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ATHENS, Aug 24: Briton Kelly Holmes extinguished training partner Maria Mutola's dream of consecutive Olympic titles on Monday with an agonisingly close win in the women's 800 metres final.
Holmes, who has been overshadowed by the formidable Mozambican throughout a career also blighted by injury, sat at the back of the field for the first lap. She then gradually but remorselessly worked her way to the front, grabbing victory on the line in a blanket finish in one minute 56.38 seconds.
Hasna Benhassi of Morocco and Jolanda Ceplak of Slovenia finished second and third with both clocking the same time, five-hundredths of a second behind Holmes. Mutola finished out of the medals in fourth place.
American 400 metres champion Jeremy Wariner succeeded Michael Johnson as the Olympic gold medallist with a personal best of 44.00 seconds. He is now the eighth-fastest man in the all-time list headed by Johnson's world record 43.18 set at the 1999 Seville world championships.
Wariner, 20, led the fourth United States sweep in an Olympic 400 race, winning ahead of team mates Otis Harris (44.16) and Derrick Brew (44.42). In the final track race of the night, Meseret Defar of Ethiopia took the women's 5,000 metres gold by kicking 250 metres from the line to win in 14 minutes 45.65 seconds.
Kenya's Isabella Ochichi took silver in 14:48.19 with world champion Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia racing past Turkish world record-holder Elvan Abeylegesse to take the bronze.
Francoise Mbango Etone took the women's triple jump title, relegating the pre-Games favourite Tatyana Lebedeva into third place and becoming the first Cameroon woman in history to win an Olympic medal.
Mbango Etone, the 2001 and 2003 world championships silver medallist, leaped an African record 15.30 metres. Hrysopiyi Devetzi of Greece won the silver. There was also an upset in the men's discus where Hungarian Robert Fazekas took the gold ahead of Lithuania's world champion Virgilijus Alekna. In the morning session, Athanasia Tsoumeleka emerged from the pack in the 20km walk to win the host country's first athletics gold of the Games.
RESULTS OF TUESDAY'S FINALS:
MEN'S 400 METRES: 1. Jeremy Wariner (US) 44.00 seconds; 2. Otis Harris (US) 44.16; 3. Derrick Brew (US) 44.42; 4. Alleyne Francique (Grenada) 44.66; 5. Brandon Simpson (Jamaica) 44.76; 6. Davian Clarke (Jamaica) 44.83; 7. Leslie Djhone (France) 44.94; 8. Michael Blackwood (Jamaica) 45.55.
MEN'S DISCUS: 1. Robert Fazekas (Hungary) 70.93 metres; 2. Virgilijus Alekna (Lithuania) 69.89; 3. Zoltan Kovago (Hungary) 67.04; 4. Aleksander Tammert (Estonia) 66.66; 5. Vasiliy Kaptyukh (Belarus) 65.10; 6. Frantz Kruger (South Africa) 64.34; 7. Casey Malone (US) 64.33; 8. Lars Riedel (Germany) 62.80; 9. Hannes Hopley (South Africa) 62.58; 10. Torsten Schmidt (Germany) 61.18; 11. Libor Malina (Czech Republic) 58.78; 12. Gabor Mate (Hungary) 57.84.
WOMEN'S 800 METRES: 1. Kelly Holmes (Britain) one minute 56.38 seconds; 2. Hasna Benhassi (Morocco) 1:56.43; 3. Jolanda Ceplak (Slovenia) 1:56.43; 4. Maria Mutola (Mozambique) 1:56.51; 5. Tatyana Andrianova (Russia) 1:56.88; 6. Jearl Miles Clark (US) 1:57.27; 7. Maria Cioncan (Romania) 1:59.62; 8. Zulia Calatayud (Cuba) 2:00.95.
WOMEN'S 5000 METRES: 1. Meseret Defar (Ethiopia) 14 minutes 45.65 seconds; 2. Isabella Ochichi (Kenya) 14:48.19; 3. Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia) 14:51.83; 4. Yelena Zadorozhnaya (Russia) 14:55.52; 5. Joanne Pavey (Britain) 14:57.87; 6. Gulnara Samitova (Russia) 15:02.30; 7. Irina Mikitenko (Germany) 15:03.36; 8. Sun Yingjie (China) 15:07.23; 9. Xing Huina (China) 15:07.41; 10. Sentayehu Ejigu (Ethiopia) 15:09.55; 11. Margaret Maury (France) 15:09.77; 12. Elvan Abeylegesse (Turkey) 15:12.64; 13. Liliya Shobukhova (Russia) 15:15.64; 14. Sonia O'Sullivan (Ireland) 16:20.90. Edith Masai (Kenya) Did not finish.
WOMEN'S 20KM WALK: 1. Athanasia Tsoumeleka (Greece) one hour 29:12 minutes; 2. Olimpiada Ivanova (Russia) 1:29:16; 3. Jane Saville (Australia) 1:29:25; 4. Margarita Turova (Belarus) 1:29:39; 5. Melanie Seeger (Germany) 1:29:52; 6. Elisa Rigaudo (Italy) 1:29:57; 7. Maria Vasco (Spain) 1:30:06; 8. Wang Liping (China) 1:30:16; 9. Yelena Ginko (Belarus) 1:30:22; 10. Athina Papayianni (Greece) 1:30:37; 11. Rossella Giordano (Italy) 1:30:39; 12. Kjersti Platzer (Norway) 1:30:49; 13. Yuliya Voyevodina (Russia) 1:31:02; 14. Song Hongjuan (China) 1:31:27; 15. Valentina Tsybulskaya (Belarus) 1:31:49; 16. Sabine Zimmer (Germany) 1:31:59; 17. Yelena Nikolayeva (Russia) 1:32:16; 18. Elisabetta Perrone (Italy) 1:32:21; 19. Kristina Saltanovic (Lithuania) 1:32:22; 20. Susana Feitor (Portugal) 1:32:47. -Reuters
