Russians also finished 1-2 in the women’s 400 as Olesya Zykina edged Natalya Nazarova by .01 seconds. Zykina’s winning time was 51.09. American Shareese Woods took the bronze with a personal best 51.41.
Zykina and Nazarova then teamed to help win another gold in the 4 x 400 meter relay. Yulia Gushchina and Tatyana Levina ran the first two legs, followed by Nazarova and Zykina. The Russians won in 3:28.17. Belarus took the silver in 3:28.90, while the American quartet of Angel Perkins, Miriam Barnes, Woods and Moushaumi Robinson gained the bronze (3:29.30).
Nazarova’s two gold medals give her a record-tying total of seven in World Indoor competition, including five in the 4 x 400.
Maria Mutola of Mozambique, the first woman to win seven World Indoor gold medals, had to settle for a bronze in this year’s 800 meters, with a time of 2:02.97. Australia’s Tamsyn Lewis was the surprise winner (2:02.57) with Ukrainian Tetiana Petlyuk (2:02.66) taking the silver.
The U.S. gained two gold medals on Day 3, including the men’s 4 x 400 relay, where the Americans finished in 3:06.79 to edge Jamaica by .9 seconds. The Dominican Republic was third (3:07.77). The U.S. team included James Davis, Jamaal Torrance, Greg Nixon and Kelly Willie.
Bryan Clay gained a solid victory in the heptathlon with 6371 points. Andrei Krauchanka of Belarus was second (6234) followed by Dimitriy Karpov of Kazakhstan (6131).
Decathlon world record holder Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic was second after four events, trailing Clay 3736-3562. Sebrle then suffered a cramp during the 60 meter hurdles that ended his day.
Russia’s Evgeniy Lukyanenko cleared 5.90 meters on his first try to gain the men’s pole vault gold. American Brad Walker cleared 5.85, passed at 5.90, but missed three times at 5.95 to settle for silver, while Australia’s Steven Hooker gained the bronze (5.80).
Canada earned its only gold medal of the event when Tyler Christopher used a furious finishing kick to win the men’s 400 meters in 45.67 seconds. Christopher passed Sweden’s Johan Wissman (46.04) and Bahamian Chris Brown (46.26) to win.
Sudan’s 18-year-old Abubaker Kaki Khamis became the youngest World Indoor champion, winning the men’s 800 meters with a time of 1:44.81. South African Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, the 2004 Indoor champion, took second (1:44.91) and Yusuf Saad Kamel of Bahrain placed third (1:45.26).
New Zealand’s Valerie Vili reached 20.19 meters on her first shot put attempt and could’ve called it a day, as no other woman reached 20 meters. Vili’s next two best throws (20.07 and 19.89) would also have won the gold. Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus won the silver (19.74) while China’s Meiju Li gained the bronze (19.09).
As in 2006, a Bekele won the men’s 3000, but this time of was Ethiopian Tariku Bekele, younger brother of defending champ Kenenisa, who won the gold, with a time of 7:48.23. Paul Kipsiele Koech of Kenya was second (7:49.05) and Ethiopian Abreham Cherkos placed third (7:49.96).
Portugal’s Naide Gomes and Maurren Higa Maggi of Brazil exchanged the women’s high jump lead during the first three rounds before Gomes took charge with a 7.00-meter leap in the fifth round. Maggi gained the silver with her 6.89-meter effort from the third round, while Irina Simagina of Russian earned the bronze (6.88).
The second round of the men’s triple jump proved decisive, as Great Britain’s Phillips Idowu leaped 17.75 meters to earn the gold while Arnie David Girat of Cuba gained the silver with his 17.47-meter effort in the same round. Portugal’s Nelson Evora won the bronze (17.27) with his third-round jump.
World Outdoor champion Blanka Vlasic of Croatia won the women’s high jump at 2.03 meters. Vlasic cleared the bar on her second attempt. Russia’s Elena Slesarenko was second with Vita Palamar of Ukraine third. Both topped 2.01 meters, but Slesarenko had fewer misses.
The U.S. finished with five gold, five silver and three bronze medals. Russia was next with five golds, four silvers and three bronzes. Ethiopia had three golds, a silver and two bronzes while Great Britain earned one gold plus four silver medals. Sixteen nations gained gold medals while 36 countries won at least one medal.
