GOETZIS, Austria, 30 May 2005 — Carolina Kluft claimed a hat trick of victories in the women’s heptathlon in the Moesle stadium in Goetzis yesterday although the Swede missed out on the 20,000-euros prize on offer for breaking the European record.
Olympic, world and European champion Kluft finished with a total of 6,824 points, falling short of Larissa Nikitina’s European record of 7,007 points, which has stood since 1989, mainly due to managing just 1.44m in the shot putt on Saturday. Britain’s Kelly Sotherton, third behind Kluft in Athens last August, finished second with 6,547 points with American Hyleas Fountain third on 6,502. Meanwhile in the men’s decathlon, Olympic champion and favorite Roman Sebrle continued to trail surprise leader Aleksandr Pogorelov of Russia by 157 points after the eighth event, the pole vault. Pogorelov is on track for a world-class performance and the 25-year-old is almost certain to beat his personal best of 8,163 points.
Kemboi Springs Back to Form in 3,000m Steeplechase
In Nairobi, Olympic 3,000 meters steeplechase gold medalist Ezekiel Kemboi ended a poor start to the season when he raced to victory in the Kenya Armed Forces meeting on Saturday, pipping former world champion Wilson Boit Kipketer in a close finish.
The 23-year-old, who has set his eyes on the world record this year was made to work hard before crossed the finish line in eight minutes 30.8 seconds, 0.3 seconds ahead of Kipketer, the 1997 champion and world record holder.
Newcomer Patrick Nthiwa took third spot in 8:33.0.
“I am slowly regaining my form which hopefully will see me through to the national trials and the world championships in Helsinki,” said Kemboi, a civilian who led Kenya to a clean sweep of the Olympic medals in Athens last August. The 2002 Commonwealth Games silver medalist has already set his eyes on reclaiming the world record from former compatriot Saif Saaeed Shaheen of Qatar this year.
He said he would compete in the Ostrava Super Grand Prix in the Czech Republic on June 9 as a final tune-up for the national trials of the Helsinki games.
