Maria Mutola continued her unbroken streak with victory here this afternoon, her 33rd successive win since she was beaten in this same stadium by Zulia Calatayud in July 2002.
This time there was to be no repeat of that defeat. Mutola went out strongly from the gun and held the lead with the pack close behind her till 120 metres out from the finish, with a 400 metre split time of 1:00.07. Slovenia’s Jolanda Ceplak kicked out midway through the final bend and tried to overtake Mutola on the outside with Canada’s Diane Cummins moving up with her.
But Mutola was having none of that and turned up the pace once again going clear of the two who were then also overtaken by Morocco’s Amina Ait Hammou, who broke away in pursuit of Mutola. Twenty metres out and Mutola’s training partner, Kelly Holmes (GBR), accelerated and passed Ait Hammou as they came to the line, relegating the Moroccan to third place. Mutola crossed the line in 1:59.59, with Holmes at 1:59.92 and Ait Hammou in 1:59.97.
