Masai ends Ethiopian domination of women’s 10,000-meter event

The 19-year-old Kenyan was briefly held up by lapped runners about 300 meters from the tape but produced a final push to beat Meselech Melkamu of Ethiopia, who had her arms outstretched in victory a few steps ahead of the line.

“I can't believe it,” Masai said. “I'm so grateful for the win. I didn't give up.” For a nation known for its tenacious runners, two Ethiopians gave up too early on Saturday. “As soon as I finished the race, I believed that I had won,” Melkamu said. “I was extremely happy that we had retained the gold.”

Not so.

Masai won in 30 minutes, 51.24 seconds, winning by .10 seconds. Until deep in the final straight, Meseret Defar seemed destined to add the 10,000 world title to Olympic and world gold over 5,000. Yet, over the final meters she slumped from first to fifth -- almost coming to a standstill at the line. “The last 30 meters, I had trouble lifting my legs,” she said.

Despite taking home two medals, the Ethiopians were brokenhearted to lose their grip on the 10,000 title.

“I am very, very disappointed,” Melkamu said. “For myself personally, I am pleased because this is my first time running this event at the world championships, so I'm happy I got a medal. But I would have been happy if Meseret [Defar] had got the gold. I was expecting her to win. I never saw the Kenyan.”

Not many people saw her coming.

After sitting tight in the pack for the first 7,000 meters, Masai and Kenyan teammate Grace Kwamboka Momanyi broke away from the main group along with the Ethiopian trio of Melkamu, Ayalew and pre-race favorite Defar.

Defar took the lead as the bell rang to mark the final lap, but faded as Masai and Melkamu raced past with a final kick across the line. Both runners held up their arms in victory after crossing the tape.

Masai's win also broke Kenya's 10-year drought in the 10,000, an event in which it was once a power. The country's last medal in the 10,000 was a bronze at the 1999 world championships in Seville, Spain.

The victory also hands Kenya a gold it was not counting on at the world championships, and should ease concerns for now that the country would fail to produce a performance in Berlin that could stand up to its impressive 14 track medals at last year's Beijing Olympics.

Cantwell wins shot put gold at Worlds

Meanwhile, Christian Cantwell won the shot put title at the world championships on Saturday, beating Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski. The American won with a throw of 22.02 meters -- the best of the season -- overtaking Majewski on the fifth of six attempts. The Pole took the silver with a throw of 21.91, while Ralf Bartels of Germany picked up the bronze with a throw of 21.37.

Defending champion Reese Hoffa of the United States was fourth. “I have won medals in the past but not that one. To win it in that fashion is even more exciting,” Cantwell said. “I did what I wanted to do and it feels great.”

Already leading after four throws, Majewski came up with his biggest toss of 21.91 on his fifth attempt. The Pole figured it would be enough to add a world championship to the Olympic title he won in Beijing. “I thought after that throw that it was over,” Majewski said. “But Christian was very strong today. You could see it warming up, and he held up under the pressure.”

Throwing directly after the Pole, Cantwell stepped into the pit and did something he hadn't done on his previous attempts -- he relaxed. “I was rushing, trying to throw far,” Cantwell said of his earlier attempts. “So I said: ‘Just slow down. Just try to bend the fingers back and see what happens.' And that's what happened -- I cranked them back and got the flip out there a little ways.”

After the ball landed in the thick grass, the American pumped his fists and pounded his chest in celebration. “I knew it was good when it left my hand, I just didn't know how good,” Cantwell said. “I was hoping it was going to be 23 [meters] and I could seal it right then, but unfortunately it didn't land that far.

Elvan limps out 10,000 meter final

Turkey's medium-distance runner Elvan Abeylegesse limped out of the women's 10,000-meter final at the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Berlin on Saturday night with only with only 2,800 meters to go, thus dashing Turkey's medal hopes in this event. Turkish Athletics Federation President Mehmet Terzi said afterwards that Elvan abandoned the race because of “serious heel pain.”

The Turks had banked their medals hopes on Elvan, who broke the 5,000-meter record at the Evergood Bergen Bislett Games in Norway on June 11, 2004 and won the silver medal in the same event at the Beijing Olympic Games last summer. “We expect a medal from Elvan  in the women's 5,000 and 10,000 events…,” Terzi, himself a former marathon champion, said after the Turkish team and officials arrived in Berlin on Friday. But it was not to be. İstanbul Today's Zaman