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Easy does it 'Gold Shoes' Johnson qualifies for 400 meter final
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Cuba's Javier Sotomayor, whose doping suspension was reduced in time for him to compete at the Sydney Olympics, took advantage of that decision by leaping to the silver medal in the high jump. The event was won by Sergey Kliugin of Russia, the only competitor to clear 2.35 meters (7 feet-8 1-2 inches) in Sunday's rain-swept event. Sotomayor was second, with a best jump of 2.32 (7-7 1-4). Abderrahmane Hammad of Algeria also cleared 2.32 (7-7 1-4), but took the bronze because he had one more miss than Sotomayor. The Cuban got his second Olympic medal, adding to the 1992 gold in Barcelona. Denise Lewis of Britain won the heptathlon with 6,584 points. Yelena Prokhorova of Russia took the silver with 6,531 and Natalia Sazanovich of Belarus, the 1996 silver medalist, got bronze this time with 6,527.
Tereza Marinova of Bulgaria won the women's triple jump with a leap of 15.20 meters (49-101/2). Tatiana Lebedeva of Russia jumped 15 meters (49-2 1-2) to win the silver medal and Olena Hovorova of Ukraine got the bronze at 14.96 (49-1). The men's hammer throw, delayed by rain, went to Szymon Ziolkowski of Poland with a heave of 80.02 meters (262-6). Nicola Vizzoni of Italy took the silver at 79.64 (261-3) and Igor Astapkovich of Belarus gained the bronze at 79.17 (259-9). After mild weather for the first two nights of the athletics competition, it was cold and windy Sunday with sporadic showers. Sotomayor and the others got soaked during their final jumps. "It was impossible for me in the rain," Sotomayor said. "I'm the worst jumper in the world in the rain." Mark Crear, silver medalist at the 1996 Atlanta Games, ignored a rain-drenched track to place third in his second-round heat of the men's 110-meter hurdles and reach the semifinals. "These are the Winter Olympics," Crear said. "They don't seem like the summer." Not all the athletes were upset by the weather. Russia's Irina Privalova won her heat in the women's 400-meter hurdles and said the conditions were fine. "Now in Moscow it's one degree (34 degrees Fahrenheit)," she said. "I like this weather."
Sotomayor, a two-time world champion and world record-holder was banned by the International Amateur Athletic Federation for two years for testing positive for cocaine after winning the high jump at last year's Pan American Games in Canada. But the IAAF reduced his suspension to one year last month, citing 'exceptional circumstances" and an exemplary 15-year career. That allowed Sotomayor, who has denied ever using cocaine, to resume competitions immediately. Australian Cathy Freeman ran through a heavy rain to victory in her semifinal of the women's 400 meters. Michael Johnson was beaten by U.S. compatriot Alvin Harrison while running cautiously in his semifinal of the men's 400, but easily qualified for Monday's final. Harrison won that semifinal in 44.53 seconds, while Johnson was second in 44.65. The other semifinal was won by another American, Antonio Pettigrew, in 45.24. "I was able to get through it without any problems, so there"s no sense harping about what the weather was today," Johnson said. "I hope it's better tomorrow." Joining Crear in the semifinals of the 110-meter hurdles was 1996 Olympic champion and U.S. teammate Allen Johnson. Also advancing were the third American in the event, Terrence Trammell, and world champion Colin Jackson of Britain. "It was more wet, windy and cool than America," Allen Johnson said. "But at this point, the weather means nothing. After four years of hard work, no one's going to let the weather stop them." Samuel Matete of Zambia, the silver medalist in 1996, had the fastest time of 48.98 seconds in the first round of the men's 400-meter hurdles. Defending Olympic champion Deon Hemmings of Jamaica won her heat in the first round of the women's 400-meter hurdles in 5544 seconds. Earlier in the day, Naoko Takahashi overcame 91 percent humidity to win gold in the women's marathon in an Olympic-best 2 hours, 23 minutes, 14 seconds to become the first Japanese woman with an Olympic athletics gold medal. Takahashi, running alone for the last 6 1-2 kilometers (4 miles), broke the finish-line tape and raised her arms in triumph. Then she bowed to the crowd. Lidia Simon of Romania won silver in 2:23.22 and Joyce Chepchumba of Kenya won bronze. Takahashi, who took a victory lap waving a tiny Japanese flag, broke the previous Olympic best of 2:24.52 set by American Joan Benoit in the inaugural women's marathon at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. "It really hasn't set in to me that I have really won the gold
medal," Takahashi said through a translator. "Sometimes I feel a
little sorry that it's finished and sometimes I feel relieved."
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