Report 4 - Day 3
March 9 - 18:30
Nick Davies
reports from Paris
 Stacy Dragila of the USA
stunned Australia’s world record holder Emma
George to win the first ever World Championship
women’s pole vault competition. Dragila
cleared 4.40m on her second attempt to equal
George’s indoor world record. The
Australian, who entered the competition at 4.00m,
had an excellent first time clearance at 4.35m as
did the impressive Chinese athlete Weiyan Cai.
But it was Dragila, who only just stayed in the
competition at that stage, who then held her
nerve best. With the bar raised to 4.40m Cai had
three narrow failures while Dragila cleared well.
George, crucially, failed twice and then elected
to save her third and final attempt for the next
round. It was to no avail, the Australian seemed
to be clear at 4.45m but the bar swayed on its
upright before falling to earth. Gamely, George
smiled and waved to her supporters in the stand.
With gold already in her pocket Dragila had three
narrow misses at a new world record height. With
no women’s pole vault in this year’s
World Championships, these terrific athletes will
have to wait two years for the chance of a truly
global clash outdoors.
Although
disappointing by the high standards of Paris, the
men’s high jump confirmed the current
eminence of Olympic high jump champion Charles
Austin who cleared 2.35m. Greek sports fans had
cause to celebrate again as Lambros Papakostas
secured silver with 2.32m. Yugoslavia’s
Dragutin Topic cleared the same height but
finished third on count-back.
This Championships
will be remembered not just for Greek surprises
but for the impact of the Cubans. In the triple
jump Yoel Garcia upset his countryman Elicier
Urrutia, who recently set the world indoor record
of 17.83m, to win his first major gold. His 3rd
round effort of 17.30m remained the best mark
while Russia’s Alex Aseledchenko threatened
Urrutia’s 17.27m with a last round pb of
17.22m. In total, Cuba won three golds and two
silvers in Paris to finish second in the overall
medal count behind the mighty USA. Greece, with
two golds and a silver, finished fifth.
 Italy’s British born
long jumper Fiona May rediscovered the form that
won her an unexpected gold in the 1995 outdoor
World Championships. May, who claimed not to have
made any special preparations for Paris, set a
new Italian record of 6.86m to clinch victory
ahead of Olympic champion Chioma Ajunwa and world
record holder Heike Drechsler.
The 4x400m relay
finals provided the usual thrills to round off an
exciting three days of track action in
Paris’ Bercy Stadium. The women’s race,
first off, showed the dominance of the Russian
team, who were clearly not content with just
winning, but also wanted to set a new world
record. After finishing in 3:26.84., the Russians
can now look forward to sharing a total pot of
$110,000. Commemorative awards were given to
world record breakers Tatyana Chebykina, Svetlana
Goncharenko, Olga Kotlyarova and Tatyana
Alekseyeva by the Chairman of MITA Europe. He had
earlier presented one to Wilson Kipketer during
the men’s 800m medal ceremony.
In the men’s
race, won easily by the USA, there was drama on
the second leg as the Japanese runner Dai
Tamesue, seemed to be shoved to the ground by
Russia’s Mashchenko. Changeovers resembled
rugby scrums and a battle royal waged for the
minor medals once Mark Everett had given the USA
an unassailable lead. In the end Jamaica took
silver and France, stirred on by the crowd,
pipped Russia for the bronze.
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