Former world champion Maria Mutola of Mozambique fired a warning to her rivals in the 800m that she is in good shape to regain her title on Saturday when she ran from the front and clocked her fastest time of the year, 1:57.49. The defending champion, Ana Quirot of Cuba, ran well within herself to win the second semi and looks likely to be Mutola’s biggest challenger.
Semi-final 1: Mutola went to the lead straight from the gun with Russia’s Yelena Afanasyeva giving chase in second. Mutola hit 200m in 26.74 and maintained the swift pace to the bell. She passed the half way mark in 56.38 with the field spread out behind her. Afanasyeva was still in second down the back straight with Luciana Mendes of Brazil in third and a gap to USA’s Joetta Clark in fourth. At 600m Mutola kicked again and had a 10 metre lead by the time she entered the home straight. She crossed the line looking easy while Afanasyeva fought back against Clark to take second in 1:59.05. Clark and a fast finishing Stella Jongmans of the Netherlands edged out Mendes at the line for the third and fourth qualifying positions.
Semi-final 2: Russia’s Liubov Tsyoma and Quirot took the early lead, with Letitia Vriesde of Surinam in third, but the pace was slower (27.51 at 200m) and all the runners were still bunched at the bell, passed in 58.33. Tsyoma still led at 600m but Quirot and Vriesde began to move past her on the outside and came into the home straight together. As others too began to threaten the Russian she appeared to lose balance and, in trying to avoid stepping on the kerb, stepped off the track and quit the race. Quirot crossed the line in first place, easing ahead of Vriesde who ran 1:59.62 in second. Ludmila Formonova of the Czech Republic and Toni Hodgkinson of New Zealand took second and third respectively.
