Lagat joined Hicham El Guerrouj, who achieved the feat at the 2004 Olympics, and Paavo Nurmi (1924 Olympics) in winning both titles at a single global championship.

Results of finals on Sunday:

Men’s 5,000 metres: 1. Bernard Lagat (US) 13:45.87; 2. Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) 13:46.00; 3. Moses Kipsiro (Uganda) 13:46.75; 4. Matt Tegenkamp (US) 13:46.78; 5. Tariku Bekele (Ethiopia) 13:47.33; 6. Mo Farah (Britain) 13:47.54; 7. Jesus Espana (Spain) 13:50.55; 8. Abreham Feleke (Ethiopia) 13:51.01; 9. Felix Kikwai Kibore (Qatar) 13:51.18; 10. Ali Abdalla (Eritrea) 13:52.69; 11. Adam Goucher (US) 13:53.17; 12. Hicham Bellani (Morocco) 13:55.44; 13. Craig Mottram (Australia) 13:56.24; 14. Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico) 13:59.86; 15. Benjamin Limo (Kenya) 14:01.25.

Women’s marathon: 1. Catherine Ndereba (Kenya) 2:30.37; 2. Zhou Chunxiu (China) 2:30.45; 3. Reiko Tosa (Japan) 2:30.55; 4. Zhu Xiaolin (China) 2:31.21; 5. Lidia Simon (Romania) 2:31.26; 6. Kiyoko Shimahara (Japan) 2:31.40; 7. Rita Jeptoo (Kenya) 2:32.03; 8. Edith Masai (Kenya) 2:32.22; 9. Mara Yamauchi (Britain) 2:32.55; 10. Lyubov Morgunova (Russia) 2:33.41; 11. Zhang Shujing (China) 2:33.46; 12. Gulnara Vygovskaya (Russia) 2:33.57; 13. Nina Rillstone (New Zealand) 2:33.58; 14. Mari Ozaki (Japan) 2:35.04; 15. Madai Perez (Mexico) 2:35.17; 16. Souad Ait Salem (Algeria) 2:35.29; 17. Anna Incerti (Italy) 2:36.36; 18. Yumiko Hara (Japan) 2:36.40; 19. Tracey Morris (Britain) 2:36.40; 20. Melanie Kraus (Germany) 2:37.20.

Men’s 800 metres: 1. Alfred Kirwa Yego (Kenya) one minute 47.09 seconds; 2. Gary Reed (Canada) 1:47.10; 3. Yuriy Borzakovskiy (Russia) 1:47.39; 4. Abraham Chepkirwok (Uganda) 1:47.41; 5. Wilfred Bungei (Kenya) 1:47.42; 6. Amine Laalou (Morocco) 1:47.45; 7. Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (South Africa) 1:47.52; 8. Mohamed Al Salhi (Saudi Arabia) 1:47.58.

Women’s 1500 metres: 1. Maryam Yusuf Jamal (Bahrain) three minutes 58.75 seconds; 2. Yelena Soboleva (Russia) 3:58.99; 3. Irina Lishchynska (Ukraine) 4:00.69; 4. Daniela Yordanova (Bulgaria) 4:00.82; 5. Meriem Alaoui Selsouli (Morocco) 4:01.52; 6. Viola Kibiwot (Kenya) 4:02.10; 7. Yuliya Chizhenko (Russia) 4:02.46; 8. Agnes Samaria

(Namibia) 4:07.61; 9. Natalya Pantelyeva (Russia) 4:07.82; 10. Lidia Chojecka (Poland) 4:08.64; 11. Nataliya Tobias (Ukraine) 4:10.56; 12. Iris Fuentes-Pila (Spain) 4:14.00.

Men’s javelin: 1. Tero Pitkamaki (Finland) 90.33 metres; 2. Andreas Thorkildsen (Norway) 88.61; 3. Breaux Greer (US) 86.21; 4. Vadims Vasilevskis (Latvia) 85.19; 5. Aleksandr Ivanov (Russia) 85.18; 6. John Oosthuizen (South Africa) 84.52; 7. Igor Janik (Poland) 83.38; 8. Tero Jarvenpaa (Finland) 82.10; 9. Guillermo Martinez (Cuba) 82.03; 10. Magnus Arvidsson (Sweden) 81.98; 11. Eriks Rags (Latvia) 80.01; 12. Teemu Wirkkala (Finland) 78.01.

Women’s 4x400-metre relay: 1. US three minutes 18.55 seconds (D. Trotter/A. Felix/M. Wineberg/S. Richards); 2. Jamaica 3:19.73 (S. Williams/S. Lloyd/D. Prendergast/N. Williams); 3. Britain 3:20.04 (C. Ohuruogu/M. Okoro/L. McConnell/N. Sanders); 4. Russia 3:20.25 (L. Litvinova/N. Nazarova/T. Veshkurova/N. Antyukh); 5. Belarus 3:21.88 (Y. Yushchanka/I. Khlyustova/I. Usovich/S. Usovich); 6. Poland 3:26.49 (Z. Radecka/G. Prokopek/E. Setowska-Drick/A. Jesien); 7. Cuba 3:27.05 (A. Martinez/D. Pernia/Z. Calatayud/I. Terrero); 8. Mexico 3:29.14 (Z. Rodriguez/G. Medina/N. Vela/A. Guevara).Women’s high jump: 1. Blanka Vlasic (Croatia) 2.05 metres; 2. Anna Chicherova (Russia) 2.03; 2. Antonietta Di Martino (Italy) 2.03; 4. Yelena Slesarenko (Russia) 2.00; 5. Yekaterina Savchenko (Russia) 2.00; 6. Ruth Beitia (Spain) 1.97; 7 equal. Marina Aitova (Kazakhstan) 1.94, 7 equal. Kajsa Bergqvist (Sweden) 1.94, 7 equal. Emma Green (Sweden) 1.94, 7 equal. Vita Palamar (Ukraine) 1.94, 7 equal. Melanie Skotnik (France) 1.94; 12. Amy Acuff (US) 1.94; 13. Miruna Mataoanu (Romania) 1.90; 14. Tia Hellebaut (Belgium) 1.90; 15 equal. Barbora Lalakova (Czech Republic) 1.90, 15 equal. Lavern Spencer (St Lucia) 1.90.

Men’s 4x400-metre relay: 1. US two minutes 55.56 seconds (L. Merritt/A. Taylor/D. Williamson/J. Wariner); 2. Bahamas 2:59:18 (A. Moncur/M. Mathieu/A. Williams/C. Brown); 3. Poland 3:00.05 (M. Plawgo/D. Dabrowski/M. Marciniszyn/K. Kozlowski); 4. Jamaica 3:00.76 (M. Blackwood/R. Chambers/L. Green/S. Ayre); 5. Russia 3:01.62 (M. Dyldin/V. Frolov/K. Svechkar/D. Alekseyev); 6. Britain 3:02.94 (A. Steele/R. Tobin/R. Buck/M. Rooney); 7. Dominican Republic 3:03.56 (F. Sanchez/Y. Tapia/C. Santa/A. Peguero); 8. Germany 3:07.40 (I. Schultz/S. Kirch/K. Gaba/B. Swillims).

—Reuters

Final medals table

(Tabulated under gold, silver, bronze, total):

United States 14 4 8 26

Kenya 5 3 5 13

Russia 4 9 3 16

Ethiopia 3 1 0 4

Germany 2 2 3 7

Czech Republic 2 1 0 3

Australia 2 0 0 2

Jamaica 1 6 3 10

Bahamas 1 2 0 3

Great Britain 1 1 3 5

Belarus 1 1 1 3

Cuba 1 1 1 3

China 1 1 1 3

Bahrain 1 1 0 2

Croatia 1 0 0 1

Ecuador 1 0 0 1

Estonia 1 0 0 1

Finland 1 0 0 1

New Zealand 1 0 0 1

Panama 1 0 0 1

Portugal 1 0 0 1

Sweden 1 0 0 1

Italy 0 2 1 3

Canada 0 2 0 2

France 0 2 0 2

Spain 0 1 2 3

Ukraine 0 1 1 2

Brazil 0 1 0 1

Dominican Rep 0 1 0 1

Morocco 0 1 0 1

Norway 0 1 0 1

Qatar 0 1 0 1

Slovenia 0 1 0 1

Turkey 0 1 0 1

Poland 0 0 3 3

Belgium 0 0 1 1

Cyprus 0 0 1 1

Greece 0 0 1 1

Japan 0 0 1 1

Kazakhstan 0 0 1 1

Netherlands 0 0 1 1

Slovakia 0 0 1 1

Sri Lanka 0 0 1 1

Switzerland 0 0 1 1

Tunisia 0 0 1 1

Uganda 0 0 1 1