Yet again, Maria Mutola entered the record books. With her 1:58.50 win, the World, Olympic and defending champion became the first-ever person to win six World Indoor Championships titles.
As expected, world indoor record holder Jolanda Ceplak set the initial fast pace, bringing the field through the first lap in 28.46, through the half in 58.61 and through 600 metres in 1:29.23 But just behind her the entire time was Mutola, who blasted pst the Slovenian as she headed into the final turn, building a three metre gap. Ceplak made up some of the ground, but not enough, and finished second in 1:58.72
The pack was tight down the homestretch, with Briton Jo Fenn fighting best to take the bronze in 1:59.50, a two-notch improvement over her fifth place finish in Birmingham.
American champion Jen Toomey continued to improve, clocking a personal best 1:59.64 for fourth, her first sub-two-minute performance. Russians Tatyana Andrianova (1:59.71) and Olga Raspopova (2:00.56) were fifth and sixth, both with personal bests.
