If there were any doubts about Maria Mutola’s preparations for an unprecedented sixth world title, the reigning Olympic champion quickly put them to rest after a stunning 1:57.72 solo effort in her heat of the 800 meters.
“I have only been training in the pool for the past week and a half, so I had to test my strength,” said Mutola, after clocking 200 metre splits of 27.37, 56.35 and 1:26.94. “I was feeling a little shaky after not running for so long.” Mutola said she was aiming for 29 second laps, but added, “It’s a little hard to gauge when you’re all alone.”
Leading from the break, World indoor record holder Jolanda Ceplak won heat two in 2:01.48, just ahead of Belgian Sandra Stals (2:01.88) and Tetyana Petlyuk (2:01.90) of Ukraine. Aimee Teteris, who was a step behind Ceplak for nearly 700 metres, faded to fourth in 2:03.75, but advanced on time.
Besides Mutola’s scorcher, no surprises emerged. Spanish record holder Mayte Martinez (2:02.78) inched past Seltana Ait Hammou (2:02.83) in the final steps to win three. Staying near the back of the pack through 700 meters, Olga Raspopova forged ahead off the final turn to win race four in 2:03.67, with Jo Fenn of Great Britain a few steps behind in 2:04.01. Marian Burnett of Guyana, third in 2:04.48, lowered her own national record.
In race one, American Jen Toomey (2:04.84) took the lead with 200 metres to go, and held off fast-finishing Tatyana Andrianova (2:05.04) of Russia and Agnes Samaria of Namibia.
The semi-finals are tomorrow.
