Where Your Dreams Become Reality
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Where Your Dreams Become Reality |
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DOMÍNGUEZ DEFENDS EUROPEAN 5000M TITLE
By David Monti (c) 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved GÖTEBORG (12-Aug) -- Doubling back from her national record 10,000m performance just four days ago, Spain's Marta Domínguez used her renowned kick to defend her European Championships 5000m title here this afternoon, giving Spain their first women's medal at these championships. "I'm very happy, because I was not prepared to run the 5000 because I was only going to run the 10,000," she said through a translator. Domínguez, Russia's Liliya Shobukhova, Turkey's Elvan Abeylegesse, and Britain's Jo Pavey were running in a tight pack with three laps to go, with Pavey dictating the pace. A 69.0 second lap did nothing to shrink the pack, and the pace actually eased slightly in the following lap as the athletes gathered themselves for the final 400m. Pavey took the bell, and the pack held together all the way into turn 3, until Shobukhova shot ahead in her bid for victory. The race seemed to be playing into the Russian's hands who, as the world indoor record holder for 1500m, has plenty of speed. "I checked out my rivals all the time and I tried to have everything under control," said Shobukhova through a translator after the race. But both Abeylegesse, who dropped out of Monday's 10,000m, and Domínguez immediately gave chase. But Pavey was out of it. "The legs just fell off," she said later. The trio hit the homestretch together and it was a good old-fashioned dash for the line. The Spaniard needed nearly every meter which was left, getting past Shobukhova just before the line to seal her victory, capping her win with a 63.1 second lap. "Only on the last three meters," said Domínguez of when she knew that she had the gold. "Because before I thought they were faster than me." Domínguez set a championships record of 14:56.18, toppling Sonia O'Sullivans's standard of 15:06.50 set in Budapest in 1998. Shobukhova finished well ahead of Abeylegesse, 14:56.57 to 14:59.29, to take the silver medal to Abeylegesse's bronze. Abeylegesse revealed after the race that the leg injury that she suffered in the 10,000m had nearly kept her out of today's race. "Even 20 minutes before the race I was not sure to run," she said through a translator. "In 3000 I wanted to stop." For Domínguez, whose blonde hair and warm smile help make her even more popular with the fans and media, her strong performance in the 10,000m --her primary goal of the meet-- took the pressure off for today's race. "If I did not run the 10,000 I would have run with more pressure," she explained. "That first run put off that pressure, then I ran very easy without any pressure which made me run as I did." TURAVA WINS INAUGURAL WOMEN'S STEEPLECHASE With little drama, Alesia Turava of Belarus won the inaugural European Championships 3000m steeplechase for women, establishing a championships record of 9:26.05. Russia's Tatyana Petrova, who is also an accomplished road racer, took the silver in 9:28.05 and Poland's Wioletta Janowska got the bronze in 9:31.62. Turava did not contest this event at last summer's IAAF World Championships in Athletics, instead running the 1500m where she was eliminated in the heats. Look for her to be a factor in next summer's World Championships in the steeple. MEN'S MARATHON TOMORROW Olympic gold medalist Stefano Baldini leads tomorrow's entry list for the men's marathon. The charismatic Italian won the European title in 1998 in Budapest, and didn't contest the event in 2002 in Munich (he ran the 10,000m instead). His top challenger will probably be Spaniard Julio Rey, whose 2:06:52 personal best set earlier this year is the fastest in the field. He's also the reigning European Championships bronze medalist and earned the silver medal at the 2003 IAAF World Championships. Fifty-four men are on the entry list. ENDS
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