ATH: Kluft wins heptathlon, Nesterenko takes 100m

AAP General News (Australia)
08-22-2004
ATH: Kluft wins heptathlon, Nesterenko takes 100m

By John Salvado

ATHENS, Aug 21 AAP - Golden girl Carolina Kluft won gold in the Olympic heptathlon
tonight and celebrated to the strains of Dancing Queen by Swedish super-group Abba.

Kluft has added much-needed glamour to the gruelling multi-discipline competition.

The Swede took the lead after the second event, the high jump, and never looked like
relinquishing it as she tallied a winning score of 6,952 points.

Austra Skujyte of Lithuania was a distant second with 6,345 and Kelly Sotherton of
Britain was third with 6,424.

Fellow Briton and defending Olympic champion Denise Lewis pulled out after five events,
by which stage she was languishing in 18th place.

"I'm physically and emotionally devastated," said Lewis.

"I just can't do myself justice."

Australian Kylie Wheeler was 18th.

Yuliya Nesterenko of Belarus took advantage of a host of big-name absentees to win
the women's 100 metres in 10.93.

Nesterenko, who had been the fastest runner throughout all four rounds. hit the front
with 10 metres to go and crossed ahead of American Lauryn Williams (10.96) and Jamaica's
Veronica Campbell (10.97).

But the race was as much about who wasn't there as who was.

Americans Kelli White and Torri Edwards, the first two placegetters at last year's
world championships, are serving doping bans.

Greek 2000 Olympic silver medallist Katerina Thanou withdrew from the Games under a
doping cloud, while defending 100m champ Marion Jones is only contesting the long jump
in Athens.

The other gold medal awarded tonight went to Natalya Sadova of Russia in the women's discus.

She won with 67.02m, edging out Greece's Anastasia Kelesidou (66.68m) and Irina Yatchenko
of Belarus (66.17m).

Young American Shawn Crawford set the pace in the men's 100m quarter-finals with the
fastest time of 9.89 seconds, just one-hundredth of a second off his own world-leading
quickest time of 2004.

Defending champion Maurice Greene and Portugal's Francis Obikwelu both clocked 9.93,
while third American Justin Gatlin (9.96) and Asafa Powell of Jamaica (9.99) also broke
the 10-second mark.

"It doesn't mean anything, just that I'm through to the next round," said Greene.

"Nothing matters what we did today or last week. It matters what you do tomorrow."

Australian Josh Ross ran a personal best of 10.22 but it was not enough to earn a berth
in the semis.

AAP jds/sp

KEYWORD: OLY ATH DAYLEAD

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