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News13 Jul 2004


Women's 800m - heats

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Heat 1
The qualifying procedure was the first 2 to finish plus 2 fastest losers, which made for some attractive tactical racing. Following a cagey first lap, Russia’s Ekaterina Martynova hit the bell in 1:02.54, with the field closely bunched behind her. Reaching 600m in 1:34.12, the Russian increased her lead into the final stretch chased by Olena Bondar of Ukraine to finish in 2:05.94, a season’s best, but the best finish came from the 16 year old Moroccan Halima Hachlaf, who dipped ahead of Bondar on the line to snatch second place in 2:06.44, with the Ukrainian qualifying as a fastest loser in 2:06.81.

Heat 2
Britain’s Charlotte Moore took the race by the scruff of the neck, leading through the first leap to hit the bell in 1:03.32, with Belarus’ Natalya Koreyvo just behind. Hanging on to her lead until 50 metres to go, Moore was overtaken by Koreyvo who finished in 2:07.68, and was almost caught by Anna Kliushkina of Kyrghizstan, who moved from fifth to third in the last 30 metres. The Briton qualified with 2:07.93, but Kliushkina was not able to advance as a fastest loser after clocking 2:08.22.

Heat 3
France’s Elodie Guegan and Latavia Thomas of USA led a tightly bunched group over the first lap, going through halfway in 1:02.45. Halfway down the backstraight, the Turk Uslu Binnaz burst into the lead, holding her advantage to finish in 2:05.46, a season’s best.Guegan held on for the automatic qualifier in 2:05.49, with Thomas setting a personal best of 2:07.17 in third, a time that proved fast enough to advance as a fastest loser.

Heat 4
Jamaica’s Kay-Ann Thompson flew through the first lap in 58.21, the fastest opening 400m of the night, just ahead of World Youth Champion Mariya Shapaeva of Russia. The Jamaican paid the price for her hectic pace fading to fourth but Diana Dienel of Germany pushed hard to challenge Shapaeva in the last straight only for Romanian Simona Barcau to triumph after a late rush in 2:04.30. Shapaeva was second in 2:04.31, with four more athletes qualifying as fastest losers in this race: Dienel (2:04.34), Thompson (2:06.11), Brooke Simpson of Australia (2:06.71) and Lydia Nasimiyu of Kenya (2:07.39).

Heat 5
Laura Finucane of Great Britain made sure of her qualification by running a smart race, leading the field through the first lap in 1:03, and doing just enough to maintain her lead for the final lap before crossing the finish line in 2:07.10, ahead of Romania’s Larisa Arcip who kicked past France’s Marie-Noelle Gaudin with 30 metres to go to grab the final qualifying spot in 2:07.10.

 

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