A highly-anticipated shot put final featured a rematch between Americans Reese Hoffa, the defending World Indoor champion, and 2004 champ Christian Cantwell. The two dueled at the U.S. nationals two weeks earlier, with Cantwell emerging victorious.
At Valencia, Hoffa grabbed the lead on his second attempt with a 21.20-meter toss, but Cantwell took charge with a throw measuring 21.59 meters in the third round. Hoffa fouled on his final three throws, while Cantwell reached 21.77 meters with the fifth of his six attempts to earn the gold medal. Hoffa placed second with Poland's Tomasz Majewski third (20.93).
Angela Williams ran a personal best 7.06 seconds to win the women’s 60-meters. A two-time World Indoor runner-up, Williams edged Great Britain’s Janette Kwakye (7.08) and Tahesia Harrigan of the British Virgin Islands ( 7.09).
Olusoji Fasuba of Nigeria pulled away in the final 20 meters to win the men’s 60 with a time of 6.51, matching the clocking from his semifinal heat. Kim Collins, from St. Kitts and Nevis, finished second, in a near dead-heat with Great Britain’s Dwain Chambers. Both were officially clocked in 6.54.
European high jump champion Tia Hellebaut of Belgium used her strongest event to good advantage while winning the pentathlon championship. She cleared 1.99 meters in the high jump to gain 1224 points, 195 points ahead of the next best jumper, Russia’s Anna Bogdanova, and 233 ahead of eventual silver medalist Kelly Sotherton of Great Britain.
Hellebaut was also strong in the long jump, placing second, and the 60-meter hurdles, in which she was third, although Sotherton won both of those events. Sotherton also beat Hellebaut in the shot put, but still trailed by 107 points entering the final event, the 800-meter run.
Sotherton made a strong effort in the 800, running a personal best 2:09.95 to score 965 points. A seemingly exhausted Hellebaut stumbled across the finish line and took sixth among the eight competitors, with a time of 2:16.42. But that time was good enough, gaining Hellebaut 873 points for a total of 4867, 15 points ahead of Sotherton. Bogdanova gained the bronze with 4753 points.
Day 2:
Lolo Jones was the USA’s lone gold-medal winner during the second day of competition as she won the 60-meter hurdles in 7.80 seconds, defeating fellow American Candice Davis (7.93) and Cuba’s Anay Tejeda (7.98). Susanna Kallur of Sweden, who recently broke the 60-meter indoor world record, dropped out with a pulled hamstring before her semifinal heat.On the men’s side, world record-holder Liu Xiang of China was more fortunate, winning the gold with a clocking of 7.46 seconds. Almost as impressive was Allen Johnson’s performance. At age 37, the American ran 7.55 to take the silver. Russian Evgeniy Borisov and Stanislavs Olijars of Latvia both ran 7.60 to earn bronze medals.
As usual at the World Indoors, Stefan Holm Sweden and Russian Yaroslav Rybakov dueled in the men’s high jump, with Holm gaining his fourth title in the last five Indoor Championships. Rybakov won the event in 2006 and placed second in 2003 and 2004.
This time, Rybakov led after leaping 2.34 meters, while Holm passed. Holm, who’d needed three jumps to clear 2.30, succeeded at 2.36 meters while Rybakov missed once, then passed. But Rybakov’s strategy failed when he missed twice at 2.38. American Andra Manson jumped 2.30 to claim one of two bronze medals, tying with Kyriakos Ioannou of Cyprus.
Strategy may have also played a role in the women’s pole vault final, as Russian Yelena Isinbayeva and American Jennifer Stuczynski both cleared 4.75 meters, but Isinbayeva won the gold as her total of three misses beat Stuczynski’s four. Both jumpers passed at 4.80, then missed three times each at 4.85. Stuczynski also missed once at 4.75. Had the American attempted, and cleared, at 4.80, she might have scored an upset. Brazilian Fabiana Murer and Monika Pyrek of Poland shared the bronze (4.70).
In the women’s 3000, Meseret Defar paced herself perfectly, driving past the field on the final lap to win her third consecutive Indoor title, with a time of 8:38.79. Fellow Ethiopian Melelech Melkamu was second (8:41.50) with Morocco's Mariem Alaoui Selsouli third (8:41.66).
In the women’s triple jump, Cuban Yargelis Savigne passed leader Hrysopiyi Devetzi of Greece on her final jump to claim the gold. Savigne, the 2007 World Outdoor champion, leaped 15.05 meters on her sixth attempt to surpass Devetzi’s 15.00. Devetzi jumped 14.91 on her last try and had to settle for silver. Marija Sestak of Slovakia placed third (14.68).
In similar fashion, South African Godfrey Khotso Mokoena took the lead in the men’s long jump in the fifth round to gain the gold with an 8.08-meter performance. Great Britain’s Chris Tomlinson jumped 8.06 meters on his first attempt and took the silver. Tomlinson’s sixth-round jump measured 7.95, leaving Mokoena – who’d fouled in the sixth round – with the victory. Mohamed Salman Al Khuwalidi of Saudi Arabia was third (8.01).
Juan Carlos Higuero gave the host nation, Spain, its first medal of the event by placing third in the highly-competitive men’s 1500 with a time of 3:38.82, edging fellow countryman Arturo Casado (3:38.88). Ethiopian Deresse Mekonnen took top honors, with a time of 3:38.23, while Daniel Kipchirchir Komen of Kenya won the silver (3:38.54).
