Report 1 - Day 3
March 9 - 13:00
Nick Davies
reports from Paris
It is now a decade
since Stefka Kostadinova set the current world
outdoor record of 2.09m at the IAAF World
Championships in Rome, but in Bercy late last
night, the Bulgarian turned back the clock. Her
performance, which saw her make first time
clearances at all heights up to 2.02m, was
sublime. Already the reigning Olympic and World
Champion outdoors and world indoor champion in
1987,1989 and 1993, Kostadinova lacked only one
thing going into this competition: the world
indoor record of 2.07m set by Heike Henkel in
1992. Once clear at 2.02m, and with Inga Babakova
of the Ukraine and Norway’s Hanne Haugland
both failing at that height, Kostadinova knew the
gold was hers. And such was her confidence that
when she rushed over to the judges to declare the
next height one sensed her intention. The mark
flashed up "2.08m" to a roar from the
die-hard aficionados still left in the stadium.
It was close, but Kostadinova brushed off the bar
with each of her three attempts. But she had the
consolation of knowing that she if she is already
in 2.06 shape then her outdoor world record will
be under threat later this year. Like many of the
events in Paris, the women’s high jump was
excellent in depth. Eight competitors bettered
1.95m, two more than in Barcelona ‘95, with
Haugland and Babakova both equalling national
records.
Sonia
O’Sullivan, seeking to make up for her major
disappointment at the 1996 Olympic Games in
Atlanta when illness wrecked her hopes, looked
like she had indoor gold wrapped up when she led
the women’s 3000m  with less than a lap to go.
But the lanky Irish runner, who last ran indoors
in 1992, committed a cardinal error by moving out
wide. As Romania’s Gabriela Szabo sneaked
past on the inside with just fifty metres to go
O’Sullivan grimaced in anguish but could not
regain the lead. The short, fast stepping Szabo,
tailor made for indoor tracks, retained her World
Indoor title. Her winning time of 8:45.75 was the
fastest this year while O’Sullivan broke the
Irish record to clock 8:46.19. Szabo, who won
Olympic silver at 1500m after
"flopping" at her main event the 5000m,
has proved yet again, that she can be dangerous
at all distance from 1500m to 10,000m on the
track, the road and cross country. Olympic
10,000m champion Fernanda Ribeiro claimed the
bronze, but she was not in top form, finishing
three seconds behind O’Sullivan.
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