International Capsules: Farah, Ennis lead Britain's golden European night
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis led Britain's golden night at the European Championships on Saturday with victories in the men's 5,000 meters and women's heptathlon.
Farah, who lost to Spain's Jesus Espana four years ago by 0.09 seconds, ran a commanding race in the 5,000 to give him a distance double. He had won the 10,000.
Farah's time of 13 minutes, 31.18 seconds at Barcelona's Olympic Stadium was 1.92 seconds better than that of Espana. The Spaniard settled for silver ahead of Azerbaijan's Hayle Ibrahimov. Farah wept in joy over his achievement.
Merlene Ottey, 50, became the oldest athlete to compete at the event when she ran in the 4x100 women's relay. Ottey, a naturalized Slovenian of Jamaican origin, surpassed the age record held by 47-year-old French marathon runner Nicole Brakebusch-Leveque. But Slovenia failed to get out of the heats.
"It's right up there with all the medals I have won," said Ottey, who has won 29 medals in major competitions, including seven Olympics, among them a bronze in Barcelona in 1992. "It didn't cross my mind (at 40) that I would still be running now. I thought I would retire."
Ennis set a European record of 6,823 points to add a European title to her world title. Ennis, holding an 18-point lead over Olympic champion Nataliya Dobrynska, finished in front of the Ukrainian in the closing event (800 meters) to take the gold. She passed Carolina Kluft's total of 6,740 from 2006 with a season-best run in the two-lap race.
"I was so glad to win, especially with the 800 meters at the end and the way that I won it, which was mainly to prove that I really am the world No. 1," Ennis said.
Britain's night didn't end there — David Greene and Rhys Williams led a 1-2 finish in the 400-meter hurdles.
France's Myriam Soumaire denied Russia's women another gold medal, winning the 200 meters in a European season's best time of 22.32 seconds.
"I cannot believe what happened — the last meters was crazy," said Soumaire, bronze medalist in the 100. "I was afraid of the Russian athletes because they are the favorites."
Moments after teammate and 100-meter silver medalist Veronique Mang was disqualified for a false start, Soumaire surged to the front from the outside lane.
Ukraine's Yelizaveta Bryzhina took silver as the top two passed Aleksandra Fedoriva just as the Russian seemed set for gold when she led coming out of the bend. Russian women had won five medals on Friday night.
Russia, despite no gold Saturday, still leads with eight golds and 21 overall. Britain has six golds as does France after Renaud Lavillenie won the pole vault at 19 feet, 2½ inches.
Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway won his second straight javelin gold to go with Olympic and world titles.
The Norwegian shrugged off the challenge of Matthias De Zordo of Germany to win with a throw of 289-11, then carried championship mascot 'Barni' upside down during his victory lap in celebration.
Poland also picked up its first gold thanks to Marcin Lewandowski's 800 win, and Turkey, too, earned its first victory as Nevin Yanit led from the gun to win the 100 hurdles in 12.63 seconds.
"I cannot believe what happened," said Yanit, who received a congratulatory call from Turkey Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "This performance is amazing."
Andrei Mikhnevich of Belarus edged Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski of Poland and defending champion Ralf Bartels of Germany to win the shot. Ukraine won five medals Saturday, led by Olha Saladuha in the women's triple jump.
Zivile Balciunaite of Lithuania won the women's marathon. France advanced to the men's 4x100 relay final Sunday despite Christophe Lemaitre, winner of the 100 and 200, sitting out qualifying.
Dibaba wins 10,000 race at African championships
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Double Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia beat world champion Linet Masai of Kenya in the women's 10,000 meters at the African Athletics Championships on Saturday.
Dibaba trailed for most the race before outsprinting Masai on the last lap to win in 31 minutes, 51.39 seconds.
Fellow Ethiopian Haileyesus Melkamu was second in 31:55.50 and Masai third in 31:59.36.
Dibaba said it was especially rewarding to win in Kenya, Ethiopia's traditional rival in track.
"I am very happy to win such a competitive race, having been injured for most of last year," said Dibaba, the Olympic champion at 5,000 and 10,000 meters.
This year, Dibaba won the 5,000 in the New York Grand Prix and at the Diamond League meeting in Eugene, Ore.
Algeria's Hadj Lazib won the men's 100 hurdles in 13.77, and Tunisia's Hamdi Dhoubi won the pole vault by clearing 15 feet, 5 inches.
Thousand of fans were turned away from the Nyayo National Stadium, which was filled to capacity, said David Okeyo, the chief executive of the event's local organizing committee.
"We did not want the wall to collapse or a stampede," he said. "This stadium was meant for 35,000 people and we already had more than that."
Security at the championships has been tight because of the twin bomb attacks in Uganda's capital Kampala that killed 76 people who were watching the World Cup final on July 11.
-- Tom Odula
50-year-old sprinter Ottey is oldest at Euros
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Fifty-year-old Merlene Ottey is the oldest athlete to compete at the European Championships after anchoring Slovenia's 400 women's relay team.
Ottey, a naturalized Slovenian of Jamaican origin, surpassed the record on Saturday at Barcelona's Olympic stadium. The mark was previously held by 47-year-old French marathon runner Nicole Brakebusch-Leveque.
Slovenia failed to reach Sunday's final, finishing seventh with a time of 44.30 seconds. Ukraine won the heat in 43.24 seconds.
Ottey has won 29 medals at major competitions, including seven Olympic Games starting with Moscow in 1980. She won bronze in the 200 at the 1992 Barcelona Games when she was 32.
Cycling
Landis in the hunt in Catskills race
WINDHAM, N.Y. (AP) — Floyd Landis joked around at the start with other riders at the Tour of the Catskills, then showed he still has a kick.
Landis completed the first stage of the three-day event in the lead pack of 35 riders, finishing in 3 hours, 19.23 seconds on a sun-splashed Saturday. That left him tied for sixth, 34 seconds behind leader Aurelien Passeron of France.
Landis began the 80-mile ride 24 seconds behind Passeron, who won Friday's prologue and retained the yellow jersey to gain another 10 seconds. Passeron led Cameron Cogburn of Cambridge, Mass., by 26 seconds.
Sunday's final stage, dubbed the Mountaintop Classic, is another 80-mile segment that includes a climb up Platte Clove in what is known as the "Devil's Kitchen" leg. It begins and ends in Hunter.
Riding unattached but wearing the jersey of the Farm Team, a developmental team in northeastern New York, Landis stopped briefly to chat with teammates after finishing and then rode away without taking questions from reporters.
Landis was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for testing positive for high levels of testosterone. He denied that he'd doped until this spring, when he admitted to using drugs to gain a competitive edge. He also has made doping claims against seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong.
Landis' allegations have sparked a federal investigation into cheating in pro cycling, and prosecutors have subpoenaed documents from a 2004 case in which a company tried to prove Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs.
Armstrong has denied using such drugs and has never tested positive.
Despite Landis' admissions, few cyclists are ready to ostracize him.
Before Saturday's stage got under way, 19-year-old Nick Waller of Gloversville, N.Y., who rides with Adirondack Velo Club, walked up to Landis, bumped fists with him, and then walked away beaming.
"I'm so happy. I can't believe I just shook his hand," Waller told his father, David. "Probably 90 to 95 percent of the pros, I do believe they dope.
"Even though he doped, he still had to get on the bike every single day. He had to train hard. He had to ride his guts out, puke probably at night, and I respect that. I know the pain I go through on my bike is hell. There are times I want to pull over and cry."
David Waller gave Landis credit for breaking cycling's code of silence.
"When he admitted it and came back clean, that took some guts," David Waller said. "He's leveling the playing field."
Sitting astride his bike nearby and waiting to start, David Townend of Windsor, Mass., took it all in.
"I understand his situation. He's basically losing his livelihood and he's lost a lot of other things in the process," said the 57-year-old Townend, who's been competing for more than two decades. "It's a shame. I wish the best for him. I don't know that I agree with his approach, but I'm not in his shoes. The whole thing is something that we need to put behind us in the sport."
-- John Kekis
Sanchez edges Vinokourov in San Sebastian Classic
SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain — Spanish cyclist Luis Leon Sanchez has won the San Sebastian Classic, while Tour de France runner-up Andy Schleck abandoned the race halfway through.
Caisse d’Espargne rider Sanchez outsprinted Astana’s Alexander Vinokourov to win the 145.4-mile race in 5 hours, 47 minutes, 13 seconds on Saturday. It wasn’t immediately clear why Schleck pulled out of the one-day classic.
Carlos Sastre of Cervelo was third in the same time as Sanchez.
Vinokourov’s attack 2.5 miles from the finish dropped Sastre, but Sanchez stayed with the Kazakh, who was caught out at the finish after starting his sprint too early.
Sanchez finished 11th in the Tour de France won by Alberto Contador, while Vinokourov was 17th overall.
