Zhanna Block of Ukraine ran a worldleading 7.08 to set the tone in the semifinals. Marina Kislova of Russia was seemingly far behind at 7.20, but her second-place finish satisfied the minimum needed to advance to the final.
Former World Indoor champion Merlene Ottey equaled her own Slovenian record of 7.17 in winning her semifinal, as Torri Edwards followed in 7.20. Defending champion Chandra Sturrup of Bahamas saw her chances of another gold medal evaporate with a fourth-place 7.24.
The remaining semifinal was a blanket finish which saw the top four runners with one hundredth of a second of each other. Austria’s Karin Mayr (7.18) and Savatheda Fynes of Bahamas (7.19) took the automatic spots, while the same 7.19 clocking brought American Angela Williams and Britain’s Joice Maduaka into the final.
