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| | Saturday, 10 March, 2001, 16:24 GMT Sonia seventh in 3000m final O'Sullivan never got into her second race of the day Sonia O'Sullivan had to settle for seventh place in the 3000m final at the World Indoor Championships in Lisbon. O'Sullivan never got into the race where favourite Olympic 5000m champion Gabriela Szabo was upstaged by Russia's Olga Yegorova. The Russian won in a national record of 8.37.46 with Szabo taking silver. Another Russian Yelena Zadorozhnaya took bronze. O'Sullivan failed to keep up with the early pace injected by Szabo and although the Irishwoman battled to produce an national record performance of 8.44.37, she never troubled the leaders. "I just wasn't focused," said O'Sullivan. "I didn't feel right. I finished strong and thought I could get among them but I didn't have it in my legs. "I'm glad I have one more chance tomorrow," she added. Yegorova produced a startling burst in the penultimate lap to upset Szabo who was bidding for her fourth successive World Indoor title.
With 300 metres to run Yegorova thrust her way to the front and accelerated suddenly to lead through the bell. Szabo, taken by surprise, fought back but could make no impression on the Russian. Romanian Szabo was second in 8:39.65 while Zadorozhnaya took the bronze in 8:40.15. Britons Hayley Parry-Tullett and Kathy Butler finished out of the medals. Parry-Tullett took eighth in 8.45.36 while Butler was 11th in 9.04.81. O' Sullivan's performance called into question her decision to run in the 1500m heats earlier on Saturday. The Irishwoman qualified for her second final in Lisbon by finishing third in her 1500m heat. With the first three progressing to Sunday's final automatically, O'Sullivan placed third in a time of 4 min 11.27secs as Romania's Violeta Beclea-Szekely won in 4:10.77 ahead of Portugal's Carla Sacramento (4:10.82). Caulfield out O'Sullivan's Irish teammate Daniel Caulfield failed to qualify for the men's 800m final despite a brave bid. Caulfield finished fifth in his semi-final in 1.47.79. The heat was won by Swiss gold medal hope Andre Bucher who showed none of the hesitancy he demonstrated on Friday when he crept into the semi-finals as a fastest loser. Gold medal favourite Russia's Yuriy Borzakovskiy won the first semi-final in 1.46.84 while South Africa's Johan Botha and Kenya's David Lelei also made the final. | |
See also:  09 Mar 01 | N Ireland 09 Mar 01 | World Indoor Athletics 09 Mar 01 | World Indoor Athletics Top N Ireland stories now: Links to more N Ireland stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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