Kelli White of the US secured the first women's sprint double in a dozen years at the World Championships when she won the 200m Thursday to go with her 100 title. Giuseppe Gibilisco of Italy came out of nowhere to capture the pole vault.
White shot into the lead almost immediately and was far ahead coming out of the bend. She clocked 22.05 seconds, the fastest time in the world this year.
PHOTO: AP
"I was very tired, this was race No. 8 for me," said the American, who took the 100 gold Sunday.
She was the first athlete to win two gold medals at these championships and the first American woman to complete the sprint double. Not even Marion Jones had done that. Jones wasn't here to defend her 200 title after giving birth to a son June 28.
It was the first sprint double since Katrin Krabbe did it for Germany in 1991.
Anastasiya Kapachinskaya of Russia took silver in 22.38 and Torri Edwards of the US, who already won silver in the 100, took bronze in 22.47.
Gibilisco cleared 5.90 for a national record and one of the most stunning upsets of the championships. It was the first Italian pole vault victory in the world championships or the Olympics.
Gibilisco's previous best was 5.82, set in Rome earlier this summer. But he cleared the winning height in his first attempt and beat two men who have already gone over 6 meters in their careers, Okkert Brits of South Africa and Dmitri Markov of Australia, the defending champion.
Brits settled for silver at 5.85 and Patrik Kristiansson of Sweden edged Markov for the bronze medal. Both cleared 5.85, but the Swede had a better second height and Markov dropped to fourth.
Gibilisco, 24, twice improved on his personal best during the competition. His top finish in his previous three meets was 10th.
"I was really afraid at 5.75," said Gibilisco, who missed the height in his first two attempts and then decided to go straight for 5.80, a gamble that paid off. He cleared the next three heights, 5.80, 5.85 and 5.90, all in his first try.
"This is my day," said the Italian, who hid his face when his rivals were making their final jumps. He had to go by the reaction of the crowd to know he had won.
His coach of eight years, Vitaly Petrov, was Sergei Bubka's mentor 20 years ago when the legendary pole vaulter won the first of his record six world titles.
Brits failed in his first attempt at 5.90, then passed on the height, only to miss both his remaining attempts at 5.95. Gibilisco decided to sit out 5.95, and won when Brits brought down the bar in his only remaining shot at 5.95. Markov had two misses at 5.90 and saved his last attempt for 5.95, in vain.
Jana Pittman of Australia came from far back to win the gold medal in the 400m hurdles, surging ahead in the final straight to cross in 53.22 seconds.
US hurdler Sandra Glover took silver in 53.65, ahead of Yuliya Pechonkina of Russia, who set a world record this season and led most of the way before fading badly in the finish to end with the bronze in 53.71.
"I knew I'd be down at the 200," Pittman said, speaking nearly as rapidly as she ran. "I just ran my race, I didn't know where everyone else was. But I knew that I'm probably the strongest finisher in the world and I saw that she [Pechonkina] was dying."
"Once I got a sniff, I believed in myself enough," Pittman said.
Yipsi Moreno of Cuba, the Pan American champion, retained her title in the hammer throw with a heave of 73.33 meters. European champion Olga Kuzenkova of Russia took silver at 71.71 and Manuela Montebrun of France won bronze with 70.92.
Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco and Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia stayed on course for unprecedented World Championship doubles when they breezed into the final of the 5,000m.
One day after capturing his fourth consecutive 1,500 title, the Moroccan ace came in fourth in his heat and easily qualified for Sunday's 5,000 final. No man has ever won the 1,500 and 5,000 titles at one world championship.
"I only slept 3 1/2 hours last night with the joy and excitement, I couldn't sleep," El Guerrouj said. "I'm very excited and motivated, especially after my gold medal in the 1,500 last night. I'm on form."
El Guerrouj led his heat until the final meters, when he eased up and allowed three other runners to pass him. With top five in each heat assured of berths in the final, the Moroccan didn't have to push.
Bekele, who is also bidding for a double following his victory in the 10,000, won his heat and eased into the final as well.
Defending champion Richard Limo of Kenya qualified just ahead of El Guerrouj. But the 1999 champion Salah Hissou of Morocco failed to make the final after finishing only eighth in Bekele's heat.
Ahmad Abdullah Hassan of Qatar did not start. Formerly known as Albert Chepkirui, he is one of two Kenyans who became Qatari citizens this summer. The second is Saif Saeed Shaheen, formerly known as Stephen Cherono, who won the 3,000m steeplechase final.
Allen Johnson of the US, looking for his fourth title in the 110-meter hurdles, cleared the first obstacle by winning his heat in 13.42. But Stanislavs Olijars of Latvia, second fastest this season and winner of the Berlin meet, pulled up after two hurdles with a thigh injury and quit.
Wilson Kipketer of Denmark, the world record holder who is also seeking his fourth 800m title, advanced from the first round, finishing just behind defending champion Andre Bucher of Switzerland in their heat.
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