BUDAPEST (07-Mar-2004) -- A record sixth world title for Maria Mutola, a pair of the slowest-ever finals, and an unexpected bronze medal for the United States were the highlights of the final day of the 10th IAAF World Indoor Championships.

Yet again, Mutola, affectionally known as the 'Maputo Express," entered the record books. After her 1:58.50 win, the World, Olympic and defending world indoor champion became the first-ever six-time winner at a World Indoor Championship.

As expected, world indoor record holder Jolanda Ceplak set the initial pace, bringing the field through the first lap in 28.41, through the half in 58.61 before reaching the 600 mark in 1:29.23.  But just off her shoulder the entire time was Mutola, who blasted past the Slovenian as she headed into the final turn, nudging her slightly to build a three metre gap. Ceplak made up some of the ground, but not enough, and finished second in 1:58.72

"This was a very special win for me," said Mutola, who extended her win streak to 24 finals over the distance.  "Now, my plan is just to continue my preparation for Athens."

Ceplak, whose search for a recipe to defeat Mutola will continue this Spring, initially indicated that the Mozambiquan pushed her deliberately as she passed in the final moments of the race --firmly denied by Mutola-- but later seemed to infer that any contact probably wasn't intentional.

"She passed by very close, and my rhythm was interrupted twice," said Ceplak. "But that's how racing is indoors sometimes.  But she came so close, I thought that I would run onto the curb."

"That's just pathetic," Mutola said, before Ceplak further explained --or perhaps modified-- her remarks. AZS, the Slovenian federation, lodged a protest on behalf of Ceplak.

The pack was tight down the homestretch, with Briton Jo Fenn fighting best to take the bronze in 1:59.50, a two-notch improvement over her fifth place finish in Birmingham last year.  American champion Jen Toomey continued to improve, clocking a personal best 1:59.64 to finish fourth, her first sub-two-minute performance.  Russians Tatyana Andrianova (1:59.71) and Olga Raspopova (2:00.56) were fifth and sixth, both with personal bests.

"I know I got more in the tank," said Toomey, the first ever double middle distance indoor national champion. "I got a little boxed in today, but c'est la vie. I just couldn't get out. I thought it would go that way, I just got more boxed in than I expected. That's the name of the game here."

In the women's 3000, Ethiopia was expected to sweep the top two podium positions, which they did, but the widely-predicted finishing order was reversed when Meseret Defar out-sprinted defending champion Berhane Adere to win in 9:11.22.

The race may have been the slowest ever in a world championships final, but the final two laps were a spectacle to behold. Marta Domínguez, the silver medallist in Birmingham last year, led the entire race, until the Ethipian pair, along with Briton Jo Pavey, made the first major move.  At the bell, Domínguez faded, with American champion Shayne Culpepper the only one willing to take on the challenge posed by the Ethiopians.  Adere, the world outdoor 10,000m champion, led heading into the final curve, but Defar --pint-sized next to the taller Adere-- wouldn't submit, running stride-for-stride around the bend. She pulled ahead in the final 20 meters to win by less than two one-hundredths of a second ahead of Adere's 9:11.43. Culpepper held off Domínguez's final challenge to caputre the bronze in 9:12.15 to the Spaniard's 9:12.85.

Culpepper said she didn't expect that slow a pace, and admits that the bronze medal was a very pleasant surprise.

"That was really slow, we were just jogging. I think we covered the the first half mile in about 2:40."  But never out of striking distance, the race played out to her advantage. "That's how most of my races were this year, so that was a perfect race for me. I just covered everybody's moves and tried to stay on the inside."

After a pair of 68-second opening laps, it was readily apparent that the men's 1500 meter final would come down to a mad dash, and it did, with the runner who did much of the leading, Kenyan Paul Korir, winning as well.  At 3:52.31, it was the slowest ever men's 1500m final, but it was also one of the closest.

"The time is slow, but here it doesn't matter," said Korir, who finished fourth in Paris last summer. "There were no pacemakers, so we had no idea of where we were."

Laban Rotich brought the field through the opening 400 in just under 69 seconds, when Korir stepped to the lead, but the pace didn't budge until the bell.  As he did in his semi-final, Ukraine's Ivan Heshko made his move with 100 meters to go, but couldn't match the Kenyan's superior sustained kick, and finished second in 3:52.34.  Commonwealth Games Champion Micheal East, who jetted from the pack into third at the bell, was third to cross the line, clocked in 3:52.88, edging Rotich by five one-hundredths of a second. But the Briton's medal performance was short-lived. East was later disqualified for obstruction when he ran wide to the outside of the track to hold off the Kenyan; Rotich who was later awarded the bronze.

Heshko, whose coming out season last year culminated with a bronze medal at the world championships, was content with his runner-up finish, but seemed to have higher expectations.

"I had the fastest time of the year and felt great before coming to Budapest, but there was some ugly shoving in the back which disturbed me quite a bit."

Mbulaeni Mulaudzi was the only entrant from the strong South African 800 meter corps, and represented them well after a perefectly timed kick to win in 1:45.71.  Winner of the Commonwealth title in 2002 and the bronze medal at the World Championships in Paris last year, the 23-year-old took dashed past Brazil's Osmar Barbosa dos Santos entering the final bend to finish unchallenged.

"I wanted to take the lead with 200 meters to go, but it didn't happen," said the soft-spoken Mulaudzi. "I was only able to go ahead in the last 100, which is really important --to lead at the start of the turn."

Rachid Ramzi of Bahrain tagged behind the South African to sweep past dos Santos to claim the silver in 1:46.15, an Asian record.  The quick-starting dos Santos, who led for 700 meters, held on for the bronze clocking 1:46.26. William Yiampoy and Joseph Mutua, strong medal favorites, made for a rare sight at a global championship: Kenyans taking the last two spots in a final.

The 24-year-old Ramzi, who competed as Moroccan Rachid Kouia until 2002, didn't advance from the heat's of last summer's World Championships.  He plans to focus on the 1500, where he has a 3:39:30 personal best, during the Olympic season.

World records were set in the women's pole vault, triple jump and 4x400 relay --all by Russians-- while another, Christian Olsson's 17.83m in the triple jump, equalled the world indoor mark.  Seven championship records, 16 continental records, and 88 national records were also set.

Paced by the strong women's squad, Russia won the medal haul count with 19 --seven of their eight golds were won by women-- with the United States second, with 10 total.  Ethiopia and Sweden each had four.  Officially a sell-out, the SportArena was filled to near capacity during both Saturday's and Sunday's second sessions, with a much lighter turnout on Friday evening.

The 11th World Indoor Championships will take place in Moscow in March 2006.

*Great Photos from Day3
*Full Day 3 World Indoor Results

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