Day 9 - 10 August 1997

Report by Nick Davies IAAF

With 80,000 people roaring him on, Ukraine’s Sergey Bubka became the only athlete in history to win six consecutive World Championship titles in a dramatic pole vault contest. Forced out of the Olympic Games last year with a serious achilles injury which meant he could only compete three times (5.60, 5.60 and 5.70) before Athens, many thought the 34 year-old was finished. Yet Bubka summoned all his incredible competitive drive before soaring over 6.01 while Maksim Tarasov, who cleared 6.00 in Nice this summer, could only manage 5.96. Bubka vaulted only five times, and although his first two clearances - at 5.70 and 5.91 - were a little awkward, his final effort, a new championship record, was a beauty. With victory assured, Bubka thought about trying to improve his own world record to 6.15, but changed his mind, and sat grinning on the bench waving six fingers in the air. Bubka’s first world title - fourteen years ago - came when he was a youthful representative of the former Soviet Union. "It was not so easy tonight. I am really happy because I am still recovering from injury. My strategy was to pass at 5.96 - because I always felt that 6.01 would be necessary for a medal. So why waste effort? I found a lot of motivation from being the only man who could win six titles."

Bronze went to Dean Starkey of the USA, who cleared a season’s best 5.91. Olympic champion Jean Galfione (the last three Olympic champions were in this competition) had three fouls at 5.70.

It was a great night for serial-champions, with Lars Riedel winning his fourth consecutive world title in the discus. The German giant, one of the most amiable athletes on the international circuit, was shocked by 37 year-old countryman Jurgen Schult, who took the first round lead with 66.14, but responded with two huge efforts - 68.24, then 68.54 - to make sure of gold.

Watched from the stands by5 the great Kip Keino, young Daniel Komen won the 5000m tonight like a good Kenyan. He stayed in touch with the early pacemakers until 3,000 metres before unleashing a burst of speed that tore the heart out of his rivals. Komen’s incredible surge meant he covered the third kilometre in 2:28.34, and, with his closest rival some 40 metres behind, he had only to maintain his lead for the gold medal his talent so richly deserves. Two Kenyans and two Moroccans took the first four places - confirmation that they are the strongest distance running nations on earth, while Germany’s 1992 Olympic champion Dieter Baumann finishing as the first non-African in fifth place. 21 year-old Komen, who was not selected for Atlanta last year but ran brilliantly on the Grand Prix circuit, spoke of the debt he owed to his countrymen: "I have always based my running on the pace and the past feats of the great Kip Keino and Moses Kiptanui [Komen’s coach]. As soon as I came to Athens I faced a lot of pressure and have found the best way to tackle it. This race was very different, and much harder, than a Grand Prix. There are lots of tactics and anyone can win. Now I plan to race Gebrselassie in Zurich over 5000m." Silver medallist was Morocco’s Khalid Boulami while Kenya’s Thomas Nyariki - who has been sharing a room with Komen and agreed tactics before the race - won the bronze.

Hanne Haugland, won Norway’s second gold of the championships in a thrilling high jump tie-breaker. Haugland, Olga Kaliturina (RUS) and Inga Babakova (UKR) - were tied for first place on 1.96 but all failed at 1.99, so that height was set for a "jump-off". Haugland arched her back over 1.99 on her first attempt, and her celebration became more ecstatic after both rivals failed.

With Patricia Girard disqualified for making three false starts, the 100m hurdles final got off to a twitchy start. But once into her running, the powerful Russian-born-Swede Ludmila Lungqvist had no peer and she crossed the line a good metre ahead of Bulgaria’s Svetla Dimitrova - 12.50 to 12.58.

Although strong performances by countries like Nigeria, Brazil, Cuba and Great Britain in the semi-final, Canada won the men’s 4x100m after a blistering anchor leg run by Donovan Bailey. In the men’s 4x400m, with Michael Johnson and Butch Reynolds out of the team, many expected the strong British team to win its country’s first gold medal of these championships. But in stepped Chris Jones for the USA and, after a great collective effort, his team clocked 2:56.47 - to finish two metres clear of the Brits. In the women’s 4x400m, a terrific anchor leg by Grit Breuer, the 1991 400m silver medallist, helped Germany beat the USA by just 11 hundredths of a second. There was less than a second between first and fourth place, or between $80,000 and nothing in terms of prize money.